"We can't be trapped," Briar yelled, panicking.

"It feels like we are," Leon grunted, straining to pull the door. But it remained stubbornly immovable as if it had fused with the wall. "The door won't budge."

"Hut," Briar yelled, her voice echoing through the empty halls. "Open the door!"

"No," the hut bellowed back, the walls trembling with its anger. "You lied to me. You are here to seal the book."

"Open the door!" Briar shouted again, her desperation growing. "Or else."

"You can't do anything," the hut taunted, its tone dripping with malice. "Break whatever you want. You can't scare me anymore. You can never escape. You are trapped inside me. Wait for Baba Yaga."

Briar's mind raced, her eyes darting around the room. Suddenly, she remembered the strange set of keys Leon had found earlier. "The keys!" she shouted, her voice filled with newfound hope. "Maybe they will open the door."

Leon's face lit up like a moon in the night sky. "Oh, yes!" He pulled the keys from his pocket, his hands trembling with excitement. "Luckily, I didn't throw them away." He raised the keys towards the door but then stopped, hesitation clouding his face.

"What are you waiting for?" Briar urged him. "Open the door!"

Leon gave her a troubled look, his brow furrowed. "The door has no keyhole."

"What?" Briar rushed to the door, her fingers tracing the smooth wood. The prince was right. There was no keyhole. "Maybe it's hidden. Let me try." She snatched the keys from Leon and began pressing them against the door, feeling for any hint of magic. She touched every inch of the door, from top to bottom, leaving no spot untried. Her movements grew frantic as nothing happened. "Come on," she muttered, pressing harder. "There has to be a way."

Furiously, Briar hurled the keys across the room, watching them clatter against the wall and fall to the floor. Her breaths came in short, furious bursts, her face flushed with anger and desperation. "This is hopeless!"

"Maybe the door needs some sort of offering to open," he suggested, scanning their surroundings for any clues.

"Where are we supposed to find a heart?" Briar's eyes welled up with tears. "Evalina didn't say we might get trapped inside. This wasn't part of the plan!"

"Maybe she didn't know," Leon said, trying to keep calm.

"I just want to leave this hut!" Briar sobbed, her frustration boiling over. She kicked the door with all her strength, her fists pounding against the wood. "OPEN!" she screamed, her voice echoing through the room. "OPEN!"

"Leave the book," The hut's voice reverberated through the space, cold and mocking. "And maybe you can go. I'll not tell Baba Yaga."

"Never!" Briar spat, her eyes blazing with defiance. "You have to open. I'll make you." She kicked the door again, her foot aching from the impact.

"Briar," Leon called softly, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You're only hurting yourself. The door won't open if we take the book."

"And you know we can't leave the book." Briar threw one last futile kick at the door before Leon pulled her away.

"Relax," Leon said, guiding her to sit on the floor. He crouched beside her. "We'll think calmly. There must be a way out."

"The only way out is the door," Briar said. "And we have to break it."

"You can't break a magical door by hand," Leon replied, shaking his head. "And I don't think our swords will make any difference."

"This door will open," Briar said, a sudden spark of an idea lighting up her eyes. "I'll burn it." She paused, the thought solidifying in her mind. "We have to burn the door."

Leon looked at her, a mix of curiosity and skepticism on his face. "Well then, we'll need to build a powerful fire," he said, standing up and walking over to the fireplace. He gathered a few logs, glancing back at Briar. "But how do we make it strong enough?"

"This is a witch's house, Leon," Briar said, jumping to her feet with renewed energy. She dashed to the potion cabinets, her eyes scanning the shelves. "We don't need logs to build a fire."

"What do you mean?" asked the prince, following her.

"Wait and see," Briar said. Most of the potions had been destroyed, and she desperately hoped what she was looking for was still available.

As Briar searched through the remains of the cabinet, Leon peered over her shoulder. "What are you searching for?" he asked, his eyes scanning the mess.

"You will see," she answered, her hands moving bottles and jars aside with increasing speed. "It should be here."

"Tell me what you're looking for so I can help," he offered.

"Where is it..." she muttered, her eyes darting from one spot to another. Suddenly, she spotted a glass bottle of transparent liquid rolling on the floor. With a triumphant gasp, she picked it up and excitedly showed it to Leon. "This is our way out."

Leon didn't share her excitement. He looked at the bottle doubtfully. "A bottle will take us out?"

"This is not just any bottle," Briar said, waving the bottle in front of his face, the glass catching the dim light. "It's a potion. Look." She shook the bottle. The liquid inside swirled and gradually changed color. Briar gave it another vigorous shake, and the liquid turned a fiery red, bubbling like molten lava. It grew so hot that Briar had to wrap her cloak around it to hold it.

Leon's eyes widened in awe. "What is this?" he asked.

"It's an extremely powerful potion used to melt gold, silver, diamond, stone, and even bones," Briar explained.

"You mean like acid?" Leon asked.

"A thousand times more powerful than acid," she said. "The glass they used to store it is enchanted, or it would have melted as well."

"Why would anyone want to melt bone?" he asked, his face contorting with disgust.

"Am I a witch?" Briar snapped. "How should I know? It's witch business."

"How did you know all this?" he asked suspiciously

"Prince Leon, if you are trying to imply that I'm learning witchcraft," Briar said, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper, "I will not hesitate to melt your bones."

Leon's eyes widened as if he seriously considered the possibility. "I was just curious," he said quickly.

"Well," Briar said, "I once saw Lavonna melting some crystals with it. It was fascinating, so I asked her about it. She explained that this potion is used for melting hard objects and how it works."

Leon looked at the potion, still skeptical. "Will it work on the door?" he asked. "The door seems magical."

