Verena's Whistle: Varangian Descendants Book I by K. Panikian (top android ebook reader txt) 📕

hands came up and he sketched them through the air as he talked. Images appeared and then vanished.

“Chernobog, the Black God, has placed his stamp on the besy of the portal world. They worship him there.” He outlined a large black shadow with a vaguely human face and great, sweeping horns. At its feet, thousands of besy knelt.

“Those that entered this world through the shooting star act in his plan. I cannot touch them. Gods cannot interfere with each other in this space. When we battle, it reshapes too many things. But,” he added, “we can have champions and those champions can fight.” I saw images of knights on horseback battling dragons, warriors facing ogres, a woman commanding an army, and so forth.

“You four must shut this gate and stop Chernobog’s beasts. They do not belong here and I do not like that they keep killing my worshippers.” Mesyats suddenly looked older and sterner.

“Those that just passed through will return, and they will bring others. They are opening the portal with a piece of meteorite that, in the initial impact, blasted from your side, through the portal, and into their world. That is the key. You must find a way to close this access point.”

He stopped and gestured to Theo, Julian, and me. “You three have already been blessed by Belobog. I see it in your blood. He has been protecting the humans in the portal world with gifts of magic. I can offer you no more help.

“But you,” he pointed to Owen, “are untouched by the gods. I will bless you, if you want it. This is the extent of the help that I may offer.”

Owen stepped forward and I had to force myself not to pull him back.

“Tell me, Owen of the Wolf Sword, what boon would you have of me?”

Owen, his brown eyes firm, stared at the god for only a moment and then said, “I want to be a stronger fighter. I want to be better suited for this fight. For ten years I was a soldier and nothing I learned then is helping me now. I’m ill-equipped. Can you make me a great warrior, like those champions you showed us?”

I sighed and Mesyats smiled. “Yes,” he said, “I will do that.” He made a small gesture to Owen, like he was tossing something, and then he vanished.

BACK at the chalet, we found Zasha waiting. She jumped into Theo’s arms and they disappeared into the house in a flurry of whispers, gestures, and kisses.

I took off my weapons in the garage and stored them away. I listened to Julian and Owen talking while they did the same. I was feeling worried and also, a little bit angry.

“Do you feel any different?” Julian asked.

“No,” said Owen, sounding disappointed. “I feel exactly the same.”

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” Julian said. “Maybe in our next fight, you’ll suddenly get powers or something.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Julian went into the house and Owen turned to me. “How are you doing?” he asked. “That fire bomb was pretty incredible.”

I nodded, “Yeah, and unexpected. I’m fine. Just a little tired, I guess.”

“Can we talk for a minute?” he asked. “I want to apologize for yesterday. I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have stopped you when you were trying to talk to me about the dragon fight. Not making excuses, but I was feeling pretty down on myself, and I reacted badly.”

“And now that you maybe have superpowers, you’re feeling better about yourself?” I asked. I couldn’t keep the irritation out of my voice. “Now that you’ve been blessed by a god, you want to talk to me about your emotions?”

“No,” he said. “I tried to talk to you this morning too.” He hesitated. “Wait,” he said. “Are you mad at me for that? Because I wanted more power? To be more useful? I don’t understand.”

“No,” I answered. “I’m not mad you want to help more. I think,” I paused to collect myself, “I’m mad because you think that without power, you weren’t useful. You were part of a team and now you’re a grenade.”

“But grenades are powerful weapons,” Owen argued back and then stopped. “I feel like I’ve gotten off track. I know I hurt you last night and I’m sorry. You, you’re strong and beautiful and intimidating. Your cousins are funny, yeah, but they’re formidable too. I wanted so badly to help; I reacted badly to the dragon fight. The rest of it, whatever you’re angry about right now, you need to get over it. Whatever this power is, it can’t be undone. I’m a part of this team and now this team is stronger.” He turned and went into the house.

I restrained myself from yelling after him that he was still wearing his sword. He’d figure it out himself, I said to myself sulkily.

I sat down on one of the snow machines seats. Why was I so angry still? He’d apologized for being a jerk last night. I should let it go. Plus, he’d called me beautiful. But inside, I was seething. I kept thinking, over and over, about that moment in the clearing when, faced with a god, Owen stepped forward and said yes, and how scared I’d been for him.

That was it, I understood finally. I was scared for him. I wasn’t angry at him; I was filled with worry and anxiety. He’d changed and we didn’t know into what. What if he wasn’t Owen anymore? I really liked Owen. I kicked my foot against the seat. Even when he was a jerk, I admitted.

Suddenly, from inside the house, I heard a crash.

I ran inside and then stopped abruptly in the living room. A bes stood in the middle of the room, holding a sword in front of its mishappen body. It had the head of a wolf, with cunning yellow eyes and very sharp teeth. The wolf head merged into a human torso and it appeared to be standing on human legs as well. It was huge; its