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

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