Black Jade (4 page)

I rushed up to one of the demons, dismantled it, and looked around. The other reptiles were more hesitant, but they quickly had the hang of it. An occasional shot rang out but John dealt with them. His Serpent dipped out of the air, picked up one of the humanoid snipers, and threw it at the wall of the Gates, where it exploded.

The reptiles had demolished about ten of the stone demons. They didn't fight back; they didn't seem to be intelligent or self-aware, they were just animated piles of rock. In perfect unison, they turned and walked away, heading down the hill away from the Gates. The reptiles followed, chasing them down to destroy them.

‘Hold,' John said, boosted by telepathy. ‘Don't follow. Come back. We've achieved our goal.'

The demon snipers continued to take shots at us from behind the stones as they retreated. The reptiles hesitated, then came back to us, some with obvious reluctance.

One of the snakes struggled at the rear with a large stone in her mouth. It was Grace, fulfilling her promise to Mena. A demon sniper took aim at her back and fired. It missed her, and she screamed with frustration through a mouthful of stone and spun to go after it.

‘Stop!' I shouted. ‘They're retreating. Let them go!'

The sniper raised its weapon to fire at Grace again, and one of our archers took aim at the sniper.

‘No!' John and I shouted in unison, but it was too late.

The arrow sang through the air as the shot was fired. Grace dodged the bullet — snakes could move incredibly fast — and moved into the path of the arrow. It went through the back of her neck.

‘No!' I shouted again, and ran to her, the other reptiles following.

‘Stop right there!' John roared with the force of an imperative, and we halted. ‘Meredith, stand guard. Everybody else,
back.
'

John recombined, took human form, and ran in to collect Grace. He picked her up, tossed her over his shoulder, and carried her back to us. We gathered around her as he laid her on the grass. The arrow was stuck in her serpent throat, in the back and out the front, and possibly through her spine or even the base of her brain.

‘Please, you have to save her,' a young archer said, his face pale with concern. ‘I shot her. I
shot
her! I'm here to protect the Celestial and I hurt one of our own.'

‘It's all right,' Grace said. Her breath came in short wheezes and faded. ‘I'm really cold. Why is it so cold?'

‘Grace,' John said, softly and urgently, ‘you must stay as snake. Don't change to human.' He looked up at me. ‘Emma, help her to stay in snake form.'

‘Can you heal her?' I said.

‘Yes, but the arrow has to come out first. Grace, stay very still, and don't change to human. Emma, help her. Meredith, stand by with pain relief for when she changes back.'

‘Something for the pain!' Grace gasped.

‘After we pull the arrow out,' Meredith said. ‘I can't do anything while you're a snake.'

I put my hands on either side of Grace's head and assisted her to stay in serpent form. It was a struggle with so much damage. Her body wanted to change to human to avoid the injuries from the arrow.

‘Quickly, John,' I said. ‘She can't hold it.'

Meredith put her hands on mine and both of us worked to keep her as a snake. John snapped the arrowhead off where it came out of her neck, and she screamed as the shaft moved inside her.

‘Grace, you have to hold it,' I said. ‘Don't change!'

We put more effort into keeping her in serpent form, but she slipped away from us. Her scales disappeared and her body stretched. Her face morphed to human.

‘John, do it quickly!'

He grasped the shaft of the arrow and pulled it out of her neck, and she screamed again, now completely human. John tossed the arrow aside and shimmered into combined True Form. The Serpent put its snout against Grace where she lay, naked and pale, on the grass. John's dark healing energy hovered over Grace but didn't go into her.

‘Too late,' he said. ‘The arrow was in her spine, and when she changed it went into her brain. The change to human killed her.'

‘You can cure anything!' I said, putting my hands on her chest to perform CPR, hoping that I wasn't squeezing too hard.

He lifted his head and spoke softly. ‘I can't cure death.'

‘Our only loss in the mission and it's from friendly fire,' I said, leaning back and wiping my eyes. ‘We don't do friendly fire on the Celestial. We have eyes in the sky, we have telepathic communication. We're better than this!'

‘It is the first in a while,' John said sadly, changing back to human and catching the young archer as he fell, stricken with guilt. He passed him to Meredith. ‘First of many.'

He raised his head and concentrated.

