season avatars 01 - seasons beginnings
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size of your thumb. I finally gave them that to get rid of them.”
Kron raised his eyebrows. This wasn’t how Pagli usually spoke.
What kind of artifact could excite—or upset—him so much? “Show me
this valuable artifact then.”
Pagli stepped forward with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He
smelled as if he hadn’t bathed in days. “Come, take it and find out.”
He pulled out a small, black sundial and thrust it at Kron. Hostile
magic roiled off the object strongly enough to make him step back.
“I’m not touching that.” How could Pagli handle that safely? Kron
would have to sacrifice a square of silk from Kin to neutralize the sun-
dial’s magic. Thankfully, Bella hadn’t returned yet, so he didn’t have
to worry about her getting hurt by the sundial. Yet, Pagli, who wasn’t
an artificer, seemed unaffected.
7 0 · S a n d r a U l b r i c h A l m a z a n
“Why not?” Another step forward by Pagli. A few passersby stopped
to see what was going on. “Think your magic isn’t strong enough to
master this artifact?”
Anger surged within him, but caution restrained him from blurting
out a response. Pagli had never been to Vistichia before, wouldn’t know
how to find Kron so easily, and wouldn’t treat him like a foolish novice.
What if this wasn’t Pagli, but someone pretending to be him? How
could Kron tell for sure? His magic-finders would only get confused by
the sundial. What Kron needed was a way to see through the magic to
the truth beneath.
He glanced at the unsold artifacts, trying to determine what could be
used as it was or if he could modify something quickly. Too bad he
didn’t have the far-seer he’d made for Salth. Only a couple of magic-
finders today; most of his items were things ordinary people would find
practical: bowls and jars enchanted to keep food fresh and pest-free,
tools that wouldn’t break, and even a few toys that could move on their
own. None of those would help him. His most ingenious creation, a
carved bird that could fly, was back at the workshop. He could summon
it to bring him something small, but nothing useful came to mind.
Kron kept eye contact with Pagli—or whoever was pretending to be
Pagli—and said, putting as much scorn into his words as he could man-
age, “What, this thing? This is nothing next to all the traps I set on the
tomb of that queen three years ago. Do you remember?” At the same
time, Kron searched in his pouch for something, anything, he could en-
chant. His fingers touched the rough edge of a broken chain link,
discarded as useless. All it was now was a hole surrounded by metal.
But maybe a hole wasn’t useless….
“The queen’s tomb. Ah yes, I remember. There was a pit trap at the
entrance, right?”
“No, Pagli.” Kron willed true vision into the chain link. “There was
no pit trap, or queen, or tomb. But the real Pagli would know that. So,
by my true love’s eyes, who are you?”
Sea so n s’ Be gin n in gs · 7 1
He drew the chain link out of the pouch and held it up to his right
eye. Kron closed his left eye and peered through the link. Pagli’s image
wavered for a couple of heartbeats, but it didn’t disappear. Instead, his
skin took on a waxy sheen, his eyes developed a glazed-over look, and
his body odor became more prominent—and more rotten.
Kron dropped the chain link in horror. This was the real Pagli, but
he was dead. How could he still be moving and talking? Had Pagli’s
ghost come back to wreak revenge on Kron for some forgotten crime,
or was somebody abusing his corpse?
“Get away from me, abomination!” Kron grabbed a bowl and altered
its enchantment to create a fuelless fire in the bowl. It wouldn’t last for
long, but it would destroy poor Pagli’s body and hopefully bring peace
to his spirit.
Pagli—or whatever force was animating his body—hissed, then
threw the cursed sundial at Kron. It happened so quickly he didn’t have
time to dodge, only attempt to catch it in the bowl. The flame leapt
higher to consume the sundial, but although the sundial was wood, it
resisted the fire and passed through to graze Kron’s hand. It felt like ice
in his veins. Kron dropped the bowl, letting the flame die, and cradled
his hand. Liver spots bloomed on his skin, and his hand grew thin and
skeletal. They won’t be calling me “Evenhanded” anymore. Was it go-
ing to spread?
Foreign magic passed through his defenses and surged within him
like a wave. The advancing signs of age disappeared.
“Hold. Who defiles the dead in Our domain?”
A man and woman materialized next to Kron. There was no sign of
a portal opening behind them; they seemed to form from the air itself.
Although the man was white-haired, he stood tall as someone in his
prime. The woman’s hair was yellow, and her skin was paler than
Pagli’s. However, she glowed with health and warmth, making the
corpse appear even deader.
The jewels on Kron’s magic-finders blazed, cracked with soft pop-
ping sounds, and died.
7 2 · S a n d r a U l b r i c h A l m a z a n
The corpse flung its arms to the sides, and a translucent blue bubble
appeared around the four of them. Then it straightened up, and a new
light shone in its eyes.
“You two have many-strong power,” it said in a new voice.
