season avatars 01 - seasons beginnings (23 page)

leaf clover for the blessing of the Four Gods and Goddesses Who had

trusted him with this mission. He used magic to fuse the rock and nail,

then pressed the clover against the rock and wrapped them all in the

wool. Finally, he fused the wool with a leather cord so he could wear

the anti-draining device around his neck.

There. That will work for me, but I don’t have enough four-leaf clo-

vers for the Avatars. I’ll have to think of a substitute.
He sighed as he

remembered his last trip to Salth’s territory. It was hard enough protect-

ing a few people, but who knew how many others lived west of the

mountains, past the Four’s protection? If only Kron knew how to coun-

ter Salth’s soul-trap with an artifact of his own. He needed to start

working on an artifact now, while he could still obtain supplies. But

what should he bring with him, and what type of design should he use?

I should start with what I know.
Kron sketched a drawing of Salth’s

crystal house, adding estimates as to how long and wide it was.
Is it

actually crystal, or diamond?
If it were the latter, it would be impossi-

ble to shatter. A pity Kron didn’t have a sample to experiment on. If

Bella could persuade an animal to bring back a piece of the house—that

is, if it survived the journey--Kron would be able to learn what he faced.

He left the workshop to search for Bella and was surprised by how

much time had passed. He’d entered the workshop after breakfast, but

from the angle of the sun, he’d missed lunch. His stomach immediately

reminded him of the fact, so Kron headed for the kitchen. If Bella

wasn’t helping to prepare the evening meal, one of the other women

would be able to tell him where she’d gone.

He heard her voice before he saw her. Bella sat in front of the fire,

peeling root vegetables and singing. Flilya and Caye ground corn for

flatcakes, and Sylva cleaned fish. All of the women looked at him as he

entered, and Bella fell silent.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he said. “Bella, would it be possible for you to

persuade an animal—any kind—to travel to Salth’s crystal house, take

a piece of it, and bring it back here? I’d like to study it.”

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She closed her eyes and stopped moving for a few heartbeats, but

then she shook her head. “Sorry, Kron, all the animals strong enough to

try attacking Salth’s house are terrified of the area. I don’t have the

power to force a creature to suppress its fear for so long and over such

a distance.” She raised an eyebrow. “Not that I would want to.”

“Even if it would protect us?”

“But I’m supposed to protect the animals!”

“We also need to use animals, Bella.” Kron pointed to the fish Sylva

was cleaning. “Otherwise, what would we eat? How would we plow

fields and obtain wool? This is the same thing.”

Bella didn’t respond, but she looked away from him, studying Sylva.

“What do you think Fall would say?” she asked.

Before the other Fall Avatar could reply, Domina entered the cook-

ing area, dressed up in a silk robe and wearing a crystal pendant.

Obviously she wasn’t there to help with dinner. However, she carried a

large glass bottle of a design Kron knew well.

“Is that...is that...” Kron intercepted Domina so he could examine

the bottle up close. “Wine from Delns? Wherever did you find it?”

“In the marketplace, of course.” She smirked. “Or didn’t you know

that a ship from your country arrived yesterday?”

“It did?” For a moment, Kron wondered how much it would cost to

book passage for himself and Bella back to Delns. That had to be far

enough away from Salth for her to leave them alone. Then he glanced

at the other Avatars. Bella wouldn’t want to leave them, and they

wouldn’t leave Vistichia except to fight Salth. He touched the bottle

with great care. This would be the closest he ever came to returning

home. He gave Domina a warm smile—but not too warm with Bella

watching both of them. “Thank you for thinking of me.”

Her eyes opened wide, making her look younger and more innocent

than she really was. Then her mouth set in a calculated expression. “It’s

my pleasure to make our teacher as ... comfortable as possible.”

Bella sang a couple of lines from a song about an unfaithful husband

who lost all the women he slept with. Kron didn’t need the warning. He

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stepped backward and said loudly, “We’ll have to share the Delns wine

with everyone.”

“Or it could be a reward for the most skilled Avatar,” Domina sug-

gested.

“I’d be hard pressed to judge.” Kron retreated to Bella’s side. “And

I do have a favorite, of course.”

He leaned over and kissed her. It was only on her cheek, but it was

enough to make her blush. Flilya and Caye grinned. Domina narrowed

her eyes.

Bella returned to her work and shifted to singing a lullaby. Just as

she began an ascending refrain, her notes became a shriek. She dropped

her knife and put her hand on her skirt. An ember had jumped from the

fire and burned a hole through the cloth.

“Are you all right, dear heart?” Kron asked. Now he wished he knew

how to make healing artifacts.

“I’ll fetch Galia,” Flilya said, abandoning her corn. She grabbed the

wine from Domina before leaving.

“It’s not so bad.” Bella spoke with indrawn breath that gave the lie

to her brave words. Kron put an arm over her shoulders for reassurance,

but she stared first at Domina, then Caye. Caye nodded slightly. She

and Bella were part of the same quartet, but Kron knew they couldn’t

exchange thoughts without linking through Galia. So when Bella sang

again, continuing her interrupted song, Kron wasn’t sure what to expect.

Bella reached the highest note she could sing and held it. At the same

time, the air suddenly grew warmer. With a faint pop, the crystal pen-

dant Domina was wearing split and fell off of its chain.

She stared at it in confusion for a couple of heartbeats before whirl-

ing upon Caye. “What did you just do? You clumsy fool! Winter should

have never picked you!”

Caye drooped, but Kron hurried over to pick up the crystal pieces.

