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)
Vellamo climbs out of the water and walks beside her, her spear in her one hand, her only hand, her steps tense and deliberate despite her missing limb.
Rauta pads silently at my side, his ears pricked, nose twitching. The dog senses it too; Shadow’s End is not as I left it. Already the air feels heavy, oppressive. This place, once my stronghold, the beating heart of Tuonela, has been twisted into something unnatural.
I glance at the others. Torben, clutching his staff and looking at the weeping stone walls with disdain. Tellervo lingers close to Torben, seeking him like a father now, her small antlers catching the faint glow of the cavern walls. The Magician follows silently, with General Suvari near the rear, his broad shoulders squared as he takes stock of the troops and trolls that climb out of the water.
With a sinking sense of dread, I realize there’s barely anyone left. Many of the troops died in the water with Iku-Turso’s attack. The lucky ones stayed behind in the caves. I’ll have to send for them later, when it’s safe.
After our victory.
Ahead, the entrance to Shadow’s End yawns like the mouth of a beast I had once tamed but may now turn against me.
We move cautiously, our steps echoing against the stone. The air grows colder the further we go in, the oppressive stillness pressing down like a suffocating hand. The walls, once adorned with intricate carvings of my reign, are now covered in dark, pulsing veins of shadow, as though the castle itself is decaying, rotting from the inside out.
The first chamber we enter has us pass by the crypt, the macabre theatre for the Sect of the Undead. Statues of saints stand outside of the chapel, their faces frozen in expressions that look like serene repose at first glance, but the light from our lanterns reveals their true state: their eyes have been hollowed out, bleeding trails of crimson wax down their faces. Dozens of candles are melted onto their bodies, pooling at their feet, and the wax glimmers like fresh blood.
I’ve always hated these fucking things.
“What the hell?” mutters General Suvari, as he and the rest of the troops stare at the statues in disbelief.
“Stay alert,” I say, my voice low but firm. “This is no sanctuary.”
We move deeper into the chamber, the shadows stretching and shifting unnaturally. I glance back at the statues, unease prickling at the back of my neck. Something isn’t right. I swear their empty eyes are watching me.
Tuonen said that Louhi was attempting to free the saints. But they don’t look like—
A scream cuts through the silence.
Not a human scream, nor even that of a beast. It’s a twisted, otherworldly wail, like the tearing of metal mixed with the agony of lost souls. The sound makes the air vibrate, and every hair on my body stands on end.
The statues move.
One by one, they jerk to life, their wax-dripping limbs cracking and splintering as they lurch forward. Their eyeless faces turn toward us, mouths opening wide in screams that echo off the walls. From the hollowed sockets of their eyes, black snakes pour out, writhing and hissing as they hit the stone floor.
“Defensive positions!” General Suvari bellows, his sword flashing as he steps forward to meet the onslaught.
Chaos erupts. The statues swarm us, their waxen forms surprisingly fast and strong. One lunges at me, its stone fingers reaching for my throat. I pivot, still holding onto Tuonen as I drive my sword upward into its chest. The blade sinks deep, and with a shuddering scream, the statue crumbles to the ground in a heap of wax and stone.
Another comes at me, swinging a jagged arm that glints with embedded shards of marble. I block the blow with my gauntlet, the impact rattling my bones, and drive my sword through its face. The statue’s scream falters, then dies as its body disintegrates into a pile of ash and melted wax.
Hanna steps forward, her light blazing as she sends arcs of golden energy at the writhing snakes. They hiss and sizzle, curling in on themselves as the light burns them away. Vellamo fights beside her, her spear a blur as she hacks through the serpentine forms and strikes down another statue.
Despite our efforts, the statues keep coming. They claw and bite, their movements erratic and horrifying, and they don’t seem to fucking stay dead. Soldiers fall, their screams mingling with the unearthly wails of the statues, but we can’t afford to lose any more of them. The snakes slither underfoot, striking at exposed flesh, their venom causing agonizing seizures.
“Focus on the statues!” I shout, slashing through another attacker. “Destroy them, and the snakes will follow!”
The battle is brutal but brief. One by one, the statues are reduced to rubble, their screeches fading into silence. The last snake hisses as Vellamo spears it cleanly in two.