Claddings of Light : Book 12 of Painting the Mists

by Patrick Laplante

  “Thank you for confirming,” Silver Fish said. Then he lunged, swimming through the air and reaching Cao Wenluan before any of the elders could react. He brought his anchor down hard, but Cao Wenluan was ready. He blocked with a large black blade that creaked but did not break. The man himself barely moved back half a step. He was a Dao God, after all, and his body cultivation was nothing to scoff at.

  Silver Fish was no fool, of course. He’d known there was no way Cao Wenluan would fall for that. Massive jaws of ink jumped out from the floor and snapped shut. Cao Wenluan jumped, his black blade cutting through rows of jagged teeth as he spun, landing a good distance away from the now-whirling pool of black ink that remained of the shark-like creation.

  “Murderer. Destroyer,” Silver Fish said, channeling his rage into the pool once again. Two sharks surfaced this time, though they didn’t plunge at Cao Wenluan. They instead attacked the elders who had come to defend him, leaving Cao Wenluan open for a confrontation. Silver Fish punched with a gauntlet-covered fist, which smashed against the man’s armored chest as his chained anchor moved to entangle the man’s feet. The man jumped, avoiding the demon weapon and cutting down with a destruction-laden saber. It clanged off Silver Fish’s half-formed demon armor as Silver Fish stabbed at Cao Wenluan’s gut. The dagger failed to find a gap in his defenses.

  “Nice armor,” Cao Wenluan said, grinning. “I wondered why you wanted to come here. Who would have thought a human could earn such a treasure?”

  Silver Fish kicked off Cao Wenluan, and the man jumped to follow. He swung with his heavy saber, forcing Silver Fish to defend with his anchor, and their every exchange scattered and broke the small mountains of treasure in the vault.

  They weren’t the only ones fighting, naturally. The badgers had jumped into the middle of the small human army, and the room had erupted into a chaotic brawl. Their eyes glowed red as they went berserk, ignoring any wounds they suffered in exchange for terrible power that allowed their claws to rend through enchanted steel like it was nothing.

  “I’ll go get reinforcements!” Killjoy shouted.

  “Stay!” Cao Wenluan shouted, but she’d already taken off, taking what few men she had along with her.

  “I daresay, you’re almost a worthy opponent now,” Cao Wenluan said. “Accept my blade.” The world darkened around Silver Fish as the phantom of a weapon appeared. It split apart any ink that filled the room, severing Silver Fish’s link to it and reducing it to a thin mist of black, powerless water. No, not powerless. The ink was no longer accepting his authority, but was now obeying Cao Wenluan instead.

  I need a stronger story, Silver Fish thought. He remembered a famous last stand. An inky wall appeared, complete with guardsmen and archers and traps and siege machinery. It held back the blade, and the exchange became a duel of wills. His and Cao Wenluan’s.

  He’s just one man, Silver Fish thought, but immediately realized he was mistaken. Cao Wenluan wasn’t just a man. He was a one-man army. The sword crashed into his wall, tearing a large gap into it, leaving its inky defenders scrambling. Silver Fish could only catch Cao Wenluan by the wrists and force the blade to the vault’s stone floor, where it sank halfway to the hilt before Silver Fish tore Cao Wenluan from his weapon and they tumbled to the floor together.

  Elsewhere, the battle was going better than he’d expected. Dashing Moon’s fur was slick was blood, but he was a bloody blur that could break all defenses and shatter any weapon. He tore into whatever they threw at him, ignoring the cuts and burns he suffered, ignoring all defenses and channeling his hurts into strength. In hindsight, it was for this suicidal ability that he’d been sent on this mission. Clever Dusk had known there would be trouble.

  As for Serrendil, her movements were a work of art. To his surprise, she’d manifested her own suit of half armor. It was also jet black, but unlike his, it was made up of interlocking plates and gears. What a cheat, he thought. So unfair. If he had an ancestor to guide him, how much stronger would he be?

  Dozens of dead bodies lay behind her, and two elders were required to keep her constrained. Or at least, they tried to until she beheaded one of them and forced the other to retreat. They were winning, he thought, grinning as he forced Cao Wenluan’s head to the floor. His heart sank as Cao Wenluan grinned back.

