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

by Patrick Laplante

  Huxian agreed with that assessment. “All right, I’ve got it this time, I think. Are you ready?”

  “No,” Lei Jiang said. “Not that you’re giving me much of a choice. Proper or miniature manifestation?”

  “Miniature, obviously,” Huxian said. “We don’t want to wreck the courtyard. Again.” Rebuilding it was a pain, and they’d been told that if they broke it more than twice a month, they’d have to do it themselves by hand. “Make it a small lightning mouse. I’ve got a good feeling this time. Just focus on controlling the main mouse. You might feel a bit of a power drain.”

  Lei Jiang sighed and did as instructed. A small mouse of purple lightning appeared in front of him. It was the purest, most concentrated lightning he could summon. A manifestation was the will of a demon’s faction and bloodline made manifest. It was the most powerful attack one could summon, though it wasn’t always convenient to do so.

  The mouse scurried about as mice were wont to do. Huxian focused on it and summoned his own manifestation—a miniature copy of the Void Phoenix. It spread its wings, and the air around the mouse shimmered.

  “Okay, now walk it into the spatial mirror,” Huxian said.

  Lei Jiang obliged. The mouse walked into the portal the small bird had summoned, and then split. It became two different mice that could both be controlled independently.

  “Again,” Huxian said.

  They doubled again. The mice continued splitting until there were sixty-four mice in total. A good number. A perfect number. Only… they were tiny mice. Not one sixty-fourth as small, but maybe twice as big as that.

  “I just don’t get it,” Huxian said, shaking his head. “I thought that after splitting them, you could feed them more energy.”

  “Not that fast, I can’t,” Lei Jiang said. “If you gave me a minute, I could feed all these mice power and bring them back to full strength. But that’s not how lightning works. Lightning is sudden. It isn’t planned.”

  “Bah,” Huxian said. He banished his manifestation. Operation Lightning Mouse Duplication was a failure. Just like his other experiments. They would eventually get something, but for now, Huxian was depressed. He had a Void Wind Manifestation figured out with Silverwing, and it was only a matter of time before he could get something with Lei Jiang. The first of his friends. “Are you sure you can’t handle void lightning?”

  “Lightning isn’t made from void,” Lei Jiang said. “You can’t just change something’s nature like that.”

  “But Silverwing and you work so well together,” Huxian said. “Yeah, I get it. Lightning and storms. It’s all very natural. But still.”

  They both sighed. In the background, through an open door, a table flew through the air. There was a crash, and a voice that screamed “Watch the merchandise!” The shop was closed this morning, as otherwise their customers wouldn’t have made it past the front door.

  “No, don’t hold me back!” came Gua’s voice. “I’ll kill them all!”

  “You can’t kill them…” Mr. Mountain’s voice came.

  Gua’s suited figure flashed across the doorway. There were cracking sounds, and the bloodied toad demon stumbled away. “It’s not fair. Why do they all have big sticks?”

  “Monkey demons,” Huxian shuddered. It may have been a mistake to take them in. But he’d committed to it, and he wouldn’t eat his words. He just wished integrating them had been easier.

  A blur of blue shot into the room and hid behind a wall. She was breathing heavily, and she had more than her fair share of bruises.

  “What are you—” Huxian said but stopped when she put a finger to her lips.

  “I just need a break,” she whispered. “A quick one. These new employees are a pain, and if they’d given me time, I could convince them. It’s just…”

  “Gua?” Huxian asked.

  “Obviously,” Miyue said. “He’s such an arrogant drama queen. No tact at all.” She looked around the courtyard and saw scorch marks. “Still working on the secret project, I see?”

  “I don’t know if we can call it that anymore,” Huxian said with a sigh. Everyone knew about it already. His multiple failures had tipped them off. “Silverwing and I have something going on. Lei Jiang and Silverwing have something going on. Gua and Mr. Mountain do too. I just wish I could do something like they could.”

  Miyue hesitated. “I… Lei Jiang and I have one too,” she confessed.

  “What? Really?” Huxian said. She was a new addition. That wasn’t right at all. “Show me.”

