*FEATURED* Ao is a wrathful, ravenous former god trapped in a human body and sentenced to roam the Inner Empire for all eternity.
Eternity is rather dull, until she meets a green-eyed prince and his friends.
The prince offers her a deal; help him a...
My good mood would have continued all day had it not been for the snatch thief that grabbed Ermi's purse just as we were leaving The Golden Thread.
The small urchin sped off up a road leading along a canal and away from the main thoroughfare. We all stared after him dumbly, before Ermi suddenly cried out. "My bag!"
I didn't have to think. Instinct took over, and I sped after the boy, skirts flying, wooden shoes clacking loudly as they smacked on the stones of the street. "Ao, wait!" Zakhar cried after me, but I only ran faster, caught up in the chase.
By the time I reached the alley the boy was already far ahead. I stopped, assessing the situation, realizing that in my current dress and with the boy's lead, there was no way I could catch up to him.
Then I saw a shortcut. A narrow wooden pole, poking up from the canal bed, perhaps once used as a mooring post for the small skiffs that trawled Zhanghai's canals. If I could make it to the top of the post, I could then leap up to the bridge above it, and use that as a shortcut to close the distance between me and the boy.
I took a running leap and launched myself out over the canal. I smiled with satisfaction as my right foot found its mark atop the wooden post, and then pushed myself from there toward the bridge, arms out to grab onto the edge and pull myself up.
My smile slipped mid air, as I realized I had either overestimated my speed or underestimated the distance between the post and the bridge. I hit the side of the bridge too low, grunting as the stone impacted my chest and forced the air from it, and fell down to the canal below, hitting the water with a splash.
I sank immediately, the silk of my gown becoming exponentially heavier when wet. The murky water of the canal grew darker as I sank. The sunlight refracting through the surface above faded away.
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Thrashing my arms and legs, I frantically clawed my way up through the murky water back toward the light. More than the water, I was concerned about all the things in it, knowing well the disgusting state of Zhanghai's canals.
I broke the surface near the edge of the canal, and reached up to pull myself out. My fingernails broke painfully as I struggled to find purchase in the stonework of the canalside. I tried once, twice, to pull myself out, but was unsuccessful, the weight of my gown being too much for me to lift. I fell back into the water, cursing.
I was about to reach down into the water and tear off my long silk train when someone grabbed me by the back of my dress and pulled me from the canal with ease, like a mother tiger lifts her cub by the scruff from the water when it will not stop playing.
I found myself dangled above the canal, face to face with a woman not much taller than I was, but decidedly more muscled. The curve of her arms and legs spoke of power, as did the confident twist of a smile on her lips. Her brown hair, lightened by time outdoors, was pulled back in a tight, functional braid. She was not pretty, nor was she plain. Her face, just like the rest of her, had strong, healthy, well toned features that I recognized.
