by Pepe O'Neill
At the same instance, high flames erupted in front of Jade forcing him to rear up to avoid them.
‘Turn, Jade!’ Monkey shouted, but it was too late. Another fire roared up behind them.
Hearing shrieks of laughter, they looked up and saw the she demon staring down at them from a great height.
‘You can’t get out of there!’ she screeched with glee. ‘I’ve closed both ends and you’ve no escape route! You’re enclosed by fire.’
‘Put the shawl around you and cover your nose, Chamly!’ Monkey yelled.
‘What about you?’
‘I’ll be alright, now do as I say!’
Chamly quickly took out the shawl and covered his nose and mouth. Monkey rubbed a chewed hair in his palm and instantly the monkey soldiers appeared. Monkey ordered them to make a gap in the flames. Shovels appeared in their hands and they used these to shovel sand onto the flames. Once the flames had been doused in front of them, Monkey ordered the soldiers to keep Chiyou and his brothers occupied.
Chamly was about to faint from the intense heat when he felt Jade move forward. In front of him, her scales highlighted by the flames and swaying back and forth like a cobra was the she demon.
Monkey jumped off Jade and removed the pin from his hat. As soon as he held it, it lengthened and lengthened into a formidable and dangerous weapon.
‘Get your sword out and be ready to slice her head off when I’ve bashed her to the ground.’ Monkey shouted.
Leaping into the air, he landed behind the she demon. She lost her balance as she swiped at him with a claw. Flopping down, she rolled over and flicked out her forked tongue. Monkey jumped sideways and she missed with this too.
While the she demon was occupied with Monkey, Chamly slid off Jade and unpinned the sword. Glowing copper red and growing in size, the swords deadliness became apparent.
The she demon arched her body towards Monkey and he leapt into the air swinging his iron bar. It hit her full in the face and, crumbling under the impact, she fell towards the flames. Only semi conscious, her head landed with a thump across the line of flames. She screamed as her head caught fire. She tried to push herself back from the flames, but Monkey slammed his iron bar across her neck and shouted, ‘Quick Chamly! Cut off her head!’
Chamly swung the sword above his head where it seemed to take on a life of its own. In one smooth motion it sliced down and the she demon’s head was off. As it rolled into the flames and became a fireball, terrible screams erupted from the mouth, only stopping when the head was nothing more than a shrivelled blackened ball.
On the other side of the flames, Chiyou and his brothers had managed to untangle their weapons and horses, and were now attempting to shield themselves from a barrage of tiny arrows. Chiyou heard the sound of horsemen and a cheer rose up from his brothers. It seemed relief was at hand.
Monkey peered through the flames at the rapidly approaching horsemen and chuckled. He turned to Chamly, ‘I can’t imagine why Chiyou and his brothers are cheering? Can’t they see that the horsemen are barbarians? They hate each other! I think I’ll recall my monkey soldiers; I don’t want them involved in a blood bath. Put the sword away. It will shrink when the tip touches your belt.
‘What about your weapon?’ Chamly asked as he did as instructed.
‘My weapon works on the same principle as yours,’ he replied. ‘Quick, get on to Jade while I whistle for my soldiers to retreat.’
The cheers of Chiyou and his brothers were turning to blood curdling screams as Jade galloped away from the battlefield.
So happy were they to have escaped once again that they failed to notice the body of the she demon move or the new head begin to emerge from her neck.
Chapter 46
THE RUINS OF JIAOHE
Celeste who had been conspicuous by her absence during their recent difficulties caught up with them as they took shelter in the shade of a derelict hut and were eating the last of the provisions. ‘I saw the smoke and debris, and imagined the worst,’ she called out as she flew down beside them.
‘We killed the she demon,’ Chamly informed her and shuddered at the memory. ‘It was horrible!’
Celeste gave him a questioning look. ‘That’s funny. I didn’t see her body in amongst the carnage.’
Monkey stepped forward. ‘She set up an ambush, Celeste, but the tables were turned and she got killed instead. Chamly chopped her head off and we left her frying in the flames. The vultures like a bit of crispy meat now and again.’