Only Salth speaks like that.
“You may claim this land as Yours, but I have claimed time itself as
My domain,” the new voice said. “Can You challenge Me for that? I
could scramble the seasons of this land until not a blade of grass lives.”
The man smiled thinly, his eyes hidden from Kron’s gaze. “No, you
can’t. We are the Seasons themselves.”
“Then You are below Me, under My control.”
“After seeing what no one else has ever seen, We are under no one’s
control.” The man advanced fearlessly toward Pagli’s corpse. “Can you
say the same, you who send a dead person to speak for you? Have you
Seen the Unseeable?”
A pause. Then the corpse said, “I’ve seen what I need to see.”
“Then you haven’t seen the Unseeable, then.”
“I don’t need to!”
The woman opened her mouth as if to say something, glanced at the
man who’d accompanied her, and shut it again.
“Never mind the power,” the man said. “Tell Us why you’ve sent
this shell of a man here.”
Please say it has nothing to do with me.
The corpse said, “I have a grievance against this man here.” Its eyes
narrowed. “Why are you still breathing, Kron? That sundial was sup-
posed to claim all of your remaining time!”
Kron rummaged in his pouch, looking for something to enchant.
String might hold one of them for a heartbeat, but he didn’t have enough
to restrain all of them.
The golden-haired woman played with a stack of bracelets on her
wrist as she regarded Kron. “He isn’t one of Us, but he’s no longer
completely mortal, either.”
�
�What? How can that be?” he asked.
Sea so n s’ Be gin n in gs · 7 3
Ignoring him, the woman continued, “Even if you two weren’t on
the same level, We would disapprove of you coming here to harm one
of Our own.”
The corpse eyed Kron. “I know he wasn’t born in this region, so he’s
none of Yours. He doesn’t intend to stay here.”
“Maybe that will change, now he’s married.”
Pagli’s corpse grinned. “I’ll take his wife, then. She’s completely
mortal.”
Kron gasped. “No! Take me instead!”
As the woman’s bracelets clinked, she said, “Actually, Fall is inter-
ested in Bella as an Avatar, so she is under Our protection.”
Kron wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or worried if these strange
people could protect Bella—and what it meant for her to be an Avatar.
The corpse crossed its arms and glared at the woman. “You can’t
claim them both.”
“Of course We can. This is Our domain, and We Ascended to help
the inhabitants, not treat them like cattle.”
Treating people like cattle sounded like something Salth would do.
Kron focused on the corpse of his former colleague. Could Salth be be-
hind this? If so, how? She had broad knowledge of magic, but she’d
never practiced it on the dead before.
The corpse—or Salth—frowned, and the bubble trapping them con-
stricted. “What do You call Yourselves?”
“I’m Spring,” the woman replied, “and this is Winter.”
“You said there was a Fall. Don’t tell Me there’s a Summer too.”
The corpse sneered. “How clever.”
“Since you’re so clever, ” the man said, “then you can figure out that
there’s four of Us, and only one of you.”
“You mean, it takes four of You to equal one of Me?”
Spring and Winter glared at the corpse with enough heat to cremate
poor Pagli. Then They spoke in eerie unison. “For the last time, you are
in Our domain. We decide what happens to the people in this land, not
you. Leave Our domain, and stay in your own.”
7 4 · S a n d r a U l b r i c h A l m a z a n
“Oh, I shall,” Salth said. “But that doesn’t mean You’ve heard the
last from me. I don’t enjoy having neighbors. As for you, Kron,” Pagli
stared at him with an evil grin. “You can’t hide from me forever. I’m
the one who controls time now. You’ll never know when to expect me
to come after you—or anyone you care about.”
With a cackle, Pagli disappeared, but the blue bubble remained.
“Does Time actually think she can keep Us trapped in Our Do-
main?” Winter asked. He laid his hand on the side of the bubble and
pushed, then frowned when nothing changed.
“Technically, this time bubble is her domain. She may not have a
Goddess’s full power, but she wields what she has with skill. Even so,
there must be a way out.” Spring raised an eyebrow as She glanced at
Winter. “Perhaps with death?”
His death? Then why protect him from Salth, or Time, or whoever
it had been? Kron eyed both of the so-called gods warily. He was out-
numbered and low on artifacts, but there had to be some way to defend
himself....
The woman laughed, a gentle sound. “No, Kron Evenhanded, We
are not interested in sacrifice, human or otherwise. And We apologize
for not seeking you out sooner, but there are many others who need Us
more.”
Kron straightened. “And why is that? Who are you, exactly?”
“We already told you. We are two of the Four Gods and Goddesses
of this land. We claim as Our domain all the land between the Western
Mountains and the Salt Waters, from the Northern Sea to the Southern.”
“Actual gods? What makes you different from a very powerful ma-
gician?”
