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“We can start there. Surely, they can be reasoned with. It sounds like the women will be carried off to be the stallions’ mates. So… there must bematinggoing on. I can at least have the birds and the bees conversation with those innocent girls. Poor things.”
“They’re not your problem, Divina,” Ere huffed.
“Besides, I’m sure they’ll figure out the mechanics after a bit of practice. Who knows, they might even like it. Maybe that’s why the women who are carried off are never seen again. Maybe they’re tucked away somewhere having endless centaur orgies.”
“Well, I just think—”
But Divina’s train of thought was cut off abruptly by a shrill neigh a short distance away, accompanied by angry shouts of men.
Chewie perked up his ears and sniffed the air. With a sharp woof, he tore off, bounding in the direction of the commotion.
“Chewie!” Divina called. “Come back here!”
“You should keep that beast on a leash,” Ere muttered, looking into the distance and using his hand over his brow as a shield from the afternoon sun.
“Good luck holding on to the leash even if he had one,” she answered.
Without waiting for Sorin and Ere to follow, she picked up the folds of her tunic and charged after her baby, calling his name as she ran.
Despite the two-inch platform heels (which happily she kept in this time and place), Divina was able to move with some speed, having long been used to maneuvering in high-heels.
That said, she lost sight of Chewie for a good two minutes after he crested a large hill. By the time she got to the top and saw the blur of golden-brown fur again, the giant Chinese Tibetan mastiff was already in the middle of a heated battle with five men.
Three of the men were pulling and yelling at the biggest black horse Divina had ever seen.
Chains wrapped all around its body and legs, muzzle and neck. Its eyes seemed to be shielded by thick pads tied over its head. It was struggling mightily against the men, putting all its weight in its hind quarters, its muscles quivering from the exertion.
One of the men wielded a three-pronged whip. He cracked it repeatedly at the horse, leaving bloody streaks in its dirt-coated hide. Another man held a long pitchfork. He jabbed it at the horse’s rump to get it to move.
Despite its shackles, the great black beast refused to obey the men. It fought mightily, trying to draw the men closer, then suddenly sidestep to knock them off balance. It didn’t have much mobility, but that didn’t stop it from resisting with all its strength.
Chewie was in the middle of the violent tangle, barking, growling, baring his teeth. He leapt for the man with the whip first, jaws snapping.
“Get him, Chewie!” Divina yelled as she ran toward the struggle.
“You better stop tormenting that poor animal!” she called to the humans, incensed.
She didn’t know what threat she could follow that up with, since she couldn’t transform into dragon, if Fufu was to be believed. But she’d think of something. There was nothing she detested more than animal cruelty.
As she drew near, she hobbled on one foot and drew off one of her heavy heels. She reached back her arm and hurled the two-inch block at the head of the nearest man.
The heavy shoe knocked directly into the man’s temple, making him release the chains he held with a disoriented grunt.
Ha! Take that!
Divina had never been much of a thrower, but her fury and vengeance guided her aim, making it true.
She tore off her other heel and chucked it at the man with the pitchfork, hitting him directly in the back of the head.
Pandemonium erupted as the men shouted and cursed, Chewie barked and growled, the horse snorted and whinnied, and Divina added her own shrill screeches to the mix.
“You crazy harpy!” one of the men snarled, taking menacing steps in her direction.
“Who do you think you are! I’ll teach you to interfere in business that’s not your own!”
He raised his mallet-sized fist above her head, his face a mask of scarlet fury.
Divina stood her ground, feeling the power of the Quetzalcoatl coursing through her body, though there was no outlet for it. She couldn’t transform. All of the fine hairs on her skin lifted from the burgeoning of her inner dragon’s raw strength.
