Blue Dragon

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

When I arrived at the lobby of the Folly there was a crowd of students outside and the fire alarm was ringing. One of the seniors raced forward when he saw me.

‘It’s on the fourteenth floor,’ he said, breathless. It was LK Pak, one of the best seniors we had, in his mid-thirties and Chinese. He continued to keep me informed as we charged to the lift. ‘It’s holding the student who brought it in and won’t let anybody near. It says it wants to talk to the Dark Lord, it won’t take anybody else. It’s threatening to kill the student if we don’t bring it the Dark Lord. Where is he? We need him!’

‘He’s over the border in Shenzhen,’ I said, trying to stay calm. ‘Maybe I’ll do. How many Celestials do we have up there?’

‘Three,’ LK said. ‘Tae Kwon Do, and two Wudang Weapons Masters.’

The lift doors flew open and we stepped out together. The corridor was deserted. LK led me to the apartment. The door hung open.

The demon was in the living room, standing in front of the television in True Form, holding the student by the scruff of the neck. The student was very new, I didn’t even know his name. He was unconscious and there was blood on him.

The demon was a huge red humanoid with three eyes, nearly three metres tall. The three Masters faced it, ready.

‘Out, LK,’ I said. ‘This is too big for anybody but Celestials.’

LK nodded and went out to call the lift.

I carefully entered the apartment and the Masters made room for me.

‘Park,’ I said softly to the Tae Kwon Do Master, ‘pass on everything that happens to the Dark Lord, okay?’

My Lady, Park said.

I studied the demon carefully. No wonder everybody was hanging back—this one was huge. At least level seventy; absolutely enormous. Had to be minor nobility.

‘What do you want?’ I said.

‘Who are you? What are you?’ the demon said.

‘Emma Donahoe. Heard of me?’

The demon stiffened. ‘You’ll do.’

I didn’t move. ‘What do you want?’

The demon dropped the student, who crumpled. It fell to its knees and took human form: a Chinese girl in her mid-teens, small and slim, with long hair. ‘I swear allegiance. Please protect me. I am yours.’

‘Shit,’ I said softly. John wasn’t there to confirm that the demon had turned.

Park moved to help the student but I raised my arm to stop him. ‘Why did you hurt the student?’

‘Self-defence,’ the demon said. ‘He went for me. He’s not badly injured; it looks much worse than it is, I assure you. Come and get him, I won’t hurt you.’

I lowered my arm and nodded. Park inched carefully forward, grabbed the student and pulled him to one side.

The demon is correct, Park said. He and the student disappeared.

‘Master Sit,’ I said, nodding to one of the Wudang masters, ‘find somebody who can tame demons for me right now, would you?’

‘JC is on his way,’ Sit said.

I nodded. JC Poon was the Demon Master.

The demon pulled itself to its feet and we all readied ourselves.

‘I’ll sit on the couch and wait,’ the demon said without moving. ‘Is that okay?’

I nodded, and the demon moved to sit on the couch.

‘Sit with me, Lady,’ it said, gesturing. ‘I won’t harm you. I’d like to tell you what I know now, so that it can be quicker when it comes.’

The living room was too small to have more than one couch. I hesitated.

The demon saluted. ‘I give my word. I will not harm you.’

‘Get Meredith,’ I said. She was about the only Master powerful enough to take out something this big if it wasn’t tamed. The other Master, Liu, was held up on the Celestial Plane, doing some job in the Northern Heavens that everybody refused to talk about.

‘My Lady,’ one of the Masters said behind me.

I carefully moved to sit next to the demon on the couch. It smiled slightly, its fresh young face innocent.

‘I have offended One Two Two,’ the demon said. ‘It was planning to use me as a toy.’

One of the Masters inhaled sharply.

‘What are his plans?’ I said.

‘If I may, my Lady,’ the demon said, ‘I think it would be a very good idea if you were to take this.’ She reached into the back pocket of her jeans and I leapt to my feet. ‘It’s okay, it’s just a card.’ She raised one hand while she pulled the card out with the other. She held it out and I took it, sitting to look at it.

The name on the card was ‘Cynthia Chow’. It was the card for a law firm: Wong and Associates. I felt a jolt of excitement. One Two Two’s law firm. Offices in Central, Tsim Sha Tsui, Sham Shui Po and Kowloon City. Got him.

‘Now you know where he is,’ the demon said.

‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘I think in the very near future, a Turtle, a Tiger, a Lion and me are paying him a visit.’

‘I wish I could be around to see it,’ the demon said, smiling slightly. It took a deep breath and dropped its head into its hands. ‘Please make them come quickly, I want this over with.’

‘What’s he going to do?’ I said.

‘I honestly don’t know,’ the demon said, looking back up. ‘He’s been making really incredible hybrids—you should see some of the things he’s produced. Some of them are pretty scary.’

I tried to control my face.

‘Look,’ the demon said with a shrug. ‘I just want it to be over. Can you do it for me now? It won’t make a mess, and I just want to be gone. Please.’ Its voice became anguished. ‘Help me!’

‘Any weapons around here?’ I said.

