No one knew where the beast came from or what its name was, but when it came through everything died. Within a week, the massive island was barren of all life. The humans thought they could stay and fight, but they were the first to go.

The beast stood a gargantuan three hundred feet. Its belly became fat with all the life it’s eaten. Nothing was spared, not even the animals. It drank the rivers dry just to see the fish flail around and go still.

The birds were the lucky ones. They flew away early on. The beast never tried to cross the ocean. There was no telling if it could swim or not, it just roamed the land searching for life to extinguish.

After seemingly months of wandering around, the beast heard nothing but the wind. In sheer frustration, the beast let out a great roar that was so powerful it uprooted the trees. For a few moments, there was nothing but silence. Suddenly, there was a low roar in the distance. The beast turned in shock and stomped its way towards the distant sound.

After miles and miles of travel, the beast let out another roar and waited a few moments for a reply. High above, in the frozen mountains, a reply echoed. The beast mindlessly climbed up the mountainside. Thousands of feet the beast climbed with its gaze transfixed on the summit.

The cold didn’t bother it at all. The beast’s thick skin made it immune to the elements. Many doubted if the beast was able to feel pain at all. A few times it started to slip and fall, but its giant claws locked him in place.

The beast looked tiny at the top of the mountain. It turned around again and again and didn’t see a single thing. The beast let out one last roar. In the distance, yet another roar called back. The beast snarled at the noise coming from another mountain.

The beast started to walk and slid on the ice. It stabbed its claws into the mountain to stop its fall. The claws started to break and the beast fell helplessly down the mountain. Jagged rocks didn’t slow the descent.

The ground erupted as the beast finally hit the ground. Its body was broken, yet it still tried to rise up. Finally, the beast laid flat on the ground, fading away fast. It moved its eyes while searching for the source of the roar. Little did the beast know, it was chasing its own echo.

Joe Reyes