The Red Axe

'The Red Axe' by S.R. Crockett is a tale that begins by introducing us to a young boy named Hugo Gottfried, who lives in the City of Thorn, the high capital city of all the Wolfmark. As a child with a crimson patch sewn on his clothes, he is shunned and bullied by the other children who call him part of the "foul brood of the Red Axe." One night, he wakes up crying and climbs to the top of the tower where he watches the city in the snow and moonlight. This is the night he first meets the Little Playmate, and from that moment, his life changes forever.