The Lion-man
The only thing that Anne had gotten from the incident with the bears was the realization of the brutality of the Sorceress. Remembering the bears drunken argument she wondered what the Sorceress really said. Had she wanted thee bears to kill her on the spot? Did she want to put her in prison?
With those gruesome thoughts in mind, Anne wandered miserably under custody until the man led her around the woods to the edge of a cliff. She then realized that they were on a gigantic plateau. Besides the forest, which was on the edge of the plateau, the only thing Anne could see was the wide evening sky. Purple lined the green cliff then came a layer of white and orange clouds and then the deep blue heavens smiled down at her.
As her eyes took it all in, she felt a sense of joy and tranquility. But, that dream was soon broken by the man as he roughly ushered her over to a boulder at the edge of the cliff.
“You stay here.” He ordered, “And don’t you dare turn around!” Anne instantly obeyed.
Her amazing cooperation throughout the journey puzzled the man. It was not in a witch’s nature to act like that. This made him suspicious and he thought he better keep a good watch on her.
So, as he went through the business of setting up camp, he kept glancing over to where Anne sat. But, the girl had no intention of turning around, even though it did feel weird to be in the presence of someone who would not let her see his face or know his name. As she sat, she suspected that the man was watching her and shivers glided coldly down her spine. She wondered what he was doing but had no other choice but to stare at the sky and the fields below.
Finally the man, feeling just as uncomfortable as Anne, came up to her. His “ahem” made her jump her seat and she started to turn around.
“Don’t turn around!” he reminded her impatiently. She quickly turned her head and stood for a moment, wondering what she was supposed to do.
“Uh…okay…Just come here slowly…” The man was making it up as he went along. Looking at the ground, she nervously obeyed. He stayed behind her back as she turned and took her seat near the fire where a large bird was roasting. The man then made a wide circle around her as if she had a horrible disease. He slid a plate to the girl, took one for his own then sat on the other side of the fire with his back towards her. Dinner went on in silence making the night dreary for the both of them.
Anne watched the moon slowly rise as the man watched her. Finally she drifted off to sleep and the man kept thinking of the Sorceress, who, had she been in Anne’s place, would have tried to do some vicious magic on him by now.
“Why isn’t she fighting back?” He thought puzzled, “It’s only natural…” At least it is where he comes from.
With those gruesome thoughts in mind, Anne wandered miserably under custody until the man led her around the woods to the edge of a cliff. She then realized that they were on a gigantic plateau. Besides the forest, which was on the edge of the plateau, the only thing Anne could see was the wide evening sky. Purple lined the green cliff then came a layer of white and orange clouds and then the deep blue heavens smiled down at her.
As her eyes took it all in, she felt a sense of joy and tranquility. But, that dream was soon broken by the man as he roughly ushered her over to a boulder at the edge of the cliff.
“You stay here.” He ordered, “And don’t you dare turn around!” Anne instantly obeyed.
Her amazing cooperation throughout the journey puzzled the man. It was not in a witch’s nature to act like that. This made him suspicious and he thought he better keep a good watch on her.
So, as he went through the business of setting up camp, he kept glancing over to where Anne sat. But, the girl had no intention of turning around, even though it did feel weird to be in the presence of someone who would not let her see his face or know his name. As she sat, she suspected that the man was watching her and shivers glided coldly down her spine. She wondered what he was doing but had no other choice but to stare at the sky and the fields below.
Finally the man, feeling just as uncomfortable as Anne, came up to her. His “ahem” made her jump her seat and she started to turn around.
“Don’t turn around!” he reminded her impatiently. She quickly turned her head and stood for a moment, wondering what she was supposed to do.
“Uh…okay…Just come here slowly…” The man was making it up as he went along. Looking at the ground, she nervously obeyed. He stayed behind her back as she turned and took her seat near the fire where a large bird was roasting. The man then made a wide circle around her as if she had a horrible disease. He slid a plate to the girl, took one for his own then sat on the other side of the fire with his back towards her. Dinner went on in silence making the night dreary for the both of them.
Anne watched the moon slowly rise as the man watched her. Finally she drifted off to sleep and the man kept thinking of the Sorceress, who, had she been in Anne’s place, would have tried to do some vicious magic on him by now.
“Why isn’t she fighting back?” He thought puzzled, “It’s only natural…” At least it is where he comes from.
***
As the sun rose the next morning, the dew descended and soaked Anne’s clothes, waking her up much too early. She shivered and yawned, feeling extremely uncomfortable. Instinctively, she crawled out of the shade of the trees into the sun where she could warm up and dry.
Just then she remembered her unfortunate predicament; how the mysterious man surprised her and accused her of sorcery. She looked over to where he lay asleep and hoped she could get a look at his face. But, all she could see was his back.
He was wearing cloth pants and a leather vest that showed his muscular but exceedingly hairy arms. His head was covered in waves of strawberry blonde hair. She was astonished when her eyes rested on his feet that were bare; they were huge golden paws. She quickly looked for more specification on what she was seeing and noticed fluffy rounded ears amid his scattered hairy and the bristly end of a lion’s tail peeking out from under his legs.
Suddenly, she found herself picturing a hungry savage lion ready to make an early morning snack out of her. Soon she got a hold of herself remembering that if he wanted to eat her he would have done it already.
Her panic subsided and she leaned against a boulder and waited. Any other person would have used this opportunity to run away, but Anne was too timid and couldn’t bring herself to do it. Besides, she thought, if she had gone she wouldn’t know where to go, and the lion-man would probably wake up and sniff her out or something.
So she just waited, the longer he slept, the longer she would free from the Sorceress. Soon, he would wake up and take her to the queen and she would become an enemy to the country and a murderer to an endangered species.
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