The Fall of the Kingdoms

Chapter 4 A Worrisome Night

Calor prowled through the desert. The ground was flat, dry, cracked and had the slightest bit of sand. Stars shone bright in the clear night sky. Cacti of all different shapes and sizes lie scattered around the desert. Calor was lost. He let out a small, squeaky roar. The sound echoed through the wasteland, carrying back no reply. Calor flicked his tail in annoyance, but as annoyed as he was, he was also scared. He ran up a small hill and stopped at a tall cactus. He called again, but that too was pointless. He looked up at the bright silver moon, worry in his eyes. He continued to wander through the barren wasteland.

Calor discovered a small water hole. He scanned the area; north, east, south, west, up and down. He couldn't see any possible way the water could have gotten there. The weather was very hot in the desert, past rains would have dried up. That was the moment it hit him; this wasn't reality, this was a dream. Could it be the same one as before? Calor tried to stay calm. He gazed up at the night sky for a few minutes, and he felt a bit better knowing that this place was calm and peaceful. He continued to wander.

As the lion cub was on his journey, he had a weird feeling, though he couldn't exactly tell what it was, so he continued to try and figure it out. Was it just the feeling he gets in dreams? Was it a dark feeling, warning him that something bad in the dream was about to happen? No, it wasn't any of those. He finally found out what he was sensing; another presence. Calor didn't know where the other thing was, but he just decided to try and hide. He began digging so that he could make a burrow to hide in.

Finally, it was done. Calor crawled into the den he created. He felt safer in it. He closed his eyes and tried to wake up, he decided that this would probably just be a normal dream. But then, he heard something outside; rain. Water started filling his burrow, forcing him out. At last, he got to safety, back at the surface of the desert. It was raining, the sky was full of clouds. But seconds later, the clouds were disintegrated and the puddles dried up. Before he could get into his den again, he heard a voice. "It's just a matter of time before the disaster..." Calor's heart dropped and he turned around very quickly. Behind him, far, but closer than last dream, was the silhouette. He woke, breathing heavily. This was the second dream he had, just one night after the other.