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...