Demon Child (32 page)

The energy drained from me, going into the Serpent, and I couldn’t hold myself away any more. I was drawn in and surrounded by suffocating darkness. It was dark. It was
dark
…

Not good enough; this was not happening. Totally unacceptable. I threw my will at it:
You are not absorbing me, Xuan Wu. I am in charge here and you will do what I say. You will stop pulling me into you and you will let. Me. Go!

I popped out next to the cage and panted with relief. Mentally ordering it to stop taking me must have worked. I wasn’t absorbed; in fact, I’d gained a tremendous amount of energy from the short time we’d been merged.

I turned to check it, and it was gone from the cage. Not surprising after I’d released it. I searched for it, sending out my consciousness, and horrified realisation blossomed: the Serpent was within me.

It was like huge stone blocks sliding into place. Many of the things I’d said and done in the past — and the future — resonated from this moment; ripples through time from when I combined with the Xuan Wu. It was an immense black sun; dense, cold, silent, profoundly intelligent — and intensely aware of what we had just done. Our serpent natures orbited each other, separate but equal. It sat barricaded in the back of my brain, quiescent in its exhaustion. It hadn’t absorbed me; I had absorbed it.

More like possessed
, it said.

I’m possessing you?

I’m very drained, Emma. You must move fast. As I recover I will grow, and I will not be able to stay so small. Your mind will not hold me. I will expand and encompass you
.

You’ll take me over?

You must hurry. Take us to the Turtle. Open its cage, let it out. If the Turtle is in front of me, I will ignore you and go to it
.

How do I
—

Emma, even talking to you is making me grow. I must shut down and stay small otherwise you are lost. Take me to the Turtle!

I couldn’t teleport out. I had to wind my way back through the Pits to the staging area to reach the gateway to the surface. I heard voices and footsteps coming. There was only one way out of there — the way the demon guards were coming in.

I had an inspiration and went to the door of the cage. I broke off the tiny rod of jade that would slide into the hole to hold the door in place, silent in wonderment that such a small brittle thing could hold something as big as John. Rather like me holding the Serpent.

I went into the cage, pulled the door shut — fortunately it stayed shut, even without the latch — and changed to my biggest serpent form, lying on the floor of the cage.

‘Wah!’ one of the demons said. ‘What the fuck?’

‘There’s blood everywhere!’ another one said. ‘Looks like a serious fight and they all lost.’ It dropped its voice. ‘Damn, what a waste of good blood.’

‘Shit!’ one of them said, and ran to the cage. ‘No, it’s still here, and still asleep.’ It gasped with relief. ‘Whew. Dad would tear our scales off if it was gone.’

‘We’d better head back and report. Dad will be furious at losing five of those cockroach things.’

‘They did their job though,’ the other said as they turned away to leave. ‘So much blood — they must have torn the human to pieces. No body parts, though, why … Oh.’

‘What?’

‘No body — it must have been a Celestial! I wonder which one it was. When Dad is back from the West he’ll have another one to play with.’

‘Damn, and we missed seeing it being torn to bits,’ the other one said, and they laughed together.

After they’d left, I checked around for surveillance equipment and didn’t find any. Their monitoring was probably much less mundane than simple electronics. I pushed at the cage door and
nearly cried with relief when it opened. I changed to human form and closed the cage behind me.

The Serpent studied the cage with loathing. So much suffering — the bottom of the cage was stained with excrement and blood and scattered with loose scales and my skin.

I grinned with grim malice, leaned my hand into the side of the cage and shifted my feet into position. I took a deep breath in and out, centred my chi, pulled my hand back and tapped the cage with my index and second fingers. It disintegrated into glittering dust that slowly fell with a soft sound of powdery spatters.

I turned and silently followed the demons. I had a very good idea where I needed to go; I just needed to make it there with a minimum of fuss.

I summoned my sword and Seven Stars appeared in my hand.

Shit. I hadn’t thought about it too hard and John’s sword had come to me … to us. Wonderful.

I dismissed it and called Dark Heavens, and the unadorned blade sang with delight as it appeared. I held it by the scabbard in my left hand, ready to draw. Using it was probably as bad an idea as using the big one; both of them were attuned to the Serpent within me.

The Serpent lay inside me, quiet and unmoving, watching me with its serpent eyes.

The Serpent lay quiescent, observing without acting, small and invisible, watching and silent

I reached the end of the tunnel and the room where all the snake and turtle hybrids had been.

