Small Shen

by Kylie Chan

  ‘Yes!’

  ‘Then why did you marry me, silly human?’

  Michelle opened and closed her mouth, gasping for breath. She stared at him for a while. Then she threw herself into his arms. ‘It really won’t be a monster?’

  Time to go, Jade said.

  Xuan Wu stroked her hair and nuzzled into her. ‘No, my love, it will be as human, and warm, and wonderful, as you are.’ He pulled her closer. ‘And as exasperating as I am.’

  ‘Then I shall love it as much as I love you,’ she whispered. She pulled back to gaze up into his eyes, and they lost themselves in each other.

  Out, he said, but Jade and Gold had already disappeared.

  Later, Jade and Gold had dinner together at their favourite local Cantonese restaurant and compared notes.

  ‘Never?’ Jade said with disbelief.

  ‘Never at all,’ Gold said. ‘He said as much to me when I helped him woo her. He’s never had a relationship with a human woman.’

  ‘Then you know she could be right. She could give birth to something black, scaly, and horrible.’

  Gold shook his head. ‘No half-human Shen has ever been born anything but human. Same with half-human demons. The human nature is stronger.’

  ‘He’s one of the strongest creatures there is, Gold. None of the rules apply to him. It could happen.’

  ‘Well, if it does, I hope it doesn’t break her mind,’ Gold said. ‘She’s temperamental enough as it is.’

  Jade jerked back and scowled. ‘She is a wonderful woman. He is lucky to have her; she puts up with a lot from him. He is so cold-blooded.’

  ‘Not when it comes to her,’ Gold said with humour. ‘Never seen a man so crazy in love.’

  Jade smiled slightly and rested her chin on her hand. ‘I know. The story of their love, and the sacrifices they have made for each other, will live for generations. I feel privileged to have been a part of it.’ She sat straighter. ‘Speaking of love stories, what is this between you and Leo?’

  Gold shrugged. ‘Usual guy thing. On and off. We’re good pals…’

  ‘Pals?’ Jade said with delight. ‘You are around that American too much.’

  ‘We’re good pals,’ Gold repeated firmly, ‘and we enjoy each other’s company.’ He shrugged again. ‘It’s a guy thing, we are happy to have things the way they are. It will probably never be anything more, though. The Dark Lord said it would be okay for me and Leo to move in together here in Happy Valley, and both of us said no.’

  ‘Why not? You two seem to have something very good here.’

  Gold smiled sadly. ‘Leo’s heart really belongs to another. He is very fond of me, and I of him, but it cannot be the love that humans hold so dear. He is lost. He will never leave the Peak apartment, not even for me.’

  Jade studied Gold quietly for a moment, then gasped. ‘Oh.’

  ‘Took you long enough.’

  ‘The Dark Lord is famous for only liaising with females. Leo’s cause is lost if he thinks that he has a chance because the Dark Lord is a Shen, like you.’

  ‘I think Leo is aware of that. He’s happy to be where he is.’

  ‘That’s very sad.’

  ‘No it isn’t, Jade. Leo’s happy, I’m happy, the Dark Lord is happy, Michelle is happy — well, when she gets over this fear of giving birth to monsters — in fact, the only one who isn’t getting any at the moment seems to be you.’

  Jade blushed and picked up her chopsticks. ‘There are many dragons here in Hong Kong, Gold, and the Dark Lord lets me take True Form occasionally.’

  ‘So that’s why you always ask if you can take True Form on your day off,’ Gold said with amusement. ‘What’s wrong with humans?’

  Jade wrinkled her nose. ‘Humans smell.’

  Gold nearly choked on his bean curd. ‘Racist.’

  Jade shrugged. ‘Dragons have lovely scales. I can understand Michelle’s dislike of them, being human, but a nice set of scales and a really good fin and tail…well.’ She looked down at her food. ‘Michelle really doesn’t know what she’s missing. The Dark Lord’s scales are the finest on the Celestial.’

  ‘Even better than Qing Long?’ Gold said. ‘Isn’t the silver and turquoise more attractive than the plain black?’

  Jade was dreamy-eyed for a moment. She rested her chin on her hand, still holding her chopsticks. ‘The blue and silver is pretty, but the Dark Lord’s black scales are just completely bad-ass.’ She snapped back. ‘Hot.’

