dear lion

Like a spear piercing the abdomen of a soldier in war, so the sun pierced through the sheer curtains of the tree's leaves with a passionate, mocking beam of light. The world lit and beautiful. The overcast sheen of clouds retreated. The sun poured through, shedding light upon the earth. The lion heaved a pain filled yawn and Adelaide buried her head in his mane. She was ill and had been for 2 days now. He moaned and licked her face, her cheeks flushed a fiery pink from fever. Fever and cold and lack of sustenance in days.
The cold and warmth had morphed into one. She was hallucinating. Horrid visions of her step-father, her father, her mother, and then Deirdre. Deirdre. she sighed her friend's name. She missed her friend. Her dear soulmate friend whose face had not graced her prescence in many days. Not since before she ran away. What was I thinking? Her head throbbed with the tears yet to be cried. Her stomach churned acid. Her eyes and cheeks burned with fever. Beads of sweat mixed with dirt trickled down her face. Her dark hair a matted mess.She sweared she was dying. She was frightened. She spoke in unintelligible, garbled tones and tongues. "Dear Lion, please help me" was the only intelligible sentence she could manage. "The darkness...it's...No! No! NO!" she screamed in her delusions.

She saw a dark shadowed apparition coming toward her. With every hobbling lunge, chains rattled. Chains around it's neck, ankles and in it's gnarled claws. Come to wrap her in itself. Come to chain her. To make her disappear. As she wanted, but not like this. No, not in such a harsh manner. In between tears she whimpered, like a frightened child. She was a frightened child. The lion nuzzled her face, her fevered face, with his large muzzle. Licking her face and keeping her close, the girl's sobs died down and she slipped into unconsciousness again. He did not know what to do. He only did what he knew and it was not very much. She was worth saving, he knew. She was worth protecting. Worth loving. He nuzzled her face until she calmed completely, her breathing panted and heavy. He was afraid too. He did not want the dear one to die. In a short time, he loved her. He loved her with every bruised fiber of being. Everyone pulse of his heartbeat made his gashes throb. More so infected now, he was sore all over. Broken and torn. How could he prevent this little one from being harmed when he was so beaten himself? 

This child was his cub now. He had to do something. After a short 20 minutes she began writhing again, screaming in tongues he did not understand. She was frightened for her life and whatever horrible thing that was after her could only be in her distorted reality. Half imagination, half reality. For hours this horrid cycle persisted. Her delusional fits only left her more and more exhausted with each end. From a distance, his superior senses detected humans. The smell in the air, the sound of faint voices and tread of their step.
He knew they were coming for her. that they could help her. they were still far off into the distance. He gave a mighty and energy consuming roar, knowing they'd come running. "I heard a noise!" cried one. "It came from this direction!" and he heard them running now, their step faster. He rose slowly, his sores aching with every movement. He pushed fallen leaves with his nose over to Adelaide to cover her shaking body. His heart convulsed to leave her so helpless. but he had to. He moved away quickly so as not to be found out.