The Serpent wailed with grief at the loss of so many of its children, used to make these unnatural abominations

And made myself invisible.

No, Emma, using my abilities will blur the edges between us. Dammit, don’t do things like that!

Like I had a choice.

The two demons were in the room, reporting to that damn eye thing that the King used as a security camera. The new eye demon was different colours from the old one: purple and orange with much fewer eyes in it. Obviously he had started a new collection.

I slipped invisibly past them and down the tunnel towards levels eight and nine.

The Serpent suffered many years of torture here, ordered by the Celestial as fitting punishment for its crimes before it turned
—

Shut
up
, John, I need to concentrate here.

The Serpent settled into the back of my mind and I sighed with relief. I needed to hurry; I wouldn’t be able to keep it contained there forever.

It was nearly dawn and the demons would be moving again, bringing the corpses down from the Trees of Swords so they could regrow their arms and legs and be dismembered again. I hurried past the trees, not looking at my friends, colleagues, my brother the Tiger …

‘Ah Wu?’ he growled softly.

‘I will return for you,’ I said.

‘Thank the Heavens,’ he breathed. ‘Hurry up and rejoin and get us the fuck out.’

‘I will.’

‘Go,’ he whispered.

I pelted down the tunnel on the other side and came out in the staging area: Immigration. The demons were awake and some of them were Mothers. Dammit.

‘Invisible Celestial over near the door!’ one of the Mothers shouted. ‘Someone stop it.’

A small group of Mothers in True Form surrounded the end of the tunnel. I tried to push through them, and one felt me passing and grabbed my arm. She jerked me back and slammed me against the wall of the cavern, hitting my head hard and stunning me so that I dropped the invisibility.

‘Holy shit, it’s the Xuan Wu!’ someone shrieked.

The Mother released my arm and backed away.

Don’t you dare take my Dark Lord form. You’ll make things a hundred times worse
, the Serpent said.

I concentrated on my Emma form and grew physically shorter. I grinned with menace, drew Dark Heavens, loaded it with energy and threw the energy at the Mothers. They weren’t completely destroyed, but the blast was enough to knock them back and in the confusion I ran between the desks to the other side of the cavern.

They followed me. One of them tackled me and I fell heavily. I couldn’t roll and recover with her locked around my lower legs, so I kicked at her. She held me firm.

‘Shackles or something — quickly!’ she shouted.

No way. I changed to serpent, slid my tail out of her grasp, and slithered to the gateway on the other side of the cavern. I dodged a few blows, and ducked as a blast of dark energy flew over my head.

I reached the gateway, changed to human form, and ran through it to the surface.

I charged out into the middle of a busy sidewalk in a city in China. There were more bicycles than cars, wending their way along the path marked out for them at the side of the road. A pagoda stood on the crest of a hill not too far away, and the shock of many memories rattled through me: Jingshan Park, directly north of the Forbidden City. Okay: Beijing, and not far from the Imperial Palace.

The Ming was the best time. I had a charming, comfortable house next to the palace and enjoyed wise discourse with the highest levels of the Empire’s scholars. The Earthly Emperor suspected who his military advisor truly was and treated me with awed respect. We shared tea, and wine, and the Emperor even offered me his own concubines — and was more certain of my identity when I politely refused them. We wandered the carefully tended gardens together, discussing the needs of the Empire and whether there would be enough rain for the coming harvests
—

The gateway was obvious. I didn’t need the Serpent’s
old-man recollections, and I wish they would stop

Sorry
.

I’d seen the Gates of Heaven on the Celestial Plane and knew exactly where I needed to be.

The Earthly analogue is not Tiananmen; it’s Wumen, the Meridian Gate. The third and final barrier before the palace itself
.

People around me stopped and stared at the half-naked European woman covered in blood. Five big demons stormed out of the gateway behind me and looked around. They shouted when they saw me.

I ran into the crowd of pedestrians, then took the Turtle’s usual small, middle-aged Chinese female form, dressed in black slacks
and a silk jacket. I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jacket, put my head down and gaped in exactly the same way as everybody around me. Humans never saw Shen transformations; as far as they were concerned, the European woman had just disappeared as if she’d never been there. All of them had the confused look of people who didn’t believe their own eyes; a look I’d seen many times before.

