season avatars 03 - chaos season Read Online Free

mean, is Salth going to sense your magic? She can’t attack us here in Challen, remember? I’ll need both rain and sun if I’m going to force-grow some seeds.”
    Kay frowned, gesturing as if she needed to pull clouds to her. The sky darkened. A downpour drenched Jenna before Kay thinned the rain to a drizzle and allowed sunlight to return.
    Jenna strode forward until she stood in the center of the lawn. Back on the farm, she used to pull off her boots so she could feel the earth with her feet. Noblewomen, however, wore boots with lots of little buttons that took forever to undo. Jenna had to squat and press her palms into the lawn to connect with the seeds.
    These seeds were unlike any she’d ever worked with. They were light, with a leaf-like wing attached to the seed pod. The shape reminded her of a maple seed, but the color was as white as death. Maybe they were the seeds she’d seen earlier. How did they get here so quickly? Despite the hard seed pods protecting the seeds, the new plants inside seemed to sense her magic. She didn’t even have to focus on the seeds before they germinated. Each new plant drew upon its seed pod and wing so fiercely for nourishment they they crumbled to dust. These plants were hungry, hungry as animals, and just as willing to seek out their food.
    Jenna didn’t like that at all.
    There’s something not right about these plants. I shouldn’t encourage them to grow….
    “Hold, two of them!” a man shouted. “Two of the harpies who attacked the most talented, most wondrous Sal-thaath!”
    Further shouts answered him. Jenna didn’t speak Selathen, but she did know their word for “Avatar,” and that was the only word she could pick out. They had to be talking about her and Kay. Even if they were here for Ysabel, they wouldn’t mind giving Jenna and Kay to Sal-thaath, the boy who’d attacked Gwen, as well. Jenna had no other plants she could use as weapons, and she couldn’t count on Kay to defend them. It was up to her and the strange plants to stop the Selathens.
    Summer, help me, I beg you. Help me make these plants grow faster than weeds.
    Each sprout sank a tiny root into the dirt and stretched down deep. At the same time, the seed leaves opened, drinking in faint sunlight shining through the drizzle. The roots spread out and grabbed other plants next to them. The grass turned yellow and brittle, but the new plants shot up tall and thick, sending out heart-shaped leaves—and fine needle-like barbs covering their stalks. Jenna retreated before her own defenses attacked her. But the deathbush—the best name she could give this strange plant—continued to grow supernaturally fast even without her magic. In heartbeats, the stalks towered over her, each shoot half as thick as her waist. The Selathens would think twice about chopping the deathbush down. The spines would prevent them from getting too close. The only problem was the sidewalk to the front wasn’t blocked. Ysabel’s father charged down the path toward Jenna.
    Before she could react, Kay stepped forward, her hand raised and her eyes paler than normal. Jenna shivered as a chill enveloped her for a couple of heartbeats. The sidewalk glimmered with a thin sheen of ice. Ysabel’s father slipped, fell, and slid into a deathbush. He yelled in Selathen.
    Jenna cautiously stepped forward, grasping leaves of deathbushes to keep her balance. Ice melted in gaps around her. If Ysabel’s father regained his feet, he’d be able to catch her. Jenna probed the deathbush, analyzing spikes to see if they contained toxin. They did, but she wasn’t sure what effect it would have on a human. From the pained expression on Honored Lathatilltin’s face, he’d develop a rash at least. She hoped the toxin would stun him, but she wasn’t going to rely on that. Instead, she urged the deathbush to send out side shoots to block the sidewalk. It obeyed eagerly. The plants grew so quickly she could no longer see Ysabel’s father. Would