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

from your mouth is rubbish. What you really meant was I’m soft on the inside and hard on the outside, but I should be aspiring to be like a tree. Not just any tree, but a velvet tree in particular, which is undoubtedly the hardest of all trees on the inside and unnaturally soft on the outside. A tree solid and unyielding all the way down to the core of its heart but generous and forgiving on the outside. A tree that emanates, above all else, strength and compassion. A tree more commonly known as the antlers of a White Hart. Finally, something that has escaped your tongue has actually made sense to me.”

“Huh?” he chirps. “A clever answer, that is. I’ll have to remember that one.”

I look at him quizzically, yet again.

“But you have it all wrong,” he adds.

My face heats up, and my smile yields.

“It is all a matter of perspective, lad. It was a simple comment left open for interpretation. That is all. There is no answer.”

“How…” I ball my fists, digging my nails into my palms. “How infuriating. It’s all falderal. You’re just an old coot who enjoys being crazy. I’m exhausted by listening to you.” I stand up and begin to stamp away until Graytu chants some more nonsense in a child’s tune.

Anger, anger, a taunting danger.

It flares your cares and faults the stranger.

Anger, anger, a taunting danger.

It feeds your weeds and points the finger.

“I know what you’re doing,” I complain with my back still facing him.

“Come. Sit back down,” he says in a compassionate tone.

I accept his invitation. I hate admitting it, but it’s a tantrum birthed from exhaustion. Nothing more. I flop back down beside him.

“Now…let’s have more of that falderal that constantly leaks from my cheeks. Who makes Goose the Great?” he asks.

“You do. And Zoie. And my family. And everyone else who I care for.”

“And who makes Goose the Worthy.”

I scratch at my head and run my fingers through my hair. “I do,” I say with hesitation.

“You do. The fact is…there is a gap, and that gap needs filling. It’s human nature to fill a void when there is one, but it’s not always easy to make out all the holes that need filling. There are large holes and small holes, holes far away and holes so close you wouldn’t see them if you looked straight down.”

“So, you’re saying I used Zoie to fill a gap?”

“No!” he exclaims an unduly harshness. “Well…yes, you filled a gap in your heart with Zoie and then you literally filled a gap across an impossible ravine, but that is not it.”

“You said everything that came from that tongue of yours was simple?”

“It is. Pay attention, lad. It is all too simple. If I had sent you on your way in your current state, you would have never succeeded. You were young and immature. Hot-headed and overconfident. Your self-proclaimed greatness made you unworthy. You would have learned nothing from the Grumpy Old Goat. It would have gone in one ear and out the other. Now listen.

“You had the potential. Potential with your talents, your Instincts, and your overall values. But what you didn’t have was the understanding of how to grow into something more than your own desires. Nor did you realize you even needed to. You filled those empty gaps with overconfidence and boasts that only weighed you down and kept you from growing. Kept you from becoming great. All that falderal was intended to get you thinking about who you are and those who your actions affect. In the end, you are the one that decided you had a void in your heart that needed filling, and in doing so, those that filled your heart also elevated you to the top. They are your passion to carry out what you intend.”

I’m fully aware he is right, but I’m not going to admit it. I may have grown enough to understand I won’t always have the answer, and it is possible to survive without knowing the right answer, but I’m not ready to shed all my pride by admitting he’s right. He knows that as well. I can tell by the look on his face.

“Alright, enough chippie chatter,” I spurt out. Graytu’s face lights up. “Why did you help me, Chief Graytu? I know my eagerness to inflict pain and suffering on someone is not a worthy cause.”

“You are strong willed, Goose Greyson the Worthy.” He winks. “You dissolved one family due to a confliction with what your heart believed was right and replaced it with another family you are willing to go to extreme measures to protect. I don’t know why you fled your father, but you are transparent in the fact you deeply care for him and respect his teachings. It takes a strong and courageous man to make such a decision. An attitude can be adjusted, but a good, strong heart is something you’re born with. In the end, I have no doubt your greatness will be what Azure needs. And I was confident you would choose to be worthy of scaling the Redcliffe Crossing. Not just any legs can carry a man up here. It was just a matter of how long it would take.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence. My father would have given me an insincere congratulation then told me what I could’ve done to improve the matter. He made a choice I didn’t agree with, you know. That’s why I fled the capital. I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t want to be part of his plans.”

“Goose, remember this. No man has it all figured out. I don’t have it all figured out. Your father doesn’t have it all figured out. No man does, regardless of what they boast. It is time to break away from your past