‘There she is!’ somebody shouted.
A chorus of voices. ‘Lady Emma! Lady Emma!’
‘Whoa, whoa, calm down, everybody,’ I said as loudly as I could. ‘What the hell is going on?’
Leo came out of the lift, followed by another dozen students who’d crammed in with him. He came to me and shrugged, smiling slightly.
‘What the hell is going on, Leo?’
The stairwell door opened and John came out. He’d been in the training room directly below us with the seniors and had come up the stairs rather than the lift. He stopped when he saw all the students then came to me too.
The minute the students saw John they all went quiet, fell to one knee, saluted, and pulled themselves silently to their feet.
The three of us turned to face the students. They were crammed in the hallway in front of us, overflowing into the lift lobby.
The lift doors opened and another dozen students tried to squeeze in.
‘Get to the lift and stop it, Leo, before somebody gets hurt,’ I said.
Leo pushed through the students, pulled his wallet out of his hip pocket and jammed it into the lift doors, forcing them to remain open so that the lift couldn’t leave.
‘Do not for a minute think that any of you are staying,’ I said loudly, and the shouting started all over again.
Silence!
That worked.
One at a time, alphabetical order, in my office. Whose surname starts with A?
Five students raised their hands.
Okay, in my office. Bs are next. Everybody whose surname does not start with B, return to your room. I will call the Cs, but I will do it by surname for the Chinese. Out. Now.
Somebody pulled Leo’s wallet out of the lift and returned it to him, then the students silently took the stairs back down with the regimented discipline that we would normally have expected from them.
‘Whoever’s first, in the office, come on,’ I said, and young Cynthia Anderson came forward.
John, Leo, Cynthia and I went into John’s office.
‘This is administrative, you don’t need me in here. How about I send them in for you?’ Leo said.
‘Good idea,’ I said, and John nodded. We sat around John’s desk with Cynthia, a very fair redhead from New York. ‘Well?’
‘My Lord, Lord Xuan, Lady Emma.’ Cynthia took a deep breath. ‘If I could, I’d like to stay—take a job here in Hong Kong, if I can, and learn off the seniors who are staying. Only once or twice a week, just to keep my skills up. I really don’t want to go home. I want to stay here.’
‘How many seniors are staying, John?’ I said.
‘All of them,’ John said. ‘Two-thirds of them are staying now. The other third,’ he said with a sigh, ‘will go home for a couple of weeks, then come back. They want to keep their skills up, and they want to stay here with us.’
‘Me too!’ Cynthia said. ‘Even if it’s only twice a week. Even if it’s learning from a third year. I want to stay!’
‘We’ll think about it,’ I said. ‘Your safety is paramount, you know that.’
‘My safety is entirely unimportant,’ Cynthia said. ‘I don’t care if I have to walk over hot coals, I want to stay here with you. Damn it, Lady Emma…’ Her voice broke and she pulled herself together. ‘My Lady. The Academy, the Mountain, the Folly, this is my home. The other students, you, Lord Xuan, Master Leo, you are my family. I’ll risk it all to stay here.’
‘As I said, we’ll think about it. Dismissed, Cynthia,’ John said, and leaned back to share a look with me. ‘Send the next one in.’
It became apparent before we even reached the Cs that they all wanted the same thing. We didn’t have much choice. Even if we did send them home, they’d be on the first flight back to find work, find a place to live, and sneak into the Academy to learn from the seniors.
Both of us were pleased, even though we were concerned for their safety. But we didn’t need to say it out loud. Words weren’t necessary.
A
fter we’d given the juniors permission to stay and sent them back to the Folly, we had a meeting with the seniors to work out what to do. We had ten of the most advanced of them: all over thirty, strong, reliable and intelligent. We had lost most of the human Masters in the Mountain Attack; now we had lost all of the Celestial Masters in the latest one. These guys were all we had left. John would not have promoted them because they lacked the talent, but we had no choice.
I had felt uncomfortable when I learned that I was better than any of them and was made Master after only just over a year. John said that I had more talent than all of them put together. He said the same thing about Leo. Leo was tremendously embarrassed as well. And the worst part was that all of the seniors agreed with him.
