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Soon, light starts to faintly glow at the end of the tunnel, and we’re below the rocks that lead out of the fissure. I can see a slice of the northern lights still dancing in the far away sky.
Then, I see a silhouette of a head.
Hear a gurgling cry.
Feel sticky wet liquid drop on my face.
Her endless blood.
“They’re waiting for us,” I mutter to Torben. “Stay behind until I give you the all clear, or until I think your magic might come in handy.”
I take a deep breath, stick my knife in my mouth, and quickly start climbing up the rocks.
Noora is already at me by the time I reach the surface, her hands grabbing my hair and trying to bash my head against the rocks. I push forward, the strength of a god no match for hers, and then burst out on the cave, throwing her off me.
She screams, blood spraying from her open throat as she does so. Eero tackles me from the side, as I predicted he might.
He doesn’t take me down, his strength from earlier thwarted slightly, perhaps from using all their magic to try and take down the portal, or because his head is hanging on by a thread. I swinghim around, and he goes flying into the snow, though this time, he gets up much quicker.
I take my knife out of my mouth and wave it in front of them, wishing I had my sword for this.
“You really want to do this?” I ask them as Noora gets to her feet as well, walking blindly toward me. “Do you really want to live in the agony of a thousand pieces while you dream of death? You won’t be able to die until I return to my kingdom. Perhaps if you play nice with me and tell me where the next closest portal is, I can at least show you mercy, mercy that you most definitely won’t receive when you step into Inmost.”
Noora laughs, more blood spraying, and even though she can’t talk, I have a feeling I know what she’s laughing at. I have no doubt they were waiting in the tunnels in the event that we showed up, sent there by Louhi or one of her many minions. They know there is an uprising happening in Tuonela, and Louhi has probably promised them a seat at the table. They don’t fear death either way.
And therefore, I must show no mercy.
I go for Noora first, grab her by the hair and bend her neck back even more. I take the knife and start sawing through her flesh and muscle and bone as quickly as I can.
Meanwhile, Eero is running forward to stop me.
“Torben, you’re needed!” I yell toward the cave, keeping the knife working through the cartilage in her throat until I meet the bones of her vertebrae.
Out of my peripherals, I see Torben appear from the cave and start running toward Eero. He throws out his hands, and I see a green spark before Eero goes flying backward. I really need that man to show me his magic tricks.
I quickly finish up, severing Noora’s head before tossing it far away over the rocks, where it lands with a thump. Then, as herheadless body squirms beneath mine, I quickly cut off her hands and then kick her in the side until she’s down.
Still squirming, though. Still won’t die.
How awful, I can’t help but think. I’d never realized how death can be such a mercy, how the whole world would descend quickly into chaos if no one could die, if everyone could suffer indefinitely.
With those thoughts in my head, I turn to Eero, who is pushing himself up off the ground. I go over and kick him in the head, the impact knocking his head clean off.
Torben screams at the sight, then turns to the side and vomits.
But I’m not done. Instead of the hands this time, I cut off Eero’s feet, severing them at the ankle so he can’t walk, and I kick him again for good measure, hoping he’ll learn to just stay down and play dead.
I turn back to Torben, feeling breathless myself. “That should take care of them. I could cut them into more pieces, but I think this should suffice. Without their heads, they won’t know where they’re going anyway.”
Torben still looks a shocking shade of green, though that could be the glow from the northern lights. He vomits again, wiping his beard with the back of his hand.
“I don’t know what to say,” he says in a ragged voice.
“I do,” I say, going over to where we had dropped the duffel bags earlier in our haste. “That a world without death isn’t a world worth living in.”
“Or that the God of Death is as sadistic as I thought.”
I glare at him. “Or that the God of Death has to make hard decisions sometimes in order to help the greater good. And your daughter, Hanna, she’s the greatest good of all. Now, let’s figure out how to get back to her. Are you sure there are no other portals around here?”
