The Fox Princess And Her White Dog

33: We're Here to Rescue You

Can it be? Is that my mother? Snow stared at the woman who looked so much like her, yet possessed a wondrous, otherworldly beauty that no human on Earth could match. For a second, Snow thought her mother's eyes were growing wide upon seeing her own daughter in the flesh, but then she spun away. "Pan, over here! I've found him!"

Oh, how could I forget? It's just a memory. Snow bit her lip, her heart hammering in her chest. She tried to gently awaken Chow Chow, who was like dead weight in her arms, when a small but sturdy woman with a fiery mane appeared beside her mother.

"Good gods, Aoko, I can't believe you've found him," Pan said, staring agog at the black dog on the other side of the bars.

To Snow, the two were an odd couple – one wore dark robes and fitted trousers like a spy who lurked in the shadows; and the other dressed in flowing robes the color of unblemished snow. With a silver floral hairpin studded with sapphires in her ebony tresses, her mother looked like a celestial being made of ice, a snowdrop on a frosted lake.

"Quick, let's open the door." Aoko tested the cell door, which did not budge.

Pan pulled two long needles from her forearm guard, and bent one in the middle before kneeling to pick at the lock. "He's in bad shape. I hope he won't turn aggressive," she muttered, glancing nervously at the large dog.

"He won't."

Aoko stood, and Snow gaped at her gently curved belly in amazement. Heavens above. My mother was pregnant with me when she came to save Chow Chow. 

With her jaw set, Pan worked at the keyhole, the fireball beside her throwing light and shadows acrossher round face. A faint click sounded from the door lock, followed by another. "Almost there."

A dog barked from its cage. Snow followed Aoko's gaze as she looked warily to the side. Through the bars of the neighboring cells, she spied a wooden door at the end of the corridor.

"Someone's coming," Aoko whispered.

"What? Now?" Over the dogs' yelps, men's voices carried through the door. "Crap!" Pan scrambled to hide, but before she could move away, the door swung open, and a pair of burly men stomped straight towards them.

Shit! Snow nearly said aloud. She watched with horror as the men entered, dragging a dog in between them. She was about to shout for her mother and Pan to flee, but turned to find that they had vanished into thin air.

Huh? They were just here moments ago, where did they go? Even the fireball had disappeared with them.

In the corridor, the barking grew louder when the men dumped the visibly injured dog in the cell next to Snow's. They cursed at the other dogs in a foreign tongue and rattled the cages before picking two. In the light of the men's lantern, Snow saw the wild-eyed occupants smashing themselves against the bars to escape. The remaining canines continued howling long after the men had left.

Oh Gods, where are they taking them? Snow dreaded to think of the fate that awaited the poor dogs. She didn't realize she was gripping Chow Chow tightly until he rasped for breath by her neck. I'm sorry, she thought, as she relaxed her hold on him. She brushed his fair hair out of his eyes, which remained closed, like he was asleep.

A movement made her raise her head. The two women suddenly reappeared, as if a cloak that had rendered them invisible had fallen away.

Pan blew out her cheeks. "That was close. I nearly got stepped on."

"What are they going to do with those dogs?" 

"I heard they use the little ones as bait in the fighting pit."