  She looked to Lei Jiang, and he nodded back. Water poured from her sleeve, and lightning poured out from Lei Jiang’s. He wasn’t using a rat manifestation, but she was using her standard ocean manifestation, which was great for choking out enemies. The water began to glow with blue lightning.

  Huxian touched it with a finger. “Ouch!” he exclaimed.

  “She has to regulate the salt content, but aside from that, it’s golden,” Lei Jiang said. “Lightning death water. With no escape!”

  “Damn it,” Huxian said. “She’s new. I thought we were friends, Lei Jiang?”

  “Or maybe you’re just being pushy,” Lei Jiang said. “Lightning is fine with water. It loves water.”

  “Water doesn’t much mind lightning,” Miyue said casually. “It’s just things that are inside the water that hate it.”

  “Fine. Natural allies. I get it.” Huxian was not pleased. “You can go now.”

  She looked to the door and hesitated. Some black-furred monkeys were warring with the tailor shop’s staff. It wasn’t a violent confrontation so much as a low-level beat-fest, which demon monkeys apparently excelled at. Think bar fight, but in a shop.

  Miyue ducked out the door and joined the battle. She blasted a trio of monkeys away with a flood of water. One of them sprayed ink in her face. She charged after them angrily with her demon weapon, a long sheet of silk she used as a dance prop. Great for strangling and assassination via seduction, but not very effective when fighting a barrel of monkeys. She wasn’t out long before Mr. Mountain ducked in.

  “Ah. I see that you are both working on your secret technique,” Mr. Mountain said.

  “Why does everyone know about our secret technique?” Huxian asked.

  Lei Jiang shrugged. “I think they use it to make fun of you all the time.”

  “And not you?” Huxian said.

  “Why would they insult me?” Lei Jiang muttered. “I’m not the one who has trouble with fusion techniques. Mr. Mountain knows what I’m talking about.”

  “I do not know what you are talking about,” Mr. Mountain said. His shifty eyes and deadpan voice weren’t very convincing.

  “What?” Huxian said. “You too?”

  “Um. Yes. We have been working behind your back.” Mr. Mountain said. His shoulders drooped. “To be fair, we thought it would upset you.”

  “What?” Huxian said. “Who else has one? Who’s been holding out on me?”

  Mr. Mountain coughed awkwardly. “All of us, actually.”

  “What?” Huxian exclaimed. “That’s it. Show me. Lightning and mountain don’t mix.”

  “Actually, it’s very easy—” Mr. Mountain started.

  “Show me!” Huxian growled.

  Mr. Mountain gulped. He summoned dozens of tiny purple pyramids in the air. Lei Jiang unleashed a small cloud of wild and violent lightning. It was unguided. Despite this, however, they kept striking where the pyramids were. “Not only can I suppress multiple opponents, but Little Brother Lei Jiang doesn’t have to worry about control. With practice, I think we might be able to combine with his and Silverwing’s combination.”

  Huxian’s eye twitched angrily. “Fine. Grounding. You’ve discovered grounding.” He eyed the door. “What about Lei Jiang and Gua?”

  “You could ask him to demonstrate,” Mr. Mountain said. “I’m sure he would be pleased to—”

  “I don’t need that smug toad showing off when he basically started a war with monkeys I said we’d empl
oy,” Huxian said. “What do they do?”

  “I’ll show you an illusion…” Mr. Mountain grumbled. Purple mist shot out and showed a swamp. Lightning struck it from above, just like Miyue’s water. In this case, however, there was more lightning and less swamp. The swamp vaporized. “I believe over-energizing the swamp gasifies certain poisons and makes it difficult to breathe. It infects the eyes, the nose, and quite frankly makes private areas very itchy.”

  Huxian was practically trembling with rage. He pointed to the door. “Out!”

  Mr. Mountain jumped on the opportunity and escaped.

  “Okay, now I’m angry,” Huxian said. “We’re trying another thing!”

  Lei Jiang swallowed. “What do you need me to do, boss?”

  “Small lightning storm. No. Medium lightning storm!” Huxian said. He grinned maniacally.

  “Whatever you want, boss,” Lei Jiang said. He didn’t summon mice this time but simply summoned a cloud charged with lightning. It began striking the ground randomly.

