Season of Sacrifice (Blood of Azure Book 1) by Jonathan Michael (ereader that reads to you txt) 📗

In a quick decision, with no hands available, Stone kicks his legs out. He’s successful! Elder’s arms tangle with Stone’s legs, slowing his fall. But the downward momentum is too powerful, and his success slips away. Stone watches in anguish as Elder continues to drop. His best mate hits the ground legs-first, and they collapse beneath him.

Stone has no time for thought or compassion. They’re not safe yet. The Sprhowt assailants swing from the rooftop on green vines. With extraordinary strength, he curls Elder over his shoulder. Jaymes on one and Elder on the other, he trudges away from his home toward the stable.

There’s a small meadow spreading the distance. If he can make it there, his odds of escaping into the surrounding forest improve significantly. The knee-high grass and wildflowers poke at Stone’s bare feet, but he hardly notices with the adrenaline surging through him.

Unable to glance over his shoulder, he doesn’t look, but he hears consecutive thuds and grunts. The two assailants have landed.

Stone’s heart hammers in his chest. He won’t let this happen to his sister. Or Elder. He pushes forward with a faster pace, trying not to collapse and hide in the grass like he desires to.

Without explanation, the grass grows as he moves through it. With every step, it shoots high into the air. Startled, he slows his already trudging pace and turns to see if they’re following. The meadow is no longer there. In its place is a field of elephant grass taller than any man. And the assailants are nowhere to be seen. Stone forges on.

The stable is a simple structure with a large door on both ends and stalls in between. Stone rests his friend and sister against one of the stalls and promptly bars the doors. Now, which tiger to prep?

Lance is large enough for the three of them but graying around the whiskers, and his back isn’t fit for the weight. Stellar, an adolescent, would easily fit the task of a get-away beast, but his rogue moments are too risky. Flare is pregnant. That only leaves Helios, undoubtedly their most loyal and quickest tiger. He stands as tall as a man, with paws the size of Stone’s head and teeth longer than Stone’s fingers. The obvious choice.

“Stone, what’s happening?” Jaymes whispers in a gruff voice. Her blank stare has washed away.

Stone wastes no time to kneel by her side and comfort her.

“Jay! Thank Susy. I don’t really know… I don’t know what’s going on, but we need to leave now. Those Greenthumbs weren’t friendly. Mount up.” He gestures for her to hop onto Helios’ back and moves to check on Elder.

Jaymes offers a reproachful glare in return.

“I’m sorry.” He returns to her side. “Are you okay? We must hurry, though. How can I help?” He offers her a hand.

Jaymes accedes and allows him to pull her to her feet. “Where’s mother and father?”

“Please, Jay, just hop on. We need to leave now. Mother and father are capable of handling themselves. I need to get you out of here.”

Jaymes, still groggy, obeys mechanically and straddles the tiger.

Stone drapes Elder over Jaymes’s lap and signals Helios to head out. He pushes one of the rear carriage doors open and mounts Helios, holding on tight to Jaymes as they dash through the exit.

But the children are too predictable. The Sprhowts wait outside the stable doors with their augmented fingers stretching toward them.

The tiger leaps out of the way, too quick for the attack to be effective, but nearly tosses the children in the act. Helios counters their attack by pouncing on the short-haired Sprhowt first. The tiger’s claws tear into his chest as he’s forced to the ground.

The blond one, now gawking at his companion, turns to retreat. Helios cuts him off and swipes, causing his entire mass to fly through the air. The tall grass catches him and softens the impact with the ground, but the blow is severe. The surrounding blades are stippled with blood, and there is a large crimson pool accumulating below him. Several lacerations stretch from the back of his head to his nose. Flesh hangs from his cheekbones, and his ear is missing.

The children decide not to stick around to see if either of them climbs to their feet. They look back in the midst of fleeing into the Great Oak Forest to see a few men standing beside a large oak tree along with two burning bodies dangling from it.

Mother? Father?

I am the only one who sees it. It was apparent when I watched a man—a gentle Greenthumb—a friend, slay his own wife. Temper is a controllable trait, but tangible consequences no longer have any effect on the inhabitants of this world. His perception of hope was nonexistent. He had no passion to control himself. Man puts itself above insignificance.

1 Jaymes

“M

other?” A tender whisper escapes me as I rub my eyes. “What are you doing here?” A lofty figure hovers in the shadows of my sleeping quarters. The broken shutter the boys have yet to repair reveals a soft breeze wafting through the graceful gown she’s wearing. Tonight, her hair is in a tight braid, the same as she used to style my own. She is beautiful as always. I try to resist, but a dimple forms in my cheeks nonetheless. I brush my thumb across it the same as she once did.

Her back facing me, she peers over her shoulder. Tears meander the contours of her face.

“Mother, are you okay?” I whisper to avoid waking the boys. “What’s wrong, mother? Why do you do this to me? What’s wrong?”

She twirls to face me, and I see it is not my mother at all. It looks like her in every way, except… Except for her eyes. They’re pale. Nearly as pale as