He pushed himself to his knees, then to his feet. Shimmering golden
light obscured the objects in the room. Kron waved his hand in front of
his face to clear the light away. Bella had been laid on Salth’s table as
if for her funeral. Her chest heaved up and down, but otherwise she
didn’t move. Kron sensed two spells at work: a spell to paralyze her and
another one encapsulating her like a cocoon.
“I knew you’d come if I brought this Nil, Kron!” Sal-thaath appeared
next to him, eyes bright with excitement. “Mother says if we kill a Nil,
we get more magic from its soul than if it dies naturally. We can then
bring the magic of the stars down to us. Are you here to watch? I think
you’d have to be very, very nice to Mother if you want some of our
magic. She’s very angry with you.”
When Sal-thaath finally ran out of words, Kron said, “You shouldn’t
kill Bella or any other person without magic, Sal-thaath.” To his
mother, he said, “Let her go, Salth. What do you need magic from the
sky for, anyway? You’re already the most powerful magician I know!”
He fingered the items in his pouch, searching for anything that could
break Salth’s spells on Bella.
Sea so n s’ Be gin n in gs · 5 9
“You can never have too much power. Power protects you.” She
tapped the cocoon-like spell with a finger, then folded her arms and
glanced at Sal-thaath. “It’s almost time. Sal-thaath, be a dear and kill
this woman for me so I can take the magic from her soul. You can do it
any way you like.”
“Sal-thaath, no!” Kron shouted. The pair of magnets grew warm in
his hand, and he clenched them as if they were his only hope. “You
didn’t like it when I caught you with my thread; think how she must
feel!”
Sal-thaath glanced back and forth between Kron and Salth. Except
for their breaths, the room was silent. Then Sal-thaath drifted closer to
the cocoon. “Aw, I could’ve broken free of you anytime I wanted,
Kron,” he said. “I just stayed cause I’ve never met another magician
before. But you’re as dull as a Nil, always telling me I can’t do this or
that. And Mother says Nils are like animals anyway, so it doesn’t matter
what we do to them.”
No child should be this callous. Maybe if Kron could permanently
separate him from Salth and send him to the Magic Institute, Pagli and
the other instructors could teach him empathy. But for that to happen,
Sal-thaath’s magic had to be drained off enough so he couldn’t portal
away. The magnets might be able to do it, but Kron needed more time
to shape them into an artifact.
“Pagli doesn’t believe the golden haze in the sky is magical, or that
you or anyone can bring such magic down to Earth.” Kron rubbed one
of the magnets, willing it to attach itself to Sal-thaath and stay there no
matter what he did. Cling to his very nature, his essence. The more he
tries to rid himself of you, the more secure you’ll be. “And he won’t
approve of you kidnapping an ordinary person to fuel your own magic.
He’ll punish you even if it takes the entire Magic Institute to do it.”
She laughed. “Then when I’m done here, I’ll have to pay him a visit,
won’t I? The Magic Institute always tries to restrict magic, not free it.
That’s why you’re limited to working through your artifacts. Deep
6 0 · S a n d r a U l b r i c h A l m a z a n
down, you’re afraid of handling magic directly. And that’s why you’ll
never be able to do this.”
She crossed her fingers as she glared at him. Kron felt his tunic and
trousers tighten around his limbs, but after a couple of heartbeats, his
clothing loosed as they neutralized the magic she’d thrown at him.
Kron grinned at Salth. “Sometimes I don’t need to wield magic on
the spot.” Maybe that would confuse her enough to let him enchant the
second magnet.
She narrowed her eyes. “Pre-set spells won’t protect you against
everything.”
The air in front of him thinned so much he could no longer breathe.
Kron fought down his panic and grasped the other magnet in his pouch.
Feed what your mate takes from Sal-thaath into...into the ground! The
ground had to be immense enough to absorb the magic of one small
child, no matter how powerful he was.
“Mother, what are you doing to him?” Sal-thaath asked.
“Taking away the air he needs. He should pass out soon. Then we
can use his power to help us capture the magic of the golden haze.”
Kron obligingly collapsed, making sure he fell next to Sal-thaath.
How would the child react to his mother’s plan? Would he object? They
were supposed to be friends....
“That’s a good idea,” Sal-thaath said. “He always wanted me to do
things I didn’t want to anyway.”
Even though Kron had expected the betrayal on some level, it hurt
more than he’d expected. He didn’t dare speak or react, but he squeezed
his eyelids tightly, trying to hold his rage and grief inside. Maybe this
child was unreachable. If so, draining his magic was the best thing Kron
could do.
Salth grumbled. “The magic in Kron’s clothes won’t let me lift him
magically. You’ll have to help me.”
“I’ll grab his arms,” Sal-thaath said.
Perfect.