  ‘Now who’s been around Leo far too much?’ Gold said.

  ‘He tends to rub off on you,’ Jade said. ‘I thought about changing to male form to try him out, but he’s yours, so I didn’t.’

  ‘He’d pick you a mile off and probably not be interested ’cause he sees you as a girl,’ Gold said.

  Jade sighed. ‘Such a shame. He is shiny black, as well.’

  ‘You have a thing for black?’

  Jade smiled slightly. ‘Well, the dragon I’m seeing right now is black, so…perhaps.’

  Gold was in True Form, a tiny pebble, guarding the entrance stairs while Leo and Master Mao accompanied Michelle in the gym above. Michelle was three months along now, and needed a new fitness regime. Master Mao had come down from the Mountain to help out.

  Gold kept an eye on them with True Sight; Michelle and Master Mao on the treadmill, Leo nearby doing bench presses. Leo whispered a running commentary to Gold, who could hear every word in True Form.

  ‘Guy just walked past and looked strangely at me, probably thinks I’m talking to myself,’ Leo muttered.

  You don’t have to keep talking if you don’t want to, Gold said.

  ‘Relieves the monotony,’ Leo said.

  They were interrupted by Michelle’s protestations. ‘Of course I can continue to work the weights.’

  ‘It would strain your tendons, ma’am,’ Master Mao said. He had taken the form of a mid-twenties private trainer, complete with short ponytail and black tank top, to guide Michelle through her new training regime. ‘As you progress further through the pregnancy, your tendons will relax to allow your pelvis to open for the birth. You can easily strain them.’

  Michelle just pressed the ‘faster’ button on the treadmill.

  Master Mao changed it back. ‘Slow, ma’am. Don’t push your heart rate up too high.’

  Michelle raised her hands in a gesture of exasperation while still walking on the treadmill.

  Enjoying the show? Gold said. Mao took that form to tease you.

  ‘Oh, God, hell yeah,’ Leo said. ‘What’s he normally look like?’

  Mid-fifties, overweight, and bald, Master Mao said, grinning at Leo. He took his tank top off, revealing a smooth, muscular torso. Glad you like it.

  Michelle burst out laughing. ‘Leave Leo alone!’

  Master Mao pulled his shirt back on, still grinning at Leo.

  The treadmill slowed, then stopped. Master Mao nodded. ‘That’s it, Lady Michelle, only thirty minutes, not including warm-up and cool down.’

  Michelle stepped off the treadmill and began stretching. ‘It seems so little.’

  ‘It’s enough to keep you in shape while you’re not performing,’ Master Mao said. He bowed slightly to Michelle. ‘By your leave, ma’am, I need to return to the Mountain.’

  ‘Of course,’ Michelle said, and he disappeared.

  Heads up! Sissy Wing incoming! Gold said as the journalist passed him, heading up the stairs.

  ‘Is her pregnancy hidden?’ Leo mumbled.

  I got it, Gold said.

  Sissy made no attempt to pretend that she was there to work out, she just walked up to Michelle holding a small dictaphone. ‘Miss LeBlanc. May I have a moment?’

  Michelle straightened and glared at her. ‘Missy, if you want an interview, you make an appointment like everybody else.’

  Sissy didn’t seem fazed that Michelle got her name wrong. ‘Miss LeBlanc, you have cancelled your concert appearances, and you haven’t been seen at the Academy for Performing Arts in tw
o weeks. Is there something we should know? Maybe you and Mr Chen have some news to share?’

  Time to start the story, Gold said to everybody.

  Michelle frowned. ‘I have been having difficulties with my voice recently. I am seeing a doctor about it. I’m having tests.’

  ‘What kind of difficulties?’

  ‘We will know when the tests come back.’ Michelle gestured towards Leo. ‘Show her out.’

  ‘With pleasure, ma’am,’ Leo said, and moved to tower over Sissy. ‘If you’ll just come this way.’ He moved between Sissy and Michelle, blocking the journalist’s view. ‘Interview’s over.’

  ‘Are you pregnant, Michelle?’ Sissy said around Leo’s massive form.

  ‘If I am, you can be sure that you will not be the first to know,’ Michelle said. She turned away and headed towards the change room.

  ‘I’d prefer not to have to pick you up and carry you out, Sissy,’ Leo said, still blocking Sissy.

  Sissy looked up at Leo, studying him appraisingly. ‘How much for private info?’