Guan Yu appeared on the grass next to us and looked down at Grace's body. ‘She will be given full hero's honours.' He looked around, then fell to one knee. ‘I thank you all for returning the Gates to the Heavenly Host.'

The archer was sobbing, his head in Meredith's chest as she held him.

Guan Yu rose. ‘Are they all definitely gone?'

John concentrated. ‘All gone.'

‘I will need replacement guards.'

‘You may borrow some Elites from Er Lang,' John said, and Guan Yu disappeared.

John listened for a moment, then nodded. ‘Er Lang's complaining that we just gave away all of his remaining Elites. I've
told him he can hold an evaluation on the main court tomorrow morning.'

‘Our students aren't ready for that,' I said.

‘They never are. Meredith, escort the rest home,' John said.

He took my hand, and everything disappeared.

John, Er Lang and I stood at the edge of the main court on the Mountain and watched the Disciples run through the weapons drills in perfect synchronicity, with Liu at the front leading them.

Er Lang crossed his arms over his green armour and nodded. ‘Good. I was worried you'd keep the training focused on disablement. It's obvious these are trained to kill.'

‘Of course,' John said. ‘The training isn't about technique any more.'

‘You've brought them up to speed remarkably quickly.'

The God of War shrugged. It was what he did.

Er Lang leaned around John and spoke to me from under his green burnished war helmet. ‘How's your training proceeding? There's a distinct possibility that the Jade Emperor will order you to join us in the Elites.'

‘He'd better not,' John and I said in unison.

‘I'm too new an Immortal and close to useless,' I added. ‘I can't fly safely unless I'm in snake form, and I can't teleport at all. I did it a couple of times before I was Raised but now the skill eludes me. It's driving me nuts.'

‘The Jade Emperor's probably blocked you from learning until after the wedding, so you can't change your mind and make a run for it,' Er Lang said.

‘That makes sense,' John said. ‘Decided yet?'

Er Lang ran his eye over the students. ‘None of these are good enough.'

‘I know that,' John said, his voice low, ‘but you need to take some anyway. The Jade Emperor must be guarded.'

‘Are they genuine volunteers?'

‘They are.'

‘Do you have sources other than the Earthly for Mountain cadets?' Er Lang said. ‘Has the Tiger provided any Horsemen? Dragons?'

‘Horsemen, yes; a good number came here after the fall of the West. We have a few Red Warriors who survived the fall of the South as well.'

‘Most of the phoenixes are in the Northern Heavens regrouping for another attempt,' I said. ‘They're more focused on winning their volcano back right now.'

‘They won't do it,' John said without looking away from the Disciples.

‘We know that, but they don't,' Er Lang said.

‘What?' I said. ‘How do you know?'

‘We've seen it,' John said. ‘They won't re-enter the South for at least three months, when this is all resolved. They will return to the volcano either in triumph or in chains.'

Er Lang nodded agreement.

‘Then tell them to stop messing around and join the defence of the Celestial,' I said.

‘Hope is important in these dark times,' Er Lang said. ‘The Emperor will not take that away from them. I'll have the fifteen top physical workers and the top two energy.'

‘Make it thirteen and two. The bottom two physical workers won't be good enough,' John said.

‘None of them are good enough.'

‘To survive your training.'

‘Oh.' Er Lang hesitated, then said, ‘Yeah, you're right. But it's not enough.'

‘Nobody has enough,' I said.

* * *

Leo drove me to the two-storey house on Shek O peninsula that used to be a happy residence for David and Bridget Hawkes and their boys. The new staff were all demons.

The maid at the front door smiled and welcomed us in. Bridget was sitting stiff and nervous in the living room, while the David copy lounged on one of the armchairs.

He rose when I entered and saluted me; and I saluted him back. He gestured for me to sit in the other armchair, and Leo positioned himself behind me.

‘Before we start,' I said, ‘I'm holding a poison capsule in my mouth, that's why my pronunciation isn't perfect. Try to take me and I'm gone.'

‘You sound like Leo,' the David copy said, grinning. ‘Retarded.'

Bridget turned to him to tell him off for the offensive remark, then changed her mind and shook her head.

He's just trying to get a rise out of you,
I said, and she jumped.

‘None of that,' the David copy said. ‘Out loud, or go home.'

‘All right.' I leaned over my knees towards Bridget. ‘I'm here, Bridget.' I took her hand, and she gasped for breath, trying to hold back the tears. ‘Stay strong.'

