Monsters and Maidens

Barry was tied to a tree. This had been despite his best attempts to escape, Pan had only needed to twist his wrist to render him entirely unable to do much else, the ache within his chest handled the rest. She was not kind when using the rope to tie his wrists to the branch that hung overhead, the human was left almost standing on his tip-toes. It strained his whole body, and he was unable to properly settle down into a comfortable position.

Not that it mattered, as he would have been entirely unable to calm down, anyway. The dogs were coming; he could hear their yips and barks, and the lone howl from time to time. His mind pulled back to the trek through the forest when the pack had kidnapped him. The large dark-haired one had broken his left ankle before they’d made it to their burrow.

Grimacing, Barry looked up at the rope around his wrists once more. His hands were reddened; but it was too tight for him to be able to slip out of. Maybe he could try to pull himself up? The notion left him making a half-hysterical laugh. He’d not been able to do a single pull-up in his life and he was almost fighting to breathe right now. What was going to change this time around? His arms felt like jelly, his whole body more like dead weight.

Barry’s thoughts came to a grinding halt when he saw something shifting in the shadows ahead. With the darkness of the forest it was hard to tell what was going on, especially without his glasses, but he could tell something was there. “Hello?”

There was the snap of a twig, and a figure emerged into the clearing.

Slender tanned legs, black furred claws, tall, covered in mud and dirt, muscular. A fierce glare. And a splotch of worn-out white paint that had been sprayed on her face.

Barry’s eyes widened. This was from the original pack. They’d been hunting them all this time? Why!? He’d seen the corpse of the leader that first night after being rescued from the pit. Pan had certainly…

He froze.

Could it be… Revenge? No.

“Please stay away,” he muttered, watching the monster approach. Her ears were perked and rotating this way and that. The look on her eyes was careful, attentive, her head on a swivel as she sniffed the air again and again. She knew this was a trap, in some shape or form- she knew. And she still approached Barry one step at a time, undoubtedly she’d detected Kajou’s scent and was trying to determine her location.

The human gulped, eyes flickering above.

The feral reacted instantly, looking upwards right as Kajou had fallen down between the branches. The feral jumped back, avoiding the initial strike. “Curses,” the Amazon muttered, having lost the element of surprise. Her hands glowed a dull blue and orange as she launched towards the canine anyway, throwing a simple straight jab.

Snarling, the canine had stepped back and lunged the moment the glowing fist had missed, claws extended and ready to rip the dark-skinned woman’s throat out. “Duck!” Barry proclaimed. His words were ignored as Kajou spun forwards, into the attack and avoiding it narrowly. Her elbow struck straight against the monster’s chest.

The impact was enough to send the canine a step back. Kajou pressed forward with a follow-up uppercut to the ribs powerful enough to lift the feral off of her feet, then launched two punches in quick succession to the face that knocked the feral flat on her ass. Kajou didn’t wait a single instant and moved in to stomp on the feral’s leg.

But she was a second too slow; the shadows had swallowed the creature faster than she’d been. They only left an empty spot where the dog had been moments prior. “Well this isn’t good.”

“Keep your senses sharp, sis, the rest of the pack’s there,” Pan mirthfully laughed from her spot near the top of the tree Barry was hanging from. Her wings were spread wide, a halo of grayish white that would’ve been almost celestial if not for the cruelty in those eyes when she flickered her attention towards Barry.

He squirmed and shrunk, looking around the clearing, all too aware that Kajou failing would mean he’d be abandoned to his luck. And his luck had run out days ago.

There was movement from the corner of his vision, and Barry turned to see two of the smaller canine ferals approaching the edge of the clearing. They were barking loudly at Kajou, approaching quickly, and Kajou turned to face them. “Behind you!”

The warning startled her; she glanced at Barry right as the black one tackled her from behind. The monster had emerged out of Kajou’s own shadow. The dark-skinned woman cried out as the feral’s claws sank into her back, rending flesh. The other two canines had not stopped their approach, ready to jump in to finish the deed quickly.

A burst of blue came out of Kajou, a flash of power that made a THUMP against the very air surrounding her. It hammered against Barry’s chest. The power it packed had been enough to send all three ferals stumbling away; this bought Kajou the time she needed to stand up and raise her guard. Despite her readiness however, she looked quite winded from what she’d just done, sweat falling down her temples.

“You know, you never did handle well having multiple opponents,” Pan spoke idly.

The words made Kajou flinch, tightening her arms.

“Are you sure that’s where you want to be standing at? Weren’t you going to protect the human?”

The proclamation made them peer at one another. They were at opposite sides of the clearing. Not close at all. But more importantly, the ferals were right in between them, all three quickly recovering from the blast that had sent them sprawling. And though the black one and one smaller one were focusing on her, the other had turned to look at the human and growl.

A new form of panic blossomed in Barry’s chest. His arms fought fruitlessly against the ropes. The feral was approaching, the anger in her eyes clear. She wasn’t there for a meal; she was there for revenge. There appeared to be little doubt in the monster’s mind that Barry was just as responsible for what had happened as the other one.

Kajou lunged towards the bigger feral, throwing a big swing that the monster avoided with ease. Not that the purpose was to hit- the tanned woman rushed past and straight towards the one that was approaching Barry. The canine didn’t have time to react as Kajou punched the back of its head hard enough to send it straight to the ground. When it attempted to move, Kajou reacted quickly, stomping against the back of its neck.

With a crack, that was one less feral.

Breathing hard and raising her hands, Kajou spun to face the remaining two , ready for more. Both ferals appeared to oblige, the smaller one jumping in while the larger one vanished back into the shadows. “Where?” Kajou barked; it wasn’t so much a question but rather a command.

Barry reacted without a second thought, head swiveling. “To your right!”

She nodded, throwing a quick kick forward to the incoming canine and immediately following through by throwing herself towards the right. The one that was emerging from the shadows had not expected to get a boot to the face, her body sent sprawling and rolling across the ground.

It bought Kajou the time she needed to focus on the smaller one that had just recovered and attempted another attack.

There was a savage anger in how she punched the feral’s throat. The gesture had been so fast Barry had almost missed it, the feral clutching at her throat and gasping the moment after, falling to the ground in a coughing fit that was followed by a slow wheezing.

Kajou brought the feral’s suffering to a quick end.

And then there was only one.

The dark canine snarled, spittle dancing from her lips, and fangs gleaming in the darkness. She threw herself towards her opponent in full. There was a clear intent to bring everything to an end here and now regardless of who was on top, and to the feral’s credit, she reacted far better to Kajou’s attacks than a minute ago, dodging the first several quick jabs and landing a nasty looking scratch.

But she couldn’t keep up with Kajou’s fists, as one punch to the face turned into five, then ten. The minutes bled by as the dark-skinned woman was doing her best not to kill her opponent. From Barry’s perspective, it was like watching a slouched sloth trying to fight against Mike Tyson. Every punch Kajou threw at the feral’s chest or gut would lift her off the ground.

And each time she fell, it would take longer to stand back up.

Until she couldn’t.

There was clapping from above.

“Well done, sis. I almost thought I’d need to rescue you again.”

“This time the big one wasn’t around to fuck me up,” Kajou spat, cleaning the blood from her lips. “She’s still alive, we got the damn feral.” Her eyes turned upwards to glare at the blond angel. “Now will you keep your damn mouth shut about killing Barry?”

“Did you forget? He has to break her from the feral state, without a collar.” The smile on her lips turned into a cruel smirk as she focused on Barry. “Good luck, human.”