Blue Dragon (33 page)

Simone nodded. Ah Yat came in with the breakfast things. I went out to get Martin. He waited outside the gate.

‘She’s just started eating,’ I said as I opened the gate for him. ‘Wait until she’s finished, and then take her.’

‘I’ll wait in here then,’ Martin said, gesturing towards the living room.

‘No, come with me. It’s okay.’ I took his hand and led him into the dining room.

The minute Martin entered, Leo grabbed his breakfast and coffee and slinked into the kitchen without a word.

Martin and Simone shared a smile, a hug and a messy kiss before he sat next to her. I buttered my toast. John glowered.

‘My Lord, my Lady,’ Martin said to John and Kwan Yin.

Ah Yat poked her head around the door. ‘Can I get you anything, Ming
Daiyan
?’

‘Ceylon, please, Ah Yat,’ he said. ‘How close are you? You should be there soon.’

‘Nearly there,’ Ah Yat said, bobbed her head, and disappeared.

‘You know Ah Yat?’ Simone said.

‘I tamed her,’ Martin said. ‘Just before…’ His voice tapered off.

John’s expression darkened but he didn’t say anything.

‘Where are we going,
ge ge
?’ Simone said. John grunted at the table.

‘I am taking you to a cave that is very safe,
mei mei
,’ Martin said gently.

‘A cave?’ Simone’s eyes were wide, her spoon poised halfway to her mouth.

‘Eat, Simone,’ John said.

Simone nodded and ate.

We sat in uncomfortable silence until Ah Yat brought Martin’s tea.

‘You should eat something too, John,’ I said.

‘Eat,’ Kwan Yin said. ‘She is correct.’

John concentrated. Ah Yat brought him some congee. He picked up his spoon and stirred the rice, then put his spoon down again.

‘Eat. That’s an order,’ I said firmly.

He shrugged, picked up the spoon and mechanically ate. Martin made a quiet sound of amusement and John glared at him.

Simone put her spoon down. ‘Finished.’ She hesitated. ‘Martin, Aunty Kwan, could you go out, please? I want to say goodbye to Daddy.’

Martin left, taking his tea with him. Kwan Yin rose and followed him.

John dropped his spoon and leaned back.

I choked on my toast. I took a huge gulp of tea. ‘I’ll go too, and let you say goodbye to Daddy by yourself.’

‘No, Emma, I want you to stay,’ Simone said. ‘Because I’m going to hold Daddy’s hand, and you can kiss him goodbye.’

I tried very hard to swallow. My throat was so thick I couldn’t manage words.

Simone went to John and climbed into his lap. She threw her arms around his neck and held him tight. ‘Come back, please, Daddy. Don’t die today.’

‘I can’t die, Simone,’ he said. ‘I will just be gone for a while, whatever happens. The important thing is that you are safe.’

She held him tight and he buried his face in her hair,
squeezing his eyes shut. They remained unmoving for a while.

‘I love you, Daddy,’ Simone whispered.

‘I love you, Simone,’ John said, his voice thick. He nuzzled her hair. ‘I will return for you, I promise.’

‘And Emma,’ Simone said softly.

John glanced up at me and smiled sadly. ‘And Emma.’

John held his arm out and I knelt beside him. I buried my face in his chest next to Simone and he held me close. We remained still, holding each other, for a long time.

‘Kiss Emma goodbye,’ Simone whispered. ‘I’m not looking.’

‘We don’t need to, sweetheart,’ I said. ‘This is enough.’

John didn’t say anything. Words weren’t necessary.

John remained in the dining room while I took Simone to Martin. She went into the kitchen to see Leo first, and was in there for a while. Then she came out, gave me a final hug, and she and Martin were gone.

I returned to the dining room and drank some more tea. John ate his congee. We didn’t say anything.

The Tiger turned up and sat down without a word. Ah Yat brought him a pot of Chinese tea and he drank it silently while we ate. Leo came in and finished his coffee.

Ten minutes later the rest of the Immortals arrived. Ah Yat made tea for them. Nobody said a word.

A
t ten o’clock we all took our places. John and the Lady went together to Hennessy Road in the car, with Na Zha sitting in the back in case they were attacked before they even started.

The Tiger and the Phoenix both quickly embraced me then disappeared to guard the students at the Folly.

