The Curse of Thorns

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

"Look! The hut!" Leon yelled.

"It's coming!" Briar yelled back, fear tightening her voice.

"Right at us!" Leon pointed out.

"To kill us!" Briar couldn't tear her gaze away from the lumbering hut.

Between the trees and over the rocks, the hut bounded toward them. Surprisingly fast for a hut with chicken legs.

"Return the book immediately!" The hut boomed. Its door, half-melted, swung with the force of its voice.

The magic book whimpered inside Briar's satchel.

"The book belongs to Baba Yaga," the hut yelled.

"The book belongs to the forest fairies," Briar shot back. "Your witch had taken it."

"Thieves!" the hut accused, its anger echoing through the trees.

In an instant, the windows burst open, and knives flew out from the hut.

Briar and Leon screamed, diving for cover. The knives zipped through the air, stabbing into the trees. One blade grazed Briar, missing her arm by a hair's breadth.

After the knives, the hut began hurling logs their way. And when it ran out of logs, it started flinging whatever else it could find.

The hut hurled a wooden chair, and it smacked Leon on the back. The force of the blow knocked the prince to the ground, the breath rushing out of him in a pained gasp.

Before he could recover, the hut dashed toward him. One massive leg rose into the air, poised to strike.

"Leon, get up!" Briar screamed. She darted toward him. Just as the hut's leg began its descent, Briar grabbed Leon by the arm, yanking him up with all her strength.

"I didn't know the hut could run!" the prince yelled, his voice strained with exertion as they stumbled onto a rocky path.

"Leon, it has legs!" Briar said as she dared a glance behind them. The hut barreled after them, its chicken legs navigating the rocky terrain with unsettling quickness. Shards of broken glass flew from its windows, whizzing past them and clattering on the forest floor.

"Return the book," the hut kept chanting. Its voice echoed through the forest. "Return the book."

Briar and Leon ran blindly, their surroundings swallowed by darkness. The pale light of the moon was consumed by the thick canopy of trees, leaving them in near-complete darkness. Navigating the forest in daylight was challenging enough. Now, it felt like an impossible task.

Briar's breaths came in wheezing gasps, her legs burning with exhaustion. It felt like they had been running for hours. The hut showed no signs of slowing down. Why would it? It was magical. And the hut wouldn't give until it got the book. It ran after them, yelling and waking up the wild animals of the forest. Briar was scared it would wake up more trouble for them.

"We can't run from the hut forever," Briar yelled. "And it knows every inch of the forest by heart. We have to do something."

"I want to chop its legs off," Leon said furiously. "Yes, let's do that."

"I don't know if chopping the legs will hurt it," Briar replied. "It's magical."

"But it cried when we burned the door," the prince pointed out.

"Oh yes. I didn't think about that," Briar said, her mind racing. The hut was just a few feet away from them, its monstrous legs thudding heavily on the ground.

"If the hut doesn't have legs, it can't follow us," Leon said menacingly, his hands tightening around the hilt of his sword.

"I don't want to cut the entire leg," Briar said softly. Despite the danger, she felt a pang of pity for the hut. It was only doing its job, following orders from Baba Yaga.