The demons pushed through the pedestrians, even shoving me out of the way in the urgency of their search. Good luck finding me in
this
mob, particularly when they were looking for a topless, brown-haired foreigner among the black-haired locals. As a dumpy, plain-faced, middle-aged woman I couldn’t be more invisible if I tried.

I made my way towards the Imperial Palace, and saw barricades and signs at an entrance to the subway. It was early morning and there was a queue outside the entrance as limited numbers of people were permitted to enter the overloaded system. To hell with that; it would probably be quicker to walk the kilometre or so to Tiananmen, the first gate, even through the choking pollution that would be sure to weaken me. The walk sign lit up on the crosswalk and I dashed across between the cars that, as usual, failed to stop for pedestrians.

The demons faded behind me and I filled with fierce exhilaration. I was free and
soon I would rejoin and then nothing would stop me from exacting justice upon the demons that had dared to harm my family, my subjects, my children
…

‘I’m Emma, I’m Emma,’ I mumbled over and over, thinking of my past and my family, concentrating on who I was. Emma. I’m not the Serpent. I’m not Xuan Wu.

Regrets

Just shut UP and let me get you there. Not far now, and I’ll be back in Heaven with my family … My children. By the Heavens, my children!

Gold!

My Lord?

Simone’s in Court Ten. She was Raised. Find out how she is. I don’t care how you do it, just do it. Is the Turtle still in the Grotto?

Yes. Simone was Raised? Is that you, Emma? How are you talking like this? What happened?

I have the Serpent with me. I’ll be at the Gates of Heaven in about ten minutes. I need a ride from there to the Mountain, as fast as possible. Be ready to open the Grotto for me
.

My Lord
.

My Lord?

‘Shit,’ I said under my breath, and charged towards the Gate of Heavenly Peace.

Modern Beijing had a ten-lane highway between Tiananmen and the square, with pedestrian underpasses to negotiate the ridiculously huge road. I stopped and looked around; it had been a while. I sneered with contempt at the ugly Stalinist-style halls that blighted the square, then turned towards graceful Tiananmen itself.

The cries of the dying students echoed in my ears. That was a bad time
.

Mao’s portrait still hung on the gate, and I wondered again how long it would be before it was removed.

It was surprising that it had lasted so long. ‘Don’t make my image perfect, show my flaws,’ he said, so they made his image perfect except for a mole on his chin. Hypocrites
.

I ducked into the underpass, unremarked by anyone around me. A dumpy, middle-aged woman was invisible; but a dumpy, middle-aged woman whose face was fierce with determination was terrifying.

Mao started the way most Earthly leaders start: full of fire to improve the world and make it a better place for everybody. He grew corrupt, the way most Earthly leaders do: seduced by the ease of power and privilege. Blinded by power, he led his people — my people — to mass starvation
.

John, you need to close down you’re engulfing me …

The Serpent pulled back, horrified at its creeping growth
.

I came out on the other side, under Tiananmen.

‘
But you can use the middle gate as well, can’t you?’ the Emperor said
.

‘
Not this one,’ I replied. ‘There is another, though, and I do not use the middle there either. It is not my place, either here or there
.’

‘
Where is your place?
’

‘
By your side, assisting you, Majesty
.’

‘
And I am glad for your counsel
.’

‘
Majesty
.’

John! I can’t keep you down if these flashbacks don’t stop.

I have no control over them. It’s been a long time
…

I went through Tiananmen; it wasn’t nearly as majestic up close, purely because it was so huge. The paved court on the other side led to the next gate. The trees were a nice touch. During the Imperial times, these courts had been completely bare of any greenery except for the occasional display of potted flowers.

Duanmen was next: the main gate. Not long now. People didn’t notice me as I lowered my head and charged through the gate towards the Wumen, the Meridian Gate, and the entrance to the Imperial Palace Museum.

I smiled. What would the Ming Emperor have said if I’d told him that one day the Forbidden City would be a public museum that even the lowest peasant could walk through? I could imagine the look on his face.

