Crown of the Starry Sky: Book 11 of Painting the Mists

by Patrick Laplante

  It wouldn’t really block them from teleporting, Huxian said. It’s more like they wouldn’t be able to properly lock on to your anchor. If they can’t do that, they might miss you by as much as a hundred miles.

  I think I see the problem, Cha Ming said. His opponent’s whip-blade snapped together into sword form as the Origami Clan Dao Lord lunged and pierced for his solar plexus. Though he was a body cultivator and could probably take a few hits, he didn’t want to take any chances. Their Dao was strange, and any Dao scars they left took much time to recover from.

  Cha Ming instead activated his Clockwork Boots of the Golden Dragon. The burst of speed brought him out of the sword’s range and behind the Dao Lord, who broke into thousands of origami birds when he struck. They were apparently a part of his body.

  They’re made of paper. Will fire work? He threw out three Burning Butterfly Talismans he’d prepared beforehand. They were only mid-grade, but they were good at collateral damage. They flapped their burning wings and destroyed many of the small creatures before they agglomerated together, re-forming his opponent, who was grinning.

  It was only then that Cha Ming realized it was a trap. He’d left an opening. In that exchange, his opponent had placed a paper lotus on the core of the ship. As he resumed his attack, an energy field appeared around the lotus and began resonating with the ship’s power source.

  “Better hurry up,” the Dao Lord said. His whip coiled around Cha Ming’s body, forcing Cha Ming to summon five earthen pillars and jump upward. He swung the Clear Sky Staff in a wide arc to deflect origami birds as they dive-bombed him. Each of them let off a tiny explosion and delivered immeasurable pain.

  Mi Fei’s bones creaked as she defended against her opponent’s blade. What little Grandmist she’d summoned to help her dissipated as she was knocked backward toward a tear in space. She plunged her sword into the ship’s deck, stopping herself before she stumbled off it. She was exhausted, and it hurt to breathe, but she’d be damned if she died at the hands of these small fries.

  One of the men hadn’t done much fighting. He formed hand seals, and what looked like a puzzle of golden light shot a beam of concentrated qi at her. She rolled, not daring to defend like she had the blade.

  “She’s a tricky bug, isn’t she? Brute as she is.” It was the older woman with a spatial affinity who spoke. Her sword tore through the air, leaving a gray gash that would have consumed Mi Fei, had she not exerted her domain to twist space ever so slightly. It wasn’t something she’d ever learned, but she was glad she’d thought of it. Necessity was the heart of invention, and she didn’t want to die.

  Brute force wasn’t getting her out of this mess. Mi Fei could practically hear her mentor lecturing her. Was she a swordswoman or a barbarian? Well, she wasn’t either right now. She was a survivor, and that could change any second. Xiao Bai, Mi Fei pleaded.

  I just finished up. I’m trying, but… wait, I can’t get a lock on you. How strong is this stupid shield?

  A sword clipped off a lock of Mi Fei’s hair. She rolled around, using a thin string of Grandmist and her domain to bend reality, distorting the blade wielder’s glowing red blade just enough for her to dodge. It still seared her side and burnt part of her robe.

  Please. Please. She couldn’t hold on. She wasn’t going to make it.

  Calm down, Xiao Bai coached. Economize. Save energy. I should’ve seen this coming, but I got cocky. Um, Cha Ming is there with you, right? Tell him to have his fox brother talk to me. He should be able to deal with this.

  She did so. As she danced on death’s edge, she held the most polite conversation she’d ever had with the man. He was also busy, but he wasn’t blind. They were getting overrun and hit much harder than the others.

  Huxian says he can’t do it, Cha Ming sent back. Something about relativity and…

  Oh god, Xiao Bai said. Okay, this may take a while. You’re going to have to tell Cha Ming to tell him this word for word. Now, where to start. Dumb as a newborn…

  She was tired. So tired. But she wasn’t going to give up just yet.

  What she’d done was impossible, Silver Fish knew. You couldn’t damage another demon’s weapon. At least, not if you were in the same cultivation realm as they were. Yet here she was, a demon who fought like the weakest Golden Dragon in existence that could somehow blow a hole in his most precious artifact.

