John’s eyes turned inwards. ‘Leo will survive. They moved him into intensive care. Meredith is with him, she appears as his wife.’ He smiled slightly. ‘Two Sixty, your father left you here deliberately, I think, to take up Leo’s duties while he recuperates.’
‘No! Really?’ The Horseman’s eyes unfocused; obviously his father was speaking to him. He grinned broadly. ‘
Hot damn
!’
‘I’d like to go and see Leo,’ I said. ‘I know Simone would too. How can we do it so we’re safe?’
‘I will take you,’ John said, rising. ‘Obviously they are still too cowardly to face me. Leo will be harmless
now that the stone has been removed. Two Sixty, stay here and guard the Dark Lady’s parents. Ah Yat!’
Ah Yat poked her head through the doorway.
John gestured towards Derek. ‘This one is staying in the room next to Michael’s. Arrange it while Emma, Simone and I go to the hospital.’
‘My Lord,’ Ah Yat said, and her head disappeared around the door.
‘You know what to do,’ John said.
Derek saluted. ‘My Lord.’ He was hard-pressed to keep the delight from his face. ‘I am extremely glad the Lion will be all right. All of us Horsemen have a tremendous amount of respect for him. We’ll be gunning for him to recover quickly.’ He grinned again. ‘And
damn
, this is an honour to be serving you in his place.’
‘Come on, Emma,’ John said. ‘Let’s go to the hospital and try to convince Leo that he isn’t the worst guard on Earth.’
‘Not going to happen, John,’ I said softly as I followed him out.
The staff said children weren’t allowed in intensive care. Meredith came out in the form of a portly black woman in her mid-thirties and coerced them into letting Simone in. We went into the ward together. Leo was on a number of life-support machines, but they were completely silent; there wasn’t the usual heartbeat blip sound that was so popular on television.
My heart twisted when I saw the signs above his bed. A brilliant black-on-yellow ‘Biohazard’ sign, and next to it a card with ‘HIV+’ scrawled on it in marker. Meredith had told them.
Meredith sat next to Leo and took his hand. She appeared to be holding his hand like a stricken wife, but she was actively healing him through the contact.
Michael leaned against the wall in the far corner of the room, his arms crossed, his school shirt bloodied on one shoulder. He didn’t attempt to salute John, he just nodded. ‘My Lord.’ He winced. ‘Leo tried to take my head off, and missed. He hit my shoulder. I healed the wound, but I’m afraid I’ll be unable to salute you correctly for a while.’
‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ I said quickly.
‘I’m fine,’ he said, but he didn’t shrug. ‘Wait until Katherine sees the scar. You’ll have to help me think of a story to tell her.’
‘I thought it was Betty,’ I said.
‘Katherine right now,’ Michael said, his eyes sparkling.
‘Go outside and wait,’ John said. ‘Rest the shoulder.’
‘My Lord,’ Michael said, then hesitated. He dropped his voice. ‘My Lord. I know I disobeyed a direct order, but I couldn’t kill him. Not Leo. Permission to remain here with him.’
‘Granted,’ John said, and Michael leaned back against the wall.
John sat down on the other side of Leo from Meredith and Simone wriggled into his lap. Simone’s eyes had become very wide when she saw the tubes and machines, but now she seemed only concerned. She reached over and took Leo’s hand, holding it tight.
I moved behind Meredith and put my hand on her shoulder, examining Leo through her. I gasped when I saw the extent of the injuries.
‘How bad is it?’ John said softly.
‘It’s like someone hit him with a sledgehammer,’ I said. ‘Everything inside is bruised and bleeding. Most of his ribs are cracked. His breastbone is fractured. Even his heart is damaged.’ I glanced over at Michael. ‘You did this?’
‘I had to hit him hard to stop him, but I didn’t do that,’ Michael said. ‘When he went down, one of the
demons hit him with some sort of black energy, right in the middle of his chest. I think if it weren’t for Master Liu’s healing skills, he’d be dead.’
Meredith nodded without saying anything.
‘Was it like black chi?’ I said, desperate.
‘No,’ Michael said. ‘Nothing like anything I’ve ever seen before. It wasn’t chi, I’m sure. It was more like…’ He paused and thought. ‘It was more like pure demon essence, thrown straight at Leo.’
‘Not possible,’ John said. ‘They can’t throw demon essence.’
‘And they can’t kill stone Shen,’ I said.
‘A stone Shen was killed? Not
Gold
?’ Michael cried, horrified.
