To Fling a Light

by Wong Yoong Le

  Everything around me became a dull monochrome and all movement ceased. It was an oddly familiar sensation, as though I had lived in such a world for a long time. Despite my unease, my body continued to move, and I caught up to the thief’s motionless form a second later. With a particularly violent rip, I tore my wallet out of the thief’s unmoving hand, before sending him sprawling onto the pavement with a vicious kick to his back.

  As my feet returned to the ground, I was suddenly overcome by the desire to retch and everything started moving again. Color returned to the world as the sounds of the night scene filled my years, and the thief scrambled away from me. Strength drained away from my heaving frame, fatigue taking its place. I had no idea what exactly happened, but it didn’t take long for a cacophony of sirens and car horns to break the nightly silence.

  “What… exactly did I do?” I asked, nonplussed at the impossible scene that had happened just mere seconds ago. It looked like I had stopped all movement in an area around me, but it didn’t match up to the immense spiritual turbulence in the surroundings. The problem laid in what exactly happened, but I didn’t have the luxury of time to dwell on that. I could have accidentally maxed out the viscosity of the air around me or caused everyone to fall unconscious. It could be anything, but we had to get away from here first. I jogged back to Hao Wei, before moving towards the train station.

  “Will they be able to tell it was you?” Hao Wei looked around nervously, his usual expression gone from his face. To him, I had probably somehow moved fast enough to catch up, but given what he knew of me, he probably thought that I caused the accidents afterwards as collateral damage. His nervous twitching, however, didn’t exactly fit well with his build. I forced down some laughter, before shaking my head.

  It was unlikely that they could tell that it was the doing of a practitioner, as our powers don’t leave behind any distinctive traces. Even so, the local branch would be busy, as would the other supernatural powers, once the mortal authorities passed this case down to them. As we turned away from the main street, police and ambulance sirens alike could be vaguely heard, causing me to grimace.

  “That’s quite a lot of taxpayer money we just wasted…” my voice trailed off and Hao Wei nodded vigorously in agreement.

  “Well, it’s the pickpocket’s fault.”

  As I said these words, I felt an unnatural cold come on. The presence of the otherworldly, of denizens from what we called the Far Shore, an entirely separate plane of existence. Since time immemorial, we had called these interlopers Outsiders—an apt name for invaders who were hostile to everything on this planet. They appeared mostly at night, and could fight toe-to-toe against most Enigmas and native supernatural beings easily.

  Their mere presence was an omen in and of itself, and it wouldn’t take long before they were engaged in combat by any passing member of the supernatural community. They typically appeared in an ectoplasmic form if they wanted to make some shady dealings with humans, but such an intense chill could only emanate from their true bodies.

  It was common knowledge to avoid meeting an Outsider in the flesh.

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  Our steps hastened as I prodded him on. I pushed through the crowd and both of us vanished into the underground train station. I wasn’t taking any chances with an Outsider here.

  Chapter 4

  It was the wee hours of the night by the time I returned home.

  I had told Hao Wei to return as soon as possible, for the scale of the accident had managed to attract denizens of the Far Shore and supernatural alike. A few curious beings, right before we entered the station, were already arriving on scene. Even now, dim trails of light could be seen in the night sky, heading towards the eastern side of Singapore, attracted by the spiritual commotion raging on.

  As I slammed the door behind me, I muttered, “Ward.” The house shook, perhaps not literally, as a sphere of light expanded outwards, forming a barrier that would deflect any stray blasts of power. A fistful of flame burst into being right in front of me, a visual representation of the barrier’s current state.

  There was a snowball’s chance in hell that any of those supernatural beings would come here, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious. The Ward would block off any preliminary attacks on the house and the other houses in the vicinity, due to its abnormally large size. Collateral protection along with some much needed peace of mind, I guess.