‘Thanks for coming, Emma.' She squeezed my hand and released it. ‘I know how dangerous this is for you, but he won't tell me anything and I have to know. You're one of them now, so you must know.' She wiped her eyes with the shaking heel of her hand. ‘Will I ever see David again? What's happened to him? The copy won't tell me anything and it's killing me. Please, can you tell me? Will my boys ever see their father again?'

‘Oh, is
that
what this is about,' the copy said. ‘You didn't need Emma to come for that, I'll answer for you. He's dead and gone, sweetie. We killed him, and you'll never see him again.'

She persisted. ‘But what happened to him after that?'

The copy leaned back, crossed his legs and grinned. ‘I changed my mind; this will be fun. Go ahead and answer her questions, Emma. Let's see it.'

‘Do you remember when David tried to call me “Empress” and it didn't work?' I said to Bridget. ‘He couldn't say it?'

‘No?'

‘Damn. Okay. The Jade Emperor's rulings are unbreakable. If he says I can't talk about something, then I can't talk about it even if I want to. And this includes what happened to David.'

‘So where is he?' she said, obviously not hearing a word I'd said.

Hope in these dark times. ‘If two people are destined to be together, then nothing will keep them apart.'

‘So I have a chance of seeing him again?'

I couldn't look her in the eye. ‘Not in this lifetime, Bridget.'

She hesitated, then, ‘Perhaps in another lifetime?'

‘I can't answer that.'

‘I see.' She was silent for a moment, studying me. ‘The David demon says you were Raised. They chose to make you an Immortal.'

‘That's true,' I said.

The demon grew even more smug as Bridget continued. ‘So why didn't anyone Raise David like they Raised you? Why just you?' She leaned forward and her voice filled with venom. ‘What's so special about
you
?'

I flinched, and Leo put his hand on my shoulder. ‘I can't answer that question either,' I said.

‘There is a legend,' Leo said from behind me, ‘that those who have spent their lives helping the less fortunate and working to make the world a better place, who have acted nobly and sacrificed much, are Raised to join the Immortals in Heaven.' Bridget opened her mouth to speak, but he interrupted her. ‘Any who have lived a life of cruelty and selfishness, whether they are Immortal or not, are sentenced to be punished in Hell. It's ten levels of torture. When you're an Immortal, the torture can last for centuries.'

‘That's not really true, is it?' she said.

‘If the demons were to gain control of this system, they could hold all Immortals in the Pits and torture them for eternity,' Leo said.

‘I don't see what . . .' Her voice faded. ‘That could happen to you?'

‘We're not allowed to talk about it,' Leo said. ‘We can share legends but confirm nothing.'

‘Thank you,' I said.

He squeezed my shoulder and dropped his voice. ‘I've had some practice at this.'

‘But David isn't Immortal, he isn't down there being tortured, is he?' Bridget said. ‘Oh lord, tell me he isn't Immortal!'

‘David isn't Immortal.'

‘So what happened to him? You said I'd never see him again in this lifetime.'

My phone rang with the default ringtone. I pulled it out and rejected the call; it had no caller ID.

‘Sorry,' I said to Bridget.

‘You Celestials make me sick,' the demon said. ‘Stop dancing around the words. David's dead. Dead and gone. We threw his body into the ocean and the fish feasted on it. If he was very unlucky, a sea turtle went past and took a bite out of him as well. Hell knows, the Turtle caused him enough misery while the poor bastard was alive.'

Bridget jumped to her feet, sobbing. She ran out of the room and up the stairs.

‘Show's over,' the David copy said. ‘Go home and enjoy it while it lasts, Emma. If you're nice to the King, he may let you stay in the Heavens with your kids while the Turtle's in the Pits.' He rose and gestured. ‘Out.'

Next time, turn your phone off before you speak to the grieving widow,
Leo said as he opened the car door for me, checking around us.

I did turn it off before I went in.

He pulled himself behind the wheel. ‘It rang when it was turned off?'

I took it out of my pocket and checked it. ‘Yeah, and it's still turned off. I don't know what happened. That isn't my usual ringtone. Everything's gone strange on it.'

‘You must have sat on the buttons.'

‘It's one of Gold's specials. It doesn't have any buttons.'

He shrugged and headed back towards Wan Chai.

