season avatars 01 - seasons beginnings (15 page)

Kron closed his eyes as he reached through the grass rope and water

again, searching not just for the far-seer, but anything man-made, in-

cluding Salth’s house. He found that easily enough, but it had changed.

The walls were no longer wood or marble, but replaced by crystal, puls-

ing blue and red and yellow and green. Even stranger, he couldn’t sense

any breaks in the crystal. How did Salth enter or leave the house?

Maybe she was trapped inside—no, she was too clever to let that hap-

pen. He couldn’t sense anything inside the crystal structure; it was

impervious to his senses, both magical and mundane. He had to get

closer.

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He grabbed the braided coil as he stood up. He cracked the rope like

a whip, but at the instant it was perfectly straight he hardened it and

sharpened the edges. He was no soldier, but he’d watch them train often

enough that he could figure out how to use a sword. Salth wouldn’t

expect him to attack her with a weapon instead of magic.

Kron pressed onward, feeling as if he was walking uphill despite

being on level ground. More magic at work. He tried to gauge exactly

what the resisting magic felt like. Not a wall, not a go-away-I-don’t-

want-to-be-bothered impulse that would divert magicless people away,

not even a blast of fear. No, this was a draining, a sapping of his

strength. If he wasn’t wearing spells in his clothing, by now he wouldn’t

be able to take another step. Kron frowned. What would happen to

someone who wandered by unprepared for this trap and got caught in

it?

A few more steps forward, and he had his answer. In the bare dirt—

even the grass was gone here—lay a wizened body. From the clothes,

it appeared to be a goatherd. He’d fallen forward with his arms stretched

out in front of him, as if he’d found a new god to worship but had been

judged unworthy.

I’m always cleaning up after Salth these days.
Kron prodded at the

ground, but it was too hard to dig out a grave. Instead, he retreated to

pick a few armfuls of grass and strew them over the body before con-

tinuing.

The next body, short enough to be a woman’s, covered a child’s

body as if vainly trying to protect it.
Bella would weep if she saw this.

Kron grit his teeth as he eased the bodies over. The woman’s arms were

so tightly clenched around the child, dressed in a beaded leather tunic

similar to her mother’s, that he couldn’t separate them without damag-

ing the bodies. He hadn’t been able to protect these people from Salth,

and now he couldn’t even give them proper funeral rites. Kron threw

the last of his enchanted arrowheads to the ground, but they rose and

circled him like a hive of enraged bees ready to kill.

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“What are you doing, Salth?” he screamed into the sky. “Why are

you killing these innocent people? They have nothing to do with you!

Leave them alone!”

He half-expected her to appear. Instead, the arrowheads grew big-

ger, losing their sharp edges as they became metal ingots.
Their original

state. By the Four, Salth turned back time. If she was as strong as the

Four, how much of the world could she reverse?

The ingots sagged, as if Salth had to carry their combined weight

physically. While she struggled with them, Kron willed the tip of his

whip to burn hot enough to melt metal. He cracked his whip at an ingot

and set it on fire. As it melted, he realized that had been a mistake.

Flaming drops of metal were easier for Salth to manage than the heavier

ingots. The metal coated him from hair to sandals, burning him wher-

ever they directly touched skin. Hastily he wiped his face with the

sleeve of his robe. The enchantments woven into it quenched the heat,

but his face still felt stiff and raw.

Kron had no choice but to retreat, but the thought of another defeat

where so many had perished lit anger inside of him. Yes, Salth had al-

ways been more powerful than him, but he supposedly had the gift of

star magic too. Salth had unexpectedly done him a favor by transform-

ing the arrowheads into another manmade shape. He could manipulate

them too, and he had more experience with this type of magic than she

did.

The rest of the ingots drifted toward him. Kron dropped his whip

and reached out for them with both hands. They came to his call the

way Bella’s birds obeyed her. As he caught each one, he infused it with

power and redirected the target back to Salth’s crystal house. If he could

shatter it, perhaps he could handicap her magic. However, the first two

bounced off of the crystal and flew toward him with murderous intent.

He flung the rest—with similar results—then raced toward the portal.

If he had more time, he could try re-enchanting the ingots, but for now

he poured the rest of his energy into his sandals so they would carry

him at the fastest speed flesh could bear.

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As soon as he reached the portal, he hurried through it, remembering

to collapse it an instant before he passed out.

C H A P T E R T W E L V E

A House for Thirteen

“Thank the Four Gods and Goddesses you didn’t get yourself

killed.” Galia poured more beer on his wounds. It stung as if she was

trying to kill him herself. “No one would have known where you were,

let alone be able to fetch you.” She clicked her tongue. “Magic door-

ways indeed.”

“They do work, Galia,” Bella said as she wrung out her washcloth.

“I’ve traveled through them myself.”

Kron eased himself into a sitting position. He hadn’t expected his

trip to Salth’s realm the night before to have taken so much out of him.

If I’m somewhere between humans and gods now, shouldn’t I have more

stamina, or heal faster?
Then Bella wouldn’t have had to fetch the mid-

wife to mend me.
He had planned to share his news only with Bella, but

once his wife told him Galia was also going to be an Avatar and would

know everything she knew, he couldn’t come up with a graceful excuse

to keep silent. Given how much Galia had questioned him between

treating his wounds, he wouldn’t have been allowed to hide what he’d

been doing anyway.

“
The portals are not the problem,” Kron told the women. “It’s

Salth—and maybe Sal-thaath. I couldn’t confirm that she is Time, but

she’s doing something. And I have a witness who saw a boy in the area.”