‘I can call my sword, my Lady,’ said Lionel Chan, the other Wudang Weapons Master. ‘I can do it now if it is your wish.’

‘No!’ the demon said. ‘Only the Lady. None other.’

It fell to its knees in front of the couch and touched its head to the parquet flooring. ‘My Lady, I beg you. Only you. You are the only one I trust. No other.’

‘Okay.’ I pulled myself to my feet in front of the demon. ‘Call your weapon, Lionel.’ I glanced down at the demon. ‘Anything else you want to tell me?’

The demon carefully pulled itself to its feet. ‘Yes. One other thing.’ It lowered its voice. I strained to hear. ‘This,’ it whispered, and leaped.

It felt like someone had stabbed me in the neck. The pain was excruciating. I grabbed its head where it had buried itself into my neck and ripped it away. It grinned at me, still in human form, its long black pointed tongue clearly visible.

‘You little bitch!’ I shouted, and backhanded it across the room. It crashed into the window, but didn’t break it. It pulled itself to its feet and came for me again.

Lionel jumped in front of me, sword raised, and the demon smiled. It moved so fast it was a blur. It leaped and buried its head into his throat, holding his arms. Lionel struggled but the demon had him.

I raced forward and punched the demon on the head where it was biting Lionel. It held him, then let go and moved back. Lionel sagged to his knees, then fell over like a dead tree and disappeared. Master Sit moved forward to block the demon, and it hit him right in the middle of the chest with a blast of something black and horrible. He disappeared.

The demon straightened and grinned. ‘You and me.’

I straightened as well. ‘Try me.’

‘The toxin is already moving through your bloodstream,’ the demon said. ‘You don’t have much longer anyway. As soon as you’re out, we’ll visit my Master.’

I put my hand to my neck and pulled it away covered in blood and clear sweet-smelling venom. She was right. I readied myself. ‘I won’t let you take me, sweetheart.’

The demon rushed me. I dodged under its attack and hit it with my feet as it went through. I knocked it down but it rolled, turned and was back on its feet facing me.

The toxin was in my neck. It was moving through my bloodstream; I could feel it. But it didn’t feel too bad at all. I could deal with it.

‘Does it burn?’ the demon said with a grin.

‘Nope,’ I said. ‘Doesn’t worry me at all.’

If I hit the demon with chi I would blow myself up; it was too big. I had to do this one with physical.

The demon came at me again, so fast it was a blur, but I was way ahead of it. I hit it across the neck with the blade of my hand, then used the momentum to swing my foot into its abdomen. But its human shell was thick and I didn’t get through.

The demon latched onto my neck again. I hit it across the windpipe, but it had injected more venom into me before I freed myself. The little bitch was like a dog humping my leg; she just wouldn’t let go.

The venom was really starting to move through me now. I could feel it, but it felt good. It seemed to be making me stronger, not weaker.

I didn’t have time to wonder about it. The demon was at me again, but this time she seemed to be slower. I clasped my hands and used them together in a crushing hammer blow right at her temple. I was through her.

She disappeared.

The venom burned through me and everything looked really weird: the colours were all wrong and all the furniture seemed to be a strange shape. A strong smell of acetone filled the room. The television was on its side, and I could see the threads of the rug, sideways, right in front of my eyes. No, that wasn’t right…

It was hard to hear the voice talking to me through the roaring in my ears. I couldn’t see anything.

‘Emma, concentrate. You have to clear this out of your system.’

‘Meredith?’

‘Emma, thank the Heavens. Concentrate. Help me.’

I shook my head but still couldn’t see. ‘What happened?’

‘Demon poisoning, dear.’ Meredith’s voice was crisp. ‘We need to clear this out of you. Now. Concentrate on the sound of my voice. This will hurt.’

Her cool hands were on my forehead. Before I could do anything my veins filled with needle-sharp, ice-cold fire. The pain was unbelievable. I screamed and thrashed.

Emma, keep still, John said into my head and I subsided. Concentrate. Let Meredith help you. Try to control your reaction to the pain. He hesitated. I know it hurts, love, but this must be done.

‘John?’

‘I’m here, love.’

I exhaled a huge sigh of relief and let Meredith hurt me for a million years.

‘We came so close to losing her,’ Meredith said softly.

‘I must stay nearby,’ John said. ‘If I had been nearby this would not have happened. This demon waited until I was out of range and then came.’

‘Was the student poisoned too?’ I said without opening my eyes.

‘No,’ John said, his voice soft and warm. ‘All he had was a bloody nose, and he fainted at the sight of the blood. He’s fine, his nose isn’t even broken.’

‘God, what a wimp,’ I whispered, my voice hoarse.

‘He brought the demon in,’ Meredith said. ‘It took the form of a pretty girl and he led it right in the front door. There’s some disagreement as to whether we should let the stupid little bastard stay.’

‘He’s very talented; he just needs to mature,’ John said.

‘He’s probably only been here a week. Let him stay,’ I said.

‘Yes, ma’am,’ John said, and I tried to raise my hand to thump him but I was too weak. I struggled to open my eyes and saw the ceiling of the Folly apartment. I was lying on the living room couch. I wanted to pull myself upright but I couldn’t.