Gold went with them to organise the students, then returned. ‘All is ready.’

Leo helped me into my armour, looping the leather through the buckles and making sure it was fitted correctly. We checked through our weapons. Ah Yat gave us sports bottles full of water without being asked and then disappeared.

Ready,
the Dragon said from the roof.
I have about six other dragons with me. Nothing will get past us.

A while later John’s voice appeared in my head.
We will start the feed in twenty minutes. Dragon, inform Gold if you sense them coming. Gold.

‘My Lord,’ Gold whispered.

‘Where is a good place to wait for them?’ I said. ‘In the training room?’

‘Anywhere,’ Gold said. ‘They can only come in one at a time, unless they blow the seals.’

‘I’d like to stay in the living room. That way I know what’s happening,’ I said. ‘If they come through the front door, or through the glass, we can stop them.’

‘Training room, Emma,’ Leo said softly. ‘Please.’

‘Okay,’ I said, just as softly.

‘Go. I’ll stay in the living room and keep you posted,’ Gold said.

‘You don’t have armour,’ I said to Leo as we prepared ourselves in the training room.

‘Never wanted it,’ he said. ‘Too heavy. I’m big enough as it is; with armour on I can hardly move.’

I nodded. That made sense.

‘I love you dearly, Leo,’ I whispered. I sidled to him and put my arm around his waist. He threw his enormous arm around my shoulder and we held each other without lowering our weapons or turning away from the door.

‘You’re like a sister to me,’ he whispered back. ‘I think a long time ago I told you he’d never love anybody the way he loved her. I was right.’

‘Yeah. What I have with him is completely different. But I do have something in common with her, I think.’

‘What?’

‘She bossed him around even worse than I do. He’s the world’s biggest softie. You’d expect the Dark Emperor of the North, the God of Martial Arts, to be harsh and scary. Instead, he’s all marshmallow inside.’

‘That’s why we love him,’ Leo said softly, and gave me a gentle squeeze around the shoulders.

‘I think you’re right,’ I whispered. I moved away from him and checked my watch.

‘Don’t put yourself at risk,’ Leo said. ‘Don’t take any chances. Simone needs you. Whatever you do, you must survive this.’

‘I intend to,’ I said, and hefted my sword.

Leo’s voice softened and he spoke without looking away from the door. ‘And I would be honoured if you would permit me to give my life defending you. If you allowed me to do this, I would die a very happy man.’

‘I’m the one that’s honoured, Leo,’ I said.

The chime pinged on my watch and we readied ourselves.

Nothing happened. Complete silence.

‘Gold?’ I called.

HOLY SHIT!
the Dragon roared in my head, so loud it made me wince.
Phoenix, SWAP! We have metals! The dragons are being cut to pieces!

Water here,
the Phoenix said more calmly.
They are attacking our weaknesses. I am on my way. Ah Qing, come and take out the waters. Ah Bai is being attacked by fires. What the hell is going on?

He has made elemental hybrids and is attacking the Winds at their weaknesses,
Gold said into my head from the living room.
Qing Long, the Wood Dragon, is weak against metal, so we have been attacked by metals here. All the dragons are weak against metal. They have no defence, they are being destroyed. Zhu Que, the Fire Phoenix, has been attacked by waters at the Folly. As has Bai Hu, the Metal Tiger. He has been attacked by fires. All attacked at their weaknesses. The Winds are quickly swapping so that they are either strong against or not affected by the elementals.

I have not been attacked at all,
John said into my head with wonder.
Emma, they are coming after you and the students, not me.

‘Still too much of a coward,’ I said. ‘Wants to swap me or a student; too scared to face Xuan Wu.’

Leo didn’t move or say anything.

Gold’s voice appeared in my head.
The Phoenix is here. She and her fire elementals are taking out the fake
metal elementals. Damn! Some of the demons may enter through the windows, and the fire creatures cannot follow them in without igniting the building. The metals are large and sharp and—

There was a crash of splintering glass and a loud whirring sound, like a propeller.

Leo and I both took a couple of steps back and waited.

There was the sound of a buzz saw hitting concrete—a shrieking metallic noise that made me cringe. Oh my God, the elemental had attacked Gold.

The sound stopped.

‘Gold?’ I called.

