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When Dr. Tatum woke up, she had no idea what time it was. The cave was dark, but there was a little bit of light streaming at the opening which led to the entrance, next to where the big cat lay asleep. It must be morning by now; the fire had burned down to a smolder, yet she still felt warm. Then she discovered that there was a blanket of fur that had been draped across her body some time during the night, sometime during the dream. She recalled that the lion had been licking Seth during his sleep, and she looked over to find that he was curled up on the ground under a fur blanket as well, and the blanket moved up and down as he breathed in the cold mountain air. Steven also laid nearby, but he had moved sometime in the night, and he was behind her near the cave wall, also covered in fur. Whatever had happened while she slept, none of the members of her group seemed to have been adversely affected. The dream may have only been a nightmare, she thought as she looked back at the sleeping lion with its head resting on its front paws. The big cat raised one eyebrow and opened one eyelid, training its eye right on her, and the reflection of the wet, glassy eye sent a chill down her spine. The other eye opened, and together the orbs blinked as they made contact with Dr. Tatum’s stare. The big cat then lifted its head, closed its eyes, and yawned wide, bearing it long and dangerous fangs to her. When it closed its mouth, the lion stood up on its feet and stretched its limbs in the early morning, and the stoic creature paced over toward the smoldering coals that had once been a fire. Dr. Tatum tensed beneath the fur blanket, and she covered herself deeper in the fur for protection. The fire was now gone, and there was nothing there to keep the large predator at bay any longer. The lion placed one paw on Seth’s blanket, and then it bit down into the fur with its large, white teeth until it had a mouthful of hide. The big cat turned around and paced back toward the entrance as it proceeded to drag the warm blanket off of Seth’s injured body. When the cover was gone, Seth’s eyes opened with a shot, and he began to rub the cold, exposed skin of his arms and legs, and Dr. Tatum was stunned at what she saw, or rather what she did not see. The gashes from the mountain lion claws that had lined his limbs were gone, healed sometime in the night. Astonished, she looked back at the lion that had laid back down to guard the cave entrance, and she was puzzled at how her injured friend had been made whole overnight. They had no antibiotics, no pain medication, no blood clotting medicines, no ointments, and no sterile bandages, and yet, here he was, healed and made whole. It simply amazed her, and she forgot all about Seth as her mind drifted back to the fleeting images of last night’s dream. She was remembering that the big cat had licked Seth’s wounds, and she would have recalled more, but Seth suddenly jumped to his feet, cold and aware that his clothes were gone. Desperate for warmth, he considered reaching out to snatch the blanket away from the lion, and then he thought better of trying such a foolhardy stunt with a creature that could tear him limb from limb with ease. Dr. Tatum felt sorry for Seth, and she grabbed hold of his calf and pulled him toward her own blanket. Startled at the hand on his bare leg, Seth swung around in fright until he realized who it was that had touched him, and when Dr. Tatum raised the cover, Seth quickly darted under the blanket for warmth.
“Good morning,” he said as he shivered. “Somebody took my covers.”
“It’s okay. We can share this one,” she assured him, and she felt some real remorse for the situation which she had gotten them into by using the magical charm on the plane. “How are you feeling?”
“What?” Seth asked as if he did not understand the question. He had woken up with such a start that he had forgotten his own injuries. He then gently felt his wounds as he began to warm up again, and there was no pain or soreness that he could find. “Hey, I feel great. The scratches don’t hurt anymore,” he replied as he looked beneath the covers. “Though I could use a shirt and some pants,” he admitted with embarrassment.
“Lay back down and warm up,” Dr. Tatum said to him, and she bundled him up with the rest of the fur blanket. She then stood up and stretched her arms and legs to get the stiffness out from laying on the hard surface of the cave floor. The mountain lion in the corner seemed to take no notice of her movements, and the creature closed its eyes and began to purr once again. Dr. Tatum stepped a few feet closer to the noble creature, and though it kept its jaws resting on its front paws, the lion lifted its eyelids to look at her with mild curiosity.
“Did you do this?” she asked the lion in a soft tone, and the big cat simply closed its eyes again as if it took no notice of her question. She looked as closely as she dared, but she could not detect the third eye that had appeared in the middle of the lion’s forehead in her dream. She then tried to peak around the corner of the entranceway, and when she had gotten within a few feet of the lion’s head, she stopped to look for shadows of movement coming from the outside. Nothing happened as she stood there looking down the passageway until the mountain lion stood up to sit hunched on all four paws like a statue. This close, the beast was taller and more menacing in size than she had imagined, but it seemed to take her in with curiosity rather than malice, though the purring had stopped. Then a shadow appeared along the wall of the passageway, and the lion turned its head to look back toward the light as if it were called. The mountain lion darted down the passageway, and the light within the cave slowly dimmed. Dr. Tatum took the opportunity, and she stepped down into the hallway in time to watch a large stone move across the entryway. Daylight came through an ever shrinking crack, and then the tunnel and cave went completely dark except for the embers of the dying fire.
Dr. Tatum, Seth, and Steven were confined within Lord Felino’s cave, and she wondered if the dream which she had experienced the night before was true.
“I thought that it was only a nightmare,” she imagined to herself, and Steven stirred in the dark behind her. He scuffled to his feet, and she could hear the stomping of his shoes on the stone floor.
“What the crap!! Why are my clothes all wet and sticky!! And that smell!!!!” the STUN agent screamed in the dark, and she knew then without a doubt that her dream had been reality.
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To Be Continued
Crush and Pound begin their adventure to save Huit Brighter by traveling beneath Inner Harbor to meet the mysterious being Revalus. Dr. Tatum, Seth, and Steven, the agent of STUN, are trapped by the enigmatic stranger, Lord Felino. And don’t miss the introduction of Cindy Small, a teenager with powers beyond belief!!!
About the Author
Christopher D. Carter is an engineer by day, and transforms into a writer and artist by night. He lives with his wife and cats in central North Carolina.
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