Journey to Wubang 01 - Earth to Hell (17 page)

My opponent stood on the other side of the clearing next to the officiator for the match. He had the nut-brown skin of a Chinese who had spent a great deal of time in the sun, and the square, heavy-set features shared by those from the North. He was at least half a metre taller than me, large and strong. He wore traditional lacquer armour similar to mine—square plates held together with wires—but his armour was as brown as his features. He held a spear that was at least two metres long with a slender, sharp tip surrounded by a red horsehair fringe and decorated with a piece of green silk.

A small young woman in traditional Tang robes in a similar shade of brown, intricately embroidered with green leaves and pink flowers, stood behind him as second, her expression concerned.

I moved to about two metres from them and saluted, bowing slightly. ‘Sirs and madam. I am Emma Donahoe, answering a challenge.’

My opponent released his spear and it remained
vertical beside him without being held. He saluted me and spoke, his voice deep and rich. ‘I am Sang Shen. This is my sister, Sang Ye, who will act as second.’

I bowed slightly to him and his second. ‘I am honoured.’

Sang Shen took hold of his spear again and both of us turned to the officiator.

He unrolled a scroll and read from it. ‘
Tai Ren
Sang Shen challenges Regent General
Da na huo
to a test of martial skills. This test will not be to the death, and will be considered satisfactorily concluded when either combatant yields. Are these terms agreeable?’

I saluted the officiator and spoke first, as I held higher rank. ‘I hold these terms agreeable with a request for the further consideration of light contact, and restraint from injuries that cannot be healed by a mortal such as I.’

Sang Ye, the second, hissed under her breath.

‘This creature is not a mortal, she is a serpent,’ Sang Shen said. ‘There should be no consideration for such as her.’

‘This matter has been questioned and adjudicated already,’ the officiator said. ‘It has been resolved by edict from the Celestial that General
Da na huo
is indeed both mortal and unable to recover from major injury such as disseverment of limbs and removal of vital organs. Her request is upheld by the Celestial.’

Sang Ye made a short, angry gesture with one hand but remained silent behind her brother.

‘Who is your second, madam?’ the officiator asked me.

‘The Jade Building Block of the World,’ I said.

‘I will act,’ the stone said.

Sang Ye turned away quickly, then turned back. She opened her mouth but, without turning to see her, her brother raised his hand to stop her speaking. ‘The terms are acceptable.’

I nodded to Sang Shen. ‘You will use the spear only?’

Sang Shen grimaced and raised the weapon. ‘I will use the spear that was my father.’

Oh dear
, the stone said.
The search is starting to bring back results and they are all bad.

Tell me quickly, we’re beginning
, I said, and moved into the middle of the clearing. I stood and saluted Sang Shen, who grunted and nodded back.

‘
Oh dear’ is right if he’s showing this much disrespect for someone of my rank
, I said to the stone.

That spear
is
his father
, the stone said.
This is very bad. His father was a tree spirit
—

Resident in the Northern Heavens, right?

Sang Shen moved about two metres across from me and raised the spear in a guard. I responded with an open-handed guard; usually I loaded my hands with chi, but in this case they were empty of energy. I would have to rely on purely physical, and as a last resort call the Destroyer. I didn’t have enough chi left to wield it predictably in battle any more.

Precisely
, the stone said.
His father died three months ago due to the energy drain resulting from the absence of the Dark Lord. And so, of course
—

He blames me. Lovely.

And, completely pissed that you have a stone as second, Emma. You know how plant spirits feel about us stones.

Oh wonderful, icing on the cake. I didn’t know why plants and stones had so many issues with each other—neither side would discuss it—but the enmity had been around for a very long time. I knew what I had to do.

No, you can’t take that risk. You don’t have good enough control.

Help me out here.

Sang Shen spun the spear over his head in an
impressive arc, then leapt forward with the point of it aimed straight at my left eye. The red horsehair fringe around the tip of the spear was designed to fool the enemy into thinking that the point was further away than it actually was, but I had extensive practice with the Wudang spear and knew what to expect.

I slid my head sideways to avoid the tip, and he swung the spear in an arc to slam the side of my head. I ducked underneath the blow and quickly delivered a side kick to his abdomen as he regained enough leverage to bring the weapon back again. Because of its length it was difficult to wield in a circle quickly. My kick had no effect; it was like hitting a tree.

