Most recently, he’d discovered quite a few minor abilities and the ability to summon a giant mirror wall. He could use it to block or to create a mirror image on the other side, which he could then swap using the mirror as a medium. Still, these abilities were lacking. There weren’t named abilities, and as such weren’t worthy of any special attention.
“No togas,” Gua said. “End of story.”
“Just give them a chance,” Miyue said. “Floral patterns could go a long way.”
“Even if you decorated them with the best floral patterns, they wouldn’t be worth anything,” Gua said. “Think about it: Those who want them care nothing for fashion. Therefore, adding fashionable variants makes no sense.”
“You’re making big assumptions,” Miyue said.
The biggest issue, Huxian decided, was that he was always cooped up with these two. Foxes were meant to be free. They were tricksters and wouldn’t be satisfied with being relegated to babysitters. Only by gaining further independence could they truly grow into themselves. Or at least large spurts of independence tempered by the comfortable warmth of friendship.
I’m not the only one with problems going forward, Huxian thought, eyeing the two. He was struggling to find his path, and they were trying to go in two different directions. The thing was, how would they know unless they tried? Wouldn’t they just keep arguing forever if they didn’t?
That was when it dawned on Huxian. There was a way to solve both problems at once. “Guys, I have an important announcement to make.” They looked at him. “We’re splitting up. Seeing other people.”
“What?” Miyue said, teary eyed.
“I mean in the day,” Huxian said. “This whole vacation together thing isn’t going well. We need time to do our own thing. I need to go exploring, you need to try your toga idea, and Gua needs his artistic freedom.”
“That’s… surprisingly reasonable,” Miyue said.
“I’m all for it,” Gua said. “If only to see her fail miserably.”
“Then it’s settled,” Huxian said.
So it was that the three friends parted ways. And Huxian the fox was cut loose in the largely unattended phoenix coop known as Shimmerwing City.
It was deep in an underground high-stakes gambling den that Huxian rediscovered why he didn’t usually go gambling. Not again, he thought, looking at the green coins as they slid over to the other side of the table.
“Another round?” the oily weasel asked with a predatory grin. His entourage and the dealers at a few nearby tables snickered.
“No, I think I’m good,” Huxian said. “I’ve lost more than enough money for the day.”
More than enough for the month, even. Miyue was going to kill him. Everyone here was a trickster. He had his Time-Torching Eyes and his affinity for space, yes, but how could he win at cards against creatures that could smell uncertainty and hear his irregular heartbeats? Best to cut his losses while he still could.
“You could make a comeback,” the weasel said, acting shocked at the prospect of Huxian giving up. “You’ve done it before.”
“Yeah, before I lost it all and more on top of it,” Huxian said. “I’m gotta cut my losses. I’ve only got so much to spend on this trip.”
“Fine, fine,” the man said, “but if you’re ever looking to kill time with a friendly face, you know where to find me.” Like hell he would.
Huxian left the rundown establishment much poorer than when he’d entered it. He moped for all of two seconds before realizing he was hungry. He’d spent the better part of a day in that smoky place, and the smell had cut into his appetite. He wasn’t sure what food venues there were around here, so he set his nose to the task and followed.
Shimmerwing’s food scene was both competitive and diverse. One could find anything that wasn’t frozen as long as one looked hard enough.
Huxian settled on barbecue. He made his way down winding roads, only pausing when he smelled something unusual or exotic. He tracked a particular scent down a few more alleys, and it took him to a square filled with street vendors. He was on the second floor of the tower city, so things weren’t as organized as they might otherwise be.
Huxian sniffed, making his way past a few carts that were roasting fish—yuck—and delicious duck. He liked duck, even though it was a tad bony for his taste. He reluctantly passed on it in pursuit of that other smell. Eventually, he found what he was looking for: A young woman was roasting small lizards over a pit in the ground. It definitely didn’t meet whatever loose regulations these street vendors were following.
