Page 107 of Goddess of Light

The oppressive darkness lifts, the library returning to its eerie stillness.

I drop to my knees, the knife falling from my hand. My chest heaves, my body trembling with the aftershock of battle. I wish I had some snappy catch phrase or one-liner to mutter, but her death will have to be enough.

The shadows at the edges of the library stir, and then the others burst through, their faces tight with worry.

“Hanna!” Vellamo reaches me first, her hand brushing my shoulder. “What happened?”

I look up, my gaze meeting hers. “It’s over,” I say softly. “The dumb bitch is gone.”

Vellamo frowns at my choice of words.

“Sorry, I meant Salainen is gone,” I clarify.

“I know that’s what you meant,” she says with a raise of her chin. “But I’m certain the Goddess of the Sun wouldn’t use that language.”

“No, that’s one hundred per cent my daughter,” my father says with a sigh. But when I meet his eyes, he breaks into a broad smile and comes over to help me to my feet. He pulls me into a quick hug, squeezing tight. “Welcome back, sweetie.” He looks me over. “Are you hurt?” he asks, his voice tight with concern as he looks over where I’m cut and bleeding.

“’Tis just a flesh wound,” I say through a wince. “We need to keep moving. Louhi’s not far. Tuoni needs us.”

The urgency in my voice spurs them into action. The group regathers, their expressions grim but determined.

I cast one last glance at the spot where Salainen fell, her essence reduced to nothing. The selenite knife lies on the ground, its blade dulled and cracked. I pick it up, slipping it into my belt. A piece of my past reclaimed, a reminder of what I’ve endured.

And who I’ve become.

All of the us run back out of the library, tensions high, ready to continue fighting.

Only to run right into a battered and bleeding Tuoni, with Sarvi behind him.

My husband’s victorious gaze meets mine over the sea of heads who rejoice around him.

He grins at me, tired and grieving, but relieved.

And I grin at him.

We won.

The realm is ours.

We are the King and Queen of Tuonela again.

CHAPTER 40

HANNA

Tuonen was laidto rest amid the waves and under a stone grey sky.

It’s ironic that funerals aren’t common in the land of the dead, but a ceremony was given for Tapio, and words and tears were shed for Rasmus, and so for Tuonen, the beloved Son of Death, we gave him a beautiful sendoff.

In the end, Tuoni chose to bury him at sea. We set out on boats from Shadow’s End, the few that Louhi and her cronies didn’t inadvertently destroy when they stormed the castle, and went out not far from shore.

Tuonen was wrapped in a shroud and his father’s cloak, with burlap sacks full of crystals tied around his ankles and neck. The crystals themselves were giant chunks of lapis lazuli, carnelian, turquoise, and jade, enough to weigh his body down in an eternal watery grave, the crystals themselves acting as conduits for good passage. It didn’t matter that Tuonen is floating in the eternal hell that is Oblivion. We all pretended that his soul was still around, and would finally be at peace.

Vellamo called her mermaids forth to help guide the body to a coral grove at the bottom of the sea, all of them except Bell,that is. I cried for her loss, in addition to Tuonen’s, in addition to Tapio, and even Rasmus.

Rasmus. Even though part of me still hated him, right up until the end, I mourn the fact that I never gave him a second chance. He proved himself worthy of being called an ally, maybe even a brother. He risked his own life to save Lovia and he lost for it. I remember how it was when he first saved me from Noora and Eero at my father’s viewing, how he accompanied me into Tuonela to get him back, and I like to think that at that time Rasmus wasn’t compromised. He truly wanted to save my dad, someone he loved and looked up to, never knowing the truth, and for that I kind of owe him everything.

But wishing things were different doesn’t change anything.

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