season avatars 03 - chaos season (25 page)

At that, her temper rose. She bit it off before she took it out on him. “Let me down.” She tapped the jug of chocolate. “I have a new weapon that will teach this deathbush not to attack my tree.”

“Chocolate?” Gwen raised her eyebrows. “By All Four, what are you planning to do, drown it? Why not throw the plant into the Chikasi?”

“Chocolate can poison deathbushes.” As Lex set her down, she struggled to maintain her balance. Chocolate sloshed out of the jug. “Here. I’ll show you.”

Gwen grasped her hand. A flood of well-being drove the cramps away and made her legs feel stronger. Jenna nodded thanks but kept her gaze focused on the plant. Step by step, she advanced on it, carafe held ready to pour the chocolate on the deathbush roots. She hoped it would be enough—and that it wouldn’t bother her oak. The other tree hadn’t appeared damaged, but she hadn’t examined it closely.

The deathbush unwrapped a branch from the oak’s tree trunk and sent it questing toward her. Maybe she shouldn’t have announced what she planned to do—

Lex darted in front of her and hacked the branch off with his magic battleaxe. As soon as he was out of her way, she rushed forward, and dumped the chocolate right on top of the deathbush’s roots. The plant writhed. Part of its stem yellowed, but the rest of it was still active. The chocolate did work, but as Jenna had feared, it wasn’t strong enough. She grasped the deathbush, avoiding the thorns. In its weakened state, it was unable to resist her magic. It released her tree, turned brown, and drooped. Her own breathing came easier. Instead of resting, she clawed the dead deathbush out of the ground until she was sure she’d ripped up the entire root system. Thank the Four it hadn’t tangled with her oak’s. Then her energy gave out again, and she felt herself losing her balance.

Lex grabbed her, amusement in his brown eyes. “Remind me never to get you mad at me, Ava.” Even though he used her formal title, his voice held an intimate tone. In other circumstances, she would have continued the flirtation. For now, all she could think of was her poor tree. She laid her hands on it and gave it what magic she could spare. One branch would never sprout leaves again, but the rest of the tree was undamaged or would heal.

It should never have been attacked in the first place.
Could her tree show her who had planted the deathbush seed? She pressed her hands harder against the rough bark. All she could gleam from the tree’s senses were light, moisture, and nutrient levels. Except…there had been heavy vibrations in the earth surrounding the tree just before dawn, heavier than Jenna’s steps. A man, perhaps. After the vibrations ceased, the light levels changed as clouds blocked the sun and brought more moisture into the air.

Light and moisture…weather. Something the Avi Winter could change. Maybe he was using the storm to remove his tracks and water the deathbush seed.
It all fit, although Jenna didn’t understand why Dorian would attack her tree. What had she done to him? Kay had always been the one to bear the brunt of his anger because she was destined to replace him. Jenna’s tree couldn’t hurt him—but it would help her quartet tame Chaos Season and prove that he was no longer needed.

She removed her hands from her tree. She was wrong. She had to be wrong. Avatars might not get along with each other or resist letting their season end, but they weren’t supposed to harm each other. And going against the Four’s will by preventing other Avatars from taming Chaos Season had to be a crime so severe his soul would be frozen forever after death, never being reborn. Would the Four really punish one of Their own like that?

“You look pale,” Gwen said. “I hope you saved some chocolate for us.”

“That doesn’t matter,” she said. “Dorian planted that deathbush seed next to my tree. He’s not going to give up his season, Gwen, and he’ll make sure we can’t tame Chaos Season by ourselves.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

A Trap in a Tree

“I don’t believe it,” Sophia said for the twentieth time that hour. Her plate lay clean before her. Neither she nor her husband had even bothered to touch the soup or chicken the cook had prepared for lunch. Their empty plates made Jenna feel guilty as she took another slice of bread, as if she should fast too. But she would need all the energy she could find to deal with the rest of the deathbushes—and Dorian. So she kept chewing, though everything tasted bitter to her.

Jenna swallowed, then pushed the dried deathbush remains toward Sophia. “Do you really believe a seed found its way next to my tree all by itself? Especially when Kay and I went out there before the storm and noticed how broken-up the ground was?”

“Where would he have gotten the seed?” Sophia said.

