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

Guardian of Azure. And don’t fall into his trap. His persuasions are tempting, but malicious in the end. Don’t let him fool you.”

“Who? Guardian of Azure? What are you saying?”

“Who?” He repeats with a mocking grin, then a violent cough erupts from him. More blood. He attempts to wipe it from his mouth, but only smears it across his cheek. “The nut, of course. Who else? That nut will try to tempt you with his nutty acorn flavor, but don’t let it fool you. He bears no nut on the inside. No reward for the hungry squirrel. Only rot and demise. Now is the time to be a smart squirrel.”

Another Redcliffe Warrior and assassin battle near the meadow’s edge. The warrior, donning his grey bark armor pierces the assassin through the chest. Thank Susy. But he doesn’t fall. Instead, he pulls a kukri from his waist and jams it into the warrior’s side. The warrior’s eyes grow wide and he slumps to his knees.

“Graytu, now is not the time for your gibberish. Fairview is dead, and all your kin are falling as we speak. I need some real guidance.”

Graytu gestures for me to come closer. “Don’t worry about me and my kin.” He whispers into my ear. “We are strong and have the grey bark of the sentinels to protect us. You need only worry about you and your kin.”

“What do you mean?”

Graytu spits out more blood. “Be a smart squirrel. Don’t let the bad nut fool you. If you consume it, you will rot from within. If you bury it, it will grow into a forest of rotten oak. You have a choice to make.”

“Graytu!” I yell with absolute anger pouring out of me. “Now is not the time. Give it to me straight.”

“You’re right,” he says calmly and clears his throat, which turns into a viscous cough. “Look around you, lad.” He forces his hand up and points to the skies above. “You’re in a forest. And you are a Sprhowt. It is your ally. It is your fortress, and it is your arsenal. Use it wisely and you are sure to succeed.” He then closes his eyes and gives me a weak nudge with the last of his strength. “Over there.” He points to where the trees border the open meadow. “Go,” he mutters. “I will be fine. We are the blood of his blood. We are the blood of Azure.” Then, his eyes open wide, taking me aback, and the grey bark on his shoulders expands until it consumes his entire body, head to toes, as if he himself has become part of the forest. A grey sentinel.

Before it completely envelops his face, he manages one last instruction. “Goose. I’d like to meet your family someday. Please do inform Stone and Jaymes to come visit our village when they have time.” Then, the bark consumes him.

He leaves me puzzled even with his last breath. Oddly enough, it puts a gentle smile on my face. Crazy old coot.

I look to see what he was pointing at, and there she is, sprinting through the woodlands with one of the assassins on her tail. And on his tail is a large, ungainly ape.

“Helios, can you manage?” I say to the beast as I lift my leg over top of him and plant myself on his back. “It will only be a short distance.”

I gently grab his scruff, and he takes flight eagerly. Even with my weight slowing down his old legs, he proves to be fast enough. We waste no time in closing the gap between us and the chase.

We ride up beside Coloss at the tail of the chase, and he launches a fist of rage in our direction. Helios shifts just in time to dodge it. The behemoth must have tunnel vision in his quest to crush the assassin. Or he’s just an ape with a bad temperament. I ignore his outrage and signal Helios to speed up.

The old cat is losing wind. I must act quickly. As we ride up beside the hooded figure, I leap from the beast and throw my body at the attacker, knocking him to the ground and bringing the chase to a halt.

“Goose, no!” Zoie calls out. I don’t understand her concern. I saved her from being run down by an assassin.

The hooded assassin lies stunned on the forest floor beside me. Suddenly, he rolls closer and forces himself on me with his ice-cold hands clenching my neck. His hood falls back, revealing red, sweeping tattoos around his eyes. This is the same man that murdered Fairview.

“You’ll regret that, boy,” he says in a disgruntled tone. “I’ll make your death much slower than that old wench’s.”

I struggle to slip free from his grasp and fail. His strength is remarkable.

In my peripheral, Helios approaches with caution. He pounces. I wince, closing my eyes, anticipating the force of the regal beast. When nothing happens, I look to see Helios lying on the ground beside the assassin. How? I cry for Helios to get up, but my voice has disintegrated. I can’t speak.

Then, I no longer feel his touch. His hands hold me securely, but I feel nothing. My blood boils, and my breaths get shorter. What is this I’m feeling? Panic? I push and squirm to free myself from his strong hold and fail again. He hardly puts forth any effort to restrain me, yet he succeeds.

It doesn’t take long for my loss of senses to attack my hands as they flagrantly beat against him. He’s making my entire body go numb. And it must be numbing my intelligence too because I’m just coming to realize he’s petrifying me. Taboo! My throat tightens, and my breathing gets tougher. Shorter.

Just when I think my failure is imminent, a dark blur bulls through the enemy and continues raging through the forest