“Hello!” the demon said sweetly when Huxian wandered over. His mouth watered when he saw one of the roasting lizards, crackling and sizzling in all the right ways. She was cooking them in a strange fire. It was multicolored, but not iridescent. Just like the young girl’s mop of seven-colored hair. “Would you like a crackling stick of spotted lizard?”
“A what?” Huxian asked.
“A crackling stick of spotted lizard,” the pretty girl said. “The fire crackles, and these are spotted lizards, and this is a stick. So I decided to call it a crackling stick of spotted lizard.”
“Right…” Huxian said. “How much for one?”
“Ten yellow demon coins,” she said happily. “A steal, right?”
“Ten!” Huxian exclaimed. “These are tiny.”
“But they’re special,” she insisted. “Only I can make them.”
“All right, all right,” Huxian said. “I’ll take one.” He fished around in his extradimensional space and handed her ten yellow coins. She promptly handed him a crackling stick of spotted lizard. He took a big bite out of the largest lizard. It was very tasty. How had she cooked it? It was like the flames added a whole layer of flavor he hadn’t known existed. Even now, he could feel the meat cooking and crackling as he swallowed.
Still, it was missing something. “Do you have any pepper?” Huxian asked.
“Oh, yes!” the girl said. She summoned a large pepper grinder and began grinding it over his half-eaten lizard. “Yes, I find crackling sticks of spotted lizard are best with pepper. The only problem is that I can’t have any. It’s just… I…” Her face contorted awkwardly. Then it relaxed, and she continued. “I can’t have any pepper. I’m too allergic.”
“Allergic?” Huxian asked. That was uncommon for a demon.
“Yes, it’s very inconvenient,” the girl said. “My name is Bifang. What’s yours?”
“Huxian,” he answered. He continued eating the lizard. “Strange flames you’ve got. They’re nice.”
“Aren’t they?” Bifang asked. “They’re a little wild, but as long as I stay focused, it’s all right. As long as I don’t…” She opened her mouth, and suddenly, Huxian could feel the entire street cringe. He felt a felt a twinge of panic as Bifang let out a cute sneeze.
“Achoo!” The entire street went up in flames. Seven-colored fire spread throughout their surroundings like an oil fire, lighting up wood, fur, and even stone. A patch of Huxian’s hair caught fire as well, and he whacked it out in a panic.
“What in the seven hells is this?” Huxian yelped.
“Oh no!” Bifang said. She crouched as angry men and women beat away patches of stray fire while glaring at her. “I’m sooooo sorry. Please don’t let them hurt me.”
“Hurt you?” Huxian asked. It was just a fire. Those happened all the time in demon cities.
“That’s it, you’re getting what’s coming to you,” one of the street vendors said. He’d owned the food cart with the ducks, which was now scorched, and his ducks burnt to a crisp. “My stall’s gone. I’m not letting you get away with it this time.”
“But I don’t have much money,” Bifang whined. “I have maybe fifty demon coins.”
“You think that’s enough?” the street vendor said. “And it’s not just me. Look at them all.” Every single stand in the street was burned, and several shops were scorched.
“I can’t pay…” Bifang whined.
“Then we’re taking you to the guards,” the man said. “They’ll kick you out of the city this time.”
“I’ll die out there,” Bifang said. “It’s scary!”
Meanwhile, Huxian was more interested in her appearance. What kind of demon is she? he thought. Seven-colored flames? Strange flames. Explosive? Where have I seen that before? Demon memories could be very unreliable at times. Aha! She’s a crackling crane! Paydirt! Crackling cranes were exceedingly rare. They were a one-legged multicolored bird in their bestial state, and aeons ago, they’d almost been hunted to extinction. He didn’t know why, especially given how powerful they were.
“Don’t let them take me!” she whined, grabbing onto Huxian. It was only now that he noticed the menacing men and women approaching them.
“Don’t worry,” Huxian said. “I’ve got you.” He grabbed her by the wrist and broke into a run. The teary-eyed girl followed him down the streets as the crowd of demons gave chase. A few human shopkeepers jumped in, as they, too, had lost some goods.
