Survival of the Wild - New World

Chapter Six - The Dream

An empty canvas stretched across a blank, white sky. No buildings or hills, mountains or lakes - not even a slight crevice in the flat earth distracted the wide landscape. Golden sand lay peacefully beneath his tan paws, extending out as far as the eye could see.
Blaze peered around his surroundings.
There was no sun - nor there was a moon. 
The air smelled plain as if no living creature besides the Doberman himself inhabited the ocean of sand.
No sound reached his pointed black ears except his own breath and heartbeat.
Puzzled, he began to slowly stroll forward. With each step he took, cold, lifeless grains slid between his toes and under his blunt claws.
He shivered.
Was he dead? Was it really the end?
"Hello?" he howled. 
No answer. Not even his own voice came back to greet him.
Sighing, Blaze lost all hope. Sending a cloud of sand into the air, he flopped to the ground. Shutting his eyes tight, he exhaled loudly. Perhaps if he tried hard enough, he'd open his eyes and be in his warm bed, ready to go to work. Maybe this was all just a bad dream and Rose was going to be beside him when he wakes up in the morning, just like she always was.
"Unfortunately, no matter how hard you try, you can't go back in time. I tried that too many times when I first came here, too, " a deep voice yapped from nearby.

Jolting to his feet, he whipped around to face a small, long-haired German Shepherd. He was mostly jet-black, but his inner legs drooled with tan fur that stretched all the way down to his paws.  His eyes were a light brown and glimmery, and his ears were pointy, though, his left ear flopped down, almost covering his eye.
"Bobo?" the Doberman gasped, his brown eyes wide in awe.
"Hello, Blaze," he greeted the flabbergasted Doberman.

Bobo was  Blaze's old friend from the police force. However, when Bobo went through his test, he'd failed on almost every part of it. They'd said that he was too nice with humans! The last thing Blaze had seen of his old friend was the humans taking him away in a van.

Bounding toward him, the two old friends greeting one another, tails wagging.
"Where are we? What's going on?" Blaze asked.
"These are called the Plains of Kronos. The Dream World, in other words. I came here when my people took me to the vets, they injected me with something and then I fell asleep. I've never woken up. But this isn't where you stay forever, so it's not bad, you get to go to the Great Plains of Sirah after here!" Bobo explained with his brown eyes glistening.
"They injected you with something...?" heart racing, Blaze took a step backwards, "you're dead, aren't you?"
"My physical body is, yes, but my spirit lives on with all the others here!"
"Wait... If I'm here... Am I dead, too?" the Doberman gulped.
"Of course not! Your fate doesn't end here, I know it! You're in a coma. I came here as my spirit left my body, but was taken to Sirah as my physical body took its last breaths - you're still here because half of you is still in the real world. Your spirit is here, but your physical body is still breathing," 
"What will happen now?" Blaze sat down and curled his claws into the sand nervously.
"Just remember that no matter what happens, always follow your head, not your heart," Bobo placed his forepaws up on Blaze's shoulders.
"What do you mean, Bobo?" the Doberman pinned his ears back.

Abruptly, the dark-pelted German Shepherd lurched his snout forwards and pressed his wet, black nose onto Blazes. Bullets of electricity shot through the police dog's veins, flashes of bright, white light engulfed his vision and his heart raced. Blaze yelped in shock before his vision once again was swallowed by darkness.
Peering into an endless black void, shivers crawled down Blaze's spine like ants swarming beneath his black pelt.
The sandy earth disappeared from beneath his paws.
He fell.
Writhing his body around, Blaze prepared to crash - but he just endlessly plummeted.
Thrashing his flailing, hefty body, he howled, slamming his eyes shut tight.
Cold wind ripped against his face and body, clawing at his tender skin with its frosty talons and stinging his tender skin beneath his sleek coat.
All of a sudden, the wind came to a halt. Blaze couldn't move, but he felt as though he were floating. 
Opening his eyes, he gazed into an ocean of hazy grey. No ground bore beneath his large, tanned paws. As he tried to look around him, Blaze found himself paralysed, unable to even blink. He was simply forced to stare into the grey oblivion before him.
Gradually, a thick, black mist formed in front of him.
red eyes with jet-black slits as pupils appeared within the eery mist. Glowing violently, the red eyes glared at him, searing into his soul.

It'd seemed like hours before Blaze finally felt able to shut his eyes and free himself from the sight of the terrifying mist.
Eyes closed, he waited.
And waited.
And he waited...
Daringly, he unbolted one eye; instantly feeling soft ground beneath his now sore paws. Opening the other eye, he had a clear view of what was before him. The Doberman was in a familiar hallway, doors along the wall on the left of him and a bannister the other side. Looking to the right, Blaze peered down the stairwell beside him.
His heart leapt. He was back in his owner's house
Was it all just a dream, after all?
Standing in the centre of the hallway, he looked ahead to the familiar pink door at the end of the corridor. The door was cracked open slightly and he could hear faint chattering from inside.
Rose! Blaze howled silently.
Instantly feeling the excitement of seeing her again spill through his pelt, he trotted towards the door. Peeping his broad head around the doorframe, he found her playing with her dolls on the floor beside her purple quilted bed.
If she'd noticed Blaze was there, she'd made no sign of it. Seeing that she was safe and happy, he relaxed. He went to turn away, however, he found himself glued to the spot yet again.
It was only then he realised, he was still dreaming.
But it feels so real... he thought to himself.

Blaze's heart lurched as he spotted the familiar red eyes peering from the shadows of a tall wardrobe behind Rose.
Forced to remain statue-still, he watched in horror as a huge, jet-black creature crept from the darkness of the wardrobe.
It had long, brittle fur, not a strand differing from its raven pelt. It had prolonged, sharp, crooked claws that jutted outwards like poison thorns upon its massive paws.
This was no canine, Blaze pondered in fear, it was a beast that had been picked straight from the depths of hell.
It's sharp, yellow fangs protruded, from its vile, drooling mouth. Saliva warped with fresh festered blood spilt onto the floor as it prowled, creating almost a path of twisted madness. The smell of carrion and corruption clung to the beast like a parasite. The most sickening feature, though, was its eyes, glowing red with a thirst for blood. Its pupils were straight black slits, wavering rapidly, studying its prey.

As it edged closer to Rose, Blaze desperately tried to howl, to warn his innocent, young girl, but no sound emitted from him; only a desperate wisp of air flowed from him, helpless, scared and weak.
With a loud snarl, the beast sprung at the little girl, jaws agape and claws extended.
"No!" only now did Blaze's wail erupt from him, but it was too late.
Instantaneously, Blaze's vision went dark yet again. 
Nothing but Rose's ear-piercing scream of terror rung in his ears, overpowered by the booming roar of the terrifying black monster.