Chapter 35 The Final Choice

Chapter 35 The Final Choice
Luna POV

Sarah lifted her hands and the power was released. It was different than before. It was darker. It was hunger. The hunger of the Void was passed through the body of a werewolf.

People screamed. Some ran. But there were others to stand. Werewolves and humans were in the same front, ready to defend their place of residence.

But I knew they couldn't win. Sarah had too much power. The Void's power. Nothing could stop her.

Other than the barrier perhaps.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to Ethan.

"No," he said. He seized me before I could stir. "I know what you're thinking. Don't do it. Do not give yourself up a second time.

"I have to," I said. "She's too strong. The only means of preventing her is to shut her up in the wall. To pull her down between existence and non-existence.

Then I will go with you, Ethan said.

"I know," I said.

I turned to Sarah. Then fight me, said I, If you want to fight. Not the town. Not those people who have never done anything to you. Fight me."

Sarah smiled. And then she attacked.

We fought across Pine Ridge. Sarah was a strong person, but I had something she lacked. I was aware of the obstacle. I was also a participant in it. The love of the world was on my side.

During the battle I brought her to the barrier. Nearer and nearer to the spot where the worlds met.

Ethan was fighting beside me. My mother was fighting by my side. Kieran was fighting on my side. Love and blood were all on the line with me.

And then Sarah made a mistake. She used too much power. She tapped too much of the energy of the Void.

The barrier opened.

Sarah fell into it. She screamed when the hunger of the Void ate her. She made an attempt to get out again, and I was there.

"I'm sorry," I said to her. I am sorry you could not rest in peace. But you never get to ruin the serenity that all the rest are creating.

I drove her further into the obstruction. Ethan was next to me, and so was doing it.

And then we fell in after her.

But this time, we weren't alone. Sera was there. The grandmother of Elena was present. Hundreds of individuals, who had resolved to become custodians of the barrier, who were present with us. Standing against Sarah. Standing for peace.

Sarah was overwhelmed. She was consumed. The Void sucked her further and further, and was, at last, content to have something to eat.

And when she faded away I made the last decision.

remain, I told the guardians that were present. "Stay and hold the barrier. But Ethan and I shall go back to the world. Let us have our lives. Let us have our ending."

You cannot go round again, said Sera. "The barrier needs guardians."

I said, the barrier requires believers. And we will have faith unto the opposite. We will be spending the remaining life of our life so as to honor what we sacrificed. We will go on to live the remainder of our lives teaching other people how expensive peace is. That is the way we will be in touch.

Elena's grandmother smiled. She was now of age, and had forfeited her immortality to assist in supporting the barrier. But she was happy.

"Go," she said. "Live your life. Be happy. That will be the most honorable thing to do to the sacrifice.

Ethan and I went back across the barrier. We never looked back at all this time.

Pine Ridge was a dead world where we had appeared. Sarah was gone. The conspiracy was broken. The threat had passed.

My mother was waiting for us. Elena was waiting. Kieran was waiting. We were all hoping to see whether we should be back or not.

And we had.

Ethan had a question in my presence that night. The same question he had put me once before, when I had felt that I must part with my powers to save him.

"Will you marry me?" he asked. Not through some ceremonious union. Not out of custom or magic or obligation. Just because you choose to. Just because you love me."

"Yes," I said. "Yes, I chose you. Any day of the rest of my life.

It was in the very place where my first wedding was to be that we got married. We married human beings and werewolves and immortals, all of us. The barrier itself was our witness to getting married.

And when we were saying our vows I felt it. I could sense Sera and Elena grandmother and all the guardians on the other side of the barrier. I could feel them partying with us. I experienced them paying respect to the decision I had arrived at. The decision towards love rather than control. It was either to build or to destroy. The decision to forgive and not to hate.

I was finally home. Not as the protector of the barrier. Not as the symbol of peace. But as Luna. Just Luna. A woman who had eloped marriage and discovered her freedom. A woman, who had come to know that the greatest power in the world was not power itself, but the decision to make good use of power.

When I looked straight into the eyes of Ethan and understood that this was my life forever, I understood that all I had given up was worth it. Not just for me. But to all that should come after. So that each generation might live in a world where men and werewolves would be able to pick each other. Where peace was possible. Where freedom was real.

The runaway bride had come home. And she was never going to run away again.