Sea so n s’ Be gin n in gs · 6 1
Kron continued to lie still and fight off his growing dizziness until
Sal-thaath grabbed him under the armpits. His hand was still inside his
pouch, so he opened it, allowing a passageway for the first magnet to
fly out and attach itself to the boy’s forehead. Kron’s pouch ripped,
spilling everything as the second magnet broke a hole in the floor and
disappeared.
He roused himself enough to say, “This is for your own good, Sal-
thaath. ”
Sal-thaath screamed and fell to the floor, landing on his side. The
cloth ball Kron had given him escaped from his tunic and rolled into a
corner. The boy didn’t appear to be hurt at first, but then his face aged
until he appeared older than Kron’s grandfather. His body withered, his
hair fell off, and his skin darkened. Kron stared in horror. This wasn’t
supposed to be a side effect of his artifact. The swollen magnet emitted
a mosquito-like whine as it turned red. Sal-thaath drowned out the
whine as he howled. He rolled from side to side and pulled at the magnet
with all twelve digits.
“What did you do to him?” Salth screamed.
Kron gasped for air. “I just neutralized his magic.”
“You fool! He is magic! You’re killing him!”
Sal-thaath shifted back to normal, then aged again. What did grow-
ing old have to do with his magical legacy? Kron would have liked to
question Salth about that, but there wasn’t time. He’d created the en-
chantment; he should be able to banish it. But as Kron reached for the
artifact on the boy’s head, it pushed his hand away. What? This
shouldn’t be possible. Kron tried to mentally pull the magnet off of Sal-
thaath. Again it didn’t res
pond.
“Salth, a magnet, a crystal, anything else I can use on that artifact?”
He felt around in his pouch but found only the hole made by the other
magnet. “I can’t touch it directly.”
Sal-thaath’s convulsions ceased.
Salth was instantly at Sal-thaath’s side. “Get it off of him!” She
reached for the magnet and scowled as her hand stopped before she
6 2 · S a n d r a U l b r i c h A l m a z a n
could grab it. Her arm trembled as she pushed forward, but it didn’t
budge.
Sal-thaath opened yellowed eyes. Some remote part of Kron’s mind
noted the child now had only five fingers on his hand.
“I…I hurt, Kron,” Sal-thaath whispered. “Why did you hurt me?”
“I never wanted to hurt you, Sal-thaath. I just wanted you to be
someone I could be proud of. ”
A final breath left the boy's mouth, then he fell still. The magnet
dropped off.
Salth keened as she picked up the body of her son. “There must be
a way to undo death!”
Kron numbly reached for the magnet, so warm he could feel its heat
a foot above it. Sal-thaath had been malicious, but he hadn’t deserved
to die in pain and confusion.
“Sal-thaath, my son, forgive me,” he whispered.
Salth’s keens stopped. “Your son? He’s my son, all mine! I’ll take
your life for his!”
She dove at him, but Kron gripped her arms and kept her from
clutching his throat. Her eyes glowed, and she whispered a few sylla-
bles in a language he didn’t recognize. Air fled from his lungs and out
of his mouth. When he tried to breathe, nothing entered his nose.
What did she do? How did she bypass my protections? Panic made
it hard for Kron to think of a way to counter whatever spell Salth had
managed to work on him. Perhaps she would succeed in killing him and
sending him to the next world. Would Sal-thaath be there, or would his
unnatural origins mean he lacked a soul?
The light in the room grew brighter. A sign of his approaching death,
or something else? Salth seemed to notice the light too, and she let her
attention slip from Kron long enough for him to let him put his hand to
his throat. Salth’s spell weakened enough for him to gulp in a mouthful
of air.
“I knew it!” Salth turned her face upward and raised her hands as if
she meant to grab something sent from the heavens. Light collected
Sea so n s’ Be gin n in gs · 6 3
around her. “But you’re too late. Is this enough magic to turn back
time…time…time…?”
She knelt and draped herself over her son’s body, covering him com-
pletely. More light gathered around her until it seemed to form a shell
over Salth and Sal-thaath.
What is she doing? Kron found himself able to breathe normally
again. However, he’d attracted a few particles of light. Fearful they
would harden around him too, he tried to swat them away. His hands
passed through them—or did they pass into him? If they did, they were
more intoxicating than the finest wine. His head buzzed with ideas for
artifacts more complicated than anything he’d ever made. If he were
back at the Magic Institute or even Vistichia, he could spend all day
contemplating these ideas. But he needed to rescue Bella and portal
away while Salth was distracted—or disabled.
Kron retrieved the magnet and used it to remove both spells on
Bella. The greedy artifact reached out for the golden light next. Enough
of this. Kron attempted to deactivate the spell he’d placed on the mag-
net, but it proved harder to disrupt than he expected. He had to reach
out for the rest of the golden magic to disable the magnet. Despite the
difficult task, his own internal store of magic seemed replenished.
Strange, but useful.
Come with us, Artificer, a strange voice whispered in his head. Come
with us to See the Unseeable.
