season avatars 03 - chaos season (2 page)

Ysabel glanced at the black-and-white cat that had accompanied them on their mission to rescue her. It had to be her anilink, the special animal that helped Fall Avatars work their animal magic. Anilinks were smart enough to communicate with their Avatars. The cat bounded to the ladder and climbed up, leaving scratches in the wood. A few heartbeats later, Ysabel said, “No one’s around, thank the Four.”

Jenna bit back her envy. Fall Avatars got anilinks that could go with them anywhere, but Summer Avatars had to force-grow an acorn into an oak tree. The tree would help her connect with the vegetation of Challen, but it kept her rooted to the One Oak, the Avatars’ home, most of the time. This trip would be the last time she would be free to travel throughout Challen. She wished she could prolong it, even if she knew she had to be responsible and protect Challen from Chaos Season. When the seasons got so mixed up they all happened at once, only the Season Avatars could straighten them out and make sure no one got hurt or starved.

Since Ysabel was closest to the ladder, she followed her cat. A mourning pendant on a necklace bobbed as she climbed. Kron held the ladder for her. He didn’t look like he was trying to peep under her skirts, but Jenna would have bet he wanted to. Supposedly he and Ysabel had been married before, in Ysabel’s first life as an Avatar. But while she and the other Avatars had died and been reborn multiple times, Kron had remained alive, traveling forward in time inside an ancient water clock. He had to be eager to resume their relationship, even if Ysabel didn’t remember it.

Once Ysabel was no longer visible, Kron scrambled up after her. He should have let them all go first to be polite, but Jenna assumed he couldn’t stand to let Ysabel out of his sight. Kay glanced back at Jenna and Gwen. “Is he always like this?” she whispered. “Is he going to stay with us?”

“That’s up to Ysabel,” Gwen said. “Maybe I was wrong about him planting pottery shards to hurt us, but I hope he doesn’t think he’s in charge of our quartet.” Determination shone in her blue eyes, contrasting with the paleness of her complexion. “That’s my job.”

“But he’s had contact with the Four Gods and Goddesses, more than we’ve had in lifetimes.” Kay drooped. “Maybe I don’t deserve to hear directly from Them after neglecting my magic for so long.”

“The important thing is that you use it now,” Gwen said. “But I don’t think any of us will be doing anything until we eat and rest. By All Four, I never encountered such ugly magic before, especially in a child.” She shuddered. “And I hope I never do again.”

“Then we should go before he returns.” Without further words, Kay climbed the ladder. She was so small and thin the ladder didn’t quiver under her weight.

Once they were alone, Jenna asked, “Can you climb the ladder, Gwen? You used most of your energy in that battle.”

Gwen’s dress hung loose on her, a sign she’d had to consume her own reserves to continually heal herself. The boy who’d attempted to take the pottery shard out of her skin hadn’t seemed drained after using so much magic. Even once Jenna had dared link with Gwen and feed her strength, the balance of power had been in the boy’s favor. How had such a powerful magician come to Challen? Had he really been inside a water clock with Kron and come forward hundreds of years in time? More importantly, where had he gone, and would he return?

Gwen put on a hopeful. “As long as there’s food on the other side, I’ll walk through a dozen of Kron’s portals.”

“Walking is easier than climbing. Do you need my help?”

With an odd glance, Gwen replied, “I would appreciate it.”

Jenna gripped Gwen’s upper arms and assisted her to her feet. The elbow-length sleeves prevented them from making skin-to-skin contact and establishing the link. Gwen arched her eyebrows as if she suspected something. She didn’t remember their last life together, did she? She wouldn’t lean on Jenna so trustingly if she did.

Jenna had to keep it that way, link or no link.

They shuffled over to the ladder. Jenna held it steady while Gwen ascended. Her skirt smelled like mud from their journey here, along with blood and rotten flesh from the battle with Sal-thaath. It would be good to return someplace where they could all bathe. Gwen definitely needed to eat first, though.

Once Gwen was off the ladder, Jenna climbed up herself. Fresh air greeted her as she poked her head out of the ground. That was the most hospitable part of their surroundings. The only plant life was some yellowish-green moss that did a poor job of keeping the soil in place. No birds called in the air, no insects crawled over the moss or flew in Jenna’s ears. Even the bones she’d seen earlier had disappeared. She wasn’t sure if they were still in Challen or had actually crossed over into Selath, the Dead Land. Either way, there was more plant life in the middle of Wistica, the capital city of Challen. Anywhere else in Challen would feel more lively than this place. She hoped Kron would get them out of here quickly. But all he did was pace around and stare at the dirt.

