Chapter 21 #4
Coral watched as a giant snowball hit the witch right between the eyes.
“Take that, you big old meanie!”
Redd let out a maniacal laugh and high-fived Faye.
She was fighting a witch with crazy women. Jake was right. She was going to die.
Redd motioned for her. “Come on, Coral, we need your help!”
She took a tentative step forward. The witch was reeling and roaring from the snowball. But then the light from the moon glinted off of something around the sea witch’s neck. Coral was struck with a thought.
“The amulet!” she yelled and pointed to the charm hanging around the sea witch’s neck. She turned towards Redd. “Her weakness! That’s where her power comes from.”
Coral saw the determination in Redd’s eyes as she nodded at her.
“Now we have something to aim for!” Redd smiled back at her.
“If I shrink her down, can you get at her necklace?” Faye asked.
Redd’s hair glimmered in the moonlight as she nodded. “Yes. Get that witch on the Keto Diet! Shrink her down a few sizes!”
Coral and Redd stood back as Faye brought herself directly in front of the Sea Witch. She closed her eyes and pointed her wand at the hag. The wind intensified and there was a crack of thunder in the distance. Faye’s blonde hair lifted off of her shoulders as the air swept around her.
Coral was blinded by a bright flash of light, and a loud bang went off as she and Redd hit the cold, hard ground. Glancing up, she saw the witch had not shrunk in size but was now a giant crab. She scurried back and forth in front of them as she snapped her claws.
Redd pulled Coral to her feet as Faye approached them. “That wasn’t what I was going for, sorry. I think I still have some wires crossed.”
A howling wind came whipping past them, throwing ice and snow in their eyes, temporarily blinding them. As they turned their backs to the wind, waiting for it to calm, Coral fingered the dagger in her pocket.
“Alright, let’s get this show on the road!” Redd piped up as soon as the wind subsided.
Faye and Redd advanced on the sea witch crab, but Coral’s feet stalled. She looked up again, hoping her eyes were deceiving her. Where was Jake? He no longer floated in a bubble overhead. Panic overtook her.
“Jake!” she screamed. “Where is he?”
Faye stopped with her wand raised in midair. She looked straight up where the bubble that had held Jake had been just moments ago.
Redd raised her sword. “I found him.” She sounded determined as she squared off against the giant sea witch crab.
Coral’s eyes shot up to where Redd had trained her gaze. Jake! The witch had him ensnared in one of her claws, and his body hung limply.
“Take me instead!” she screamed at the witch.
“Coral, no,” Faye whispered beside her. “She’ll kill you both.”
The defeat and helplessness Coral saw in her friend’s face sent her into a rage. She leapt forward, pulling the dagger from her pocket and aiming at one of the giant crab legs. The dagger thudded uselessly against the hard shell, and Coral fell backwards upon impact.
The sea witch crab let out an angry sounding cry. Coral looked from where she lay on the frozen ground to see Jake writhing in her grasp. His complexion turned ashen as he struggled against the claw that held him.
Watching all of the color drain from his body and his fight lessen in intensity, Coral knew she was watching him die.
She pulled herself to her feet, doubling back over as soon as she stood.
She placed her hands on her knees, her chest heaving, and her mind spinning.
They were all going to die, and it was all her fault.
She felt the hot tears hit her cheeks just as Redd let out a shout beside her.
“Release him!” Redd charged forward, her sword raised, battle ready.
“Freeze, sea scum!” Faye yelled from behind them. Instantly the crab’s scurrying to and fro stopped, as if she were frozen where she stood.
Coral and Redd looked at each other in astonishment, then back at Faye, who shrugged her shoulders. “Froze her.” She kept her wand pointed towards the sea witch crab, then added in a surprised tone, “It worked!”
They heard a loud crack and looked up to see Jake falling through the air. He landed with a loud thud at their feet.
Redd and Coral each took hold of one side of Jake, trying to slide him out of the clearing. Faye picked up his feet and the three of them slid him away from the sea witch crab.
“Ugh,” Jake mumbled as he rolled his head from side to side. “Coral?”
She dropped to her knees beside him as Redd and Faye turned to fight the approaching sea crab.
“I’m here.” Her heart flooded with relief as she brushed his hair back from his eyes.
His wound from the wolf fight was healing nicely, and she was happy to see he didn’t have any injuries from his capture.
The color returned to his face as he pulled in deep breaths.
“Why do I have snow in my pants?” he asked grumpily.
“Sorry, we tried to carry you, but we had to drag you.”
He sat up, taking in the scene of Faye and Redd defending them from a giant crab.
“What is going on?”
“She kidnapped you, but we came to your rescue.” She smiled as a bolt of lightning shot down beside them, followed by Faye’s apologies. They heard Redd yell out a war cry and say something about cooking up crab legs for dinner.
“You’re like a pack of hyperactive kittens. Get back to the lodge and let me handle this,” he ordered as he struggled to his feet.
She helped him stand but then crossed her arms across her chest and gave him her best withering glare. “I am not going anywhere, Jake Hill. You can help if you want, but we’ve got this handled.”
Just then Faye yelled back to them, “A little help here!”
They turned to find Redd on Faye’s shoulders, swinging her sword wildly towards the angry sea witch crab.
Jake pulled Redd off of Faye. “I have a better idea.” He tugged Redd with him towards a nearby tree and gave her a boost.
Redd scaled the branches in record time, bringing herself eye level with the witch. “Get her to come closer!”
Coral and Faye started waving their hands, trying to get the witch to look towards them, then they ran in Redd and Jake’s direction.
The sea witch crab wobbled and scurried across the snow and ice. As she approached, Redd shimmied herself further down a branch.