  She fought with ragged breaths, like she would collapse at any moment. Yet she was more dangerous than anyone he’d ever encountered. “You could barely fight me off when I was an early-initiation Dao Lord,” Silver Fish said. “What the hell is this?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?” she replied. Her hood was pulled back. Her cloak was ragged. It was disintegrating as they fought.

  The deck was also wearing away. Everything around her rotted and rusted, and as it did, her steps livened. Silver Fish barely had time to duck, narrowly avoiding a spear aimed at his heart. It hit his shoulder instead, but when it struck, it left deep scars that he could tell would leave his shoulder stiff for days even with medicine.

  Silver Fish was terrified. He’d come close to death many times before, but never in such a strange fashion. His opponent was weak, trembling, and skeletal, but somehow, she could hit him where it hurt the most. Wherever she struck, she didn’t just damage him. She hurt his connection to the plane. That, more than anything, worried him.

  How long is it going to take for this to heal? Silver Fish thought. His anchor was slowly rebuilding itself, but it had only healed a tiny sliver in the past few minutes of fighting. That wasn’t even counting the extra damage done with each subsequent impact. Everything her spear hit seemed to crumble. Yet there she was, panting and exhausted.

  “Just get out of here,” she said, breathing heavily. “Come challenge me when you’re stronger.” She took out a golden vial from her storage ring and bit down on it hard. She swallowed it, glass fragments and all, and a little color returned to her cheeks. Her image blurred then, and she appeared not behind Silver Fish, but above him. Once again, he could only raise his anchor, and another chip fell out. The only blessing was that when his anchor broke, she couldn’t consume it.

  “Last warning,” she said, piercing her spear into the ship’s deck. It ate a hole in it, just large enough for her to jump down.

  Oh, no you don’t, he thought, charging at her. He punched, and behind his arm was something akin to a manifestation—a black turtle and dark ocean waves. The attacked surprised her, and he managed to sneak a blow straight into her chest. He heard a crack, and to his relief, it wasn’t his own bones that broke.

  “Before, I was annoyed,” she said with gritted teeth. “Now I’m angry.” She punched back, and for half a second, his heart stopped. He felt death’s specter looming over him.

  And then she said to overlap adjacent time vertices where you can sense my presence so that you have a better lock, Cha Ming said. Then you can at least get here. It’ll be up to you to pierce the shield.

  Roger, Huxian said. I’ll be there as soon as I can.

  Tell the others to stand by for transit, Cha Ming said. He stopped talking and focused on his opponent.

  Currently, they were playing a game of hot potato. Except Cha Ming had no way of getting rid of said potato, because whenever he tried to toss it out of one of the many holes in the ship’s hulls, origami birds happily beat it back at him. He’d never been good at this kind of sport, much less when a bomb was involved.

  The origami birds had only increased in number since he’d arrived. There were tens of thousands of them now, and every beat of their wings disoriented him and dampened his senses. They cut off his soul sight, and until he managed to defeat his opponent, he would be blind to his friend’s situation.

  “Aren’t you worried you’ll die when this goes off?” Cha Ming asked, smashing the crimson lotus away from the Origami Clan cultivator and toward an opening. His Temple Sand Clones jumped in and blocked while Cha Ming threw out a Burning Wall Talisman. Th
ousands of origami birds went up in flames. He dismissed them just as the origami lotus flew through the opening, but the minute he did, thousands of origami birds appeared, wrapped around it, and sent it right back.

  “As long as one of my birds survives, I’ll be fine,” the man said, shrugging. “My odds of survival are astronomically better than yours.”

  For once, Cha Ming had to agree with the man. He was trapped, while the man probably had a few birds hidden not far away. But what can I do? He couldn’t destroy the lotus without detonating it. He couldn’t push it through any opening.

  Could he perhaps encapsulate it in something? It was a treasure, and not just a technique. “Oh. Right.” The swarm thickened even further. The lotus treasure was on the verge of exploding. So he did the only thing he could do—he activated his Clockwork Boots of the Golden Dragon, and the world slowed down enough for him to lay a hand on it. It vanished.

  “Hah! You think a storage treasure can contain the explosion?” the man said.

