Page 11 of Goddess of Light

Listen, I go on, feeling the dog’s heavy tail wagging.I need your help. Sarvi and I are trapped in the dungeon, and I need you to free us somehow. But you can’t trust Tuoni or Hanna. Neither of them are who they say they are, but I guess you already sense that, don’t you?

Rauta whines again, agreeing. Of course, dogs would be able to sniff out that Louhi is impersonating my father. Animals can sense hate and are better judges of character than even the Gods.

Please hurry, I add.I don’t think we have much time left. You can come with us as we try to find my father. He’s out there somewhere. Only then can we make things right.

Rauta lets out a loud bark, and then suddenly, the sensation is over, and I feel alone in my body.

I exhale and lean back against the wall, my breath shaking.

Sarvi?I think, trying to do the same to the unicorn, but, as usual, there is no sign.

So, I sit and I wait and I try not to worry, try not to let my mind race.

It’s unavoidable, though. What if Rauta doesn’t make it? What if he can’t help? He’s just a dog, after all. What if he’s caught? What ifwe’recaught? What if I’m the cause of his death?

Or worse?

When my mother threw me in this cell, she never explained what she had planned for me, just a vague threat about meeting my grandfather—Rangaista—some other day, but neither of them have come by. No doubt I’ve been forgotten, and that might be for the best.

If I were a betting God, one who bet on anything other than bone matches, I’d say my mother means to leave me here until she has taken over the entire realm and destroyed everyone who opposes her. Then, she’ll come back and give me an ultimatum—join her or else.

I just don’t know what that else would be. Would she sentence me to die? Actually end my life and send me to Oblivion? Could she do that to her own flesh and blood? Or would she keep me locked up here forever as a prisoner of war for never bowing to her or recognizing her as a queen?

I will never recognize her as a queen.

Only as a monster.

I sit there for a good while, my ears attuned to the slightest noise. I still feel nothing from Sarvi. Even the bone mouse seems to have stopped scurrying to and fro, as if it already served its purpose. In the distance, water drips, lulling me off into a daze.

Then, I hear a soft padding sound approaching from the right, as if something is coming down the stairs. I immediatelygo tense, not knowing what it is. Rauta’s paws are metal, aren’t they? They would make a distinct noise.

A shadow appears on the stone floor, looming closer and closer as it comes down the corridor toward my cell.

Rangaista.

CHAPTER FIVE

HANNA

Gold.

My entire world goes from black to gold, all while it feels like I’m hurtling headfirst toward…something.

Nothing.

Everything.

There is no up or down, left or right. I’m just moving so fast, the space around me dissolves, like the world doesn’t exist and there’s only me.

For a moment, I don’t even feel the presence of the Goddess, my mother. She has either turned into gold herself or has disappeared completely. There’s just me, flying through what feels like all of time and space and the reality I’d been born into.

And then, just as quickly as it started, it stops.

I feel something solid beneath my feet before the gold of my vision starts to fade, and shapes and shadows come into view. Yet, there is no darkness here. The shadows are somehow bright and glistening, and I have that same sense I had when I first stared at my mother: that I can’t quite see what I’m looking at until I look at it from another angle.

I close my eyes, even though it gives no relief from the light. I’m about to teeter over, the ground suddenly feeling unstable, when a hand reaches out and grabs my arm to steady me. The touch is searing hot, as if I leaned on a burning stove, but it doesn’t hurt.

“It will take you time to acclimatize,” my mother says. “Take a moment. Find your balance and your footing before opening your eyes to this world. There might not be any oxygen, but I advise you to breathe deep anyway.”

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