'Are you ready to give me a promise in return for your brother's life, rabbit girl?'
I open my mouth to answer but nothing comes out. The creature is asking me to promise to give myself away. It is asking me to promise my life in return.
My hesitation to answer hints of a negative and the creature reacts badly to the prospect of being denied. 'I can claim your life now if I choose to. I don't need your approval to do so. I have no need for your promises or your insolence, rabbit girl.' He bawls the hand holding the golden leaves into a fist and hides it inside his cloak. 'I have been generous because I was curious, but this no longer interests me. I will leave you here, to spend your last minutes of life reflecting on your deeds. Perhaps you will feel more gratitude as you think of me in your last dying breath.'
He starts to leave but turns his head towards me one last time. 'I thought you would be braver than this, but I guess I was wrong. There is no bravery in you. You cower as you face Death. Your brother's life means less than your own. I have no interest in your soul, there is no honor or courage there.'
He walks into the forest and I shout at him, blinded by despair. "No! Wait!"
'There is no more waiting for you or me. You no longer have to worry about choosing, human girl. I leave your fate to your hands. Do with it what you will.'
I blink and he is not there anymore. He has gone and left me here to die of exhaustion and cold. I clench my trembling fists in angry distress.
How dare he say those things to me?
I would do everything for my brother! I have fought through winter and snow for him. I have trespassed for him, and I have risked my life for him.
'But would you die for the one you love so much?' A whisper slithers into my head.
Yes, I would. I knew I would have to pay a price, I knew it the moment I walked into this forest. I knew it when I stepped into the blue heart. I knew it all along. I was ready to die for my brother. I was ready the moment I decided to leave home.
'Then prove it.' I feel the words brushing through my mind, carried by the wind. 'Take your own life to save his. This is my last offer. End yours, and I will save his. A life for a life, that is my price now.'
A foreign-looking knife appears in my hand, put there as if by magic.
'Slice your throat, spill your blood, paint the snow in scarlet red!' It orders me.
A low mist forms all of a sudden and freezes under the cold temperature, turning into snowflakes that twirl in the air around me, carrying a sinister sing-song with them.
'Deep in this blue-beating heart,
is where your bones will lay to rest.
A willing sacrifice is the final offer
made of scarlet spilling red…
For such a violent final test,
a life for a life it's fair to ask.
You must decide now, but do it fast,
The offer was made, but not to last.'
The creature's voice rings loud above the eerie whispered sing-song. 'I have waited long enough, Rabbit Girl. A life for a life is offered. I need you to give me your answer.'
I have no choice, I tell myself as I grip the handle of the knife tightly and take quick short breaths, trying to prepare for what I have to do. My hands are shaking, but I am not afraid.
I'm cold and tired, but not afraid.
I'm not a coward. I can do this.
I have to save my brother. No matter the cost.
I raise the knife to my neck and press it against my skin while the sing-song of the snow continues to play inside my head. 'You must decide now, but do it fast, the offer is made, but not to last.' The howling wind screams in my ears and tree branches grit and groan above my head. Everything is loud and tempestuous, winter's unforgiving nature coming to play.
I hear faint laughter in the distance. The creature is still taunting me, it doesn't believe I can do this, but its amusement is only a demonstration of all its villainy and cruelty to me.
I would do anything for someone I love, I think one last time, gripping the handle with a shaking hand. I will die of cold here anyway. At least this way I get to save him.
I am not a rabbit girl. You said it yourself, demon creature. I have a wolf's heart.
I slash through my throat, startled by the piercing cold from the metal pushing against my skin. I don't feel pain though, only cold, but it only lasts a second and then it is quickly replaced by numbness.
I glance down. The knife is gone from my hand but there is blood pooling at my feet, made of scarlet spilling red. I touch my neck and feel nothing there. This is so strange…
Why am I not dead?
I hear the creature's chuckle close by and I glance around, startled. It is standing right next to me and its eyes are flaring with a golden light.
'Do you want your first offer back, rabbit girl?' It asks with a cheerful hum. 'All you have to do is say it out loud, give me your word, to make it count. A promise of an offering, for your brother's life to be bound.'
My mouth is hanging in dismay. Has this been just a trick? A cruel illusion made by this creature to torment me and make me suffer?
'Maybe.' The creature confesses with a laugh. 'Maybe this has really happened, and I have magic it away.' It replies to my thoughts and laughs some more. 'Do not be so mad! Do you wish for it to be real? I can turn back and make it happen again if you choose so. A life for a life is a fair trade, but I much prefer if you choose my first offer. A willing gift is much more flavorful than one taken by force… And a lot can be lived in five time's a year, rabbit girl. You can still savor life's joy with your brother during this time.'
It reaches a hand towards my forehead but stops only inches before touching it. A faint golden line sizzles from me to his finger and the moment we connect, warmth spreads to my whole body and I bask in the soothing sensation.
'But if you want to end this here and now, I can make it quick and sweet for you.' He speaks, all playfulness gone from his voice now. 'You will feel only pleasure. No fear, cold, or pain… You won't need to worry about your brother or anything else anymore. All that is you will vanish away in a blissful summer haze.'
I open my eyes and stare at the eerie emptiness inside the cloak. He is offering to kill me… Nicely, but still… I would be dead in the end.
I still have a choice, though. I shake my head and move away from his touch. I can make a promise, instead of choosing a pleasant death. I can have five full years with my family. I can live for five more years still. I choose life. My brother's and my own.
"You have my promise." I finally tell him. "A promise, for my brother's life. I will be your offering, five years from now."
The cloaked figure nods and takes my hand into his gnarly ones, pressing it lightly. His hands feel so cold, like blocks of ice. It starts to burn like it usually does whenever you touch ice for too long. Then he whispers into my head one last time.
'The deal is done.'
Two golden eyes glow inside his dark hood before he dissolves into wisps of mist right before my eyes. A dense fog envelops me completely, taking the air off my lungs, the sight from my eyes, and the ground from underneath my feet.
Pressure lifts off me for a brief moment, leaving me in a weightless suspended state before the mist releases me back into cold hard ground.
I stumble forward disoriented, clutching at my chest and gasping for air. When I look around to gather my bearings, I realize I am at the start of the small trail that leads back to my village.
I open my hands. They are filled with crumpled golden leaves, a priceless blessing that will save my brother's life. I stare at them, holding my breath in awe. They glow with a strange light that seems to come from within. They look magical.
The tips of my fingers are purple from the cold, and frostbite has left a weird mark on the back of my hand, where my knife had slashed through it.
I exhale shakily and guard the leaves into my leather pouch, before running as fast as I can down the trail that will take me back home.
For a moment, as I disappear down the hill, I can almost hear a faint whisper at the edge of the woods.
'Remember your promise, rabbit girl.'
…
The end.