season avatars 01 - seasons beginnings

by sandra ulbrich almazan

  infirmities in a way she couldn’t.

  * * *

  Kron picked up the gloves the next morning, spent most of the day

  trying various materials to steady them, then finally returned to the mar-

  ketplace to make final adjustments after the goldsmith tried them on. It

  was nearly dinner by the time the goldsmith pronounced himself satis-

  fied. Not just satisfied, but amazed.

  “Such magic as yours is as powerful as any of the Avatars,” he told

  Kron. “Perhaps even stronger.”

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  Kron couldn’t help preening for a couple of heartbeats before he

  thought of Salth’s pride in her magic. The praise went down like poison,

  but he put on a smile for the goldsmith’s benefit.

  “And how many chains are the gloves worth?” he asked.

  “Four, one for each of the Avatars.”

  Disappointment left a sour aftertaste in Kron’s mouth after the

  praise. Still, he could always barter other artifacts if necessary.

  Maybe they won’t be necessary. Four is a fitting number. I could put

  one on each corner, or link them together to string along one wall. Kron

  felt one of the chains between his fingers. It wasn’t as fine as one of

  Bella’s hairs, but he could spin it out and strengthen it with his magic.

  “Very well,” he said. “I’ll take them.”

  He secured them in his pouch.

  “Will they be safe in there?” the goldsmith asked.

  “It’s enhanced with protections against pickpockets.”

  The goldsmith rubbed his chin. “How useful. Could you protect my

  wares the same way?”

  “My pouch is attuned to me. That wouldn’t work for items you want

  to sell. But I could enhance some bells to act as alarms. We’ll save that

  for another barter if I need more gold.” Portaling would allow him to

  travel back and forth between Salth’s domain and here if he needed to.

  Kron turned to go, then casually glanced back as if he’d forgotten

  something. “Oh, and the necklace? What would you trade for that?”

  The goldsmith smiled. “Which Avatar are you married to again?”

  “Bella. The Fall Avatar who works with Galia.”

  “For her, nothing then.” He extended the necklace to Kron as if giv-

  ing him a great gift.

  Kron thanked him and hurried home. He was very close to complet-

  ing the artifact he needed to shatter Salth’s crystal house. Once the boat

  was ready, he would be too. The thought filled him with more dread

  than pleasure. With no more reasons to postpone their trip, he had to

  lead his wife and the rest of the Avatars into the lair of a warped and

  divinely powerful magician.

  C H A P T E R E I G H T E E N

  Departure

  Kron wanted a moment alone with his wife before he addressed the

  entire group of Avatars, but before he could steal Bella away from din-

  ner preparations, Janno bounded into the common room with a gleam

  in his eye.

  “We did it!” he announced. “The boat is ready!” He grabbed each

  woman in turn and swung her around in a wild dance.

  Kron stepped forward to snatch Bella away from him. “Ready? Are

  you sure?”

  “We took the Avatar—that’s what we named the boat—out in the

  river right around sunset. She sailed like a charm.”

  “I doubt we’ll have charmed sailing once Salth finds out we’re going

  to visit her.”

  Janno’s eyes narrowed. “How would she find out?”

  If she’s watching me specifically, she’ll find out as soon as we leave

  Vistichia. Perhaps all the portaling I plan to do will confuse her. Out

  loud, Kron said, “She has ways of tracking us. I’m sure magicians like

  us will attract her attention.”

  Galia stepped forward. “Can you hide us from her with one of your

  artifacts?”

  “I could try, though if she detects the artifact, that would also give

  us away.”

  “What about the protections the Four put around the city?” Caye

  shuddered. “Will we be facing more weather storms again?”

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  “I think the protections are farther out, not just around the city.”

  Kron looked around at each of the Avatars. “Speaking of protection,

  which group will wait here to protect Vistichia?” His head throbbed.

  Galia and Magstrom stared at each other fiercely, while the third

  Spring Avatar, Tylan, watched them. Although nearly as old as Galia

  and considered a great surgeon, he had a stiff manner that reminded

  Kron of a couple of his teachers at the Magic Institute. He also tended

  to ignore Kron whenever he offered the Avatar advice, as if Kron’s rel-

  ative youth made him ignorant. Kron privately thought he was the least

  adept of the three Spring Avatars and would have chosen him to stay

  behind, were it not that meant he have to expose Bella to danger.

  “The fairest way to do this is to draw a lot and leave this decision in

  the hands of the Four,” Tylan said.

  Did chance fall into the realm of any of the Four? If it didn’t, would

  They find some way to influence the outcome? More importantly,

  should he make his own effort to rig the lot? Perhaps the Four would

  consider that blasphemy, but Kron had to put Bella’s safety first, no

  matter how painful it was for both of them to be separated. Surely the

  Four would forgive his meddling for Bella’s sake—even if she didn’t.

