Ally laid down in bed, with her dog curled in a ball at her feet slowly drifting to sleep. As she let sleep take her, she felt Lily stand up, and walk up to the head of the bed.


    The hoarfrost coated everything, and a chill in the air caused her breath to puff out in clouds. She was in the fetal position on the ground but was not uncomfortable or startled by her location as she got up from her position and looked towards the main source of light which flickered and sparkled off the ice crystals.


    It was her old house, ghostly and crumbling, as blue flames licked and danced across it. She looked around, recognizing the backyard she had been in on the day of her father’s murder. Everything was awash azure, the bonfire that had been her home dominating everything to the yard’s end, where the woods began and marked where she had not been allowed to cross as a child.


    Something tugged at her pajamas leg, and she looked down to see Lily, who looked up with an intelligence in her eyes that Ally had never seen before, as if she was older and smarter than any being Ally had ever met before. The dog turned away from her and walked away from the house, and towards the woods, not bothering to check if she was following.


    “Lily! Get back here!” Ally hissed in a whisper, but the dog didn’t glance back like she normally did and disappeared into the brush. “Lily! Mom says we’re not… supposed to… enter the woods?” Ally glanced back towards the house, which crackled, and realized that this wasn’t her home. They hadn’t lived there for years, and why was she here? Was this a dream?


    She walked up to the woods and hesitated before crossing the threshold, and then stepped into the dead, overgrown foliage. Winter always killed much of the plant life in the forests of Indiana, which would serve as fertilizers for the seeds next spring while the long-lived plants hibernated through the chill.


    Ally stepped out into a forest clearing and looked around before a bark helped her turn to see Lily staring at her near a path that led away into darkness. She ran after her, but Lily calmly turned around and kept a brisk pace just fast enough that Ally couldn’t quite catch up, so she slowed to a walk and let the dog lead the way. As she did, the trees became taller, the air colder, and the dead foliage cleared away so that she could finally see far into the woods, and yet still the dog walked. Lily led on and on, until there was no path, only the spread of tree trunks every few feet and their roots weaving across the ground.


    “Lily, where are we going?” The dog did not answer her, but she caught something around one of the trees and hesitated to try and get a better look at it, but it moved too quickly as it headed the same direction as her and Lily. There was another figure, black, another white, black and white, white and black. Each had glowing blue eyes, but she couldn’t quite make out what they were, and each headed in the same direction as Lily, and ultimately, Ally. “Lily, hold on!” But she paid Ally no heed as she continued deeper into the trees which cast long shadows in the moonlight that split open the clouds at that moment, illuminating Ally’s surroundings.


    The shadows moving through the woods were cats and dogs, all varying sizes. Some cats looked like they belonged in the zoo, and others at home in an alley. The dogs were as varied as the cats, but there was something they all had in common. Some were white, others were black, and all had glowing blue eyes. And all of them had the same alien intelligence behind Lily’s eyes.


    Ally thought she would feel fear, but instead there was nothing. It was as if she knew every one of these beasts, as if they were as familiar as Lily. She felt herself realizing they had always been there with her, which was utter insanity as she had never seen them before. But that was it wasn’t it? She hadn’t seen them before. But that didn’t mean they hadn''t always been there with her. That thought struck her, and rather than filling her with fear, it instead comforted her.


    The animals came together thicker and thicker, and she knew they were coming from all directions as they closed in on their destination. The roots came to a halt, and Ally stepped into a large clearing where there was a great beast lying on its side in the middle, curled up, with its back facing Ally. Lily came to a halt, and sat down, as did many of the other creatures, to stare at the creature intensely.


    There was sadness in the air, sympathy and empathy, dancing through the eyes of all the animals, but not one breathed a whisper in the air, staring at the great beast, which was as large as a cow. Ally saw it had black shaggy hair, but it didn’t appear to be built the same way as a cat or dog. It was bulkier, and more heavy-set. It was also malnourished, and she could tell it was shivering in the cold, something that still didn’t seem to bother her. Its ribs shined through, and she carefully stepped up to it and placed a hand on it.


    The thing moved slowly, carefully, and she could tell it was being careful not to hurt her as the creature lifted its head up, stood up, and oriented itself to look Ally in the face. It was a boar, with sharp, stout tusks, a wrinkled face, and its legs trembled under the burden of its weight, weak from its malnourishment. It snorted once, and glowing azure eyes stared into Ally’s eyes unblinkingly. There was sadness there, and tears poured down its face as if in mourning though the beast didn’t say a word.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Ally lifted a hand and placed it on its snout, and the pig let out a light snort. It turned away and lumbered off into the woods. The other cats and dogs let it by, stepping to the side before closing the gap to the clearing once more. Ally moved to follow, but a tug at her pant leg made her glance down and she saw Lily pulling on her. She shook her head sadly. There was nothing Ally could do. There was nothing anyone could do for the great boar, which disappeared into the darkness as it continued whatever journey had brought it to such a dreadful state. Its burden was its to bear alone, and Ally thought it odd such a thought would cross her mind.