“There’s a store of them in the atrium,” Charles said. “He could have taken one from there.” He peered at Jenna. “Do you have a count of how many there were?”

“It should be on the paper I stored them in,” she said.

“And you had written the name on there too, correct? Then anyone could have found them,” Sophia said.

“But who else here knows how quickly the deathbush grows, or how it seems to cause a Chaos Season wherever it sprouts?” Gwen asked. “Who else knows which sapling out there is Jenna’s? Only the Avatars do.”

“And Kron,” Sophia said. Her gaze flickered toward Lex, but she didn’t add him. One couldn’t accuse the Avatar of War of a crime when he was the king’s brother. Jenna knew he had to be innocent. He hadn’t known where her tree was, and he’d fought against the deathbushes with her.

That left Sophia and Charles as possible suspects, despite their upcoming trip to find and destroy deathbushes all over Challen. Charles obviously knew the most about plants, and he was the one Jenna would replace. However, he seemed indifferent to his magic, more interested in retiring to his family home and raising grapes. Jenna didn’t know Sophia well enough to guess how she felt about being ousted. With Margaret gone, Sophia did the most to hold her quartet together. Maybe she wasn’t willing to give up her power either. Dorian was still the most likely one to have planted the deathbush seed, but Jenna couldn’t rule anyone else out without more proof.

“We can’t condemn our Avi Win on the basis of what a tree sensed,” Sophia said.

“Now, now, Dear, trees know more than you give them credit for.” Charles didn’t bother straightening up as he spoke.

“Ysabel, was Pouncer outside this morning?” Gwen asked. “His senses are sharper than an oak’s. Maybe he can identify who planted that seed.”

Ysabel shook her head. “It was raining pretty hard earlier. Pouncer stayed inside, curled up on my bed. He wouldn’t be able to learn anything now. The rain would have washed away a person’s scent.”

More reason to believe the Avi Win was behind this. He would be clever enough to hide the evidence. If only they could figure out a way to trap him.

Jenna hesitatingly slid her hand next to Gwen’s, hoping the Ava Spring would take the hint and link with her. She ignored it.

Frustrated, Jenna asked, “So, what do we do now? Set a watch on my tree all day and night?”

“What about Pouncer?” Ysabel reached for her cat, but he bounded over to Gwen, demanding she pet him. “Is he in danger too? I maintain a mental link with him, but it’s impossible to keep a cat under physical watch.”

Gwen stroked Pouncer absent-mindedly as she studied Kay. “Kay, you haven’t said anything about Dorian. You’ve worked with him the most. What do you think?”

She stared down at her plate.

“Kay?”

“At least he hasn’t appeared in my dreams,” she said, so softly Jenna had to strain to hear her.

Jenna exchanged looks with Gwen and Ysabel. The older Avatars didn’t know about Kay’s nightmares of her death—and fate worse than death.

Gwen scratched Pouncer behind the ear for several heartbeats. No one else spoke or pretended to eat. Finally, Gwen rose and brushed black cat hair off of her dress. “Sophia’s right. We can’t prove Dorian committed such a blasphemous deed on what little Jenna has told us.”

Here was further proof Gwen was nursing the grudge about her last death. Jenna couldn’t decide if she wanted to shake some sense into Gwen or plead for forgiveness again.

“I’d really like to know more about how my favorite drink can kill the nastiest plant we’ve ever seen. And what about the magic in the deathbush itself? We should study that too.” Gwen swept toward the door. “Jenna, Ysabel, Kay, let’s find Kron and ask him to portal us to Tradetown again. This time we’ll destroy the menace there for once and for all.”

It was a good idea, though Jenna didn’t like the idea of leaving her tree unattended while Dorian was at the One Oak. Maybe Lex would guard her tree personally if she asked him nicely. As she left, she hoped Dorian never thought of threatening her own son with his magic. Maybe Robbie would be safer coming with her.

Gwen led all of them to Ysabel’s side of the house and into the Fall Study. Preserved animal skins and trays of pinned butterflies gave Jenna the feeling they were being watched.

“Ysabel, ask Pouncer to wait outside and keep watch for anyone,” Gwen said. “I mean anyone from the lowest scullery maid to Kron and the Avatar of War. If there are any other creatures you can use, have them stand sentry too.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

Gwen waited until the door was closed and Ysabel nodded to her before extending her hands and inviting a link. She continued,
We will go to one of the deathbushes, but not the ones in Tradetown. We’ll go to that peach orchard near Wistica. Let’s see if Dorian follows us there.