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Bella let her rag splash into a bowl of water. Her face grew pale, and

she leaned against the wall. “Are you sure, Kron? You didn’t see either

of them.”

“But what I saw—the sterile land, the dead people—fits with what

she originally planned, as well as what I saw at the Magic Institute.”

“That’s a place where people go to learn magic?” Galia asked.

“Not anymore.”

“Then I guess we’ll need to practice our new magic on our own,”

she said.

Kron suppressed a cringe. Beginning magicians could make the

worst mistakes. He knew that from experience. Someone would have

to tutor these new Avatars, and he had a feeling it would be him. But

he’d deal with that later, once they actually had magic. If they were

going to get magic. He hadn’t seen one of the so-called gods lately. Had

They been real?

“I’m sure Kron will help us after the ceremony tomorrow,” Bella

said. “Won’t you, dearest?”

Trapped, he could only nod.

“Does this mean the gods are still around?” he asked.

Both women stared at him as if he’d asked a question a child could

answer.

“Of course They’re around,” Galia said. “They’ve been appearing

all over Vistichia, performing miracles. Haven’t you seen Them?”

“I’ve been busy making artifacts. And traveling.”

“I guess Fall visits Bella when you’re gone, then.”

Kron looked at his wife. “Is that true?”

She tilted her chin. “There’s nothing wrong with it. She’s teaching

me some of what I need to know to be Her Avatar.”

“But She seems so…young!”

Bella’s smile faded. “She’s much older inside, poor girl.”

“I don’t think She’s the one I need to talk to anyway. When I met

the Four of Them, Winter and Spring did most of the talking. Where

would I find Them?”

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Spring manifested in the center of the room. She didn’t use a portal,

and no other magical effects accompanied Her arrival. Bella didn’t even

notice Her at first; she only turned around after Galia did. Both women

curtseyed as if meeting a queen. Kron could have managed a bow if he

exerted himself, but he wasn’t sure yet if Spring was worthy of one.

“Actually, it’s always easier for Us to find you,” Spring said, “espe-

cially when you’re in the company of Our Avatars.” She brushed Her

fingers over Galia and Bella. “So, what did you find?” Wisps of golden

hair fell over Her eyes as She gazed at Kron, but there was still enough

mystery there to make him uneasy—and irritated.

He pushed himself into a sitting position. “Don’t You already

know?”

“I’d like to know what you think is going on.”

“Something…evil. And deadly. But I’m still not sure Salth is Time.”

“Then what would convince you?”

A direct confrontation with Salth, without any dead bodies or spirit-

inhabited objects interfering. What did those things have to do with

Time anyway?

“We think there is more to Salth than manipulating time,” Spring

agreed with his thoughts. “But though We have seen her crystal house

and the ... energy it contains, We are not sure what she intends to do

with it. She has managed to shield part of her domain from Our obser-

vation, and that worries Us.”

Bella bit her lip. “Does Kron have to go back there? It sounds like a

horrible place. What if she attacks him again?”

“We do not think Kron should go alone next time,” Spring replied.

“You two and the rest of the Avatars will accompany him.”

Both women gasped. Anger gave Kron the energy he needed to rise

from the bed. He wavered on his feet, but his voice was steady as he

said, “I will not lead helpless innocents into danger, Spring!”

“You won’t be.” She sounded amused, which infuriated him. She

held up a hand before he could protest. “After tomorrow, Our Avatars

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will wield a portion of Our magic. They will assist you in shattering that

crystal house of Salth’s.”

Kron’s first impulse was to claim he didn’t need anyone’s help, least

of all that of a dozen novice magicians. Instead, he asked in a carefully

neutral tone, “What will they be able to do that I can’t?”

“Your magic is linked to artifacts, or things you create or alter. Their

magic will be more in tune with the natural world.” Spring gestured

toward the window. Her stack of golden bracelets clinked together.

“Gaila and My other Avatars will be able to heal people; Summer’s

Avatars will tend to the plants, Bella and the other Fall Avatars will take

care of the animals, and Winter’s Avatars will control the weather. In

addition, My Avatars will also have the ability to link with the other

Avatars so they can share and magnify their magic. We plan for all of

them to work together to make Our domain one where mortals can live

in peace and prosperity.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Kron said sourly, “but what good will that

do against Salth, or Time, or Sal-thaath?”

This time, Spring didn’t answer immediately, but stared into the cor-

ner of the roof as if it held more answers than spider webs.

“Salth’s domain is severely out of balance,” She said softly, “And

since you, Kron Evenhanded, had a role in upsetting it, you will be re-

quired to set it right.”

“And how do I do that?” He stepped toward her. “What kind of ar-

tifact should I create?”

She faced him and shook the hair out of Her face. Her exposed eyes

were pure black, no whites or irises. Gazing into them was like looking

into the night sky and beyond, into something so vast as to make Kron

feel insignificant. Who was he to question such a one as Her, Someone

who had experience beyond his understanding? How did he dare even

breathe in Her presence? His vision narrowed. He needed to escape be-

fore he lost himself in the darkness. But then he remembered Bella. He

couldn’t lose himself; he needed to return to her. He pictured her face,

and the darkness retreated.

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Kron found himself facing Spring again. Her eyes were veiled, but

he could still the weight of Her gaze on him, studying him. She nodded

Her head a fraction. “You would have survived Ascension, had you at-

tempted it,” She told him.

“I don’t think I would have wanted it, whatever this Ascension is.”

She laughed, and the room smelled like spring flowers. “I can’t an-