Verena's Whistle: Varangian Descendants Book I by K. Panikian (essential reading txt) 📗

two receivers last night before bed. I took the one of the trail and Julian took the one focused on the crater.

I nudged Owen, still asleep beside me, and he made an “Unnhh” sound before a clearer, “What?” He rolled over and repeated, “What? I’m awake.”

“The trail,” I said. “The camera is picking up a blue glow.”

Owen sat up and rubbed his hands over his face. His stubble made a scratching sound under his fingernails. “What does that mean?”

“The gate’s open, I think.”

“Do we go now? What time is it?”

I picked up my phone. “It’s a little after two in the morning.” I thought for a second. “I’m going to check with Julian.”

I climbed out of bed and threw on my sweatshirt and yoga pants. I padded down the hall and knocked on Julian’s door. I went in when I heard a muffled, “What?”

Julian was sitting in his bed, scratching his chest. “What’s up,” he asked, yawning.

“My camera is blue,” I answered. “Where’s your receiver?”

He pointed to his bedside table and I picked up the device. It was black. I hit a button and saw, “No camera found.”

“Your camera is gone,” I told Julian, “and mine is glowing blue. The portal is open.”

“Are we rolling out?”

“By the time we get up there, whatever came through will be gone. We’ll be able to follow tracks better in the daylight. Let’s hit the ski trail a little before dawn.” I looked at my phone and checked. “I’ll be knocking on doors at 6am.”

Julian nodded and fell back on his pillows. I left and went back to my room. I set my phone alarm and updated Owen with a murmur. He fell back asleep immediately but I couldn’t quiet my thoughts. There were so many unknowns with this situation. How many came through? What if they scattered in different directions? How could we possibly close the gate?

I ended up getting up around 4 and going to the kitchen. I texted my mom and when I got the recipe back, started chopping potatoes and bell peppers. I decided to double the recipe, just in case. Owen packed away his dinner last night. I guessed turning into a wolf berserker burned some calories.

I had the casseroles in the oven by 5 and then took a shower. When I made it back to the kitchen, Owen was up and starting the coffee.

I watched him, standing by the machine, bleary-eyed, with rumpled hair, his sweatpants low on his slim hips, and felt my heart thump hard. He turned, saw me, and walked to me. He enveloped me in a hug, tucking my head into his neck, and just held me. I breathed in his scent.

“You got this,” he whispered. I lifted my head and he kissed me softly. “We got this.”

IT was just dawn when we left the two snow machines alongside the ski trail. The pale pink sky had slowly brightened as we drove up the mountain and now, I could see some distance into the trees along the trail.

I motioned everyone close and reminded them, “First, we have no idea what came through, how many came through, and in which direction they traveled. There are also three unaccounted for besy from the previous troop. So, we need eyes wide open now. I’m point; Julian and Theo, you follow me and choose a flank to watch; Owen, you’re the rear guard.

“You see anything, any movement, any tracks, you immediately report it,” I told everyone.

“Any questions?”

No one said anything.

“Owen, get your dangerous clothes on. Let’s use those powerful ears and nose.”

Owen stripped and dropped his clothes into my backpack, seized his sword, and changed shapes. Man, I thought to myself, we still need to fix his boot situation ASAP. His poor toes.

I held my crossbow ready; Theo and Julian drew their swords too.

We moved down the trail. I kept the pace slow, scanning the trees and path in front of me. We made it to the tree where we’d left the camera and everything looked the same. I knew the crater was just ahead.

Finally, we reached the perimeter of the clearing and I dropped flat to peer over the edge of the crater. There was nobody there. I motioned for Theo and Julian to drop beside me and Owen to keep watching the sides and behind us.

I stared at the snow in the center of the crater and tried to make sense of the tracks. There were a lot of them. “Two different groups?” I whispered to Theo.

He closed his eyes and sat very still for several minutes. Then he stood and walked down the slope to the crater bowl. He gestured to the center of the clearing and said, “First, the gate opened. A cohort of besy came through.” He paused. “The survivors of the group we saw before, with the leader with the tall horns, plus a lot of bauks, psoglavs, and other creatures. It’s hard to determine exact species. My vision is dark. There was no moon last night in the heavy cloud cover. The bes leader did not carry the sword with the blue meteorite fragment.”

My heart sank.

“They left the clearing and went north again, like last time.

“Then,” Theo continued. “An hour later, a group of humans came through, Varangians. The older man carried a meteorite fragment that glowed blue. They stood for a long time talking. Then, they followed the bes cohort to the north.”

Theo stopped. “The Varangian party was tracking the besy in the portal world. They do not know where they are now, but they are determined to complete their mission.”

“Are they nearby still?” I asked.

“I don’t sense them.” Theo answered.

I turned to Owen.

He sniffed the air and several times circled the clearing. When he came back to the center he said, “There were definitely two groups – one human and one not. They both went north and they are both out of range of my scenting abilities now.

“But,” he continued. “I can easily follow their trails when I’m in