Granny Thayer, Demon Slayer || Collab with SophieKestrel

Chapter 9: Broken Brakes and Rutabagas

Kingsley's mouth fell open in horror, but his terror paled in comparison to that of LB, who blanched, his face going whiter than the zombified turnips that snuffled aimlessly around them.

"Yeah," he muttered, shuffling toward Bruce and fumbling with the reins. "We better get outta here. Like, right now."

"Wait a minute," said Violet. "She's terrorized you too?"

LB shook his head and didn't reply.

"Well then," said Violet, "I guess we'd better get going."

Kingsley was already striding toward Bruce. He and LB had a brief faceoff over who would ride in front; ultimately LB lost and ended up in the rear.

"Excuse me," said the old woman. Amidst the recent panic, Violet had almost forgotten she was there. Now, Violet's stomach sank as the other woman hobbled forward, blocking their path. She raised her cane and jabbed it aggressively at Kingsley.  "I am the mayor of this town! I have met many important people in my day, and I could've sworn I recognize—"

"I'm afraid this isn't a great time," said Violet. "We're in a bit of a hurry. You see—"

"KINGSLEY!" screamed a voice.

For the first time since developing superpowers, Violet cursed her enhanced hearing. A few cotton balls could only do so much against an aural assault of this magnitude. Even Kinglsey's high quality ones were no match for it, though they were (he'd assured her) a most elite brand.

The old woman tried to grab Bruce's reins. He sidestepped her with an aggrieved neigh.

"Please move," Violet said. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"Just sweep her outta the way with your superpowers, why don't you?" LB called frantically from the horse.

Saya screamed Prince Kingsley's name again. This time, her voice was much closer than before.

"That's it, I'm out!" LB yelled–and to Violet's consternation, he leapt off the horse and bolted for the forest at top speed. Kingsley cried out for him to come back. Violet made to follow him. But it was too late.

Saya was upon them.

~*~

Picture, if you will, as many boxes as you can imagine, stuffed into the bed of one medium-sized, rather put-upon wagon. Now, add five camping tents, a lyre, forty pounds of makeup, and an additional thirty bags of produce jammed haphazardly into every available crevice, and you might have a rough estimate of the sheer quantity of supplies Saya Mori had brought with her on this trip.

Although the laws of physics do not always apply in a fantasy world, the authors had decided—unfortunately for Violet and company—that this was one time they definitely did apply. Specifically, Newton's second law of physics, which states the net force of an object is equal to its acceleration times its mass.

And in this particular case, the mass of Saya's wagon was very large indeed.

"I CAN'T STOP!" Saya bellowed. "I THINK MY BRAKES ARE BROKEN."

On top of Bruce, Prince Kingsley sat frozen. He seemed to have forgotten how to move. This was unfortunate, because Bruce remembered how to move, but as a military horse, he'd been trained to remain stalwart and wait for commands, even when a massive army was bearing down upon him.

Or, in this case, a very heavy wagon.

At the last moment, Violet swooped in. She let out a supernatural burst of speed, flung herself at Kingsley, Bruce, and the old woman (Jiggles, being the sensible soul he was, had already removed himself from the vicinity), and snatched them out of the path of the oncoming wagon.