Season of Sacrifice (Blood of Azure Book 1) by Jonathan Michael (best ebook for manga txt) 📕

Fairview, however…she will be missed. And the overall jubilant aura of the entire village. They are all so free. Not weighted down by the Taoiseach or any other force in this world.

But Zoie…my heart sinks for her. She may never forgive me. I pause on the organic bridge and look back. Once my journey is complete, the Taoiseach is assassinated, and Jay is safe, I must return to give my gratitude for all they’ve done.

With a reasonable pace, the hike measures out longer than anticipated. All the way to the top, I watch as the path forms before my eyes. I use it as a motivator to keep pace with, so as not to start dragging. It is a worthy challenge, but Goose the Worthy has no problem conquering it. By the time I reach the last leg of the natural stairway, my legs are ready to collapse beneath me. I clamber on, however, one step at a time. As I summit the wall, triumph is the only emotion that pulses through my blood. That is, until I see another man standing beside my triumph, waiting. A coot with fresh foliage for a headdress and grey tree bark as a breast plate. And, of course, a wily little fur ball perched atop his shoulder.

“Graytu?” I ensure he can here the irritation in my voice. If it were so easy to gain access to this damned clifftop, then why did I suffer in a way that would drive most to murder?

“Goose of House Greyson?” he retorts without moving his lips.

So, this is how we communicate now.

Suddenly, as if a lightning bolt zapped me, I detect something I have known all along but haven’t realized during my entire stay here. I cannot believe it took me this long to recognize it. I suppose the blaring sunlight is enhancing it and has made it visible to the blind. But I’m disappointed I did not conclude this earlier. Graytu wears grey bark. All the Redcliffe Warriors don grey bark armor. Zoie encapsulated herself in grey bark. I’ve been in Greybark this entire time. And Old Lady Windblown is likely one of the villagers I’ve associated with.

“Graytu of Greybark,” I declare through my Instincts as I approach him.

“Aha!” he chirps out loud, and the squirrel on his back dances from shoulder to shoulder. “You’ve revealed a mystery that has been here all through history. I’m elated that ‘Goose Greyson the Worthy’ is also ‘Goose Greyson the Wise’.” He drags out the last word with a low, melodramatic tone.

I don’t know if he mocks me or if there’s sincerity there.

“It’s a pleasure to see you up here,” I say to Graytu as I grip his forearm in a warrior’s greeting. “But it’s bittersweet.”

“So it is. Sit. Admire the view for a moment. You look dreadful.”

I ignore his unintended slight, and the two of us take a seat at the cliff’s edge. I can see the entirety of the Redcliffe Forest below expanding to the Garnet Plains and beyond. The irrigation windmills to the northeast look like children’s toys arrayed on a royal carpet. To the south is a mass of violent clouds forming in the proximity of the Thunder Bluffs. I cannot hear the everlasting thunderous booms that echo in those canyons, but I can see them. Like crackling flames or a heavy snowfall, it’s mesmerizing. And to witness from above, even more so.

Then, a peculiar sight diverts my attention away from all the beauty. Peculiar, but still beautiful in its own way. Back in the direction I journeyed to get to this pinnacle, several small thickets of forest have been taken by an early touch of Autumn. Yellows, reds, and oranges paint the terrain. I ponder it briefly but move on as I am distracted by the astonishing view and all that is visible.

Looking outward, the horizon is infinite, and the only place visibly higher than the two of us is the Cerulean Mountains to the south and the west. And, of course, Cerise with its boundless ambience hovering in the blue sky. The brilliance of the view can be challenged by none other. I glance north then south, and the Redcliffe itself expands as far as the eye can see in either direction. Its magnitude is marvelous and causes me to wonder what could create such a thing. Is this all Susy’s creation?

And then another peculiar sight, an eruption of owls catches my attention down below us. Hundreds fly to the southeast. The same event I witnessed while in the canopy of the Broken Forest. Something I’ve never witnessed in my lifetime, and now twice in one season.

“It is peculiar, isn’t it?” Graytu breaks the silence.

I stare at him for a moment without responding, wondering if I was thinking aloud or not. “It is,” I respond.

“Have you ever seen so many owls fly together? Or even one owl fly with another owl?”

“I have, actually,” I say before briefing him on my recent experience with Jay.

“This is not a good sign. No, this is not a good sign,” he replies somberly. “I have seen many things, Goose of House Greyson, but I have not witnessed this. No, I have not witnessed this. I’m not sure what it means, but it’s not natural. I will ponder on it.” Unexpectedly, but not surprisingly for the old coot, he changes his tune in one breath to his typical quirky self. “So, you must have unraveled the answer to my riddle. ‘You are a tree, soft on the inside and hard on the outside.’ What say you?”

“It came to me just this morning when I discovered Zoie is alive.” I let a moment of silence pass as I deal with the reality of that situation. “Everything that comes