season avatars 01 - seasons beginnings (31 page)

lost in the clouds. However, Kron couldn’t admire the scenery, as

smaller streams joined the Chikasi, making the path they should take

difficult to determine. Kron placed magic-finders at the front and rear

of the boat, then, with Bella’s help, used the different glow intensities

between the two to figure out the direction to Salth’s house.

“We should go this way,” he said, pointing to one of the smaller

streams.

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“We can’t,” Janno replied. “It’s too shallow.”

Before Kron could argue, the boat proved Janno right by coming to

a halt. Kron staggered for a couple of steps before he regained his bal-

ance. Galia bumped into the railing. Bella reached for her, but Galia

waved her off. “Just give me a moment to catch my breath and heal my

bruises.”

Domina collapsed. “We’re...not going...anywhere.”

“Is anyone hurt?” Magstrom asked, poking his head into the cabin.

No one seemed to be severely injured, so Kron secured the ladder in

place and climbed down. He didn’t recognize the area, but other than

the clump of dead trees by the river, there wasn’t much here to distin-

guish it. At least the trees would provide shelter for the Avatars, as well

as materials he could use to portal back to Vistichia. Kron snapped off

several dry branches and lashed them into a door frame.

Galia peered over the
Avatar’s
side. “What are you doing?”

“I think it’s time for me to return to Vistichia and collect the other

Avatars. Are the rest of you going to wait in the boat or on land?”

“I think by this point, I prefer being on land,” Galia replied. “Hold

the ladder steady so I can climb down, please.”

Kron went one better by sharpening the ends of two branches to

points, hardening the posts so they would penetrate the frozen earth,

and finally bonding the ladder to the posts. Now the Avatars would be

able to move back and forth between the riverbank and the boat.

“It’s time for everyone to pack supplies,” he told Galia. “Let me

know if you want me to bring back anything from Vistichia. But it has

to be something I can find easily, so I can return in time for us to start

moving.”

Galia shook her head. “I think we should stay here tonight, Kron.

We have water and shelter here, and we may not be able to find them

on the march. Besides, Caye and Domina could use the rest. They’re

exhausted.”

She probably was too, even if she didn’t admit it. But while she

made good points, the thought of lingering anywhere in Salth’s domain

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made Kron uneasy. If she found them before they were ready, they

would have thrown their lives away for nothing and left Vistichia and

the rest of the Four’s domain vulnerable.

“Only if I decide it’s safe to stay here,” Kron said. “I’ll return as

soon as I can with the others. Guard the portal while I’m gone.”

Bella hadn’t disembarked, so Kron swiftly returned to the boat to

tell her he was leaving. She kissed him and said, “Bring back another

set of furs if you can. It’s cold.”

“I think Caye and Domina don’t have the strength to keep the cabin

warm anymore. There’s wood, so you can make a fire and have a hot

meal.” He lowered his voice. “And we can share a blanket tonight.”

She grinned, and that was enough to keep the cold at bay as Kron

descended back to the portal. He attached the blinded eye artifact on top

of it, then pictured the courtyard of the Avatars’ house and stepped

through.

His face broke out with sweat as he changed location. Caye and

Domina had spoiled them with warm air during the journey, but the air

and light here felt as bright as springtime. An apple tree bore ripe fruit

out of season. Kron walked a wide berth around it in case that was

Salth’s doing. Then he reminded himself that the Four had limited

Salth’s influence in the city, and she wouldn’t set up anything this pleas-

ant.
It could still be a trap. But if it is, why haven’t these Avatars taken

care of it?

Kron ventured into the kitchen. “Flilya? Hala? Are you here?”

They weren’t, but embers glowed in the hearth, and the scent of ris-

ing bread filled the air.
They must expect to be back by dinner.
I could

wait for them here, but then we won’t be able to portal back until dark,

and it’ll be too late to go anywhere tonight. Where could they have

gone?

Kron retrieved a magic-finder from his abandoned workshop and

keyed it to the Avatars. As soon as he left the house, he saw crowds of

people everywhere, talking, preparing food, playing music, and eating

as if a festival was going on. The spring feel he’d noticed earlier in the

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courtyard was still here. By the Four, had these Avatars decided to do

away with the Season of Winter? Kron wondered what the god Himself

would think of that.

A maiden approached him with a ring of flowers. She tried to drape

them over his head, but he waved her away. “Could you tell me if the

Season Avatars are receiving supplicants today?”

She smiled. “No, not today.”

“Then where are they?”

“Why, they’re at the temple, of course, getting ready for the cere-

mony of season change.”

“Where’s the temple?” How much had Vistichia changed while they

were gone?

“In the old city-king’s palace, near the center of town.”

Kron thanked her, then turned and made his way as fast as he could

through the crowd. Unfortunately, no one else seemed to be in a hurry.

They strolled along in colorful lightweight clothes, making Kron feel

more out of place in his wool and fur garments. Stubbornly, he kept

them on. Soon enough he’d drag the other Avatars back to winter.

The crowd thickened as he approached the palace-turned-temple. It

had been built on a hill, and stone steps led up to a partly exposed porch.

He asked a bald man next to him where the Season Avatars were. The

man stared at Kron as if he were a stranger. “They’ll come out when

they’re ready,” he said. “About noon, I would say.”

Noon? I left close to dawn! At this rate, we won’t return to the grove

of trees until nightfall.
He had to enter the temple and convince the Av-

atars to cancel this ceremony and come with him. However, the front

steps were blocked off, and watchmen with trained dogs paraded back

and forth. Kron approached the closest watchman. As the dog came to

attention, hair bristling along its spine, he said, “I need to get through,

please.”