"Of course," Briar said with a determined glint in her eyes. "The potion is magical, but this isn't enough. We need more."

They scoured the room, overturning broken shelves and sifting through the debris. Amidst the chaos, they discovered six more bottles of the melting potion. Baba Yaga had a substantial supply of this powerful liquid.

The hut fell eerily silent as if it were anxiously waiting for their next move.

"Let me throw it," Leon suggested as they approached the door, holding the bottles of the melting potion. "It might be dangerous."

Briar rolled her eyes. "I'm not that fragile princess anymore. Not that I ever was." She handed three bottles to Leon and kept three for herself. "Shake it until it turns red and hot."

They both shook their bottles vigorously. The liquid inside began to boil, transforming into a fiery red and radiating intense heat. Carefully, they removed the tight wooden corks. Hot vapor hissed out of the bottles, hitting their faces and bringing tears to their eyes.

"Ready," Briar said, holding her bottles at arm's length as they stood facing the door.

Leon nodded. And then they threw the liquid lava on the door.

As the potion splashed on the door, the hut erupted into howls and quakes. Briar staggered, the ground trembling beneath her feet. The very foundations of the hut seemed to convulse with agony, causing the remaining potions to crash to the floor from their cabinets.

Then they saw what was happening. The once-solid wood of the door sizzled and bubbled, a large, jagged hole forming in its center. The door melted away slowly, the hut's pained wails echoing through the room.

"Briar!" Leon's voice cut through the tumult, pulling her back to her senses. He reached out and helped her to her feet. "It worked."

The door had melted enough for them to jump through it. They sprinted to the door. Instantly, the chilly wind hit their face. It was dark outside, and they were several feet above the ground.

"We have to jump!" Leon yelled over the roar of the hut.

Briar nodded, her heart pounding in her chest. Anything to get away from the hut. She was ready to jump into the darkness of the forest. She checked to ensure the book was safely tucked away in her satchel, then turned to face the dark expanse of the forest beyond.

"NOW!" Leon's voice sliced through the air. Gripping each other's hands tightly, they launched themselves into the unknown abyss. They crashed to the ground with a bone-jarring impact, the force knocking the wind out of them. But miraculously, they didn't injure themselves.

With a grunt, Leon rose to his feet, his hand reaching out to help Briar up. Then they bolted away from the hut. The hut's agonized wails echoed behind them, fading into the distance as they sprinted away from its grasp.

Under the eerie glow of the moonlight, the forest took on a ghostly allure. Shadows danced and twisted among the trees, casting sinister shapes on the forest floor. Every rustle of leaves seemed to carry a whispered threat, and the night itself felt alive with unseen dangers.

Ignoring everything, they ran, leaping over boulders, ducking under thorny bushes, and dodging tree roots that seemed to reach out and trip them intentionally. Briar's breath came in quick gasps, her heart pounding in her ears as she clutched the strap of her satchel tightly. Inside the satchel, the book writhed, seeming to sense that they were running away from Baba Yaga's hut.

"The book is going wild in your bag!" Leon said, his voice strained as he stumbled over a root, barely regaining his balance.

"I know," she panted. "Just keep running!"

They tore through the forest, branches slashing at their faces and snagging their clothes. The mist began to thin, giving way to a familiar clearing bathed in soft moonlight. They finally stopped, doubling over to catch their breath, their chests heaving with exertion.

Briar glanced back, half expecting the hut to burst through the trees in pursuit. But the woods were still. She dropped to her knees, her legs trembling from the exertion and adrenaline. "I think... we're safe," she gasped, wiping sweat from her forehead.

Leon plopped down beside her, his face flushed and glistening with sweat. "It's the last time I'm ever visiting a witch's hut," he said.

"Oh, I thought it was an adventure for you," Briar wheezed, a small, wry smile tugging at her lips. "Stealing the book is so easy, isn't it?"

"Well," he replied, a mischievous grin spreading across his face despite his exhaustion. "On the bright side, we have the book. Mission accomplished."

Briar couldn't help but smile back. She gently patted the satchel, feeling the now-still book within. "We did it. We did it," she murmured, a sense of triumph flooding through her. For the first time since she had begun her journey, she felt a genuine surge of hope. She had the first object needed for the ritual. The curse seemed less daunting, almost within reach of being broken.

They sat in the clearing for a few minutes, savoring their hard-earned victory and sharing a canteen of water. The moon's calming rays pierced through the treetops.

"What's next?" Leon asked, taking a long swig from the canteen and passing it to Briar.

"The dragon's gold," she replied. After successfully retrieving the book and escaping Baba Yaga's dreaded hut, the prospect of facing a dragon seemed less terrifying.

Leon's eyes lit up with excitement. "A dragon! Now this is what I call a quest. What's a quest without a dragon, after all?"

"I'd rather not see the dragon if we can avoid it," Briar said.

Leon glanced around the clearing, considering their options. "Should we make camp here or move on? We need to rest."

Briar surveyed the area, the sense of peace here calming her frazzled nerves. "I don't think Baba Yaga's hut can find us here. We should be safe enough for the night. Let's stay."

Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to tremble, a rhythmic thudding reverberating through the earth. The noise grew louder, each thud sending a shiver up Briar's spine. She looked at Leon, her face pale with dread. "What is that?" she whispered.

Leon's eyes widened as the thudding grew nearer, the sound like giant footsteps pounding the forest floor. "I don't know, but it doesn't sound good."

Then, through the trees, they saw it—a monstrous silhouette hobbling towards them, its spindly legs jerking and twitching with each step. Briar's blood ran cold as she recognized the grotesque figure.

"Oh no," she breathed.

Leon and Briar screamed in unison as Baba Yaga's hut, perched atop its grotesque chicken legs, emerged into the clearing.

___