“What’s he doing?” she asked.

“Looking for materials to make a doorway,” Ysabel replied. “He needs something physical to anchor his magic to, he says.”

“We might be here a while, then.” Maybe Jenna should start carrying seeds with her, so she could force-grow them at need. But even she would be hard pressed to grow anything in this barren land.

Gwen swayed in place. “By All Four, I could sleep for a year.”

“You can’t do that, Gwen. We need you.” Jenna suppressed a yawn. Weariness crept up her body.

Kay circled back to them. “I feel her, don’t you?”

“Feel who?” Jenna asked when Gwen didn’t respond.

“HER. The one who invades my dreams.”

“Salth.” The one who had given her name to Selath, the Dead Land. The magician who was an ancient enemy of Kron and the mother of the child who’d attacked them. Maybe she was trying to siphon off their magic even now. Each of Jenna’s limbs felt as heavy as a draft horse. Was this fatigue catching up with her, or something worse?

“Gwen?” She nudged her. “Can you stand straight?”

With a groan, Gwen collapsed.

“Gwen? Gwen!” Jenna shook her. When she didn’t respond, Jenna muttered, “Freeze it,” and placed her hand on Gwen’s cheek. If Gwen was unconscious, she wouldn’t be able to read Jenna’s memories, but hopefully she could still draw strength from her. The link didn’t form.

“Kron! Jenna yelled. “Salth is drawing magic from us! Get us out of this frozen place before we lose Gwen!”

“I need something to make a portal—wait. What a fool I am!” He ran back toward the entrance to the hole, muttering in a language Jenna didn’t recognize. She hadn’t known words could change that much over hundreds of years.

Ysabel came over to them. Her dress was more modest and less fitted than a farm girl’s, and a scarf covered her hair. Her dark brown eyes contained flecks of gold and green, as if Fall Herself had scattered leaf bits in them. “Would it help if we shared this?” She held out one of the silver watches Kron had altered so it no longer told time. “Kron told me this was an artifact that could protect me from the time magicians.”

“Let’s wrap Gwen’s hand around it and see if she wakes.”

Jenna kept one hand on Gwen’s cheek while pressing Gwen’s good hand—the one without the embedded shard—around the amulet. “Fight it, Gwen,” she said. “We’ve come too far to let that strange boy win now.”

Kron returned with the ladder and touched each short piece, making them fall out. He set them aside while he planted the long ends in the earth. Next, he joined several short ends together by lining them up and pressing them together. Jenna could use her magic on dead wood, but not as effectively as Kron. Hopefully it wouldn’t take much longer for him to finish the portal so they could leave.

A shiver passed through Jenna as the wind rose. She clutched her brand-new hat with one hand while maintaining her grip on Gwen. Something tapped her hand. She glanced upward. A handful of seeds with ash-white sails fluttered out of her reach. By the Four, where had they come from? More importantly, what were they? She didn’t recognize them. The seeds were smaller than her fingernail, but the white coating struck her as ominous.

“Kay, can you change the wind and bring those seeds back?” She asked. “I’d like a sample.”

Kay gulped, turning even paler than normal for her. “Use weather magic this close to Salth! She’ll kill me for sure.”

“She can’t age you while you wear Kron’s artifact.”

“That’s not how I die in my dreams.”

The wind taunted Jenna by picking up, blowing the seeds toward Challen. She really ought to chase after them and capture at least one for study….

Gwen groaned. Jenna returned her attention to her, stroking her cheek. “Come on, Gwen, wake up. We’ll be out of here in a few heartbeats. Kron’s almost done with the portal. We just have to pass through, and then you can eat and rest.”

With a gesture, Kron sent a crossbar up against the two ladder posts to form a doorway. He touched it in several places, and the scenery beyond shifted to Ysabel’s mother’s dining room. It seemed so long since they had been there Jenna needed a moment to realize they’d been there for lunch earlier that day.

Ysabel’s mother and Gwen’s aunt sat silently in front of an empty table as they stared at the door. Off to the side, next to the lit fireplace, stood Callie, Robbie’s nursemaid, holding Jenna’s child. He smiled sleepily, as if he knew his mother was coming for him. Jenna hadn’t expected them to meet her at Ysabel’s house instead of the hotel, but by the Four, she couldn’t wait to take her son herself.

