20

Siiri

Soft hands stroke my brow, soon replaced with the sensation of a cool, wet cloth.

“She’s burning up,” Aina whispers, with fear in her voice.

“A veden v?ki has taken hold,” Mummi replies. “I can’t get it out, no matter what I try.”

“We should take her to the sauna,” comes Milja’s voice. “Only a fire spirit can fight water.”

I feel a heavy weight lift off the bed as Mummi goes to prepare. On the other side of the bed, Aina still sits, holding my hand and applying wet cloths to my burning forehead. I swallow a moan, feeling the fever race through me like a brush fire.

“Don’t you dare die,” Aina whispers, my hand gripped tight in hers. “If you die of this fever, you had better be prepared to haunt me, because I’m not living without you, Siiri.”

I want to speak. I want to tell her everything I’ve kept buried in my heart, but my lips don’t move.

“Please, don’t leave me,” Aina begs, her voice breaking as she leans over me, a single tear dropping onto my cheek. “Come back to me. Siiri, please. Don’t leave me here alone. Please, come back.”

Those words fill me, warming me, strengthening my will to live.

Come back to me.

Anything for you, Aina.

Come back to me.

Wait for me.

Come back...

My throat burns painfully. That’s the first clue telling me I’m awake. I don’t move, don’t open my eyes. I’m not ready to shatter the illusion that Aina is here with me. But that was just a dream, a memory from long ago. Aina is gone, and I’m alone.

Keeping my eyes closed, I use my other senses. They’ve untied me from the beam, and I lie on my side in Lumi’s hut. There’s a crackling fire to my left, the feel of fur under my cheek, a cookpot bubbling, the hooting of an owl outside. I’m alive. The witch didn’t kill me. How long have I been asleep?

My stomach growls ferociously as I take another deep breath, smelling the savory reindeer stew. I’ve been starving myself for days, trying to preserve my rations. For every step I take north, I’ll have to retread the same steps south with Aina at my side. I will not fight to save her just to lose her again.

“You’re awake,” Lumi calls. “Good.”

I open one eye to see the witch sitting across from me. She watches me with those sharp, wolf-like eyes. I try to roll over and push myself up onto my knees, but my wrists and ankles are still bound. Growling in frustration, I jerk upright, flopping like a fish until I’m sitting up. Then I flash Lumi an accusing glare.

“It was for my protection, I assure you,” Lumi says. “Tell me, why does a weary traveler need all these blades?” She gestures in front of her at the food preparation stone, where all my blades have been collected, including the knives hidden in my boots. My grandmother’s silver still glints at her wrists.

“You can never be too careful,” I rasp.

“I’m going to ask you some questions now,” Lumi says, wrapping a colorful fringed shawl around her shoulders. “Who are you?”

“I told you. I’m from the south, journeying north.”

“For what purpose?”

“I’mrecovering someone who is lost.”

“Lost in the north?” she presses.

“Something like that.”

“No, that’s not how we’ll proceed,” she says with a little shake of her head. “I will ask questions, and you will answer. What is your name, girl?”

“How can that possibly matter?” I press my hand to the bandage at my neck. “Ask the question you really want answered.”

“That is a question I want answered,” she counters.

I match her glare for glare. “Listen, witch, I would only tell you my name if I were dispatching you to Kalma in the next breath. Ask me a different question.”

She holds my gaze for another moment. “You were attacked yesterday by a pair of trappers. How did you survive?”

“How do you know about that?”

“I’m asking the questions.”

“They wanted something from me that I wasn’t willing to give,” I reply. “So, I killed them.”

She raises a brow. “You killed them?”

“Yes.”

Lumi doesn’t look convinced. “ You did? This weak, half- starved girl before me with a festering neck wound? You killed two grown men all on your own?”

“You doubt me? Give me back my bow, and I’ll show you.”

Lumi leans across the fire, her wolfish eyes alight with eagerness. “And where is the bear?”

I blink, heartbeat stuttering. “What bear?”

“Don’t play games with me. Some of the men saw you approach our camp in the company of a bear. Where is he?”

A tense moment stretches between us. There’s no point in lying to this witch.

“He won’t hurt you,” I say. “I swear, so long as you don’t hurt me, he’s no threat to you. Let me go, and we’ll both leave you in peace.”

Lumi’s eyes glitter in anticipation. “You have no idea how long I have waited for that bear. Lead me to him, and I will give you anything you want—food, supplies, weapons.”

I consider for a moment. “And if I don’t lead you to him, what will you do? Kill me?”

“Not at first,” she replies honestly. “Maybe your slow death will lure him in. At this point, I’m willing to try anything.”

“What can you possibly want with a bear?”

“You know as well as I that the bear is the key to finding V?in?moinen. I’ve been trying to follow that bear to him for longer than you’ve been alive. You have no idea what I’ve sacrificed... what I’ve lost.”

She blinks, her golden eyes refocusing on me. “Now I find that the bear has volunteered to help you , a nameless, talentless, mortal girl. Do you have any idea how maddening that is?” The flames dancing in Lumi’s eyes give her away.

“Wait... did those trappers work for you? Did you send them out to look for the bear? Did they craft that pit too?”

Her eyes widen in surprise. “Ahh, so you helped him out of the pit. I’ll have you know that was a year’s worth of planning, wasted.”

“I’m not sorry. May Otso strike you down for hurting his child.”