  I mused over the day’s happenings as the hot water ran down my face. Every time I exercised my will, I had overdone it, creating rather impressive problems as a result. Even the Ward I created was too big and crossed onto the boundaries of the neighboring houses. It would be a good idea to tone it down from now on. A few more of these incidents and the cat would be out of the bag. Or the bag had burned to ashes. Considering me, it was far more likely to be the latter.

  I dried off on the now fully damp towel and changed into a set of comfortable, loose-fitting clothes. I had an appointment scheduled with the Beacon Mail Service representative tomorrow, but before I turned in for the night, I decided to check the letter from the Conclave.

  I handled the envelope gingerly. The envelope itself looked expensive, and I briefly wondered if I could sell it afterwards. I mulled over that thought for a few seconds before standing up and walking over to my room. The Conclave was wealthy enough not to care about a single envelope, right?

  It was said that the letters of major Enigma organizations were able to notify their senders when and how their recipient opened their messages. Although I had no idea whether that rumor was credible, I didn’t really want to put it to the test. Fumbling with a drawer, I picked up a letter knife and neatly opened the envelope along its top.

  I cursed silently as a bunch of words I could barely comprehend showed up in the letter, and got down to work. It was almost four in the morning when I finished comprehending the contents, which was just a glorified letter of welcome and introduction. If I had to warrant a guess, it was probably a standard letter sent to every supernatural and otherworldly being that decided to take up official residence here, and I berated myself for wasting the hours of potential sleep.

  It was pretty surprising, however, that the Conclave of Wizards would actually track people who had connections beyond the mortal world in Southeast Asia. The Conclave was mostly focused on Europe and to some extent North America. Southeast Asia shouldn’t have been that important enough to warrant surveillance and tracking, even if the Conclave had a branch here. But again, no groups purely Southeast Asian in origin were large and systematic enough to claim hegemony over the region, so the Conclave probably stood in to help. They had extra manpower, I guess, and there was this old dictum saying that power abhors a void.

  Putting the thought out of my mind, I stumbled towards the bedroom. I was about to lie down, when I took a sharp breath. An unnatural chill—the same as I felt just hours ago—had set in. It was an Outsider… and it wasn’t happy. Power was building up, and it wasn’t of the flowery variety either.

  It was closer to a naked blade, unsheathed and ready to kill. My hackles rose as the pressure intensified. I didn’t know whether the Circle would have noticed such an attack, but it was fortunate my Beacon was taken offline. Whatever that was out there was probably out of my weight class, and I wasn’t a fan of getting killed for no reason.

  Simply put, there was little to gain from such an intervention. It would be far more prudent to keep my safety as a top priority. Keeping my mind on an imaginary sphere of light, I started exercising my will.

  “Reinforce.”

  “Sanctuary.”

  I exhaled as I felt the intense wave of power sweep out, reinforcing the physical and spiritual barrier already present. Such an outpour of power would be a warning to the beings facing off outside, something akin to firing a warning shot. The white flame that appeared because of my Ward had been enclosed into a white crystal. As a direct side effect of my power, the surrounding houses had started to glo
w faintly, which just goes to show how little I could control my powers.

  With a gentle plop, I fell onto the bed.

  I pulled the warm and fluffy blanket up to my head and attempted to sleep. The two idiots out there started fighting each other, without consideration of innocent people who just wanted a good night’s rest. I felt a slight tinge of pity for whoever was currently maintaining law and order in Singapore—getting called out to intervene right now would really suck at such a time at night. In fact, I wasn’t sure if they would actually bother to intervene…

  I wouldn’t, for one. One shouldn’t skip their beauty sleep, and it wasn’t like I was free tomorrow anyway. Heck, it might be dangerous. It probably would be dangerous.

  Abruptly, the ambient temperature rapidly fell, causing me to shiver and wrap my blanket around me even tighter. This sudden cold seemed to mimic the act of a weightlifter inhaling deeply before he started his lifting, or that of a tiger tensing up right before he pounced on his prey.

