my sleep. I took comfort that at least this time I’d told him I loved him. I didn’t know how many hours passed, but when I sensed a change in the environment, I woke instantly and saw that a crescent moon was high in the sky, spilling its waning light over the landscape as dawn approached.
It was time. My skin throbbed, the anticipation jarring my bones.
I rose from my earthen bed, not even bothering to swipe the clumps of dirt from my dress and hair, and brushed the back of my hand against my mouth. The night creatures had settled into their beds and the day creatures had not yet risen. I was alone.
After sating my thirst once again and adjusting my skirts so I wouldn’t trip, I briefly contemplated which way to go, but as I searched my instincts, I knew I needed to head toward the rising sun. The sun brought life.
I ran.
The sun was not quite at its zenith in the sky when I stopped. Panting lightly, I scanned the horizon in all directions, but it appeared the plain was deserted.
I knew it wasn’t.
The brush of tall golden grass tickled my fingers and the dry stalks snapped under the heels of my golden sandals. On the left I scanned a copse of umbrella-shaped trees with thin leaves. On the right there was a sepia-toned outcropping of rocks that looked as out of place on the grassy plain as if a giant had dropped them there accidentally.
After I started toward the rocks, a strong breeze rose, causing the grass to rustle and echo the voice of a thousand whispers. I was halfway there when I realized something was wrong. The rocks were not the place I needed to go. Stopping, I closed my eyes and inhaled. A sweet sort of musk tickled my nostrils and I turned the other way. Each step I took felt portentous.
The swaying grasses were sparser the closer I got to the trees. The thin leaves shook wildly and then stilled, the breeze seemingly holding its breath. A hum rose like the sound of a million cicadas and the wild noise distracted and confused me.
My heart beat heavily in my chest, as if it were signaling to whatever waited for me that I was there and I was vulnerable. Then, suddenly, the reverberating hum ceased; the only sound was my soft breathing. I was rooted in place, completely unable to move back or to the side, and I dared not take another step forward. I could only shift my feet nervously. All my senses were alive and trained on the thing hidden in the trees that I couldn’t see.
A flicker of movement on the left caught my attention.
Mustering all the bravery I could, I clenched my fists and called out, “Why don’t you come out, then? I know you’re there.”
A rumble so deep it echoed in my chest startled me. A hiss came from behind with the crunch of dried brush. A tawny tail disappeared behind a tree. Another growl came from my left and I realized there was more than just one creature.
I ran.
Fear ate through me like acid and yet every sense was heightened, alert. Beasts, no longer attempting to be stealthy, circled me and kept pace, creeping closer with each footfall. The nearness of them sent tingles all along my back, but I dared not turn and look. That would make them real.
I made it into the circle of the trees before I skidded to a stop. If the creatures behind me were frightening, they were nothing compared to what waited beneath the large tree in the center of the grove. Not thirty feet away was the largest cat I’d ever seen. His sleepy eyes suddenly opened to a state of alertness. He flicked his thick-tufted tail in annoyance as he rose from his shady napping place.
As he shook out a dense, impressive mane several shades darker than his tawny fur, I was momentarily distracted by the dust floating away from him into the afternoon sunbeams.
The huge lion moved forward, gaining speed much more quickly than I expected an animal of his size to be able to do, and slid to a stop just in front of me. When he roared, the power of it nearly burst my eardrums. My whole body shook with panic, the aftershocks of his warning sound rippling over my skin.
He twisted his head back and forth as his mouth opened, flashing his impressively sharp teeth. Another