Benaiah had stopped on the trail he was using to check the wind, watch his back trail and reminisce for a moment about Al’asad. And their first encounter.
Today was very much like that day. Quiet and snowy.
Benaiah’s heart was heavy this day. He and Al’asad had played this game many times before, but today was different. Al’asad had moved closer to a nearby village and he had started hunting villagers more frequently lately.
Something wasn’t right.
He knew the lion’s tracks well and was surprised when Al’asad veered off to the left of the heavily used game trail. His direction would lead him to a small secluded opening in the forest that they both knew well.
But as the trail wound through the brush Benaiah thought to himself, “My lion is not himself today, he is not being careful like usual and is heading directly to something, but what?”
When Benaiah reached the edge of the opening in the forest he found the ‘what’. It was an old goat carcass tied to a stake in the ground that Al’asad had fed on earlier.
“So, he was returning to see if there was any thing left,” he said quietly to himself . There was something else though. Using goats as bait was not strange but something about the carcass did not smell right. As Benaiah came closer he detected a faint smell of… Poison! Someone had poisoned his lion, “My Lion!” he thought, as he gritted his teeth in anger. That could explain the strange behavior of Al’asad lately and why he changed his diet to the elderly and children of the village.
With a renewed focus he resumed tracking Al’asad and as he was passing the place of their first encounter he discovered some different tracks. Two sets. Barely visible. Who ever was making these tracks was doing a good job of covering them up.
Benaiah had been hearing reports of some Moabite poachers in the area but had not had the opportunity to follow up on any of them. As he locked into tracking these men he realized they were tracking Al’asad as well.
He knew he was catching up to the men when the tracks became clearer as the trespassers split up and started to run in different directions. One to the right and one to the left.
Benaiah understood their tactic. Al’asad was close. The lion knew the tactic too and trotted ahead of the noise to outpace his pursuers.
If he had not been poisoned and his senses dulled this tactic would not have had any effect on him. He had been pursued this way before, and a bit nonchalantly had laid in wait, when others had tried the same ploy and watched them run right by, as he slipped out of their grasp by doubling back and circling around out of harms way.
But he was not himself today and he was in no mood for tricks.
Al’asad felt secure and things seemed to be going well as he made a small dash to put some space between himself and the determined poachers.
Using a lesser known path he tried to quietly slip away by picking his way down the trail towards the big tree…
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