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

“I find your method of achieving high marks a bit unconventional.” With that comment, I give her a sly grin and head out to my next, and least favored, class.

“Stone!” she calls before the door shuts behind me. “Thank you for trusting in me.” She winks.

The flight chamber is only a short jaunt away from Master Sephyre’s estate. I arrive on time and properly take a seat at the rear of the class, waiting for it to begin.

The flight chamber is a large wood-framed structure resembling a hollow forest. We’re stationed at a single table in the corner with a half dozen rows of chairs arrayed around it, nearly all of which are filled. The remainder of the space is wide open with padded floors. Mounted high on the walls, at least ten levels up, are a score of hollows with perches extending from them. The walls are swathed in large petrified redwood branches—foliage, pinecones and all—growing throughout. The wood-framed portions of the walls have been erected around the trees. That, or the trees simply forced their way into the structure of the building. Above the trees, the walls are capped with contemporary archways open to the outside and holding up the ceiling of the structure, which consists only of glass windows, lighting up the entire space with natural sunlight.

Unlike my Stealth and Combat course, this one is filled with a plethora of students at least four seasons younger than myself. It’s a novice course in which most students enroll their first or second season at the Academy. I should be the veteran with the youth looking up to me, but it is the youngsters who have proven to outdo me time and again since I’ve enrolled.

“Alright, class. Today we are going to take our training to the next level. Most of you…” Master Sephyre pauses and sends a glance of dissatisfaction in my direction, “…have proven you’re ready to turn your studies into reality. For those of you who haven’t, you’ll have to be more courageous than the others. Today, we become Aviators in training. Today, we take flight.”

The class stirs with excitement. I fail to share the enthusiasm as a big knot grows in my stomach. I’m all caught up on the curriculum. Astor has made sure of that. Yet, I’m not prepared for this.

I look up at the perches and the tall archways letting in bountiful rays of light. It’s dizzying.

A piercing screech echoes through the chamber, followed by the sound of wings forcing a whirlwind of air. A massive shadow flashes over Master Sephyre, and the entire class looks up.

“Class, this is Zephyr. The harpy eagle you will be training with today.”

His hand raises high and follows the line of the bird as it soars above us. Master Sephyre has a large grin on his face. The raptor circles the perimeter of the high ceiling, screeching periodically, and spreads its talons wide, coming to a halt on one of the redwood perches above. Master Sephyre allows the students to revel in the excitement of the rare creature and only continues after the class calms down. It’s apparent he’s proud of this beast.

“I think we will start with the newest addition to our class. Elder?”

What? Why me?

“Would you take the honors?”

“Uh…I…” I want to throw up.

“Elder, no need to fear. This is a harpy eagle. Although its talons are the largest of its kind and its eyes the fiercest, this bird is well trained. You need to simply follow the instructions we’ve been learning, and you’ll be successful.”

“But…are you sure you don’t want someone else, someone who has had more time to study, to go first?”

“No. This is a first for everyone in this class. You have just as much experience as they do.”

He gives me one of his fist-wrenching smiles, which he never fails to follow with a wink. Just like his arrogance never fails to make me want to remove those teeth with my fist.

He then raises his arm with two fingers pointed toward the eagle and lowers it in a swooping motion. The eagle, seemingly small from so far away, spans its wings and dives. The underside of the bird is mostly white with splashes of black. And the top of the bird is mostly black with splashes of white. The bird soars around the room one time and lands just behind the last row of chairs, my row. Already on my feet, I stumble backward, overwhelmed by the monstrosity that just landed next to me, and I fall over the row of chairs. The young students all snicker and point at me while the eagle screeches loudly and flaps its wings in distress. The bird’s aggression quiets the laughter of the students, replacing it with fear, which puts a smile on my face. It doesn’t, however, give me the confidence to mount the creature.

The eagle, standing proud, is much taller than any man. With its wings extended, they span nearly four times its height. And its beak could easily snap an arm in two, or worse, my neck. I’ve heard stories and read about them, but I’ve never seen a raptor up close. From a distance, soaring high above the Ceruleans or the Arrow Peaks, but never up close.

Master Sephyre approaches the eagle gracefully and soothes it by first whispering to it methodically and then placing his hand atop its beak. The bird squats, lowers its head, and elongates the wing closest to me, laying the tip of it on the floor like a ramp. I know from the teachings that I’m to step on it, but it doesn’t seem right. Why would a winged beast risk its way of life for the sake of a human? And why would an Aviator want to take that