Cloak, Torn: Book 2 [ON HOLD]

Chapter 10

Warren. The Woodsman's first son was a wolf. Probably turned into one by my aunt.

The Woodsman ran to Abby and grabbed the ax from her hand while being careful of Klate. Abby was breathing hard and I thought I saw a tear slip out of one of her blue eyes.

"I'm so sorry Clef. I just came out to get your ax and he was right behind me and for a minute I thought he was one of Jayla's wolves and-,"

"Hey, Abby, it's okay. You hear me? It's okay. You're fine. Everyone's okay," the Woodsman reassured her. Abby nodded, biting her lip. The Wolf backed away a bit, but he kept a close watch on me.

When the Woodsman had finished calming Abby down, he came over to me.

"This was what I was trying to tell you. This-,"

"-is your son," I finished. "Why didn't you ever tell me about this?"

The Woodman blew out a deep breath.

"I don't know, but I always worried that someone would try to hunt him down and...I don't know what I thought, Scarlet. I'm not sure anyone but you, Abby and I know what Jayla has been doing. She's been turning people into wolves for her army for longer than you've been around."

"But then why isn't the black w- why isn't Warren under Jayla's mind control?"

"The Rule of Innocence," the Woodsman explained. "Once Warren...changed, I asked around, looked for answers. I learned about the laws of magic. One of the laws states that if the subject is innocent the magic has less effect. He's been this way since he was five. It's been about eight years. He'd be thirteen now." The Woodsman looked at the ground and scuffed the dead carpet of leaves and soil with a toe.

"When we had Klate it made me realize I never want any harm to come to him and I- I can't stand having Warren this way any longer. It's been real hard on Abby and me."

"And what did you want to ask me?"

The Woodsman took a deep breath.

"To break the curse," he said. Abby gasped.

"Clefton Theodore Woods, it is not her job to run off on crazy errands for us. You know she-,"

"Well who else is gonna do it, Abby? You've gotta take care of Klate and we can't get along without me cuttin' wood. She's brave."

"She's the Princess! Her parents are probably worried sick by now. You can't send the kingdom's only heir to find a harp guarded by a giant, of all things!"

"Hold it, hold it, what's this about a harp and a giant?" I asked.

"The antidote," Abby said with a huff as though she couldn't tolerate such nonsense, "to Warren's condition, is the strum of the strings of a harp, which Jayla conveniently decided to place under the protection of a giant."

"A giant? As in an, eat you raw, invincible, castle sized, genuine giant? I thought they'd all moved back into the mountains or gone extinct after the Giant War?"

"There were a few up until recently living in the countryside," the Woodsman said. "I've heard of a few living in the outermost villages in the Howling Peaks. But this one is a, ah, unique case."

I felt my insides squirm with nervousness and excitement.

"So you want me to go steal a harp from a giant?"

"No. Of course we don't," Abby said, looking sternly at her husband.

"Abby-,"

"No, Clef. I am not going to put her in that position."