Sorry for the short chapter.. I'll update it soon.

I couldn't sleep. My subconscious kept showing me images of what would happen if we failed. Kierran, dead. My father, dead. The Nevernever, dead.

It was still night when I got up and tiptoed to the large tree that had gotten my attention earlier. I let out a gasp when I saw it.

"It's a pity, isn't it?" Grim's quiet voice came from behind me.

I nodded, still shocked. The tree branches were slowly rotting.

"This tree is quite special, you know. It has many names, Yggdrasil, Bodhi tree, or most commonly known as the Tree of Life"

"The tree of life? It doesn't seen very... alive"

He walked to the base of the tree. "Of course not. It was poisoned, like you. It had to be while we slept."

I frowned, confused. "But... my being poisoned wouldn't automacally mean it is dying as well as me? Why poison it again?"

"Mother Earth is clever. She divided her power. A part, she deposited in the tree, another she gave it to you and the other she kept it" Grim fixed his golden feline gaze on me. "The three of you are connected, but are separate entities at the same time. Until now, there was nothing wrong with the tree, but now it will have the same destiny you will if we don't prepare the antidote. Whoever it is, he knows what he is doing, human. He knows there are only two options now."

"Me or the tree"

He nodded. "We can heal your body or we can heal the tree"

"What's the difference? I don't understand"

He shook his head and snorted "That the tree can't transfer its energy, but you can"

A click echoed in my mind. If I was healed then the tree would lose its energy and the Nevernever and the Mortal world would be damaged. If we healed the tree, I could transfer my energy to it, and though my body would die, the energy Mother Earth had given me would remain intact and safe in the tree.

I had a mental image of me as a basket. That was what I had always been, my body was a mere shell that contained the life of millions. That's why Kierran had been so mad at me. I understood more clearly now.

"So, I must die"

"It's your decision" Grimalkin licked his paw and curled on the ground, falling asleep.

How on earth would I be able to sleep now?