The Beast was nameless. Even within the Realm of Abaddon, it was called by its purpose rather than its name. It was the Ravager.

In the Realms of Abaddon and Empyrean, the battle between good and evil, between chaos and order, between light and darkness, is constant. There are Generals and soldiers, Kings and politicians, and all manner in between. The intrigues of the Eternal Realms played out within the Realms of Man, where the battles between good and evil most often occurred.

The Beast was not royalty, nor foot-soldier, nor drone. It was a weapon. It did not need a name, it was the Ravager. It was not sent to battlefields, it was unleashed upon them. It was destruction and chaos made manifest. A remorseless juggernaut of carnage.

The Beast had been trapped within the stone statue for over 150 years and like the tale of the Jinn, trapped within its bottle, its anger and fury had grown. All it wanted now was to annihilate anything within its path. It wanted to taste blood and hear screams. They were like a lullaby to it.

The Beast was comfortable in the woods. It liked the cool darkness of the night, hunting with the sounds of owls and other nightbirds echoing through the dark. It rested during the day, unseen in the hollows and trenches of the forest. When the sun set, it awoke renewed in its grim purpose.

Its hunger was particularly acute this night, and it took all of its cunning and meager discipline to remain stealthy as it began its hunt. The Beast's patience was rewarded as it detected the sound of music drifting through the dark woods. There was a cabin in the distance. It sniffed the air and a sinister grin spread across its drooling mouth.

Lisa Piermont's husband had been executed somewhere deep in the Arabian Peninsula for having in his possession a bottle of Scotch and having in his company the underage daughter of a minor, but powerful sheik. On the day his head left his shoulders and rolled in the desert sand, Lisa became richer by nearly a million dollars, proving much to her chagrin that he wasn't quite as worthless as she had always thought.

Her mind this day, however, was not on her late husband, but on her present lover, Luther. Luther wasn't bright or charming, or even rich or famous. What he was, was young and horny, and that was precisely what the widow Piermont looked for in a man these days.

Luther was a bit of a coward. The idea of spending the evening in the woods with all the mysterious disappearances recently did not seem like such a good one to him. Lisa poo-pooed his fears, reminding him first that the nearest incident had been 20 miles away and far more reassuring to Luther, the fact that they were staying in Lisa's cabin, not only bear-proof, but fitted with all the comforts of a hotel room in the city.

Luther showered after their first lovemaking session. Lisa lay on the bed, preferring to smoke a cigarette, bask in the afterglow and stare through the skylight at the stars of the night.

Lisa was laying back thinking about how to get Luther out of her life so she could get the well-built mechanic she had met earlier that week into it. She liked Luther well enough, but he was becoming boring. There just wasn't much more there besides his body, and she had become more than passingly familiar with that. 

As the afterglow passed and the cigarette burned down, she stretched like a cat and turned again to the skylight. The stars were obscured, and for a moment she thought she saw two violet eyes staring down at her. A quick chill went through her body, but she dismissed the vision as a result of an over-active imagination and returned to thinking about the mechanic who would soon be working on her chassis.

Luther finished his shower and dried off. Time for round two, he thought to himself. Perhaps he should ask Lisa to marry him. She was older, but attractive and had lots of money to spend on him. She'd say yes, he was sure. After all, he always satisfied her and never talked back. Yes, he thought, tonight, after a few more rolls in the sack he would ask.

Luther came back into the main room and Lisa looked up at him. It was clear he was about to say something when the breaking glass of the skylight rained down on him. He looked up and let out a shriek as a broken pane imbedded in his right arm. Lisa looked at Luther, frozen in surprise. This turned to shock when a great dark arm reached down through the hole in the ceiling and wrapped a sinewy talon around Luther's screaming head. With a quick jerk, the arm and Luther's body disappeared through the roof. There was complete silence now. Lisa recovered her senses as best she could. That was no bear, she thought, and it was still out there. A horrible tearing and banging started above her. Then there was silence.

The tense quiet did not last long as an object came flying through the skylight and bounced along the floor. It was Luther's head, still wearing a look of befuddled surprise.

Lisa was unusually calm. She was sure that if she stayed in the small cabin, it would only be a matter of time until whatever it was would break through and take her. The destruction on the roof began again, and splinters of wood began to rain onto the floor.

I have to do something now, she thought, while it's busy trying to get through the roof.

Lisa decided to make a run for the car. Still nude, except for her tennis shoes, she stood at the cabin door, holding the car keys and waiting until the frenzy above her was especially intense.

Lisa opened the door and ran to the car with all her might. The noise from the cabin stopped. She felt a warm breath on her naked back. Knowing her life was over, she turned and saw the gaping mouth and teeth that would, in the next instant, bite her body in half.