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

tree. It’s the leg of the one thing we’ve been trying so hard to avoid. The one thing that has deemed this place uninhabitable by those smarter than us. It’s a Lost Soul.

I shuffle back from the creature’s leg and, unfortunately, the thunder torch as well. A club-sized fist swings down and brushes my shoulder.

I scramble to my feet, unsheathing Life Bringer, and the Lost Soul is already on me. I attempt to spin out of the way, but my effort is too slow. The creature takes another shot at me, open-palmed with its menacing claws fully extended and ready to gut me.

“Argh!” The pain is intense as the blow to my left shoulder knocks me back, causing me to stumble over a fallen tree.

The faint glow from the thunder torch gives me just enough visual to see I’ve tripped over another Lost Soul, not a tree. But this one is laid out flat on top of…

“Goose!” I blurt out. He is either dead or unconscious. Hopefully the latter.

The strength of the smell dilutes my senses, but I bounce back to my feet with haste, invigorated. The pain in my shoulder is gone. I feel guilty when the thought of using my newfound energy to run away crosses my mind. But the better part of me knows I must stand up to this invalid.

Helios distracts the Lost Soul with a threatening swipe of his equally-sized claws and a fierce growl. Judging by how quick the creature attacked me, Helios is no match for it. Although, the two of us together might succeed.

The Lost Soul is cautious with Helios, as it should be. They dance in a circle, both contemplating their next move like two bull elk staring each other down during rut.

When the Lost Soul’s back faces me, I leap off the second beast lying on the forest floor. While in the air, I swing Life Bringer down toward its neck, both blades sharp as a guillotine and ready to decapitate. But to my surprise, the beast swiftly turns to defend itself. An arm extends high, deflecting one blade, but the other blade catches the hairy limb just right and slices into it at the elbow. The appendage drops, leaving the Lost Soul with a dripping stub.

Helios takes advantage of the diversion and leaps onto its back, claws fully extended. He latches on, sinking his fangs into its neck and tears into the sinew.

The Lost Soul tenses before letting out a shrill wail. Subsequently, it erupts into a fit of rage. It flails one arm and one blood-spraying stub in an attempt to free itself from the overpowering tiger. This is my opportunity. I swing one sword down, slashing across its hairy chest, followed by a simple spin to acquire enough force for the other blade to strike the final blow.

For a moment, I believe my skill with the blades will be enough, but my gracelessness strikes instead. I trip over my own feet and careen toward the berserk beast. It wraps me up with one able arm and a fierce tiger tearing into its neck. And its strength is beyond me still. I cannot escape its grasp. The pain from the foul smell almost outweighs the pain of my ribs being crushed under its fatal squeeze. Life Bringer remains in my grasp, but I cannot move my arms to use it. My only source of survival is nullified. My lungs are collapsing under the pressure as my breaths get shallower. I gasp to fill them with air, but there isn’t any room for them to expand, like the beast has its ungainly claws wrapped around each lung, wringing them out like a soiled washcloth.

Just when I think my last breath has escaped me, the pressure releases, and I ardently fill my lungs with the rotten air surrounding me. Stench-ridden air is better than no air. I grab at my tunic and pull it away from my chest as if it will make room for my lungs to expand. Then, I collapse to the ground.

A moment of gathering my wits passes before I realize the beast has lost the other arm. Without hearing or seeing the cause of this infliction, fear saturates my short-lived moment of elation. The Lost Soul stands motionless. Its insides ooze from its abdomen where there’s a large gash from side to side.

With the weight of Helios on its back, the two fall toward me. Panicked, I raise my blades into the air, but they don’t stop the beast from coming at me. I roll to the side, abandoning the blades, and brace myself as the Lost Soul makes impact. It lies face down on the ground, lifeless, with Helios on its back. The tiger, likely exhausted, rises from the beast and only makes it a few steps before lying back down.

I scramble backward on my elbows and back into a tree when I see three cloaked figures hovering over us. One atop a massive bear larger than the beast they just killed. I cannot see their faces. My muscles tighten. I don’t move. I can’t move.

Without a word, the two figures on foot bind the Lost Souls by their ankles and drag the dense creatures into the night as if they were as light as sacks of feathers. The third stares for a long moment, shifting ever so slightly into a thin ray of Cerise’s crimson light. A pale, pitying face resides within the dark shadow of the cloak. The silence between us terrifies me more than if he were to let out a war cry. I think to reach for Life Bringer, then he disappears into the wood behind the others.

A breath of relief is disrupted by a coughing fit due to the lingering odor.

Then, I remember Goose is lying on the ground. My fear of the anonymous saviors vanishes when I realize my best