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Heartbeat of Fear by Susan Lytekk (portal watchers book 2)

 



Blurb: As Bern and his father harvest their crops, a portal appears. The creature chased into their world is taller than any building in the village. While the villagers are terrified, Bern realizes the creature is also scared. He names the beast Kattya after his dead mother and vows to protect it.

Kattya is not safe after Subja learns of this new creature. Bern, Garth, and Ne-tel realize their mammoth charge must be protected. When Bern and Kattya are separated, the two find safety in the lost country of Telantia; but their reprieve from danger is short-lived when Bern learns Garth and Ne-tel have been captured by the Vil.
Can Bern save his friends when his heart beats with fear?

 

Extract: Beauty—what the soul sees and the mind cannot fully comprehend.  Wisdom of the Kings, Book of the Fallen World, pg 29

 

Bern felt like running.  In fact, he turned and started to head for the village.

“Aw-ug!” the dinosaur bellowed.  It sounded so forlorn that it stopped Bern in his tracks.  He turned around and looked, really looked, at Tel’s latest gift.

This creature, this dinosaur, was immense.  One swipe of its tail and an entire field section’s harvest would be wiped out.  And it was so distressed at the loss of its companion that it might just do that.  Or go off running and trample their village.

Bern looked up again at the dinosaur.  Its head blocked the glare of the sun.  Its face was rather beautiful in a strange way.  The skin of the creature glowed with all the colors of the rainbow depending on the way the light hit it.  What was the word his teacher would use for that?  Iridescent.  That’s it.  Its eyes were large, black orbs that could move independently.  With one eye, it kept focused on Bern.  The other eye kept moving looking at Bern’s father, the field workers, and giving hopeful glances behind.  The teeth were huge.  Some of the foreteeth appeared larger than Bern’s hand.  Its nostrils were barely visible over its mouth and it seemed to be without ears.  A strange collection of body parts, but put together they seemed almost graceful.

Staring at the creature’s face, Bern felt calm. This wasn’t a vicious animal for all its size.  Its doey eyes reminded him of the cows in their pasture.  If only its friend had gotten through, too.

The portal watcher looked into the animal’s eyes.  Not friend, he thought.  It just lost its mate.  Bern suddenly understood its terror.  It was alone in an unfamiliar world.  Alone Bern understood.

“It’s all right,” Bern said softly.  He walked toward the great beast.  “It’s all right.”

The shock of seeing the strange and rather large creature wore off as Som saw his own son walking toward it.  He jumped up and ran toward Bern, knocking him back.  “What do you think you’re doing, son?  Have you lost your wits?”

“No, Dad,” Bern felt the peace of Tel steal over him.  He stood up again and looked at the creature.  “She needs me.”

“She?” Som asked.  “How in Tel’s name do you know that?”

“I don’t know,” Bern admitted.  “But I do.  And she will lay eggs soon.”  He turned to the mountain of animal in front of him.  “It’s OK, girl.”  Bern took another step toward the creature.  The exhaustion he had felt moments before fell away from him.  Now there was only him and this beautiful beast. 

Bern was now directly beneath her head.  In response to his constant, gentle voice, the creature appeared calmer.  Bern could hear a low rumble coming from her long neck.  If it weren’t for the volume of it, he would have called it a purr.

By now, half the village had come out to the field following the sound of the noise and commotion. 

The dinosaur bent her head down closer to Bern. 

“That’s a girl,” he said.  He stretched as far as he could and patted her chin.  “Good girl.”  He paused.  “You need a name.  I know,” he said, “I’ll call you the best name of all.  Kattya.  It was my mother’s name,” he whispered.

 

Devotion/inspiration

If you look at the dedication, written to my best friend from childhood whose nickname was Bern, you get a sense for my motivation to write this. She always sold herself short. She undervalued who she was and what she was capable of. In addition, the young man who inspired Bern’s character descriptions also felt a bit like an undersized weakling until he grew up.

With those inspirations in mind, my main character in this story, as the smallest and slightest of the Portal Watchers, undervalues himself too. He accepts he is a good friend to Garth, but that is as far as he’ll go to compliment himself. He’s not strong like Garth. He’s not smart and wealthy like Ne-tel. His dad is a simple farmer, not a trader or merchant like the others. And his mother died years ago when he was a toddler.

To change him, probably a bit forcibly, the dinosaur thrust upon Bern is the largest of the creatures that ever come through the portals. He is awarded Kattya, a brachiosaurus who is due to lay a clutch of eggs. And she adopts him… no one else.

And on her trail, he discovers a hidden land, Telantia, which has its own secrets in store for Bern designed to change his self-perceptions to their core.

It’s my hope and prayer that as many youth read Bern’s adventure, they will see themselves in him and, in turn, accept that they are worthy of like challenges.

 

Buy links

 

https://www.amazon.com/Heartbeat-Fear-Portal-Watchers-Telba-ebook/dp/B0CBQH625H

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heartbeat-Fear-Portal-Watchers-Telba-ebook/dp/B0CBQH625H

Heartbeat of Fear - Illuminating books from Pelican Book Group

 


Comments

Susan Lyttek said…
Thanks for hosting me yet again, Clare!

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