The scent was carried by the western wind.
Deer? No not gamey enough.
Wait. I know this one.
The olfactory sense, the one she was most proud of was weak tonight. In normal days she could identify the musk of a carabao or even the scent of freshly cut undergrowth at a great distance.
Yes.
Humans.
Not the stringy kind, she thought, much more tender.
It had been a while since she had eaten juveniles. They were faster than the older ones, but the sweet taste of their flesh lingered on her tongue, long after that meal.
Three?
No. Two.
The wafting of the breeze emboldened her.
A great vintage. She said to no one in particular.
One male. Seven years old, very nervous. Sweating too much. A bit heavy set.
Another one. Female. Related to the boy. Old enough to have passed puberty. She seems to be the one leading them both through the forest.
Leading them to her first meal in a while.
Small game was what the giantess had been subsisting on for the past few weeks. She brought them to her cave, the soft light of the small fire exuding some form of comfort in her bleak existence.
She was an outcast even among the giants. She was not the strong Bungisngis, the fearsome Dambuhala or the oath sworn Sarimao.
She was Bekat, the giantess who could smell.
And today she was hungry.
The humans were in the part of the forest where the river ran.
Perfect. She could wash the meat without having to inconvenience herself.
She took a large log, felled from a narra tree and started her hunt.
That smell again.
She could tell by the scent that both of them were sweating, their adrenaline seeping out of their bodies.
Her belly growled. All she had to do was get close enough for one swipe. Just one.
The girl screamed, giving ample time for the boy to run away.
Bekat grabbed her quarry, the girl struggling to escape her grasp.
She smelled something on the girl, a kind of perfume or a lip balm? Bekat never liked eating those, they tasted like chemicals and preservatives.
It was time to drown her prey. The cold waters of the river would rush away any unwanted flavors.
“Wait!” The girl said. “Do not drown me giant, my flesh will be tough!”
Bekat reflected, had all her drowned prey been tough to chew? That may have been the case.
The giantess sat down, the girl still struggling against her grip.
“Hmmm.. How should I deal with you, child?”
“You could release me, giant. I can bring you many more humans.”
“I could not eat all of you given the chance. I only want a light meal.”
“then what kind of meal do you want to have?”
“Something plump and juicy.”
“I can get you my brother! All you need is to let me go and I can bring him!”
“What if you run away?”
“I will not, I promise.”
So Bekat let her go and waited.
The sun set and she waited.
Twilight passed and she waited.
“Damn, fooled again,” she said.
It was not the first time she was tricked like this and it wouldn’t be the last. Her strength equaled her ignorance.
She smelled a whiff of deer in the air.
And resumed her hunt.
=———————————-=
Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Inspired by the Bekat description in The Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology, Maximo Ramos, Phoenix Publishing, 1990.
Bekat Illustration by emirajuju
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