The gate was red and imposing, an inverted U-shape with its arms reaching towards me on either side above the fifty-metre-wide moat that surrounded the Palace. The red walls were brighter than they’d been in centuries. The damn Qing had let the place go; even the library hadn’t been used …

‘
Counsellor, the library can’t have a black roof, what are you thinking? The fung shui is most inharmonious. All the Imperial buildings must have roofs of gold!
’

‘
The library is the most susceptible to fire damage. Its contents are a thousand years of our history, Majesty. Making the roof black will align it with the power of the Xuan Wu, the force of water, to protect the scrolls
…’

‘
So the Xuan Wu knows which building to protect first in case of fire …’ The Emperor stared at me, mouth open, for a long moment. Then he said, ‘I think I may have a black roof put on my own quarters as well.
’

‘
No need for that, Majesty,’ I said equably. ‘Just ensure that the lantern I gave you is alight outside your pavilion when you are in residence.
’

‘
And are you privy to the secrets of the Shen, as other Taoist Masters have claimed when they kneeled before me?
’

I bowed acknowledgement. ‘Black roof, Majesty, I advise it most vehemently.
’

He waved me away. ‘Arrange it.
’

I wandered up to the red wall on the left. I was even more invisible here; everybody was heading to the main gate and the entrance to the palace museum, and there were far fewer plain-clothes secret police wandering around than in the square.

Wumen had always been my favourite gate. Tiananmen was squat and massive, Duanmen was simple and smaller, but Wumen, straddling the moat with its five central arches and five elegant turrets, was harmonious and lovely with its red walls and gold roofs. Archers on top of this gate could surround any would-be invader on three sides from a perfect elevation and make the entrance to the palace nigh on impregnable.

I put my hand on the red wall and concentrated.

‘
Majesty, we have been having this argument for a year now, and I will resign if you do not approve my proposal. You must release me to prepare your defences.
’

‘
Stop arguing with me; this will work. I’m doing it. I don’t care what you say. I’ve decided. The Edicts have been signed and the orders have been sent: the army is to be disbanded. The money I save from not having a standing army will be distributed to the people and everybody will share the benefit. Even the lowest peasant will be wealthy.
’

‘
You cannot disband the army, Majesty, not while the Manchurians are massing north of the wall. Have you been drinking the tonics that quack gave you again? Mercury will drive you mad and kill you.
’

‘
It’s already done!’ The Emperor turned and faced me, his eyes dark from the poison and glazed with obsession. ‘You are Immortal yet you refuse to share your secrets. The Sage says that I will gain Immortality from these medicines. I will be as you are!
’

‘
I am not Immortal, Majesty
.’

‘
I know you are. I know who you are. You’ve been helping my family for years — my father knew you when he was young! You and the other three Winds will protect the Empire against the threat of the Manchu.
’

‘
I am not an Immortal, there are no Winds — Majesty, this is madness. Allow me to return to the army and prepare your defence. The Manchu are strong and you will need everything you have to stop them — the wall may not be enough.
’

‘
No. I order you to do this. The army is to be disbanded, the wealth shared with the people, and the Shen of Heaven will protect the realm. It is done.
’

I slipped my hands into my sleeves and bowed. ‘If you continue this track I will retire, Majesty, and return to my estate in Hubei.
’

‘
You cannot. I decree it! You must stay with your Shen armies and protect the realm!
’

‘
Farewell, Majesty.
’

‘
No! Where are you going? You have to stay and advise me! I order you to defend my realm! You helped my father … Where are you going? Come back! No, Counsellor, I need you! Where … Guards! Stop him!
’

But I was gone. I cursed my stupidity. I had greedily basked in their awe as they suspected my true identity, and they had relied on me far too much. Never again would I so directly meddle in the affairs of the Earthly
.

The Ming Dynasty would fall and it was partly my own stupid fault. The echoes of my mistakes would follow me through history
.

The wall of Wumen blurred and I was beneath the Gates of Heaven. Guan Yu must have sensed me because he appeared in front of the gate, holding his halberd, and charged down the hill to me.

He stopped. ‘Ah Wu?’ He grinned broadly. ‘Ah Wu!’

I took my normal human form and his face filled with confusion. ‘Lady Emma?’

The Turtle felt my presence in the Heavens.

The Turtle called

The ground shook.

‘Holy shit, what the hell was that?’ Guan Yu said, looking around.

I couldn’t resist its mighty, demanding call …

‘Get the hell out of my way!’ I shouted, and shot straight into the air.

