Chapter Twenty-Three #2
Big Red eventually got tired of me pulling on their neck, and they began spinning and bucking and lurching like a rodeo bull, desperate to throw me off their back. I dug my fingers into the wolf’s fur until they ached, and gripped my thighs around the wolf’s belly until they burned.
I am going to be ungodly sore after this.
But at least now, Big Red’s attention wasn’t on the other witches.
The wolf howled and spun and kicked its legs into the air, its frenzy giving the witches plenty of time to run to safety.
Including Rowena, who was crouched behind a hay bale.
I could barely see her face, but I could tell from her tense, desperate posture how much she wished she could help me. I knew she felt hopeless.
Finally, Big Red paused and turned around, giving me a second to readjust my grip. My muscles screamed in relief at the brief respite.
But then the wolf took off again, this time bolting as fast as they could across the pumpkin patch. I desperately hung on, my torso flailing rhythmically with the wolf’s galloping strides. Behind me, I could see the other witches getting further and further away.
Too far. If Big Red took me someplace where the witches couldn’t help me, I would certainly end up dead.
As Big Red continued bolting across the field, my ears began to ring. Black spots hovered in my vision, and my stomach was lurching and swirling like a water jug. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold on, but if Big Red didn’t stop soon, I was either going to vomit or faint.
Or both.
No . I tugged on the wolf’s neck as it altered course away from the pumpkin patch.
You are not taking me into the woods.
Big Red fought against me, twisting and writhing its head while they reared partway up on their front legs. A wave of nausea smacked me in the stomach, and I closed my eyes, begging for it to go away.
Big Red dropped to the ground just to immediately rear up again, this time twisting in midair and coming down on their side. I hadn’t expected this, and I lost my grip and plummeted to the ground next to the wolf, just barely missing its giant red body as my chest smacked into the ground.
I lay there like a rag doll, my lungs aching with every breath and my mind fading in and out of consciousness.
I knew I had failed.
I was alone, too far away from the other witches to be able to see them, and at the mercy of a gigantic red wolf that I’d been pissing off for the past thirty minutes.
I didn’t see this ending well. Even if Big Red didn’t kill me, I was fairly certain that the fall had broken some ribs and knocked my brain around my skull.
I didn’t know how much longer I could stay conscious.
But as the seconds passed, Big Red’s body never hovered over mine. I didn’t have their fangs in my face. I wasn’t staring hopelessly down that hungry red throat.
I didn’t want to risk moving my injured torso, so I slowly tilted my head to the left, taking shallow breaths as I fought against the pain.
Big Red was standing a few feet away, hunched in a defensive posture as it let out deep, wheezing exhales.
They were tired.
Exhausted.
Too exhausted to harm me, or even to run away.
This is my chance, I told myself, even as every muscle in my body protested my movements. I just need to get up.
I lifted my torso a few inches, and the stabbing bolts of pain nearly made me scream.
Get up .
Just… get… up…
I rolled onto my side, clutching my injured ribs as I struggled to get my feet beneath me. It had been such a struggle just to move my body – standing up was going to be damn near impossible.
I needed help. But there were no other witches in sight.
Not that I wanted them to come over here. I didn’t want to put them at risk.
I lifted my body up further.
That’s it.
You can do this.
To my left, Big Red was still catching their breath, eyeing me warily with those eerie, glowing white orbs. It almost looked… concerned . Like it was coming out of its rage. Regaining some semblance of humanity.
Or maybe I was just delirious from shock and pain.
I made it up onto my knees, my body wavering like a top, before I collapsed.
I tried again. And again. Finally, on the third attempt, I was able to stand up, though I was wobbling so severely that a strong breeze would likely knock me over.
My ribs burned like they never had before. It felt like my entire chest would fall apart if I moved too much.
Just one foot… in front of the other…
Suddenly, I felt a tight, curling sensation around my torso, just below my breasts. I froze, pain replaced by panic as I wondered if this was some sort of werewolf trap.
I lifted a hand to my chest and gingerly touched the space just below my rib cage.
Vines?
“Nettie!”
A dark, shadowy figure appeared at the other end of the field, sprinting rapidly towards me.
It was Rowena. She had used her chloromancer powers to create a brace around my ribs.
