Page 135 of North Is the Night
“I’m going back,” I say, reaching for my discarded drum. “I have to go back—”
“No, you don’t.” He tugs my drum from my hands.
“Give it back! My family—I have to warn them. I have to help them fight—”
“Who are you here to save, Siiri? Will you save your Aina, or will you save your village?”
“I can save both! I’ll go now and come back. Then I’ll go for Aina.”
He shakes his head. “Even a girl as brave as you cannot fight two gods at once. Fight the death gods and save Aina. Or fight the new god and save your village. You must decide which path you will take.”
I take in the shaman’s lined face. “Oh gods... you knew, didn’t you?”
He huffs and stomps away, taking my drum with him.
“You’ve known all along about the Swedes,” I call after him. “Of course you do. Your itse has been running loose around the south for ages. You watched it all happen and did nothing to stop it. You’re a coward!”
He slams down the drum and turns around. “Do not dare presume to know what is in my heart,” he bellows. “I sacrificedeverythingto give the people what they need!” In two strides he crosses the hut, grabbing me by the shoulders. “I risked life and limb to bring her to you. I am now cursed for all eternity, hunted instead of thanked. You have all you need to stamp out the threat of the Swedish invaders and their tyrannical god. You’re all just too stupid and selfish to see it, too unwilling to open your hearts to her power.”
“Who?” I wrap my tattooed hands around his wrists. The knowledge sinks in my chest. “Oh gods... Väinämöinen, who did you take from Tuonela?”
He shoves me away. “Even you, bright as you are, cannot see it. You don’t believe, so how can you ever understand?”
“Tell me!”
He spins around. “You met her already, fool girl. You described her to me, remember?”
I furrow my brow, trying to remember. “The woman in the woods. Black of hair, with a child-like face. She came to me twice. She helped me to my feet after Kalma took Aina. Then she appeared in the alder grove. She gave me provisions for my journey north. She told me to trust the bear... to trustyou. Who is she?”
“You already know,” he replies. “Use that clever mind and puzzle it out.”
I close my eyes, trying to remember what I felt when she was near. She came to me in a time of need, a time when my spirits were low, and I was ready to give up. When I thought all doors were closed to me, she appeared through an open window and offered me her hand.
“Hope,” I whisper, blinking open my eyes. “She is hope.”
Slowly, the shaman nods.
“Butwhois she?” I say, dropping to my knees by the fire. “Is she Tuonetar’s daughter?”
“Her granddaughter,” he replies, taking his place at the other side of the fire. “That selfish witch kept her locked away, determined to keep her magic from the world. Not even the gods knew she lived.”
I continue to try to puzzle it all together. “I thought you said you went to Tuonela seeking Antero Vipunen? You wanted secrets to use in your spellcasting.”
“And what secrets do you think he told me?”
My eyes go wide. “He knew about the goddess? He knew she was being kept hidden?”
“More than that, he knewwhereshe was hidden. There is a secret house under the Kipumäki. Tuonetar kept it concealed, but a few secret words could unlock the door. Vipunen learned those words. He shared them with me.”
“And Tuoni? He didn’t stop you from taking her?”
He laughs. “Stop me? He helped me get her out. He wanted her gone.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s his only hope too.”
I search his face. “His only hope of what?”
