Soo....I've got this fight scene with a Chimera, which is a nasty beastie with a lion head, a goat head, and a snake-headed tail. Can anyone think of ways to refer to what each head is doing in the fight without overusing "head"? Like, i have this one paragraph: "In perfect sync, Evalynne sliced the throat of the lion head while Brightfeather snatched Lianora’s sword hilt with his beak and wrenched it out, throwing it to the other Rider with a toss of his head. The goat bleated and twisted rapidly, butting Evalynne hard in the knee as the pair spun away." Is it too confusing to just refer to the goat head in this particular bit as "the goat" since I just said "head" twice before it? I've been referring to it as "the chimera" or "the rogue Beast" when talking about what it is doing as a whole, but using "the lion head", "the goat head", "the snake head" when speaking of what they are doing individually. I just feel like it's getting redundant and I was wondering if anyone had other ideas.
I had no problem seeing "the goat" as a goat head, but I had the context that it was a chimera. I think that as long as that detail is clear, you can just refer to the animals without referring to their heads, as any previous description (I'm guessing) would have made clear that it's a three-headed beast on one body. I'd say go with "lion," "goat," and "snake" without the constant use of "head". It's really a matter of trusting the reader. You shouldn't have to over-explain anything if the proper context and details have been given.
I agree with lion/goat/snake. I do wonder if you need to waste a precious use of "head" with the head-toss though? You might want it somewhere else.
