The Wall Leviathan

A towering, horned beast loomed... sprawled vast across the pale wall. Naturally, I reared high upon my coils, unfurling my petal-crest to its most theatrical span and letting slip a long, sibilant challenge. The phantom flared in perfect, silent defiance. I tilted my snout to test its nerve... and it swayed along with me, mimic for mimic. Slipping past the curved brass neck of the lamp, I weaved across the polished wood until my whisker gently tapped the plaster. The giant dissolved beneath my touch, dissolved into warm, golden light. It was merely my own shadow, playing sentry in the evening.