I pointed back the way the trail originated and held up two fingers. I pointed at myself and Owen and then made my two fingers again, and then at Cato and Bard, again making two fingers. Then I repeated the gesture back down the trail.
Bard nodded and then held up his own two fingers, pointing northwest.
“The rest of your group?” I asked.
He shrugged at me but nodded.
“Are you sticking with us?” I motioned to myself and Owen, “Or are you going that way?” I pointed northwest and did my own shrug.
Bard looked torn. Cato said something behind him and Bard answered. Then he looked at me, pointed to the northwest, and shook his head. I offered him a granola bar. He took a bite, smiled, and then broke it in half to give to Cato.
“We have more!” I exclaimed and got Cato his own.
We chewed the bars in silence. We’d been in Russia for more than two weeks now and I wondered if anyone missed me, or if Uncle David succeeded in fogging the memories of my friends and professors.
We didn’t sit for too long before up the trail came Julian and Theo. They both broke into huge grins at the sight of us. Julian was the first to notice the two Varangians, who had backed partway into the woods, and he turned questioning eyes to me.
“Making friends?”
I quickly updated the two of them on everything that happened, glossing over the part with Owen losing control over the bauk. I got skeptical expressions over the Dmitri being a helpful god part, but I ignored them.
“And the military commander just waved you off? Yes, exit our secret mountain base with no repercussions and, oh, take your sharp weapons too!” Theo asked, waving his arm in a beneficent gesture. And then he added, “How many Slavic gods are there?”
I shrugged. I didn’t know the answer. I’d only been studying Russian Lit, not the country’s pagan traditions.
I introduced Bard and Cato and the men all nodded at each other. Cato was very admiring of Theo’s sovnya and Theo let him swing it a little. Bard was more taciturn. He waited by the side of the trail patiently and only stepped back slightly when Cato hefted the spear near his face.
I asked the guys if they’d noticed any more besy splitting off from the main trail and they said no.
I hoisted my backpack and said, “Okay, then the plan remains. We keep tracking this troop.”
As we marched along, I wondered to myself if the besy had a destination in mind, or if they were just trying to leave the area where they’d been wounded previously. I didn’t know anything about Chernobog, the Black God, to think of what could be motivating his minions.
We’d been on their trail for two days now. If they didn’t stop soon, we’d need to turn back and think of a different plan to catch up. Maybe horses?
We reached a crest in the trail and the trees opened up. I could see down the slope into an open valley. There was a river, and on the banks of the river, there was a tent encampment.
Chapter 25
I immediately moved off the trail and into the woods. I didn’t know how visible we were to the camp below, high on the ridge, but if I could see them, it would be foolish to think they could not also see us.
Everyone else scattered with me and in seconds we were under cover. I ducked behind a large tree trunk and then peered down into the valley again. I pulled the binoculars out of my pack and scanned more closely.
I counted at least ten large tents. There were two azhdaya tied up near one, and one, two, three balachko standing by the river. I didn’t see the leader anywhere, the tall one with the straight horns. There were a couple of bauks standing over something bloody in the snow and I crossed my fingers it was a cow or a sheep. I didn’t know how far we were from the nearest town.
“We’re too close,” I whispered to Julian, who was behind the tree closest to mine. “They might have scouts. We need to get back more.”
Julian passed the message to Owen and Theo, crouching nearby behind their own trees, and I looked for Bard and Cato. I finally saw Bard; he was in the branches of his tree. I crept over to him and waved him down. He knelt next to me in the snow and I mimed going back the way we came. He nodded and whispered Cato’s name. Cato materialized next to me and I fell back in the snow. He’d used his illusion magic to turn invisible! I didn’t know he could do that. He grinned at me.
The six of us snuck through the trees, staying low, until we were out of sight of the valley. We stayed in the forest though, not on the trail, and formed a circle to talk.
“We need to split up,” I said first. “We need to keep an eye on this camp and we need to set up our own camp, nearby but out of sight, sound, and smell.” I turned to Bard and Cato and imitated two people walking back to the valley and then waved my hand at the rest of us and made a tent out of my hands. I felt like a mime. I thought they understand what I was saying though.
I continued. “We need to split up the dream team here,” I gestured to the two Varangians. “They can’t spy together because we won’t be able to understand their reports back.” This time I actually formed three groups of people, moving bodies around. I put Cato and Theo together, I stood next to Owen, and then gestured Bard and Julian together. Everyone seemed fine with that set up.
I finished up. “Owen and I will take first watch on the