“Careful!” Jake yelled, just as the branch cracked and Redd started dropping back towards the earth.
Coral shrieked in horror and threw herself into Jake as she covered her eyes, terrified to see her friend hit the ground.
But when she didn’t hear anything, she took her hands from her eyes and glanced up.
Redd was levitating in the air. Coral looked next to her and saw Faye with her wand aimed towards the sky.
Her skin had taken on a glow, and it almost look like she had light shining out of her.
“You got me?” Redd asked as she looked back down at Faye.
Faye gave a slight nod through her concentration.
“How is she doing that?” Jake asked Coral, who shrugged in reply, too caught up in the display of magick to formulate an answer.
Seemingly satisfied with Faye’s answer, Redd leaned forward and hooked her sword under the necklace the sea witch crab still wore. She flicked her wrist, and the amulet crashed to the ground. Coral scrambled to get it before the witch brought down her snapping claws.
Jake positioned himself under Redd and held out his arms. “You can let her go now.”
Faye let out a sigh of relief and lowered her wand as Redd let out a squeal of joy over her quick descent and fell safely into Jake’s arms with a grin.
Coral tried to stomp on the amulet, but it wouldn’t break under her foot. She kicked it and let out a cry of frustration.
“Stand back,” Jake said as he came up behind her.
She took a step back, and Jake smashed his sword down on the charm, effectively breaking it into hundreds of pieces.
The sea witch crab let out a strangled cry as pin points of light started shooting out from inside of her.
Jake pushed Coral down to the snowy ground and covered her with his body.
The ground shook with what felt like an explosion, and Coral fought to find her breath as Jake’s weight settled on top of her.
Suddenly, everything was quiet, and Coral was only aware of Jake’s labored breathing in her ear. He slowly got up off of her and helped her to her feet. As she stood, she thought she glimpsed a large silver wolf retreating through the trees, but she couldn’t be too sure of what she saw.
She looked back towards where the sea witch crab had been only to find a large circle of melted snow, the grass green and wet where the witch once stood.
Faye and Redd were twirling and dancing in the circle.
Jake pulled Coral into his arms. “Aren’t you going to join your friends in their victory dance?” He released her, and Coral laughed and ran to join them.
Jake knelt beside the fire and added another log before pulling the screen shut in front. He glanced back to where Coral sat on the couch. She pulled off her shoes and stripped off her wet socks, and they hit the floor with a thud.
He walked over and pulled her to her feet. “Didn’t you already get scolded for going outside without being properly dressed for the weather?” he teased.
Her face flushed and he assumed she was recalling their first meeting, when Bertram had threatened to spank her for being out in the cold in a sweatshirt. “I was sort of in a rush. My bumbling boyfriend got himself kidnapped.” She puffed her chest up at him and failed at holding in her laughter.
“Bumbling, huh?” He lifted her off her feet and she squealed. He tossed her on the bed and hooked his fingers in the waistband of her pants. Whisking them and her panties off in one motion, he grinned down at her. “Who’s bumbling now?”
She giggled in response and tried to rise from the bed, but Jake pushed her back down.
“Let’s get you out of these wet clothes,” he said. He pulled her shirt over her head, then snapped off her bra before shucking his own clothes and lying down beside her.
“Thanks for saving me, Jake,” she whispered.
He gave her a look. “You girls had it handled. But I’m glad I was there to help. I guess I should thank you for saving me.”
“Yeah, good thing I was there!” She gave him a crooked grin. “You should keep me around in case you find yourself in trouble again. You might need more saving.”
He returned her smile and rolled her onto her tummy. “You’re the one who can’t keep herself out of trouble.” He brought his hand down in a loud smack on her naked butt. “But I don’t mind too much.”
Coral giggled and wiggled her bottom up at him.
He responded by peppering her cheeks in a flurry of slaps.
She continued to laugh at his playful tap—until he brought his hand down with more intensity.
He spanked her hard two more times before she looked at him over her shoulder.
He smiled at her confused look. “I just can’t keep my hands off your sexy ass. ”
She giggled and rolled onto her back, squirming out of his hold.
“There’s plenty of other parts of me that wouldn’t mind having your hands on them,” she said.
He came up to his knees and grabbed her ankles.
He pulled her legs up and spanked her with his hand as she let out a surprised yelp.
He paddled one side, then the other, until she was begging him to stop.
Then he released her ankles, letting her legs fall back to the bed, and caught her lips in a deep kiss.
“I’m done spanking when I’m done, not just because you’re horny,” he said, following up with a smile, hoping she caught the teasing tone in his voice.
“Yes, sir,” she said in a sultry tone and opened her legs to him, “whatever you say.” She pulled him closer to her, and he positioned himself in front of her.
Jake brought his body over hers, but then started to pull away. “I forgot to get a condom,” he said.
She pulled him back down. “It’s fine. I’m on birth control.”
He situated himself back between her legs and ran his hands down her body. “Maybe we could talk about you going off of that after the wedding,” he told her.
Her eyes widened in surprise. “Whose wedding?”
“Our wedding.” He wrapped his hands around her hips as he sank his length into her. “I’d be a fool to let you get away.”
She let out a moan of pleasure, then ran her nails down his naked chest. “I’d be a fool to leave.”
“I love you, my little water nymph.”
“I love you too.”
He stopped any more conversation by sinking himself further into her, rocking his hips in and out in a steady rhythm. His hand found her nub and he caressed her until her body quaked beneath him. Then he found his own release as she called out his name.
Bringing himself next to her, Jake tucked Coral against his chest, spooning her from behind, both too exhausted from the eventful day and night to do more than sleep.