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

I saw a boulder tumble past, scraping along the air bubble silently.

We were almost out of time and the snow was still pushing past us. Then, abruptly, it stopped.

In front of us was a wall of snow, probably fifteen feet deep. The height of the wall tapered around our bubble so that behind us, the snow was only a couple of feet higher than the ground where we stood.

Theo said out loud, “Five, four, three, two—” and then the shield burst.

The snow exploded outward and abruptly, we were standing in a crater, with a barrier of ice and debris surrounding us. A few chunks of snow tumbled into the crater with us, but the walls held.

I let out a deep breath and clapped Astrid on the back. “Good job.”

Rurik picked her up and spun her and she smiled down at him.

Owen nudged me and whispered, “Good job to you too,” and I winked at him. My hands trembled slightly with my adrenaline release and my energy exhaustion.

Theo and Cato quickly ran forward, in the direction the besy had been just moments before, and starting climbing out of the crater.

“Careful!” Julian shouted. “There will be pockets of weaker snow. Don’t fall through!”

They slowed and we followed them up and out.

In front of us the valley was debris-strewn, white and gray. The river was gone beneath the mass of new snow and there were no signs of the bes tents.

I watched for movement. If anything survived, it would take them a moment to reorient and dig out of the snow. Maybe longer if they were unconscious.

“Rurik and Theo,” I said, “do you feel anything still alive?”

Both men grew still for a few moments. Theo blinked first and said, “Yes.”

Rurik nodded. “There are several pockets with heartbeats. Maybe four?”

“Can you pinpoint them? So, we can be nearby when they dig out, weak and hopefully, hurt?” Owen asked.

Rurik and Theo agreed and started in different directions, their eyes unfocused.

“Let’s split up. Owen, Theo, Cato, and I will take this area,” I gestured to the eastern side of the valley. “Rurik, you take Bard, Astrid, and Julian and search that area,” I waved to the west.

“Kill anything that moves.”

THEO led us to a patch of mounded snow. “There’s at least one heartbeat under here,” he said, “but it’s sluggish.” He gestured to another mound nearby, “Two more there.”

“There’s no pointing digging them out to kill them quicker,” I said. “Let’s sit tight and see if any of them actually make it to the surface.”

It felt cold-blooded to leave a living creature buried alive, but we risked too much digging them out to end their suffering earlier. We would need every edge if any of them did manage to escape to the surface.

I heard a shout to my left and turned to see a balachko erupt from the snow right next to Rurik. Bard immediately started blasting it with blue bolts while Rurik drew his twin swords.

The balachko was hurt, its left arm hung limp at its side, but the heads roared and it shot fire in one direction at Astrid and ice at Julian. They danced back and the blasts fell short. The blue bolts kept slamming into its chest. Rurik, avoiding another fiery blast, darted forward and chopped at its legs with two quick slashes. He hit true and blood gushed.

It fell to its knees and Astrid fired her bow, getting an arrow high in its chest. It bellowed in pain and shot a stream of ice directly at her. She held up her hands, like she was making a shield, and Julian tackled her backwards into the snow. The ice flew over top of them instead. From across the snowfield, I could hear her shouting at him.

The balachko turned one of its heads, aiming a stream of fire at Rurik as he approached it from behind. Instead, a blue bolt struck it directly in its bearded face, and it fell backward in the snow, unmoving.

Owen took a step toward them, and disappeared into a hole that opened beneath his feet with a sudden cracking noise.

“Owen!” I screamed. I dropped down to my stomach and peered into the crevasse where he’d vanished. He lay still, on a shelf about ten feet down. Just beyond him, a psoglav crouched.

It blinked its lone canine eye up at me, appearing confused, and then sniffed at Owen. It didn’t move any closer to him though, and I could see that one of its equine legs was bent and broken.

Theo and Cato dropped on either side of me, looking down into the hole. A cascade of snow fell from where they dislodged it at the lip. “Be still!” I hissed.

Theo asked, “How do we get him out?”

“He can’t jump out, even if he wakes. It’s too far and he might fall through another level,” Cato said.

“Cato, go switch teams with Astrid. Tell her to hurry,” I answered. He got back to his feet and ran to the other group.

I kept my eyes on the psoglav. It hadn’t moved toward Owen, but it was growling low in its throat. Its human torso looked blue with cold and purple with bruises.

Owen opened his eyes and started to sit up.

“Don’t move!” I called down to him. “You’re on an ice shelf. It might crack if you move.”

He slowly turned his head and looked around. His face went white when he saw the psoglav crouched just a few feet away.

“It’s hurt. I don’t know if it can move. But we’re watching it,” I assured him.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll just wait here then.”

Astrid dropped down next to me, panting from her run, and I asked her, “Can you lift him out of there?”

She nodded and opened her hand in front of her. She called down to him, “Be perfectly still.” Then she made a motion like she was scooping and Owen rose slowly into the air. She kept her movements small; the walls of the crevasse were narrow.

Then, she