The stone under my feet turned bright red, like it was filled with fire. I couldn’t feel the heat but I knew it was hot. I also knew that if I moved from the one spot I stood on, I would burn.
Fucking hell.
Literal Hell, apparently.
I was already over these tests. My patience had faded to a mere sliver inside, and when I reached this point I was pretty much all “screw it.” Without another worry about my death, I started to run. My brain winced at the first step, but I didn’t let it deter me. It hurt though, and when a sizzling hit my ears, I actually cried out. I was wearing shoes, but it burned from the sole of my feet right up to my knees, like the bottom half of my legs were on fire.
Picking up the pace, I moved faster than ever, my entire focus on finding my friends and getting through this shit. The pain got worse and worse, each step more agonizing than the last, but I didn’t stop. I’d been through pain before. And if I was honest, physical pain was much easier to handle than emotional pain. Heptashia would not best me. I would not let anyone best me again.
I had no way to measure the time that I ran for, but after what felt like hours, tears streaming down my face at the agony, I slowed. Was this how it would all end? Was this the test I couldn’t pass?
My heart ached as a deep-seated disappointment pressed against my previous hope and determination. The pain was wearing me down.
The moment I stopped moving, the agony burning my body faded. The ground was still red, but there was no pain. And my feet and legs looked whole and healthy.
What in the actual…?
What did this even mean? Was I supposed to keep running? Or was this a test of intelligence and I was failing miserably by aimlessly moving and causing myself unnecessary pain. Standing here for the rest of my life didn’t seem any smarter though.
Red land spread out as far as I could see, holding me hostage until I figured out how to pass its test.
My energy swirled inside of me, but it fizzled into nothing when I tried to use it.
I had to move again.
It was harder than I expected to take that first step. Knowing how bad the pain was going to be had my brain rebelling hard. But there was no other choice.
My foot lifted, and I closed my eyes, bracing myself, before I sprinted, hard and fast.
I’d never been burned alive of course, but in my head I imagined this was a similar feeling. My second attempt lasted less time than my first, as cries and sobs spilled from my lips.
Doubts followed soon after…
What if I was running in the wrong direction? Maybe I was supposed to run into the darkness behind us. I couldn’t seem to get my head straight and make a decision.
The pain was breaking me down to a point where I wasn’t even sure who I was anymore.
I stopped again.
My breaths wheezed in and out, harsh and almost deafening in this silent land. My face was cool as the tears streaked across it. I remained standing, though, with my shoulders back, and a core of steel.
“You won’t break me!”I screamed. Fuck knows where that came from, because I was almost certain that whoever controlled this had already broken me. The force of those words came from deep inside, where they could not reach, where my bond with Asher lived, where my power and my ability to keep fighting to save the world existed.
Their fires would never touch that.
Chapter 23
Ihad just closed my eyes, searching for the mental fortitude to move again, when a lilting song filled the air. At first it was just the melody, low and powerful, sending a shiver across my skin. Words followed, and I recognized the lyrics … I knew this song.The Sound of Silence.What an ironic choice, since there had been nothing but silence until the music started. Not to mention they were singing about darkness and how it was their friend.
As the voice got louder, I realized who it was.
“Jessa!” I yelled.
I took off, following the sound of her voice. Before I could think twice about it, I was singing too, the familiar lyrics giving me a sense of home. A sense of purpose. Something to focus on through the pain…
Wait.
The pain was gone.
