DISCLAIMER: All characters are borrowed from Libba Bray. No money is being made from the publication of this story.
Another Way – Chapter 1
"No! Kartik, no! I won't let you…You can't do this…Please, come back to me, come back…"
The awful truth of it makes my blood run cold. He intends to give his life for mine; he wants to die so that I might live. From the moment we met, our relationship—as mistrustful acquaintances, as friends and eventually as lovers—has been full of doubt and uncertainty. But in this instant, I know beyond any possible doubt that he loves me and we belong to each other, no matter what the obstacles. I am his, and he mine. Eternal love. No beginning and no end. And yet he must die because of this love.
I collapse onto the grass, writhing in uncontrollable sobs, my eyes shut against the world around me. But the light that comes after his sacrifice is too bright to ignore. It presses against my eyelids, bidding them to open, asking me to look.
The Tree of All Souls is exploding with light. It pushes through in small shafts at first, making cracks in the bark that grow wider until the whole tree is suffused with that piercing glow. It grows until the light covers all of the Winterlands, all of us who have witnessed Kartik's selfless act. I sit up, shielding my eyes with one arm. It is almost too much to bear. And suddenly, as if the light is being sucked back into the tree, the world goes quiet again. The tree is no more. Standing in its place, I see him with a joyful smile on his face, in an ecstasy so great I can't help but feel it too. I throw myself into his arms with a sob of relief, kissing his eyes, his cheeks, his nose, and finally his mouth, until I am so breathless with happiness that I can only collapse into his embrace.
"What happened? Kartik? Oh, my darling, my love, I thought I'd lost you…" I whisper, my mouth close to his ear. The tears fall hot on my cheeks, and I look up to see that they are not only mine but his, and that he is crying too, sharing my joy.
"It told me…Oh Gemma, love, it told me that it was enough…It was enough…"
"What was enough? Tell me," I beg of him.
"Love. All this time, we thought it had to be a human sacrifice. But we failed to see that there was another way. Gemma, you kept me anchored here. It was my willing sacrifice, made out of love, and it was enough. The tree released me. It was destroyed." He hugs me tighter, and I sob into his shoulder, allowing the grief for what we have lost and the joy of what has been gained wash over me.