I’m okay,
Gold said.
Look at me, I’m a daddy. Shit!

Gold appeared in the doorway to the training room. He turned and backed so that he was standing next to Leo in front of me now. He had shrunk to about two-thirds his normal size; he was about the same height as me now. He must have lost about twenty centimetres in height, but he was in his standard battle form: his human shape made of stone.

‘They’ve blown the seals,’ he said. ‘Move out of the way, Leo, so that Emma can hit them with energy—see if that affects them. Weapons don’t hurt them, and they slice pieces off me, but I think energy can do it. I think that’s how I destroyed the one in the living room, but after what happened I can’t use any more energy. Having the child has drained me completely.’

‘Where’s your baby?’ I said.

‘In me,’ Gold said. ‘If I’m destroyed, it will stay behind. Look after it for me, will you?’

I didn’t have a chance to answer him. A metal elemental appeared at the door.

The top of it touched the doorframe. It was like a very good computer-generated image of a robot: polished metal surfaces, mirror-like, smooth and
rounded. Its limbs moved fluidly, taking many forms as it decided which weapon attachment to use on us. Eventually it settled on spinning blades.

‘Hit it, Emma,’ Gold said.

I hit the elemental with chi from my sword and it exploded.

‘Okay,’ Gold said. ‘There are about forty of them—’

‘
Forty
?’ I cried. ‘That was about level forty equivalent. I can’t take more than about five of them with energy before I’ll blow myself up!’

‘Use the weapon to throw the energy,’ Gold said.

‘That
is
with the weapon throwing the energy.’

Another elemental appeared at the doorway. As soon as it entered the room I threw energy from the sword and blew it up.

‘Where’s the goddamn Phoenix? She’s fire, it’s strong against metal.’

‘She is dealing with the other hundred fifty odd elementals outside the living room windows,’ Gold said. ‘The forty I mentioned are already in the living room, but the seals are still holding them.’

Another elemental appeared. I threw chi at it; it exploded.

‘That one was even bigger!’ I wailed. ‘I can’t take any more out with chi. We’ll have to move to hand-to-hand.’

‘We can’t,’ Gold said. ‘Weapons are useless against them. Pass the chi to me, Emma, I’ll absorb it.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous, I need you alive.’

I had a sudden inspiration. I didn’t have time to speak; another elemental appeared in the doorway. Black chi would send the energy away, if it worked. Please work.

I dropped my sword, generated black chi in my hands, and threw it directly at the demon. The chi ricocheted off the elemental’s shiny metal surface and hit Leo square in the chest, knocking him off his feet.

I prepared another ball of black chi and threw it at the demon. The demon absorbed it.

There was a sickening wet sucking sound from Leo, but I couldn’t turn away from the demon to see him. It sounded like somebody dislocating the bones on a beef carcass. I’d killed him.

The demon approached me, its bladed hands spinning. I readied myself, and generated ordinary gold energy on my hands. I was very close to the edge with energy. It was quite likely that this bolt would kill me. The demon’s spinning blades were very close to my head.

The demon stopped dead and the blades disappeared. I hesitated, waiting to see what it would do.

It held its arms out on either side of me and generated two halves of a cage, one from each arm. It closed them together around me with a metallic clang, nearly taking my feet off as it swept the cage halves along the floor.

I was trapped in a spherical silver cage. I called my sword to me, but it didn’t come.

A long metal spike flashed out of the demon cage and stabbed me in the left thigh. I shrieked with pain, grabbed it and tried to pull it free of my leg, but it wouldn’t shift.

It burned straight into my leg and my leg went numb. Either poison or sedative; probably a sedative. Wong wanted me harmless before he took me.

I concentrated and filled my hands with energy, ready to blast the demon through direct contact. This would probably kill me, but the alternative was worse than death. I concentrated in the split second I knew I had before it took me.

‘Don’t do anything, Emma!’ Gold yelled. ‘Help is on its way!’

Na Zha appeared on the other side of the demon in True Form—a young man of about twenty in traditional pale blue robes, a headpiece on his topknot, long hair flowing.
Allow me,
he said, and threw his razor-sharp ring weapon, glowing with energy, at the demon, slicing straight through it. The weapon returned to him. The demon dissipated.

Na Zha disappeared.
I will take out the rest. See to Leo and Gold.

