Briar and Baba Yaga crashed onto the floor, the impact reverberating through the room. Quickly, Briar scrambled on top of the witch, straddling her with her knees pressed firmly into the witch's sides. Baba Yaga's ancient eyes blazed with fury as she looked up at her.

"What are you doing girl?" Baba Yaga spat, her voice a harsh rasp.

"Trying to escape," Briar grunted, tugging at the ring on the witch's gnarled finger with all her might. The ring was embedded with a dark blue gem that seemed to pulse with a sinister energy.

The witch clenched her fist. "No one escapes Baba Yaga," she hissed. Her breath smelled of decay. From this close, Briar could see the cruelty etched into every line of her face, making the witch even more horrifying.

"Leon!" Briar shouted. "The book!"

In a blur, Leon dashed to the chair where the book lay. He grabbed it, hastily tied it with a piece of rope, and stuffed it into his satchel. "Got it!" he called back.

"LEAVE MY BOOK!" Baba Yaga screamed, her eyes wild with fury as she struggled beneath Briar. She tried to shove Briar off, her strength surprising for someone who looked so frail.

Briar seized the moment of distraction, wrenching the witch's hand towards her and prying at her fingers, desperate to free the ring. Baba Yaga's eyes locked onto Briar's, a fierce, burning gaze that seemed to pierce into her soul. "Don't make your death more painful, girl," the witch snarled. She twisted her wrist violently, trying to break Briar's grip.

"I don't want to die," Briar gritted out through clenched teeth, her face contorted with effort. She fought to maintain her hold, her fingers digging into the witch's leathery skin.

With a sudden, vicious move, Baba Yaga drove her knee into Briar's stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Briar gasped, pain exploding through her body as she was thrown off the witch and landed hard on the cold floor.

Baba Yaga scrambled to her feet. "Stupid girl," she spat, raising her hand and aiming the ring directly at Briar. "I will—"

Before she could finish, Briar was on her feet. Summoning every ounce of strength, she launched herself at Baba Yaga, driving her knee into the witch's chest. The force of the blow sent the witch stumbling backward. Without giving her a chance to recover, Briar swung her fist, connecting solidly with Baba Yaga's face. The witch's head snapped to the side, but she quickly recovered.

"You dare strike me?" Baba Yaga roared, grabbing Briar's hand with a grip like iron and twisting it sharply. Pain shot up Briar's arm, causing her to cry out. The witch's grip tightened, and with a vicious snarl, she hurled Briar across the room.

Briar slammed into the wall, her vision blurring with the impact. She collapsed to the ground, pain radiating through her body. Baba Yaga, trembling with fury, aimed the ring at her, dark magic crackling at its stone. "Prepare to die, foolish girl," she shouted.

As a bolt of lightning shot out from the ring, Briar instinctively rolled to the side. The lightning bolt struck the wall, blowing a jagged hole. The hut roared in agony, the walls shaking with the force of the blast.

Desperate, Briar's eyes darted around the room, landing on a skull lying amidst the clutter. She grabbed it and, with a surge of adrenaline, hurled it at Baba Yaga. The skull struck the witch square in the face, causing her to stagger backward with a howl of rage.

Seizing the opportunity, Briar dashed forward, grabbing Baba Yaga's hand. Ignoring the revulsion that churned in her stomach, she bit down on the witch's leathery palm. Baba Yaga shrieked in pain.

With a final, desperate yank, Briar pulled the ring free. She scrambled to her feet, clutching the ring, feeling a strange surge of power coursing through her veins.

"GIVE IT TO ME!" Baba Yaga demanded, her voice a thunderous roar of fury. She looked more dangerous than ever, her eyes glowing with an unearthly light.

"After we leave," Briar shot back. "Theodore, get the horse ready!"

Across the room, Theodore and Leon were frantically trying to free the horse from the net. Theodore wielded the dagger Briar had given him, hacking at the thick ropes with all his strength. Leon had managed to create a small hole in the net, but it wasn't yet large enough to pull the horse free.

"Hurry up!" Briar urged, her eyes darting between her friends and the enraged witch. Panic clawed at her insides. What if they couldn't free the horse in time? What if the horse didn't wake up? How would they escape?

"You are not going anywhere," Baba Yaga screeched, advancing towards Briar, her hand outstretched. "Give me my ring!"

