"Come and try it, then!" shouted Esme. She floated a little further off of the floor, and with a wave of her hand sent a ripple of dark energy into the ground, which buckled and shoved them back.

  "Captain," shouted Ian as he toppled over, "If you can push her into the cabin you can corner her there. It isn't very large!"

  "I c'n see that, Mr. Blackwing," said Montague, who had managed to keep her feet, "but maybe y'shouldn't shout your plans out where the enemy can hear?"

  Indeed, in response Esme had floated out the door, just a touch closer to them.

  Ian pushed himself up, with some difficulty. The earth beneath his feet seemed to grow softer, almost like mud despite the dryness. Or perhaps it was more like the forest floor was reaching up to surround him. "Keep moving, everyone!" He grabbed Jamie and pulled him up out of the mire. Giving the Boy a look directly in the eye, he nodded towards the house. "Focus on keeping yourself healed if she hurts you, Jamie. Don't worry about us so much, and she won't bother targeting you."

  "Not the time to become selfless, Mr. Blackwing!" shouted Montague. Tendrils of green vines were reaching up from the cracked earth, grabbing at her sword.

  Esme's magic wasn't working the same way it had before. Drawing on the ley energy was giving her a strong connection to the forest and the land. Unfortunate. That probably made her more dangerous in a direct confrontation.

  "If she's trying to disarm you, she's afraid of your sword. She's levitating, but clearly she can't actually fly!"

  "Flyin' high enough already," the Captain muttered, leveling her pistol at the witch instead. There was the usual loud crack and the usual smoke. Dark energy converged over Esme, who lacked the usual profuse bleeding. Still, she winced and glared down at Montague. The infusion of magic was making her much tougher, tough enough to take a gunshot--but not tough enough to ignore it completely. They weren't winning yet, but they hadn't lost.

  "Press her, Captain," Ian said, "and I'll do what I can to break her connection."

  "Oh sure, just give me the easy job," snapped Montague, though she didn't take her eyes off of Esme. She fired again, pressing closer, her steps deliberate... though that may have been because the bubbling earth was still trying to grapple her.

  Esme drifted back away from her, but concentrating on her spellwork meant she wasn't moving that quickly. She also wasn't paying much attention to Ian.

  He thought back to Adelchis and Lily ganging up on him (the imps... didn't count). It was useful to have allies, even if they were simple brutes who most swung bits of metal around.

  The earth surged around him, and Ian let it. He focused on the magical energy coursing through it, and drew some of it out into his hands. The rippling seemed marginally less intense. Ian used that stolen power to enhance his spell as he formed a fistful of fire, which he hurled at Esme. It struck her, the dark energy again coalescing to protect her. She didn't seem scorched, but she still shot him a glare. They were getting through, little by little.

  Esme flicked a hand in Ian's direction, and he felt himself sinking. Not just into the grasping earth, but sagging under his own weight. Ah. That was more like the curses he'd seen from Esme's spells before, if stronger. Ian grasped at the magical energy of the curse and pulled it away from himself, like taking off a cloak. But it lingered. Breaking curses was still not his forte, and doing it properly would take time.

  It would be worse if that curse of weakness fell on Montague, so Ian focused on reinforcing her. Also very much not a specialty of his, but he was an expert on curses. A shell of antimagic, but focused specifically to repel and weaken curses. It wouldn't totally protect her, but it may help dampen the effects. Ian changed his incantation, focusing on that. An aura of his own dark power surrounded her, helping repel Esme's magic.

  Montague had gotten closer. She really looked like she didn't quite know how to handle a floating enemy. Esme wasn't totally out of her reach, but she was swiping her blade at her knees. That... probably wasn't how she usually used it? Ian really needed to learn more about sword techniques, if only to defend himself from them more properly.

  Keeping Montague shielded. Keeping the earth from surrounding him. Casting the occasional bolt of fire towards Esme. It was a lot of spells to keep up. Ian started tiring, and he didn't think it was because of the curse. Not entirely because of the curse, anyway. Esme was at least a little to blame, he could give her credit for that.