That night, Jade carried them across a plateau swept by brutal cold winds from the northern steppes that had carried the sand away leaving behind a spongy dark floor studded with sharp pebbles. Chamly was glad Jade was fly-galloping across because the stones would have ripped his hooves to pieces otherwise.
Chilled to the bone, Chamly was relieved when Jade found shelter in a ravine at the base of some foothills.
Beside two rivers that had long since dried up, a path led them up to an abandoned city where winds whistled and howled around the crumbling ruins.
Chamly threw a stone down one of the wells. It hit the bottom with a clatter. ‘That’s the reason no one’s here, no water! I don’t know about you guys, but this place gives me the creeps. I think we should leave as quickly as possible.’
He was startled by a wail rising from the empty well. ‘I didn’t like the sound of that Monkey!’ Chamly cried over his shoulder as he ducked behind the wall. ‘What do you think that was?’
Monkey ran over to the well and looked down.
He stumbled backwards. Turning to Chamly with a look of horror on his face, he whispered. ‘I’ve found the children.’
‘What do you mean, found the children?’ Chamly whispered back.
Monkey started crying. ‘I once knew every single one of them.’
Chamly gasped. ‘I don’t believe it! You were the she demon’s mate, weren’t you? I don’t think much of your taste Monkey. The Mother of the Western Skies told me a story about the she demon and how she poisoned two hundred children. The servants must have dumped the bodies here? Let me have a look!’
Monkey looked confused but Chamly ignored him and summoning up all his courage, looked down on the sad misty faces of the ghost children. Pleading with him to let them out, the children began to moan and cry. Chamly burst into tears at this sorrowful sight. As the tears flowed at his inability to help them, the Stone of Peace slipped from under Chamly’s collar and hung over the well. Chamly’s tears fell over the jade horse and down to the children below.
For a few seconds there was silence before a loud whooshing noise erupted from deep within the well. Chamly stepped back quickly as a whirlwind of tiny bodies funnelled out and up into the night sky.
Monkey cried out, ‘You’ve released them! Look Chamly, there’s the Spirit of Venus coming to guide them to the heavens.’
When the last child had disappeared from view, Chamly heaved a big sigh and led the others back to the bottom of the ravine. On the way down, Chamly told Monkey all that he knew about the two hundred children and their disappearance.
Once remounted on Jade, they continued their journey across the bone-chilling plateau until they reached the range of mountains on the other side. Exhausted, Chamly slipped off Jade and lay down under a tree.
A few hours later, Chamly woke with a start to find a sword tip pressing against his throat.
Chapter 47
CHIYOU ATTACKS
Three bulbous eyes stared down at him, full of malice and purpose, from a grotesque excuse for a head. Chamly’s eyes quickly assessed the situation. Monkey’s lifeless body lay sprawled on the ground only feet away. Jade and Celeste were nowhere to be seen. A club slammed the earth close to his head, forcing his focus back to the face above him.
‘Your friends can’t help you,’ Chiyou sneered, pressing the tip of the sword harder against Chamly’s throat and causing blood to ooze from his neck. ‘But, before I have the pleasure of killing you, I’d like to know wh
y the she demon wanted you dead. I’ve lost half my brothers because of you! What threat could a mere puny boy have been to her? Answer me! I would love an excuse to make you scream in agony, so you better start talking.’
Chamly tried to roll sideways but Chiyou dug his knee into the boy’s chest and held him down. ‘Do you want me to start by cutting your ears off? I tell you now boy, if you don’t talk to me, I’ll take great pleasure in skinning you inch by inch.’
Chamly’s mind was racing. There had to be a way out of this. Where were Jade and Celeste?
‘How can I answer you with a sword at my throat?’ he said, in an attempt to stall for time.
Chiyou’s three bulging eyes blinked in astonishment at the boy’s nerve. He brought his face down close to Chamly’s.
It seemed likely that his bad breath and dribbling saliva alone would be enough to kill Chamly. ‘How dare you speak to me like that? For that, I’m going to hang you up by your arms and start skinning you now.’
Yanking Chamly to his feet, Chiyou slammed him against a tree trunk.
