Page 54 of Tiger's Destiny
“If you can walk the path of flame, you may cross my mountain.”
“And if I can’t?”
“Then your blackened bones will find a resting place here in this grove.”
I swallowed dryly and placed my booted foot onto the white-hot coals. The heat overwhelmed me. My boot started smoking. Sweat dripped from my temples, ran down my neck, and beaded on my upper lip. I took another searing step and another. Although the path was rocky, I slid along as if it were an icy pond. Horrified, I realized that the rubber soles of my boots had melted into slick puddles.
When my socked heel touched the hot rocks, I screamed. I lifted my foot and was about to leap away when the Phoenix warned, “If you leave the path, your life is forfeit.”
I set my foot down, careful to stand only on my tiptoes, and took another few steps. A tear rolled down my cheek as I hobbled forward.
The bird watched my progress and asked, “Why is your heart closed?”
I gasped in pain. “What do you mean?”
He didn’t answer. I set my left foot down, which was now bare, and hopped to my right foot. The tiny piece of shoe that was left melted away. I screamed in agony but refused to step away. What was left of the top of my sock was burning. With inhuman strength, I ripped it away and stared at my blackened feet. The skin above the ankles was bright red and terribly blistered.
Soon the only pain I felt was up and down my calves, and I knew the fire had burned away the nerve endings in my feet. Determinedly, I took a few more steps.
The Phoenix posed another question, “Why aren’t you with the man you love?”
I gritted my teeth. “I am. I love Kishan.”
Flames burst around my feet, and my shorts caught fire. I patted it out and saw the skin on my shin bone was now blackened and cracking.
Calmly, the bird asked again, “Why aren’t you with the man you love?”
Breathing quickly, I panted, “You’re talking about Ren, aren’t you?”
The Phoenix remained silent.
I took another step and cried out in pain. “Ren and I don’t . . . don’t match,” I gasped. “He is a chocolate ganache layer cake, and I am a radish. He’ll break my heart and leave me for another.”
“You are lying. You know in your heart that he will not leave you.”
Flames leapt around me. I screamed with a sound louder than I thought was physically possible.
The unruffled bird said, “Your heart is hidden. Speak the truth, and the pain will lessen.”
“The truth is . . . he’s a superhero, and I’m—”
A burst of flame encircled me, and I screamed again, trembling with weakness and emotion.
“I made a promise to Kishan. I can’t leave him!”
When the crackling flames surrounded me, I screamed. The bird said nothing and after the inferno finally receded, I shouted, “Here’s the truth: I’m afraid to be alone! I’m afraid he’ll die! Like Mr. Kadam! Like my parents!”
“Death is the cause of your fear, but it is not the reason you keep him at a distance.”
My hair was aflame. Every part of my body was burning. The red ribbon I’d tied to my hair floated away on a breeze. It was burning on one end, and I watched with fascination as it fell onto the path ahead of me and disintegrated in a puff of ash. My face felt wet. I touched it, and blackened skin flaked off.
No longer strong enough to stand, I collapsed to my hands and knees. “Please!” I begged. “Stop the pain!”
“Speak the truth, and the pain will stop. Why aren’t you with the man you love?”
I gasped for breath and knew I was going to die. I stared at my ashen hands, sobbed dryly, and with my last breath, whispered, “I don’t deserve to be happy when they’re all dead.”
“Your heart speaks true.”
