Chapter 36: The Golden Ghost in the Dream
The cave dwelling was a sanctuary, carved not just by the brilliance of the earth artisans of the Leopard tribe - those with earth abilities, or even just ornate carving eyes. The sound of waterfalls could be heard all around. It was private, warm, and opened onto a ledge that was shared by Maria and Darian, as well as the Deer tribe folk, and it presented a breathtaking, dizzying view of the starlit cliffs and the ancient forest far below at this time of night.
A fire crackled in a hearth that had been his most recent, and most debated, addition thanks to Korran's relentless determination. The leopard matrons, Sakura and Artemis, had frowned at the very idea of a beast with fire in their home. Fire was a dangerous beast that even beasts feared; it was normal for it to be communal... it was viewed as a risky comfort in a home carved from stone. Yet, Korran had stood firm, his voice leaving no room for argument. "The female is cold," he had stated, as if those four words explained everything. In a way, they did. For a beast man, the comfort of his mate was a law that superseded all others. They had relented, albeit with cautious warnings that echoed in the soot-stained stone above the flames. Not only because it was for warmth, but because it was nearing the end of summer and if the nights were cold on the cliffs now? The weather would get far colder in the winter winds. It was forward thinking preparation.
Now, in the orange of the evening fire's dancing light, the strong panther male pulled Yue Lixue close. His amber eyes, usually glinting with mischief or blazing with battle-lust, were soft, alight with a future he could already touch, a future made manifest by the gentle, firm swell of her belly beneath his palm. He wanted his mate badly, but the moment he touched her stomach defused his lust quite a bit.
"Here," he murmured, his voice a low, possessive rumble that vibrated through her. He pointed to a cozy nook he had prepared with the focus of a master craftsman, lined with the impossibly soft furs of snow hares and cliff-dwelling marmots—creatures he had hunted solely for this purpose, for them. "This is where they will sleep. Our cubs... The ones we saw." His joy was a tangible force, a warmth that rivalled the fire, but its warmth only sharpened the knife of guilt twisting deep within Yue Lixue's heart. Each tender word was a balm and a reminder of what weighed on her decision to attempt to defuse the Jaguar situation.
As he finally slept, his powerful body curled around hers, his breath a warm and steady rhythm against her neck, she lay awake in the semi-darkness. The world was silent but for the pop of the embers and the whisper of the wind outside. It was in this quiet that the ghost returned. The Panther Elder Matron's voice, calm and inexorable, echoed in the chambers of her mind, as clear as if she stood in the room with them:
"A union with the Jaguars could secure peace for generations. Would you consider it, for the tribe... for Korran?"
The question, posed to her in the quiet of the Panther Elder's lodge just before their departure, had been a seed of dread. Her own hesitant, non-committal reply—"I... I will think on it, Matron"—now felt like a profound betrayal of the man whose arm was thrown so protectively over her, of his pure, unwavering love that asked for nothing but her presence in return.
Sleep, when it finally claimed her, offered no escape. It was a prison of symbolism and fear.
Her dream was a tripartite confrontation, stark and vivid. Her snow leopard spirit, no longer a distant silhouette on a frozen peak, paced anxiously before her on a floor of cracked ice, its breath pluming in the frigid air. It was close, so close she could see the individual shades of white in its fur, but its agitation was a physical force. And between her and the leopard stood Korran's panther spirit—a creature of living, breathing shadow, its form radiating a safe, warm darkness that seemed to absorb the very cold the snow leopard emitted. It was a shield, a bulwark.
Yet the panther's blazing eyes were not looking at the snow leopard, or even herself.
Its ember-eyed gaze was fixed ahead, its body coiled, a low, continuous possessive rumble rolling from its chest. The target of its warning was a third presence, one that cast a long, golden glow across the dreamscape.
On a sun-drenched ledge that shouldn't exist in this space, stood a majestic, shimmering golden lion. It made no move to advance, no sound. It simply watched, its stormy purple eyes holding a calm, ancient intensity that saw right through the panther's posturing, right into the core of her. The lion gave the panther no notice and paid it no attention. Its storm purple eyes were fixed on her. The vision was one of tense, silent observation, a stalemate of colossal forces with her fragile soul as the battleground. It wasn't hostile, not yet, but the potential for cataclysm hung in the air, thicker than mist.
Yue Lixue woke with a gasp that was torn from the depths of her being, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. That gaze never left her mind. It wasn't fear that clawed at her throat, but the heavy, chilling certainty of an impossible choice laid bare before her.
The movement jostled Korran. He stirred immediately, his instincts as a protector overriding the depths of sleep. "A nightmare?" he asked, his voice rough and gravelly with concern, his arm tightening around her.
She clung to him, pressing her face into the solid warmth of his chest, inhaling his scent of night air, leather, and home. She could feel the steady, strong beat of his heart against her cheek, a rhythm that promised safety. How could she shatter that? How could she speak of golden lions and political sacrifices, to Korran Nightstrider? The panther male who had protected her, gave her a home and family in this world and helped her at every turn - how could she betray him like that? She couldn't bring herself to even worry him with the notion.
"The panther and the leopard," she whispered, the confession a desperate half-truth that tasted like ash on her tongue. She focused on the part of the dream he would understand, the part that wouldn't cause questions or tension, the part that was, at least, a known problem. "They are still wary of each other, my snow leopard spirit and myself. I feel... pulled in two." Her voice broke on the last word, and the crack in it was genuine. It was an unusually aching pain deep in one's soul. There was nothing else like it back in her home world.
He kissed her forehead, a gesture so tender it made her want to weep. He misread her distress entirely, attributing it solely to the spiritual rift he knew she battled. "Shhh, my love," he murmured against her skin. "Then we will find you balance... in the morning. We will not rest until you are feeling whole. We need you in one piece for our children." He pulled her closer and nuzzled sleepily into her neck, his body a fortress against the world, his lips caressing the skin on the back of her neck with his next words. "In the morning. Tomorrow, at first light, we speak with the elders. They will know exactly what to do."
As he settled back into sleep, secure in his plan to fix her, Yue Lixue lay staring into the dying fire, the image of those stormy purple eyes burned into the back of her eyelids. The ghost was no longer in her dreams; it had taken root in her waking heart, and its name was duty.