walked partway toward the boy,

sat down by a large rock,

working to catch his breath.

A moment’s hesitation

before the boy bolted for Xau,

wrapped his arms around the king,

clung to him.

Xau held him

while the boy’s gulping slowed,

eased him down onto his lap,

held him again.

Held him as the boy sniffled.

Thought of his own children,

how, if things went well,

he could be home by winter.

Held him as the guards

stretched an awning over them;

held him as Subetei’s scouts

began returning.

By mid-morning all three children

were clustered round the king

as he folded a piece of paper

into crane and horse and sampan boat.

A pair of scouts came over.

Bowed deeply. Gave their report.

The beast’s lair found.

Fourteen more hostages.

BEAST

1. Outside.

A stench of rotting meat

leaked from the entrance cavern

into the desert dusk

where King Xau waited

for his scouts to come out.

His guards and the horse warriors

had dismounted, ready to fight;

Xau still sat his horse,

conserving his strength.

2. Entrance cavern.

Dark. At the back,

blocking off an inner cave,

the beast’s hostages:

a dozen women, two children,

each naked, each holding a dagger

to their own belly.

“Good morning, Horse King.

I offer you a trade,”

said the tallest woman,

the beast speaking through her.

“My playmates for your oath

to leave me in peace.”

“No,” said Xau.

“No? You would watch them die?”

Shadows shifted behind her.

“A trick!” yelled Li on Xau’s left

as Xau caught the glint of metal.

The naked hostages turned,

ran into the inner cave

as from out that darkness

poured armored men.

Xau drew his sword

as the beast’s men

rushed straight at him.

The horse warriors raced forward,

blocking Xau from the enemy,

his guards forming

an inner shield around him.

The battle brief but brutal.

All the beast’s men killed,

along with thirteen horse warriors.

3. Descent.

Xau limped after his men

into the inner cave,

ten of the horse warriors

carrying torches.

The cave floor sloped steadily down

past bed rolls, food, chairs, pots.

Beyond a narrow gap

the stench of putrefaction grew so strong

Xau breathed through his mouth.

The torches flickered on corpses:

thousands upon thousands of corpses

heaped high on either side,

reaped by the beast.

Water dripped from the cavern roof

as the way descended

deeper and deeper.

4. Lair.

Into a cave lit with lanterns,

yellow light catching

on stained tools of torture;

on the glistening, tentacled,

six-eyed, six-mouthed beast;

on the naked hostages

ringed round the beast,

blades to their bellies.

Xau called a halt

beyond the beast’s reach,

its touch a trap

that bound men to it.

“Will you trade now?”

the beast asked, speaking for itself

in a six-mouthed echoing.

“Their lives for mine.”

“No.”

Xau played his only gambit.

“Release them and we promise you

a quick death. If not,

we will seal you in this cave

and let you starve.”