Page 5 of Goddess of the Broken
Tempest was awoken by a sharp pain in her chest. The room was empty; Emperor Aiden had disappeared. Using the pain as a compass, she left the inn’s grounds and walked up the stone street to find him.
Getting the emperor back to his palace may not be as easy as she’d assumed. In the daylight, the patched cracks on the sandstone buildings showed the wear and tear of the town. This was not a wealthy area. Obtaining credit with only the promise of later payment would be difficult.
Soon the sounds of a crowd reached her ears. As she approached, a small market opened up. Stalls with a rainbow of colored fabric covers lined the street. The energy of the crowd both energized and put Tempest on edge.
A woman readjusted bolts of cloth to better show the colors in a stall under an emerald-green roof. She grunted at a few customers and hollered in a different direction. A man with a spice stall picked up a jar of bright yellow powder that rolled away, shaking it to ensure it was still full. A small child bumped into Tempest’s leg, their mother quickly apologizing as she hustled them away.
Swaying on her feet, Tempest tested which way to go to find the emperor. Noting a slight easing of the pain when she leaned towards the left, she continued that way. Her stomach rumbled at the smell of loomi tea as she passed a stall with a bright blue fabric top.
Stalls of dates, chickens, clay pottery, and fabrics lined the street. Their owners called after her, encouraging her to stop and investigate their wares. Amid the crowd, Tempest almost missed the feeling in her chest getting worse again. Backtracking, she eyed a small alley. The feeling eased as she tested a few steps towards it, confirming the direction she needed to go.
She heard scuffling feet ahead. As she approached another alley that intersected the one she was in, a group of half a dozen men gathered around something came into view. She was tempted to avoid them, but the pull in her chest told her she needed to head toward them. Keeping her footsteps completely silent, Tempest slowly approached the tight grouping of men and peeked through a gap between them.
A body lay on the ground. As one of the men shifted to kick the lifeless person, she caught a better view of their target. The tattered blue fabric matched her dress.
Rage overcame her, and with a yell, she summoned Soulshadow, a ball with four sharp hooks attached to a chain that grew and shrunk at her will. Allowing the chain to wrap around her body as she spun, Tempest swung the ball towards the nearest man. The hooks gripped into his shoulder, and with a hard yank, he flew past her, dropping to the ground after colliding with the hard stone wall.
Fate had led Tempest to the emperor, and Tempest knew better than to let it down. Rarely did that go well for anyone, mortal or god.
Chapter 3
Withaflickofher wrist, Soulshadow answered Tempest’s call and returned to her hand. The chain slipped through her fingers a short way as she began to spin the ball again.
A man in orange robes charged toward her. She let Soulshadow lose, allowing a small chuckle to slip through her lips at the sound of his skull cracking.
Soulshadow returned to her hand once again. The four remaining men approached her cautiously. Ball spinning, she circled around the wall of a two-story building, preventing them from surrounding her.
All four men charged at the same time. Crouching low, Tempest leaned back, allowing one of them to hurdle over her. Soulshadow flew around his waist, and when she yanked, he flew back over her and collided with one of the other men. She spun and kicked her leg out, knocking both standing men to the ground.
Tempest rose. Soulshadow slammed into the jaw of the one who’d been leveled by the hurdler as she reclaimed her weapon from his waist.
The two remaining men had risen but now froze. She took a single step towards them, and both took off running down the alley. Though she was tempted to chase after them, Tempest glanced toward Aiden. With blood running from his mouth and nose, she chose him instead.
Soulshadow’s chain and ball disappeared when Tempest crouched down. Sliding her arms under Aiden’s knees and back, she lifted him into her arms and returned to the inn they had stayed in the night before.
No words were needed, and the innkeeper only nodded in understanding and pointed to the building they had stayed in before. Tempest entered and laid Aiden down on the cot.
Moments later, Tavora quietly entered with clean water, cloths, and a jar of salve.
“Looks like the two of you have had a rough go of it again. Thought you may need these.”
Tempest smiled at the woman. “Thank you.”
Dipping the cloth into the water, she began to clean the blood from Aiden’s face.
The woman watched, fidgeting with her fingers. “You know, I’ve never met a woman like you.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“You just carried a full-grown man as if he were a child.”
Tempest hesitated. “I’ve had weapons training since I was very young. It’s quite common where I’m from for women to be stronger than they appear.”
The woman nodded. “If you say so. Is there anything I can do for you, dear?”
“No, thank you. I appreciate you letting us stay here again.” Tempest brushed a lock of hair from Aiden’s face as she cleaned the blood from his nose. “I’m not sure how long he will need to recover.”
“Don’t worry about that. You can stay as long as you need.”