Very well. First choice: the cold wind of the mountains or hot sun of the desert.
Hmm. Before I lived in Ekios, I would have said the hot sun of the desert, but now…
The cold wind of the mountains, I say and my answer surprises me.
Cold wind carries echoes of a place where I once felt safe.
The chuckle turns into a purr and goose bumps rise all over my skin.Interesting. Second choice: a bird in your hand, or a dusk tiger in the forest?
Spirits of the gods know what on earth this means…but even if I don’t fully grasp the meaning behind each choice, my intuition reaches for things that survive in packs, things that move together.I choose a dusk tiger in the forest.
Mmmm….Fun. Third choice: knowing the true intention of your heart, or losing the trial?
Is this motherfucker for real?
Of course knowing the true intention of my heart!
Truth always demands a price, child.
Jax’s face fades away. Daegel’s face appears instead. My heart skips a beat. For a split second, the feeling hits me. Warmth, safety…a place to rest. Then it’s gone.
Something in the way he looks at me makes me feel…odd. Once he may have been home, but we’re not who we were any longer.
Are you certain about your choice, Phoenix Wildarrow? If yes…tick-tock, your time is almost up. What is it that your heart desires?
My pulse spikes. Adrenaline courses through me as I scramble to come up with the answer. The truth is, I have no clue. I don’t even know where to begin.
All this time, I thought the only thing I want is revenge. But this creature tells me it’s not true…
How can that be? How can I not know myself?
Facing the truth is sometimes harder than meeting death.
The creature inside my mind starts to fade away.
Tick-tock, around the clock.
No, no, no. Please.
It continues to blur, though. It’s slipping away from my mind. It doesn’t have to say it, I know what it means.
I’m about to lose the Trial of Truth.
I swallow.PLEASE! I want to win, and I will do whatever you want me to do. Don’t go, don’t go. Tell me what I can do to win. I’ll do anything!
Silence stretches between us.
I don’t feel the presence in my mind, but it’s still in front of me. Not yet completely disappeared.
Suddenly, the air shimmers and becomes bright. The presence cocks its head as it surveys me. It’s back in my mind.
The presence purrs, the voice in my mind soft and lulling.If you refuse to face your truth, then walk blind into it.
I have no clue what those words mean.Desperation coils in my lungs like smoke.
I’ll do anything to pass this trial. Tell me how can I find out and I’ll do it. Whatever it takes.
I hate the way my voice sounds as I beg.
