Page 106 of Goddess of Light

And thenshesteps from the shadows.

Salainen.

She’s a mirror image of me, yet entirely wrong. Her features are identical, but her skin is ashen, her eyes pools of liquid darkness. She wears a mocking smile, her movements smooth and predatory.

“Hello,sister,” she purrs, her voice laced with venom. “Did you miss me?”

I draw my sword, its light flaring weakly in the oppressive gloom. “Salainen,” I say coldly. “We meet again,” I add, because it seems like the thing to say.

“How is it that you don’t die, dear sister? You’re like a cockroach. A cockroach that somehow gets everything she wants. A loving father? You have it. A powerful husband? He’ll kneel before you. Powers of the sun? Well…perhaps that one I’ll need you to prove.”

Before I can respond, she lunges. Her shadowy blade slices through the air, and I barely block in time, the force of her attack driving me back. Her strength is monstrous, her movements unnervingly fast. Our swords clash, light against shadow, sparks flying with every strike. What the fuck, has she been taking black magic steroids, or what?

Salainen’s laughter echoes as she presses her advantage. “What’s wrong, Hanna? Is the mighty Goddess of the Sun afraid of a little darkness?”

I’ll use the sun if I have to, but I know I can beat her even on mortal terms.

I grit my teeth and retaliate, slashing at her with quick, precise strikes. She dodges effortlessly, her form twisting like smoke. The shadows around us writhe, and then she steps back, raising a hand.

More shadows solidify, forming duplicates of her. Two, then three, then five. Each one wields a blade identical to hers, their eyes glowing with malice.

That bitch. She’s using Death’s shadow magic to fight me.

“That’s cheating,” I growl.

They attack as one, a storm of blades and shadow. I parry, block, dodge—every movement a desperate attempt to stay alive. My sword flashes in the dark, cutting through one duplicate,only for two more to take its place. Their blades are cold, their strikes relentless. One slashes across my arm, another catches my leg. Pain flares, but I push it aside, refusing to fall.

“You can’t win,” Salainen taunts, her voice coming from everywhere at once. “I’ve bested you before and that’s when there was only one of me.”

“Shut the fuck up!” I snap, spinning to sever another duplicate. It dissolves into mist, but more emerge, their laughter chilling.

I can’t suffer for my pride anymore. I call on my power, reaching deep into the kindling inside me and summoning light to burn them away. A golden flare erupts from my hand, but it barely pushes back the shadows. The duplicates absorb the light, their forms solidifying as if feeding on it.

My power flickers, falters.

I’m losing.

Desperation claws at me. Salainen’s blade whistles past my ear, her grin widening as she lands another blow. My knees buckle, blood staining the stone beneath me. I can’t keep this up.

Then I see it—a glint of white on her belt.

My selenite knife.

The blade I carried before she stole it, the one gifted to me. She doesn’t see me notice it, too focused on her relentless assault.

I feint right, drawing her attention, then dive forward, grabbing the knife from her waist. My fingers close around the hilt, and I roll to my feet, raising it just as she lunges again.

I stab downward and the selenite blade cuts through her shadowy form. She lets out a piercing scream. Her duplicates falter, their movements jerky, before they begin to dissolve.

“No!” Salainen shrieks, clutching at the wound. Her dark eyes blaze with fury and fear. “You can’t?—”

I don’t let her finish. I drive the blade further into her chest, the selenite glowing with a brilliant light, not unlike the sun. The duplicates shatter, their forms evaporating like smoke. Salainen stumbles, her eyes wide with disbelief.

“This… isn’t… over…,” she gasps, her voice a faint whisper as her body begins to disintegrate.

“Oh, I think it fucking is,” I say, my voice steady despite the exhaustion in my limbs.

Her form collapses into shadow, and then she’s gone.

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