Under a Starless Sky

Chapter 21

That night, scouts tried to find him, and on entering his sphere of influence, he caused them to sleep.

The orb gave him better sight than heart light, but he suspected it was related. They woke, hovering. A

crude wind chime interrupted heart light. A bamboo torch flared to life. Shen was holding a fire snake

next to the pitched bamboo, stuck in the ground. The one man, and two adolescents, were hovering,

their toes barely touching the ground. Their eyes were big. Shen put the snake in a jar. He went to the

man.

“I am sorry, I can’t negotiate with you,” Shen said He cut a rope, and the man shot into the air and out

of sight. His scream lasted till the rebound knocked the air out of him.

Shyo was the middle boy. Shen pointed his knife at him.

“Will you submit to my authority?” Shen asked. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“I am going to kill you,” Shyo said.

Shen cut the rope. Shyo went up and disappeared. He screamed. There was interruption as he

rebounded, and then continued screaming. Shen pointed the knife at Brent. His eyes were even bigger

than before. Somewhere in the distance, another scout tripped a rabbit trap and went skywards, yelling

out in the dark. In truth, Shen was annoyed because the kid was likely hanging upside down and would

have to be cut down. He smiled at Brent.

“Command me,” Brent said.

“It’s a small thing. No, it’s a big thing. Keep the boys off the sparring field tomorrow,” Shen said.

“I don’t understand,” Brent said.

“Keep all the boys, and any of the middle boys off the sparring field. Pretty simple request,” Shen said.

“Okay,” Brent said.

“Seriously, Brent. I have no malice to you or anyone. If the boys are on the field, they will be seriously

hurt, or dead,” Shen said.

“What are you going to do?” Brent asked.

“Win,” Shin said. “I will take the sparring field, and everyone on it.”

Shen put away the knife, adjusted ropes, and Brent came to his feet. The noose around chest under

arms was widened so Brent was released, fell to his feet. He looked up, but couldn’t see the others. His

hands remained tied behind his back.

“Brent,” Shen said. “I seriously don’t want anyone to die. I will own the sparring field tomorrow, and

everyone on it. Please, convince everyone that doesn’t want to die to stay off the field. Tell the guard.

Tell everyone who will listen to you. Keep the boy safe, and I will be indebted to you.”

Brent nodded. He was confused on which way to go. Shen pointed. He was still uncertain.

“Come on,” Shen said, walking with him.

They walked away from torch, back into the dark.

“The chimes are a nice touch,” Brent said.

“You came like moths to a flame,” Shen said.

“It interferes with sight,” Brent said.

“The pitch range of the various size glass shards,” Shen said.

Brent nodded. His heart vision was clear.

“You’re holding an egg?” he said.

“A rock. In case I must fight you,” Shen said.

“I will not fight you further,” Brent said.

“Okay,” Shen said.

“You handle fire snakes,” Brent said.

Shen stopped. Brent stopped. Fire snakes could see in the dark. He suspected infrared, they see heat.

A rock tied to a bamboo stick, heated near a fire, was used to test his theory. The snake was

sufficiently distracted or blinded that it had been possible to catch it. The reason, lighting fires without

flint and stone was not as easy as the movies made it. In fact, he would say that lighting fires by any

other methods was pure fiction. It took four days of trying before he got a fire going without flint and

steel.

“You can find your way from here, right?” Shen said.

Brent orientated. “Yes.”

Shen took a fire-snake egg out of his pocket. The original contents had been removed, eaten, and his

own mix added. He held it up so Brent could see it. Shen tossed it to the tree, and when the shell

broke, it made noise, smoke, and a flash. The flash blinded Brent. The noise scared him. Essentially,

the egg was giant popper, or snapper; it was a type a firework that was generally harmless. It smelled

like a cap gun after being discharged. When Brent’s night vision returned, Shen wasn’t there. Shen’s

reputation for being a ghost solidified.