Giselle watched it fly, shining in the light from the cottage windows. It spun through the air, lazily turning over and over three times. And then it hit the Blood Witch squarely in the back, right in the same place that Giselle’s woodcutting ax had cut it open. Giselle prayed it would at least slow the monster down.

But this weapon nearly split the Blood Witch in two when it hit.

The Blood Witch screamed again, and this time both of them, all the children in the cages, and the girl who had been feeding them, clapped their hands to their ears and dropped to the ground from the pain. It felt as if someone was driving red-hot needles into her brain!

Only Pieter stayed erect. And he pulled the Blood Witch from his face with both hands, threw her to the ground, and stomped on her. There was a terrible crunching sound. The screaming stopped abruptly. And in the silence that followed, Pieter rumbled something unintelligible. But it sounded very, very angry.

Giselle sat up, slowly. Is Pieter all right? That thing was trying to dig out his eyes!

Then Pieter allayed her fears as he spoke up. He peered anxiously at both of them, and shuffled toward Rosa. “Is Red Cloak all right? Is Yellow-hair all right?”

Rosa got up first and staggered toward him. He held out his massive hands, and she embraced him. “Oh Pieter!” she cried. “You did it, Pieter. You were wonderful! You got here just in time. You saved the life of at least one of these children. And very probably mine as well.”

Both Pieter and Rosa were so engrossed in each other that neither of them was paying attention to what was left of the Blood Witch. But just as Giselle stood up and started toward them, she caught motion out of the corner of her eye.

The Blood Witch was pulling itself erect, broken limbs snapping back into place, split body pulling back together again.

Giselle shrieked at the top of her lungs and pointed, and Pieter whirled, faster than she would have ever believed possible for a creature of his bulk, and grabbed the reforming Blood Witch in both hands.

It screamed shrilly, and writhed in his grip, clawing at his massive hands, scrabbling for his face with its long arms.