Beast of Burden

He halted..

Sniffing the air, he turned tail and galloped off.

Still,
Without delay,
We gallantly dragged our efforts, shooting at the poor beast in hot pursuit

I was unwilling in this sport.
In my heart of hearts I hoped we might manage to tame him instead.
This Mighty Majestic Beast of Burden was too rare to see Death.

But, once our chase had been executed, the noose in our hands drew tight,
Ensnaring the monster in our trap as we had him.

We had him cornered.
The Beast was upon the ground,
doomed-the animal was at all our mercy.

I felt repugnance at paining the animal but those were the orders.
This was a case of necessity. This was kill or be killed.