Not now! I have to rescue Bella.
The voice didn’t respond.
Bella blinked and moved her head from side to side, as if searching
to see where Salth and Sal-thaath were.
“We’re safe for now,” Kron whispered, “but we need to leave
quickly. Can you stand?”
She nodded, and he helped her to her feet. She clung to him tightly,
but he didn’t mind. No matter what Sal-thaath, Salth, or any other ma-
gician thought about Nils, he had saved someone precious.
6 4 · S a n d r a U l b r i c h A l m a z a n
Some of Kron’s guilt and grief for Sal-thaath faded. He had pro-
tected those who needed him. And he’d do it again if he had to.
Holding Bella close to protect her from the cold, Kron pushed again
though the portal to Vistichia.
Part Two: The Avatars
C H A P T E R E I G H T
Pagli
Once again, Kron sat in the marketplace at the end of the day by
himself, but that was because Bella had gone off to barter her duck eggs
for a shawl. He only had a few unsold items to pack, so while he waited
for Bella and any final customers, he set a ward on his selling space and
crossed to the other side of the square. The woman who brewed and
sold beer smiled at him as she strained it into a drinking bowl.
“You’re lucky I have anything left,” she told him. “It’s been a busy
day for me too. Thanks to the God of Summer, though, my hops and
barley are growing splendidly. I can hardly wait to harvest them so I
can brew my best batch ever.”
Kron sipped his beer. “This is already good. But what do you mean
by the God of Summer?”
She laughed, not unkindly. “You don’t pay any attention to anything
other than your lovely young wife and your artifacts, do you? You
should come over here and gossip more often, so you can learn what’s
going on in Vistichia.”
“I’m not that isolated. I see how everyone is happier now that the
old city-king is gone. The council takes less tribute from everyone, so
people have more to barter with.” Kron swallowed some more beer.
“It’s good for all of us.”
Crows-feet crinkled in the corners of her eyes. “Do you know why
they reduced the tribute?”
Kron shook his head.
“The Four appeared to the Council and demanded it.”
He handed the bowl back to her. “Who are the Four?”
6 8 · S a n d r a U l b r i c h A l m a z a n
“I thought you might know, seeing as They can do magic. They
might even be stronger than you.”
It was a good thing he’d finished his drink, or he’d have spat it out
in surprise. “They are? Who are they, and where do they come from?”
“That’s the thing. No one knows. No one even heard of them until
last moon. But then, They’re gods and goddesses, not humans, so I sup-
pose They came from somewhere beyond this world.” She gestured
toward her jar of beer. “More?”
“No, I’d better stop. What do you mean, they’re gods and god-
desses? How do you know they’re not just powerful magicians?” Kron
spread his hands. “My teachers at the Magic Institute said until we could
/>
figure out the limits of human magic, we would never be able to tell
where magicians left off and gods began.”
“They can do miracles, Kron. Oh, I know your finders and other
artifacts are marvelous, but you can’t make seeds sprout and bloom in
an instant, can you?”
“My magic works best on manmade things—”
She continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “And the God of Summer cer-
tainly doesn’t look like a normal person, what with His green skin and
all.”
Kron felt like he might turn green himself, but with worry, not envy.
How had he not noticed the presence of such powerful magicians
sooner? What did they want here? Was Bella safe?
His ward pealed an alarm as a familiar but unexpected voice called
out, “Kron Evenhanded, what are you doing here? I thought you’d be
in Delns by now!”
Kron turned. Pagli waited at the boundary of his space as if he came
to the marketplace in Vistichia all the time.
“Pagli!” Here was one magician he didn’t have to worry about. He
crossed the square to greet his friend. “What are you doing here? I
didn’t even know you knew this city well enough to portal over! How
long are you staying? You have to come to my house and have dinner
Sea so n s’ Be gin n in gs · 6 9
with us! My wife—” Kron still enjoyed being able to say that—“bakes
a fine flatbread!”
“I’d love to.” Pagli glanced at the artifacts set out on a blanket—and
sniffed. Illness, or contempt? He’d never disdained Kron’s magic be-
fore. “Though with your magic, I’d have thought you’d be living in the
palace complex by now, serving the city-king.”
“You know I never sought to serve power. Common people need my
talents too.”
The air stirred at Kron’s words. His magic-finder, which had started
glowing with Pagli’s arrival, flared, then cracked.
“I need you too.” Pagli reached under his cloak. “I found an artifact
unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Could you identify it for me?”
“Of course. Where did you find it?”
“Someone dropped it off at the Magic Institute.”
“Dropped it off? They didn’t want to trade something for it?”
“Oh, of course they did.” Pagli spoke quickly. “First they asked for
healing. Then they wanted a love potion, even though I told them no
one actually made such things. Then they asked for a gold nugget the
season avatars 01 - seasons beginnings Page 7