  ‘Go now, Sissy, before I pick you up and carry you out,’ Leo said.

  ‘I can pay up to two hundred thousand for an inside story if she’s pregnant,’ Sissy said.

  Leo hesitated, looking down at Sissy. Then he said, ‘How much for the real story if she’s not pregnant, but it’s something else?’

  Sissy pulled out her mobile phone, pressed a single button and put it to her ear. ‘Wei? Wei? Ah Mackie ah, m’goi… Mackie. Ngoh yao Leo Alexander la… Kui yao story la… M’hai pregnancy. Yao story la… Yat man okay? Boon man? Boon man dak han la…hola, ching deng deng…’ She looked up at Leo. ‘Five thousand okay?’

  ‘Done,’ Leo said. ‘Downstairs, outside, while she’s in the change room.’

  ‘Boon man hola, m’goi Mackie,’ Sissy said into the phone, and hung up. As they walked down the stairs to the street, she pulled the dictaphone out of her bag again. They stood together just outside the gym’s entrance, with cars and red Island taxis roaring past. Sissy held the dictaphone up to Leo. ‘So what’s going on?’

  ‘She’s seeing an ear, nose and throat specialist,’ Leo said. ‘About three weeks ago, her voice started failing for no reason, she’d be in the middle of an aria or something, and it would just stop, she’d lose it altogether.’

  ‘What’s causing it?’ Sissy said.

  ‘She’s having a lot of tests, but they think it’s throat polyps.’

  ‘Is it cancer?’ Sissy exclaimed with delight.

  Leo snorted with derision. ‘No. Throat polyps are small growths on her vocal cords, caused by overuse. They’re benign. The doctors have ordered her to stop singing for a couple of weeks while they work out whether or not they need to remove them. At the moment, they’re doing tests, and they’re watching and waiting to see if they settle down by themselves. She can’t sing while they sort it out.’

  Sissy put the dictaphone away, then pulled a gold and rhinestone business-card holder out of her bag and handed Leo her card. ‘Call me when they find something out. If it’s cancer, I can pay as much as if it’s pregnancy. More, if you tell me and nobody else.’

  ‘Will do,’ Leo said. ‘But don’t try to contact me, I don’t want her to know.’

  ‘Done,’ Sissy said. ‘Call me when you want me to hand over the cash.’ She quickly walked away to one of the rare street areas not blocked with a yellow line that prevented cars from stopping, and hailed a taxi. She smiled at Leo as she was driven away.

  Nice job, Gold said as Leo went back up the stairs to the gym.

  ‘Thanks,’ Leo said.

  Gold’s sensitive hearing heard what sounded like the hiss of scales in the change room. He hesitated, then he heard it again. He shot up off the floor, made himself invisible, and raced to the women’s change room. Leo, trouble! I hear snakes!

  Leo didn’t hesitate, he ran into the change room as well.

  Michelle was sitting on the tiles, cornered by two demons in female human form who were dressed in the attendants’ white uniforms. All the other women in the change room lay on the floor, unconscious or dead.

  ‘Leo, help me!’ Michelle cried when she saw them. ‘I’ve been calling for you, why didn’t you come?’

  Gold took human form, generated a ball of energy, and blew one of the demons up.

  ‘I’ve bound the other one, Leo, kill it fast,’ Gold said.

  ‘What level is it? I can’t tell,’ Leo said, hesitating.

  ‘Forty-five.’

  ‘Glad you’re here then, man,’ Leo said, and ran his dark fist through the demon’s head, destroying it.

  The sound of scales hissed again, and a Snake Mother came around the wall separating the change room from the shower area. Leo backed up so that he was standing side by side with Gold, in front of Michelle.

  The Snake Mother stopped, watching them. Then it flicked its long snake-like tongue over its face and disappeared.

  ‘Wait,’ Gold said, and checked that the demon had completely gone. He relaxed. ‘We scared it off!’

  Michelle buried her head in her hands in the corner of the change room and shook with silent sobs. ‘You didn’t come! You didn’t come!’

  Leo touched one of the women on the floor. ‘Are they all right?’

  Gold took the woman’s pulse. ‘They just made them unconscious.’ He rose and looked around. ‘I can clean this up.’

  ‘What do you mean, “clean it up”?’ Leo asked suspiciously.

