Page 13 of Shared By the Werebears
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’sbad.”
“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 iswantingto Shift—you have to have thedesireto 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 Shiftto 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.
“IthinkI can. I have a recipe for a good Hex-breaking potion in my family grimoire. However, I need the right ingredients to make it.”
“The right ingredients? What are those?” Finn asked cautiously.
Goody Albright named them off on her fingers.
“I’ll need a vial of moonflower sap…a pinch of powdered Werebear claw, willingly donated…as well as a few strands of hair from the ones who are cursed. Other than the hair, of course, I can get all of that right here, in Hidden Hollow. But there’s one more ingredient I can’t get—something that only the cursed one can get.”
“What’s that?” Ronan asked, raising his eyebrows skeptically.
“Well, if the stag your friend killed really was one of Madam Locasta’s special, blessed beasts, then a bitter berry bush should have sprung up in the place where its blood was spilled,” Goody A explained. “I’ll need berries from that bush to add to the potion to use as a magical activator. That allows the potion to grab onto your particular curse and wash it out of your system when you drink it,” she added.
“So you want us to go back to the place where we were cursed tofind some special berries that might or might not be there? Yeah, right,” Ronan snorted.
“Ronan is right—what if the, uh, demi-goddess woman is there and she just decides to blast us to dust this time?” Finn asked, frowning.
“Look, do you wish to be free of your curse or not?” Goody Albright asked, looking irritated.
“Ofcoursewe do!” Ronan growled. “We’re just not eager to go back for a second helping of punishment!”
Goody A sighed and shrugged her shoulders, which made the ostrich feathers on her dressing gown flutter.
“Well, it’s up to you. I can’t brew the potion without the berries.”
