by Kylie Chan
‘That’s us,’ John said.
I moved to kiss Ma, and his face filled with intense longing before his expression cleared and he put his hand out to stop me.
‘No,’ he said. ‘It’s time. You’re right.’
Time for him to move on; something we’d been telling him for years.
I nodded and moved back behind my desk. ‘I’m glad you have our backs tomorrow, Marshal.’
Yi Hao spoke outside my office. ‘She’s with someone. Do you want to come back?’
‘Come on in, Jade,’ I shouted at the door.
Jade threw open the door and strode in, her green robes floating around her and her face a mask of fury. ‘That asshole in the East has once again refused my requisitions,’ she said. ‘I need you to sign them, Emma. The Dragon’s refusing to accept my authority just so he can see more of me.’ She realised who I was with and saluted around. ‘Sorry to interrupt, my Lords.’
‘It’s all right, we were done anyway,’ John said, and rose. He gestured towards Ma. ‘Give Jade a hand, will you?’
Setting me up again, Ah Wu? Ma said with amusement.
The Dragon’s been chasing her for nearly fifteen years and she’s turned down all his proposals, I said. Feel free to tug his chrome-plated tail.
Oh, with a great deal of pleasure, Ma said, and grinned broadly, his eyes sparkling. ‘Princess Jade, I believe I have the authority you seek as the Dark Lord’s second-in-command. May I escort you to the Eastern Palace so we can take this ugly blue beast down together?’
Setting me up again, Emma? Jade said, and I just smiled.
She held her elbow out for him to take. ‘I thank you for your assistance, General Ma, and your authority will be more than sufficient.’
He took her arm and they disappeared together.
John and I shared a look. He felt my amused wonder; I felt his pained guilt. We shook our heads at each other and returned to work.
34
I woke the next morning in a warm haze, having dreamt of swimming through the beautiful clear waters of a coral reef, both of me dodging between the brightly coloured corals, the water sweet in our mouths. I opened my eyes to find myself wrapped around John, warm and comfortable. The pale pre-dawn light and the sound of songbirds echoed through the closed shutters.
I tried to move away from him to go to the bathroom and couldn’t. I pulled my hand: it was stuck to him. I was wrapped around him and couldn’t get free.
Wild panic seared through me, waking him as well. My arm had disappeared into him, and my breasts had merged into his chest. I struggled to free myself and only succeeded in hurting myself where we joined.
‘Emma. Stop,’ he said, his voice calm. He deliberately forced waves of relaxation through both of us, and I stopped to breathe, panting with terror. ‘If you struggle you’ll lose yourself even more. Relax.’ His cool consciousness settled over me and I calmed. ‘Good.’
‘I need to get free from you!’ I said, wondering if this was a nightmare where my worst fear — of him absorbing me completely — had been realised.
No nightmare, he said. Real enough. Relax and we will disentangle you.
His composure settled me; he could separate us. As I forced myself to relax and stop fighting him, I felt his relief — and under that, his own terror at absorbing me.
‘We need to concentrate on Emma’s separate consciousness,’ he said. ‘What are the names of your parents?’
‘Brendan. Barbara.’ Images of their faces — they’d only been in my office, what? Less than a week ago. My entire family.
‘Pull gently. Concentrate on your family. Do you remember the flat you shared with Louise?’
‘It was so tiny. We didn’t even have room for a four-seater table …’ My hand came free and I gasped with relief. ‘My bed went from one end of the room to the other, and I didn’t have space for a proper wardrobe …’
He pushed me away and my body was free. My other hand popped out of him with a sudden release of pressure.
I scrambled back, away from him. ‘Shit, that was awful!’
‘Tell me about it,’ he said, rubbing his chest where I’d been released. ‘You have to sleep separately until we fix this.’
‘And no sex!’ I stopped. ‘Wait. Is it still sex? Or is it masturbation now?’
‘I have no idea. Is it?’
‘Good Lord, Xuan Wu, are you so weird that sometimes you confuse even yourself?’
‘Frequently,’ he said.
I grabbed my dressing gown and summoned Smally to make up the spare bed for me. ‘I’ll sleep in the spare room.’
He rolled onto his belly and thumped his head on his hard ceramic pillow. ‘I cannot tell you how much I hate myself right now. This is unspeakably awful.’
‘Since I’m you as well right now, I can only agree.’ I threw the robe around me and stomped out to find Smally ready for me with the bed linen. ‘In here, Smally.’
Something moved in front of my face and I snapped back. I was sitting at my desk and Yi Hao had waved her hand in front of my eyes.
‘Sorry,’ I said, shaking my head.
‘You were just sitting there, blank,’ Yi Hao said with concern. ‘Are you all right, ma’am?’
I’d slipped into a link with John, assisting him with the disposition of the forces for the coming attack on Hell, and hadn’t realised how close we had become.
‘I’m okay, Yi Hao. The Dark Lord was talking to me.’
‘When did you change your hair? I liked the brown better.’
I pulled a strand to my face to see it: black and tangled again. Dammit.
I thought quickly. ‘It was an experiment to cover the grey — I thought I’d go the same colour as everybody else around here. It’s a bit strong, isn’t it? I’ll dye it back to brown …’ I smiled. ‘Or do you think I should go blonde?’
‘I liked your hair colour before. I never saw any grey,’ she said with stolid loyalty.
We both heard a noise outside and turned. The Grandmother bustled in, in her usual human form of an elderly Indigenous Australian woman in flowing robes of red and gold. She leaned on my desk with one hip and crossed her arms, opened her mouth to say something, then stopped. Her eyes widened.
I raised both my hands. ‘Please don’t say anything. Yi Hao, leave us and close the door.’
The Grandmother disappeared, and appeared in front of John. She went around his desk to tower over him with her hands on her hips.
‘Dammit!’ I said, and ran to his office.
She was poking him in the chest as she spoke. ‘That was a human, and I liked her. How could you do that?’
‘I’m still here!’ I said, entering his office and closing the door behind me. ‘We’re retaking Hell and then we’ll extract me. Ask the Jade Emperor if you don’t believe me. He says it can be done.’
Her eyes unfocused for a moment as she spoke to the Jade Emperor, then she snapped back. ‘Asshole.’ She rounded on John again and he cringed. ‘You too! Asshole. How could you do this? What the hell … which side are you on anyway?’
‘The Celestial,’ he said. ‘Always the Celestial. We are moving tomorrow to take Hell back and free our own — and yours as well. There must be dozens of your children held by the demons, and when we retake Hell they will be freed.’
‘I know, the diamond in your anteroom told me,’ she said, relaxing and sitting across the desk from him. She waved for me to join her and I sat as well. ‘I have something for you.’
‘We would appreciate your help, my Lady,’ John said with reverence. ‘This situation has gone on long enough and we must put them in their place.’
‘Good,’ she said. She turned to me. ‘And your stone is gone too?’
I nodded and wiped my eyes. ‘I really miss it. I hope it’s okay.’
‘All right,’ the Grandmother said. ‘I didn’t want to be involved in this; this is organic business and I wanted no part of it. But many of my children are being held by these brutes and you
can free them for me.’ She gracefully pulled herself to her feet and opened the door. ‘Here you go. Out here.’
We accompanied her to the courtyard. For a moment I thought the students had camped out in the courtyard again, looking for John’s True Form. Then I realised — these people were stones. At least two hundred of them in human form stood around the courtyard and out onto the breezeway, much as the students had the day before.
Gold was standing at the front. ‘Take us as the feint,’ he said.
‘How many of you are trained?’ John said.
‘Except for about twenty of us, none,’ Gold said.
‘I can’t lead untrained soldiers into Hell!’ John said, exasperated, and turned to the Grandmother to send them home.
‘No, wait,’ I said. ‘They don’t need to be trained if we’re planning to lose.’
