Chapter 7: A Price to Pay
'Lungwort won't help, but this will,' it says, opening its closed fist to show me some strange golden leaves crumpled at the palm of its hand. 'This can be your brother's salvation.'
I glance down at the leaves that are shining softly, like treasured gold in its hand, and then glance up at its empty cloak. Nothing in this world is given, everything comes with a price, and I dread what this creature will demand of me for my brother's salvation.
"What do you want in return?" I ask in a trembling murmur.
'I want a promise.' It hums, pleased that I'm smart enough to know what is really been offered, not a gift, but a trade.
"And what promise do you want me to make?"
'I want a promise that you will be my offering on the day the sun is at its highest, on your eighteen years of return, on Rhiannon's day.'
I am thirteen years old now, I know I can only be considered for an Offering after I have my eighteenth birthday. If I accept this, I might have five years to regret this decision. And I have no idea what it means to be offered to one of these creatures, or what will be taken from me on Rhiannons's day. All I know is that it will take me to Blaewen's heart again and that I might be among the ones that never return from the forest after the Offering Day is over.
"W-what am I going to offer to you at Rhiannons's day?" I ask, fighting back a shiver.
The creature reaches out with the other hand, the one that isn't holding the golden leaves, and trails a scary talon up my nose before it presses a finger into my forehead. Its touch leaves me breathless. I am ice melting under fire, a liquid puddle of warmth beneath its pale cold hand. The smell of oak and honey in the summer breeze invades my senses. The sound of trickling water from a quiet stream rushes into my ears and my body feels renewed and refreshed as if it's been resting over mossy grass sprinkled with morning dew. There are dandelions floating in the air, playing with each other in the wind. Everything feels soft, lovely, and sweet, and I completely forget about the hard and freezing cold I have been submerged in only a moment ago…
There's a flash of a blue mantle flowing in the breeze, and a glimpse of soft brown hair with hazel eyes that glow with a golden glint… I hear laughter and music, people playing in the distance… I feel the scent of wood recently chopped, and hear the crackling of a bonfire… an arrangement from a bouquet of wildflowers flashes into view, and crowns made of lovely vines are being placed on a long feast table…
Happiness and joy are floating in the air, for it is time to celebrate and rejoice… someone takes my hand and pulls me along, I am too dizzy and happy to care where I'm going, so I just follow… into the woods… into rays of golden sunshine… into blissful demise.
I let out a relieved sigh and peek through half-open eyelids. The creature's finger is a few inches away from my face, hovering in the air. A bright gold string of light is flowing from my forehead to its fingertip. The air hums around us, vibrating with the energy exchange while its eyes flare with a golden-honey glint. I exhale a shaky breath as the light string leaves my body and flows into the creature. All I see is sunlight and summer's beautiful colors.
The creature is draining my life source, I realize in a paralysis-inducing haze, but summer feels so good under its fingertips that I can't be bothered to try to make it stop.
My heart beats fast and loud as if it's going to burst out of my chest at any moment. Breathing begins to hurt. I can't seem to make air go into my lungs as easily as before, and my heart speeds even more, trying to make up for the lack of air inside. My vision blurs.
This is killing you, Sian.
You have so little right now, and this creature is taking all that is left.
The sluggish thought flares like an alarm in my head and I slowly blink awake from this summer dream haze. The flow from the golden line begins to waver and lose force, turning translucent and almost fading while I struggle to break free from this deadly connection.
"Stop." I sputter in a weak whisper.
Suddenly, I feel like I have dived into a frozen lake. Cold water envelops me, knocking the air off my lungs. I struggle to swim upwards and when I reach out, a thick layer of ice covers the surface, preventing me from getting my head off the water, so I pound on the hard ice with my fists, but I can't break through it. I trash in panic as I see the creature's hand pulling away from the ice on the other side.
The connection is finally broken and all of its tricky illusions vanish from my mind. Cold returns tenfold, making me shake uncontrollably with all the loss of life energy. The cold settles back in my body, my bones, and my soul and I whimper in agony while I lay helpless on the snow.
'You are too young, yet, already tastes so wonderful.' The creature hums, sounding pleased.
"W-what d-did y-you d-do t-to me?" I ask, flinching away from him, but my ankle is still stuck and I can't move more than a few lousy inches.
'You asked what you'd be offering and I showed you. I only had a quick sip, though. Such a small sample. It's nothing compared to what I'll be taking in the summer when life's force is at its highest.'
It doesn't feel like nothing. I feel drained and numb and empty.
I want to sleep so badly.
'What is your final answer, rabbit girl? Do we have a deal? You have to say it out loud, or it won't count.' The creature insists.
"What if I don't agree to this? Will you still let me go?" I ask in ragged breaths.
In answer, the roots around my leg and ankle wriggle away, finally leaving me free. I scramble away immediately and try to stand on my feet, but my legs give way and I fall back on the snow, completely exhausted.
'If you make this deal, you can save your brother's life and your own. If you don't, you might lose it all.' It lays down his offer, stripped bare for me on the floor.
"What?" I ask, glaring at it.
'I'm not sure if you'll be able to go back.' The creature says, stepping away to show a path forming through the woods where blue flowers are absent. 'You have wasted so much already, coming here. Now there is only a sliver of strength in you. It might be not enough for the journey back.'
This isn't fair, I think to myself. But the creature is right, it feels like there's no strength left in me. I can feel it in my tired bones and my soul. I can't even stand on my own feet anymore… But before I let myself agree to this, a realization strikes me. I suddenly see how much I've been played by this treacherous creature. I've never had a chance.
"You tricked me." I accused with gritted teeth. "You brought me here, to the heart of the forest. You made me come this far. And now you've stolen the little I had left of my strength. It's you. You are the reason I have no choice. It's because of you I won't be able to go back." I say, trembling in anger. "You cheated. You are forcing me into this deal."
It straightens its back and grows bigger in stature, a threatening aura befalling over its winter gray mantle, and when it speaks again, its voice is unforgiving, and as hard, cruel, and cold as the winter.
'I may have brought you here, but I have not forced you to cross over that blue line. You knew there was a price to pay and you still crossed it.' It points out to me with a voice sharp and cutting like a stinging whip. 'And I have not forced you to accept the remedy I offered.'
I hear grinding bones and feel the smell of decay in the air around us as the creature takes a step closer. It is Death walking in an empty gray cloak.
And It has come for me.
'There is a price to pay for disturbing winter's sleep. For trespassing the blue heart of Blaewen. And a price to save your brother's life.' The creature says, treating me like a stupid child who cannot do the counting by herself. 'You have paid the forest for disrupting its peace, and you have paid me for trespassing the blue heart, but the price comes in three, and the last one is quite steep, for you will be cheating out of Death's own hand. The price is high for a high reward, it seems only fair, don't you think?' It concludes and asks again, 'Are you ready to give me a promise in return for your brother's life, rabbit girl?'
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone