by Kylie Chan
‘Your word can’t be trusted,’ John said.
The King spread his hands. ‘I’m going to a war I don’t want because I promised them the sunshine, and I’m keeping my word to them.’
‘You’re going to a war you do want because you’re holding a high hand and fishing for one more tile,’ John said.
‘You can’t trust him, John. That’s why I didn’t take his offer,’ I said softly.
‘I told you to stay out of this,’ the King said without looking away from John, his voice sharp.
‘I know, Emma.’ John rose and held the treaty out to the Demon King. ‘If you had never broken your word, things may have been different. I will keep my word, though: as long as my wife and children are safe, I will not take your life in the coming conflict.’ He nodded to the King. ‘Contact me anytime if you wish to renegotiate a settlement. Anything is preferable to war.’
The King sighed without moving to take the treaty. ‘Obviously we have to sort this out the hard way. Give the order, Lucinda. Start at five hundred volts.’
‘Majesty,’ Lucinda said.
John fell sideways and flopped onto the floor. His muscles seized so hard that he hit his head on the polished stone with a loud crack. Martin ran to us and crouched over John, obviously feeling helpless as John shook with spasms. I pushed Martin away, rolled John over onto his side and tried to put him into the recovery position as he fought me. I attempted to check that he hadn’t swallowed his tongue, but he moved too fast and hard and both of us had to step back as his limbs flailed. He kicked the table to the other side of the hall and it smashed into the wall.
‘Stop,’ the King said, and John went still, panting on the ground with his eyes open.
Martin put his arms under John’s shoulders and assisted him to sit on his chair. John flopped, his eyes open but unseeing, and a dark stain spread over his pants: he’d lost control of his bladder during the seizure. I pulled my chair closer and sat next to him, slipping under his arm to keep him upright, but he was obviously unconscious with his eyes open.
The King stood. ‘I didn’t mean to embarrass him to that degree.’ He bowed slightly. ‘I apologise for this dishonour, Ah Wu.’
Martin positioned himself behind us and put his hands on either side of John’s head. His hands glowed with shen energy for an instant and John snapped back to consciousness. He quickly dried himself and pushed me away to sit upright unaided, but was obviously still dazed.
‘Have you finished torturing him?’ I said. ‘You’re not achieving anything except to prove that you can’t be trusted.’
‘It had to be done. He has to be out of the way,’ the King said. ‘See you in Hell, guys. I tried to avoid this, and it’s your choice to make it happen.’
He gestured towards Lucinda without looking at her, then rose and bowed to John and me. They turned and walked out of the hall together.
‘There’s another child?’ Martin said.
‘Wait,’ John said, raising his hand. He relaxed. ‘They’re gone. They’re not trying the Celestial; they’re returning to Hell.’ He dropped his voice. ‘I need medical attention. I can’t see out of my left eye.’
Martin and I both assisted him to struggle to the Celestial Palace medical centre. His left leg dragged and he had difficulty with his balance. Halfway there he had another seizure. His movements were so violent that he writhed out of our grip and fell again. He scrabbled at the ground, his eyes wide, and made horrible garbled noises. After an eternal couple of minutes, the seizure stopped and John lay silent and unmoving on the ground with his eyes open, again unconscious, and with blood trickling out of his mouth.
‘I can only do this two or three more times before it kills me,’ Martin said, putting his hand, loaded with shen, on John’s face.
John snapped back to consciousness, pulled himself onto his hands and knees, and looked around. He reached for me. I helped him to his feet, and he clutched me. Martin moved to his other side and we held him up. He wiped his hand over his mouth and winced at the blood there; he’d bitten his tongue.
John squeezed me and spoke, but what came out was meaningless gibberish. He tried to speak again, and again it was meaningless. His eyes widened and he switched to silent speech, but again the words were mangled beyond recognition in my head.
Martin levered John off him and turned to peer into his eyes. ‘His left pupil is severely dilated, but the other one is okay. Brain damage? We need to find him medical attention right away, but if this is serious he may need an Earthly hospital.’
