Marshlights

Penny Rose was unsure but as she clung, close and blind, to the soft, thick fur of Lucif's back, she heard the phantom growls of a thousand hunting beings, and in order to simply stop straining to know what the dark held, she shut her eyes against the sting of the blackness. The basket hung from her hand, seeming smaller as if it had compacted to accommodate the mood of silence.
Lucif seemed as if it didn't breathe at all, and Penny Rose did her best to keep her frightened lungs from gasping. The ground at least had flattened before them, and they made their way across peety soil, littered with pin needles. From time to time Penny Rose felt the rough bark of a branch against her cheek, but she was otherwise untouched, Lucif's path unvaryingly reliable.
Lucif paused, and Penny Rose's eyes opened. The large head nuzzled her shoulder, and it spoke directly into her ear. "Ahead lie the marshes."
She could barely make out some bluish lights hovering ahead of them, bluish lights that winked and wavered. She gulped. The unfriendly creatures? Where were they? Lucif's muzzle was reassuringly firm against her arm. "We must follow the path of the marsh lights. They will guide as across in safety. But we must go one by one - if you were to ride me we would surely sink." Lucif paused, and its voice became ever so slightly softer, "whatever you do, do not stare at them, though. For each one alone will mesmerize you and you will be lost. You must walk always to the next one. You must walk always forward." Penny Rose shivered, but the basket nudged, courageous, against her leg and the box warmed in her pocket bravely. "Do not fear, young one," remarked Lucif, "for you are strong."
Penny Rose took a breath, and put her hand once more on Lucif's shoulder. Lucif shook its head. "Not my shoulder, dear one, this time you must take my tail."
The thought of it made Penny Rose shy - that long, leopard-like tail, that twitched at any slight response - in her hand? Surely not. Lucif turned and its tail slightly wrapped itself around her timid fingers. Penny Rose held it lightly, but when Lucif moved, she would surely drop it if she did not hold harder, and so with one hand gripping her basket, the other Lucif's tail, they began the journey across the marshes.