Page 78 of Tiger's Tale
“Aren’t your legs freezing?” Nik asked, after seeing the priest’s damp robe hemline trailing along behind him.
In answer, Zakhar lifted the edge of his robe and showed off a pair of breeches tucked into his boots. “They belong to Danik,” he said. “He loaned me an extra pair some time ago.”
“Then why continue wearing the robe? Why not dress as warm as the rest of us?”
“I’m warm enough,” he answered in response to Nik’s question. “Besides, when I put my robes on, I made a promise to God. Breaking it feels wrong. Bending it a bit, I think He’d understand. It’s the heart that makes one worthy in His esteem more than what one wears, don’t you think?”
Nik blinked and wiped a bit of snow from his face. “I don’t believe I’ve ever given consideration to the thoughts or intentions of God. I guess I always figured if He was aware of me, or of anyone, assuming we were worth His notice, then He’d have stopped all the evil in the world. Seems to me He just doesn’t care all that much.”
“Perhaps He cares more than you think. Did you ever consider the possibility that evil has a purpose?”
“No. Evil is just evil. It’s wrong. It shouldn’t be here.”
“Ah,” Zakhar said. “Here is the third path. Do you see it leading up past the tree line?”
As the others walked around the path, looking for some type of clue, Zakhar put a hand on Nik’s shoulder. “Consider a tiger, for example. To the deer who is chased down and eaten by one, it might be seen as a monster, a villain, or evil. Is such a thing evil to you?”
“No. It’s just survival. The tiger wouldn’t kill unless it was hungry or afraid.”
“What about an animal plagued by sickness? It strikes out and kills for no reason other than the madness in its mind. Is this evil?”
Nik thought for a moment, then answered. “No. All animals are innocent. They can’t control what happens to them. If they are sick due to having eaten something wrong or have become rabid, then it’s not their choice. They aren’t thinking rationally.”
“But would you not agree there are some people born who, not of their own choice, might be sick in their mind? Who might do things they cannot control and would not do if their mind or environment were healthy? There are many scriptural examples of Christ cleansing lepers or ridding people of demons, which allowed them to reintegrate with society. He did not see them as evil or as bringing this condition upon themselves.”
“Maybe not,” Nik answered. “But surely some people become evil due to their nature or their choices.”
“I would agree with that. Keep in mind that I’m not trying to bend your thinking to one way or another. Just to allow the idea that some things we might think of as evil may simply be that we don’t understand what has happened to that person to cause them to behave in such a manner. Shall we proceed to the next path?”
Nik nodded, and they walked on, continuing to speak of one thing or another, but not of the thing Nikolai really wanted to talk about. Deep inside, he’d always had a suspicion that because of what his father had done, it meant there was something wrong with him too. What kind of a boy could kill his own family and feel nothing?
Wasn’t he, by definition, evil?
Certainly, he was broken, at least.
Though his mother and siblings were gone and had been for a long time, he felt haunted by his past. Perhaps it was all the talk of sky people from Iriko and Matriova, but it was almost as if ghostly specters hung above them in the air, watching them, and the idea filled him with nervous energy. He was also exhausted, just like the rest of them. But they still had a long way to go before they could rest.
After checking the next two trails, they reconvened and discussed their options. Danik, the hunter, felt like the fourth trail was the one to take. He recognized some broken tree limbs and other signs that indicated someone had passed that way before.
Iriko had no preference, but generally agreed with Danik. Veru and Stacia were deathly afraid of the fifth path. It closely skirted the side of the mountain and appeared to be very treacherous. They didn’t care which of the other paths the group attempted as long as they avoided the fifth path.
Nik and Zakhar liked the third path—it seemed to have the most upward trajectory. This made sense to both of them, as they assumed the White Shaman would be at the top of the mountain.
“Why do you think the White Shaman lives at the top?” Danik asked.
Zakhar shrugged. “I just assumed we were heading to the top.”
Chiming in, Nik added, “No. He’s right. Not necessarily. Iriko, are there any particular things a shaman uses or would like to have around?”
“He’d need food,” Zakhar said.
“And wood,” Danik added. “There’s plenty of that on the north side of the mountain.”
“Also water,” Iriko said, growing animated for the first time. “He’d need mushrooms, herbs, sunlight, and... and a fire!”
They all froze. Both tigers lifted their noses, Iriko imitating them as well.
It’s that way, Stacia said.