‘John, do you understand me?’ I said.
He didn’t respond; he just leaned on me, panting.
‘Shit,’ I said softly. ‘We need someone to take him to the Mountain. Can you?’
‘I can try,’ Martin said, and lifted John off me to take his full weight. ‘What about you?’
‘Can you take both of us?’
‘No.’
‘Just him then. We have to take him to the Grotto.’
‘Why the Grotto?’
‘We’ll put him into the Celestial Jade cage. Take him to the Grotto and put him in —’
We landed outside the Grotto and I raised my head. ‘Thank you!’ I said loudly to the Jade Emperor. I dropped my voice. ‘Ming. Go into the armoury where the Celestial weapons are kept — the Celestial Jade cage is there. Meet us back here with it.’ John leaned more heavily on me. ‘Hurry!’
I opened the Grotto door and carefully assisted John down the stairs, his feet dragging. I laid him on the cold stone next to the water and raised my head to speak to the fish.
‘Everybody out. That’s an order.’
Martin came down the stairs, the door closing behind him, and passed me the casket.
I put it on the floor and removed the lid. ‘I hope he’s conscious enough to change. Hold him, and when he changes put him inside. I’ll close the lid.’
Martin held John’s head up. John lay unmoving with his eyes open and his face slack.
‘He seems too out of it, Emma.’
‘Can you speak to him?’
Martin put one hand on the side of John’s face and pulled it around to look into his eyes. He shook his head. ‘He’s too far gone.’
‘We need him conscious and aware. The demons —’
Martin’s head shot up, and I felt it as well. The Jade Emperor had called battle stations. The demons had attacked Hell.
John made some garbled noises, pushed Martin away and struggled to climb to his hands and knees. He bent his head for a moment, panting, then lurched to his feet and staggered, nearly falling. With visible effort he regained his balance and took Celestial Form with Seven Stars on his back. He bent, took my hands, raised them to his face and kissed them; then stood straight and turned to hold his hand out to Martin.
Martin hesitated for a moment before he grimly clasped it and both of them disappeared.
‘Goodbye,’ I said.
I stood silently for a couple of minutes, then shook myself out of it. I needed to find Simone and make sure she was okay, and that she knew what had happened to her father. I put the cage into its casket and climbed back up the stairs, each of them seeming ten metres high.
The minute I was out of the Grotto the stone spoke to me. ‘Simone’s gone to fight, Emma. Go put that cage away and I’ll keep you updated.’
‘Can Zara go with him and relay for us?’ I said as I carried the casket towards the armoury. All around me, Disciples hurried to their positions.
‘She won’t. She doesn’t want to bring him bad luck.’
‘How about you then?’
‘I vowed to stay with you.’
‘Find someone, please. I need to know what’s happening.’
‘I’m looking. There aren’t many of us left, and we have to use mundane technology to communicate from Hell —’
‘— because it’s underground. I know.’
Lucy Chen was distributing weapons at the entrance to the armoury, and nodded to me as I pas
sed her. I went through the empty shelves to the end of the room and walked through the wall. The Murasame was the only Celestial weapon remaining in the high-security section. I closed my eyes to walk through the gold bars, and placed the casket at the far corner of the room against the stone wall.
I passed the box containing the Elixir of Immortality as I headed out, and stopped for a moment. I made a snap decision and put my hand on the featureless black surface. The box shimmered into nothingness, revealing the black and silver jug. I picked up the jug, held it down by my side so Lucy wouldn’t see it, and went back out again.
They were all gone when I exited the armoury, so I carefully carried the jug back to the Imperial Residence. Smally was standing in the entrance hall, her eyes wide and frightened.
‘There’s no demon master, ma’am, we don’t know what to do,’ she said.
‘Return to barracks,’ I said. ‘Tell all the other demons to return to quarters immediately.’