“What makes Us different?” Winter repeated. “We’re not bound by
mortal limits. We do not need to eat, or sleep, or even breathe. We do
not age or die. And while Our magic may be specialized—” he said this
with an ironic edge—“We can do things with it that ordinary magicians
can’t.”
Sea so n s’ Be gin n in gs · 7 5
He turned away and placed both hands on the bubble. Its blue color
faded, and it became translucent as it thinned out.
“Don’t destroy it just yet, Winter,” Spring said. “This is an excellent
opportunity for Us to talk to Kron.”
“It is?” He didn’t think so. “But my wife must be worried about me.”
“We’re still outside of time,” Spring said, “so no time is passing for
her. It’s best for now if We don’t draw attention to you.”
“But do We really want to be talking about Time in one of her bub-
bles?” Winter asked. “She may be listening in.”
“Good point. Your cabin, or My meadow?”
He smiled at her, his face tilted so that Kron couldn’t get a good look
at his eyes. They seemed too dark for his complexion. “Your meadow
is a better choice for someone who still has more in common with hu-
mans than with Us.”
“Agreed. Break this bubble, and I’ll take Us there.”
C H A P T E R N I N E
The Four
The blue surrounding them faded away, to be replaced by a glorious
meadow bounded by forest. Flowers from all seasons bloomed in the
grasses, creating a perfume no master blender could achieve. A river
small enough to step across burbled as it ran through the meadow. In
the center of it all, four benches covered with cushions sat in a square.
The grass here was thick and short, like a carpet. Spring and Winter
sank onto two of the benches, but Spring gestured Kron to a smaller
seat, still comfortable but less lavishly decorated. He barely had time to
wonder where the seat had come from—he was certain it hadn’t been
there a heartbeat before—when two more individuals appeared. One of
them was a youth with green skin and hair; the other, a girl who scowled
at him and took the bench farthest away from him, covering herself with
a blanket.
“Fall! That’s no way for a Goddess to behave!” Spring said. Kron
repressed a grin at the scolding. “You have nothing to fear.”
Why would a goddess—if She really was one—fear him? No matter
what Spring and Winter had said, Kron was still human. Wasn’t he?
Fall peeked out from under Her blanket, but She seemed disinclined
to give it up. Spring cleared Her throat, as if to draw attention from the
girl goddess.
“You are in a dangerous position, Kron Evenhanded, and you put
Us in a delicate one.” She plucked a few daisies and wove them into a
Sea so n s’ Be gin n in gs · 7 7
chain. “I admit We favor you over Time, but she has more magic than
you.”
Time seemed to hold Salth’ grudges; it was almost enough to make
Kron believe Salth was Time. But Salth wasn’t capable of manipulating
time. No one was. Was this a joke? It couldn’t be; she had no sense of
humor. Besides, why would these strange magicians be part of it?
“Is Time—or whoever spoke to us through Pagli—really Salth?”
/> Kron asked. “How did she get time magic?”
The Four raised Their eyebrows. All of Them had exceptionally dark
eyes, eyes that made Kron uncomfortable.
“Perhaps you should portal—is that what you call your mode of in-
stantaneous travel?—to Salth’s house and see for yourself,” Winter
said.
“Without preparation? Are You trying to collect his soul, Winter?”
Spring shook Her head, and the flowers in Her hand drooped. “I doubt
Time would let You keep him. She’d prefer to put him on display, or
torture him for eternity.”
Kron tried not to squirm. Yes, that sounded like something Salth
would inflict on him. Sometimes when he saw a young boy that resem-
bled Sal-thaath, he had to restrain himself from calling out Sal-thaath’s
name—or using a protective artifact. He reminded himself he’d had to
stop the pair of them from hurting other people….
He sat upright. “But if Time is really Salth, what’s to stop her from
hurting people? She thinks she can harvest magic from them!”
“She hasn’t Ascended, so she’s not as strong as one of Us. We can
prevent her from directly harming someone in Our domain,” Spring
said. “However, within her realm…” She let the dead flowers fall from
Her hand.
Kron hoped Salth’s domain was smaller than an urn.
“How did Salth master time?” he asked. “Does it have something to
do with the golden haze that fell from the sky last year?”
The Four exchanged glances, as if They were holding a conversation
on some level he couldn’t hear.
7 8 · S a n d r a U l b r i c h A l m a z a n
“Have you noticed any changes in yourself in the last year, Kron
Evenhanded?” Spring asked.
“Well, since marrying Bella, I’ve been happier, and eating much
better—”
“That’s wonderful.” She smiled. “But what else has changed? Is
there anything different about you, or your magic?”
Magic did seem easier these days, not just in terms of putting arti-
facts together, but coming up with new ideas. But he’d thought that
another happy benefit of being a married man and looking at life
through Bella’s eyes. As for himself, he didn’t need as much sleep as
he used to, so he sometimes crept from the bed and worked on a new
design or prepared materials. And his beard grew so slowly he only