Struggling to break her arms free of the centaur's grip brought another blow to the back of her head. But she had managed to at least get one arm almost free. A few moments later when she had shaken off the dizziness, she managed to fight her hand free again.
This time, she was slapped so hard on the rump that she squealed in shock.
Oh, she was going to kill him. Kill him. KILL HIM.
Stacey withdrew the little knife from her hair and bit at the sheath to unsheathe the blade. Then she slashed at the arm holding her.
Suddenly she was falling. She tumbled to the ground. The hooves above her stamped the ground around her while the centaur swore, ripping the hem of his shirt in order to use it as a makeshift bandage. While he bound up the wound on his arm, Stacey tried to regain her senses after the fall.
She rolled over onto her back and froze when the blade of the machete sank into the dirt just beside her face.
"Stay there and wait for me, you devious woman," the centaur growled, tying his bandage using his teeth.
Stacey shook herself and used the machete to help her stagger back onto her feet. She had lost the little knife somewhere on the ground when she had fallen. Gripping the machete handle tight, Stacey tugged at it, trying to pull it out of the ground. It took her several attempts before she could pull it free. By then, the centaur had come back over.
Stacey ducked his arm and swung the heavy machete hurriedly. It was too heavy for her but it bit into one of his thighs and got lodged in the bone.
The centaur screamed in pain, rearing on his hind legs and Stacey rolled away to safety. A gleam of light showed her where her little blade had fallen and she rolled once more to pick it up. By the time she had picked it up and returned to her feet, she saw that the centaur had thrown the machete aside, accidentally injuring a fluffy eared beastman who had been carrying a girl with her hair in two short little pigtails.
The fluffy eared beastman fell in pained surprise when he had been struck in the leg. The girl with pigtails in his arms immediately took the opportunity to wriggle free and kill him with a slice across the throat with one of her hidden weapons. Blood sprayed through the air like a fountain.
Stacey smiled at her and waved her goodbye. The girl nodded and took to her heels, running back to the battlefield after looting the beastman for any other weapons. The girl tossed the machete back toward Stacey before she left.
The centaur glared at Stacey, holding his bleeding thigh and tearing another strip off the bottom of his shirt to tie up the wound on his thigh. Blood dripped from his leg and Stacey sidled away to pick up the machete from the ground. Then she flew at him.
The centaur was forced to stop bandaging his wound in order to defend himself. A blow to her chest knocked Stacey away when he tried to awkwardly deal with her clumsy swings but she had managed to get the machete to strike another deep slice into his side. She lost grip on the handle. Stacey scrambled for the machete but the centaur got to it first, swinging the handle of it at her to keep her away. He obviously didn't want to injure her too much.
"If you weren't a girl," the centaur said through gritted teeth, "I would kill you. When we get back home, I am going to tie you down and…"
He spouted dirty words and Stacey stopped listening. She circled the centaur warily, looking for an opportunity to attack. The centaur turned around in circles in order to stay facing her. He moved awkwardly and stumbled on his injured, bleeding leg.
Another centaur cantered past, carrying a wailing girl. Picking up a big rock, Stacey threw it hard like pitching a cricket ball at the centaur passing by, hitting him in the buttocks so that he stumbled. That centaur stopped, turning around to look for his attacker. While he was turning around, Stacey threw stone after stone at him. One struck the dangling, dripping thing hanging below his abdomen.
That centaur screamed and reared. The girl in his arms fell and despite her wailing, rolled away from the dangerous hooves. The centaur crumpled in pain, curling up. The wailing girl took this opportunity to use a hidden knife to hamstring him and then run stumbling back toward the town, still wailing. She didn't even glance back.
While Stacey was distracted, the centaur had somehow crept up on her. She felt the wind of something brush past her head when she bent down to pick up another rock. Startled, she stumbled, only to be caught by a strong arm and lifted into the air once more.
She stabbed behind her several times with the little knife in her hands as hard and fast as she could. Then the blade got stuck. So she dragged it sideways.
Once more she was released and fell to the ground, while the centaur fell to the ground, screaming and thrashing. A hoof struck her in the head and then chest, sending her reeling back, while stars burst brightly in her momentarily darkened vision. Sharp pain caused her breath to catch in her chest. Stacey caught sight of the machete and stumbled over to pick it up, clutching at her sore chest. She blinked dizzily due to her blurred vision.
The centaur panted and frothed at the mouth while he clutched at a wound that happened to be right where his man and horse parts were joined together.
That's right. Stacey remembered. Someone had once told her that this was the weak spot of a centaur. She just couldn't remember who had told her this. Nevermind. That wasn't important now. What was important was to kill this beast.
Approaching the centaur from behind him where he lay on the ground, she raised the machete and hacked down. It took several blows, but eventually, the head came off. Then she hacked at his belly and the snakey part of him between the legs. Cut him up all over until she was covered with blood and puffed out.
Her head hurt and her chest pain made it hard to breathe. She felt sick. Like she was going to throw up.