Season of Sacrifice (Blood of Azure Book 1) Jonathan Michael (red novels .txt) 📖

She rolls her eye but, thankfully, nothing more. “A true assassin hunts in the dark. The rising light is a crutch I will allow only temporarily so this doesn’t end fatally for you.”

“So why not do it in the evening when your guaranteed concealment as it gets darker?”

“The fading light is more of a burden. The blues and indigos show themselves first in the early hours. Those colors are easier on your dark eyes. Believe me, I know."

She lifts her eye patch, revealing her hidden eye. Hard to see in the dark, but it’s near black. Maybe the different hues of light obscure her vision differently depending whether she has one covered or not.

"The opposite is true for the fading light. It works against your eyes. The light lingers longer and blurs the visual senses. I wouldn’t recommend targeting a kill in the evening light. Assuming you survive this, we will work in the shadows on the next.”

We gather our belongings and wipe away any evidence of our existence at the camp before the warmth of the sun touches the treetops surrounding us. Ellia stares at Persia for several moments without word or a sound of any kind. And then Persia just runs off. Ellia grabs her claymore from where she slept and trots off in a different direction. What was that? Some form of bond between her and the cat? I don’t have time to dwell on it as Ellia speeds away with me in the chase.

The fog evaporates too quickly, and our stealth with it. Navimar reveals itself as we come to a peak on the trail. This is it. It’s time. It’s time to take the next step and emancipate myself from my past. It is time to take on the shadow.

Navimar is a prestigious boat-builder’s village upriver at the head of the Scarlet. I’ve never seen it with my own eyes, but I’ve heard stories about the Navimar people and seen many of their vessels at the Crimson Harbor. My father, always trying to bestow his knowledge upon us, said the Navimar villagers are a race of their own, and their unique talent is the materialization of lightweight ironwood that can float downstream like a feather on air yet withstand the punishment of the most brutal water hammers generated in the Grimm Rapids. They build the fastest, lightest, and strongest boats that float the Scarlet. I suppose he did bestow some knowledge upon me.

“Is that our destination?” I ask as we carefully approach the village, hugging the tree line adjacent to the bank.

“Sshh! What is the point of quiet footsteps and the concealment of the tree line if the assassin can’t keep her tongue in her mouth? Yes. That’s our destination. Now, keep your thoughts in your head where they belong. I will hear them, nonetheless. I’ll assist you until we gain access to our target, but when the time comes for you to unsheathe your sword, I will not interfere. That is all you need to know.”

“Ellia?” I seek permission to speak.

“What?”

“Why must I use a sword? Why not a fukiya like you?”

She comes to a halt. “Do you want your first to be so pathetic? There is no gain in that. No satisfaction. You must conquer your inevitable hesitation and look your target in the eyes before you steal his last breath. And not until you are confident in your tact and have mastered the sword will you be dealt a weapon for the weak.”

“I don’t understand. You use one.”

“‘Nobody’ has mastered both tact and the sword along with countless other weapons, and ‘Nobody’ has also taken far too many last breaths from strangers. It doesn’t matter what I use anymore.” A transitory pause. “I no longer have anything to gain. Only those around me will gain from my doings…or, undoings. Your test starts now, so keep your tongue restrained or you’ll be freed of it. That is your last warning. Guile and precision from here on, and nothing less.”

The village is silent. It is early yet, and only the sound of the cooing pigeons can be heard along with my footsteps. Ellia moves with secrecy, but not me. As we walk down the boardwalk, somehow, I find every squeaky board as Ellia swiftly and silently holds our pace. I try my best but can’t figure out how she does it. I soon give up trying to avoid the creeks so I can keep up with her.

We stop at a small shack on one of the piers. She motions for me to flatten against the wall. I’m not sure exactly how leaning up against a wall can keep a person from being seen, but it seems to be a choice action when lurking where one shouldn’t be. I obey without hesitation, then she follows suit.

The wall behind me suddenly moves up and down. I jump away. Ellia pulls me back, not without a glare that tells me I’m going to pay for my reckless actions. She points down at our feet, and naturally my eyes follow the direction of her finger. I see the wall we’re leaning against isn’t a shack built on the pier but a shack floating in the water. A virgin sight for me.

Ellia motions for me to remove my shoes. I look at her silently, communicating only with my face the confusion that I have. She insists, so I proceed.

“It will help you be silent,” she whispers. Then Ellia creeps onboard the floating shack with me in tow.

My heart is in my stomach, and my thoughts are running rampant with the possible outcomes of this situation. I make sure to follow Ellia’s every movement so as not to mess anything up.

The hull and deck of the boat, or floating house, or whatever it is supposed to be, is constructed of wooden planks just like any other