The Stepsister Scheme

smashed into the wolf. The water clearly annoyed the demon, but it didn’t seem to cause any real harm. Neither did the knife which followed, sinking into the wolf’s throat. The wolf nipped at the hilt, but its jaws wouldn’t reach. With a snarl, it crouched and sprang at Danielle.
    Talia was faster, grabbing Danielle’s wrist and flinging her toward the tree. As Danielle fell, she saw Talia twist out of the demon’s way, barely avoiding the burning jaws of the Chirka. It slid through the mud where Danielle had been standing. Mud sprayed everywhere as it fought to recover.
    “A bit of magic would be nice right about now,” Talia shouted.
    “What, you finally met something you couldn’t just bludgeon into submission?” Snow knelt at the edge of the circle. The hazel roots had receded back into the earth, and Danielle could see the frost creeping through the soil. “Danielle, the spell is ready. Lure the Chirka into the circle!”
    “Won’t I be trapped, too?” Danielle yelled.
    “Oops!” Her mirrors brightened, hastily adjusting several of the glyphs. “Sorry.”
    The wolf snarled and crept toward the tree where Danielle stood. Strings of drool swung from its jaws. Several times it lunged and snapped, ripping branches with its jaws, but it always drew back before reaching Danielle.
    Danielle pressed deeper against the tree. The burnt wood smell made her eyes water, and she cringed each time she heard another branch snap.
    The wolf was between her and the circle, but as long as she stayed here, enveloped by her mother’s branches, the wolf seemed reluctant to attack.
    Instead, it went after Snow. It leaped past Talia, knocking her back into the fence before bounding around the circle. Snow yelped and stepped to the side, trying to keep the spell between her and the wolf.
    The wolf was too fast. Another bound and it was close enough to catch her. Teeth bared, it pounced.
    Talia slammed her shoulder into the wolf’s midsection, driving it toward the circle. It landed at the edge, off-balance. Snow drew back one leg and kicked it hard in the nose.
    Sharp teeth caught the edge of Snow’s dress. With a jerk of its head, the wolf tossed Snow into her own circle, then stumbled away.
    “You wanted its attention,” Talia said. Her shirt smoldered where she had hit the demon, but she didn’t seem to notice. She drew another knife and pointed it at the wolf’s throat. Not that it would do much good. Talia’s other knife was still protruding from the wolf’s neck.
    “Mother, please... .” Danielle whispered. She didn’t know what else to ask. A gown and glass slippers were one thing, but what could she do against a demon?
    The wolf leaped again. Talia planted the second knife in its throat, but as before, it barely noticed. All four paws slammed into Talia, smashing her against the house like a doll. Then the wolf sprang away from Talia and raced toward Danielle, so fast she didn’t have time to move. Danielle held her breath, turning her face away as that huge, flaming body filled her vision.
    Heat seared her skin, but the wolf didn’t reach her. Charred and broken, the remaining branches of the hazel tree had stretched past Danielle to seize the demon’s struggling body, wrenching the jaws back from her face. She could smell its breath, like rotten eggs, as white-hot teeth snapped for her throat.
    Danielle jabbed her knife into the wolf’s mouth. It bit down, wrenching the knife from her hand and flinging it into the mud. The heat seared her fingers. Her sleeve smoked as she pulled back, trying to press deeper into the safety of the tree.
    The wolf still struggled. Branches and leaves began to burn anew, and with every lurch, the wolf came closer to Danielle. Her mother was too weak to hold it for much longer.
    Danielle flexed her hand. The skin was red, blisters already beginning to form between her thumb and finger. “Let it go, Mother. Don’t let it take you, too.”
    Something sparkled in the branches to her right. At first, it looked like a shard of ice. Desperately, she reached through the burning leaves, and her fingers closed around the hilt of a sword. The blade was as long as her arm, a thin, flat shard of crystal or glass.
    The wolf caught one of the largest branches in its jaws and twisted, ripping it from the tree and freeing itself from her mother’s grip.
    Without thinking, Danielle brought the blade through the branches and shoved it into the wolf’s side.
    The wolf yelped