Cloaks

Chapter 14: Silver

Had they seen through his disguise? No. They couldn't have.

He'd worn a mustache.

Bardy's head buzzed so loudly with thoughts that he missed what the paladin was saying to him.

"--sir? Sir!"

"Huh?"

"I said, 'are you the one who brought the young lady in here?'"

"Uh, yes?"

"And where did you come across her?"

"The edge of the Witch's Wood."

The paladin nodded. "Makes sense. And...when you picked her up, did she...scratch? Bite?"

"No...?" Bardy thought of the little girl, limp and sickly in his arms just an hour ago. "Are we talking about the same kid, here?"

"So she didn't break your flesh at all?"

"I'm not sure I like where this is going."

"Sir, I'm going to be straightforward with you." The paladin said. "What we have here is a lycanthrope. A legacy lycanthrope."

"Oh," Bardy said. "So...how do we cure that...?"

The paladin shook his head. "If she'd been bitten, we could combat that, but she's inherited the condition from one or both parents. There's...only one way we can deal with that."

"And that is...?" Bardy's voice trailed off as his eyes landed upon the weapon in the dwarf's hand.

It was an ax.

A silver ax.

Bardy looked at the paladin in horror. "She's a child!"

"I don't like this any more than you do," the paladin said, grimly. "But if the threat isn't...dealt with, she won't be the last child to be taken by the curse. I have to go to the palace to get a few more men, but I'll be back by sunup. She's been secured properly, if you want to–if you can spare her some comforting words."

With that, he turned and left.

Bardy stood in shock for a long while. Finally, the doctor approached him. "We need to close up, now. Do you...need someone to come get you?"

"Yeah," Bardy said. "Yeah, I need to call someone."

He slipped out the front door and down the street until he was sure he wouldn't be overheard. The sky was dark by now–stars were beginning to bloom in the void. Bardy pulled out the sending stone.

"Make up your mind, Bardy," Malakos answered, his speech slurred by sleep. "Am I s'posed t'be resting or not?"

"Okay, well first of all, I didn't call you—this is Ruby's sending stone, isn't it? Since I have yours? Where's Ruby?"

"She's sleeping. I got to the stone first. Come on now, I was only joking—what's the report? How's the little girl?"

"I'm not reporting to you. Get Ruby for me and go back to sleep."

"I'm awake now. Tell me how things went. Do they know what's wrong with her?"

"Ruby. Now."

"Fine." Malakos seethed. He cleared his throat and returned with a higher pitch. "Hi Bardy, this is Ruby. What's your report?"

There was silence for a moment before Bardy answered. "Okay, you know what—I'm going to play along, just to see how long you can keep up that ridiculous falsetto."

"What falsetto? This is how I always talk. Now tell me what's happening—did they figure out what's wrong? How long until she's cured?"

Bardy explained how he had carried her in to the clinic, and how they had spent a good deal of time examining her in hushed tones.