season avatars 01 - seasons beginnings (26 page)

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. “It’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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Bella, Galia, Janno, and all the other Avatars followed him to the

boat. Each of them carried some last-minute necessity. Tylan led the

final three Avatars down to the dock, but they didn’t step on to it.

“When will we see you next, Kron?” Tylan asked.

Normally it would take them at least two weeks to travel all the way

to the Western Mountains via the Chikasi, but that was in summer. Kron

wasn’t sure yet if Caye and Domina would be able to keep the river

clear of ice and provide a steady wind to push them, despite their assur-

ances they could do it. Perhaps they would fail to leave the city, or even

the dock. He wouldn’t be upset if this voyage came to an early end, as

long as everyone was safe. Especially Bella.

“I’ll return once we’re ready to leave the boat,” Kron replied. He

extended a hand to help Galia and Bella on board. Janno leaped in, then

took Caye’s baskets from her. Despite being short, she managed to

climb aboard the ship without assistance.

Kron moved away from the side to give the rest of the Avatars space

to board. He poked his head into the cabin. Hammocks were stacked

one above another above yet another, and there were two more sets of

hammocks beyond the column by the door. By the Four, were they re-

ally all going to share the same quarters? How was he supposed to get

private time with his wife? She’d be upset if they couldn’t attempt to

conceive a child. The only good thing about this arrangement was that

Kron could poke Janno without leaving his bed whenever the Avatar

snored.

“I hope this will turn out to be a short trip,” he told Galia as he re-

turned to the deck.

“I don’t.” She softened her tart voice with a smile as she gazed

around her. “I’ve never left Vistichia before and can’t wait to see what

it’s like outside the city. You’ve traveled this way before, haven’t you?

Are there any more cities along the river?”

“Nothing as big as Vistichia.” He leaned against the railing, watch-

ing Ocul and Tylan struggle with the knots on the lines. None of the

Avatars coming on this journey knew anything about sailing. The Four

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would have to work a miracle for them to make it out past the city walls

without tipping over.

“But you said there were trading villages where we could pick up

fresh supplies, right?”

“During the normal travel season, yes. Now, I don’t know if anyone

will be willing to empty out their larders for us in the middle of winter.”

“Don’t worry so much, Kron,” Galia said. “The gifts we Avatars

have will stop a lot of unnecessary deaths this season.”

“I hope you’re right. But if we’re going to save lives, we should do

it by stopping Salth.”

Flilya finally took pity on her fellow Avatars and unraveled the

ropes with a touch. The ends slithered into the water. The
Avatar
listed

to one side for a heartbeat, but before Kron could add his weight to the

other side, Caye took up position behind the sail and raised her hand.

The cloth billowed above Kron, but not a breeze stirred his hair. Not

enough force in the wind, he guessed. Caye kept their speed slow as she

maneuvered them away from the dock and the last four Avatars waving

and shouting advice.

Galia sighed. “At this speed, I’ll die of old age before we reach

Salth.”

“Give her time to learn this, Galia. If she’s ready, she’s ready. If

not—”

The boat came to a halt as they reached a part of the river that was

more frozen than free.

“I’d better see if she needs me,” Kron said before going back to

check on Caye. Domina raced past him to the front of the boat, grinning

as she directed her magic against the ice. For all of her faults, she han-

dled her weather magic as if she’d been doing it all her life, not just a

couple of moons. She would be very useful in the battle against Salth—

if they made it there in one piece.

* * *

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The Four Gods and Goddesses must have been watching out for the

Avatars. Despite their lack of sailing or navigation experience, Caye

and Domina managed to keep the wind constant and the river clear.

They came dangerously close to the river’s edge a few times, but

Domina called up an opposing wind each time, loudly calling to Caye

each time that she would take care of it. By sunset, both Winters trem-

bled with exhaustion, but Caye seemed more drained than Domina.

“Bring the boat in over there.” Kron directed them to a small bend

in the river not far from where he’d shared a lunch with Sal-thaath.

“We’d better tie up for the night so the Winters can rest.” Perhaps he

and Bella could find a private spot to sleep. Surely the two of them

could keep warm enough if they shared a single blanket.

“Are you going to sleep on shore?” Galia peered at the bushes as if

already picking her spot.

While Kron searched for a way to gently discourage her from joining

them, Caye, looking even more pale than normal, said, “Please, I want

off. The boat...”

She sagged. Janno caught her before she hit the deck.