Passersby cheered them on, though eventually, some guards joined in the chase. It wouldn’t be good to drag this out. “Here, grab onto me,” Huxian said. He scooped her up, and she squeezed him tight as he flickered away. He reappeared on a rooftop in their line of sight. Teleportation was technically possible without vision of the target, but rematerializing inside walls or living beings was unpleasant.
Flicker. Flicker. Flicker. Every time they jumped, they were farther and farther away from the mob. As a space-time demon, running and trickery were his specialties. They wouldn’t catch them in a hundred years.
“They have strong noses,” Bifang warned.
“Don’t worry, we’ll just hide out here,” Huxian said. They ducked into a small alley, and shadows enveloped them. No one would be able to find them now. “There. Problem solved.”
“Oh, goody,” she said. “Mmm, you smell so nice. Like pepper.” Her nose wrinkled again. “Ah, ah, ah! Choooo!” Flames erupted all around them.
Oh god, what have I gotten myself into? Huxian thought. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her along. This time, there were residents involved in the chase. Pepper was a strange allergy to have, and he loved pepper, though it wasn’t a deal-breaker.
They continued this game of cat and mouse until finally, their pursuers gave up. By then, Bifang was tired and sleepy, and he could only carry her on his back. It was then that the tower lights shifted, announcing night was upon them. That meant dinnertime.
“All right, time to take you to meet my friends,” Huxian said, dragging her toward their hotel.
“What if they don’t like me?” Bifang whimpered.
“Don’t worry, they will,” Huxian said, teleporting into the common room at their pre-planned table.
Gua was the first to recover from their sudden entrance. “Who’s that? A stray?”
“Who might this young girl be?” Miyue asked crisply.
“This is Bifang,” Huxian said, grinning. “Our new and very awesome friend.”
Chapter 10: Fighting Blind
Fear was something Mi Fei had learned to get used to in the past few weeks. Not comfortable—just familiar. It was an unseen shadow that was always there, flitting through the waking world just as easily as it did her nightmares.
Nine jade boxes lay in formation around her, their natural treasures long evaporated into the thin gray mist that filled the energy-gathering formation. The runes facilitated not only the original breakdown of the natural treasures, but also the frustratingly slow process of pulling the mist through her qi pathways and into her core.
The sheer density of power didn’t overwhelm Mi Fei. It would barely put a dent in her cultivation. She was a Grandmist cultivator, and as such required ten times more energy than the average Daoist. Fortunately for her, all energy was interchangeable. Cultivating was easy, even in her distracted state.
Flicker. She felt the black shadow in the room, peering at her from behind. It meant her no harm—at least not for now. She didn’t know what it looked like, and neither could she tell if it was human or demon. Or something else.
She didn’t bother turning around. She knew it would disappear if she did so. Therefore, she focused on the blob of Grandmist that floated above her hands. You can coexist with your fears, she told herself. It’s all in your head. She focused on Grandmist concepts and their elusive existence.
Grandmist, she thought, manipulating the ball of liquid gray mist in her hands. What is it, really? She inspected the ball and probed it with her soul as it wriggled and writhed. Grandmist was unlike any other material in existence. It was all phases of matter at once, and invited contradiction. Much like she was calm despite her ever-present fear, chaos and order coexisted in Grandmist. They were familiar friends, never without the other.
Her goal today was to try combining flow and stillness. It seemed simple when put into words. Unfortunately, she couldn’t just say it. She needed to feel it, and the answer would likely involve more than a few contradictions.
She had to start somewhere, so she settled on the water-element Concepts of Turbulent Eddies and Still Water. Turbulent Eddies were very small pockets of chaos in water, and waves were made up of millions of them. Since they were so small that it wasn’t possible for them to contain anything, she decided that she’d need to work Turbulent Eddies into stillness. That made sense, right?
She focused on her orb of Grandmist and tried inducing turbulence inside it. She focused the tiniest pieces of fluid and urged them to move. They did so easily.
Now to capture stillness, Mi Fei thought, moving her attention the rest of the blob. Only to realize the rest of the blood was circulating. Crap. I didn’t want to do that. It seemed that introducing turbulence created flow. Or was it the other way around? She smiled at the thought, because that was exactly what she was looking for: contradiction.
