alternate Epilogue

Alina held the sharp point of the arrow in her hand as if she was weighing the options. "Saved you I did, yes, but stay I will not." She got up on her feet and brushed down along her dress to straighten it. "Oh yes, leave I will now."

"No…" Rodin cried out and reached for her. Alina turned and looked down at his hand. She saw it shiver and gently put her own hand into his.

"Look at me again, dear friend, and see what your future holds for you."

And Rodin did as he was told.

He saw green fields and blue skies, flowers and trees, happy people and peace all over.

"This can be your future if you choose wisely." Alina said but could not suppress a laugh.

Rodin frowned. "You speak in riddles…"

"Oh, I do, I do…and will do, always…and will leave now!" She made a few steps backwards and smiled widely. "Thank you." She said plainly and turned.

"For what? I am the one who should be thankful. I have to thank you for saving my life…"

"Oh, I did save your life indeed, but you have saved me, too. You showed me that there is still something good in this world, something worth staying here. I have been hiding too long now, and my own world had been destroyed many years ago. I guess that now is the right time to say farewell to the past and start to live in the here and now instead in the world between worlds as I used to. So thank you for that! I used to be the product of someone's fantasy, but time made me whole. Imaginative creation made me and I developed, but it will not take me further. I have to finally start to live what you call a life."

She smiled and took a step backwards. "Thank you…" she whispered and finally threw away the sharp tip of the arrow which she still held in her hands.

Rodin tilted his head. "No, thank you…" he whispered back. Then he watched her turn around and begin to walk away from him. The snow fell faster now and the clouds of snowflakes covered everything around him. Trees did not look like trees anymore, the nearby hills soon looked like sugar coated cones. But something was wrong, Rodin felt it clearly. The sounds and noises in the air and the wind had increased and it was as if something huge made its way through the thicket. But Alina did not seem to recognize it. She stepped forward and seemed as happy as can be. And then it happened…

"Alina!" the centaur screamed when he saw the tiny girl look back at him with a smile. She must have heard the noise! The huge avalanche of stone, mud and snow crashed down on her, smashing her frail body and burying her underneath tons of ice-cold snow and stone. All that was left of her was this smile, a smile worth treasuring for Rodin. He flew over to the avalanche, ignoring his own pain and began to dig furiously with both hands and hooves but he could not find her. A cascading light of blue, silver, yellow and red came out of the snow and flew towards the grey skies, but hovered above Rodin's head for a moment. To him it felt as if a soft and warm breeze touched his face like a tender and caring hand.

"Goodbye, Alina, goodbye. I'll always remember you…and I will tell your story. This I promise."

The wound in his chest was still hurting, but he had gathered enough strength to stand up again. He heard the noise of beating hooves and soon his fellows found him in the undergrowth. He was save, finally.