  Ian watched as Montague's blade made contact, slashing across Esme's hip and cutting a line through her dress but... no blood. The magical reinforcement was making her so durable. Ian was flagging, and if he faltered Esme's curse of weakness would probably take Montague out of the fight as well.

  "Ian!" shouted Jamie, "Is this what you wanted me to get?" The three of them stopped fighting and swiveled, looking at the doorway where Jamie stood, holding aloft a glass orb that glowed with swirling green and white light.

  Esme had let slip, when they first met her, that she was looking for an object left for her by her grandfather. That might have been a lie, but there had to be something, whether an object or a fixture, which was the focus for the ritual collecting the magical energy drawn from the nexus. That was... probably it? "I don't know--"

  "NO!" shouted Esme, rounding on Jamie as dark energy swirled around her.

  "That's it, Jamie, smash it!"

  Lightning burst from Esme's eyes, and darkness coalesced around her hands as she seethed, diving forward through the air towards the acolyte. Montague released her weapons and leapt into the air, wrapping her arms around the witch's waist and dragging her down towards the ground.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Jamie hurled the orb down towards the ground outside of the cabin, where it landed with a soft pff as it struck the soft earth.

  "I said SMASH IT, Jamie!"

  The Boy turned read and jumped down from the floating cabin. He dug for the orb as Esme writhed in Montague's grip.

  Esme tried to cast a spell, but the Captain grappled with her, working to pin her arms. Ian fired another blast of flame at her, though it may have singed Montague a little as well.

  She didn't even yell at him, which was a little startling. Montague's face mostly just showed anger and effort, gleaming with sweat, but the unusual level of focus...

  Esme raised an arm, pointing towards Jamie. Montague punched her in the face and twisted her around, forcing her down towards the dirt. As the two women grappled, it was obvious that Montague was the more skilled, and undeniably the stronger. But trying to hold back a floating opponent who was so resilient to physical attack was... well, Ian couldn't do it. Montague was faring better, but Esme still pulled away from her.

  Just in time for Jamie to get hands on the orb and slam it into the floor of the floating cabin.

  The CRACK as the orb shattered seemed to split the forest in two.

  Jamie fell over. Aside from being one of his favorite pastimes, the energy from the exploding orb threw him back.

  The green and white energy flowed from the crystal, back down into the ground, reinfusing the forest. At once the ground seemed firmer, and also greener as grass began to grow at an astonishing rate, retaking the earth from where it had withered. The nearby trees looked healthier. The cabin fell to earth, and began to collapse in on itself. This was inevitable, as one would expect of an ancient, already collapsing structure that had fallen several feet. But it was also at least partially due to the vines and other vegetation bursting up through the earth, wrapping around the house, and pulling it down.

  "No!" said Esme, "No, no, no! You--you can't stop me! I have all of the power of this accursed--"

  "We did stop ye," said Montague, matter-of-factly. She was holding Esme's arms behind her back; this task seemed to have become much easier for her now that Esme was once again planted on the ground. "That part's well established, I'd say."

  Esme struggled against Montague's grip.

  "Captain," said Jamie, "she's lost. Just let her go."

  Montague raised an eyebrow and looked at Jamie appraisingly. "Aye lad," she said, "I s'pose she has." She released her hold on the witch, who staggered forward. And then, with a wide grin, she hopped into the air and kicked out, planting both of her boots on Esme's back and sending her sprawling through the threshold of the cabin, where she sprawled on the floor.

  She scrambled around and glared at them, raising her hands to cast another spell.

  And then, with horrible groan and a lurch that shuddered through the entire clearing, the roof came down on her.

  They watched as the entire cabin, creaking and cracking and groaning, was pulled down into the earth, muffling the last of the Wicked witch's cries.

  "Well, that went well enough, I'd say," said Montague, dusting off her hands and collecting her dropped weapons. "Put y'r tongue back in y'r mouth, lad," she said to Jamie, who was staring, horror-struck at the space where the cabin had disappeared, "afore a fairy steals it."

