In a powerful and renowned kingdom, a new king was ascending to the throne. Ministers and advisors were eager to share the truth about his wisdom and greatness with the common folk. Fortune-tellers, magicians, and charlatans predicted his great glory. Military leaders and strategists discussed his commanding abilities. The people rejoiced and celebrated, seeing him as a successor to the glorious deeds of his righteous predecessors, ready to bring his sword and shield to the service of his country. The coronation was just a few days away.
And during one of these days, the future ruler was strolling through the vast royal garden when he noticed a new cage containing an extraordinary creature that had appeared in the serene garden. The creature had the skin of a dragon, the tail of a scorpion, and the horns of a bull, and each of its paws was adorned with several rows of razor-sharp, small claws. Lying on its belly with its muscular legs curled beneath it, the creature appeared to be peacefully sleeping.
"Where did this cage come from in my garden, and what kind of strange foreign beast is imprisoned inside it?" the king asked his loyal subjects.
"Your hunters and trappers brought it here from the wild lands of the west," the servants replied. "But as far as we know, this creature has not yet been given a proper name."
"Could it be dangerous to us?" the future king asked. "Perhaps we should wake him up so that we can all admire and marvel at its strangeness."
"That would be too reckless, Your Majesty," his advisors whispered cautiously in his ear. "It is said that dozens of your most loyal and skilled hunters have died trying to capture the creature, and it has been a difficult task for your alchemists to sedate that beast. Do you really believe that we should not be afraid of it?"
"The beast is in the cage!" the king laughed good-naturedly. "What can it do to us? Wake up the beast!"
Who would dare to disobey the word of a future king? At his command, the guards awakened the sleeping beast by repeatedly thrusting their sharp spears into it.
With a menacing growl, the awakened beast began to thrash around in its cage, trying to break free, but even it was unable to break through the sharp and thick metal bars.
"You see?" the future ruler laughed. "This strange beast is too foolish and not at all dangerous!"
Shaking their heads fearfully, as if in approval of their king's words, the guards and their retinue slowly backed away, covering their ears from the deafening roar of the awakened beast.
"You! Will! Open! The cage!" the beast's voice, unyielding, echoed in the king's mind. "Now!"
Unable to disobey him, the king moved towards him as if enchanted.
"Your Majesty, please stop!" his servants tried to shout, but the beast's new roar drowned out their cries.
With eyes filled with admiration, as if unaware of the great danger he was undertaking, the king approached the cage and opened it from the inside. With a single swift movement, the beast leapt out, showering the king with a foul-smelling liquid from its open mouth.
"Now you die!" the beast growled mentally.
As if coming out of the obsession, the king drew his sword and whispered in a trembling voice:
"I… I challenge you to a duel, monster!"
"We accept your challenge!" thousands of voices screeched in the king's mind, each in its own way.
"Your Majesty!" cried out the terrified servants. "Run for your life!"
"We shall protect you! For the king!" the guards, who had awakened the beast, croaked, spitting out their blood, and rushed to intercept the beast, but a new, heart-breaking roar from the alien beast stopped their beating hearts in an instant. They fell dead on the fragrant grass of the beautiful royal garden, their weapons falling down from their hands.
The surviving servants, frozen in terror, could only watch the scene helplessly.
"I challenge you to a fair jousting match!" the king shouted in a shaky voice. "To the first blood!"
Without answering, the beast leaped at the king, raising its muscular paws over his head. At the last moment, the king managed to dodge the beast's deadly strike, but the claws of one of its paws scratched his chainmail armor and tore open the flesh on his right shoulder.
"You're not fighting by the rules!" the ruler hissed in pain. "You should have accepted the challenge first!"
Meanwhile, sensing the first drop of blood, the beast started circling the king, baring its three rows of black as night teeth, choosing the right moment for a new leap.
Meanwhile, the king lowered his sword and drew a circle on the ground with its blade.
"Here lies the line!" he declared to the beast. "Dare not to cross it! Fight like a true knight! I command you!"
"You dare to command…" the king's mind echoed with the strained laughter of a thousand hellish voices.
And at the same moment, the beast made its new leap. The king tried to raise his sword, which was lowered so untimely to the ground, in order to be able to repel the enemy's new attack, but it was already too late. The claws of the leaping beast bit into the king's chest, tearing through the armor that protected him, and the teeth sank into the neck that opened for a moment.
"You… crossed… the line…" the would-be king whispered faintly, dying in front of the frightened eyes of his subjects.
After a few fateful, seemingly eternal seconds, it was all over. An expression of surprise and helplessness froze on the face of the slain ruler. And only scarlet streams of blood flowed out of the body torn apart by the beast, flowing down the emerald-beautiful grass of the royal garden and forming bizarre red lines.…
With a new howl, the beast rushed out of the garden, scattering the royal servants who had come across it inopportunely with its paws, and then vanished from sight.
* * *
It took the inhabitants of this kingdom many days, nights, and human lives to track down the beast, capture, and then slay it. He caused a lot of suffering by ravaging cities and villages. He made many women widows and children orphaned. And thus, many still remember that ravaging beast. And, wandering through the land of this kingdom, from generation to generation, bards pass on legends and tales about how much trouble the one who opens the way to the beast brings to others.…