At the edge of the battlefield, Stacey let the head go and stood back. She held onto her sore chest and swallowed her queasiness. Beastmen who recognised the bloody and abraded head she was dragging sniffed at it. They stopped fighting and released a collective roar.
There was a mass retreat by the beastmen. Only a few of the beastmen - particularly the animal headed ones continued to fight. The more intelligent beastmen who were retreating bowed or nodded to Stacey when they passed by her. None of them continued to try to kidnap any more girls.
The battle was almost over. Stacey felt exhausted.
A heavy blow struck her back, causing her to stumble to her knees. A strong hand threw her aside. Before she could get back up, Stacey was pinned down by a bullheaded man. A minotaur, a distant part of her brain told her.
She had lost everything she had been holding, including the machete.
Stacey grabbed the knife on her belt and stabbed at the minotaur's chest. The knife got stuck in its hard pectoral muscle. The blade wasn't long enough. The beastman released a bellow and struck Stacey in the face. Pain exploded. The minotaur's hands tore the armour on Stacey off with ease.
Despite feeling dazed, Stacey kicked upwards with her legs as hard and fast as she could.
Another bellow and the minotaur fell to his knees, bending over. Dragging her legs out from beneath him as fast as she could, Stacey scrambled to escape but an iron grip caught hold of one ankle. Kicking and twisting, Stacey couldn't shake it free from that inexorable grip that was slowly pulling her back toward the minotaur. The minotaur was slowly recovering.
Stacey looked around for a weapon, any weapon, but she found none. Other people were still busy with other crazed beastmen. The ones who hadn't left yet.
The minotaur resumed ripping her leather armour off her. And then the soft cloth underlayer. Stacey felt herself growing more and more desperate. Cold wind brushed her bared skin. The minotaur forced her thighs apart and held them apart with its own thick knees.
A group of young men, teenagers, heard her screams and ran to her rescue. The minotaur ignored them at first until they sliced or stabbed at it. Then with a snort, it stood up. With a swift move, it caught and snapped a swinging blade. It attacked the boys with those broken blades in each of its bleeding hands.
Stacey rolled aside before she could be trampled upon. An abandoned battleaxe lay on the ground not far from her. It was heavy and Stacey heaved it up with a grunt. Stumbling toward the minotaur, she swung the heavy axe at the back of its legs.
The axe was sharp. It cut through one knee and then got stuck in the bone of the other. Carried by the momentum of the heavy axe, Stacey couldn't stop herself from falling forwards, even though she had already let go of the axe.
The minotaur fell backwards on her and its weight crushed the air out of her. A sharp corner of the axe nicked her thigh, making her wince. She felt people landing blows on the minotaur until it shuddered and lay still. Stacey couldn't move and could barely breathe.
There was a hissing, like that of a snake. An enormous snake head strode into view atop the naked body of a man. His male parts looked like a knobbly two headed penis. It, and a goat headed man that was equally naked but thankfully with a more normal looking dangler, attacked the boys that had been nearby earlier. Stacey heard them moving further and further away.