Page 15 of Goddess of Light

Tellervo steps forward, head tilted, antlers catching a stray beam of dim forest light. She eyes Rasmus first, lip curling. “You dare come here with him?” she demands, her voice sharper than thorns at the edge of the thicket. “He stinks of Louhi’s foul magic.”

At the mention of Louhi, the lesser spirits hiss quietly from the greenery, and a hush falls so thick, I can almost taste the tension.

The Magician raises a hand, galaxies swirling faintly in the dark void beneath his hood. “We mean no harm, Tapio, Tellervo,” he says smoothly, voice resonating between the trunks. “We seek your help. Shadow’s End has been taken over. Tuoni and Hanna have been disposed of, Louhi is controlling Death’s double, and Salainen is pretending to be Hanna.”

Tapio’s eyes narrow as he strokes his beard, dislodging a sparrow that flutters out nervously. “I knew it. I knew something was wrong. That’s why we left Shadow’s End in a hurry after the bone match. Where is Tuonen? I tried to warn him, but I’m not sure he understood.”

At the mention of my brother’s name, my heart sinks. “You haven’t seen him?”

The Magician had said he felt my brother was still alive, but other than that, I have no idea where he could be.

Tapio shakes his head. “Only at Shadow’s End. We escaped in the night. I had a feeling in my gut that I wasn’t dealing with either Tuoni or Hanna. I knew it was Louhi’s influence.”

Fuck. That means Tuonen might still be with her. I can only hope that when he realizes the truth—he’s bound to sooner or later—that he at least fakes it with her. If she knows he’s wise toher, I don’t know what she’ll do. Once upon a time, I could never imagine my mother hurting either of us, but now that I know what she’d do to take over the world and unleash Kaaos, I fear he won’t be spared.

“Where have you come from?” Tellervo asks us, still glaring at Rasmus. “And why is he here?”

“I had been ferrying the boat when the Old Gods began to rise,” I explain, trying to give her the simplest version of events. “I battled them before I ran into the Magician. The City of Death has collapsed, with Inmost breaking free. There is no more Golden Mean or Amaranthus. There is only depravity.”

“I was there when it crumbled,” the Magician adds. “Luckily, I ran into Lovia. We headed here to find you, to find our allies. Along the way, Rasmus came to stop us. Then, an Old God tried to do the same.”

“You didn’t see Nyyrikki or Mielikki, did you?” Tapio asks, his voice heavy with worry, to which I shake my head. “When we returned to the forest, we sensed something evil had already permeated the soil here. We immediately started looking for Nyyrikki, who had stayed in the forest and never made it to the bone match. But while we were searching, we became separated from Mielikki. I can’t explain it. One minute, she was here, the next, she wasn’t. We have been searching the forest ever since and still we cannot find either of them.”

“We hear them,” Tellervo says, her eyes darting around the trees nervously. “The Old Gods. They have awakened in the deep groves outside of our wards, but we don’t know how much longer they can hold. It’s as if our own magic is weakening, like the forest is turning on us. Nothing is as it should be.”

“And so why is he still alive?” Tapio says, nodding at Rasmus. “He’s Louhi’s son, is he not? Why didn’t you kill him the first chance you got?”

“Because Yggthra, the Old God that tried to stop us, was about to kill him,” I explain.

“So you got soft?” Tapio says gruffly, in a way that reminds me of my father.

“I didn’t get soft,” I say, struggling to keep my voice calm. “I just realized that if Louhi was willing to kill him, then he’s no longer under her command—not blindly, anyway. He is our prisoner. He may be dangerous, but we need him alive. If he is not useful as leverage, then he may be helpful with intel.”

Tellervo snorts, unimpressed, but Tapio’s gaze seems to search my face, as if looking for truth etched amid the pain and grime in my features.

“The only intel we need is where to find my wife and son,” Tapio says slowly. “We need to find them before we can make any other plans.”

The Magician dips his head. “That is why we seek you. Time is short, and we need all the allies we can get, including your wife and son. We will help you find them if you promise us to help find others—Ahto, Vellamo, Ilmatar. Especially Tuoni, as I know he’ll be back in this world before long.”

“Don’t forget Hanna,” Tellervo says.

“And Hanna, of course,” he affirms. “She has a part to play here too, maybe the biggest part of all. But we can’t fight against Louhi unless we are united. It is only then we have a fighting chance.”

Tellervo takes in his words, her gaze lingering on Rasmus, distrust shining in her eyes. I tighten my hold on the mycelium rope, feeling the hostility radiating from the gods.

“Your prisoner,” Tapio says, raising his chin, “carries the stain of Louhi. He does not belong in this forest.”

Tellervo steps forward and tilts her head at Rasmus, wild red hair shifting over her shoulders like a living vine. “Louhi’s spawn,” she repeats, her tone flat but vibrating with disgust. “Ifwe let him live, we risk more corruption taking root here. None of us can trust him. How can we even start searching for my brother and mother when we’ll be looking over our shoulder, waiting for him to make his move? What if his very presence here is enough to break the wards protecting us?”

The Magician’s hands make a prayer gesture. “It will be our task to watch him. We ask only for your patience,” he says gently. “I feel the part he has to play will be revealed before long.”

“Why wait?” I ask. “Let him speak for himself. We’ve kept him gagged for our own safety, not to mention how fucking annoying he is, but perhaps he should decide his fate. If he’s truly beyond saving, he can prove it with his own words.”

Tellervo’s eyes narrow at the idea, and the forest hushes, as if holding its breath.

“You would set him free?” Tapio asks, tone suspicious as he strokes his beard.

“I didn’t say that,” I say firmly. “But let him talk. Let him state his allegiance. If he speaks about treachery, let alone attempts it…” I shrug, letting the gleam of my sword say the rest. “We have shown him we can kill Old Gods. He might be a shaman, but he is mortal.”

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