  With a silent, yet violent pulse, the built up power erupted with an unprecedented intensity, creating a shockwave that could probably rank on the Richter scale. The entire house shuddered with a mighty groan, while loose items jumped off cabinets and onto the ground, toppling over noisily. The barrier I’d created lit up with a blinding light, and in my mind’s eye, the white flame enclosed in the crystal was shaking and shrinking at an alarming pace. The tremors persisted for a few more heartbeats, before the shockwave subsided as quickly as it started, leaving behind a howling gale; the only proof that an unbelievably strong power had manifested itself this night.

  My hands were clammy with cold sweat now, and I kept my eyes shut, trying to make myself as inconspicuous as humanly possible. I had sorely underestimated the other party’s fighting capacity. That final outburst of power was something that this house wouldn’t have withstood if it was the main target. Whatever had happened outside was just another reminder that I shouldn’t be too proud of my achievements thus far.

  But the events of this night weren’t over yet.

  My eyes flicked open in shock. Another existence had seized control over the ambient Natural Laws for a good hundred meters around me. I had felt something like this before, in the presence of my stronger mentor, but the suppression this time now was utterly incomparable to Igor’s presence.

  The wind picked up again, its speed and ghastly wailing far louder than barely a minute ago. An ear-piercing scream, one so inhuman that sounded like it came from a cross between a crow and a cicada, rent the air, and the pervasive chill that had dominated the atmosphere for the past fifteen minutes vanished.

  Somehow, I knew that if I didn’t go to check out the scene, I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. I rolled off the bed with some difficulty and proceeded downstairs slowly.

  The cold, harsh wind stung my face as I closed the door. It was bloody cold out there, prompting me to speed up. It was easy to locate the loser of that fight, as that person had fallen into the Ward’s sphere of influence. My eyes narrowed as I approached the fallen figure. Said figure was actually composed of two people, and the dim light threw their wounds into sharp relief.

  However, unlike the metallic feel of manufactured magic that was the trademark of wizards, the aura that these people were emanating resonated in harmony with their surroundings, albeit weakly. Were they cultivators?

  At any rate, the two of them had been knocked unconscious, their heads and upper torso now entirely bruised black and blue. Elsewhere, cuts and small gashes decorated their limbs, giving them an appearance resembling an abused effigy. It looked like a train had smashed into them, which was quite the appropriate metaphor given the type of power I’d felt in that last strike. It didn’t look all that fatal though, despite the amount of power I’d felt earlier, so I turned my attention to more interesting issues.

  I started rifling through their belongings, hoping to find some clue as to why they were being chased. I glanced at their wallets, which I had conveniently taken out, and took out their identity cards. Other than their identity cards, the wallet was disappointingly empty, and there was nothing of interest on their bodies either.

  My eyes fell onto the identity cards as I tried to make out their names. Cai Li Jun and Cai Li Xin. I frowned, trying to remember if there was anyone important who went by these names, but couldn’t come up with anything. I shook my head and looked towards the distance. These two had fallen into my Ward directly, but I could spot another two indistinct lumps of meat right outside the Ward’s influence, and I walked over to them.

  There were some black masses of flesh sitting on the road, right outside the barrier. Whatever it was, it had been bisected horizontally. No entrails could be seen lying around on the floor, and what was most likely the upper body was faintly shining with a red sheen. As for the face… it didn’t look like anything I’ve seen so far. It had a pair of still-twitching mandibles, an open pair of black, vacant eyes, a closed pair of eyelids, and skin highly reminiscent of a beetle’s shell. Ghastly little tentacles were growing on its cheeks, like mushrooms, and my stomach reeled as I took in the entire sight. As I continued to watch, another tentacle broke the smooth surface of the monster’s skin, wriggling in the cold night air. It reminded me of a dying man’s struggle, the last light a man sees.

  I shuddered and stood a step back as the life in its eyes faded away. I wasn’t too sure what this thing was exactly, but it was clearly an Outsider, judging from the residue chill in the surroundings. As for whatever entity had done it in, I had an even less clue. This monster was cut neatly enough to shame sliced bread. Its face carried an expression of shock and fear, the kind that would probably show up on my face if I met this guy in a dark alley on a moonless night. Just what would make this monster feel fear?