Is his tree in the Northern Heavens too?

Yes. He’s dying as well, Emma, and so is his sister.

Dear Lord, I’m killing both of them without doing anything at all.

You are not killing them, you are fighting to save them.

Sang swung the spear through a long underarm arc, again trying to take out my eyes with it. I feigned unbalance, acting unprepared for the attack, and he pressed home the advantage by jabbing at my eyes. I made a show of regaining my balance, used quick movements to avoid the jabs and leapt back.

Sang stopped and lowered the spear, studying me appraisingly.

He’s picked you
, the stone said.

Ready?

Please don’t do this.

Too late.

I moved as fast as a well-trained human could and went for his face. I ducked under the guard of the spear and managed a couple of good blows at his tanned cheeks, bouncing off ineffectually, before he managed to swing the staff around to knock me to the ground.

He raised the spear with its tip pointed at my abdomen and plunged it straight through the armour into me. I managed to roll slightly to the right so that the tip entered the far left side of my abdomen. At first it felt like I had just been hit with it, then the pain seared through me.

Sang’s face went hard with satisfaction and he pulled the spear out.

‘She yields!’ the stone shouted. ‘Desist!’

Sang Shen held the spear above my throat, his face fierce with pleasure.

I gasped for breath. ‘I don’t want you to die…’ My voice trailed off and I tried to speak, but the air wouldn’t come. ‘Help me. Tell me what we can do.’

‘You have done quite enough,’ Sang Shen said, and raised the spear for the killing blow.

He disappeared, and the face of the officiator appeared above me. ‘I will seek medical attention for you.’

I gripped my side where the spear had entered. I couldn’t do anything about the pain while the officiator was watching.

‘No need,’ the stone said. ‘We have our own transport and medical care.’

The stone took human form, lifted me easily like a child, and carried me out of the Arena. Every move made me want to wail with the pain. I clenched my jaw against it, but couldn’t avoid the occasional whimper as the stone’s feet hit the ground.

‘You can stop the pain now,’ the stone said a moment later as it carried me down the hall back to the preparation room.

I concentrated, moved the demon essence through myself, and blocked the pain from the wound. I sighed with relief and relaxed into the stone’s arms.

‘You can put me down now,’ I said.

‘No need,’ the stone said, and opened the dressing
room door. ‘Out,’ it said to the demon servant, and lowered me gently into one of the rosewood chairs.

‘Is the blood black?’ I said.

Its face was creased with concern. ‘No.’

‘How deep?’

‘About three centimetres. I nearly didn’t make it inside you to block it in time.’

‘Close enough.’ I attempted to rise but my muscles didn’t want to cooperate. ‘Damn, I’m going to need a minute before I can walk.’

Simone appeared next to the stone. ‘Oh my God, Emma, what happened?’

‘Don’t touch me! I can walk out,’ I wheezed.

‘Let’s see you do it,’ the stone said.

I struggled to rise then fell back. ‘Don’t touch me, Simone. Give me a few minutes to get myself together and I’ll be fine. Go back to school.’

Simone took my hand and everything disappeared.

‘I entered her body and became an internal shield against the point of the spear,’ the stone was saying. ‘But it went in further than I wanted—that tree spirit was mightily fast.’

‘Why did she permit herself to be pierced anyway?’ Meredith asked. ‘She is much better than he is. How did this happen?’

‘He is a tree in the Northern Heavens and he is dying,’ the stone said. ‘She wanted to give him a measure of satisfaction by drawing her blood.’

Simone sighed with feeling. ‘Well, the injury is fixed now, but I’m not going back to school until she changes back.’

‘Emma,’ Meredith said. ‘Can you hear us?’

‘Yes.’

Simone squeaked, and Meredith put her hand on Simone’s arm.

‘Emma, change back to human form.’

‘Why? I like being like this.’ I thrashed my tail and rose to sit upright. I held my skinless arms in front of me, admiring them. ‘I should do this every time I’m injured, it would save everybody a lot of trouble. Healing a small wound like that is easy.’

