Serafina and the Black Cloak - Robert Beatty Page 0,74
searching in the darkness. She could smell his horrible, rotting stench. The folds of his slithering cloak twisted and turned as it snaked its way through the opening, rattling in anticipation of the coming meal.
Holding the cubs against her chest in terror, Serafina pulled back as far as she could go. She knew that if that man’s hand or the folds of his cloak grabbed her, he’d drag her out of the den and her life would end in the most hideous way.
“I’m not going to hurt you, child…” he rasped as he reached for her.
At that moment, all the power and ferocity of clawed mother-hood came ripping out of the woods. Enraged by the intruder at the mouth of her den, the lioness pounced upon his back. The terrific momentum of her attack rolled him to the ground. She struck her front claws into his back and chest even as she sunk her teeth into his neck and head.
The Man in the Black Cloak shouted out in a shock of pain. He fought hard to defend himself from the powerful cat. He drew his dagger, but the lioness slashed his hand. Hissing and growling in fury, the lioness bit and clawed him repeatedly, mercilessly.
The Man in the Black Cloak punched and kicked and tried to get to his feet, but the furious lioness was too fast and too strong. He didn’t have time to find the fallen dagger. He tried to slam her with a large branch, but she swatted him so hard with her razor-clawed paw that it ripped open his flesh and knocked him to the ground. Then she lunged at him and bit down on his neck, forcing him to the ground with her weight the way she would kill a deer. She held her powerful jaws clenched on his throat until he slowly stopped struggling and finally became still.
The Man in the Black Cloak went limp.
The lioness dropped him into a bloody black heap like the carcass of a dead animal.
The trap had sprung. A rush of joy and relief poured through Serafina. Her plan had worked! She’d finally defeated the Man in the Black Cloak. She’d done it! She’d saved Braeden. She’d saved Biltmore. She’d really done it! Her skin tingled with excitement. She wished she could somehow magically communicate with Braeden from a distance and tell him what had happened. It almost felt like she could turn herself into a bird and fly away. She’d fly up into the sky like a whip-poor-will and do loopty loops in the clouds until she was too dizzy to fly anymore.
Ecstatic, she began to crawl toward the entrance of the den so that she could run home, but it was too late.
Death was upon her.
The lioness, still fiercely angry, entered the den to kill the second intruder.
Her.
There was only one way in and out of the den, and the lioness was going to tear Serafina to shreds. The lioness would kill her the same way she had killed the first intruder. To the lioness, there was no difference between them.
With a surge of panic, Serafina scrambled to the back of the den, trying desperately to get out of the lioness’s reach. She sucked air in and out of her lungs. Her legs were kicking and thrashing like the hooves of a panicked horse, but she had no place to go.
The lioness came straight in. Her muscles bulged and rolled beneath her tan coat. Her eyes blazed. She held her mouth partly open. Her massive, sharp teeth gleamed. Her breaths froze in the frosty air as her sides heaved in and out. Steam rose off her body. As she pushed her way in toward Serafina, the lioness growled a low and menacing growl, fiercely determined to kill the creature that had invaded her den.
Serafina cowered behind the cubs with her back against the earthen wall. She tried to brace herself, to stay strong, but she shook uncontrollably. Unable to escape, she pulled her legs up against her chest, ready to defend herself, ready to kick. She tightened her hands to scratch and claw. She snapped her teeth and snarled.
Just as the lioness was about to lunge toward her and snap her neck, Serafina looked straight into the lioness’s face and screamed as loudly and violently as she could, her teeth bared and threatening, like a cornered bobcat. She wanted to let this lion know that she might be small, but she wasn’t going to die easy.