‘Okay, people, here’s the situation,’ I said over the conference table on the seventh floor. ‘The juniors refuse point blank to go, and they want to learn off you guys.’
‘No. None of us are good enough,’ Sakamoto said.
‘We don’t have a choice. If we send them home, they’ll be on the next plane back and sneaking into the Academy to learn off you anyway.’
‘It will take the Dark Lord years to undo the damage if we teach them,’ Cheung said. ‘We are simply not capable.’
‘The Celestials will be back in three to four months,’ John said. ‘Just hold things together until then. Don’t teach them anything new, just revise what they’ve done.’
The seniors were silent.
‘Any questions?’ John said.
‘No, sir,’ they chorused, obviously unhappy.
‘Emma will do the rosters with you later. Maybe go out now and talk about who’ll do what, to save her time. Dismissed.’
The seniors saluted and filed silently out. John and I remained.
‘You need to see the Lady already,’ I said softly.
John just looked at his hands.
‘Damn. When is good?’
He glanced up at me. ‘I think I can go another two, three weeks before I need to see her.’
I had my diary open in front of me. I flipped forward. ‘Mid-August.’ I sighed. ‘Oh well, we knew it anyway.’
He rubbed his hands over his face. ‘We thought I’d last until August next year.’
‘Will Simone be ready?’
He studied his hands. ‘After I have seen the Lady, I will pay a little visit on One Two Two.’
I dropped my head onto my arms where they rested on the table. ‘No.’
‘Once it is out of the picture you will be fine. You can handle nearly anything thrown at you. Simone is close. When One Two Two is gone, and we have cleaned out its nest, I think you two will be okay.’ He looked back up at me. ‘We’ll go home and have a family meeting and tell everybody the plan.’
‘I don’t want to tell Simone. It will devastate her.’
‘She’s known the situation for a year now, Emma.’
‘It will be completely different when we tell her to her face.’
‘I know.’
Simone, Michael and Leo were already in the dining room when we went in. Leo and Michael saluted. Simone’s eyes were huge.
John and I sat down together. Neither of us said anything; we didn’t know where to start.
‘I think I’d better just show you,’ John eventually said. ‘Simone, come and sit in my lap.’
Simone hopped off her chair and crawled into her father’s lap. He turned her around so that she faced him.
‘Look inside, sweetheart.’
She put her hand on his forehead and concentrated. Then she dropped her hand, leaned forward to touch her forehead to his, and sobbed quietly. She wrapped her little arms around his neck and held him close, and he buried his face in her hair with his eyes closed.
‘He needs to see the Lady in the next three weeks. After that any further energy feeding will be ineffective,’ I said quietly.
Leo shot to his feet. ‘She’s
not ready
! I
knew
you were in trouble. I’ve been feeling
lousy
!’
‘No,’ Michael said. ‘Oh, geez. No.’
‘Go and sit next to Leo, darling,’ John said, and Simone returned to her chair.
I passed her the box of tissues and she pulled a few out and wiped her eyes, then blew her nose loudly. ‘Sit down, Leo,’ she said. ‘I think there’s more.’
Leo’s face went rigid and he sat.
‘After I have seen the Lady, we will visit a certain
Demon Prince,’ John said. ‘A Black Turtle, a Black Lion and a White Tiger, if he is free to come along.’
‘No, Daddy,’ Simone whispered. ‘If you change into the Turtle you can’t change back.’
‘I want to go too,’ Michael said vehemently.
‘Three of us. That is all.’
‘My Lord,’ Leo said. He hesitated. ‘Thank you.’
‘I don’t want you to go, Leo,’ Simone said, still sniffling. ‘You’ll
die
.’
Leo smiled gently and took Simone’s hand. ‘You know I won’t last long anyway, sweetheart.’ Simone grabbed some more tissues with her other hand. Leo turned to John, still holding Simone’s little hand in his enormous dark one. ‘Where will we go to see the Lady?’
‘How far away can you go now? Back to Kota Kinabalu?’ I asked.
