Page 96 of Goddess of Light
Surely if something bad were to happen, the Magician would have said something, right?
“Vipunen?” I say again, louder this time. “Give me a warning if that’s you, I don’t want turn to stone, or whatever it is that you do.”
The whisper doesn’t respond, but it grows clearer, sharper, as if it’s leading me somewhere. I squeeze through the crevice, the stone scraping against my armor and my injured shoulder, making me wince. On the other side, the tunnel widens into a small chamber. It’s dimly lit by a faint blue glow emanating from veins in the rock.
The whisper stops.
I turn in a slow circle, my sword and lantern raised, searching for the source of the sound. The chamber is empty, but the air feels wrong, heavy with a presence I can’t see. My breathfogs in the chill, and I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
“Vipunen, if this is one of your riddles, I’m not in the mood,” I say, my voice echoing off the walls.
A low chuckle answers me.
My blood runs cold.
“Not Vipunen,” a familiar voice says, smooth and icy.
I whirl around, but I already know who it is.
She steps out of the shadows, her pale green, ageless face looking extra sickly in the blue light. Her giant rams horns curl back from her knobby forehead like black sentinels, and her eyes gleam with triumph as her leathery wings tuck in behind her tall form. She looks almost ethereal, like a nightmare made flesh.
“Louhi,” I breathe, my voice tight with hatred.
“My daughter,” she says, her tone dripping with mockery. “You’ve grown strong. Just like I hoped you would.”
I grip my sword tighter, every muscle in my body tensing. “Stay back.”
She tilts her head, her expression unreadable. “Is that any way to greet your mother? After all, I’ve come such a long way to see you.”
“You’re no mother of mine,” I snap, stepping back toward the crevice. “And I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Louhi moves faster than I expect, her hand shooting out to grab my wrist. Her strength is inhuman, her grip like iron. I try to pull away, but she holds me fast.
“You’ve been running from your destiny long enough,” she says, her voice a venomous whisper. “It’s time you embraced what you were born to be.”
“I’d rather die,” I hiss, twisting in her grasp.
“So dramatic, just like your father,” Louhi smirks, her eyes flashing with cruel amusement. “My dear, you have no ideawhat’s in store for you. But don’t worry—I’ll make sure you understand. In time.”
Before I can react, shadows rise from the ground, coiling around my legs and arms. They move like living things, cold and unyielding, pinning me in place. I struggle, panic surging through me, but the shadows only tighten their grip.
“Let me go!” I shout, my voice echoing through the chamber, my sword and lantern crashing to the ground.
Louhi leans in, her face inches from mine. “Don’t fight it, Loviatar. This is your destiny.”
The shadows drag me backward, their cold tendrils pulling me deeper into the chamber. Louhi follows, her laughter echoing around me like a chilling melody.
“Help!” I scream, my voice raw. “Someone, help me!”
But the shadows swallow my cries, and the last thing I see before the darkness claims me is my mother’s triumphant smile.
CHAPTER 36
HANNA
Vipunen’s caveis vast and shadowed, its walls humming with faint energy, but the glow that once emanated from the stone giant is gone. The absence feels wrong, as if something sacred has been extinguished. I stand near the center of the space, trying to absorb the silence, but it grates against me. I thought when I used my powers to destroy Rangaista, that I would lose all ties to my humanity, for good, but now that I’m surrounded by grief and loss, it’s starting to creep back, prickling at the edges of my consciousness.
I welcome it, but the threat of feeling my own grief makes me hesitate.