Chamly said through clenched teeth, ‘Why should I tell you anything, when you are going to kill me anyway?’
Chiyou was much more brawn than brain and violence tended to be his first resort when questioned. He dropped the club and pulled some rope from his belt.
‘If you kill me, you’ll never know,’ Chamly said quickly. ‘Release me and I will tell you!’
Chiyou faced a conundrum. On the one hand he would like to kill this boy, but on the other, he needed answers. Feigning friendliness, he sat Chamly down on a boulder.
It was clear to Chamly that the only way to stop Chiyou killing him was to fool him. He would only need a small distraction to give him time to unpin his sword. He just needed to find the right moment. In the meantime he pretended to be relieved at Chiyou’s change of heart.
Chiyou sheathed his sword and patted Chamly on the head. ‘Don’t worry. I will spare you your life. You are only a child after all. I am just curious to know why the she demon wanted you dead?’
‘How do I know you won’t kill me once I’ve told you?’ replied Chamly.
‘I give you my word,’ Chiyou answered.
For a child, Chamly’s judgement of people was very good and he didn’t believe Chiyou for a minute. His mind raced again as he thought of how to save his life and still protect the sword and stone.
‘Now, tell me why the she demon wanted you……’ Chiyou did not finish the sentence because suddenly Celeste appeared from nowhere. Flying straight at his face she pecked out one of his eyeballs.
While Chiyou tried to defend himself from the feathery onslaught, Chamly unpinned the sword.
It glistened red gold and grew to fit his hand. He was about to launch an attack on Chiyou when he realised Celeste was still fluttering about on Chiyou’s head.
‘Get off him, Celeste!’ Chamly shouted, ‘You’re in the way!’
The first thing Chiyou saw when the feathers flew off was Chamly’s sword. Stunned by the sight of it, he dropped to his knees. In a trembling voice, he asked, ‘Where did you get that from?’
‘That’s none of your business,’ Chamly shouted pointing the sword at Chiyou’s throat.
‘Please don’t kill me!’ Chiyou cried, crouching low on the ground. He was a coward at heart and knew that he could not defend himself against the Sword of Victory even if he tried. The last time he had seen it, it was in the hands of the Yellow Emperor. Perhaps the sword was the reason the she demon wanted the boy dead, he thought.
‘Please don’t kill me,’ he pleaded again looking up at Chamly with sorrowful eyes. He could see Chamly was hesitating. He waited for his chance to take the sword.
Chamly looked into Chiyou’s remaining eyes and knew that he could not kill this half-man, half-beast. While he wondered what to do with him, his grip on the sword relaxed.
Chiyou lunged towards him.
Chapter 48
MONKEY SAVES CHAMLY'S LIFE
There was a thud and Chiyou dropped to the ground, unconscious. Monkey stood over him, iron bar in hand. ‘For all his size, he’s pathetic!’ he said with contempt.
Chamly looked around for Jade. ‘Where’s Jade?’ he asked Monkey.
Monkey pointed towards a clump of trees. ‘The last time I saw him he was over there. Go and have a look while I tie up this thug.’
Chamly ran behind some trees to find Jade wobbling about on weakened legs.
‘I have such a bad headache! What happened? Why do I feel so dizzy?’
‘I think you’ve been hit over the head,’ Chamly replied sympathetically. ‘Monkey is tying up the culprit right now.’
Celeste flew through the trees and perched on Jade’s rump. ‘Glad to see you’re all right, Jade. You looked awful a minute ago. Chamly, we must go. You were lucky this time, but the sooner we get into the Cave of Peace and Tranquillity the better. It’s already sunrise.’
Chamly sighed. ‘How much further do we have to go, Celeste?’
Full of importance, Celeste flew up the mountain’s sheer side and perched on a small ledge high above them. She called down, ‘It’s up here.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous, Celeste!’ Chamly yelled up to her. ‘It’s too steep! I’ll fall trying to get up there! Let the monkey soldiers fly up and put the Stone of Peace and Sword of Victory into the cave.’