  Cha Ming shrugged. “We’ll see.” They waited three tense seconds before finally, the man grimaced. “You cheated.”

  “I use what I have,” Cha Ming said. It wasn’t a secret that he had a soul-bound treasure—it just so happened that many of them came with their own independent spaces, each of which had their own abilities. In his case, it was omnipotence. He had full control over anything he put into it. The origami lotus might be a part of the cultivator, but he’d severed the connection. He’d also dismantled it the moment he’d taken it in.

  He was about to attack the defeated Dao Lord when a shiver ran down his spine. On instinct, he dodged. There was an explosion from the wall leading to the next ship as a beam of energy tore through it. It continued and struck the core, which began vibrating dangerously.

  “You didn’t think I’d fight fairly, did you?” the man said.

  Cha Ming glowered. He didn’t have much time before the frontmost ship blew up in his face. The crew driving it was dead, as were all the guards around him. There were three cultivators blocking the large gap that had appeared in the ship—they’d used up all their energy to execute their strike. He hadn’t seen it due to the thousands of origami birds blocking his sight.

  Cha Ming, I’m coming! Huxian sent.

  Cha Ming began a mental countdown. He didn’t know how long the core would last, but it was probably safer to get away from it before his friend jumped in. White wings erupted on his back as he executed Thirty-Six Heavenly Transformations. His strength and speed shot up suddenly, and he took advantage of the Origami clansman’s surprise to create a Flow Talisman. The air around them thickened and solidified, but as it did, Cha Ming stepped through like nothing had happened. He struck at the Dao Lord’s heart, and while he brought up both hands and blocked, Cha Ming wasn’t executing a normal strike. The Clear Sky Staff appeared in his outstretched hand as he executed Searing Sands of the Sacred Desert. The projection of a serpent appeared behind Cha Ming, and his staff bit into the cultivator, who burst into tens of thousands of origami birds, of which Cha Ming stored a few in the Clear Sky World.

  “Die!” said one of the cultivators who’d struck the core.

  Cha Ming ignored him. The train would slow, which meant they would soon be overwhelmed with bandits. He had to get Huxian in here safely. Mi Fei was barely holding on, and Silver Fish was in rough shape. He leapt out of the gap they’d blasted in the ship and hopped onto the second ship. There were bandits everywhere, many of them coming out of the woods. The ship was barely moving, and guards were falling like flies.

  Incoming! Huxian said finally. There was a shattering sound as the shield jamming their communications came down. Huxian appeared overhead. As he burst in, the frontmost ship exploded, surprising everyone and derailing the convoy.

  Everyone who can, teleport in! Cha Ming sent. Only half of them had used their teleportation talismans.

  Huxian dove down and joined the melee. He wielded a blade in each hand and three more as whips on his tails. He cut down three bandits as he landed, but many more came to take their place.

  “Try to get some alive!” Cha Ming said. He threw out a few ropes that coiled around three of the bandits. They fell to the deck as their qi and body cultivations were sealed.

  First things first: survival. Cha Ming rushed past the warring guards and bandits. Huxian would soon be there to help them. He ran straight to the back of the second ship where Mi Fei was barely holding back three cultivators. She dodged a blade, then a sword, but there was little she could do about the third, who’d finished up charging a blast of light-based qi.

  Cha Ming activated the Golden Boots of the Clockwork Dragon at maximum capacity. The metal stores in his bones burned away at a rapid rate, but in exchange, time around him sped up for a few precious seconds, just enough for him to place himself between Mi Fei and the attacker and place a massive pillar in front of the attack. There was a flash of gray, then three consecutive screams. Xiao Bai was here, faster than all the others.

  “You go ahead,” she said. “I dare anyone to try hurting her.”

  Cha Ming nodded. Mi Fei was exhausted and bloodied, but she was alive, and that was what mattered. He leaped across the gap to the third ship, and as he did, Killjoy appeared. Shneraz did as well, and together, the three of them began cutting the bandits apart. But more were coming from the jungle. They weren’t giving up easily.

  “Hold them off,” Cha Ming said. They nodded, and he left them to assist the caravan guards. His group’s timely arrival had given them a breather, and they were able to retreat behind fortifications. He flew through the air as fast as his legs could take him, and when he reached the fourth ship, Silverwing appeared. With him came the winds. The bandits hesitated.