The Serpent flew over the serene hills of Heaven, towards its Mountain, its other half, its Turtle
…

The Turtle called again and I screamed with anguish. So close, so close … I took Serpent form and raced through the air. I couldn’t stop myself, I called back …

The Serpent called. The Turtle answered. The skies of Heaven rippled with their roars
…

I reached my Mountain, shining black and beautiful. It had been so long … But few Disciples remained. Strategies filled my head for using them to defend the fortress. It could be done, provided the force thrown at it was not too large …

The Turtle roared again, making the Mountain shake. The Serpent screamed in reply and dropped to land in the Great Court, cracking the tiles beneath its coils
…

Meredith raced out of the training area and tried to keep up with me as I slithered as fast as I could to the Grotto.

‘Clear the area around the Grotto for three hundred metres,’ I said. ‘Order the fish out now! If anyone’s in there, get them out.’

The Turtle called, a deep roar of anguish, and the Mountain shuddered. Glass shattered and Disciples were knocked off their feet around us.

I screamed in return and Meredith fell to her knees and covered her ears.

Liu appeared next to us, knelt and put his arm around her, and they spoke silently together.

‘Clear the area!’ I shouted. ‘Lock the Disciples down to barracks! I can’t hold back much longer. Get everybody out!’

Liu dragged Meredith to her feet and they ran. I put my head down and breathed, trying to hold back the urge to race to the Turtle. My Disciples jumped to their feet and scurried around me
as the bells rang in lockdown. I hadn’t heard my bells in so long, it broke my heart …

I couldn’t resist any more and rushed to the blank stone wall that was the entrance to the Grotto. I slammed inside and flew down the stairs. Yue was on her knees next to the cage, clutching the bench, her face pale with terror.

‘Get out!’ I roared, and she ran up the stairs.

The Turtle screamed and the Mountain shook again. The temperature dropped to near freezing. I approached the cage.

‘All of you out!’ I bellowed. ‘Out. Now!’

The water in the Grotto surged around me. The fish thrashed in the maelstrom and disappeared. The Turtle in its cage was swept off the ledge and down into the freezing black depths. The Serpent swam to follow it, took the cage in its mouth, dived to the bottom and smashed it into the floor of the cave.

The Turtle was free. Its cries rocked the Mountain and cracked the stones around them. It ran to the ocean and the Serpent followed it, roaring with frustration.

The vast black Turtle pushed through the water, every stroke of its flippers a wave of force. It moved through the thick ebon seas, searching. It cried out. There was nearly an answer. It cried
…

There was movement. The Serpent approached. It slashed through the deep like a gaping dark wound. The Turtle stopped to regard it
.

The two great giants appraised each other. They were an even match
.

The Serpent rushed forward. The Turtle pounded through the water to meet it. They clashed in a mighty thrashing that was felt to the ends of the oceans
…

The Serpent seized the Turtle and wrapped its coils around it in a death grip. The two enormous heads rose up, mouths open in defiance. They roared at each other silently within the waters. The Serpent’s grip tightened, squeezing the life from the Turtle’s shell
…

They merged. They were one. They were complete. They were Xuan Wu
…

John woke beside himself. Both of him were lying in his bed in the Imperial Residence on the Mountain, side by side. He hadn’t had two bodies in a very long time; a probable side effect of being apart for so long.

He stared at the ceiling and looked inside the Serpent. ‘Emma?’

I hope I give you a massive dose of indigestion, asshole
.

Both of him sat up and rubbed their faces, then stared at each other with shock. His human forms were all wrong. Male Chinese Turtle, female European Serpent … what?

‘John, what the hell happened to you? Where am I? What am I?’ I said.

‘I rejoined. I think you were caught up in it.’

No, I’m right here
…

So am I, love
.

‘Uh … two voices? John …?’

He took my hand and led me from the bed to the bathroom, and stood us in front of the mirror.

‘No, that’s wrong: the Turtle is female and the Serpent is male,’ I said. ‘Why am I female?’ I dropped my head. ‘No, that’s wrong: the Turtle is male and I’m Emma, I’m female, I’m separate …’ I ran my hands through my wild black hair. ‘What the hell happened to me? … Oh.’ I turned to John; he was silent, watching me as I worked it out. ‘I see. But I don’t feel any different. I just feel like me … No. The Serpent’s here too.’

‘I am staying as small and quiet as I can so that you will remain intact.’

‘But I can’t stay like this forever, Emma …’ I said. ‘Oh. Can I be extracted?’

‘We can ask the Jade Emperor. He’s done it before, he can probably teach me … us.’

‘We have to pull me out quickly so I’m not completely consumed by you.’

‘I know. Are you up to travelling?’