"No!" Briar shouted back, clutching the ring even tighter. She felt a strange, exhilarating power thrumming through her, bolstering her courage. "You're not getting it back." She turned to the prince. "Leon, quick, we don't have much time!"

Leon was a blur of movement, his hands a flurry of activity as he worked to free the horse. Tossing his sword aside, he yanked the net from the horse's body and, with a grunt, hurled it into the roaring fire the witch had built in the corner of the room, its flames hungrily consuming the tangled mess.

"You can't escape," Baba Yaga repeated.

Briar took a step forward, her heart pounding. "That's exactly what we're going to do." She brandished the ring, aiming it directly at the witch. "Be a good girl and stay still, or I'll hurt you."

"The horse isn't waking up!" Leon's voice cracked as he knelt beside the still form of the horse, shaking its massive head and splashing water over its face in a desperate attempt to rouse it.

"Then what do we do?" Briar shouted back, panic rising in her throat. The room was filled with the acrid smell of the net burning, and the walls seemed to close in on them.

"We have to leave without the horse," Leon called.

"No!" Theodore cried out. "I can't leave my horse!"

"Give it to me, girl," Baba Yaga's voice sliced through the chaos. She turned to the skeletons lining the walls, her bony fingers pointing at them. "Get my ring, my dear children."

With a sickening creak, the skeletons sprang to life. Their hollow eyes glowed with a malevolent light as they turned their skulls to face Briar and began their slow, menacing advance.

Briar's heart pounded. She pointed the ring at the advancing skeletons, her hand trembling. "Attack!" she shouted, her voice echoing in the tense silence of the room.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened. The skeletons kept advancing, their bony hands reaching out, and panic tightened around Briar's chest like a vice.

Briar gripped the ring. "Burn them," she commanded, her voice a desperate plea.

But still, nothing happened.

Baba Yaga cackled, her laughter a grating, high-pitched sound that seemed to fill the room. She clapped her hands together, mocking and triumphant. "Magic doesn't come to everyone, girl. Now give it to me and get ready to be cooked."

Briar's blood boiled with frustration and fear. She clenched her fist around the ring, her knuckles turning white. This had to work. It was their only way out. Lavonna's words echoed in her mind. "Magic is inside us. We just channel it through objects." Briar closed her eyes, forcing herself to relax, to calm her mind. She focused inward, summoning the magic from the depths of her heart, visualizing it flowing through her veins and into the ring.

But nothing happened.

"Wear the ring," Theodore shouted.

Briar slipped the ring on her middle finger. She took a deep breath and pointed the ring at the skeleton. "Burn them."

Suddenly, a warm, tingling sensation filled her body. Her eyes snapped open, and a jet of blue light burst from the ring, striking the skeletons. They exploded into pieces, their bones scattered across the room in a cloud of dust and ash.

Briar stood, wide-eyed and breathless, as the remnants of the skeletons clattered to the ground. A sense of triumph surged through her, mingling with the adrenaline that still pumped through her veins.

"NO!" Baba Yaga shrieked. Her eyes widened with a mix of astonishment and rage. "You can't use my ring!"

"It's not your ring," Briar retorted, her newfound confidence steadying her voice. "Like everything else, you stole it."

As she pointed the ring at the witch, her gaze flicked to Theodore. He was beside the horse, desperately trying to wake it by placing something—a vial of liquid, perhaps—into its mouth. Leon splashed water over the horse's face.

Briar turned her focus back to Baba Yaga just in time to see the witch flick her hand, a bolt of lightning crackling at her fingertips. "Die, you little pest!" Baba Yaga spat as she hurled the lightning towards Briar.

Briar ducked. The bolt sizzled past her and slammed into the wall, leaving a smoking, charred hole. The hut roared in pain, the walls shuddering with the impact. Briar's heart raced. She had underestimated Baba Yaga, assuming the witch had no magic of her own—a mistake that could easily cost her life.

With a snarl, Baba Yaga sent another bolt of lightning hurtling toward Briar. "You think you can defy me? I'll tear you apart!"

Briar's eyes widened in terror, but she forced herself to focus. She felt the power of the ring thrumming through her. She raised her hand, the ring glowing with an intense blue light.