‘Exactly,’ Gold said. ‘Just throw us at them and let us fail.’
John opened his mouth and closed it again. They were right.
‘Send the word out among your own as well,’ the Grandmother said. ‘I’m sure there are people in Heaven who would volunteer. Save the real soldiers for the real fight.’
‘If we lose …’ John said.
She poked him in the chest in time with her words. ‘Then. Don’t.’
Gold snickered.
John fell to one knee and saluted her, then rose, turned to the massed stones and saluted them. ‘You profoundly honour me with your offer. You could be the difference between victory and defeat.’
The Grandmother nodded. ‘Good. And you.’ She waved her finger in my face. ‘Fix this up and then come visit me, okay? I have something for you in the Red Centre.’
I knelt and saluted her, then rose again. ‘My Lady.’
She pointed at us, from one to the other, and her voice went very stern. ‘Sort this out as soon as Hell is returned to us. This isn’t the way we do things here.’
‘You have my word, Lady,’ John said.
‘Good.’ She exploded into a cloud of red and gold particles that descended through the air and disappeared.
John raised his voice to be heard by the stones. ‘Come with us to the mess hall and I’ll provide you with the strategy for the coming assault.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Can you handle the rest, Gold? Accommodation for them until we head out tomorrow?’
‘My Lord,’ Gold said. He looked from John to me. ‘What was all that about?’
‘Didn’t she share the information with you?’ I said.
‘No?’
‘She says this hair colour looks terrible and I should dye it back to brown.’
‘I agree with her,’ Gold said, then grinned with mischief. ‘Did you go emo or something? Or have you turned into a metalhead like the Dark Lord?’
We both glowered at him. ‘Mess hall, Gold.’
The next day, the Celestial forces gathered at the Gates of Heaven to prepare for the assault. Two thousand troops and the remaining Generals and Immortals stood grim and determined, armed and ready to defend the Gates with Martin at their head. Phoenixes and human archers were perched on top of the Gates, and dragons floated in formation above us, ready to rake the attackers. Three hundred of the toughest demon foot soldiers were separated off, led by Marshal Ma and ready to secure Celestial Hell when John drew the demons out of Hell and to the Gates of Heaven.
John gathered his stone force, and I stood with him as the final orders were relayed. The stones were as determined as the soldiers, all in their battle forms: human shapes of rock. Even untrained, stones could be tremendously destructive when they used brute force.
The Tiger’s people arrived and we went to speak to them. They carried five of the laser weapons and four blood weapons. The laser weapons were long tubular devices with a simple barrel and looked more like a laboratory experiment than a weapon; some of the wiring was even held together with duct tape. Number Four was carrying one with a cable running from the grip to a band circling his wrist.
‘How robust is that? It looks very flimsy,’ I said.
‘We didn’t have time to make them robust. One good knock and they’re ruined. We’ll have to be careful.’ Number Four nodded towards the Horsemen who were holding the other weapons. ‘Those laser weapons need Dad and the other high-level sons — and daughter — to run them. I hope they’re capable of using them after being in the Pits. The blood weapons can be used by anyone, and we have a few trained to take them if the people using them fall.’
‘How long do the batteries on the lasers last?’ John said.
Silly Turtle, there aren’t any batteries there at all. Can’t you see that?
… We have to hurry and extract Emma, I need your brains!
Damn straight you do.
‘No batteries,’ Number Four said. ‘We power them as we go. So … as long as we’re able to stay conscious, they’ll work.’
‘I see,’ John said. He summoned Ma, who appeared next to them. ‘When you take Hell, have Pao release the high-level cats first and tell them to go to the top of the Gates.’ He turned to the Tiger’s Number Four. ‘Wait on top of the Gates and pass the weapons to them when they arrive.’
Number Four and Ma nodded understanding and returned to their groups.
John went back to stand in front of the stones. He was imposing in his Celestial battle form with Seven Stars on his back.
I watched Number Four and his cohort move to the top of the Gates, then stopped in wonderment. The Jade Emperor is on top of the Gate with Er Lang and Guan Yu, I said.