  Kron’s headache dissolved. He examined the common room for

  something they could use for the lot. A few wooden spoons lay scattered

  on the table. They would do nicely. “Who’s going to draw, the Spring

  Avatars?” he asked as he reached for them.

  “Yes.” Galia positioned herself between him and the table with un-

  fortunate speed. “But you’d better not touch the spoons, Kron

  Evenhanded. You’d use your artifact magic on them faster than a father

  running from a screaming woman in labor.”

  Kron’s hand trembled. Magstrom seized the spoons and carried

  them to the far corner of the room.

  “What if he can still contaminate the drawing by his presence?” Ty-

  lan said. “He should leave the house and wait in the yard.”

  Bella put her fists on her hips. “He’s my husband and our staunchest

  ally. That’s no way to treat him.”

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  Kron claimed the chair at the end of the table and crossed his arms.

  If they tried carrying him out, he’d make his robe adhere to the seat and

  the chair legs to the floor. “I would rather not lead any of you into dan-

  ger, especially my dear Bella.” Despite his words, he was afraid to meet

  her eyes, in case she thought he was insulting her with his protection.

  “But I am the one your own Gods and Goddesses asked to take you on

  this journey. So you’ll suffer my presence now—or suffer my absence

  later.”

  His words rang in the room for several heartbeats. Finally, Galia

  said, “Will you give us your word not to interfere with the drawing?”

  He bit back a sigh. “I promise.”

  “Then, let us move forward.” She spoke with authori
ty, as if she

  were the Avatar to lead all other Avatars. Kron couldn’t help feeling

  proud that she respected his wife enough to include her in her group,

  even though a sick feeling in his stomach warned him Galia and the rest

  of her quartet were likely to face danger with him.

  “How shall we mark the spoons?” Galia continued.

  Her son came forward eagerly. “Let me color the wood.”

  Janno took the spoons away from Magstrom and clutched the han-

  dles. He squeezed his eyes shut, as if this task required extreme effort.

  When he opened his hand to display the spoons, one of them had turned

  dark brown, almost black.

  “Thank you, dear,” his mother said, making his cheeks turn scarlet.

  “Now, who will hold the spoons while the Spring Avatars choose their

  fates?”

  All of the Avatars glanced around the room, but no one seemed will-

  ing to volunteer.

  “Admit it, Kron said, “All of you will be affected by this lot, so all

  of you have as much reason to influence the decision as I do.”

  The lines around Galia’s mouth deepened. “Then place them on the

  table, blindfold us, and let us all choose at once.”

  Everyone nodded at that. Carver and Ocul pulled the chairs away

  from the table, while Sylva, Caye, and Hala tied scarves around the

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  Spring Avatars’ faces. With nervous giggling, they led the Spring Av-

  atars to one side of the table, while Janno shuffled the spoons. The dark

  one ended up on the right. Kron tensed.

  “The Springs can link with someone in their quartet and learn about

  the spoons that way,” he pointed out. “Turn around and don’t touch

  anyone while Janno mixes up the lots again.”

  Some of the tension left his stomach when everyone obeyed. The

  trip would be a long one if they refused to let him lead.

  When the dark spoon was between the other two, Kron said, “All

  right. Spring Avatars, on the count of four, turn around, walk to the

  table, and take the first spoon you touch. Ready? One, two, three, four!”

  Galia, Magstrom, and Tylan spun around and hurried to the table.

  Magstrom bumped Tylan, causing him to misstep and Galia to surge

  forward before both of them. Had that been intentional? Kron had no

  way to know. He clenched his fists as he watched Galia grab a light-

  colored spoon. The other Avatars watching didn’t speak, but some of

  them let out breaths that they’d been holding. Will Magstrom and Tylan

  learn anything from that? They reached the table before Kron could

  decide if he should halt the lot. After fumbling for a couple of heart-

  beats, Magstrom held the light spoon and Tylan the dark one.

  “You can look now,” Kron said, even as murmuring among the other

  Avatars gave away who would go and who would stay behind.

  The three Spring Avatars opened their eyes in unison. All three of

  them smiled as they checked their spoons. How fortunate; they all seem

  to have gotten what they wanted. Perhaps the Four still listen to their

  Avatars even if They no longer appear to us. Envy twisted inside of

  Kron for a heartbeat before he reminded himself he didn’t owe his

  magic to anyone.

  “It’s decided, then.” Tylan raised his spoon above his head so eve-

  ryone could see it. “Ocul, Flilya, Hala, and I will remain behind for the

  first part of the trip in case Salth attacks again. The rest of you can leave

  civilization for a while and portal us to you when you need us.”

  “Wonderful.” Janno slapped the table. “When can we leave?”

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  “We’ll need food, plenty of it, and warm clothes,” Domina replied.

  “Prices may be high in the market this time of year, but I’m sure I can

  haggle the merchants down. It should take no more than two to three

  days to gather everything we need.”