"Stop!" she shouted, her voice echoing with a newfound authority.

The ring flared, and a brilliant beam of light shot out, intercepting the witch's lightning bolt in mid-air. The two forces collided with a deafening explosion, filling the room with blinding light and a wave of scorching heat.

Baba Yaga staggered back, her eyes wide with shock and rage. The witch started to mutter a spell.

Briar focused intently on the ring. She visualized immense lightning bolts erupting from it, each one larger and more powerful than anything the witch could conjure. "Attack! Attack! Attack!" she shouted.

The ring shuddered, vibrating with a force that seemed to resonate through her entire body. Suddenly, lightning bolts began to erupt from the ring in rapid succession, each bolt crackling through the air with deafening intensity.

The bolts hit all around the room, scorching the walls and setting the potion shelves ablaze. The air filled with the acrid stench of burning wood and potions. Baba Yaga let out an ear-splitting scream.

"Watch out!" Leon yelled, ducking as a bolt of lightning zoomed past them, narrowly missing his head.

One of the lightning bolts struck the horse. With a sudden, violent jolt, the horse leaped to its feet, electricity crackling around its body. Its eyes, now wide open, glowed with a strange, otherworldly light.

"Knight!" Theodore cried, engulfing the horse in a tight embrace. "Oh, thank God you're okay!" He buried his face in the horse's mane.

The horse shook itself vigorously, sending Theodore stumbling backward. Its body seemed to pulse with energy.

Briar, meanwhile, was struggling to control the ring. It had become an uncontrollable force, firing lightning bolts in all directions. The weight of the ring and the power surging through it made her sway from side to side, her arms trembling with the effort of holding it steady.

"Stop! Please, stop!" Briar cried. She closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could, willing the ring to cease its relentless assault. Gradually, the ring's vibration slowed, and finally, it stopped firing.

When Briar opened her eyes, she was met with the sight of thick smoke filling the room. She glanced down at her hair and saw that it was singed, smoke rising from the ends.

Across the room, Baba Yaga looked like a giant, grotesque fireball. Her hair was ablaze, and her eyes burned with a fiery rage. The witch's bony hand was clenched into a fist, and she began muttering a spell under her breath, her voice a low, malevolent hiss.

But Briar didn't give the witch the chance to finish. Now that she had the hang of the ring, she commanded it with confidence. She aimed it at Baba Yaga and, with a flick of her wrist, ropes of energy shot out, wrapping around the witch from head to toe. The ropes tightened, turning Baba Yaga into a mummified figure, her eyes the only part of her left uncovered.

"No! Release me!" Baba Yaga screamed, her voice muffled by the ropes. She thrashed against her bonds, but they held firm.

"Briar, quick!" Leon shouted.

Theodore had already mounted the horse, which was pawing at the ground, eager to be off. Briar ran to them, her heart pounding. Leon reached down, grabbed her hand, and helped her scramble onto the horse's back. Then he swung up behind her, holding on tight.

"Don't let them go, my dear!" Baba Yaga roared from the floor.

The doors and windows slammed shut with a deafening bang, trapping them inside.

"Now what?" Theodore shouted, his voice filled with panic.

Briar pointed the ring at the roof. With a surge of magic, she blasted a hole through the ceiling. The hut shuddered and roared in protest, and the witch's screams grew louder.

The horse unfolded giant white feathered wings from its sides, a sight that would have been majestic under different circumstances. With a powerful beat of its wings, it lifted off the ground, rising towards the open sky above.

As they soared upward, Briar glanced back at the witch, who was still writhing on the ground, her face contorted with rage. The princess pulled out the ring from her finger. "Witch, take your ring back! I don't want to steal it." She tossed the ring down towards Baba Yaga.

The ring fell into the boiling cauldron below, and in the next instant, it exploded with a thunderous boom, sending a shower of sparks and debris through the air.

"What? No! That's not what I meant..." Briar gasped, her eyes widening in horror.

"Next time I see you," Baba Yaga's thunderous voice bellowed from the wreckage, "I will eat you without bothering to cook!"

Briar shivered at the witch's words, an icy dread settling in her stomach. But they didn't linger to hear more. The horse's powerful wings carried them higher and higher, away from Baba Yaga's hut and the threat of being cooked alive.

___