  Men flooded through the doorway once again. They were armored like the first wave. There were normal soldiers and elders, all from the Cao Clan. Cao Wenluan had wanted to leave nothing to chance. With the influx of fresh blood, Serrendil began to fall leeward. Dashing Moon found a sliver of sense and fell back toward Silver Fish. That was when Cao Wenluan broke free and grabbed his black blade, tearing a deep gash in the floor and wounding Dashing Moon as he retreated back toward his force.

  “You need to break through,” Dashing Moon said, spitting blood. “You need to get out of here. You and Dark Requiem.”

  “We can win this,” Silver Fish said, summoning his anchor yet again.

  “We can’t,” Dashing Moon said. “I can feel it, and you can too.”

  “There’s no way out,” Serrendil said. “They’ve blocked the door, and I can sense reinforcements on the other side.”

  “They’re frightened,” Silver Fish said. “Of what, I don’t know.” He prayed to his ancestors for a way out. For an exit. He felt at the world. He felt at its waves. The waves guided him to something he hadn’t noticed. An orb of some kind. A treasure they hadn’t spotted.

  He jumped toward it and poured demonic qi into the item. Only then did he realize what it did. “Down!” he yelled and threw it toward their aggressors. The flash was blinding.

  The explosion took Serrendil completely by surprise. The sound was deafening. If not for her naturally resilient hearing, she’d be bleeding from her ears. The humans weren’t so lucky, obviously, and most of them died in the explosion. Silver Fish had survived—of all people, he was probably the most resilient here. Oh, and Cao Wenluan. A human cockroach if she’d ever seen one.

  The floor fell out from the center of the room where the orb had exploded. Ah, Serrendil thought. That must be one of the safeguards in the vault.

  The Clockwork Ancestor agreed. It would have blown the entire vault to bits had the mechanism been working properly. It’s one of about twelve of those things.

  Serrendil gulped, noticing only now that all the treasures in the blast radius were gone. They’d been destroyed in the explosion.

  Then her eyes narrowed, and she focused on something else. A pit had opened up. It started where Cao Wenluan’s blade had carved the floor and ended where the damage did. It was a dark pit carved of earth, spotted in caverns that led heavens knew where. It was also where they needed to go if they were going to survive the influx of soldiers that had just stormed in.

  “Jump!” she called. They did so, abandoning the room just as a rain of fire and arrows blasted overhead. Two of the badgers were caught in the deadly fire, reduced to pincushions that fell lifelessly into the pit. Seven, she thought as another badger fell. These archers were skilled. These were demon-slaying rounds if she’d ever seen them.

  They landed on crumbling rock walls, using their claws to brace themselves lest they slip and fall down into the unknown. She’d been intending to land in one of the many tunnels that peppered the collapsed cavern, but she’d missed her mark. She couldn’t fly like a proper investiture-realm demon could. She could, however, climb much better than the average demon. Her sharp claws dug impromptu handholds as she began to climb toward shelter.

  “Find cover!” Silver Fish yelled. He’d made it to a ledge. Two of the badger clan had also made it to the same platform, but the others were struggling. An arrow of darkness pierced one of the badgers scrambling with her, leaving only two.

  Where’s Dashing Moon?

  Cao Wenluan was standing at the edge of the pit, bow in hand, channeling the power of his destruction domain for another shot. Off to the side, she saw Dashing Moon fighting six other rune-gathering cultivators. He’d
abandoned all reason and committed himself to the massacre. Wherever his claws landed, blood splattered.

  Run! she yelled at him.

  The badger laughed. There was never any running for me, girl. Get the treasure back to the Monkey Clan. I’ll cover you. He transformed, and his demon weapons—long assassin’s claws on both arms—merged with his body. His armor became one with his fur. The earth all around them shook as it fed pure earthen qi into him. He channeled the power of his manifestation, Blood-Seeking Badger Colossus, becoming one with the slaughter. One with the rage.

  “Contain him!” yelled one of the elders. The badger smashed the early rune-gathering cultivator and jumped at another. He tore through a net they threw at him and jumped toward Cao Wenluan.

  He might just kill him, Serrendil thought as the badger mowed down soldiers and elders alike on his way to the enemy commander.

  Naïve, the Clockwork Ancestor said. Flee.