Bella and Caye had somehow conspired to damage Domina’s necklace,

but how? And could it work on a larger crystal, like Salth’s house?

“Can you fix it, Kron?” Domina asked.

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“Perhaps,” he replied, “but I’d rather leave it as is for a while so I

can study it.” He turned over the fragments displayed on his palm. “This

shattered crystal may be the key to bringing down Salth’s house.”

C H A P T E R S E V E N T E E N

Crystal, Gold, and a Shell

“Do you honestly think Bella’s singing could be the key to defeating

Salth?” Galia asked that evening after dinner. Bella had the place of

honor closest to the fire, with everyone gathered around her. Domina

was the exception; she sat at the table with the empty wine bottle in her

hands, staring at it. The glass sweated or beaded over with frost, chang-

ing at her whim.

“If singing’s the key, why didn’t the Four choose more musicians?”

Bella said. “There were plenty of them at the old city-king’s palace.”

Kron had to agree that the rest of the Avatars lacked Bella’s talent.

Janno’s baritone wasn’t half bad, though his taste in songs must have

been acquired while drunk. But Caye was too timid to speak above a

whisper, let alone sing, and Carver made donkeys sound musical.

“Perhaps one singer is enough.” Kron paced back and forth, exam-

ining every object in the room as a potential part of an artifact. “That,

and an artifact.” All he had to do was figure out what the artifact was

supposed to accomplish.

“Bella couldn’t have done it without Caye’s help.” If Domina still

resented the loss of her pendant, she hid it well. “Caye made the crystal

grow warmer. I felt it a heartbeat before it shattered. Watch this.”

She placed the bottle in the center of the table and backed away,

hands extended toward it. The frost on the jug melted, then turned to

steam. The bottle burst with a larger pop, sending shards everywhere.

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A couple of Avatars grumbled and brushed themselves off, while Galia

and Magstrom healed minor cuts.

“Glass and crystal aren’t the same,” Kron said. “They feel different

when I work with them.”

“But it’s still the same idea, isn’t it? Maybe what you need are more

Winter Avatars.”

“Then why didn’t Winter choose more of you?” Galia asked.

Domina’s pleased expression slipped a little. “We were the best He

could find?”

“One for each moon of a season,” Caye said quietly.

“I think the Four wanted balance,” Galia continued, speaking over

Caye. “There are supposed to be equal numbers of us. Adding more

Winters would throw that off.”

Domina scowled. “But there’s nothing wrong with saying Springs

should be first and giving them extra magic?”

“Peace, all of you.” Kron presented an open palm to each woman,

but they glared at each other instead of listening to him. He raised his

voice. “There’s a simple way to solve this problem.”

Bella gazed at him with a wry expression on her face, as if she al-

ready knew what he was going to say.

“I’ll create an artifact that will multiply my wife’s singing and the

Winters’ magic for creating heat to the strongest levels possible. That

should bring down Salth’s house.”

Now all I have to do is figure out how.

* * *

The next day, Kron brought a sack full of artifacts to the market-

place. They sold faster than he’d expected, since he hadn’t realized

being married to an Avatar would bring him so much attention. Cus-

tomers stopped to ask him to ask Bella for a favor and ended up

bartering for one of his items as well. Others simply wanted to talk

about the Four or ask if the chaotic storms would return. Kron reassured

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them as best as he could. By the time his sack was empty, his mind was

full of questions—but still no ideas for the crystal-shattering artifact.

Kron yielded his market space to a spice trader and roamed the market,

seeking inspiration.

Let’s see...making it warm while singing a loud note will do the trick.

What items would help me with that? Lutes? Drums? Pipes? Bella’s a

singer, not an instrumentalist. What about heat? What would be useful

for the Winters? Why just the Winters? The Four said all twelve Avatars

need to journey to Salth’s house, and I think that must be true even if I

don’t think they all need to travel upriver. Are they only needed for their

linking power, or something more? What? What?

Kron didn’t think the food section of the market held the answers,

so he worked his way around the square. There were booths with spun

wool, both natural and dyed; pots, cups, and plates, each one uniquely

decorated; bronze mirrors; perfumes; jewelry; tools; weapons; games;

and more. He stopped occasionally to feel rough yarn or cool clay, but

nothing kindled his internal magical sense that always led him to what

he needed. By the time the sunlight took on the clearness of pre-dusk,

Kron had completed his circuit but still had no answer. Even though he

was hungry, he pushed himself to head down to the docks. If Domina

could find a bottle of wine from his homeland, surely he could figure

out what he needed for his artifact.

Most of the ships had already finished unloading by the time Kron

made his way past the taverns and brothels catering to the sailors. A

couple of ships too large for the dock stood anchored in the harbor.

Teams of oxen pulled barges loaded with barrels and pots up the

Chikaski to the center of Vistichia, where they could be taken directly

to the marketplace Kron had left. Kron watched the barges but felt no

pull to investigate their wares. He doubted the crews would let him paw

through their goods in search of something he couldn’t identify yet.

He sighed. His instincts must be failing him. He should return home,

even though he had no answers for Bella or the other Avatars. Instead,

grim determination set him walking toward the water. Low tide had left

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a variety of natural treasures exposed on the beach. Seaweed didn’t

seem like it would be suitable for his needs, but Kron made his way to

a patch of it anyway. Flotsam or jetsam always produced special effects

in his artifacts.

He turned the seaweed over with his foot, watching for any crabs.

They might be good to eat, but they would try to bite him in return. To

his disappointment, no shiny coins or jewels appeared. Not even a piece

of salt-stained wood from a wreck. All he could find were a few clam