  Dots of light started rising from the lumps of meat, and the corpse soon vanished into thin air. The chill dissipated entirely as the corpse disappeared, reminding me once again how muggy nights in Singapore usually were.

  I turned back to the two cultivators as the monster vanished. They had nothing valuable on them, and given their age, they wouldn’t go around provoking monsters to attack them either. It was likely to be a premeditated assault that would have been successful if not for the unforeseen intervention that sliced that monster into half.

  I assessed their conditions again. Aside from their flesh wounds, I couldn’t see any life-threatening injuries, and these men had been breathing steadily the entire time, which just meant that they were actually alright after all. They were most likely concussed, but had nothing happened to the Outsider, they wouldn’t have made it past the next minute or so.

  I dragged them over to a nearby tree, tearing their clothes into ribbons in the process, and propped them up into a sitting position, before leaving them there. Stifling a yawn, I made for my house. I was starting to feel really drowsy, and blearily made my way back to the bed again and snuggled comfortably into my blanket.

  This time around, I was going to sleep the whole morning away.

  Chapter 5

  “Damn it!”

  I slammed a palm onto the fluffy bed, which creaked in protest. I shook my head as some residue dust floated up, illuminated by a beam of sunlight. With a snarl of irritation, I freed myself from my comfortable blanket and rolled off the bed.

  My footsteps echoed loudly as I made my way to the happily ringing doorbell, past the darkened crystal that was a depowered Ward. As I neared the front door, I schooled my twisted face into a mild smile. After all, someone had painstakingly made their way to my doorstep.

  With reason returned to my raving mind, I opened the door like a normal human being who definitely wasn’t pissed off by the prospect of being woken up by some possibly up-and-coming salesperson looking to sell his latest pyramid scheme.

  “Good morning.” My mouth involuntarily twitched as someone who wore a costume not out of place on Halloween night appeared before me. “How can I help you?”

  The pe
rson removed his ridiculously large hat, revealing a very normal looking face. Plain eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. Too dreadfully uninteresting for a person who walked to my doorstep in a gothic getup that belonged in a show featuring teenage vampires. But again, I’m pretty sure the show I had in mind was a parody of vampires, or the director hadn’t met one in person before.

  “Good morning. I saw someone moving in a bunch of stuff yesterday, so I thought we had a new neighbor!” his jolly voice, one that should be outlawed in the morning, forced itself into my eardrums, creating an annoying tinny whistle in the aftermath.

  I smiled weakly in return.

  “Would you like some… tea?” I poked my right ear, trying to get the tingling to stop. “I could whip something up for you if you’d like.”

  “Oh dear, there’s no need to,” he replied, waving his hands left and right. “After all, you must be tired after moving in yesterday! I’m just here to give you a welcome present!”

  At these words, I could feel a vein twitching in my temple somewhere. This neighbor thought I was tired and decided to visit at eight bloody o’clock in the morning. Then he had the gall to tell me that I looked like a sleep-deprived baboon. The smile plastered on my face grew even stiffer, and my head bobbed up and down silently in admission.

  Ignoring my screaming instincts to turn someone into a pile of gore and paste, I accepted the little shopping bag. “Thanks for the gift, I guess.”

  “Don’t mention it,” he said, donning his flamboyant hat at the same time, “I didn’t come here to accept thanks after all.”

  Executing a swift about-turn, he walked off with mechanical precision. The cloak billowed around him majestically, in stark contrast to my messy attire.

  Having been woken up abruptly, I wasn’t in the mood to sleep anymore, and started fiddling with the bag. This neighbor had left me with a really unique impression of him. He came to welcome a new neighbor but didn’t ask for his name; nor did he introduce himself. He was also dressed rather outlandishly… much like my own attire.