‘I’m sorry, but I’m under orders. It has to be you who places the sword and stone in the cave or all this will be a complete waste of time,’ Celeste called down impatiently. ‘Monkey can get his soldiers to form themselves into a rope again and you can be pulled up.’
‘No sooner said than done,’ Monkey called up to Celeste.
Once the monkey soldiers had poured out of Monkey’s hands, he ordered them to carry Chamly up to Celeste. Joining hands and tails, the soldiers formed a rope, and swooped around Chamly’s waist. Carefully they hauled him up to the ledge. As soon as they had placed him safely on it, the rope disintegrated and the soldiers flew back down to Monkey.
For a moment, Chamly looked down at Jade and Monkey far below. Feeling dizzy, he crawled away from the edge and flattened himself against the mountainside.
He looked around for Celeste. She was perched beside a crack in the rock face. It was the width of a man’s finger.
Indicating with her beak, she said, ‘This is the cave.’
‘Are you mad, Celeste? I can’t get in there,’ Chamly cried.
‘Ah, but I have a clever little trick up my wing that should solve this particular problem, Chamly!’ Using her beak, Celeste tapped a tiny stone wedged in the rock face. There was a click and then a whirring noise. Chamly watched in amazement as the crack widened to become big enough for him to squeeze through on his hands and knees. Following Celeste into the mountain, he found himself in a narrow tunnel. Behind him, the whirring noise sounded and then a click. Chamly was plunged into darkness and immediately panicked.
Unable to turn round in the narrow tunnel and get out, he cried out to Celeste, ‘I can’t see you Celeste. Where are you? Please get me out of here!’
‘It’s okay. Just breath deeply. I’m right in front of you! Follow the sound of my claws on the rock. Remember, I’ve got night vision so I can be your eyes.’
Tentatively, Chamly put out a hand and jumped when he felt Celeste’s feathers.
‘Do you mind. That’s my bottom. Come on, let’s find this cave.’
Chamly started to crawl, following the sound of Celeste’s claws as she hopped along ahead of him.
Neither of them heard the little lizard skittering along the tunnel behind them.
Chapter 49
THE CAVE OF
PEACE AND TRANQUILLITY
Several minutes and several scrapes and scratches later, Chamly heard Celeste shriek.
‘Cele….. aaaaaaah!’ Chamly cried out as the tunnel took a steep dive and he found himself sliding downwards on his stomach with his head butted against Celeste’s bottom.
&n
bsp; They continued on and down together.
Spitting out a feather, he shouted above Celeste’s screeching, ‘Where’s the cave, then?’
‘Does it look as if I’ve been here before? ’ she shrieked.
The chute came to an abrupt end and they both tumbled out in a flurry of limbs and white feathers.
Once they’d regained their senses, they found that they’d tumbled into a large cavern lit by shafts of luminous turquoise coloured light. The source of the light was a large oblong rock set in the middle of the cave.
Chamly stood up and looked about him as Celeste staggered to her feet and flew to a stalagmite to groom her tangled feathers. While doing so, her attention was attracted by a movement at the tunnel mouth. She cocked her head thoughtfully as a lizard crawled out of the tunnel and made its way stealthily towards Chamly. It seemed to be getting larger with every step it took. She recognised the face of the lizard and shrieked, ‘Chamly! Behind you! Your sword! Draw your sword!!’
Chamly wheeled round just as a large lizard sprang towards him. At that same moment, Celeste torpedoed herself towards the lizard and caught it in mid-flight. Clutching the lizard between her claws, she fell to the ground.
Wriggling with all her might, the she demon tore herself from the owl’s clutches and sprung towards Chamly’s neck impaling herself on to the tip of his sword. The sword plunged through her scales and made its way straight to her heart. It was with a look of utter surprise that her immortal life came to an abrupt end.
This last attack was one too many for Chamly. Traumatized and unable to move, he allowed the sword to fall from his grasp. It clattered to the ground.
‘This time there’s going to be no doubt of her demise,’ Celeste said as she hopped over to the dead she demon and ripped open her chest. Pulling out the sliced heart she gobbled it up. The violence of the gesture seemed to bring Chamly back to his senses.