“Rowena…” I croaked, barely able to get air into my lungs. “Stay… back…”
She leapt in front of me, protectively ushering me behind her back, as she conjured more vines around Big Red’s feet.
“No…” I pleaded between wheezing breaths. “Rowena… stop…”
She didn’t stop. But I knew what she was doing. Like me, she was desperate. She likely thought that now that Big Red was tired, if she could just get the beast restrained, I’d have a chance at calming her down.
But I was battered. Broken. On the edge of losing consciousness, and barely able to stand upright. If I took another fall off Big Red’s back, it could kill me.
Rowena was able to make more progress with her vines this time. But as soon as they reached Big Red’s knees, the giant wolf began to thrash. Some of the smaller vines snapped, cracking back toward the earth like whips.
Rowena’s powers alone weren’t going to be enough to restrain Big Red.
“Where are the other witches?” I asked, still struggling for breath.
Rowena didn’t answer, focusing all of her energy on her spellcasting. Big Red nearly had their front left foot free, and I could tell they were recovering from their exhaustion and gaining a second burst of energy.
But Rowena’s silence told me what the real answer was. They were terrified. They likely believed that this plan was a failure, and that charging into the field to help me would put them at risk. After all, unlike Rowena and I, a single bite would forever alter their lives.
I couldn’t blame them.
I was losing hope, too.
”We need… more help…” I wheezed, just as Big Red got their other front foot free. “More… help…”
I lost my footing and fell to my knees, clutching a palm against the brace around my chest.
If we’d had help…
Maybe we could’ve done it…
Maybe…
A sudden, harsh blast of air whipped me in the back.
I froze, my spine stiff as a board. The wind had been quiet all night.
That couldn’t have been natural.
Which means…
Aria’s tiny, translucent form sprang ferociously toward Big Red, pausing just a few feet away from the wolf’s snarling jaws. The air elemental stood up on two paws, bracing herself just like Rowena did, as individual cones of wind sealed themselves around each of Big Red’s legs.
Now, between the vines and the tornadoes, Big Red was locked in place. They gave up struggling against the restraints within a few seconds. Even they feared that this time, there would be no escape.
So instead of attempting to break free, Big Red turned their attention to me. They growled, exposing their large, yellow, interlocking fangs, and thrashed their head wildly in the air.
At first, I’d been terrified that Big Red would catch Aria and harm her. She was a powerful air elemental, but she was also incredibly small, and I worried about her in the way I imagined a mother would fear for their offspring.
But as Aria darted around Big Red’s paws, casting more currents of wind to cover the wolf’s ears and eyes, I realized her size gave her an advantage.
Because her body was so tiny and translucent, Big Red didn’t see her, and therefore didn’t realize where the wind spells were coming from.
Aria realized this too, and in a bold move that made me nearly cry out in fear, she crawled up the Big Red’s head and bound the wolf’s muzzle with a cone of wind.
The whole time Aria worked, I stood there, dumbfounded and exhausted, clutching my aching ribs and wondering if I’d just witnessed a miracle.
Ten minutes ago, I thought I would die.
Now we had another chance to end this.
Big Red was completely incapacitated. The swirling cones of wind bound their feet and jaws, and they were blinded and deafened by the tornado around their head. I had expected the wolf to be even more pissed, but somehow, it was completely still. Not fighting against the wind at all.
Maybe they just seemed calm because they were immobile. Or maybe Big Red losing all of their senses caused them to enter some sort of trance.
I stumbled toward the restrained wolf, my back arched as I fought against the aching pain in my lungs, and placed a very sore hand on top of the wolf’s forehead.
I was right next to Big Red’s jaws. If they broke free of the wind restraints, they could easily bite my neck and kill me. But it was a risk I had to take. I wasn’t willing to climb back onto the giant wolf and possibly get thrown off.
Big Red was still angry, lonesome, and confused. But those emotions were duller than before, and there were several new ones floating through their mind. Pain. Exhaustion. Hopelessness.
Fear.
The giant red wolf, the menace of Wisteria Grove, now feared us.
I closed my eyes, steadied my breathing, and began to think. This wasn’t like calming down Rowena, where I could simply flood her mind with happy memories of us and override any negative emotion she was feeling. I didn’t know Big Red. I didn’t know what would make them happy.