‘Gold’s okay,’ I said. ‘Somebody slipped a stone into Leo’s pocket that put him under their control. It was a stone Shen that had been changed somehow into an object. No longer intelligent or sentient, just a rock. Gold is reporting to the Grandmother.’
‘He’s coming around,’ Meredith said softly. ‘Lord Xuan, take his hand.’
John didn’t question her, he just took Leo’s hand out of Simone’s and held it himself. I sat carefully on the bed next to Leo’s massive thighs. I checked with Meredith and she nodded: I was okay to sit there.
Leo’s dark face screwed into a grimace of pain and then his eyes fluttered open.
Michael quickly moved to stand behind Meredith.
Meredith lowered her head and concentrated. ‘I’m just relieving some of the pain that he’s feeling when he breathes. You can talk to him for a few minutes, then I’ll put him under again. It’s hurting him too much to breathe.’
‘My Lord,’ Leo said, staring at the ceiling. ‘Lord Xuan. Simone.’ His eyes closed again. ‘Emma? Michael?’
‘We’re all here, Leo,’ John said, leaning forward over Simone and holding Leo’s hand tightly. ‘We’re all safe.’
Leo breathed a huge sigh of relief, then coughed, a strangled sound. He gasped with the pain. ‘What happened to me?’
‘Your mind was controlled by a demon. You probably don’t remember anything,’ I said. ‘Everybody’s safe. If it hurts too much, say so, and Meredith will put you under again.’
‘Meredith’s here?’ Leo said. ‘Master Liu?’
‘I’m here, Leo,’ Meredith said. ‘We’re all here. Michael too.’
‘Hey, Leo,’ Michael said, his voice full of affection. ‘That demon certainly hit you hard.’
‘Hey, Michael,’ Leo said. He turned his head, not seeing. ‘Simone? Simone, sweetheart? Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine, Leo,’ Simone said, her little voice as stricken as her face. ‘Does it hurt?’
Leo coughed again, then moaned. ‘It hurts a little bit. But I don’t care, sweetheart, ’cause you’re okay.’
Simone was silent, her eyes still wide.
‘What happened wasn’t your fault, Leo,’ I said, rubbing the blanket that covered his leg. ‘You were controlled by a demon. Rest, get better, and then we’ll take you home. I think you should put him back under now, Meredith.’
‘Wait,’ Leo gasped, a heavy breath.
We all hesitated.
Leo was silent for a while. Then, ‘I don’t know what to say.’
‘You don’t need to say anything,’ John said, still grasping Leo’s hand. ‘Concentrate on recovering. That’s all you need to do.’
‘Somebody needs to guard Simone at school,’ Leo said. ‘Somebody needs to guard Emma, and Simone.’ His strained voice became urgent. ‘The family must be guarded. I have to get out of here!’
‘Simone’s school is finished for the year, Leo,’ I said gently. ‘She can spend her holidays at the Academy where she’ll be safe. I’ll be in the Academy too. You don’t need to worry about us.’ I patted his leg. ‘Worry about yourself for a change, and concentrate on getting better.’
‘Is that an order?’ Leo breathed with some of his old defiance.
‘Damn straight it is. Now Meredith’s putting you back to sleep, and I’ll be here to visit you tomorrow morning, first thing. Okay?’
‘Okay,’ Leo said, but he was already asleep before he’d finished saying it.
A week later we brought Leo home from the hospital. He was still very weak, even with the additional assistance in healing from Meredith. I held one arm and John held the other as we guided him into his room.
We led him to his bed, turned him around, and gently lowered him to sit. He winced; he was still very sore inside. I bent and pulled his loafers off, and John moved to undo the buttons on his shirt.
‘Stop,’ Leo said, and we both hesitated. ‘Emma, Mr Chen, please don’t do this.’
I rose to speak to him at his level. His face was full of misery. ‘Who else can do it?’ I smiled and shrugged, patting his arm. ‘You’re like a brother to me, Leo.’
Leo glanced from me to John.
‘I’ll go out,’ John said.
‘Wait,’ Leo said, and John hesitated. ‘My Lord, could you ask Michael if he would be willing?’
John concentrated, his eyes unfocusing. ‘Michael is on his way. Are you sure?’
Michael tapped on the door and came in.
‘I’m sure,’ Leo said. ‘Out. Both of you.’
Michael stood to one side and let us leave.
‘Leo and Michael?’ John whispered as he closed the door.
‘Of course not,’ I whispered back impatiently. ‘Leo’s like a father to Michael, that’s why he asked for him.’ We went back up the hall towards the training room; we’d decided by silent mutual agreement to do some weapons work together. ‘You really don’t understand people very well sometimes, John.’