They didn’t reply, just stood around the hospital bunk staring at me, so I flipped my coils to one side and slid off the bed. I slithered around the room, checking the furniture. The Mountain infirmary was quite small and I had to coil my snake end around me to fit.

‘It feels good to be so powerful,’ I said, looking at my skinless face in the mirror. I flicked my long, forked tongue. ‘I don’t have to worry about touching Simone, or the demon essence getting out of control, or anything like that. I can just be
me.
’

‘I’d rather have you in human form, Emma,’ Simone said, her voice small.

I glared at her. ‘You’re supposed to be in school. I’m seeing your teacher this afternoon to try and fix this up, and here you are skipping school again. You said you didn’t want to repeat Year Nine.’

She shrugged. ‘It’s only Mrs Stupid Wilder’s biology class. She hates me.’

‘Go back to school,’ I said.

‘Change back to human form and I will.’

‘You should do as I tell you, Simone, I’m your guardian.’

‘I don’t like your demon form, Emma, and I’m not moving until you’re human again,’ Simone said, stubborn.

‘All right. Have it your way, but this form really is much more powerful.’ I grinned at Meredith. ‘You wanted to have a look, Meredith. Go right ahead.’

Meredith turned her Inner Eye on me but I barely felt it. She gasped.

‘Well?’ I said.

‘Eighty-one or eighty-two. Somewhere around there,’ she said softly.

‘Nice,’ I said.

‘Change back now, please, Emma,’ Simone said.

‘If I have to.’

I concentrated and returned to human form. Meredith tried to catch me but Simone was in the way. I hit the floor hard.

I came around with Meredith looking down at me. Simone was gone. I pulled myself upright.

‘All right?’ Meredith said.

I nodded. ‘I’m fine. I feel terrific actually. Full of energy, raring to go.’ I smiled with regret. ‘Ready to kill the next challenger I face.’ I ran my hands through my hair. ‘Meredith, we can’t go on—’

She cut me off. ‘Don’t try to resign again, because we won’t have it.’

‘But I’m a
demon
!’

‘So are some of the students. So is the Dark Lord’s Heavenly Army.’

‘I’m totally incapable of doing this job. I’m not an Immortal. I don’t have the experience.’ I sighed with exasperation. ‘You’re a great help, Meredith, all of you are, but this stuff is really out of my league.’

She sat on the bed. ‘True. You’re not Immortal. You don’t have the experience. Sometimes the Dark Lord made his most brilliant decisions on the spur of the moment. He chose you because his love clouded his judgement, and it was a brilliant decision. You are detached from any of the Heavenly political rivalry. You are his chosen, and therefore to be obeyed in all things. And now you have Celestial Endorsement, so we have no choice.’

‘Of course you have a choice. Take the job from me, please, Meredith. I can’t do it.’

‘No, thanks. The job’s a bastard, and none of us want it. And once you have Celestial Endorsement, we must obey. You’re probably aware that many of the past Emperors of China were bloody lousy rulers, but the people followed them anyway, unless they lost Celestial Endorsement and were toppled.’

‘That’s just what people said when the Emperor sucked badly enough—’

‘No.’ She cut me off again. ‘If you have Celestial Endorsement, your subjects must obey you. That’s the way it is. We have no choice; we have to do what you say. That’s what kept many dynasties on the throne.’

‘No
way
,’ I said.

‘Yep. We’ll help you and advise you, but if you tell us to do something, we’ll do it.’

‘But what if the demon nature takes over?’

‘I assume the Jade Emperor knows what he’s doing.’

I opened my mouth to protest but she continued over me. ‘That’s the way it is. You have endorsement, we’ll obey you. And we’re thrilled to bits that we don’t have to do the job, ‘cause it’s a bitch.’

‘Oh, thank
you
.’

‘You are most welcome, my Lady. We in the Academy don’t give a damn about anything except that you are doing your damnedest to protect and administer the place as best you can, and we are going to do our damnedest to help you.’

‘The Shen outside hate me.’

‘Hate is too strong a word. They are suspicious of you. You’re only an ordinary mortal; and for some your gender is an issue as well. You’re young and really haven’t found your way around yet. I wish the Dark Lord was here to help you, but as he isn’t, we Celestials in the Academy are here to assist.’