What if we trigger a Chaos Season and make matters worse?
Kay asked.

That’s why all four of us need to be on hand to deal with it.

Jenna twitched at the thought of taming a Chaos Season so far from her tree. It could be done, but it would be more difficult for her.
I still don’t like the idea of leaving my tree alone for so long. I wish I had some way to protect it. I could surround it with other thorny plants, but that wouldn’t keep Charles out and just create problems for us when we have to work there. If only I could hang a bell on it that would ring when someone else approaches my tree.

Kron could create something like that,
Ysabel said.
He just needs something to work with.

The lightning rod!
Jenna smiled grimly.
The perfect trap for a weather Avatar.

Gwen broke the link. “Let’s find Kron and ask him to help us.”

* * *

Kron, who’d taken over an old carriage house as his workshop, wasn’t pleased with their idea at first. He set aside the clock he was taking apart to glare at them, softening only when he faced Ysabel. “We need all twelve of you to face Salth and Sal-thaath. It’s bad enough that five of the Avatars are dead. I thought perhaps the Four would send them to be reborn and we would just have to wait for them to grow up. But if there are divisions and jealousies among you, time might not solve that problem.” He sighed. “Dorian—was he Domina, by any chance? She was difficult to work with.”

Jenna exchanged looks with the other Avatars. “We usually have some idea who was who, but only for a few generations back,” she replied. “We don’t have a lot of records from your time, and none of us can read them anymore. Even our memories from so long ago are unclear.”

“I suppose it’s not important who he was as long as we can persuade him Salth is the true enemy of us all,” Kron said. “All of you need to work together to confront her and end Chaos Season.”

Gwen crossed her arms. “I suppose then Dorian would complain we would lack purpose if there’s no Chaos Season. I for one would be happy to see it gone. There’s no end to sick or injured people who need healing.”

Jenna, along with Ysabel, nodded agreement. Plants and animals always needed them. She was relieved when Kay added, “If the Four wish us to end Chaos Season, I’ll do my best to help.”

“At this point, we don’t know for certain that Dorian planted that deathbush seed next to Jenna’s tree,” Gwen said. “Until we prove it one way or another, we can’t trust him.”

Kron leaned forward. “But what will you do if he is behind it?”

Gwen looked away. “That may also depend on Charles and Sophia. At best, they will all agree to step down and let us take our place. If he won’t leave quietly….” She shrugged. “We might have to turn our magic on him. Hopefully not Charles and Sophia too.”

“It sounds as if we could lose all three of them.” He frowned. “I don’t like this.”

“Neither do we, but what else can we do?”

“Let him continue to use his power as before. That’s what this is all about, correct?” He sighed, suddenly looking older. “Some things never change.”

“But…but…” Kay fiddled with her fingers for a few heartbeats before continuing, “Our weather magics interfere with each other.”

“It’s not just that,” Gwen said. “He’s been cruel to Kay all along. I won’t stand for someone treating one of my sister Avatars that way.”

Kron shook his head. “I hope the Four didn’t make a mistake in choosing Domina.”

Kay paled so much Jenna wondered if she was going to faint. Gwen put her hand behind Kay’s back as if to steady her.

“The Four don’t make mistakes,” Kay said. “They can’t.”

“They’re not what you think they are, Kay.” He stared at her for a few heartbeats, as if he was trying to send her a silent message. He finally sighed. “Well, I hope They had a reason for choosing Domina, I mean, Dorian. He must be part of Their plan.” He gestured at the clock face. “Just as this circle would be incomplete if you cut out a wedge, so you’re incomplete without the other Avatars. I wish you’d accept that so we can figure out a plan for facing Salth.”

“We don’t have to confront her now, Kron.” Gwen laid her hand with the shard on his workbench, close to him. Was that meant as a subtle threat? “We have another, more urgent problem.”

Jenna saw her chance. “The deathbushes. We need to destroy them, but they use magic to help them grow, so physically killing them brings about small Chaos Seasons. I have a poison that’s safe for humans but not deathbushes. But we need to portal to every known deathbush to give it to them.”