  Cha Ming left him and jumped onto the fifth ship where Silver Fish and a woman with ashen hair were fighting. She wore scales like a Golden Dragon would, but they were pale and discolored. She looked sickly. She wielded a wicked-looking dark-gold spear.

  “Don’t fight her head-on!” Silver Fish said as Cha Ming fell in beside him. His friend was wounded, and his demon weapon was cracked and chipped. Not a thing that normally happened.

  He analyzed Silver Fish’s opponent—she was definitely a Golden Dragon, but peak initiation? That didn’t line up with the strength they were capable of. Golden Dragons were strong. Was she sick? Silver Fish wasn’t weak by any measure, but he shouldn’t have been able to hold her off on his own.

  Cha Ming appeared behind the demon and struck with Crushing Chaos. Her spear met his staff, and neither cracked nor broke. Hers was a demon weapon, and his was a soul-bound treasure.

  “Silver Fish, try to seal her!” he yelled. He used most of his remaining creation qi to create his five-element talismans. Flow, matter, shape, energy, and samsara formed a prison. Cha Ming threw a binding rope, and so did Silver Fish. She fell to the ground, helpless.

  “What was she after?” Cha Ming asked, satisfied that she couldn’t break free. He deactivated Thirty-Six Heavenly Transformations and winced as the backlash hit him.

  “I’ll show you in a second,” Silver Fish said. He was clutching his chest. His skin was pale and silvery, and the runic matrix that covered his skin was worn and faded. “She leaves pretty nasty Dao scars.”

  Cha Ming nodded. “She’s a little weak for a peak-initiation demon, isn’t she?” The demon was struggling. Her face was red, and what little muscles she had were bulging.

  “She’s sick or something,” Silver Fish said, shaking his head. “I tried to stab her with a dagger. It broke, and she ate it somehow.”

  “Ate it?” Cha Ming asked. “Was it devouring energy?”

  “I don’t know,” Silver Fish said. Then his eyes narrowed. “Look out!”

  Cha Ming summoned a shield of sand just in time to block the explosion. Her bindings had somehow burst and released all their stored energy. Their former captive was now flying off on her own personal ship.

  Cha Ming moved to pursue her
, but when he did, he heard a voice from the Clear Sky World.

  Kindly leave her be, said the Clockwork Ancestor.

  And why would I do that, honorable ancestor? Cha Ming asked.

  She’s got a strong will, the Golden Dragon said. I like that.

  She’s a criminal, Cha Ming said. Still, he shook his head and helped Silver Fish up. Most of the bandits were gone, but there was still fighting. It was justifiable to help the defenders. Have it your way. For now.

  You owe me, the Clockwork Ancestor said. You’ll do as I say. Besides, I marked her.

  Really? Her? Cha Ming was too exhausted to argue. He had no idea what was going on. Why was a Golden Dragon with the raiders? Weren’t they supposed to be honorable? Moreover, why was she so sickly? He’d have to ask Shneraz. They were a tight-knit group, the Golden Dragons. That thought and many others ran through his mind as he ran to the fourth ship.

  Boom! Suddenly, there was fire and screaming. Pieces of ship flew everywhere.

  Boom! Another explosion. Guards took cover. Xiao Bai shielded Mi Fei with her body while Huxian chased after something.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Another three explosions.

  “What the hell is happening?” Cha Ming asked Killjoy as he arrived on the third deck.

  “Our prisoners happened, that’s what,” Killjoy said.

  Cha Ming frowned. “They exploded?”

  “Looks like the corpses are doing much of the same,” Killjoy said. She looked toward the black cloaks littering the deck, and one after another, they burst into flames. The bodies quickly combusted, leaving neither ash nor bone behind.

  “Did you recognize anyone?” Cha Ming asked.

  “No one specific,” Killjoy said. “I saw techniques from some fallen sects. One of the guys I killed was an Origami clansman, and another from the White-Eyed Tiger demon clan.”

  “They’re the gift that keeps on giving,” Cha Ming muttered. Up ahead, the guardsmen were scrambling on the lead ship. “How long before they can get this convoy moving again?”