The Beast
“How can you do this, Aazan?” Sabra cried. “My father has done only good for the village!”
Aazan ignored her. He tied Sabra to the thick wooden post. He gave the ropes a final tug. Then he said, “You may explain your father’s good deeds to the dragon. Perhaps the beast will spare you.”
Beth was tied to the other side of the post. She tugged against the ropes, but they held tight. She looked to her left. The mouth of a large cave looked back at her. To her right was the sea.
“Please let Beth go,” Sabra cried. “She isn’t from my family. She isn’t even from Silene.”
“Yet she fought for you,” Aazan said. “She attacked one of my men. She has been loyal to you in life. Perhaps she will be loyal to you in death.”
A small group of men behind Aazan chuckled.
Beth looked at Aazan and said, “How can you believe that this will satisfy the monster? That’s crazy!”
“We shall see,” Aazan said and then turned to his men. “We must return to the village before the moon rises.”
Sabra cried, “No, you can’t leave us to die!”
The men turned their backs on the girls and walked away. Beth watched the glow of their torches. They looked like angry, red eyes. Soon the torchlight could be seen only in the distance. And then, even the torches disappeared into the night.
Beth heard Sabra weeping quietly. Beth wanted to cry too but couldn’t. Her eyes went back to the mouth of the cave. “Is that where the dragon lives?” she asked.
“Yes,” Sabra said with a sniff.
“How do you know?” Beth asked. She hoped that somehow a mistake had been made. Maybe the dragon lived somewhere else and wouldn’t come to eat them.
“One of the villagers found monstrous tracks leading into the cave,” Sabra said.
Beth stared at the sandy ground near her feet. Then she looked around the base of the post. It wasn’t easy to tell what she was looking at. Not even the bright moonlight helped much.
She started to look away when she noticed something. There were shadowy marks in the dirt. Tracks, she thought. She squinted hard.
Each track was bigger than a man’s hand. A whole trail of them led away into a thatch of scraggly bushes. White fur clung to the bushes.
Could those be the dragon’s footprints? Beth wondered. But why were they leading away from the cave and not into it? They seemed small for a dragon’s clawlike feet. At least what she imagined they would look like.
“Why did you do it?” Sabra asked Beth in a small voice.
“Do what?” Beth asked.
“Why did you try to stop them?” Sabra said. “Why did you stand up for me?”
“It was wrong for the men to take you,” Beth said. “I couldn’t just stand by and—”
A roar rumbled in the distance. Beth froze.
“The beast!” Sabra cried. She struggled against the ropes.
The roar came again, now louder. Beth felt the vibrations through her entire body.
The two girls turned toward the cave.
The roar came again and then trailed off into a growl.
“Wait,” Beth said. “The roar isn’t coming from inside the cave. It’s from out there. See those bushes?”
The moonlight painted everything a spooky green color. A huge shadow moved slowly behind the branches and leaves.
Beth felt as if ice slivers were sliding down her back. She struggled against the ropes. Sabra also jerked at her ropes. Neither girl could get free.
Beth twisted her body. She hoped to find another way to loosen her bonds. Then something pricked her side. What if the beast was poking her with its claws? She twisted again.
Nothing was there.
Then she remembered. It was the nail file!
“Be still, Sabra,” Beth said.
“Be still!” Sabra cried. “How can I be still?”
“I have a file,” Beth said. “I’ll use it to fray the ropes.”
“Hurry!” Sabra cried.
Beth pushed against the ropes but couldn’t reach the metal file.
Another roar. This time it was loud and fierce. It seemed to silence every other sound in the night.
Beth looked up. The bushes parted. The shadow emerged. It now stood just a few yards away.
The beast had fur as thick as a grizzly bear’s. Huge claws stuck out from its four feet. But it had no wings.
It’s not a dragon, Beth thought. For a moment, her curiosity overcame her fear. This creature was some kind of gigantic cat. It was like a lion, but it was much bigger. Fanglike tusks hung down from its upper jaw.
That’s when Beth remembered something from school about saber-toothed tigers. But this creature didn’t have any stripes.
It growled again, and Beth’s fear came back. She struggled with the ropes again.
The saber-toothed cat circled around them. It roared. The girls froze.
“Beth,” Sabra whispered. “Beth, the file.”
Beth squirmed and felt the file move against her hip. It slipped at an angle toward her tied hands. A little more, she thought.
The saber-toothed cat growled again in a deep and dangerous tone. Beth craned her neck to see what it was doing. It moved forward. Its nose was just inches away from Sabra’s chin. Sabra muffled a scream.
Beth could hear the huge cat sniffing. Then it padded around to her and did the same thing.
It was close. Beth could see the moonlight reflecting off the cat’s huge golden eyes.
Then the cat disappeared from view. Oh no! Beth thought. What’s it going to do?
“My help comes from the Lord,” Beth whispered.
“Where is it? What is it doing?” Sabra asked.
Suddenly the saber-toothed cat was in front of Beth again. It roared in her face. The beast opened its mouth wide. Its fangs were as long as her forearm. Beth thought the beast might swallow her whole.
The giant cat backed up and then dropped low to the ground.
Beth had seen her friend’s cat do the same thing—right before it pounced.
Beth closed her eyes and braced herself for whatever would happen. She thought of Patrick, her parents, her friends at school . . . and Rachel. But mostly she thought of Jesus. He promised Christians life after death.
Then suddenly, Beth heard a huge roar from somewhere behind her. The roar sounded like a jet engine and thunderclap all in one.
She opened her eyes. The cat’s eyes had moved to something beyond Beth. It backed away slowly from Beth and Sabra.
It’s scared, Beth thought. But of what?
The saber-toothed cat spun around and then darted into the bushes.
“What is that?” Sabra asked, breathless. She looked toward the mouth of the cave.
Beth couldn’t speak. There was a loud thump followed by a thud. Beth turned to the cave entrance. It was black.
The sound is coming from in there, Beth thought.
Another loud thud. A crackling sound, too. Rocks broke free from the top of the cave. The rocks fell to the ground in a rain of dust.
Beth stared at the mouth of the cave.
Slowly, two large ovals appeared in the darkness. They were like two yellow embers. Black pupils slashed the middle of each oval. The eyes seemed to hang in a great shadow.
A low rumbling came from the cave. More rocks and dust fell. Next, there was a blast of air.
And Beth saw fire.