The Wishing Map is a full-length fantasy that is being posted episodically at this site. To read the previous episode click here. To read it from the start, click here.

Gina Dore has finally encountered her Questing Beast, and it’s nothing like what she expected (warning: graphic imagery).

A squirrel panicked and fell to the ground. The Beast hobbled over to it. It was surprisingly slow. The squirrel should have been able to make it back up into the tree, but for some reason, the moment it saw its would-be slayer, it stopped and just sat there, mesmerized. The Beast’s tentacles shot out and snagged its prey, then it dragged it to the river’s edge. Why?

It wants me to watch! Gina realized with a shiver of revulsion. As the Beast drew the squirrel to itself, half a dozen fleshy flaps peeled back much further than necessary. Then it turned its head—to show Gina it would have no trouble consuming her as well—and slowly sucked the squirming prey into its mouth. A thick coating of mucus streamed over the hapless creature, slowly liquifying its flesh. Then a hundred teeth ground its skeleton to paste, and a wormlike tongue pushed the boney pulp down the monster’s throat.

It was the most hideous thing Gina had ever seen. Yet she dared to hope the Beast wouldn’t cross the river. And even if it did, as horrid as it was, it wasn’t that large. Her broadsword was itching to kill it; it kept jerking Gina’s arms forward as if to say, “Now!” If she could just get in one good blow…

Then her gaze was drawn to the violet patch between the monster’s eyes. It didn’t look like the rest of the creature. It was a diamond-shaped diaphragm that continually dilated and contracted as if it had a life of its own. Gina had no time to wonder what it might be, however, because her thoughts turned suddenly and forcefully to her death. She thought of all the people she’d never see again: Mom, Dad, Zack, Aunt Aloysia, Birdy… And then, for some reason, her little dragon Puff. She longed more than anything to see him one last time, to stroke his silky scales and look at his sweet, guileless face.

She’d been entirely focused on the spot between the Beast’s eyes, so she was surprised when the creature’s tortured wheeze turned into a low familiar purring. She broadened her field of vision: the monster had changed. The pus and tentacles were gone, and it now had beautiful scarabaeid bronze scales. Its hind legs were larger and stronger, and its forelegs were winged. It looked up, and let out a throaty bleat. Gina’s heart leaped. “Puff?”

In answer, the little dragon began to sing! His song was even more heart-rendingly beautiful than Gina had remembered. It was him!

It was really him! 

Thoughts: “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” ~2 Corinthians 11:14

To read the next episode, click here.

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