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

a little lower on her cheeks today. But the light in her eyes and the energy in her voice is full of life as it always is. Her body is failing her wits and wisdom.

There is a small group of children, all plopped on their rears with their legs crossed, sitting in front of Fairview in a loose semicircle, listening intently. Their ages range from tyke to adolescent, and all their attention is fixated solely on Fairview. I am impressed with how she manages to entrance a crowd of such a wide age range. Not one of them looks away from her to see Graytu and me approaching.

“Now, I trust each of you brought your test subject to practice on today. Is anyone in need of their own little critter? I’ve managed to gather a few extras in case one of you came ill-prepared.” Fairview pitches to her side, taking much time to extend her hand into a crate, and retrieves a furry, grey squirrel. She strains to lift herself back up but manages.

“Chippie!” Graytu interrupts the lesson in a perturbed fashion. He looks to his empty shoulder, not realizing Chippie had left. “How dare you! You old wench… I mean… That squirrel is… He’s not a guinea pig. How dare you use him for one of your experiments!”

Fairview looks to Graytu with an all-knowing grin on her face and shoots him a wink. Her premeditated actions return just the reaction she was expecting. These two behave as a married couple with more seasons than anticipated behind their vows.

“Class, you all know the wise and grumpy elder, Chief Graytu.” She lifts her hand and gestures in his direction.

“Hello, Chief Graytu,” they all say in unison.

“And this young fellow—young in my eyes at least—if you haven’t had the chance to meet him during his stay, is Goose Greyson of House Greyson. He visits us in search of knowledge. Do any of you have any knowledge you’d like to share with him?” she asks her pupils.

“Don’t pick your nose while eating supper!” one dirty fellow yells.

“Very wise, Samson, but I would wager Goose is well aware of that one.” She sends a persuasive look my way. “Does anyone else have anything they would like to share with Goose?”

“Yes,” a familiar voice says, but her back is turned. “Don’t piss off any large and ferocious apes,” the young girl announces and turns to look at me.

“Zoie!” I whisper. My hand shoots in the air, but I don’t wait for Fairview to call on me. “Always respect your elders, regardless of how little they understand of this world.” My lips flatten at first, focusing on Zoie, but I can’t resist a large grin.

“Alright, that’s enough banter. Class, we’re done for today. You’re dismissed. And that includes you, Zoie.” Fairview gets to her feet, much more nimbly than what she displayed just moments ago, and shoos the children away with her hands. “Move on now. Move on. You don’t have to go home, but get off my front porch.”

Some of the children flee with a look of fear in their eyes, and others tease the old woman, running circles around her, laughing as she tries to rid them from the wooden deck in front of her hollow.

Eventually, they all flee. Zoie too, but not before slugging me in the arm.

“Children these days…” Fairview adds. “They don’t respect the elderly, do they? I blame the parents. They need to start smacking them around more. It’d teach them a little fear and discipline, if you ask me.”

“Well…” Graytu speaks up, “…is she what you expected? She may appear neglected, but I do promise you, she is well respected. Like an old lady who’s outlived her welcome, waiting to be resurrected.”

“Excuse me, Chief Grey-to-the-Bone,” Fairview rebuttals. “That’s what the children call you behind your back, you know. You act as if you don’t have an old, grumpy bone in your body. Truth is, that’s all you’re made of.”

“Goose, this…” He unfurls an upward-facing palm with a gentle curtsy. “…is Fairview Windblown. Known to many as Old Lady Windblown, or, more formally, The Old Grumpy Goat of Greybark.” Fairview scorns him with her eyes, but Graytu fails to acknowledge it. “Although her old age brings a bad temper and obstinacy, it also is accompanied by the wisdom of the Old Races. It is her knowledge you seek. I’ll leave you two be.”

“Good riddance.” Fairview spits as he gaits away. “So, young lad, you’ve managed to linger here for some time and you’re just now finding out what you seek is right in front of you.”

“It’s not easy to find answers in a village led by a half-crazed old man, and where everyone responds to questions with questions. And for the record, I haven’t been lingering. I was misled into believing I only had one way out. And that way was guarded by an oversized, angry ape. Oh…and the fact nobody in this village refers to this village as Greybark is still a mystery to me.”

Fairview responds with an impish grin.

“Old Lady Windblown.” I shake my head, frustrated from the hoodwink, but with a delighted smile I can’t hide. “It’s all too obvious in hindsight. Isn’t it?”

She nods with a pensive, flat grin. “Sit. Sit. Let’s talk civilly.”

She gestures for me to plop down on the ground in front of her wooden chair. She notices my hesitance to sit on the floor as if I’m one of her youthful pupils, but disregards it and takes a seat in her chair. I sit down on the wooden floor, nonetheless, entertaining her patronizing antics. And I sit crisscross, too, with my hands locked together in my lap, simply to mock her, likely unintentional, but belittling manner.

“Greybark is not the name of our village. That is why none of its inhabitants refer to it as so. We are,