    There was a howl, and then another, and Ally swung her head around as every dog sat down and threw its head to the sky in song. At the same time the cats, big and small, began roaring and mewing, hissing, and clawing, and Ally felt the air begin to churn and pull from her, as something prepared for arrival.


    It danced across the treetops, jumping lithely and full of grace as its legs touched upon each tree without sound, without breaking a single branch. It jumped down to the center of the clearing, and Ally realized that the new arrival was as large as a school bus. It landed with a whirlwind that caused her to shield her eyes, and when finally, the clearing became still she looked up to behold the majesty that had arrived.


    It was white as snow, pure in its visage, with fur that was several inches long and billowed in the air as hair would in the water. It had an indeterminable number of legs, with too many joints and too many paws, but it was clearly both feline and canine in nature. The beast was beautiful and had a curved and graceful back with a full mane around its neck that stretched further than one would expect for either a cat or dog. Instead of a head though, there was a black mask without eyes sunken into the fur where a head should be, neither canine, feline, nor vulpine, yet somehow all of them at the same time. The mask was big enough to fit Ally’s face, and its disproportionate size seemed out of place on the otherwise giant beast. Its tail was as long as its neck, and swished side to side, sometimes like a cat, and sometimes wagging like one would expect a dog to. It was impossible to tell the ecology of the thing, but one thing was clear. It was royal and majestic, divine and pure, ancient and wise, primal and powerful. It was not to be feared, nor was it to be trifled with. The mask glanced around the clearing, but looked above and beyond where Ally stood, never coming close to making eye contact with her, if it had eyes to see her with in the first place


    A voice sounded from it and was that of a small child. Despite that, it spoke with age and maturity, creating a strange dichotomy of both youth and wisdom that was ever so alien. “My missing avatar has left, lost, and broken. Come my eyes, we must continue the search!”


    Ally felt compelled to respond, “Do you mean the boar?”


    The beast’s head jerked, and its neck craned in the direction of Ally, but the mask still looked over her, as if it couldn’t see. “Oh? Do we have a visitor in my realm?”


    “Um… hi?”


    “Hmm, child. Tell me do you hear my voice?”


    “I-I do?”


    “Do you see me?”


    “Yes.”


    The beast’s head swung around blindly, unable to quite pinpoint Ally’s location, and bemusement broke into its voice as it commented, “Curious. Tell me, what brought you into my realm, where only the avatars play, child?”


    Ally felt a lump in her throat and swallowed. Somehow, she knew there would be no lying to this being, “I followed my dog.”


    “Brought by an avatar, I see. Tell me, was your last memory before arriving here laying your head to sleep? Did you arrive like a dream carried by the wind?”


    Ally cocked her head to the side and realized she had gone to bed before waking up here, “Yes.”


    “So, I brought you here, but have no recollection of doing so. Curious indeed. Tell me, child, what is it you see, when you behold me?”


    Ally began to answer, but the beast suddenly hissed, “Silence child. Answer me in a single word. Reveal to me you see me with but a single word. If you do not, I will leave you here, and use you as bait for the boar.”


    Something about that last statement felt dangerous, but Ally felt no fear as she instantly felt only one word could even begin to describe the scene before her in the moonlight. “Beauty.”


    The creature laid down and its neck continued to crane and move aimlessly as it failed to see Ally, “Hm, hm, hm. Beauty indeed. You see my true form and are not like the trespasser, wicked in his intents. In that case, child, I shall reward you for your power of sight. I will tell you your fortune, so that I may not behold you for years to come. Few ever receive such a blessing. Do you accept?”


    Ally couldn’t find a reason to deny the creature. “I do.”


    “Very well. Child, what is your name, so that I may recall you?” The creature bent over and tilted its head, as if to listen.


    “Ally.”


    “Allison Thomas, daughter of Mary and Jacob… hm, hm, hm. What a coincidental conjoining. Heed my words, and heed them well. The wolf shall approach you, cloaked in sheep’s clothing. Sign not the contract, or risk meeting the boar. Follow these words, and it will be many winters before I find your gaze.”


    Ally crinkled her nose, “Wait, I don’t understand!”


    “Time my child, is something only I can spare. Fear not, though I do not find your gaze, I am always with you. I am with all of you. Until I see and claim all.”


    Nirvana''s music rang through Ally’s bedroom, and she woke up with a jolt and looked around and put her face in her hands and groaned. What a bizarre dream, likely brought on by seeing the news story about her father’s killer. Still, something about all of it felt so real. Stranger too, she could remember the dream as lividly as if it had just occurred.


    Allison lowered her hands and leaned back into her pillow and mumbled, “The wolf shall approach you, cloaked in sheep’s clothing. Sign not the contract, or risk meeting the boar.” What utter nonsense.