“Mama? Home?” Ysabel whispered. “Are they real, or a cruel joke by that frozen boy?”

“They’re real, Dearest.” Kron beamed at her. “All you have to do is cross through the portal to go home.”

“Portal?”

His smile slipped. “Don’t you remember how I used to portal us everywhere we needed to go?”

She shook her head, still staring longingly at the domestic scene. Jenna had to admit the barren scenery surrounding them made the portal seem like an illusion.

“It’s real,” she told Ysabel. “We used Kron’s portal earlier to get to the Chikasi River.”

Ysabel tiptoed closer, prodded the portal with a finger, and then hurried through, followed by her anilink. The older women waiting on the other side gasped as she appeared. Ysabel’s mother recovered first, leaping up to embrace her daughter. Gwen’s aunt flushed and fanned herself.

By All Four, I hope it’s not her heart. Gwen will never forgive herself if her Aunt Gabri goes to the God of Winter, even if Gwen’s too weak right now to heal a broken toe nail.

A maid entered the dining room through another door, bearing a pot of hot chocolate. The rich scent wafted through the portal. Gwen blinked her eyes. “Chocolate?” she whispered.

“Yes. Lots of food and lovely chocolate, just a few steps away. Can you manage it?”

Gwen struggled to her feet, leaning on Jenna.

Kay came over, hesitated, and asked, “Do you need my help?”

Jenna shook her head. Kay was the shortest of the four and used to the next-to-nothing weight of a needle and thread. Jenna had helped her family stack hay and stocked the shelves of her late husband’s store. She could manage Gwen on her own.

As Kay passed through the portal, Kron came forward. “Here, let me help you.”

Jenna clutched Gwen tighter. “She’s my responsibility as a sister Avatar.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to do it all by yourself. Come on—”

“Yes, Gwen, come on, take a step.”

Even at Jenna’s urgings, Gwen refused to move. Kron grasped her by the other arm, and together he and Jenna maneuvered her through the portal by stepping sideways. Jenna had to admit it was easier with his help.

The surroundings changed instantly as Jenna stepped through the portal. A chilly breeze vanished. The moss under her feet gave way to a thick rug. Most importantly, whatever force that had been trying to steal her magic disappeared. It felt as though she and Gwen each lost at least ten pounds.

“By All Four Gods and Goddesses!” Lady lo Havil pressed her hand to her bosom. “What’s wrong with my niece?”

“She’s exhausted, Lady lo Havil.” Jenna steered Gwen to the closest chair. “She used her healing magic in ways I didn’t think possible. Dame s’Ivena Lathatiltin—” that was Ysabel’s mother—“Could you please send for more food? We’ll all need to eat again.”

First, however, Jenna had to provide a meal for her son. Her dress was damp with leaking milk. Robbie whimpered as she pried him away from Callie.

“I can handle him, Ava,” the wet nurse protested. “You should rest and eat too. You look like you’ve been out in Chaos Season too long.”

“I’m supposed to be out in a Chaos Season. Who else will heal the plants?” Jenna looked for a dark corner to hide in. It would be scandalous for her to nurse her child in the middle of a crowded room, especially with a male present, but she couldn’t wait any longer. Maybe if she ducked behind the damask curtain, no one would notice what she was doing.

Jenna stirred up dust as she slipped between the curtain and the wall. She pulled away from the window so she wouldn’t display herself to anyone outside, but she peered around the thick curtain to see if anyone noticed her. Robbie latched on to her as soon as she positioned him properly. At the same time, Ysabel cried out in a frightened voice, “Father’s coming home!”

CHAPTER TWO

Deathbushes Sprout

“Your father?” Ysabel’s mother asked. “How dare he show his face here after handing you over to Salth’s son? Maybe I’m not a Fallswoman anymore, but Fall will hound him to death for that!”

Literally, perhaps. The Goddess of Fall had no love for men and had never incarnated one of Her Avatars as male. In Challen, men who harmed women risked being attacked by the closest animals.

“Hopefully not while he’s still on his mare,” Ysabel said. “Father might lash her. She’s coming up to the stable where he boards her. He’ll be here in half an hour.”

At least they had some time to prepare. Robbie continued to suckle, pulling harder. Jenna shifted him to the other side while thinking what they should do.