‘I can’t go any further than here,’ John said. ‘We’ll do it on the top floor of Hennessy Road. We will be attacked when we do. Emma: you, Simone and Leo will remain here at the Peak. The seals will protect you, and I trust the two of you to defend Simone. Michael will go to the Western Palace. I expect the main assault to be at Hennessy Road. I will call the Phoenix and Na Zha, and perhaps a couple of other friends, to defend the building. We will clear the students out and put them in the Folly, defended there.’
‘This is a very bad idea, my Lord,’ Leo said. ‘I think if all of them are at that sort of risk, then perhaps we should just go in now.’
‘
No
!’ Simone shouted.
‘I don’t have the strength,’ John said. ‘I am much too drained to go in right now. I will not be able to do it until after the feed.’
The doorbell rang, and both John and Michael shot to their feet.
‘He is supposed to be in Hell,’ John growled. ‘I will take his head for this. Leo, Emma, with me. Michael, stay here with Simone.’
He turned and went out, Leo and I following him.
Ah Yat held the door open. Martin was on the other side of the huge metal gate.
‘Let me in. I know the situation—I can help you protect Simone,’ Martin said. ‘I give you my word: I will harm none of you.’
‘Go to hell,’ John said.
‘My Lord. Lord Xuan.
Father
,’ Martin said, and John winced. ‘She’s my sister and I want to see her safe. I can arrange safety for her while Kwan Yin helps you. Let me in. I swear, this is an honest offer.’
I moved forward to open the gate.
‘No, Emma,’ John said, but I ignored him. I let Martin in, and he smiled and saluted me.
‘I will kill you one day,’ Leo said in a menacing rumble.
‘I don’t blame you,’ Martin said gently. ‘If it means anything to you, I wasn’t pretending.’
Leo glared silently at him.
‘Living room. Let’s talk about it,’ I said.
Martin sat on one of the couches and we all stood around him. ‘It’s like this,’ he said, leaning his elbows on his knees. ‘Number One knows that once you’ve been fed this time, it’s the end. So you’re probably planning to take True Form and see One Two Two straight after.’
Nobody said anything.
‘But you can’t travel any distance right now. So when she does feed you, you’ll do it here, and attract the largest horde of demons the Celestial has ever seen.’
‘Tell me something I don’t know,’ John said.
‘Number One has provided me with a safe house. Your Lady and my sister can go there while you do this. They will be safe.’
‘Why?’ I said.
Martin spread his hands and looked up at John. ‘Obvious. He wants you to win. He wants One Two Two out of the way as much as you do. And if you don’t have to worry about the Lady and the child, your chances are that much better.’
‘I do not require a demon’s assistance,’ John said, glowering.
‘The demon will not be assisting you. It will be me providing safety for the Lady and the child. He’s given his word, Ah Ba.’ John winced again. ‘They will be safe.’
‘I will consider,’ John said, turning away.
‘No! Wait!’ I said, and Martin glanced up at me. ‘Contact me the first week of August. You can take Simone, but I’m staying here.’
‘You can’t trust him, Emma,’ Leo said softly.
‘Neither of you are going,’ John said.
I glared at John. ‘Simone will be safe. You want me to use the phone?’
‘Shit,’ John said, spun on his heel and stalked out.
‘I’ll be in touch,’ Martin said, smiling gently. He disappeared.
The next morning I went into the training room and quietly closed the door behind me. I moved into position in the middle of the mats, then began to work through a wu-style Tai Chi set. The rest of the apartment was silent. Michael was at the Western Palace; Leo was out; John was resting; and Simone was watching television.
I felt something under my foot and kicked it away. It made a clicking noise in my head as I hit it. I froze.
I very carefully put the chi back, then moved silently and slowly to find whatever I had kicked.
It was a tiny pebble on the floor, only about half a centimetre across. I leaned over it, and nearly fell over
from the shock of recognition. It was Gold, in True Form. I touched him carefully, then picked him up.
‘Gold. Gold. Can you hear me?’
Nothing. Not even a click.
I carefully carried Gold out and went to find John. He wasn’t in his office, so I went to his room and rapped on the door.
Hm? Come on in, Emma.
I went in. John had been sleeping, his long hair almost completely out of its tie. He didn’t move, he just smiled at me from the bed. I went to the bed, crouched, and put Gold in front of his face so he could see the stone.