  ‘I’ll sit them on the benches in front of the lockers, and bring them all around together,’ Gold said. ‘They’ll be slightly disoriented, but they won’t be aware that anything happened.’

  Leo crouched next to Michelle, and held her as she wept.

  Eventually she took a deep breath and looked up at Leo. ‘I need to shower, I never had a chance to, I asked one of those demon things for a towel and it tried to grab me. Can you stay with me?’

  ‘I can’t, honey,’ Leo said gently. ‘When these women come round, they’re gonna panic at the sight of a huge black man in the women’s change room.’

  Gold crouched next to them and took female form. ‘I will take this form and stay here with you, ma’am. You have your shower, and I will sort out the other women.’ He turned to Leo. ‘You need to shower too, you have demon essence on you. I’ll mind everything here.’

  Michelle clutched Leo’s arm. ‘Don’t leave me!’

  Leo gently loosened her grasp. ‘You’ll be fine here with Gold, Michelle. I’ll take a quick shower and be right back, standing outside just in case.’

  Michelle nodded, rose, and walked into the shower area, slightly unsteady on her feet.

  ‘Go, Leo, I’ll mind things here,’ Gold said.

  Leo nodded and went out.

  Michelle was still in the shower when Gold had revived all of the other women and had them sitting around the change room looking bewildered. He checked her; she was fine. He went to meet up with Leo at the entrance to the change room.

  ‘The Dark Lord said that she had courage he’d never seen before,’ Gold said. ‘As Master of the Mountain, he’s seen many courageous Disciples, so I find that hard to believe. Has she become more afraid with the demon attacks? Is it having an effect on her?’

  ‘I think he sees what he wants to see in her,’ Leo said as he leaned against the wall next to the change-room entrance. ‘I wouldn’t call her courageous by any stretch of the imagination.’

  Gold turned back. ‘She’s out of the shower, I’ll wait in the change room for her.’

  Leo nodded. ‘You do that. Stay with her, she’ll be shaken for a few hours.’

  ‘At least she didn’t pass out this time.’

  ‘She still has plenty of time to do it on the way home.’

  Later at home, Gold went into Michelle’s room to make sure she was okay. He presented her with a necklace that he’d made for her; a simple polished golden cat’s-eye stone in a gold setting on a twenty-four carat chain.

 
‘This is an alarm,’ Gold said. ‘Hold the stone, squeeze it hard, and I’ll hear you, no matter how far away you are.’

  Michelle took the stone, slipped it over her neck, and studied it. ‘No diamonds?’

  ‘I can put diamonds on it if you’d like, ma’am.’

  Michelle nodded. ‘I’d appreciate that.’

  ‘White, cognac, or champagne?’

  ‘You can get champagne-coloured diamonds?’

  ‘They’re a honey brown,’ Gold said. ‘Same colour as the stone.’

  Michelle held the pendant up and studied it. ‘I think white diamonds, and if you could, change the setting to white gold as well.’

  Gold waved his hand over the pendant and it changed to her specifications. Michelle looked at it again, then smiled at Gold. ‘Perfect! Have you ever considered a career in jewellery making?’

  ‘I hope one day, ma’am, when I am freed from constantly taking human form, that I can be the centrepiece of a spectacular piece of jewellery for you,’ Gold said.

  He saw Michelle’s face, and added, ‘With many diamonds!’

  Michelle squeezed the stone with delight, and an alarm wailed through Gold’s lattice. He quickly took her hand off the stone, making the alarm stop. ‘Thank you, ma’am, I heard that very clearly.’

  ‘How far away will you hear it?’

  ‘Up to three li…’ Gold worked out the conversion. ‘About a kilometre and a half.’

  Michelle nodded. ‘You will never be further from me than that anyway.’ She reclined on the bed. ‘Now please let me rest, it has been a difficult day.’

  ‘Of course,’ Gold said, and closed the door as he went out. Leo was waiting for him on the other side.

  ‘That thing you did with the light,’ Leo said. ‘Can you teach me that?’

  ‘Energy work? Hasn’t the Dark Lord started you on that yet? You should be learning already,’ Gold said.

  ‘He’s probably forgotten,’ Leo said. ‘How much work does it involve? Can I learn it?’

  ‘You should be able to learn it quite easily,’ Gold said. ‘Come into the training room, let’s see what we can do.’