‘I don’t think I ever will,’ John said as he held the training room door open for me.
‘What about me?’ I said as I collected my sword.
‘Especially you,’ he said as he studied the weapons on the wall, and eventually selected a pair of
sais
. He turned to face me, spinning them appraisingly in his hands.
I pulled out my sword and tossed the scabbard aside. ‘Okay, Raphael, do your worst.’
‘See?’ he said, and attacked.
T
he New Zealand woman Gold had recruited was called Amy. She was half-Chinese and exceptionally talented. She and I became good friends very quickly; not surprisingly, we had a lot in common. She knew about Chinese culture from her Chinese father, and the Australian and New Zealand cultures were very similar. She was friendly and happy and the difficulties she’d had in her marriage didn’t seem to have affected her much at all.
I began to suspect there was something special about her when she generated chi the first time she tried. I sat her in my office to speak to her.
‘Amy, you remember you swore allegiance?’ I said.
‘Yes, ma’am.’
‘Okay then, keep that in mind. I want some answers.’
Amy straightened.
‘First: have you really been studying the Arts for only a year?’
‘Yes. I wanted something to get me out, something different. Something that would make me feel…’ She hesitated, searching for the words. ‘
Strong
again. I was surprised that I turned out to be so good at it.’
‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Second: are you completely human?’
Her face went strange and I interrupted her before she could say anything. ‘Wait.’ I tapped the stone.
‘I was sleeping, Emma.’
‘You will be sleeping in the water if you talk back to me again,’ I said. I saw Amy’s face. ‘The stone in this ring is sentient, abusive, noisy, arrogant and lazy.’
‘You forgot bad-tempered,’ the stone said.
‘Yeah.’ I asked it silently to check whether Amy was telling the truth. It agreed just as silently. Both of us turned back to Amy.
‘Amy,’ I said, ‘are you human? Tell me the truth.’
Amy hesitated, then sighed. ‘I hope so.’
True
.
‘Do you suspect you may not be human?’ I said.
Amy shrugged. ‘I’m really talented. Everybody else reacted so badly when I generated the chi; I didn’t even know I wasn’t supposed to be able to do it yet.’
I had a sudden feeling of
déjà vu
.
True.
‘I would like to look inside you,’ I said. ‘Do you give your permission?’
Amy’s eyes went wide.
‘It won’t hurt,’ I said. ‘In fact, I won’t do it myself at all; only a Shen can do it. It is a completely painless process, the only discomfort being the fact that the Shen will be able to see everything inside you. Everything. But I would like to confirm that you are completely human.’
‘Are you worried about me?’ she asked quietly. ‘I know
I
am.’
True
.
I smiled and patted her hand. ‘I’m sure we won’t find anything.’
She smiled slightly in response. ‘Which Shen?’
‘Probably Gold,’ I said. ‘He’s the best one available
right now. All the other Academy Shen are flat out with the new recruits, and Jade’s off doing some sort of dragon thing. Besides, as a new student, you know Gold already.’
She shrugged, the smile widening a little. ‘Okay.’ She shook her head. ‘Who would believe it? That I’m in a martial arts school run by a turtle, taught by a snake, side by side with a dragon and a stone?’
‘Freaked my parents out completely,’ I said. ‘Don’t tell your family.’
‘They think I’m a NET teacher, getting away from my husband while the divorce papers go through,’ she said. ‘Native English-speaker Teaching scheme.’
‘Most of our older students’ parents think that,’ I said. ‘If they’re underage of course we tell the parents they’re coming to learn the Arts, but if the student is an adult, like you, it’s up to you to choose what to tell them.’ I paused, then decided. I took the ring off my finger and handed it to her. ‘Put this on for a moment.’
She studied it, turning it over in her fingers, then slipped it onto the smallest finger of her left hand.
‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Give it back.’
She shrugged and returned it to me.
‘Good,’ I said. ‘I’ll arrange a time for you to be examined by Gold. Don’t worry, you know him already. He’s okay.’
‘Is that the ring?’ she said.
‘Yep. I just had the stone look at you as well.’
‘Did it find anything?’
‘No,’ the stone said. ‘Amy, you are a perfectly normal human being. Just extremely talented.’
She sagged with relief.
I didn’t tell her it was exactly the same thing the stone had said about me.
She smiled. ‘Why does it sound English?’
‘To annoy me,’ I said. ‘Go back to the Folly. I’ll contact you later and we’ll have you checked out.’