He leaped up, grabbed Gold out of my hand and ran out of the room, his long hair flying behind him. ‘Come on, I may need you too,’ he called as he raced away.
I followed him down the hall and into the kitchen. He pushed Ah Yat aside and stood in front of the stove, fiddling with the knobs. The minute he had the big wok burner on, he dropped Gold into it.
‘Will that help him?’ I said.
John crossed his arms over his bare chest. He’d just been wearing a pair of plain black shorts to sleep because of the heat, even with the air conditioner on. ‘I hope so.’ He pulled his hair roughly out of the way and retied it.
‘Can a stone like him die?’
John lowered himself to watch Gold in the flames. ‘Normally, no. But he’s been almost completely drained of all energy; nearly destroyed. Damn!’ He made a sudden, sharp movement towards the flame. ‘I don’t have anybody who can drop him into a volcano.’
‘Can the Phoenix help?’ I said. ‘If he needs to stay in fire?’
‘She’s on the Celestial in Court, Emma. Not available.’
‘Amy,’ I said.
‘Good idea,’ John said, and his eyes unfocused. ‘Go and open the living room window for her. She’s not too good on direct travel yet.’
I went to the living room and opened the window. It seemed like an eternity before Amy appeared, whipping through the air in her black dragon form. She came through the window, landed lightly on the carpet, and transformed. She fell to one knee and saluted me.
‘Did the Dark Lord tell you what happened?’ I said, gesturing for her to follow me into the kitchen.
‘Something to do with Gold,’ she said. ‘I’m so glad he’s not dead. I thought he was dead.’
‘He nearly is,’ John said as we went into the kitchen together.
Amy stopped dead and blushed furiously when she saw John.
‘What?’ he said.
‘She’s not used to seeing a god in his underwear,’ I said with a grin. We moved forward to the flame. ‘He’s in the fire, Amy.’
‘Will he be okay?’ she whispered.
‘We’ll leave him in the flames for another ten minutes or so, and then you will need to fly as fast as you can and drop him into an active volcano,’ John said, studying Gold closely. ‘Do you think you can do that?’
‘Where’s the nearest one?’ she said.
We all shared a look. ‘I’ll go and look it up,’ I said. ‘I’ll be right back.’
I came back with a printout of the website I’d found. ‘Do you need to have flowing lava, or is just the crater enough?’
‘Lava,’ John said.
‘Hawaii then. I’m not sure about the closer ones, they may not have any lava. Hawaii definitely does, and there’s more than one of them. It’s our best shot.’
‘Got it,’ Amy said. ‘Come on, Gold, you can make it.’
‘Amy?’
Amy crouched, moving her face as close to the flame as she could. ‘I’m here, Gold. We’ll make it.’
‘Amy,’ Gold’s voice sighed. ‘What happened?’
‘Don’t worry about that,’ John said. ‘We’ll just let you toast in the fire for a while, and then Amy will take you to Hawaii and drop you into the volcano there.’
‘That would be good,’ Gold said weakly. ‘That really sounds very good.’
‘You’ll have about fifteen minutes once I’ve turned off the flame,’ John said to Amy without looking away from Gold. ‘You will need to fly very, very quickly. Don’t attempt to take him directly—you would destroy him. Don’t go underwater; that would be too cold for him.’
‘I can do it,’ Amy said softly without turning away from Gold.
‘Amy?’ Gold whispered.
‘I’m here.’
His voice softened. ‘Don’t leave me.’
‘I’m not going anywhere.’
‘Find a couple of oven mitts,’ John said.
I scrabbled through the cupboards until Ah Yat shoved a pair of mitts into my hand. I accepted them with a smile. She was the only one who knew where anything was in the kitchen.
‘Gold, if I take you out now, do you think you could make it to Hawaii with Amy?’ John said.
Gold didn’t make a sound.
‘Gold. No,’ Amy said, almost moving to touch him in the fire.
‘I think I can do it,’ Gold whispered.
‘Okay,’ John said. ‘Emma, is the window still open?’
‘Yep.’
‘Amy, put the mitts on and change.’
Amy transformed, the mitts looking very strange on her black dragon form.