animal jam - the first fox (book one) under editing

chapter three, the dream

shrieks echoed through my ears, piercing my brain. smoke was heavy in the air, and i could taste blood vividly in my mouth. i opened my eyes with a tiny gasp, but the sight to see wasn't worth it: the grass was yellow and ugly, and the sky was gray and ridden with thunder. towards the north, a gigantic volcano loomed where it spat black lava out of its lip ominously.

i jumped as a different pelt other than my own scratched against my side, and i glanced over to meet the amber eyes of a tall, armored wolf. his fur was ashen, and he gazed upon me with desperation. he lamented, "amelia, don't. it's not worth it."

no words in reply came from me. i was confused and distracted by the setting and the identity of the wolf. then again, my puzzlement increased when five other animals rushed up beside my unknown companion, the same hopelessness reflected in their eyes.

through the smog, i was able to pinpoint their species: a tiger, a bunny, a monkey, a koala, and a panda. the smallest creature, the purple bunny, ignored the wolf and asked me nervously, "what are we going to do?"

instantaneously, i realized that this couldn't be real; no animal in jamaa would ever rely on me for anything, especially strangers. this had to be a dream.

nevertheless, i squeaked out, "i don't know. i don't know how i got here and who all of you are. i'm so confused!" my plea for help was pathetic and would catch the ears of an animal from miles away, urging chastisement. but instead of rebuking me, the wolf looked towards the mountains and growled suddenly, "they're coming." i followed his sharp gaze to the volcano.

and that's when i saw them.

the disgusting creatures crawled over one another from the top of the volcano, struggling to seek shelter inside of the mountain. i could see the thousands of eyes blinking down at us. they all seemed to be laughing hysterically at something, mocking us keenly.

"phantoms," i whispered to myself, fear freezing my body. i had never ever laid my eyes upon a phantom before, but i've known about them since school. the one-eyed evil had been created from the tears of the sky goddess mira after losing her husband, zios. they were wicked, dark, and slimy, and they've polluted jamaa with their dangerous goop countless times before, provoking the wrath of jamaa's leaders... the alphas.

the phantoms had always been defeated, but i could tell that this was different; they looked to be stronger and more powerful than the ones i saw in the videos my school had shown me all those years back. and upon seeing them, i felt a sudden rush of anger. an anger so fiery that flame graphically flickered from my claws. at that, i yelled at the top of my lungs, "attack!"

🦊

I woke up from sleep and sat up straight in my tiny bed. the morning sky was creamy pink, and sunlight casted itself onto the wooden floorboards beside me. i could hear duke and flora chatting in the room next door, and everything in the den seemed to be normal.

i grasped the odd dream back from the corner of my mind and played it over again in my head. the only aspect of that trance that really called me back was the last word i had said before waking up.

attack.

the voice that had been spoken wasn't mine. it was deeper and more confident. and in a way, it sounded... a bit older. i couldn't have explained it, and the more i thought about it, the more the dream slipped away from me until finally...

it was gone.