‘Are you okay, ma’am?’ Gold said. ‘That leg looks bad.’

‘I’ll live.’ Somehow I managed to stay on my feet. ‘I don’t think it injected too much into me. What about you?’

‘We’re fine,’ Gold said. ‘But I think you’ve killed poor Leo. Was that black chi?’

‘Yes,’ I said, and limped to Leo’s side. I stopped dead when I saw him. ‘Holy shit.’

‘You got it in one,’ Gold said. ‘Is he alive?’

Leo was an enormous black lion lying like death on the floor. I lowered myself stiffly to sit next to him. I didn’t have time to worry about the sedative, and it didn’t seem to be affecting me too badly. I lifted one of Leo’s forelegs and felt along the underside of the limb. There was a pulse, and I sagged with relief. ‘He’s alive.’

‘Take care, Emma,’ Gold said. ‘When he comes around he may be one hundred per cent beast and mad as hell.’

The lion’s dark brown eyes opened and cast around, looking, not focusing. Leo’s eyes.

‘Leo,’ I whispered. ‘Leo, are you okay?’

‘What happened to me?’ the lion whispered in Leo’s voice. ‘I can’t move.’

We are victorious,
John said into my ear.
I’m coming home.

Leo dropped his head to the floor and sighed. ‘Good.’ He went limp.

‘Your leg is bleeding,’ Gold said. ‘Emma, you’re very pale. Are you sure you’re all right?’

The training mats crashed into me from the side, but I didn’t really feel them.

‘Emma. Emma.’

‘Hn?’

‘She’s coming around.’

My eyelids were incredibly heavy. It was hard to breathe and my leg hurt like hell.

‘Simone?’

‘She’s not back yet, love. She’s still with Martin. But I talked to her and she says she’s safe.’

I was still in the training room. John and Ms Kwan were above me, both holding my hands. I struggled to pull myself upright and they helped me. I looked around. My armour was gone; somebody had removed it for me. There was a bandage tied around my left leg, over the jeans: a field dressing. Blood had seeped through it but the bleeding had obviously stopped.

Leo was next to me, still a black lion, still unconscious.

‘How do you feel?’ John said.

I released his and Ms Kwan’s hands. ‘I’m okay. I just need to work the drugs off.’ I concentrated to heal my leg and nearly passed out. I pulled my awareness back.

‘Don’t attempt to heal yourself, Emma,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘You cannot while you are affected like this. Let the wound heal by itself.’

‘How long have I been out?’ I said.

‘About half an hour,’ John said. He passed me the bottle of water that Ah Yat had left for me and I took a huge drink.

I pulled myself around to sit next to Leo. Every time I moved, my left leg hurt like hell; the thigh was
beginning to swell. I ignored it as I put Leo’s head in my lap and buried my hands in his thick black mane.

‘You did this?’ John said.

‘It was an accident.’

John put his hand on Leo’s head. ‘Definitely more than a coincidence; I told him that.’

Leo stirred. ‘Mr Chen?’

‘I’m here, Leo,’ John said.

Leo’s voice was warm with relief. ‘My Lord. Is Simone okay?’

‘Simone’s fine. She’s still with her brother.’

Leo pulled himself onto his front legs, then tried to stand upright on his hind legs. He fell heavily. ‘What happened to me?’

‘Leo,’ I said gently, taking his enormous black head in my hands. ‘Leo, slowly turn and look in the mirrors behind you.’

Leo pulled himself onto his front legs again and clumsily turned to see himself. He studied his reflection. ‘How the hell did this happen?’ He flicked his tail. ‘Whoa.’

‘I threw black chi at the demon and it reflected onto you,’ I said, my hand still on his shoulder. ‘I am so sorry, Leo.’ I dropped my head and my voice thickened. I felt ill that I had done this. ‘I’m sorry.’

Leo pulled himself to his feet, tried to take a few hesitant steps, and fell over again. ‘This four leg business is the pits. It’ll take me ages to work out how to walk.’ He stopped and his mouth opened, revealing his enormous gleaming fangs. ‘But my speech is okay now.’ He inched back to me and dropped his huge shaggy head into my lap.

I gasped as his head hit my leg.

Leo saw the bandage. ‘You’re injured. What happened to you?’