‘Why do you call it the Folly?’ she said. ‘Both the student residences are called the Folly—the Old Folly and the New Folly.’
I laughed. ‘Full name is Turtle’s Folly. Mr Chen bought the Old Folly at the top of the market, paid double the current market value for it. He lost a serious amount of money on it.’
She smiled wryly. ‘I thought gods didn’t make mistakes.’
‘This one has made some absolutely spectacular ones.’ I spread my hands. ‘I’m one of the biggest, according to him.’
‘Isn’t calling someone a “turtle” here in Hong Kong an insult?’
‘Damn straight. Don’t call it Turtle’s Folly when the Chinese kids are around; some of them are sensitive about it.’
‘And if someone mentions it in front of the Dark Lord, does he get very mad?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘He’s thoroughly delighted with the name. I wish I’d never thought of it, because he had it translated, and has a piece of calligraphy hidden away somewhere that he wants to put in brass above the door.’
Her mouth dropped open.
‘Go home, and don’t worry. The worst we’ll probably find is that you’re a lost Shen, or half Shen, or something like that, and you’ll have extra talents we can bring on.’
‘I just want to be completely human,’ Amy said. She saluted me and left, closing the door softly behind her.
‘Well?’ I said.
‘There’s something there,’ it said, ‘but I’m not sure what it is. Wait until Gold has a look at her. We’ll both see inside.’
‘Is it possible that she’s a demon?’
The stone hesitated. I heard it hesitate.
‘Well?’
The stone’s voice was completely emotionless. ‘Yes, Emma, it is quite possible.’
‘But she doesn’t know if she is?’
‘Correct,’ the stone said.
‘Has this happened before? Somebody was a demon but didn’t know about it?’
The stone hesitated, then obviously decided to answer before I could shout at it. ‘Yes, of course. It was a favourite trick of the previous King. Create a half demon, half human. Plant a trigger in it, similar to a program. The demon itself is unaware of its true nature. When the time is right, the trigger is activated and the demon usually self-destructs, taking all around with it.’
‘Holy shit,’ I said softly. ‘Why didn’t John tell me about this?’
‘Two reasons,’ the stone said. ‘The first is obvious. The second is that the current King is slightly more honourable than its predecessor and does not engage in this sort of underhand activity.’
‘He can be pretty underhand when he wants to,’ I said grimly.
‘He is a Demon King.’
‘Will Gold be able to tell if Amy is a demon?’ I said.
‘Yes.’
‘You sure?’
If the stone could sigh it would have. ‘Of course. He is my son.’
‘You mean
child
.’
The stone didn’t speak to me for a long time after that.
I arranged the examination for two days later so that John and Meredith could be present as well as Gold
and me: John for his demon-spotting skills, and Meredith as the best demon-binder on the Mountain. JC Poon, the Demon Master, was on call, but didn’t need to be present unless Amy was a demon and was either bound or tamed. If she turned and attacked us we would destroy her and he wouldn’t be needed at all.
We used a training room on the twenty-second floor by silent mutual agreement. It would be the best place if she turned; the seniors and Celestials would be close by.
Amy walked in and stopped dead when she saw all of us. Her face went ashen, then she remembered and fell to one knee, saluting us all.
‘Come in, Amy,’ I said, as gently as I could. ‘I think you know everybody. Do you know Meredith?’
Amy shook her head, her eyes wide. She was panicking. She knew something was up.
I gestured towards Meredith. ‘Master Liu, Energy Master, Tai Chi Master.’
Amy saluted Meredith and Meredith nodded back, her angular, intelligent face serious. She was already examining Amy.
‘Okay, Amy,’ I said, trying to be brisk and businesslike. She broadcast raw terror. ‘Sit cross-legged on the floor in the centre of the room and Gold will have a look inside you.’
She did as she was told.
Gold knelt behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. ‘Relax, dear. I won’t hurt you. Everything will be just fine.’
Amy was shaking.
Gold didn’t move, but I saw him contact Meredith. Meredith silently moved forward and put her hand on top of Amy’s head.
Amy went rigid at the touch and then her face went slack. Gold nodded and Meredith moved away.
Human at the top level,
Gold said.
My Lady, could you bring my parent here, please? I would like it to provide a second opinion.
I moved quietly to Gold and put the stone in front of him. I released it, and it hovered in front of Gold’s face, between his nose and the back of Amy’s head. Gold nodded, his face still full of concentration.
Going deeper. Dad
?
