Chapter 88

When I awoke again, I saw the lion king sitting on his hind legs. His sharp teeth bared in a wolf-like grin. Terrors shot through me, and I gathered my strength to get up, but the same deep golden voice spoke to me.

"Don't be afraid. He is a friend."

My head turned to the source of that voice. The same man, sitting in a lotus position on a flat gray rock, looked at me. His face was serene, aglow from a cozy campfire crackling in a ring of stones. The flames seemed to burn more richly than any ordinary fire.

My eyes studied him in awe. His wavy black hair was long and unruly. Wrapped around his neck was a king cobra. Yet the most striking feature of all was the third eye in the middle of his forehead.