Page 87 of The Nowhere Witch

The boulder only gained me a few seconds, as the bat turned around and was already making its second pass.

Remain calm. If I panic, I die.

I was a protectorate, and even if I wasn’t so hot at protecting myself, I had enough magic to beat this thing. The key was using my magic to disable it. Turn the situation. If I didn’t want to kill this thing, what was the best thing to do for it, to protect it? Shrink it back into its smaller form and then plead that it wasn’t kind to kill something so much weaker? It was either that or I’d be the dead one.

I had to nullify the magic the hag had used on it. I’d have to let the bat get close enough so that I could touch it and pull the magic from it.

It swooped again with its claws out, aimed straight for my heart. The crowd screamed as I dodged at the last moment, hoping I’d get an opportunity to grab it after the claws were past me.

Grabbing it was a risk as well. How long could I hold it before it killed me? I’d need at least a few moments. I had to get on its back somehow. If I could get to a higher perch, dodge its attack, I might be able to jump onto it.

The tree was my only hope. It wouldn’t be able to come down at me from above because the canopy was too thick. If it flew underneath me…

I ran for the nearest tree as the thing squealed and dived. I made it halfway before I had to dive to the ground, rolling away. Its claws sank into the ground I’d just occupied.

I got to my feet again, while it was pulling its claws out. It must have appeared to the crowd as if I weren’t fighting at all. I wouldn’t turn their way; their looks of doubt and disappointment would only throw me off my game. I needed to keep going with my plan and stay focused.

I scrambled up into the tree, into the branches, where it couldn’t get a clear shot at me. And then I waited as it shrieked and poked. I leaned left and right, dodging its claws most of the time and taking a few scrapes at other times, all while feeling its hot breath on me as it roared. It would get frustrated soon, and then it would stop poking at me and fly beneath me.

I waited. It shrieked. I swayed, large branches blocking it. Still, I could feel the warmth of my blood on my legs, making my pants stick to them.

I stayed patient. It finally turned to try another angle, and when it did, it spread its wings right below me.

It was now or never. It was time to fight, to do my best. I wouldn’t think of failure. I took a leap of faith. I was airborne for less than a second before slamming into its back. It dipped and squealed loud enough to burst eardrums.

It rotated, trying to throw off the nuisance it had found attached to it. I grabbed a wing in each hand, managing to hold on through a series of turns, inching up its body whenever I could gain some purchase. I continued methodically, until I wrapped my arms around its neck. Now the real work started. I was either going to be able to pull the magic from it or I’d have to choke it to death.

I glanced at the ground, waiting for a descent. If I did it too soon, we’d both end up dead. It headed downward, right toward the tree it was going to try to use it to scrape me off its back.

I closed my eyes, pulling at the magic I felt surging through it, pulling it into me.

It shrank in my grasp, and we were no longer flying but crashing to the ground, a small bat in my hands squeaking. I rolled as I hit, holding my hands out so I didn’t crush the poor animal that was nothing but a weapon.

Battered and bruised, bleeding from cuts on my legs and arms, I stood with the small bat still wrapped in my hands.

The crowd roared as the hags stood speechless. It was clear now that they’d expected me to fail from the beginning. Maybewantedme to fail. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had struck a deal with the people who’d called them in the first place and turned me in. What had ruining my life paid?

I grabbed the bat’s tiny head, making it look like I was going to break its neck.

“To the death, right?” I asked, as if needing clarification.

Two hags were stone-faced, but not Tall Hag.

“Perhaps we should handle that part,” she said, walking forward, trying to take the bat from my hands.

“Are you sure?” I asked, hesitating to hand it over.

“Yes.” She took her pet back, and the small bat crawled onto her shoulder and nestled in her hair.

Lead Hag looked at Ringlets and rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to me.

We were suddenly back in the cottage, and I could hear everyone scrambling to get a good spot in the door or a window.

“If you’re an upstanding witch, why don’t you have fifty character witnesses outside? That is a very strict requirement,” Lead Hag asked.

“I do have fifty. One was late, but he’s probably outside now.” Hawk better be there. If he’d screwed me again, I’d find a way back from Salem, if only to kill him.

“I’m here,” Hawk said, from the door at my back.