White Tiger (Book 1 in the White Tiger Trilogy)

Chapter 17- The Maze

"White Tiger"

2013 Copyright © All Rights Reserved.

Stryder Sweetman.

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Chapter 17

I would usually begin with the whole 'I am a graceful Tigress, sprawled across my bed, elegant and beautiful,' morning thing, but I’d woken up late.

Teeth brushed, shifted, breakfast, and down to the lounge room I went. I rushed through the door to see all of the usual people there, staring at me in disappointment because I was late.

I cleared my throat and Santa spoke, "Well, if you had have gotten here on time, I could have explained everything. But basically, we have something different for you today." I raised an eyebrow and nodded for him to continue, "We have some shifters with specific abilities, we have the ones who specialise in earth outside, preparing for today's challenge."

"What exactly is today's challenge?" I asked him.

"A maze." He said, simply.

"Maze?" I repeated.

"Yep," He popped on the 'p', "A maze."

"So I have to get through a maze. Ok, not too hard." I stated.

"Not that simple, I'm afraid." He grinned.

"Why is the maze 'not that simple'?"

"It will change, move, and you have to answer questions to make your way through." He explained.

I raised an eyebrow and sighed, "Nothing is ever simple with you, Santa." I groaned.

Then I headed out to the paddock and saw that, true to his word, there was a maze of hedges covering the ground.

A hole appeared in the maze in front of me. I stepped inside and it closed around me. I suppose the rules are 'No flying over, No cutting through the hedge, No cheating.'

Oh well.

I shifted into Libeth, who was still sulking, and pulled my wings back, so they disappeared from my sides. I began running. Right turn, left turn, right turn, right turn, and so on.

I came across several dead ends until I found a patch of ground where words had been carved.

'One question, two doors, only one continues.' As i looked up, two grown men appeared through the hedges, and two doors materialised next to them.

A voice spoke through the hedges, "Benina, you can ask one of these men one question, one will tell the truth, the other will lie. You cannot ask a second question, nor can you speak to the other man after asking the question."

I shifted and thought for a moment, and then I strode up to the man on the left, remembering seeing this on the internet and asked, "If I were to ask the other man, which door would he say was the right one?"

He grinned at me.

If he was the liar, he would say the other man would point to the door which led the wrong way, if he was the honest man, he would say the liar would point to the door which led the wrong way, so they would both have to point at the same door.

I had to take the opposite door, because, no matter what, he was going to point to the wrong door.

He pointed to the door behind him and they both stepped backwards, disappearing into the hedges. I turned and walked to the door on the right, and then I entered and continued on my way.