  “All right, let’s do this,” Huxian said. He summoned his most powerful manifestation—the Bagua fox. “Space-time devouring!” he said. A dark hole appeared where the fox’s mouth was and began to swallow the lightning Lei Jiang sent out. It devoured a bolt every second, and when their bond tried to distribute the new energy, Huxian cut it off.

  “Little boss, that energy won’t have anywhere to go…” Lei Jiang warned. “Lightning doesn’t like to be bottled up.”

  “Exactly,” Huxian said with a mad gleam in his eyes. Twenty seconds passed. The small Bagua fox began shimmering a little. “Once it drinks enough, I’ll release it all at once!”

  Lei Jiang’s eyes went wide. “That could be very destructive.”

  “Exactly!” Huxian said.

  “I think that’s enough,” Lei Jiang said worriedly.

  “Wait for it…” Huxian said. The Bagua fox began shivering uncontrollably. “All right, I’ll do it now. Actually come to think of it, I’ve never really tried reversing this thing…”

  He pushed, but the fox kept drinking. Who knew blowing energy out could be so difficult compared to swallowing? It was pressurized, wasn’t it? It wanted out.

  Then he saw them. Cracks on the fox manifestation. Lei Jiang’s jaw dropped slightly.

  “Maybe we should take cover,” Huxian said.

  Lei Jiang banished his manifestation, and they both ducked behind benches and used them as makeshift barricades. “The damages shouldn’t be that bad. Maybe we’ll lose the tree.”

  “I guess one of the monkeys could grow them,” Lei Jiang said.

  “Yeah, but it’ll take forever,” Huxian said. “They’re bad at it.”

  “Growing plants?” Lei Jiang asked. “They’re monkeys!”

  It was then that Gua decided to make his entrance. “That’s it!” he said, tossing his damaged suit on the ground. “I’ve had it with these monkeys. Either they go, or I go!”

  “Gua, take cover!” Huxian shouted. But it was too late. The small fox exploded, and shards of space and lightning struck Gua head on. Huxian was blown back into the walls, and so was Lei Jiang. The tree was vaporized, but fortunately, Gua was just thrown back. He blew through the door and landed on the other side of the shop, unconscious. The monkeys and the staff stopped fighting.

  “Is he dead?” Lei Jiang asked.

  Huxian shook his head. “No, I think he’s alive. Think he saw our technique?”

  Lei Jiang shook his head.

  “Good. Now we have an actual secret technique. We’ll work on refining it. In secret.”

  “Sounds good,” Lei Jiang said, rubbing his palms together.

  “Seriously, though? Everyone else?” Huxian was not pleased. They should have told them.

  “We figured them out about a month ago. We had plenty of time.” Through the broken door, they could see Miyue and Mr. Mountain dragging Gua into a sitting position. He was rubbing his head. Huxian reversed time in the courtyard. The benches weren’t expensive. They also weren’t alive, so replacing them wasn’t difficult. He regrew the torn-up landscaping, the paving stones, and even the grass. Grass wasn’t hard since it was simple life. That tree, however, would be a pain.

  “This doesn’t count as breaking a courtyard, does it?” Huxian asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Lei Jiang said. “But I’m sure Miyue will force you to do something to make up for it.”

  Huxian sighed. “Such a stingy manager.”

  There was no helping it, unfortunately. Someone had to steer this ship, and Gua was too vain, and Mr. Mountain too honest and uncompromising to do the job. As for Huxian… well, he was Huxian. He found talent. He didn’t manage them. As for Lei Jiang, he was just a kid. Or was he? Perhaps mentally he was.

  It was just another day in the demon district. Just another uneventful day. An explosion, a secret uncovered, and a war between members of their staff. Perhaps tomorrow, the avian demons would have an issue. Perhaps it would be the lizards. Gua was good at ruffling feathers, and life was never boring when demons were involved.

  Chapter 19: Crown

  Yelling and crashing tables greeted Cha Ming as he entered M&T Tailors. It was bright and early in the morning—well before normal working hours. The staff were already awake and going about their duties. War was being waged, but someone had to clean up.

  Cha Ming briefly wondered what could have caused such a fight to break out in the first place. He soon stopped and decided it wasn’t worth worrying about. No one was panicking, and life was never boring with demons. So, he relaxed and waited for the first reasonable person to come his way, hoping that no one had died or been seriously maimed or wounded.

