season avatars 03 - chaos season Read Online Free Page A

he be able to break through them? Jenna backed up, repeating the process with more deathbushes. The ones farther away from the sidewalk continued to grow, smothering the grass. Some of them stretched toward the houses on either side of Ysabel’s, blocking the men from bypassing them. Jenna hoped the deathbushes would stop growing before they covered Ysabel’s house.
    “I can manage from here,” she told Kay. “Head back inside and see if the others are gone. Once they are, we can kill these deathbushes.”
    Kay nodded and slipped into the house. Jenna faced the deathbushes again. She had to maintain the fence until everyone inside had portaled to safety. That would be easy. The hard part would be killing such vigorous plants when they were no longer needed.
    Jenna returned to the top step and peered over the plants. More men were coming with axes. Another one brought a torch. By The Four, would he be foolish enough to set the plants on fire? They could spread the flames to the houses too. She rang the door chime several times. “Kay? Better come out here again. We might need some rain.”
    “Yes, bring the other wench out here too,” a man called at her in accented Challen. “We’ll sacrifice you both to Salth!”
    “You’ll have to catch us first.” The Four would surely protect Their Avatars, but Jenna preferred defending herself.
    She tugged on the nearest deathbush. Avatars performed mock fights with wooden staffs, and if she had a weapon, she could stave off anyone who managed to break through the deathbushes. To her surprise, it refused to give her a stalk. She’d never met a plant able to resist her magic. She decided not to force the issue until the men chopped a path to her—if they managed that.
    Two men chopped at the branches blocking the path to the house. Jenna smiled as the men’s expressions of triumph turned to dismay, a dismay that deepened as they rubbed their arms. The thorns must have pierced them through their jackets.
    A couple more men picked up the abandoned axes, but they couldn’t make headway against the deathbushes either. When they gave up, no more volunteers stepped forward. The group dispersed. Jenna scanned them, looking for Ysabel’s father, but he wasn’t there. Perhaps he had been taken away earlier to have his injuries treated.
    Kay opened the front door. “Jenna, Ysabel’s family passed through. Kron’s going to send us directly to our house in Wistica. He’s changing the portal now.”
    “Thank the Four.” Jenna surveyed the jungle that had replaced the lawn. The deathbushes had been exactly what she’d needed to delay the Selathens, but they were already spreading where they didn’t belong. She’d have to tame them if possible or destroy them if she couldn’t bring them under control.
    Kay came out farther to stare at the sky. “A Chaos Season is forming.”
    “Here? Right now?” At last she’d have a chance to help tame the magical weather storm and restore the plants around her. Gwen could use the magic to speed her recovery.
    Kay seemed more dismayed than pleased by the coming Chaos Season. “By All Four Gods and Goddesses, we’re not ready for this! I’m not even sure Gwen and Ysabel are still here!”
    “Freeze it,” Jenna muttered. Without Gwen to share magic, Kay would be the only one who could use the magic of Chaos Season. “Could you check? I’m going to take care of these bushes.”
    Jenna grasped two deathbushes close to her and told them to drop their leaves. Probing the rest of the plant, she noticed how deep and thick the roots had grown. That meant the plants might grow back if she didn’t destroy the roots too. Repressing a groan, she sent her magic into them, shutting them down. They resisted her like Robbie fighting a nap. Some plants had even started to create their own seeds. She had to focus on one plant at a time, wilting its leaves and shriveling its root, before she could move to the next. Thank the Four the deathbushes