Tale of Panthera Regina (Remake)

Chapter 14: Warnings not Heeded

POV:  Rex

Rex couldn't believe his eyes as they walked closer to the center of the island. The air had a smokey smell and taste. Strangely, it wasn't too difficult to breathe. The ground was the softest soil the Prince ever felt. It was black, which was strange and new to him. Rex grew excited as he wondered if the soil was ash. One of Felis's Lessons was about how ash was needed to make the island fertile. What makes ash is fire. However, the riches of ash come from volcanos.

"How did we get here?" Rex asked as they hiked through the island.

They have been walking for about two hours now, and the sun was barely above the horizon. Kadupul was starting to get harder to spot as her gray fur was like magnetic as the ash to cling on her. Rex looked behind him and noticed Mendax was walking slower than normal. Ever since they got here. The big cat was silent as a mouse and was moppy. The brown tiger wondered if he was sick.

The Prince looked forward again and noticed that Kadupul had stopped. There shouldn't be any snakes on this island as far as Rex remembers. Claws told him about his fear of snakes. Kadupul's nose moved wildly as her ears seemed to move in harmony.

"The air smells off," Kadupul said suddenly, then screamed.

Darwin's Fox had completely disappeared. Mendax and Rex froze, not wanting to move for fear of falling into the unknown. The brown tiger couldn't even smell her anymore and feared the worst.

"KADUPUL!!!!!!!!" Rex yelled then when there was no answer. "KADUPUL!!!!!" He called out again. "KADUPUL!!!!!!!! KADUPUL!!!!!!" He shouted again and again, but no answer nor hair from his small gray friend.

Mendax seemed to be in a daze as he didn't say a word, which annoyed Rex that he wasn't doing anything. However, he couldn't be too mad because he didn't move a single step since Kadupul vanished.

After seconds turned into minutes, Rex was starting to panic. He was able to take a step forward, but something stopped him. Rex was about to lose it as the sounds in the distance made him jump. However, right before he was to go down the hole that he believed Kadupul had fallen in. Two gray ears poked out of the ground and then a head.

"Wow, it's been a while since I've been in a hole," Kadupul said as she climbed out of the hole. She had smiled and looked at Rex as if she could see, but he knew she couldn't.

"Don't scare me like that!" Rex said to Kadupul in a soft growl.

Rex breathe a sigh of relief that the fox was okay. Besides Kadupul's fur almost getting covered in the ash, she looked okay. Rex saw her shake her fur to get the ash off of her, which didn't work too well.

"I am fine." Darwin's fox answered in a cherry tone as if she didn't fall into a hole. She spun forward and took several steps before stopping. "Rex?" She called to him but kept her gaze straight ahead.

Rex followed Kadupul's gaze to an odd-looking volcano about ten African Elephants away from where they were standing. Rex estimates that it should take them about three hours at a steady pace.

*Note: The Creatures of Panthera Regina measure distances in sizes of trees or animals. So, ten African Elephants away is another way of saying 240 feet away. Same way saying using Blue Whale to measure, which is roughly 79 to 87 feet long.*

"Yes?" Rex asked, just being happy that she was okay. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.

"There is a scent of bird-like reptiles," Kadupul answered in a concerned voice.

Rex thought she could be frightened of the reptiles based on how she dealt with Animus, the Egyptian Cobra. However, Kadupul handles snakes just fine. Maybe it was other types of reptiles. Regardless, the Prince still had agreed that the noises in the distance didn't sound like anything Rex had heard before. However, he wasn't sure if the noises were a language or just noise.