  It was Silverwing who finally greeted Cha Ming at the door. He was scowling, but otherwise unharmed. A good sign. “I’m not sure how to explain this,” Silverwing said.

  “Oh, I’m sure I understand who the ringleader is,” Cha Ming said. Eyes of Truth and karma aside, there was one demon who was literally waving a flag in the shop’s central courtyard. Battle lines were drawn, and the Star-Eye Monkeys had all summoned their demon weapons—staves, without exception. Everyone, including the monkeys, were covered in light scratches and bruises. Gua, the flag-waving demon, had more than most.

  “Unruly wretches! I’ll teach you who’s in charge!” Gua said. “When I say scrub, I mean scrub.”

  “We’re not slaves, and you’re no chieftain of ours,” their leader, Shallow Moon, said calmly. “We’ve been over this. We will perform our duties within reasonable limits. We will not give in to unreasonable demands. We are being paid, but things must be negotiated.”

  “You ungrateful, useless—”

  “All right, all right. Everyone calm down,” Huxian said, appearing between both groups. They looked at him uncertainly, but seeing the pressure he exerted, they calmed down.

  Cha Ming walked into the courtyard. A few of the employees glared at him, but Gua did not. Fact: Having a bond of brotherhood with the leader of a group of demons, who happened to be a Godbeast, gave you a lot of pull with other demons. As a result, two full Huxians’ worth of calm finally entered the situation.

  “What seems to be the problem?” Cha Ming asked.

  “They’re lazy,” Gua said simply. “And they don’t respect me.”

  “They ask for things we cannot do,” Shallow Moon said.

  “They seek dominance because they are stronger demons,” Clever Dusk explained. “That would be acceptable in a tribe, but these are not tribe members. They cannot be tribe members, or at least most of them cannot. We are creatures of the forest, Clear Sky. We are not city dwellers. Our elements are not in alignment.”

  There were grumbles of agreement, but Huxian calmed them down. He might not have prevented their fighting earlier, but he did now. Letting off steam might even be a legitimate tactic for calming demons.

  “All right,” Cha Ming said. “Tell me, Gua. What did you ask them to do?”

  “Basic wood shaping and
reconstruction,” Gua said. “Growing plants. Weaving material. The kind of things monkeys should know how to do.”

  “Which I have explained several times that we are not good at,” Shallow Moon said.

  “That’s impossible,” Gua said. “You’re all Star-Eye Monkeys. My memories—”

  “Gua, you don’t have memories,” Huxian said. “Don’t try to fool anyone.”

  Gua sputtered. “I-I counseled with those who have them. Since I’m in charge, they should do as I say.”

  “You’re nominally in charge, but you’re a terrible manager,” Miyue grumbled. “Do you know how many fights you’ve caused?”

  “Because they’re lazy!” Gua said.

  “We’re slow,” Shallow Moon said. “We have done what you have asked. Without complaint. But it is difficult. Look. My people are exhausted.”

  Cha Ming saw it then. The same sad glow he’d seen in Stargazer City. It wasn’t as bad as he’d seen, but Mi Fei had told him of terrible cases in the residential districts. That included a bedridden elder who could only babble prophetic nonsense.

  “Shallow Moon, have you been using your Builder constellation?” Cha Ming asked. He was the eldest of them and their nominal leader.

  “We have been avoiding using our constellations, for doing so is taxing,” Shallow Moon said. “We would have preferred not to use them, but we would rather weaken ourselves or die than suffer humiliation. We have overdrawn ourselves to at least try to reach this one’s unreasonable expectations.” He gave Gua the stink eye.

  “Gua, what did you do to them?” Cha Ming asked.

  Gua sniffed. “Corporal punishment. Tongue lashings. Standard fare for demons.”

  “I see,” Cha Ming said. If that was standard fare for demons, he would use guilt as a weapon. “Gua, you’ve forced your employees to use useful abilities that drain their stamina and motivation. They were already lethargic from much overuse in their clan, but you have made it worse. You didn’t even consider what they might be most useful for.”

  Gua frowned. “How was I supposed to know?”