  Grass grew, and even some small trees started to appear where the cabin had been. But Ian noted there were still narrow lines leading to the nexus where the grass grew but quickly withered, looking dry and almost burnt. It would be some time before the forest fully recovered from Esme's family draining its power. Which was really too bad. A ley line nexus, right there, and he knew exactly where it was. But now he wouldn't be able to do anything with it for years.

  "Thank you, heroes!"

  The trees parted--actually, visibly moved aside this time, and a massive elk walked through. It bent its front legs and bowed low. Nestled among its antlers was a throne carved of wood and stone and horn, and seated in that throne was a beautiful, if very small, woman adorned in clothing made of flowers.

  Ian and Montague closed ranks, hands and sword up defensively.

  "Thank you, heroes," the fairy repeated, "for defeating that most villainous, Wicked witch who threatened our forest. Your brave deeds are recognized, and you may consider yourselves welcome always."

  "One of your little fellows tried to kill us," said Montague, her saber still up.

  "And there was that business with the gingerbread house."

  "Do accept our apologies, heroes," said the fairy, "but as you were traveling with the witch we did seek to stop you. We had no idea you were her enemies."

  "Well," said Jamie, "to be fair--"

  Ian elbowed him. "As the great heroes who saved your realm," he asked, "I assume we can expect a reward?"

  "We didn't do it for any award, your... um... majesty?"

  "Be nice, though," said Montague, sheathing her blade at last.

  "Of course, of course," said the fairy. She clapped her hands, and several more animals emerged from the forest.

  A doe stepped up to Montague, holding a branch in her mouth. The Captain took it in hand, and it took the shape of a saber. "We present to you, oh mighty warrior, the Thornblade."

  "...so it's like the sword I already have, but made of wood instead of proper steel." She held the blade. It looked light in her hand. "Oh. It's wonderful. You shouldn't have." Her voice had gone entirely flat, but the fairy beamed at her.

  A badger came up to Jamie, carrying a small basket on its head. Inside were two pieces of fruit, an apple and a pear. "To you, wondrous healer," said the fairy, "we present some of the mighty Golden Fruits of the forest." They did look like nice fruits, and a bit sparkly on top of that, but "golden" seemed a stretch. "These magical fruits can heal any illness."

  "Oh," said Jamie, "that's, uh--"

  "Somethin' y'can already do?" offered the Captain.

  "Well, um, mostly," said Jamie, taking the basket.

  "They will also last slightly longer than regular fruit, and will remain ripe for at least a week."

  "Oh," said Jamie.

  "If you juice them, the juice will last longer. It won't be as potent as the fruits, but will still bear some of their power."

  "Oh, well that's something," said Jamie.

  "A bit of somethin', sure," said Montague.

  "And to you, great wizard," said the fairy as a squirrel dashed up to Ian, "we offer the great treasure you seek."

  The squirrel jumped on him and climbed up his robe. "Eeg!" said Ian, just managing to resist trying to throw the little beast off. He took the small object it offered him: The Emerald Stone. He stared at it for a bit. It was exactly what he had been seeking. But, uh, well... "That's mine."

  "Indeed, great hero!" concurred the fairy with a vigorous nod, "It is yours, for we offer it to you."

  Ian shook off the squirrel. "No, I mean that was already mine."

  "It was discovered in the forest, and we know it is that which you seek."

  "Well, yes," Ian acknowledged, a bit reluctantly, "I was coming here to get it. But it's mine. I left it here. Our mutual enemy took it and threw it into the forest--"

  "Where it was discovered by my scouts."

  "You're giving me something that already belonged to me as a gift."

  The fairy looked at him, expressionless. "Hero, is this not that which you have sought? In our benevolence and our gratitude, we offer it to you!"

  "Oh. Okay, thanks."

  The fairy said nothing else. She seemed to be waiting for them to leave. Which, after a brief awkward silence, they did.