Aura Read Online Free PDF Page B

something was not as it should be.  She looked about in confusion, in an attempt to figure out what was wrong, only to discover that she was no longer in her underground cave.  Or if she was, it was not how she remembered it.

A thousand questions assailed her consciousness as she looked about in confusion.  Where was she?  Had she gone to the wrong site, or gotten lost in the darkness that she had ran through the night before?  She gave the matter a few moments as she sorted through her memories, then as she finished doing a visual scan of the things about her.  She decided that she could not have made any errors.  The contents of this cave belonged to her as they always had.  The cave, however, was not the same place that she remembered.

Rising she moved to inspect her new abode.  The top of the cave, when she poked at it with a stick, seemed solid, and the sunlight streamed in from an actual opening off to her right.  Yesterday, the light had come from overhead, and there had been no openings leading into the cavern.  The sound of water, which had been absent the day before, drew her out of the cave to investigate the outside surroundings.

About thirty yards away from the cave a small waterfall cascaded from between two large boulders.  Aura decided she would check it out later.  In the meantime, she wanted to continue to investigate her living quarters.  Her subconscious mind was telling her that something was wrong.  The landscape was not the only thing that was not as she remembered it was everything, the very atmosphere that surrounded her.  Sooner or later she would figure it out.

The sounds of an animal fighting and struggles deep within the recesses of the cave were the first things Aura heard as she stepped through the entrance.  The sounds were followed by a sharp yip, as she followed she realized they were running deeper into the cave system than where she had been.  The scruffy looking, half starved body of a wolf lay dead within the coils of Roger's body, while he concentrated on swallowing one of the two pups.  Aura ran to the rescue of the remaining pup, and almost got bit by the poor frightened creature.

The young wolf was so frightened and was acting on pure instinct, striking out at anything that moved, nor would he have stood a chance of surviving on his own against Roger, though he might have tried.  She gathered the plump soft ball of fur into her arms and calmed him with soft words of comfort, as she held him close to her.  Eventually the pup settled, with little whimpers, and Aura sighed as she decided to keep him.  She was unsure how she would manage to do it, not with Roger stalking him for food, or what her mother would say about her bringing an animal home, but somehow she would manage.  It was, after all, just a baby.  As for Roger, perhaps the snake would find that he did not like the taste of wolf, and stick to his usual rodent type of diet.  That, at least, would solve one of her problems.

Aura watched her pets for a while, until Roger settled down to coil himself up and went to sleep nearby.  Seeing that everything was temporarily settled, she dressed and went outdoors, to find out where she was.  For despite the fact that she seemed to be in similar surroundings, nothing seemed right.

The position of the sun, the layout of the cave that she had made into a camp, the running water nearby, the absence of noise about her, everything was wrong.  Aura stood in front of the cave, surveying her surroundings, as she debated what to do next.  Her investigations had to be done in a systematic manner, one that wouldn't lead her in circles.  She headed for the small waterfall.  It would create a basic point of reference, one which she could recognize readily and which would announce its presence from a distance.

She made her way cautiously, not knowing what to expect and not wanting to be seen.  There was a feel of late spring in the air.  A slight breeze