  But what about my artifacts? The shell is done, but I need some time

  to test the best placement of the gold chains on a crystal model. And

  what about protection from Salth’s magic? I’ve barely done anything

  about that! Kron wanted to protest, but the words stuck in his dry throat.

  The Avatars surged forward, gathering about Galia and Magstrom, all

  exchanging ideas and arguments faster than he could follow. Even Bella

  was caught up in the excitement. She and Sylva went off to the side,

  discussing the types of wild animals they might encounter and how use-

  ful they could be. Ocul passed a scroll to Magstrom, who unrolled it

  and weighed three of the corners with the fateful spoons. The scroll

  showed a map of the Chikasi River, with settlements marked by simple

  figures. Kron had no idea the Avatars possessed such knowledge of the

  river. His travel experience would be less important now.

  Kron backed out of the room, but no one came after him, not even

  Bella. “If anyone wants me, I’ll be in my workroom,” he said. This time,

  he didn’t bother pitching his voice to gain attention, and not surpris-

  ingly, no one turned or responded.

  It doesn’t matter what I do. They come to me only when they want

  something, otherwise I’m as welcome as Salth’s storms.

  As he entered his workroom, the thought came to him that no matter

  how others treated him, he always had his magic as a constant compan-

  ion, always responding. Was that why Salth loved magic so much?

  He stared at his tools and materials for a long time contemplating

  the answer.

  ***

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  Kron let the other Avatars gather the mundane supplies while he

  frantically tested and reassembled artifacts, packed and unpacked sup-

  plies, and wore himself out with little sleep and less food. When he

  finally came up with a workable protective artifact, suitable for protect-

  ing a single person, Bella and a few other Avatars dragged him away

  from the workroom before he could make twelve more artifacts.

  “I’m not done yet,” he said as Janno pressed him into the room Kron

  shared with Bella.

  His wife glared at him. “Well, you’re not returning to your work-

  room until you finish this bowl of soup.”

  He slurped the noodles, broth, and greens down quickly, burning his

  tongue in his haste. As soon as he laid down his spoon, weariness over-

  took him, and he didn’t resist when Bella led him to bed and covered

  him with a blanket.

  The next thing Kron knew, the room was dark, with gray light com-

  ing through the window. “Get up, dear.” Bella shook him. “It’s time to

  go.”

  He rubbed his eyes, trying to reach an ache behind them. “I think I

  slept longer than I planned.”

  “You needed the rest. Go wash your face. We have to get ready.”

  “Yes, I must finish the artifacts—”

  “By all Four, I think that sleeping potion Janno made was too strong.

  You’re not going to your workroom today, Kron. Today’s the day we

  leave Vistichia.”

  Her words jolted him awake. “We are? But how? We can’t be

  ready!” I’m not ready.

  Bella smiled. “I
t’s all right, Kron. We knew you were busy, so we

  handled the arrangements ourselves.”

  “But my equipment and supplies—” Kron put his feet on the floor,

  intending to rush to his workroom and gather everything he could carry.

  The floor was cold, and he couldn’t find his indoor sandals.

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  “We already packed them, or at least what would fit in the boat.”

  Bella held out a pair of fur-lined boots. “Here. You’ll need these when

  we leave.”

  Kron pulled them on quickly, then hurried toward his workroom.

  “Who chose what to take and what to leave behind?” He asked as Bella

  struggled to keep up with him. “If it was Janno, he probably ignored my

  successful artifacts and took the ones that didn’t work.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m the one who told them what you’d need. I can tell

  while piles of things are something you’re working on and which ones

  are trash.”

  Kron refrained from commenting for fear of upsetting her. But when

  he inspected his workroom, he had to admit she’d done a good job. She

  hadn’t known about the gold chains, since he’d hidden them in a gourd,

  but she’d collected everything else he needed, especially the shell. He

  picked up the gourd, along with more rope and a bar of metal. One could

  never have enough of either of them.

  “What do you need the gourd for?” Bella asked. “It doesn’t seem

  like something you would normally use.”

  “Neither was the shell,” he reminded her.

  After a quick breakfast, all of them, even the Avatars who would

  remain behind, proceeded to the river docks. They were located in a

  wide bend of the river and looked as if they’d been washed away and

  rebuilt a couple of times. Janno proudly led them to the center dock.

  “Welcome to the Avatar.”

  The boat was as long as a royal barge, with tapered ends at the bow

  and the stern. A cabin occupied most of the center, and a sail sprouted

  from it like a lily. Kron couldn’t have made a finer boat himself. Per-

  haps he should have made his own and sailed away to Delns before he’d

  gotten tangled up with Salth and the Four. But then he wouldn’t have

  met Bella...

  He stepped onto the dock and said, “May this be the last time I have

  to return to Salth’s house.”

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