She nodded, concentrated to share the information, then hesitated. ‘Can I stay with you?’
‘No. Go back to the demon quarters, and lock them up when you’re all in there.’
‘Ma’am,’ she said, and went towards the rear of the house.
I followed her into the kitchen and watched the demons head out to their quarters. I found a sports bottle in the kitchen cupboard, carefully poured the Elixir into it, and sealed it tight before the powerful scent of it made me pass out.
‘You’re wasting your time. There’s nobody to take you to Hell,’ the stone said.
‘There are two very easy ways I can get there,’ I said.
‘Two?’
‘I can change to serpent and teleport myself as well.’
‘As well as what?’ the stone said, confused.
‘As well as the obvious way of getting to Hell.’
I went into the living room and sat on the couch, rigid with dread and holding the sports bottle.
‘You do that to yourself and I will never forgive you. Nobody else will either,’ the stone said, its voice sharp. ‘And the Elixir won’t go with you, so don’t even think about it.’
‘I promised Simone I wouldn’t, don’t worry.’ I raised my head. ‘How’s John? Is he still alive?’
‘Surprisingly, yes. I think the Jade Emperor’s helping him. Martin is also giving him a hand. It appears that they’re using him as a weapon — pointing him at things and having him destroy them.’
‘Who’s winning?’
‘Too early to say.’
‘Okay.’ I pulled my legs up to sit cross-legged on the couch with the bottle in my lap, and tried to relax as I waited for them. ‘Keep me updated on Simone. I wish you would leave me and go to her.’
‘I promised.’
I leaned back on the couch. ‘I understand.’
Its voice softened. ‘Emma …’
‘I know,’ I said.
‘You know?’
‘He’s not coming back. Whether we win or lose, he won’t be coming back.’
The stone was silent for a while, then said, ‘Okay. I’m here for you.’
My throat thickened. ‘Thank you. Just keep me updated on Simone.’
‘At the moment, she and her horse are doing magnificently.’
‘Let me know if the situation changes.’ I raised the sports bottle in front of my face. ‘And let me know the second there’s any chance she’ll need this.’
‘Of course.’
I sat in silence, waiting for word from them.
24
Zhenwu
Of all the brain injuries to have, damage to the language centres was absolutely the worst. John couldn’t give orders and Martin couldn’t provide information; instead, they communicated through raw emotion and with non-verbal direction, passing images between them. They stood side by side in front of the barricades that blocked the entrance to Court Ten, the last line of defence. Martin fought next to him, indicating demons for John to attack, but John wasn’t able to direct the army and had no idea how the battle was progressing. On top of that, he was close to death, half-blind and had no idea whether Simone was safe or not.
John sent Martin a picture of Simone’s face. Martin sent him a reassuring emotion and John silently thanked him; Simone was okay. He sent a blast of shen energy to destroy the Mothers around him, then turned to Martin and sent him a query.
Martin responded with despair, giving John an overview of the situation. The demons had overrun the Celestial island and were marching on Court Ten. Courts Two to Nine had already fallen, and Court One was … As Martin sent the image it changed. The demons were in One. The Celestial forces had pulled back to Court Ten, but they’d been devastated by the forces of Hell — both types of demon, East and West — and the Celestial army was a fraction of its initial numbers. Only a hundred or so of the biggest Celestials — the Winds themselves, and the Generals — were falling back to form a ring around Court Ten, with the horde savagely trying to break through the lines.
They needed reinforcements. The Twelfth was guarding the Earthly and some of them could be pulled down quickly to bolster the defence. He sent the number twelve — a cross with two horizontal strokes beneath it — to Martin.
Martin sent back bewilderment.
John sent the Western twelve and a soldier.
Martin nodded understanding and hesitated, passing the order on. Maybe they could do this after all. Martin moved into position next to John and raised the Silver Serpent. If they couldn’t break this final attack, they would retreat behind the barricades and shore up Court Ten for siege.