“No one’s allowed up here.”

“But I’m Kron Evenhanded. I’m married to one of the Fall Avatars.”

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The watchman laughed. “There’s only one Fall Avatar, and you’re

not her husband.” He scowled. “No go away!”

Only one Fall Avatar? How could the people of Vistichia have for-

gotten us already? The trip hasn’t been that long!
Kron would have a

lot to discuss with the Avatars once he managed to meet them. But first

he needed an artifact that would enable him to pass both man and beast.

If he made himself invisible, the dogs would still be able to smell and

hear him. Could he outrace them or fly over them? Those seemed like

a waste of magic. Perhaps a simple distraction would suffice, and he

could do it with a piece of metal.

Kron took out the fire starter and twirled it around. The strange metal

resisted his magic at first, but after a few heartbeats, it yielded and dis-

played four other images of himself. The dogs might be able to sniff out

which one of him was real, but Kron hoped that if the artifact scattered

sound as well as images, the dogs would be confused enough to let him

through.

He positioned himself off to the side, between two watchmen, and

ran up the stairs. His doubles copied his every move. Shouts of “Look

at that!” “Who is he?” and other words Kron couldn’t make out rose

from behind him. More importantly, the watchmen both cried out,

“Halt! This area is off limits!” and ran toward the duplicates. The dogs,

still on their leashes, strained against their masters’ holds as they

pointed unerringly toward the real Kron.

If only I had meat to distract them.
Could he conjure it? Meat wasn’t

something he normally used in his artifacts, and he didn’t have any bone

pieces in his pouch. Perhaps a carved disk of ivory would be close

enough. Kron rubbed it, flung it behind him, and put more effort into

climbing the stairs even faster. He couldn’t help gasping, conscious of

the years he had over the younger guards. But the scent of roasting meat

wafted into the air, nearly tempting him to turn around and find the

skilled chef preparing the food. A dog whined as its master yelled at it.

Kron reached the top of the temple and slipped behind a column to catch

his breath. He caught sight of one of his doubles doing the same, so he

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banished it, since it was no longer needed. Perhaps he’d been too quick

to dismiss it, as a set of footsteps pounded on the marble steps.
What a

time for someone to do his job properly.
Well, the sooner he found the

Avatars, the sooner they could cancel this ceremony so they could join

Bella and the others.

Kron squeezed into a narrow opening and checked his magic-finder.

It glowed brightly, pointing toward the center of the temple. The corri-

dors here twisted into various storage rooms, making it hard for him to

navigate to the center even with the help of his magic-finder. Kron won-

dered if the watchman would follow him or report immediately to the

Avatars. Perhaps he would be better off trying to shadow his pursuer.

After running through dust and spider webs, Kron finally emerged

into an open space at the center of the temple. He froze as he saw the

Avatars. Although the trip upriver had taken less than half a moon, they

seemed as if they’d aged a bit more than that in the meantime. However,

they’d compensated by dressing in silks and jewels that Domina would

envy. Ocul stared overhead as if studying a cloud pattern on the ceil-

ing—or wondering how his beard had grown so much. Tylan stood with

his arms crossed as the watch man gestured. Hala petted the watchdog,

and Flilya turned around, faced Kron, and gaped.

“By All Four Gods and Goddesses, what are you doing?” Kron

asked as he stepped forward. “We’ve sailed up the Chikasi as far as we

can. Now it’s time for your four to portal back with me so we can march

to Salth’s house.”

Everyone turned to stare at him now. The watchman struggled to say

something, but Tylan held up his hand for silence.

“Kron Evenhanded, is that you?” he asked. “What happened to the

others?”

“They’re fine,” he replied, puzzled. “They’re waiting for you by the

boat.”

“What took you so long? Was the trip hard?”

He shrugged. “A few things happened on the way, but it wasn’t too

bad for a winter journey.”

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“But it’s the first day of spring,” Tylan said, “We’re here to honor

the Four with a special ceremony. We call it the soltrans.”

“The first day of spring? It can’t be. We left during the first moon of

winter.” The Avatars stared at Kron with pity, and his hands trembled.

“I know we did.”

“Yes, Kron, you did.” Tylan dismissed the watchman with a wave.

“But we had no word from you for two moons.”

Kron was silent as he replayed the journey in his head. He was sure

they’d been traveling for twelve days, not a single heartbeat more. How

could the Avatars have gotten the time so wrong? He sucked in his

breath. “Salth. That cursed woman...or whatever she is....Come, Ava-

tars, we must hurry! If Salth managed to breach my protective artifacts,

the rest of the Avatars are in danger!”
Bella, Bella, beautiful Bella....

“But the soltrans...” Tylan said.

“Freeze the soltrans!” The others gaped at him, but Kron continued,

“The Four asked you to take care of Salth, not create rituals for Them!”

Tylan pointed at Flilya and Hala. “Go ahead to the house and get

things ready. We’ll be there as soon as possible.” Kron glared at him,

but he said, “We promised the people a ceremony. If we cancel it, it will

cause more problems. I swear, Kron, we’ll keep it as quick as possible.”

Hala shook out her hair. “And if you don’t, Tylan, next time you

perform in costume.”

Tylan shuddered.

“Costume?” Kron wondered as the women led him to a flight of

stairs descending into the temple.

“When Tylan proposed this soltrans,” Flilya said, “we said since we

were doing this on behalf of the Four, we should each dress up as our

God or Goddess. Tylan would have had to dress like the Goddess of

Spring.”