Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 125422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 627(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 627(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
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 idea what’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 cave is 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.
It scares me.
But fear is a human emotion, is it not?
I glance at Tuoni. He’s seated on a stone ledge, holding Tuonen’s lifeless body as if he could still protect him. His broad shoulders are hunched, his head bowed. I feel a flicker of sadness, but it’s distant, like hearing a song through water. I should feel more for this moment. Tuonen was kind to me when I felt like an outsider to the family. He was funny, and playful, always wanting more from life, even in this land of the dead.
But now he’s gone, and I am…I am the sun, aren’t I? I’m supposed to be above the complicated lives of these humans and lesser gods. These very beings that are scattered throughout the cavern like ants.
Vellamo leans against a jagged pillar, her severed arm crudely wrapped with cloth. Tellervo sits beside her, whispering quiet reassurances. Rauta lies near Tuoni, his massive head resting on his paws, his red eyes fixed sadly on the boy he was too late to save. My father and General Suvari huddle nearby, speaking in low tones, their words a murmur in the oppressive stillness.
Slowly, very slowly, we become less and less.
How many of us will remain in the end?
I move to the edge of the cavern and look into the darkness of the surrounding tunnels. My steps echo faintly, and I force myself to listen for something—anything. It’s instinct, I think, or maybe just a way to distract myself from the emptiness gnawing at my chest.
Then I realize something’s wrong.
“Where is Lovia?” I ask, my voice cutting through the quiet.
Heads turn. Tuoni lifts his gaze, and I see the panic in his eyes before he composes himself.
“She headed in that direction,” the Magician says, pointing at the corner of the cavern.
I run to the nearest side tunnel. “Lovia?” I call, my voice sharp. The air feels colder here, heavier. Something isn’t right.