Page 19 of Axe-Rated Lumberjack

Oh, my.

“Thank you.” I resisted the urge to tug at my cardigan. “I thought I’d wear something a little more cheerful today.”

“Good choice.”

He smiled, and I suddenly felt considerably better about the fifteen minutes I’d spent interrogating my wardrobe.

“Come on,” I said, leading him toward the recording room. “We’ve got a dragon to liberate from a tree, and I suspect he’s getting impatient.”

“Considering where we left him yesterday, I’m amazed he hasn’t hired a lawyer.”

I was still laughing when we reached the back bedroom.

I’d arranged the day’s script pages in recording order, with the shorter passages toward the front and the more demanding scenes marked for later. Hudson accepted his copy and settled into the position we’d worked out Thursday evening while I checked the equipment.

He remembered to stand slightly back from the microphone and adjusted the pop filter without touching the microphone. When I asked him to read a few lines for levels, he kept his voice natural instead of projecting toward the far wall.

Progress already.

Unfortunately, it lasted approximately four minutes.

“Hang on,” Hudson said, lowering his script. “What’s a splitting maul doing in this scene?”

I looked up from the workstation. “I believe Isadora is supposed to use it to break Drake’s curse.”

“She’s trying to chop through a petrified tree with a splitting maul?”

“It’s enchanted.”

“That doesn’t explain why she’s using the wrong tool.”

I leaned back in my chair. “Would you like me to explain the distinction, or have you already prepared a lecture?”

“Wouldn’t dream of lecturing you.” His eyes crinkled. “But a maul’s designed to split logs, not cut a standing tree. And petrified wood is basically stone. Unless that thing’s made of something extraordinary, she’s going to have an unpleasant afternoon.”

“It’s made of moon-forged iron.”

He considered that. “I’ve never worked with moon-forged iron. Does it come with a warranty?”

I pressed my lips together, but laughter escaped anyway.

Hudson grinned and pointed to the manuscript. “Seriously, though, she gets a clean diagonal cut out of it three paragraphs later. A maul wouldn’t do that.”

He was right about the inconsistency. I made a production note beside the passage so Bridget could decide whether it warranted a clarification from the editorial team.

“Thank you. I’ll flag the terminology, but we need to record the scene as written unless Folio authorizes a change.”

“Fair enough. I’ve agreed to be the dragon, not his equipment inspector.”

“Although I imagine he’d benefit from having one.”

“More than you know.”

With that settled, I returned to the beginning of the scene.

Isadora had followed Drake into the cursed forest, determined to free him from a spell that had imprisoned him inside an ancient tree. The dialogue was dramatic, the magic thoroughly ridiculous, and the emotional stakes surprisingly touching.

I’d already recorded most of Isadora’s material, but I wanted Hudson to hear the desperation beneath her words before attempting Drake’s response. I played him a short section of my completed narration.