What? John saw them. Stupid old man. He should be in his palace where he’s safe.
I want to see how this turns out, the Emperor said. If they attempt to breach the Gates I can help hold them back.
Do not risk yourself, Majesty, John said. You are the Heavens personified. If they take you, this is all for nothing.
Fate be on your side and the One guide your hand, Xuan Wu, the Emperor said.
We had the disturbing joint understanding that the Emperor thought we had a good chance of failure.
All ready? John said.
The other leaders sent their affirmations.
John raised his voice to speak to the stones. ‘On my mark, we will all travel to the roof of Yanluo Wang’s building. Fight hard and fight as if all of Heaven is at stake, but listen for my call to run.’ He dropped his voice. ‘Your courage will be spoken of for centuries.’
The Celestial honours your noble contribution, the Jade Emperor said. Fight well, and when we win you will not be long in Hell.
‘On my mark … go,’ John shouted, and he and the stones disappeared.
Lady Emma to me, the Emperor said.
I ran to the gate and straight up the red wall to the top where the Jade Emperor and his two guards stood.
The Emperor put his hand on my shoulder. ‘Share.’
‘What?’ Guan Yu said.
‘The demons have removed Hell from my dominion and my supervision, and she will be my eyes.’
‘How can you see through her?’ Guan Yu said, even more confused.
‘If we win, it will be inconsequential. If we lose, it will be even more inconsequential. Share, Emma,’ the Emperor said.
I linked with John, and the Emperor shared my vision through John’s eyes.
John and the stones landed on the roof of Yanluo Wang’s office building. The ten Courts of Hell spread around them, each one at the end of the causeway that led to its respective Pit.
Simone, we’re in Hell. We’re coming to free you.
I’ll help as soon as I have this door open!
Ride the wind to Court One, John said to the stones, and made himself invisible.
He flew to Court One, studying the demon garrison below him. The stones floated in a cloud with him. The demons had set up camp in the centre of the island, with standard demon soldiers supplemented by small numbers of black-armoured guards stationed at the Courts.
‘The demon numbers don’t add up,’ I said to the Jade Emp
eror. ‘There aren’t many there.’ Both John and I turned our heads, studying the layout below us. ‘Where are they all?’
We landed at Court One and John took out the twenty demon guards with shen energy, then yinned the two armoured ones.
The stones took their battle forms, and some scouted the area, looking for more demons, while John opened the Court and destroyed the demons inside. There was no judge in Court One. Yanluo Wang himself was the administrator of this Court, and new arrivals were sent straight to Court Two for their first judgement.
‘Minimal resistance,’ I said. ‘What the hell?’ Both our heads shot up as we understood. ‘They were waiting for us to assault Hell, Majesty, and they’re coming to the Gates!’
The horde appeared at the Gates: front lines of thousands of low-level mindless thralls, with a similar number of larger ones behind them, and a hundred of the black-armoured demons bringing up the rear. There were far more than we’d anticipated. The demons hadn’t had time to hatch a new army in just three days; these demons must have been in reserve. Thousands of them.
‘These are Western demons and they shouldn’t be able enter the Eastern Heavens!’ the Jade Emperor said with frustration. ‘That maniac is making appalling hybrids.’ He turned to me, his eyes unseeing. ‘Tell the Turtle to continue clearing out Hell.’
‘I am, Majesty,’ I said, and changed to silent speech. Ma, don’t bother with Hell; there’s nobody there. Take the rear of the demon force here at the Gates, and hold the armoured ones until the cats arrive.
My Lord … my Lady.
The Heavenly defenders were pinned against the Gates. They threw themselves against the demon attack.
Marshal Ma’s small force appeared behind the demons, and the rear guard of armoured demons turned and sliced into them.
Martin flew overhead to yin the armoured demons, but they were so huge he could only take out one at a time.
‘Go to Court Ten first, Ah Wu! Release Pao, then secure the rest,’ the Emperor said.