Meredith pushed me back. ‘Rest some more, then we’ll take you home.’

‘Holy shit, not directly,’ I said. ‘That’d kill me.’

‘You are quite correct,’ John said. ‘So Meredith will carry you down to the car and I will drive you home. But we want to make sure that you’ll survive the trip first.’

‘I’m fine.’ I wanted to pull myself to sit but I couldn’t even raise my arms. ‘Whoa. I’m so weak.’

‘Look at your chi level,’ Meredith said with amusement.

I felt a shock as I checked my central dan tian. I was running on empty. ‘So that’s what it feels like.’ I closed my eyes. ‘Can you top me up, Meredith, to get me strong enough to go home?’

‘Sorry, dear, you were too badly poisoned,’ Meredith said. ‘If I were to fill you with chi now, the energy would kill you in your current weakened state. You will need to go home and rest for quite some time, building the chi slowly yourself.’

That made sense. I heaved a huge sigh.

‘Do you realise what you just did?’ John said quietly.

‘Yep,’ I said. ‘I fell for the oldest trick in the book and nearly got myself killed.’

‘You took down a level seventy, Emma.’

‘With your bare hands, no less,’ Meredith said.

I was silent.

‘You took down a demon that was more than a match for two Celestial Masters,’ John said. ‘And you did it full of demon venom. You just get better all the time.’

‘Astounding,’ Meredith said. ‘Wish I could have seen that.’

I wanted to run my hands through my hair but I was too weak.

‘Rest,’ Meredith said. ‘Then we’ll take you home.’

The next day I was up and tottering around the house like an invalid. I could barely lift my cup of tea in the morning, but after a good sleep I could actually eat something at lunchtime. John and I shared a huge pot of vegetarian ho fan in the dining room.

‘How long before I’m back to normal?’ I said.

‘About five days, give or take,’ John said. ‘You will be too weak to practise anything for a while. Your already injured liver is slowing the healing process; there is still poison in your system that needs to be filtered out.’

‘Damn,’ I said into my noodles. ‘Monique just generated her first chi and now I can’t help her.’

‘Meredith will take over,’ John said with amusement.

We shared the noodles in silence for a while.

‘The Tiger has a suggestion,’ John said. ‘Simone is at school for another two weeks until the end of term. She is cared for by Leo and Michael. I am here. You are too weak to do anything except rest. Why don’t you go to the Western Palace and see your family? Recuperate there? You’ll recover much faster on the Celestial.’

I glanced at him. ‘Will I really?’

He nodded through the noodles.

I shrugged. ‘Okay.’

His eyes filled with amusement and I glared at him. ‘What?’

‘I was expecting more resistance from you,’ he said.

‘If I’m back to normal faster then it can only be good,’ I said.

‘I can’t go, Emma, if that’s what you’re thinking,’ he said softly. ‘We need the Tiger strong.’

‘I know you can’t go, John,’ I said, just as softly. ‘I know.’

I knew. We both knew. There would be no more opportunities for us to be together.

I came around on a couch with my parents’ concerned faces hovering above me. I pulled myself upright and ran my hands over my face. I looked around. I appeared to be in a comfortably furnished living room with modern tan-coloured leather furniture and cream carpet.

‘Oh, come on, Emma, say the line,’ the stone said.

‘No,’ I said. ‘Go to sleep.’

‘If you don’t mind, my Lady,’ the stone said, more seriously, ‘it’s been a long time since I was on the Celestial. I was wondering if I could…’ Its voice drifted off.

‘Do you want to leave the ring and wander around?’ I said.

‘How did you know I can do that?’ the stone said.

My parents watched the exchange with amusement.

‘Go,’ I said. ‘Have some fun. Enjoy. I’m perfectly safe here. I don’t need you.’

‘Humph,’ the stone said. ‘Lovely to be wanted.’

‘Just go,’ I said.

‘If you want me back, say “Jade Building Block”,’ the stone said. ‘I’ll be right back, I promise.’

‘Will you just go!’ I said, and the stone disappeared, leaving the empty ring on my hand.

‘Bet it’s gone to find Amanda’s opal,’ my father said. ‘There’s some serious history there.’

‘Wouldn’t be surprised.’ I pulled myself to my feet, holding the back of the couch for support. ‘Damn. I’m still weak.’

My father rushed forward to help me, and guided me into the kitchen and sat me at the table. A smiling young demon servant, appearing as a Mongolian girl in her mid-twenties, was packing the dishwasher.

‘Would you like a drink?’ my father said.

‘Tea, sow mei,’ I said, and the demon filled the kettle and flicked it on.

‘The Tiger says you were poisoned,’ my mother said. ‘Are you okay?’

I showed them the bandage over the wound in my neck. ‘Apparently it was pretty bad, but with a few days’ rest I’ll be fine.’

My father opened his mouth to say something then closed it, smiled and shrugged.

‘What?’

‘I was about to ask you if he’s really worth it,’ he said. ‘But I already know the answer to that question.’