Human. No apparent demonic attributes at any of the top levels,
the stone said.
Gold stiffened.
What a bastard.
With you there,
the stone said.
No wonder she wanted to learn to defend herself.
Gold sighed, his shoulders moving.
Going deeper.
What was that?
the stone said.
What
? Gold said.
For a moment there…nothing.
My Lord Xuan, please take a quick look
, Gold said.
Through me, so that you cannot harm her.
John approached them and bent to place his hand on Gold’s shoulder. His face went rigid with concentration, then he released Gold and moved back.
Definitely not a demon,
John said.
Could be something else there, but it’s so well hidden it’s hard to say. Probably just exceptional talent. I have seen humans this talented before. If a talented human suffers such as she has, it can also bring forward the energy control.
He smiled.
Suffering brings wisdom and control.
The ring rose above Gold and returned to me, and I picked it out of the air. Gold took his hands away from Amy’s shoulders and rose.
Meredith crouched beside Amy and put her hand on Amy’s shoulder. ‘We’re finished now, dear.’
Amy shook herself out, then heaved a huge sigh and pulled herself to her feet, swaying slightly. Meredith held her elbow to help her.
‘That was weird,’ Amy said. ‘You knocked me out or sedated me or something, didn’t you?’
Meredith smiled but didn’t say anything.
‘I thought I could hear people talking but there wasn’t a sound,’ Amy said.
‘You are quite correct, Amy,’ John said.
I went to Amy and took her arm. I looked her right in the eyes. ‘You are a completely normal, talented human who has had her talents boosted by a prolonged period of suffering.’
Amy’s eyes widened. ‘You know about that? You know?’
‘Nothing to be ashamed of, Amy,’ Gold said.
May I see her back to the Folly?
‘Go,’ I said. ‘Amy, Gold will escort you back.’
‘The long way,’ Meredith said. ‘Not directly; she wouldn’t be able to handle it right now.’
‘Oh, I’m taking the long way,’ Gold said, smiling into Amy’s eyes. He gently took her elbow to lead her out. ‘Are you free Friday night? A group of us grown-ups are going to Lan Kwai Fong to try out the new Italian restaurant there. And to get away from the little ones for a while. You’re welcome to come; you spend a lot of time with the younger students as well.’
‘Little ones?’ Amy said. ‘You look the same age as most of the students.’
‘Appearances can be deceiving. I’m slightly older than I look,’ Gold said, amused. ‘You are a very interesting person, you know that? A lot of depth to you. I’d love to see more of it.’
‘Tell Gold I heard that and he’s seeing somebody already,’ I said quickly, and the stone relayed the message.
Broke up with him a month ago,
Gold said.
‘He’s to tell her all about himself up front. And if she’s too traumatised by what she’s been through then it’s strictly hands off.’
Of course.
Another bolt hit me. They would be great together. Totally made for each other. And she
was
something special, but it wasn’t ready to come out yet.
I shook myself out of it. Meredith and John stared at me. ‘What?’
‘We saw that,’ John said. He pointed at the floor. ‘Your turn.’
I hesitated, then moved to sit cross-legged in the middle of the room. Meredith took up position behind me and put her hands on my shoulders.
I relaxed and let her in.
It didn’t take long. She flipped through me like a magazine, then put me back and released me.
‘Well on the way there,’ she said, rising. She reached down and helped me up. ‘Impressive.’
‘Have you had any flashes about us? You and me?’ John said.
‘No. Only the students.’ I gestured towards the door. ‘Amy and Gold are made for each other. They’ll be great together.’ It hit me again. ‘In fifteen or twenty years, their kids will be some of the best students you and I have ever seen, and we’ll teach them together.’
I heard what I’d just said and dropped my head as my throat thickened. John looked away, but Meredith grinned broadly.
‘See?’ she said, and linked her arm in mine. ‘It will be. Let’s go and buy the young Immortal-to-be some lunch.’
The next afternoon I paired up my energy students and they worked with chi together, one manipulating the energy and the other supervising. It was incredibly satisfying to have half a dozen students all taking their first steps together.
I paired Amy with Brad, a hefty young black man from Argentina. We didn’t recruit many young people from South America; there wasn’t much interest there in the Asian Arts. But the movie industry was helping us immensely. Young people saw Hollywood wire-fu and wanted to learn some for themselves. Many were disappointed when they realised that the stuff they saw on movies was pure fantasy, but others were intrigued by the real Arts and continued. And some eventually came to the Mountain and discovered that the stuff depicted by wire-fu was the
least
of what they could do.