The Legend of Pardus

Chapter 3: Dreaming of Dragons

The next day...
The coldness of the dark pushed me onward as I ran through forests of shadows. The trees looked as if they were ashes, yet they had pitch black leaves on them. I could only see a few feet in front of me, the fog was thick. Everything was colorless, dead yet living. It was only the nearly silent forest and the dark path in front of me. The hoot of an owl and the howl of a wolf seemed so distant, yet so close. The sound of a stream echoed around me as I ran. All of a sudden the fog seemed to part and ground disappeared. I slammed my feet into the cold ground, sliding over the dirt. I managed to halt, my front paws dangled over the edge dangerously. I pulled myself back up swiftly, looking over what looked like an endless cliff into darkness. I looked behind me, thoroughly watching for any movement. Through the darkness and fog, the misty silhouette of a creature appeared. It looked as if it was sleeping, waiting for a movement. the creature opened its bright glowing red eyes, the only color in this darkness.
"This is your end panther! One of many!"

The creature lunged at me and spread his big torn bat-like wings, as his eagle-like claws stretched for my throat. His long horse-like, scaly face looked into my soul as the mouth opened to reveal lions teeth. I turned and tried to run, forgetting the cliff. I slid off the sharp edge of the cliff, falling into a bottomless pit of darkness. I seemed to freeze, not able to do anything but let the wind blow me around in the dark. I turned over to see the creature's glowing eyes look over the ledge, and a huge scaly grin crossed his face. I watched in horror as the red eyes disappeared in the swirling clouds, any light disappeared. I fell into what felt like water, but it clung to my fur, it was so thick I couldn't swim in it. I couldn't see anything, everything swirled around me like a stampede. I slowly went further down into it and I was losing my breath. I desperately tried to search for the surface, any surface from the storm, I lost my sense of direction. I felt my body quit fighting, and I sank even deeper into the chaos, silent swirling chaos.
Silence, defeat, death...fear
Faintly, I heard a voice, a distant voice,
"Panther, Can You hear me? He's not breathing! Panther!"

I woke with a start. Alena was standing over me and everyone else in the cave was staring at me. I coughed and took in huge gulps of air into my lungs. Slowly my senses came back. I asked out of breath,
"What is it?"
Alena answered,
"you were turning and twisting, mumbling about a creature chasing you, then you stopped breathing. Are you ok?"
I looked at my paws and my back and they were covered in a cold sweat. I stammered,
"B-bad dream. Don't worry about it."

I got up and stretched. I swiftly exited the cave, embarrassed and frightened. This was the first time these dreams had affected me deeply. Walking to the top of my ledge, I let the warm wind cool off my sweaty body, the rays of the sun warm my gleaming fur. I closed my eyes, breathing in and out steadily. I was safe, I was home. Alena walked up behind me, looking concerned. I ignored her for a few moments, continuing to feel my surroundings and center my emotions. She asked slowly,
"I have never seen any animal do that in a bad dream. What was it about?"
I stayed silent for a moment, then admitted,
"I was having these types of dreams months ago before I became the protector of this forest, but now this one was the first in a while, and it was more extreme. I was running through these shadowy woods and a big creature was chasing me."
"Can you describe this creature?"
She asked looking down at the forest. I followed her gaze, reminding myself it was just a dream. I began describing the creature,

"It was covered in black scales like a fish, but harder and stronger and definitely not wet. It's muzzle looked like a horse's, but a bit more crooked and powerful looking. The wings looked like bones or fingers with skin in between them, like a bat, torn and scorched from battle. The legs looked like a panther's and the talons looked like an eagle's, the tail looked like a lizards."
She looked at me with a horrified blank face that scared me as badly as the creature did in my dream. She knew what the creature was? She asked with a small squeak,
"What did the eyes look like?"
"They didn't have a pupil in them, they glowed a bright red, like a star,"
I explained. Alena looked down at the rock beneath her, explaining,
"That creature you described sounds like a dragon, a very dangerous one. Some are peaceful, wise, Those are the dragons that rule the legendary floating islands of Pardus, though it's never proven to exist. Others are vicious, greedy, and don't want to be messed with. The only demon dragon I know of is known only as "Blood" from the ancient scrolls. By the way you described his eyes, I'm only guessing that he might be a true story. If so, it knows something about you that you probably don't even know about yourself."