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

family we have remaining.” It’s my fault, though. I led him into this situation with my stubborn, unmoving decision. She may be like a sister to me, but she isn’t my responsibility. She’s not my family. Despite my claims, I don’t have a family. Not after having abandoned my father. I turn and trudge toward the exit. “Stone, I didn’t know…”

Without a destination, I meander through town. I pass a small graveyard that draws me to peruse it further. It’s larger than it should be for such a small village. The delta must take a lot of lives from the mothers and children of this town. Life can be too short for some. It makes it hard to make a difference in this world with such little time.

Several graves are fresh with the soil turned recently. Curious, I take a closer look. The dates on the headstones are ancient. Some more than a century ago. Why do they turn the soil?

I move on, trudging past the piers. The day is getting late and several fishing vessels have returned to port. Fishermen are bartering with traveling merchants. Their deckhands tend to their vessels, and the pillow girls are hanging out the windows of the local inn. They all have a purpose. They have a place to be. What is my next move?

I naturally gawk at the upper windows of the inn. The pillow girls are flaunting their goods toward the piers, awaiting the crews to finish up. Tempting. A destination decided on. I put my hand on the iron handle and open the door.

“Mr. Greyson?”

I slink down, let go of the handle, and let the door slam shut, drawing even more attention to myself than whoever’s calling out my name. I slump against the wall of the inn, trying to look casual and look for the speaker.

“Mr. Greyson?”

My nerves calm as I see who the speaker is. “Advocate Gunther.” I call back quietly. “Please, please.” I gesture for him to lower his voice. “I’d rather not have any attention drawn to me.”

“Oh, right! My apologies.”

“Thanks again for your assistance today. I have a good feeling about Astor.”

“As you should. She has her reasons. Poor child.”

“Reasons?”

“An incident when she was an adolescent has sent her whirling into a deep commitment to help others. It’s her life aspiration now. To see that no others must suffer her fate. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t say anymore. It is not mine to share. But I will tell you it is no thanks to that darned tyrant who holds us hostage under his Dihkaian powers.”

“The Taoiseach,” I mutter. His grip extends throughout the realm. What business does he have tormenting the townsfolk of a small fishing village? They work hard for their keep, yet he reaches into their pockets and ensures they’re aware of his presence. And he’s the reason my father made the choices he did. He’s the reason I fled from my life in the capital. The Taoiseach is the tyrant everyone makes him out to be. The realm needs to be rid of him for good. But how do you overcome a man who’s said to be immortal? “Tell me more of this Old Lady Windblown and her wisdom she possesses…”

An inkling of a grin and cautious eyes sweep over Gunther’s face.

Inception of a belief beyond mankind began on this thirty-some thousandth day of our expedition. Not that anyone is counting anymore. A story of a man greater and more powerful than all others lives among us. A nameless man who not only has the talent of the four races, but has power beyond that of any man. But their belief lacks faith. They desire truths. Trust is no longer earned. It has been extinguished altogether.

13 Jaymes

C hill creeps under my skin, and ironically, a warmth surrounds my body. Water flows all around me, past me, as I rush through the…warm…red waters of the Scarlet… Naked! I thrash at the water, trying to get to the bank, but no matter how hard I stroke, my arms won’t get me there. I calm and let the icy warmth engulf me, but the serenity doesn’t last long. As I gaze downriver, I see an end to the horizon. It stops. The river, the bank, the trees…it just…disappears…into an open, cloudless, blue sky. Yet, I don’t panic. Somehow, I know. I know it will be okay. I drift closer to the edge and watch as the red waters dissipate into nothing. Am I going to dissipate into nothing too? No. Somehow, I know. I know it will be okay. I cross over the edge where everything turns to nothing, and I am suddenly weightless.

“It’s okay, Jay.” A whisper sounds in my ear. “You’re okay.”

“Mother.” She embraces me as we float through the nothing. “Where are we?” I try to pull away and look her in the eyes, but she squeezes and holds me firmly in her arms. “Mother, please.” I cannot escape her grasp, and she refuses to let go, so I acquiesce. I am suddenly aware of the lacerations my body has endured. They throb with pain as if I’m being pounded with a wooden blade.

“You’re okay, Jay.”

My mother’s embrace is comforting. And it feels as though she uses her Talents to heal me. Is that possible? Can a Lahyf spirit heal the living? Am I living? Where am I?

“Mother?” My voice is the softest of whispers.

“Don’t be afraid…” She lets go, and gravity steals away my weightlessness. My heart stops. My flesh presses into my bones from the increasing velocity. There is nothing below me. Nothing in sight, and I continue to fall. The blue sky all around me fades into a grey one. Cloudless but lacking color. It continues to get darker and darker until I find myself in a