As I laid there next to Taylor, I wondered what we did to deserve this. Was it just because we were different, or was there another reason they weren’t telling us. What was really weird was that they were able to move us without waking either of us. I wondered if what we had for dinner was poisoned with something.

“Angel, do you think we are going to get out of this,” Taylor asked. I looked at her and tried to smile. I could lie to her, but at this point, it seemed pointless.

“I don’t know, Taylor. I mean, if what the woman said was true, there is no way for us to just bust out of here. And the goddess has been silent thus far,” I said. This made me think. Why was the goddess quiet. Was she just sitting by and allowing this, or was she as damaged as I was after that attack? I didn’t know.

There wasn’t much else to talk about. I think Taylor was just as drained as I was from worry. Soon those people would come and take us to our “new home.” Once we were out of this cell, I would fight like hell so that we could escape. I was going to at least try, even without the goddess’s help.

There was no way of knowing if it was day or night, but my body told me that it was time to sleep again. Yawning, I laid my head against Taylor’s shoulder. With nothing else to do, I closed my eyes and drifted off, though I didn’t have good dreams.

I was awoken by the sound of footsteps. It was the woman again with more food. At least they weren’t starving us.

“Why are you doing this? I don’t understand. What is so wrong with us being different?” I asked. She smirked and leaned in against the bars.

“You beasts don’t belong here. You should have stayed in your lands. My master is a collector of rare beasts. And just look at you two. Why I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t want to play with you as soon as he got you home,” she said before laughing. There was no point in asking her what she meant when deep down, I already knew.

“Why don’t you just let us go? We will leave and never return,” I tried to reason with her. She laughed again, then shook her head.

“You don’t get it, do you. My master pays us to capture creatures like you so that he can have pets. And I don’t mean like your regular dog or cat,” she said before walking off. So it was just as I thought. He planned to use us. I usually wouldn’t have thoughts like this, but once we got out of here, I was going to kill her so that no other beastkin would ever have to worry about this.

After eating the food, I started to feel funny. Taylor didn’t look so good either. It was as if the whole world was spinning out of control. I tried to think about what was happening, but it was like my mind was in a fog. Before I knew it, my eyes were closing.

When I woke up, I noticed something heavy around my neck. Looking down, I saw a chain hanging between me and someone whose face was covered. Then I turned and looked at Taylor and realized what it was. We were wearing metal collars. I tried to reach up and pull on it but realized that my hands were bound behind me.

“Ah, so you’re awake. That bitch, Cassandra, said that you would be asleep for the whole trip. I will have to tell the boss to dock her pay,” came a man’s voice from under the mask.

“Where are you taking us?” I asked though I was pretty sure that I already knew the answer.

“Don you listen? We are taking you to our master. Lucky man. If I had found ya, I woulda kept you for myself—pretty little beasties,” the man said. I felt my stomach churn at his words. Why did they think that we were just trophies to be had? Did they really think we were less than human?

“Why would you help a man like that? And why do you think that we are just trophies to keep?” I asked, though I really didn’t want to know what depraved thoughts he had.

“Look at cha—you’re more beautiful than any woman I have ever seen. And that tail….the things I could do with that tail,” he said. I couldn’t see his face, but I could imagine that he was drooling. It was disgusting, the things that he was saying. I tried concentrating on summoning my wings, but whatever this Cassandra woman had given me was still affecting my thoughts.

“Babe, where are we?” I heard Taylor ask. I guess whatever this Cassandra gave us wore off on her too.

“We are in a wagon. I am sorry that I wasn’t able to get us out of this,” I said as I lowered my head.

“Oi, what’s this, babe? Is that your name?” the man asked. I forgot that these weren’t terms used in this world.

“She is my lover, and I am hers,” I said, throwing as much venom into my words as I could muster. I watched as the man scratched his head.

“Two women together? That ain’t natural. Yer supposed to be with a man,” the man said. Great, more bigotry. But then again. If this is anything like around this time in our world, everything was kept behind closed doors. I heard in some countries, if two women were found in bed together, they would be killed.

“Where we come from, girls can be with girls, and men can be with men,” I said. Though I could not see his face, I could see the disgust in his eyes.

“You are lying. No man would ever want to be with another man. It’s blasphemy,” the man said as he started to get upset. I wondered something.

“Oh no, I am not lying. I have seen it with my own eyes. And the things that guys do to each other. Putting their… sword in their mans’ backside,” I taunted. The man moved closer, slapping me with the backside of his hand. Pain spread throughout my face so fast, I wanted to cry. But it brought him just within the distance of my foot. Mustering up as much strength as I could, I kicked him in his junk. The man fell over, writhing in pain, as he let out a thunderous scream. I felt the cart stop.

“What’s going on back there?” came a voice from upfront. When no one answered, I heard the sound of boots hitting the ground and then footsteps coming to the back of the cart. Another name opened the curtains of the wagon, and I used this opportunity to headbutt the man. He fell to the ground, unconscious. This only left the man in the cart, who was still clenching his man bits.

Sitting up on my knees, I crawled over to the man and slammed my head against his. He stopped moving. Quickly I grabbed the dagger on his belt and crawled back over to Taylor. Sitting back to back, she moved her arms until the ropes were cut. Then she took the dagger and cut my ropes. Once we were both free, I searched for the key to the locks on the collars. The man was starting to stir, so I hit him again.

Finding the key, I unlocked Taylor’s collar, then my own. Then we both jumped out of the wagon. I stole everything that I thought we could use, then dragged Taylor through the woods with me. I knew it was only a matter of time before they would come looking for us, so I wanted to get as much distance between them and us. As if our problems weren’t already bad, now I was sure that we would have these men hunting us down too.