White Tiger

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Both of us wandered out very late the next morning and met in the kitchen. He looked as exhausted as I felt. We both wore ratty clothes and both stopped to tie our hair back.

Ah Yat had made some vegetarian noodles and presented them to us triumphantly, pushing us into the dining room out of the way. She could see that we’d had a great time.

‘Where’s Leo?’ John said.

‘Outside with Simone, sir. They have spent the whole morning together.’

‘Good.’

We tucked into the noodles without needing to say a word to each other.

Ms Kwan appeared on the other side of the table.

‘Ah Yat!’ John shouted. ‘Another teacup!’

His voice became softer as he spoke to Ms Kwan. He used his chopsticks to point at the noodles. ‘Would you like some, Mercy?’

‘No, thank you, Ah Wu. But you two eat. I can see you had a tiring evening.’

Ah Yat brought another teacup and John filled it for Kwan Yin. She smiled sadly. ‘Have you spoken to the Jade Emperor recently, Ah Wu?’

John shook his head. Then he put his chopsticks down and placed his hands on either side of the bowl of noodles. ‘Oh, shit.’

‘Ah Wu, really! You have been around that Tiger altogether too much!’

He picked his chopsticks up again. ‘Tell us the worst.’

‘What, John?’

‘Emma. Dear Emma.’ Ms Kwan sighed. ‘Let me tell you a story.’

John opened his mouth but she waved him down. ‘Let me, Ah Wu.

‘Once there was a very foolish Shen who fell in love with a human woman. He married her, and had a child with her. He gave up his duties and dominion to be with her. It was a scandal throughout the Celestial. He was warned by the mighty Jade Emperor that such a dereliction of his duty was not acceptable.’

‘I told the Jade Emperor where to go.’ John’s eyes sparkled over the noodles. ‘You should have seen his face. He nearly had me executed on the spot.’

‘The Jade Emperor decided that if the Shen was in love to such a degree—if it made him insane enough to show such open defiance—then Heaven should not stand in the way.’

‘I still can’t believe I got away with it. Nobody in the history of the world has ever done such a thing. Nobody, I think, ever will.’

‘His Celestial Majesty gave the Shen permission to spend a human lifetime with the woman.’

John dug his chopsticks into the noodles. ‘And there were quite a few noses out of joint.’

‘A great many of his advisors wanted the Shen thrown from Heaven.’

‘There are always people who want me thrown from Heaven. I am what I am. But I am also a good General and the best Heavenly Administrator. No one can fault my performance. The Northern Heavens are the best run of all.’

‘The Shen returned to his wife and child. The wife was killed by a demon. The Shen was given permission to stay with the child.’

‘Good thing, too,’ he said through the noodles. ‘I would have stayed with her anyway, regardless of orders.’

‘You are absolutely incorrigible,’ she said.

‘That’s why you like me.’

‘And that’s why I love him.’

‘You, Emma, are just as bad.’ Her voice softened. ‘And now he has done this.’

I understood. My Regency. His oath to me.

‘You are in very serious trouble, aren’t you?’ I said to him.

‘I don’t think even he realises the depth of the trouble he’s in,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘Tell me the worst.’

‘You are in danger of being demoted, Ah Wu. You may lose the Northern Heavens.’

‘Good,’ he said crisply. ‘The Northern Heavens are a hell of a lot of work and take up far too much of my time. If I didn’t have to do that, I could spend more time with my family.’ He smiled at me.

‘You may lose your Mountain, dear heart.’

His smile disappeared.

I knew how much his Mountain meant to him. It was a part of him. The damage caused by the demons still tortured him.

‘Can he take it all back, Ms Kwan?’

They both stared at me.

‘Don’t you want to marry me and live on my Mountain, Emma? Why didn’t you say so?’

I tapped his arm with the ends of my chopsticks. ‘Of course I do, don’t be ridiculous. But I don’t want you to lose your Mountain for me.’

John and Ms Kwan looked at each other, then back to me.

‘Don’t sacrifice your Mountain for me. I can’t bear the thought of you losing what you love. If you can take your oath back, then you should.’

I turned to Ms Kwan. ‘Please, tell the Jade Emperor that this was all a big mistake. He’ll forget about me and return to his duties. If it costs him this much suffering, then it’s not worth it.’

John looked away, his face full of pain.

‘You are truly worthy,’ Ms Kwan whispered.

He slammed his chopsticks onto the table and rose.

I put my head in my hands. ‘Oh no, here we go again.’ I slapped him lightly on the behind. ‘Sit down, Xuan Wu, there’s no need for theatrics. Let’s just talk about this.’

