Chapter 5- Lions at Daybreak

Shadow trekked through miles of tall grass and forest. Crystal was somewhere out there, the time he had lost made her seem even farther from reach. Shadow picked up her scent when passing through a small meadow of green grass fresh from spring. He followed the scent through the forest till coming up on rocky cliff face. To his right was a dark cave. It nestled in along side the cliff like an open mouth. He poked his head in, lying inside was a sleeping Crystal. She lifted her head somehow knowing someone had come. Her eyes widened and she rushed at him. Crystals arms wrapped around Shadow as she slammed him into the ground with her charge. “Good to see you too”. He said with a smile curving across his face. She let go of him and stepped back allowing him to stand up. “I thought you had headed off to the Sierra without me”. She said. “Without you? Nobody likes to travel alone”. Shadow said. He told Crystal about the human and his hospitality. “You were saved by a human”!? She said in utter disbelief. Shadow nodded confirming his claims. “But aren’t they like wolf killing monsters”? She asked. Shadow smiled and said “Well apparently not all of them”. Crystal then told of her time she spent without him, mostly fishing and settling down in the forest ready to stay here before she migrated again as she did before meeting Shadow. They spent the night in the den before continuing there journey into the mountains.

 

The early morning marked their next move, heading up towards the mountains. They had traveled the rocky surface for hours before coming to a shallow pool in a small oasis like area. Crystal and Shadow had both stopped for a drink. “Where do you think your pack will be when we get to the Sierra”? Crystal asked lifting her head from the water. “Not sure, we should track them right to where they are”. Shadow lowered his head to drink again but suddenly had a bad feeling, like something was telling him danger was nearby. “Something doesn’t feel right”. Shadow suddenly said with his eyes staring in front of him. “What is it”? Crystal asked. Shadow turned around to look at the hillside they came down. “I’m not sure”. Out of nowhere, they came a quiet growling noise. “Is that you Crystal”? Shadow asked now looking at her. “What was me”? She had dropped her head to drink again but stopped and looked up at Shadow. “Wait what’s that noise”? Crystal asked now swerving her head around. Shadow looked all around him. Someone or something was watching them. “I think we better get out of here”. Shadow said. Before he could do anything else, a large cat had leaped in front of him. It growled and slowly walked towards Shadow. “Run”! Crystal shouted. The cat roared now, opening its huge jaw and baring its long teeth. Shadow turned and broke into a wild run; he could hear the large cat gaining on him. He rushed down the rocky cliff trying not to lose his balance. The monstrous cat roared behind him, Shadow turned to look; the beast was tripping and slipping racing down at Shadow. He turned and started his run again. Shadow heard Crystal call out to him. The cat’s breath was on his tail. Shadow jumped from a boulder down the hill side and slammed into the dirt. The cat roared behind him again. Shadow shot past several trees, dodging them to the best of his abilities. Several downed trees made him leap over and his fur caught on a branch. He turned to rip the branch off but he saw the cat now looming almost inches from him. Shadow, instead of ripping the branch off, he pulled away from it. The cat bit its teeth down nearly snagging Shadow’s leg. Shadow continued to run, but his breath was running low. He turned to look. The cat’s massive paw flew at him forcing Shadow along side a boulder. Then he felt something grab him, the cat had caught him, he was going to die.

 

Sarina was lying in a patch of grass ripping at a rabbit she caught running from its burrow. A flock of ravens came down investigating her meal. They obviously wanted to steal her food. She barked angrily at them. They ignored her at first, and then she swatted her paw at one of them whacking one in the beak. It angrily shouted at her, but she just lifted the rabbit away from them and continued eating. James was out on a hunting period. She stayed behind with a few other she wolves, none of which had pups. Sarina was glad, considering Shadow still came to mind. She stayed alone; her depression was affecting not only those around her, but herself in terms of health. Sarina did not hunt much anymore meaning she would have lack of exercise and would grow hungry as well. James continued to try to help her by trying to feed her, but her depressed state only made her lose her appetite. Sarina was feeling that she had lost the will to live, without her son, she was heartbroken and she was destined for death.

 

Shadow would have struggled out of the monsters grasp and tried to fight back, but he couldn’t see at the moment nor could he move much. He soon discovered it was Crystal that had grabbed him. She had grabbed his tail with her teeth and dragged him under a large rock held up by some smaller stones. “Crystal”! Shadow shouted with glee. She slapped her paw over his mouth. “Shhhh, don’t let him know were here”. She hissed. The huge cat walked passed the rock, it had obviously lost Shadows trail. Although this idea changed as the creature moved its head to look in their direction. Shadow and Crystal moved back under the rock and pinched themselves in as tight as they could. The cat moved over to the rock with its dark yellow eyes now coming into plain view. It sniffed at the underside of the rock, it had probably smelled them and soon would be readying for the kill. The cat’s huge face hung in under the rock, now forcing Shadow up very close to the ground in order to back away. It stopped short and quickly pulled its head away. The cat appeared to have seen something else, something much more interesting. Crystal and Shadow watched as a deer bounded by on the sandy cliff. The cat’s huge tongue lapped across its face and it took off, running after the deer. The deer quickly took notice and ran as well, with the cat in heavy pursuit. Shadow and Crystal pulled themselves out of the rock and looked out to see the two figures chase each other off into the horizon. “That was close”. Shadow said breathing fairly hard. He had held his breath hoping the cat would not hear him. “Yeah”. Crystal said in agreement. “What was that thing anyway”? Shadow asked. Crystal turned to him. “That was a cougar”. She said. Shadow remembered the word “cougar” and imagined it as a beast on two hind legs, but appeared to be some large cat monster.

Reviews

[Niki Wilson]

Wow love this chapter!