  Serrendil climbed up rocky handholds, pausing only slightly when she heard a dying roar as an arrow shot through an investiture-realm badger’s skull, striking at his weakness and destroying his core. With no place to anchor itself, his manifestation faded, and the badger’s corpse shrank down to its original size.

  Get out of here! Serrendil yelled to Silver Fish. Another arrow flew, killing one more of the badger demons. She gritted her teeth and summoned the pear she’d taken. She tossed it at the surprised Silver Fish. Run! Give that to Clever Dusk.

  She climbed, but as she reached for her next handhold, her instincts went haywire. She jumped to the side, scrambling as she nearly slipped from the smooth stone she landed on. A destruction-laden arrow blew a hole where she’d previously been. Silver Fish wisely retreated down the tunnel, leaving her as the only target. He wasn’t foolish. He knew when they were beaten.

  “Don’t make this any harder than it has to be,” Cao Wenluan said. He nocked another arrow, and Serrendil panicked.

  There was no way she could make it to a ledge. There were no tunnels beneath her, and no other exits she could scramble to. But maybe, just maybe, there was something else down there. She eyed the deep cavern, wondering why the ground had been so weak. Why her clan, who emphasized perfect construction, would have ever considered building a vault on such a flaw.

  She jumped on instinct, evading another arrow. Wait, the Clockwork Ancestor said. Listen. She dodged again, and when she landed, she put her ear to the wall. She heard a rumbling sound, deep and gravelly. It was accompanied by something faint. Something familiar. Music? It was strange and unfamiliar, but it awakened a memory in her blood. A memory of earth dwellers and creatures of sand. Those who’d stayed behind at the behest of her ancestors when they’d abandoned their ancient stronghold.

  Get out, she told Silver Fish, dodging another projectile. I’ll find my own way back. Then she let go and fell down into the darkness, toward demons long abandoned.

  This was, in Killjoy’s estimation, the biggest crapshoot she’d ever been apart of. The room was filled with a few dead demons and scores of Cao Clan soldiers. Their commander was injured, the treasury her clan had dreamed of opening was half destroyed, and there was now a giant backdoor tunnel leading directly into the heart of their secure mining complex.

  “You look rather pleased with yourself,” Cao Wenluan said, storing his bow. She recognized it as a powerful heirloom her clan had sold to his centuries ago. He’d finally dusted it off and put it to use.

  Killjoy shrugged. “It could have gone way worse. We lost people, but the vault is open. I mean, look at this place.” She waved her hand at untouched piles of priceless treasures.

  “All as planned, I suppose,” Cao Wenluan said. “That was your plan, was it not?”

  She didn’t take the bait. He could speculate all he wanted, but there was no way she’d admit to colluding with his enemies.

  “Don’t worry, I don’t blame you. I would have done the same thing in your place. Everything went according to plan.”

  Killjoy raised an eyebrow at that. “You planned for that giant explosion and their eventual escape?”

  “Well, not exactly,” Cao Wenluan said. “Ideally, I would have caught them. Though you must admit, it’s nice to get your plans thwarted every now and again. It’s a terrible thing when everything goes your way. Sucks all the joy out of life.”

  She looked into the hole and at the tunnel Silver Fish had gone down. “I wonder where the tunnels lead,” she said. “Something down there’s giving me a very bad feeling.”

  “Whatever is down there, it doesn’t like us,” Cao Wenluan agreed. “No need to kick the hornet’s nest. They’ve escaped, and now we have a vault to loot. Though we’ll have to do something about this giant security risk.” He tapped his lips and inspected the hole for a while before eventually taking out a strange-looking crystal. He poured his black qi into it, and it sucked in air from the ground before turning red. “Ah. She’s still alive. It seems that’s not the last we’ve seen of her.”

  “You mean she survived the fall?” Killjoy asked. She couldn’t sense anything from the pit. It was deep, and even a powerful demon like Serrendil would have trouble surviving such a descent.

  “It’s not so surprising,” Cao Wenluan said, putting away the crystal. “She is unique among her kind. Much like Black Fish and the new Stargazer chieftain, Clever Dusk. Oh, and that phoenix hidden away in Shimmerwing.”