John sat back down with a bump. ‘I stand by my oath.’ He picked up his chopsticks. ‘Theatrics or no. She is mightily worthy, as you have seen. I want her by my side. If it means losing my Mountain, then so be it.’

‘If you lose it, then how can we go live on it?’ I said. ‘Maybe we should just let our relationship go.’

‘No. The Jade Emperor can go to hell,’ John said. ‘I stand by my oath. Emma deserves nothing less.’

‘You are a tremendous fool,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘But I’ll do my best for you.’

‘I’m an even bigger fool,’ I said. ‘You warned me what I was getting into, and I walked into it with both eyes open.’

‘We’re a pair of fools together,’ John said.

‘You forgot happy,’ I said.

‘Eat your noodles,’ Ms Kwan said, sounding like a long-suffering mother. She disappeared.

We ate in silence. Words weren’t necessary.

The next day Gold returned and we resumed training. We only had a few more days in the house on the hill and there were still things we needed to learn.

‘Only Emma can do the first exercise—it’s energy weapons,’ John said. ‘You’re not big enough to do this sort of weapons training yet, Simone. You can stay back here with Leo if you like.’

‘Can we come and watch?’ Simone said.

‘No need, guys,’ I said.

John shrugged. ‘If you want.’

‘Oh no, please.’ I ran my hands through my hair. ‘Do you have to watch?’

‘Yep,’ Leo said.

We went to the top of the hill. Gold stood me about twenty metres from a straw dummy and passed me my sword.

‘Stand well clear,’ John said, moving Leo and Simone away from me. ‘This could backfire. Emma, please be very careful.’

I glanced at him, concerned.

‘You’ll be fine, just take it slowly.’

I shrugged and turned back to the dummy.

‘Take the sword out, Lady Emma,’ Gold said, ‘and hold it in front of you.’

I did as he said. He took the scabbard and put it on the grass away from us.

‘Now. Move some chi into the sword. Do it slowly, feel the sensation. Hold the sword with both hands and move the chi in. It will feel strange, be ready for it.’

I held the sword in front of me and concentrated.

‘Only a small amount, Emma,’ John called.

Gold raised his hand. ‘The Dark Lord is quite correct, my Lady, only a very small amount.’ He bobbed his head. ‘My apologies.’

I held the sword out, concentrated, and moved about a golf ball’s worth of chi into it.

The recoil knocked me backwards off my feet and sent the sword spinning out of my hands. I landed smack on my behind. Simone giggled. Leo guffawed. Even John laughed.

‘Do that again, Emma, that was funny!’ Simone squealed.

‘Wish I had a camera,’ John said. ‘The look on your face is priceless.’

Leo didn’t say anything. He was bent double, speechless with laughter.

I pulled myself to my feet. ‘You will all keep!’

Gold had difficulty controlling his face. ‘Less than that, I think, to start.’ He fetched my sword for me. ‘Try again. Hold it tight. You’ll have less recoil as the sword becomes used to it.’

‘The sword has to get used to it?’

‘Just try it and feel it,’ John said. ‘I could explain about the sword, but it might be better if you just practise first.’

I took a firm hold of the sword, held it in front of me and gingerly moved a minuscule amount of energy into it. The sword vibrated, but I could hold it. I moved more in, and the vibration intensified, but I could still hold it easily.

I eased more chi into it until I reached a normal working level. The vibration intensified, then the sword stopped shaking and sang with a pinging crystalline whine that ran straight through my head like a glass blade.

I pulled the energy out of the sword and it went silent.

‘All the demons for miles will run when they hear that,’ I said. ‘What an annoying sound.’

‘It will do more than annoy them,’ John said. ‘It will destroy any small ones that are close, and disable them if they are within earshot.’

‘How small?’ I said.

‘That depends entirely upon your own level of skill. The more you practise, the larger the demons you can destroy with it.’

‘I hope I didn’t hurt the house staff,’ I said, concerned.

‘I sent them down to the city,’ John said. ‘And they’re your staff too, now.’

Leo snorted with amusement.

‘Give it a rest. That’s a really useful technique, Gold, thanks.’

‘That is not the technique. That is just an interesting side effect of the particular nature of this sword.’

‘What’s the technique then?’

‘Put the sword down and I’ll show you.’ I placed the sword on the grass.

‘Using a standard chi blast of about so big,’ he said, indicating a ball about the size of a basketball, ‘hit the target.’

I generated the chi and threw it at the dummy. I wasn’t accurate; the chi hit the dummy slightly to one side and it burst into flames.

‘Pathetic,’ John said.

‘Leave her alone, Daddy, that was really good,’ Simone said, shoving him.

