This part picks up exactly where Chapter 1 leaves off and is the last chapter. Thanks for sticking with it!
Epilogue (Alternative Ending)
There was a girl with eyes the color of dawn and hair the color of dusk. There was a boy who had the sharpest eyes, but he could never see the sun on the horizon.
III.
Everything is fire. His skin, his eyes, everything burns. Some sort of hellish energy surrounds him. He can't move. The world is a blur. And then it is still.
He is aware only of light and dark, and the occasional wet cloth being placed on his forehead. He shivers uncontrollably. Once, he hears his woman screaming. Not long after, she is singing a lullaby. Days pass, maybe weeks. Eventually, the burning recedes, and his skin feels like molting scales. He opens his eyes, head clear for the first time since falling.
It is daytime. Cautiously, he sits up and looks down at his hands. He can't see them.
"You're awake." It is her voice.
He doesn't respond.
"Things didn't go as planned. The fox didn't want to die, I guess. And I didn't want you to die… I guess." She stops and touches her forehead to his. "Good. Your fever is gone."
He remains silent.
"I'm sure you're curious, so I'll explain. You landed in hogweed. It's a plant that causes severe skin irritation. If it gets in your eyes, it causes blindness. I fixed your bones and internal organs and I was able to prevent any permanent damage to your skin, but your eyes are gone for good." There is no small amount of bitterness in her voice, but it's tinged with something tender, something like hope.
"Thank you," he says after a while.
"Your burden is gone now. What will you do without your eyes?"
He takes a deep breath. It feels like his first. "I'm not sure."
So she takes his hand in hers. It is soft and strong and steady.
"Come meet your son," she says. And for the first time in their lives, he is the one following without question. His steps are shaky, but she leads him across what he guesses is their campsite, and somehow he feels safer than he ever has. They stop as he hears a small gurgle. She lets go of his hand and asks him to hold his arms out. He hears some shuffling, and then there is something warm touching him. The presence fills his world with brightness.
He holds the infant steady in one arm and cautiously uses the other to find the baby's head, running his hand across satiny hair, and tiny eyelashes. Clammy fingers tug at his arm, and he hears a giggle. "What does he look like?" he asks.
"He has blonde hair like the sun, and blue eyes like the sky," she tells him.
"We are complete," he says slowly. "He is day. I am night. You are twilight which binds us together."
"Then let's go home together." Her arms are around him, a shield, and he is a boy again, chasing his brother in the darkness. "Do you choose vengeance or do you choose forgiveness?" she asks. His brother is pointing ahead. There it is. The tiniest hint of sunrise growing larger in the distance. "Do you choose darkness or do you finally see?" His brother disappears and he takes toward the sun at a sprint.
A crow cries somewhere nearby. "I choose light."
XX