“You don’t even know what you tangle with,” Lumi hisses. “You’ve stumbled into a magic you can never understand. Give the bear to me.”

I remain unmoved.

She watches me with deep intensity. “Whatever you need, whatever you seek from V?in?moinen, he will not agree. He is selfish and lazy and scared of his own shadow. He will rot before he lifts a finger to help you.”

I glare, unwilling to reveal that Tellervo already told me the same thing. “And what makes you think I can ever trust you?”

“I pay my debts,” she replies, holding out her hand. “Make a vow with me, and I’ll not break it. I will help you to whatever end you seek.”

“You’re too late.”

She frowns in annoyance, hand still extended.

“I honor my debts too. The bear and I share a life debt. I saved his life, he saved mine. We are bonded now. I cannot raise a hand against him or help another do the same.”

She drops her hand. Her expression crackles with rage like the logs in the fire.

I lean forward, swallowing against the pain in my throat. “Please, Lumi. Just let us go.”

Her lips part to respond, but a cacophony—screams, barking dogs, pounding feet—shatters the silence around us. Then, a thunderous roar—the roar of an angry bear. Kal is coming for me. Lumi’s golden eyes change, dancing with magic flame as she launches to her feet, her face splitting into an eager smile. “It appears I no longer need your help.”

“No,” I cry, raising my bound hands. “Leave him alone!”

“Nothing will stop me from getting to V?in?moinen,” she declares, dropping her shawl from her shoulders. Closing her eyes, the witch reaches out with both hands. A pair of gleaming swords appears. She wears a metal plate on her chest now, over which is crossed the thick black leather of her scabbards. Her hair is hidden under the hood of a snow-white cape lined with fur, trailing to the ground. My grandmother’s silver bracelets still encircle her wrists.

“Please, don’t do this,” I beg.

She looks down at me. “You’re a brave girl. I can see why the bear is so fond of you. I will let you live, so long as you stay out of my way. V?in?moinen will be mine.” With that, she steps past me, disappearing into the night.

As soon as she’s gone, I scoot over to the fire’s edge and get my knife. I stretch out my bound legs and cut through the rope. My heart races as the screams get louder all around. I think Kal is setting fire to the village. I can smell the smoke and hear flames crackling like a great bonfire. I work quickly, holding the knife between my knees as I saw through the binding at my wrists.

“Come on,” I rasp, ignoring the pain in my throat.

The rope frays as I move my wrists back and forth along the edge of the blade.

“Come on, come on— yes —”

The bonds break, and I toss them aside, scrambling forward on hands and knees to get my weapons. I stuff my feet into my boots and slide a knife inside each one, keeping my larger hunting knife in hand. I don’t wait another second to push open the flap of the hut and rush into the chaos waiting outside.

The sky is filled with smoke. I count at least four huts on fire. At the far end of the camp, men are shouting, running with axes and bows at the ready. Women tug on the hands of crying children. All around us in the forest come the thunder of many hooves. The villagers’ panicked reindeer are on the run.

I duck behind Lumi’s hut and make for the trees. I nearly crash into a young Sámi man holding the hand of a crying woman. He takes me in with anxious eyes, his hand dropping to the axe at his belt. I move with the speed of a fox, flipping my knife around and slamming the hilt against his temple. The woman screams as I trip him, knocking him onto his back in the snow. She screams again, her hands raised in surrender, crying out in a language I don’t understand.

“I’m sorry,” I say to them both, wrestling his axe loose from his belt as he weakly tries to fight me off. “I’m so sorry.”

I duck away, sprinting for the cover of the trees. Behind me, the village is in chaos. The north end burns, the huts engulfed in flames. Kal is trying to push the Sámi south, clearing the way for me. He roars again in panic.

Lumi stands in the middle of the clearing. One of her swords is sheathed on her back, and she clutches a tall reindeer- herding staff in her free hand. It curves intricately at the top, cradling a glowing white stone. As Lumi holds it high, the stone glows brighter, nearly as bright as a star, illuminating the forest. She’s looking for the bear.

In the light of the star staff, I can see across to the other side of the village. There, tied to a high line with several other reindeer, stands Halla. She still wears her packs, shuffling from side to side in a panic, trying to pull herself loose. My heart drops. To reach her, I’d have to get past Lumi.

“I’m so sorry, girl,” I whisper. I’m more than sorry. Halla has everything in her packs—my food, my fishing gear, my heavy winter coat. How will I survive in this wilderness without even a coat?

I glance to my left and see a hut with the hides torn loose from the entrance. The family must have fled into the woods by now. Taking a deep breath, I dash out of the trees and inside. I work fast, throwing everything inside the only pack I can find—a cookpot, a bowl, a chunk of dried reindeer meat, and anything else that looks like food. Lastly, I take several reindeer pelts off the floor and roll them up. With the pack on my shoulder and the pelts under my arm, I take my pilfered axe and dash back into the night.

I’m barely past the trees when the snow all around glows golden-white. I turn to see Lumi in the clearing, shouting orders to the Sámi as she slams the end of her staff against the ground. A burst of starlight shoots into the sky, expanding like white flames with a crackle of lightning. It’s so bright that night shines like day.

I smile. Kal eludes her still. “Run, you crazy bear,” I say, into the trees. “Go north, and I’ll find you.” I don’t wait another moment. I turn and sprint into the darkness.