* * *

After I'd returned to my office, one of the Dragon's younger sons came to see me. It was Justin. He'd had a two-week relationship with Simone, before they'd quickly called it quits and decided to stay friends.

‘Hi, Justin, how's things?' I said. I studied him: his Asian black hair appeared to have gold glints through it. ‘You transformed? Congratulations!'

He winced. ‘Nope, no transformation. The Archivist is adding me to the records. I'm the only full-blood dragon in history who doesn't transform.'

‘How's university?' Then I remembered — all the students had been called up to the safety of the Celestial Plane. ‘Sorry. So what are you doing here?'

He saluted me. ‘I wish to apply for the position of Mountain demon master, if you will have me.' His face filled with quiet hope. ‘Has anyone else applied?'

‘Nobody, you can have the job,' I said, and he sagged with disappointment. ‘You don't want it? Then don't do it.'

‘I've been ordered.'

‘Who ordered you?' I said sharply.

‘Dad.'

I tried to control the ire in my voice; it wasn't Justin's fault. ‘Did he say, “Do the job right this time or don't bother coming back”?'

He stared at me. ‘How did you know? Wait.' Sweat broke out on his forehead. ‘I will definitely do the job of demon master to the best of my ability, as he has ordered.'

‘I'm not talking about demon master,' I said, my voice still sharp. ‘He wants you to hook up with Simone.'

He sagged with dismay and wiped his hand over his eyes. ‘I really like Simone. But . . . not like that, and she feels the same way.' He looked away. ‘I'm beginning to wonder if I'm really more into guys than girls. I tried to explain to Dad, and he threw me out and ordered me here.'

‘Bastard,' I said under my breath. ‘Go back to the East and tell him that the position's already filled.'

‘I can't, ma'am. I've been ordered to stay here.'

‘Yi Hao!' I yelled at the door.

‘Ma'am?'

‘Where's the Golden Boy right now?'

Justin squeaked.

‘In his lab,' she said.

‘Ask him to pop over, please?'

Gold came into the office in human form, accompanied by his child, BJ, who was in her usual teenage girl form. ‘Ma'am? I'm awfully busy.'

I gestured towards Justin. ‘Son of the Dragon. Postgrad IT student at Todai. He's been called home from the Earthly. Nothing to do, and he can't go back to the East at the moment. He's been working on the Dragon's stone AI. Need an assistant?'

Gold grinned broadly. ‘Excellent.'

He turned to Justin and stopped. Justin and BJ were looking at each other as if they were the only people in the world.

‘Maybe not,' I said.

‘No, it's fine,' Gold said. ‘Justin. Justin!'

Justin jumped, then stood and fell to one knee. ‘Lord Gold.'

‘Cut it out. Stand up. Can you teleport?'

‘No, sir,' Justin said, rising. ‘Absolutely no supernatural abilities whatsoever.'

Gold shrugged. ‘No big issue. Can you carry him?' he asked BJ.

‘Let me look,' BJ said.

Justin shivered.

‘Yeah,' BJ said.

‘Okay, you two, let's go sort out the file servers; and, Justin, you can share what you know about the new bio-storage technology. About time animals were used to store information as well as us stones.'

BJ held her hand out, Justin took it, and they all disappeared.

‘You should have given him the job, ma'am, someone needs to do it,' Yi Hao said from her desk. ‘There's half-a-dozen gardeners out there right now, standing around because nobody gave them an order to move to the next section.'

‘Can you go and tell them?'

She sounded unsure. ‘I can try. I was very much smaller than they are. I don't know what I am now.'

‘Let me know how it works out — I'd be interested to see.'

‘As long as you promise not to make me demon master.'

‘You'd be perfect.'

‘That's why I need your promise, ma'am.'

Gold and Justin reappeared next to my desk.

‘Only if you're sure,' Gold said.

Justin fell to one knee on the other side of the desk, and I had to stand to see him.

‘We passed more than fifty demons who are standing parked, doing nothing, and Lord Gold explained the situation to me. You really need a demon master, Lady Emma,' he said.

‘Not so much we'll force someone to do it.'

‘I volunteer.'

‘Denied. Go with Gold.'

‘I choose this, ma'am. Gold and BJ can run things. Let me do it.'

It was awfully tempting. ‘Are you completely sure?'

He stood. ‘I'll take up the post helping Gold with the IT after all this is over and you have a new demon master.'