Gold concentrated and the fire went out. ‘Now, load the sword with chi and use it like a slingshot to throw the energy. Only use about this much.’ He indicated a ball about the size of a tennis ball.

I picked up the sword, held it front of me and filled it with energy. It sang. ‘That’s really annoying. How do I shut it up?’

The sword went silent.

‘Okay, obviously I just ask it.’

‘Just tell it what to do,’ John called. ‘Tell it to sing again.’

The sword sounded without me saying anything. I ordered it to shut up and it went silent. ‘Is it sentient?’

‘No,’ John said. ‘Has the stone in the ring said anything yet?’

‘No.’

‘Stone in the ring?’ Gold said. I held the ring up for him to see. ‘Are you sure that was a good idea, my Lord? It will waken eventually.’

‘Emma can handle it,’ John said.

‘If anyone can, she can,’ Gold agreed. ‘I look forward to it waking. It’s been a long time.’

I tried something. I ordered the sword to sing, and it sounded. I ordered it to make the sound lower, and it obliged. I ran it through some excruciatingly painful scales.

A dog barked some distance away and others picked up the refrain. The hillside echoed with their howls of distress.

‘Enough! Enough!’ John called, laughing. ‘I didn’t know it could do that!’

I ordered the sword to shut up and my ears rang in the sudden silence.

‘Don’t do that again, please, Emma!’ Simone said. ‘That was awful!’

I bowed to them, then turned to face the dummy. This time I used the sword as a slingshot to throw the energy. The dummy exploded into a million pieces. The force of the blast showered us with straw. John had to shield Simone from the flying debris.

The chi returned to the sword without my guidance.

‘That was only about one-fifth of what I used the first time,’ I said.

‘That is correct,’ Gold said. ‘You will achieve five times the power, combined with five times the distance, by using the sword to throw the chi. You also do not need to guide the energy back.’

‘Sweet! Hey, John, do you have any demons I can practise on?’

‘Sure. I have a jar in the basement. Just hold on, I’ll get it for you.’

‘I may play them some tunes as well,’ I mused aloud.

‘Leo, I want to go inside right now, please,’ Simone said.

‘Yeah, we’re out of here,’ Leo said. ‘Come and get us when you’re finished.’

John followed Leo and Simone back to the house. Then he stopped, stiffened, and walked swiftly back.

‘Looks like we won’t need the jar,’ he said, studying the sky.

Gold looked up as well. ‘You have sky seals?’

‘Yes,’ John said. ‘Let’s see what happens. Emma, fill the sword with chi. You may have your chance right now.’

I filled the sword with energy and ordered it to be silent. ‘What’s coming?’

‘Flyers,’ Gold said.

‘How big?’

‘Oh, about twenty,’ John said casually, still studying the sky. ‘About twelve of them. Second wave.’

The flyers appeared as black spots in the cloudy sky. They looked like ravens.

‘Are they like crows?’

‘Nope,’ Gold said. ‘Completely different. And much bigger.’

The flyers came closer and I suddenly saw that they weren’t the size of ravens, they were much, much bigger. Their altitude had hidden their true size. Each had a wingspan of probably about two metres.

‘Can we handle them?’

‘Oh, yes,’ John said. ‘This should be good. They don’t know I’ve given you the sword. They will find out in a hurry. When I tell you, make the sword sing.’

The flyers were like large flying lizards, or small black dragons. They had scales, four legs, and wings. Their eyes glowed red as they approached us.

When they were about fifty metres away, I hefted my sword.

‘Wait,’ John said without moving. ‘They’re awfully close, John,’ I said, concerned. The flyers sped towards us. ‘Trust me, Emma.’

The flyers opened their mouths when they were about twenty metres away; around twelve of them. They flew together in a mass of black scaly legs and wings.

‘Will they blow fire like the dog?’ I said, clutching my sword.

‘No,’ John said. ‘They’re just smiling.’

The flyers were only ten metres away, and my heart raced.

‘Now,’ John said.

I held the sword in front of me and made it sing.

Every single one of the demons exploded, dissipating into feathery black streamers.

‘Well done, my Lady,’ Gold said with admiration.

‘Good. I don’t need to waste any demons out of the jar.’ John grinned. ‘Come inside and we’ll take a break. You have that skill mastered.’

I lowered my sword and shook my head.

‘What?’

‘We were just attacked and you’re acting like it was nothing.’

‘It was nothing,’ John said with a shrug. ‘The next wave will be the one we need to worry about. But we know they’re coming, so we are prepared. I’m not too concerned about losing my head, particularly when I have you here to defend me.’ His grin widened. ‘I thought I told you to read the Tao.’

‘Oh, give it a rest.’ I followed him back to the house.