She continued in this way, allowing time to pass her by. She didn’t know if she would get anywhere today, only that she needed to keep trying. Experiment after experiment resulted in failure. It would have helped, of course, if she didn’t have to keep calm while containing her bubbling anxiety. But that was life, wasn’t it? And then it struck her.
Mi Fei grinned and spoke softly. “Thank you, whoever you are.”
The shadow stirred, but she kept calm. It was an answer, and one that probably only made sense to her and her alone. It didn’t make perfect physical sense, but that was all right. Concepts weren’t just physical things; they were mental ones.
She took a step back and distanced herself from the turbulent ball of Grandmist. She stopped agitating it, and soon enough, the outside stilled. The globe became still as a marble despite the swirling still taking place at its center. Just as she could keep calm despite her inner turbulence, so, too, did the blob of Grandmist seem calm to the outside observer, despite its inner eddies.
The Concept of Turbulent Eddies snapped together with Concept of Still Water, forming the Concept of Hidden Currents. It wasn’t a Grandmist Concept, but that was all right. Eventually, she would get there. The remainder of the thin gray mist in her formation rushed in to welcome the birth of the new concept, and Mi Fei opened her eyes.
It was time to face the shadow.
Mi Fei scowled as Xiao Bai laughed, clutching her gut where Mi Fei had kicked her. She used her domain and transcendent force to pick up scattered dishes and broken glass. The room was a mess, and much of her furniture broken. All because of a stupid misunderstanding.
“I can’t believe you thought I was the shadow,” Xiao Bai said, wiping tears from her eyes. “I have white hair and white ears, and I wear white robes. I’m the opposite of a shadow.”
“I wouldn’t have confused you with anyone if you didn’t confound our bond and blur your presence,” Mi Fei said. “And if you didn’t spy on me from outside my field of vision. Aren’t you supposed to protect me?”
“I didn’t want to interrupt,” Xiao Bai said. “And to be honest, I’m surp
rised you caught me. That’s hard to do. I’m impressed.”
Mi Fei seethed. “Whatever. I’ll find that shadow, mark my words. And I’ll capture it and show everyone.”
Xiao Bai’s ears fell.
“What?”
Xiao Bai shrugged. “People are talking. It’s not the healthiest of things to do—chasing shadows every day.”
“I’m not chasing shadows,” Mi Fei said. “I’m chasing a very real enemy. I sensed it in the House of Mirrors, and I’m determined to catch it.”
“Yeah-huh,” Xiao Bai said. “And why have I never sensed this enemy? I’m not a defenseless human. I have keen ears and an even keener sense of smell.”
“Maybe you spend too much time stuffing your face,” Mi Fei said. “Besides, I have to do something other than cultivating. Cooping myself up in this room wouldn’t be healthy.”
“Fair enough,” Xiao Bai said. “Anyway, you’re not having enough fun. Too much chasing and cultivating and no play. We’re going out and spending time with your boyfriend.”
“We?” Mi Fei said. “You know, the whole point of going on a date is privacy.”
“And you’re a hundred percent confident you want to go alone?” Xiao Bai said.
Mi Fei hesitated. Things hadn’t been the same since her… episode in the mirror house. She’d been seeing things—black flickers she couldn’t quite follow. Paranoia or not, she didn’t feel safe. “Maybe going together would be better.”
“It’s all in your head, Mi Fei,” Xiao Bai said softly. “It’s the memories.”
“But it feels so real,” Mi Fei said. “Like a dog nipping at my heels. I can’t help but want to pull my legs away.”
“Fair enough,” Xiao Bai said. “Even if the shadow isn’t real, there’s something to be said for listening to your gut. Cultivators get feelings like that all the time, and so do demons. And you know what? I think you should listen. We’ve been here too long anyway.”
“I just keep seeing things,” Mi Fei whispered. “Shadows. Frightening ones.”
Claddings of Light : Book 12 of Painting the Mists Page 16