Anton ran as fast as he could through the dark jungle. He was breathing hard and sweat ran down his face, chest, and back. He jumped over fallen trees and rocks that blocked his path. Behind him, something huge crashed through the jungle. It sounded so close and Anton couldn't get away. Each time, it sounded closer and closer. 

He took a chance and looked behind him. A large jaguar was charging at him. The jaguar was ten feet tall with razor, uneven teeth snarling at him. Large paws with long claws reached out and missed Anton by an inch. 

Anton's eyes grew wide as he turned back around and pushed himself to run faster. His breathing became ragged and he began to lose his footing. He tripped over a large root and fell to the ground. A shooting pain shot through his arm when he landed on his elbow. He turned around and tried to get up, but the jaguar was already standing right above him. 

It lowered its head and growled. It hovered a few inches from Anton's head and roared.

Anton screamed as he shot up in bed. He frantically looked around him and sighed in relief. 

It was a dream.

He ran a hand through his hair and climbed out of bed. He walked out of the hut, rubbing his eyes, and looked around for Oana. As if she knew he was looking for her, she walked around a hut and walked toward him. She was wearing the same outfit as yesterday, but this time, her hair was braided from top to bottom. 

She smiled fondly as she got nearer to him. "Good morning, Anton. I assume you slept well?"

Anton shrugged. "You could say that."

"I need to show you something," she told him and motioned for him to follow her. She ran away from him toward the dense jungle.

After the dream he had just had, he was nervous about following her, but he still ran after her anyway. His body just instantly wanted to follow her around wherever she went. He didn't understand what this feeling was yet, but he liked it. They walked deep into the jungle. At first, Anton didn't recognize where she was leading him, but he then heard the sound of slow-moving water. It wasn't long until they came up to the same lake from yesterday. 

They walked to the edge of the lake and sat down. Anton curled his legs underneath him and Oana let her dangle over the edge. 

"What is it that you want me to see?" Anton asked her.

She ran her hand over the water gently, making small waves in her path. "Look at the water. What do you see?"

Anton's brows furrowed in confusion. He slowly leaned forward to see his reflection staring back at him. "I see myself."

Oana chuckled and shook her head. "Look deeper."

Anton looked over at her with a questioning look. "How? What do you mean?"

"Look with your heart, Anton." She disrupted the water again and motioned for him to look.

He leaned forward again and once again saw his reflection. Annoyed, he tried to look harder, to figure out what she was trying to tell him, but nothing happened. He couldn't see anything past himself and the water. 

Oana placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and scooted closer to him. "Take a deep breath and calm down, Anton."

Anton closed his eyes and slowed his breathing down. Once he was calm, he looked back down at the water and reached his hand out to disturb it. His eyes widened as his reflection turned into a vision at the darkest point of the jungle. It was like he was running through as the trees swept past his vision. Oana and his surroundings slowly disappeared around him as he stopped outside a large cave. Slowly, he moved forward. It was dark inside the cave, but through the vision, his eyesight had improved. He came to a dead end. He studied the wall until he found a slight dent. He reached out and lightly touched it. It felt like it was man-made. He pushed on the dent and jumped back in surprise when the wall began to move. 

Once the wall was gone, Anton walked into a smaller-looking cave. It looked to him like a bedroom. A makeshift bed was sitting against one wall while a large, white rug sat in the middle of the room. A small table sat in the middle of the rug with a teapot and two cups on it. 

Anton started at a loud thud coming from across the room. He watched with anticipation as a jaguar lumbered into the room. Anton's heart started to race as he recognized this jaguar to be the same one from his dream. The jaguar stopped by the table and morphed into his human form. Anton watched the painful process and took in the detail of the man before him. 

He was older than Anton had thought he would be. His hair was graying and starting to recede from his head. His eyes were green and his lips were set in a fine line. Once the transformation was complete, Anton noticed that even though this man appeared old, his body looked very young. Lean muscles covered his body from years of hard labor. The man reached out and grabbed a blanket that was lying near him. He unfurled it and covered his lower body. He knelt in front of the table and emptied the contents of the teapot into his cup. He bowed his head before taking a sip.

He started to mumble something under his breath, but Anton couldn't hear anything. He risked moving closer to the man but was still unable to hear a word he said. He stood there for a few more moments, waiting for something else to happen, but nothing ever did. He started to step back when he heard a noise come from the man's throat. 

"Viorel the Great." The man chuckled lowly and darkly. "All my magic, gone. Everything about me is a lie. They didn't know. I didn't know." He shut his eyes and his face turned red. "They're all gone!" He threw the cup he was holding across the cave and it shattered on impact.

Anton stepped back quickly in fear. He tripped over a small rock and fell, causing a loud sound to echo off the walls. The man turned quickly at the sound and stood up. "Who's there?" His hand turned into a paw and he swiped the air in front of him with his claws extended. 

Anton scrambled back when the cave disappeared from his sight and the lake became the scene in front of him once again. He scrambled back until his back hit a tree trunk. 

"Anton?" Oana ran over to him with a worried expression. "Anton, what is wrong?" She reached out to place a hand on his shoulder. Her other hand came out and started to wipe his hair out of his face. 

Anton's breathing and heartbeat slowed down as he focused on Oana. He took a deep breath as she continued to sweep her fingers gently over his forehead before he answered. "I saw someone."

"Who?" She didn't stop her movements. She had to know that what she was doing was helping him be calm. 

He shrugged. "I'm not sure." Anton thought back to what the man had been saying. "He mentioned someone named Viorel the Great."

"Viorel the Great?" She whispered his name and pondered over it. Her hand stopped and rested on his cheek. Suddenly, her eyes widened at the realization. "Anton! I know who that is!" She stood up quickly and started to head back in the direction of the village. "Come on. We have to tell Father!" She watched as he shakily stood up. Concern flooded her face as she walked toward him and placed one of his arms around her shoulder and rested the other hand on his hip. "I will help you. Are you going to be okay?"

Anton smiled at her and nodded his head. "Yeah. Whatever I just did drain a lot of my energy." Anton got into step with her as she led him back to the village.

"You know, Anton," she started. "You are one of the few people who can hold a vision like that for a long time."

"Really?"

Oana nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! I am proud of you."

Anton smiled at Oana.

"Let us tell Father your discovery."

"Who is Viorel the Great?" He asked her. 

Oana paused for a moment. "I will let Father explain who he is. He is better at explaining than I." She chuckled nervously. "Come on."