Chapter 110: Chapter 110
The sky was tinged red and black as the transport closed and began to float up into the sky.
Tempest was happy that she could no longer see the ground. While they were in the transport, at least she could try to pretend that everything was okay underneath them.
It was useless.
Every time she closed her eyes. She could see Pinat’s small body. The tattered clothing that barely fit her. And somehow the strength of the little girl is still present on her forever sleeping face.
Tempest sniffled and fought against the memories. That wasn’t how she wanted to remember the little girl. That wasn’t how she wanted to remember Aixen.
The transport hummed softly as it climbed higher into the sky. Normally, Tempest found the sound comforting. It reminded her of white noise back on Earth, something she would put on in the background whenever she had trouble sleeping. Today it only made the silence between the three of them feel even heavier.
No one moved.
No one even seemed to breathe.
Dron stared straight ahead, his jaw clenched so tightly that the muscles along the side of his face twitched every few seconds. His hands rested on his thighs, but they opened and closed into fists over and over again as if he were imagining the throats of the men who had orchestrated everything. Every so often Tempest noticed his nostrils flare, his alpha instincts still refusing to settle after the fight.
Across from them, Gerax looked just as shaken.
The scientist normally carried himself with quiet confidence. His clothes were always neat. His posture was straight. There was usually an answer waiting behind his thoughtful expression.
Not today.
His hair was coated in ash. There was dried blood on the sleeve of his shirt where he’d scraped himself digging through the rubble. Gerax wasn’t taking notes. He wasn’t asking questions. For perhaps the first time since Tempest had met him, he looked completely overwhelmed.
Tempest lowered her gaze to her own hands.
Fine gray dust still clung beneath her fingernails.
She rubbed her thumb across one of them, watching tiny flakes fall onto the floor of the transport.
Ash.
She wondered how much of it had once been someone’s home.
Someone’s memories.
Someone’s entire life.
A lump formed in her throat.
She remembered Pinat’s excitement when she’d proudly shown off her tiny home. The little girl’s pride had been so genuine despite having almost nothing. Tempest had promised herself she would come back. She’d promised to help.
Instead, she’d watched that same child buried beneath the ruins of the only place she’d ever known.
The guilt settled heavily inside her chest.
Maybe if they’d left sooner...
Maybe if she’d insisted everyone evacuate...
Maybe if she’d realized those men were setting a trap...
Her eyes squeezed shut.
No matter how many different choices she imagined, none of them changed what had already happened.
Pinat was gone.
Aixen was gone.
And somewhere below them, an entire community was mourning while the people responsible were probably congratulating themselves for a job well done.
"The royal class did this." Gerax spoke, breaking the silence in the small transport.
"You know that for a fact?" Dron questioned from where he was sitting.
"They are the only ones who would be able to pull something like this off," Gerax snapped.
"No, not the only ones. The military class could have also pulled something like this off."
"The military class gets their orders from the high royals," Gerax argued.
Tempest shook her head. It felt like her skull was too big for her brain. The organ felt as if it were sloshing in liquid.
"It doesn’t matter who is responsible. All that matters is we make sure something like this won’t happen again. We have to let everyone know. We are the only ones who know anything about this." Tempest finally opened her eyes and looked around. Both Gerax and Dron looked surprised that she had anything to add to the conversation.
She would stay quiet. Not after this.
It didn’t matter if they were going up against the high royals, the military class, or the other poor people. All that mattered to Tempest was that they did the right thing.
"You’re talking about starting a war against all of Thraque, not just one class."
"Are you saying we can’t do it?" Tempest turned to look at Gerax.
"We’re going to need help." Dron spoke, and she turned to look at him.
"Help?" Tempest questioned, "From whom?"
Dron groaned and closed his eyes.
He didn’t answer her.
Tempest didn’t know if that was because he didn’t know or because he didn’t want to have to ask anyone for help.
She was starting to think it was the latter.
Dron wasn’t the ask-for-help kind of alpha.
It must really be a hit to his pride to even think about reaching out for assistance.
"Why would they do something like this? Whoever is beind this..." Tempest shook her head, frustrated. "I don’t understand why they would go and destroy the entire poor class. Those people already had so very little. What was the point?" Tempest huffed and leaned back in her seat. She couldn’t see the reasoning behind the attack. If it was just to get Dron and her, they could have done that at their home.
They didn’t kill everyone, "Gerax spoke. "There were still a few homes on the outskirts that weren’t affected by the fire."
"It was a message," Dron continued.
"What was the message? Maybe I’m slow, but I’m not seeing what the message could be."
"To stop wishing for a miracle." Dron looked at Tempest.
In an instant, Tempest remembered what Pinat had said to her the first time they’d met. Pinat said that Tempest bestowed a blessing on those that she visited.
"Me? Am I the miracle?"
"The people see you and believe they can have something more. I’m sure us coming to Aioxen’s home and helping him, giving him things he would never be able to get on his own, must have gone through the village. Rumors travel fast. If the poor class started to think they would get help from other sources, they might not be so quick to wait for the high royals to help them."
Temepst didn’t want to believe it. Didn’t want to believe anyone could be so cruel. Unfortunately. The more Gerax talked, the more she knew he was telling the truth.
"So what do we do? What’s first?" Tempest looked between Gerax and Dron. She wanted to get started on a plan.
"We have to regroup," Dron answered.
"We have to keep this secret," Gertax inserted, his voice a little more powerful than it had been before.
"What? No way!" Tempest fought back.
"Yes. We can’t tell anyone what has happened here. Not yet." Gerax leveled his eyes on Tempest. "Right now, the only ones who know what’s going on here are the ones who sent those to get rid of us. The minute we start digging, everyone is going to know. Even those that might not be on the same page as the high royals are going to find out. The royals can’t have another black mark on their judgment. I think it’s best if we keep this to ourselves for right now." Gerax nodded once and looked at Dron as if he had the final say in the matter. I guess he did. If there was anyone who was going to be fighting these people, it was Dron. At least until they found this help that he said they needed.
Tempest felt defeated. She wanted to do more. Didn’t want to give up, but the same way she felt under the rubble was how she felt at that moment. As if she had no way out. Maybe giving up would be the best option.
Dron turned in his seat and reached out for Tempest. She got out of her seat and went to him instantly. There was no hesitation on her part.
She sat in his lap, trying to do so gently as the both of them were still a little more than just achy. She could tell he was hurting. She only hoped it wasn’t as bad as the last time when he had to fight in the coliseum. She didn’t think she could handle him going through that amount of pain again.
"My temptation, I know this news disappoints you, but I think Gerax may be right. We can’t rush into this. Can’t fight the world." Dron swiped his hand against her cheek gently.
"I know." She closed her eyes tightly once before opening them again and meeting Dron’s gaze. "Just promise me we won’t forget about them. We can’t let this stand. We have to do right by these people."
"And we will. One way or another, I’m going to find out who is responsible for what’s happened here today, and they will pay for what they did. It just may take us a little time." Dron pressed his lips together.
"We’ll figure it out together?" Tempest questioned.
"You will be kept aware of any information I get. We are in this together." Dron nodded.
It was all that Tempest could hope for right now. Well, that wasn’t true. She could find someone to just blow everyone up, and that would definitely take care of the problem, but she didn’t want to hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it. She knew that Dron and Gerax were right. They would have to be smart about this. They would have to do things slowly just to make sure that they caught everyone who had anything to do with this. They were about to go after the head of a snake.
A big, powerful snake.
