Free season avatars 01 - seasons beginnings by sandra ulbrich almazan Page A

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