They call me the ferocious beast, the one that lurks in shadows. I am believed to take lives rather than spare them, I am the tiger. Typically this is true, but this time is different.
The mist that dwells upon the surface of the lake is drawn away by the moonlight. Below I can see the lake monster approaching the surface of the water. The girl knows, as do I, what is coming. She sends green sparks up into the air. When they reach the sky they explode like fireworks on midsummer's eve. This is the last hope she has. As the little people and alligators begin to swim over, their eyes monstrous and their touch unnoticeable, the lake monster begins to move towards the girl creating ripples that spread throughout the water. I walk out of my cage to get a closer look at what is occurring. The girl shows no sign of fear, no sense of loss. She has committed no crime, made no mistake, hurt no fly, and she is the one about to die. Under my rule innocent people have died, and the guilty creatures have been spared. The lake monster has taken power over those he has destroyed. Not this time.
As I release a roar, the lake monster is nearing the girl. Jumping off from the cliff that my paws have carried me to, I dash through the bushy forest just as the lake monster makes his first move. The girl screams, her scream filled with fear that spreads throughout the valley. She misses the whack of the pointy, poisonous tail. The monster attempts again. I sprint the remaining meters in time to jump in front of the monster.
“Get back!” I scream to the girl.
She looks terrified, her face filled with agony, the sounds approaching a cacophony. The lake monster looks at me, and soon releases a devious smile.
“The tiger has returned, and here we all thought you were gone. Destroyed. Left to rot in your own filth after the last battle… if you don’t remember.”
“I never left.” I then slash the lake monster across the chest. The girl stands back, petrified. The lake monster cries out, the cry filled with an attempted mercy call. I slash him over again, until he falls into the lake. Turning my face to the girl in shock she speaks:
“You have saved my life. I thank you. How can I repay you?”
“Stay safe.”
“Dearest tiger I will. This will make a great story!”
The girl skips away having taught me that I can use my powers as ruler for good, not evil. I can prove every legend of me to be a paradox, and I can live not as a ferocious beast, but as a tame tiger, the wisest of them all.
