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Jagged teeth punched through the fleshy part of her claws, making her hiss with agony.
But she refused to let go. Only when the serpent chomped off her limbs would she let go. And even then, she wouldn’t give up. She still had her beak.
She would fight to the death!
Her claws around the creature’s jaws prevented it from spewing more teeth into the ground. But the teeth kept growing, tearing through Divina’s claws, sapping her strength.
Soon, there wouldn’t be any more flesh or tendons with which to hold onto the serpent. Soon, it would gather enough strength to snap its jaws together and cut off her limbs.
Divina screeched with fury, powered by adrenaline, stubbornness, and fearless love.
If she didn’t defeat the serpent, her friends would die. Andros would die. There’d be nothing left worth living for. She might as well die too.
She wanted to live!
She wanted to love!
She wanted to make hers and Andros’ dreams come true!
She funneled all of her dragon strength into her desperate grip on the serpent’s jaws. She stabbed her beak into one of its bulging eyes, bloodying it blind. Then, she pecked out the other eye entirely from its head.
That was enough to distract the thing for a crucial moment. Divina felt the slack in its jaws as it struggled with the agony of having its eyes plucked out.
She screamed with the pain tearing through her claws as she used all of her remaining strength to pull on the serpent’s jaws. Until, finally, the creature’s flesh and hide began to tear—
And she ripped the thing right down the middle from jaws to tail, its blood and guts spilling in a hot, sloppy mess upon the tree and the ground below.
Divina flailed, flapping her wings haphazardly, the agony in her shredded claws and the sudden burst of power overwhelming her at last.
Distantly, she heard Ere and Sorin shouting her name as she crashed gracelessly to the ground.
Human again.
Tunic torn; hair tangled. Hands completely numb, as if they weren’t even attached to her wrists any more.
Something soft and warm wrapped around her body. The strum of a lyre echoed in her ears.
She heaved a long sigh when strong, hard arms cradled and lifted her.
And then—
Blackout.
~ * ~* ~ *~ * ~* ~ *~ * ~
A warm, fragrant breeze swept over Andros’ sweat-sheened body. His lashes fluttered as his lids struggled to raise.
Opening his eyes just a sliver, he was greeted by a comforting light. Not too bright or glaring. Just another sunny day viewed from the shade of his thick lashes.
Slowly, he opened his eyes fully to take in his surroundings.
Rolling hills, flowered fields, and the graceful trees of his homeland met his gaze. Majestic mountains rose in the distance. Eagles soared in the cloudless blue skies above. He could smell the salty tang of the sea nearby, perhaps just around the next set of hills.
Andros himself stood in stallion form on top of a plateau, overlooking the valley below.
A herd of wild horses frolicked and raced, neighing happily. Playful and free.
He looked beyond them to another set of hills, upon which a group of centaurs stood, looking back at him.
