Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
“Hmm, I thought you were Weres—you have a very strong animal energy about you.” Goody A nodded in satisfaction, as though she’d guessed correctly and was pleased with herself. “All right, so how did you acquire this curse?”
“That’s our business,” Ronan growled, crossing his arms over his broad chest.
“Ronan, stop—how can she help us if we don’t tell her?” Finn objected, frowning. He looked at Goody A again. “Goldie here tells us you’re an expert at breaking curses.”
Goody A’s green eyes widened slightly behind her cat-eye glasses but she nodded calmly after shooting me a quick glance.
“Well yes, I’ve seen a fair few curses broken in my day. So maybe if you tell me how you got yours, I can see the way it must be broken.”
“We don’t—” Ronan began, looking more stubborn than ever but Finn was already talking again.
“We were hunting in a part of the forest we’d never been in before,” he said quickly. “We were following this white deer—a buck—it had pure white fur that glowed like moonlight. I had never seen anything like it.”
“Oh dear…” Goody A shook her head. “I think I know where this is going but please, do continue.”
“Well, like I said, it led us into this new part of the forest,” Finn went on. “I remember everything was so much darker inside, once we crossed over under the canopy of trees. And then we caught it—well, Thorne caught it, anyway,” he added.
I frowned. There was a third Were?
“Who’s Thorne?” Goody A asked.
“He was the leader of our Clan,” Finn said sadly. “The strongest of us all—I never would have thought he’d be the first to fall.”
“What happened when Thorne caught the deer?” Goody Albright asked.
“Everything.” Finn’s eyes widened. “I mean, as soon as he tore out its throat there was this massive lightning strike, right in front of us! It was so bright it lit up the whole forest, and that’s when we saw her.”
“Saw who?” I asked impatiently.
“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “But she was tall—as tall as one of the trees. And her eyes were on fire.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Goody Albright nodded knowingly. “I think I know who you saw and where you were—you wandered into The Blighted Forest. The guardian there isn’t really a sorceress—she’s a demi-goddess called Madam Locasta. Also known as ‘She of the Weeping Woods.’ And I’m guessing the stag that your friend killed was one of her special beasts.”
“I’m pretty sure it must have been,” Finn said glumly. “Because the minute she saw what Thorne had done, she cursed us.”
“What did she say? Do you remember the words of the curse—it might be important,” Goody Albright said sharply.
Finn shook his head.
“I’m sorry—it’s kind of a blur.”
“I remember it,” Ronan said, surprising me. “She said:
Three have come my pet to kill
Three I curse to lose their will
Knowing never what you are
Wandering both near and far
Lose your minds and keep your fur
‘Til you’re nothing but a mindless cur.”
“Ouch,” I said sympathetically. “That’s bad.”
“We didn’t know how bad until we left her forest and tried to turn back into our Human Forms,” Ronan said grimly.
“And we couldn’t—not at first,” Finn said. “Usually Shifting is as easy as breathing. But now it’s like…” He shook his head. “It’s so hard—I can’t even think how to describe it.”
“We get stuck in our Fur Forms and the longer we’re stuck, the harder it is to think in human terms,” Ronan added grudgingly. “The most important part of Shifting is wanting to Shift—you have to have the desire to move back to your Human Form in order to do it.”
“But the longer you remain in your Animal Form, the less you want to leave it because you’re thinking like an animal, not a human. Correct?” Goody A asked.
They both nodded.
“Exactly,” Finn said. “And the curse keeps trying to get us to Shift to our Fur Form. Even now I can feel it, trying to get me to Shift.” He winced and rubbed the back of his neck, as though it hurt him.
“I’m very sorry for the two of you—and for your friend who lost his battle with the curse,” Goody Albright said. “It sounds like you were just doing what bears do and you wandered into the wrong part of the forest.”
“That pretty much sums it up.” Ronan nodded.
“So can you help us?” Finn asked hopefully. “I don’t want to be stuck in my Fur Form forever,” he added sadly. “There’s so much I haven’t done in my human form that I want to experience. See, my Bear came out late so I—”
“That’s enough, Finn!” Ronan said sharply. “She doesn’t need to hear your whole life’s story!” He looked at Goody Albright. “So? Can you help us?”
Goody A took a sip of tea and looked thoughtful.
“I think I can. I have a recipe for a good Hex-breaking potion in my family grimoire. However, I need the right ingredients to make it.”