Martin sent him an image of Pao behind them, standing in front of his court with a sword in his hand and a resolute expression. John sensed Pao’s desperation: the judge was frantic with concern that the Court would fall and every Shen sent to it would be imprisoned by the forces of Hell. Pao was probably prepared to stay with his Court to the end; he had a level of stubbornness that made Emma look pliant.
Martin indicated five black Western demons approaching. John hefted his sword and prepared to fight them. He didn’t have much left, but by the Heavens he would take out as many as he could before he fell. Martin attacked two and John attacked three, but their blows glanced off.
Oh shit.
Martin made his sword sing and it slowed them, but the black demons didn’t stop.
Martin sent futility: a suggestion that they fall back.
John sent determination and summoned yin. It floated around him in a cloud of destruction and he pushed his left hand out towards the demons and released it into them. They shredded in its cold cloud, and he fell to one knee with the effort of calling it back to him. Martin patted his shoulder as John clambered back to his feet. John nodded; they could do this together.
Martin broadcast shock and sent John an image. There were more than two hundred of these black demons approaching; they had overrun the Celestial lines and were descending on them. Behind them came a cockroach the size of a bus, its shell the same shiny black material as the demons. The insect would be able to dismantle the barricades around Court Ten with ridiculous ease.
John lifted Seven Stars and prepared to fight them to the end. It wouldn’t be long and he would rejoin, and even if he was to suffer at the hands of the demons it would be a tremendous relief to be whole once more.
Simone rode in on a sweat-lathered Freddo behind the demons and generated a cloud of yin that destroyed them. Martin raised his hands and sent yin into the vanguard of the armoured demon’s forces. Their yin clouds were a fraction of what John could generate. If John could add his full capability without destroying everything, they could still win.
He gathered himself, leapt high above the demon force and prepared for a final release that would destroy most of what remained.
The Serpent was shocked with electricity again and he lost control. He reached the apex of his leap and fell, helpless. The pain was excruciating and his muscles heaved in spasms until he hit the ground hard and lo
st consciousness.
Emma
I heard voices behind me and turned. Martin and Simone had appeared in the Residence’s courtyard, Simone mounted on Freddo and Martin next to the horse’s head. They were blackened with demon essence. John was thrown across Freddo’s back behind Simone.
Simone dismounted, then she and Martin lowered John onto the grass and knelt next to him. I rushed out to see them.
‘Are you okay?’ I said.
Simone rubbed her hand over her forehead and smeared demon essence over her face. She looked at her hand and grimaced, then dropped it. ‘We lost.’
‘Hell has fallen,’ Martin said, raising John’s eyelids to check his eyes. ‘They shocked him just before the final push and knocked him out as they charged the Court Ten barricades. Our lines were overrun and Court Ten is theirs.’ He looked up at me. ‘Most of our forces are dead or their prisoners.’
‘It’s awful,’ Simone said and broke down, shaking with silent sobs. Martin reached around and pulled her into a hug and she clutched him.
I fell to sit on the grass, stunned. I took John’s hand. He was unconscious and Martin obviously didn’t have enough left to bring him around. At least he hadn’t rejoined, but he looked close to death and if that happened the demons would have him. He was so far gone that he would probably take off and rejoin the minute he woke up.
‘You’re safe here,’ I said. ‘The Disciples are here to defend. We’ll be fine.’
‘They have Michael!’ Simone cried, distraught. ‘Oh my god, poor Clarissa.’
‘Do they have any of the really senior people?’ I asked Martin.
‘They took down the Dragon, but obviously they don’t have another cage because he came back almost immediately. They don’t have any of the Winds or the Generals, but there isn’t much left of the army and many of our senior officers are prisoners. The Jade Emperor ordered us to evacuate when Father went down and the cockroach attacked the barricades, so the last of us made it out. Anyone left in Court Ten is theirs.’
‘A cockroach?’
‘I think I’m going to be sick,’ Simone said. She pulled herself free from Martin and ran to the powder room.