Book 8: Chapter 3: Glimmer, in the Dark

Book 8: Chapter 3: Glimmer, in the Dark

Long Jia Wei just kept staring, and it made Sen decidedly uncomfortable. It might not have been so bad if the man had spoken but that didn’t happen. He just sat there, silent, and stared. To make matters worse, Shen Mingxia kept staring at him like he’d lost his mind. When it got to be too off-putting, Sen finally made a plate of food and shoved it at the, well, Sen supposed he was an ex-sect cultivator now. The man seemed startled by the food but took it. Once he was focused on the food, Sen took Shen Mingxia off to one side.

“What?” he demanded.

“What are you doing? You have to know he can’t be trusted.”

Sen didn’t automatically agree. Before the man had offered to sacrifice himself just to spare his juniors, he probably would have thought the same thing. However, there was no way that Long Jia Wei had guessed that such an act would mean his own survival. No, Sen was confident that the man had thought his life was going to end, and he’d offered it anyway. If nothing else, he had uncommon courage.

Sen sighed and said, “I wouldn’t trust him to watch over children or transport gold, but I don’t think he’s so stupid that he’d try anything now. Not after I killed those other two.”

Shen Mingxia hemmed and hawed for a few seconds before she said, “Well, maybe not, but still. Do you think this is a good idea?”

“I have no clue. But I can always change my mind if he turns out to be too much trouble or any trouble for that matter.”

“You better not get me killed with an act of mercy,” said Shen Mingxia, shaking her head. “And where in the thousand hells is Glimmer of Night? We could have used him here.”

“Oh. Right. I didn’t tell you. Sorry,” said Sen. “He went to deal with the other ones.”

“What other ones?”

***

Fifteen minutes earlier...

Glimmer of Night considered that word, monster, as he circled around and caught the one who lagged behind. Am I a monster? Glimmer of Night didn’t feel much like a monster. Although, he supposed he might not be in the best position to judge such things. He frowned when he realized that he’d slightly misjudged his blow. He only managed to shatter some ribs instead of the cultivator’s spine, which gave the doomed creature time to scream. He defaulted back to the head removal strategy and its messy, frustrating blood spray, but the damage was done. A fireball and some kind of ice attack were sent his way. He considered using webs to stop the attacks but decided it was just easier to use a web thread to drag himself out of the way. Plus, it conserved qi. He felt the cultivators sweeping the area with their poorly developed spiritual senses, trying to locate him, and failing miserably. Instead of attacking directly again, he started building a special web. One like he’d used on those strange insects with the stingers that had charged into their camp one night.

He’d felt a little bad about killing them. They weren’t family, exactly, not like other spiders, but they had felt familiar. Like maybe they had been family once upon a time but had taken a different path. He’d almost let them into the camp. Sen had seemed wholly unconcerned about them, but Glimmer of Night had concluded a while ago that Sen was a poor gauge for danger. The fright exhibited by the Mingxia boy... girl... whatever, had seemed like a better guide. So, he’d acted and drained them of their vitality. He’d never tried something like that on a cultivator, but he reasoned that it ought to work the same way. Assuming they couldn’t disrupt the web too quickly. That was why he built it from the outside in. By the time they noticed the web, it was too late. He activated the pattern he’d built into the web. It worked. Vital power flooded into him.

He hadn’t counted on the screaming, though. That was very disruptive. It was a good thing he didn’t have to concentrate much after the webs were made. Especially with all of that new power reinforcing his body and his core, the screaming probably would have made him lose focus. He’d have to figure out some way to muffle that noise the next time. Glimmer of Night was about fifty percent sure that the other humans wouldn’t like it.

***

“What is that?” shrieked Shen Mingxia.

Long Jia Wei shot to his feet, looking around wildly as barely human, tortured screaming filled the night. Sen let his spiritual sense extend briefly before he nodded.

“Oh, good. It seems that Glimmer of Night has found his quarry,” said Sen.

“What could possibly be good about that?” demanded Shen Mingxia, waving her hand vaguely in the direction of all the screaming.

“Well, I guess it’s not good for those people, but it’s good for us. Or me, anyway. It means I don’t have to kill them.”

Shen Mingxia looked a little shaken by that comment. Long Jia Wei skipped right past looking horrified and went straight to shuddering.

“Judgment’s Gale, indeed,” whispered the ex-sect cultivator.