  Killjoy licked her lips and looked around. Medics were already taking care of the wounded, and others disposing of the dead. This was a battlefield, but the glaring deficiencies in security bothered her. Already, she could see people pocketing treasures, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. “With your permission, I’ll secure the vault,” she said. “Everything will be tallied and split, as per our initial agreement.”

  “Do what you will,” Cao Wenluan said, waving his hand. “Suddenly, this place has lost all significance to me. I’d been hoping to find a useful relic, but there’s nothing suited to me here.” He looked back down the hole. “I wonder what they took?”

  “It’s not ours anymore, so why worry about it?” Killjoy asked.

  “Wise words,” Cao Wenluan said. “I’ll leave this place under your full control. Now that it’s been robbed, I no longer have any concern for its security. I’ll be leaving with all of my troops, leaving only your men behind.”

  “Full control, you say?” Killjoy asked. “What if I wanted to do something extreme? Like hire people from the prefecture. Abolish the slave system.” There was no way she’d do something like that without his approval.

  “It’s ambitious,” Cao Wenluan said. “I like it. Just make sure the demons don’t join the fray. You can send them to the prefecture. I’ll arrange to give them third-class citizenship, tying them to the city like the rabble and those of the Clockwork Clan.” Then he grinned. “Right. I’d forgotten about those in the prefecture. That means she’ll definitely come back for them. How exciting.”

  “You’re not afraid they’ll run? Killjoy asked.

  “Where to?” Cao Wenluan asked. “We own this place now. The demon lands will soon be gone, and they’ll be forced to submit if they want a whiff of demonic energy. I’m more than willing to absorb them into my growing kingdom.”

  “You mean your growing prefecture,” Killjoy corrected.

  “I meant what I said,” Cao Wenluan said. “Feel free to pass the word on to your elders.”

  He left the vault after picking up a few choice treasures, leaving her to manage the rest of it. True to his words, he took his men. That only left the dead, the injured, and a whole lot of accounting. It would take months to sort out this mess.

  Chapter 26: Fallout

  Wei Longshen waited anxiously by his father’s bed as the spirit doctor worked. A small golden formation followed the man’s hand as he traced vital pathways with his fingers, sometimes stopping, sometimes soothing. He was systematic and ponderous in his movements.

  “Patriarch Wei is no longer in danger o
f dying,” Yun Ling said, retrieving the formation into the bracelet on his wrist. The man was a sect-raised spirit doctor, the best he could find in the nearest three cities. “He was fortunate to have reinforced his body with spirit medicines early on in life. Otherwise, he would never have survived long enough for Lord Burning Lake’s pill to take effect. Whether your soul transfusion helped him or hurt him remains to be seen.”

  “Why is he still unconscious?” Wei Longshen asked. “He’s been in bed for a full week, and his condition was deteriorating steadily until not long ago.”

  “This is a complicated matter, Master Wei,” Dr. Yun said. “We spirit doctors, despite our name, do not delve too deeply in matters of the soul. Dao scars, we can solve. Damages to one’s foundation, we can remedy. Unfortunately, Patriarch Wei seems to have used a forbidden technique during his battle, one which resulted in much self-inflicted damage. The poison would never have dealt him so much damage otherwise.”

  “Is there any way to hasten his recovery?” Wei Jiang, one of their family’s core elders asked. “Money is no issue.”

  Wei Longshen shared that sentiment. His father’s health aside, Patriarch Wei’s absence had revealed just how reliant they had been on the old man. Wei Jiang tried to fill in, but there was only so much he and the others could do. And without his father, they were vulnerable.

  “I’ve added a new soul-nourishing tincture to his medication,” the spirit doctor said. “Now that his condition is stable, I am no longer worried about the damage any lingering poison might cause. Perhaps a soul piper—not a death-aligned piper like yourself, of course—could aid him. Or a soul oracle or one of the shaman lineages.”

  “I’ll look into it personally,” Wei Jiang said, exiting the room straight away.

  “Please forgive his impoliteness,” Wei Longshen said to the doctor. “We are desperate.”

  “I’ve seen such things far too often, and I fully understand the power of grief,” Dr. Yun said. “Your father is a strong man. He will recover. His lifespan might be reduced by a few decades, but to a cultivator like him, that’s nothing.”