Galia and Magstrom pushed through the staring Avatars in a strug-

gle to be the first to reach her. Galia, accompanied by Bella, won. She

laid a hand on Caye’s forehead.

“Is she all right?” Bella asked.

“She’s exhausted from using her magic all day. She needs meat and

a chance to rest.”

Bella nodded and entered the cabin. A few heartbeats later, thump-

ing sounds emerged. Kron guessed she was searching for a basket of

dried meat.

The Avatars’ magic seems to be especially draining.
It had been a

long time since Kron had had to push himself as much as Caye had done

today, so perhaps it wasn’t fair to think of the Avatars as being weaker

than him. But they hadn’t traveled as far today as he’d hoped they

would. What if Caye didn’t recover overnight but required extra rest?

Then their trip would take even longer.

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Maybe she and Domina can take turns with the wind. Or is melting

ice just as draining?
Kron glanced around for Domina. Fear rose in him

when she wasn’t immediately visible, but he finally found her curled up

by the stern, her head touching her knees.

“Domina?” He shook her arm. “We’re stopping for the night. Come

rest and eat something. You’ll feel better.”

She raised her head to glare at him, but the weariness in her gaze

muted her ferocity.

“Magstrom!” Kron called. “Domina needs you!”

The Spring Avatar detached himself from the group surrounding

Caye and hurried over. “Domina! Did you faint?”

“I don’t faint.” Her words came out under her breath.

“Here, take my hand.” Magstrom smiled tenderly at her as he sent

more energy into the Winter Avatar. A blush returned to her cheeks, but

Kron suspected that had more to do with Magstrom’s attention than his

magic.

“I hate to interrupt a private moment,” he said, “But By All Four of

your Gods and Goddesses, Magstrom, why didn’t you do that sooner?

The Winters are going to need all the energy you can give them if we’re

going to reach Salth’s domain before the summer solstice.”

Magstrom rounded his shoulders. “I thought she could handle it. She

said she could handle it.”

“But did you check?”

Instead of answering, he gave Kron a dark look, as if questioning his

right to doubt an Avatar.

“See that you do so tomorrow. If we need to halt to let the Winters

rest, we’ll do so.”

Kron left them so he could instruct Galia to do the same thing. She,

at least, nodded and looked rueful for not having thought of it herself.

“It’s the excitement of being out of Vistichia,” she said. “I’ll keep a

close eye on Caye tomorrow.”

“Do you think she’ll be ready to travel tomorrow?” Kron asked.

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Caye looked up from the bowl of dried meat Bella had prepared for

her. It didn’t look appetizing, but she’d already eaten most of it and

seemed to have more energy. “I’ll do my best, Kron. I don’t want to

disappoint the Four.”

The Avatars may have been united in their devotion to the Four, but

they seemed divided in their feelings for Kron. When Galia and Caye

decided they would sleep on shore with Kron and Bella, Janno followed

suit, leaving Magstrom and the rest of his quartet in the ship’s cabin.

“Maybe we should return to the boat,” Bella said as she glanced at

the snow-covered riverbank. “The cabin will be warmer than this.”

“Not to worry, dear. Our blanket will keep us warm.” Kron exam-

ined the campsite, then laid out their bed near a small hill that would

shield them from the others. Not as much privacy as he’d hoped for, but

still better than what they could find on board.

“But what about Galia? And Janno and Caye?”

“I can enchant their blankets as well.”

While he did so, Janno lit a fire and hauled water from the Chikasi.

Galia and Bella cooked a stew, waving aside Caye’s offer to help. The

other quartet of Avatars didn’t join them for dinner, taking some of the

flavor away. Carver came out once to wave to them, but he didn’t speak.

“Magstrom needs to learn who’s leading this frozen trip,” Kron

grumbled.

“You may be leading this trip, but we Springs lead the Avatars,

Kron.” Galia drew herself up straight. “Let him worry about managing

Domina’s magic. I have to focus on Caye, and I can’t link directly with

Domina anyway.”

“I’m sure by morning things will be better between you and Mag-

strom,” Bella said.

He ran his hand down her back and murmured into her ear, “And

how shall we make the time pass until then?”

The other three Avatars grinned when Kron and Bella retired to their

bed as soon as they’d eaten, but even Janno refrained from crude com-

ments.

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After making love to Bella—and struggling to keep it quiet—Kron

said to her, “Close your eyes. I bought you something.” He sent protec-