Journey to Wubang 01 - Earth to Hell (32 page)

T
he next morning, while I was in the Arena’s preparation room, I worked with what little chi I had left, trying to move it through me and provide some energy-based protection. It wasn’t going to be enough though if Er Lang decided to go all-out on me.

I summoned the Murasame and carried it through the tunnel to the Arena. For this challenge I wasn’t going to mess around, even if it did mean feeding the blade.

I heard the crowd before I entered the Arena; they were talking loudly among themselves and the rumble echoed on the walls of the tunnel. As I walked into the Arena itself, the roar subsided, there was a smattering of applause and then people started loudly discussing the match again.

I felt a jolt of shock when I realised what form Er Lang had chosen for the Arena: it looked like the Demon King’s throne room. The crowd sat in stands on either side of the large area, and Er Lang and the officiator stood where the throne would normally be. The ceiling was very high, held up by red pillars that were covered in good-luck motifs—stylised longevity and ‘double happiness’ characters. The room was fifty metres across, plenty of room for us to face each other. The pillars, each
a metre round, were ten metres apart. They’d be in the way, and I made a mental note to stay aware of their locations so that I didn’t accidentally back into one.

Er Lang was in his usual human form: mid-thirties, wearing green scaled armour and a war helmet. He wore his long hair unbound and it flowed down over his shoulders, nearly to his waist.

I went to him and the officiator and saluted them. ‘I am Emma Donahoe, answering a challenge.’

Er Lang nodded to me instead of saluting; a shocking breach of protocol. The crowd didn’t miss this and their voices rose slightly, then subsided.

‘I am Er Lang, Second Heavenly General. I call you out as I am in pursuit of the hand in marriage of Princess Simone of the Northern Heavens.’

‘My Lord,’ I said, saluting him again just to rub it in. He glared at me with disdain. I turned to the officiator. ‘My second is the Jade Building Block of the World.’

Emma, Er Lang just told me that I should know better than to serve you
, the stone said into my head.
What is going on?

‘My second will be my companion,’ Er Lang said, nodding to his dog, who looked up at him and nodded back. ‘Let us begin this.’

The officiator read from the match scroll. ‘Er Lang, Second Heavenly General, 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?’

Er Lang saluted the officiator. ‘I find these terms agreeable.’

There was a shocked gasp from the crowd. Er Lang had once again shown disrespect by speaking first.

I saluted the officiator. ‘I hold these terms agreeable with a request for the further consideration of light
contact and restraint from injuries…Oh hell.’ I turned to Er Lang. ‘Look, I’m mortal. I can’t take much of a beating. Could you do me a favour and not kill me, please? I’d like to be alive when the Dark Lord comes back for me. He promised he would.’

Er Lang glared at me, then shook his head and moved to the other side of the throne room. ‘Defend yourself, woman,’ he said as he walked away.

‘That’s what this is about?’ I said loudly to his back. ‘You don’t like working for a
chick
?’

‘I do not work for you.’ Er Lang turned, faced me and summoned his halberd. The blade wasn’t the flimsy type that made a noisy snap when flexed; this one was eight millimetres thick and honed to a sharp edge down one side of the blade and on both sides of the tip. ‘I serve the Jade Emperor and assist him when he is busy, engaged in the protection of his Kingdom. Because of the Dark Lord’s absence, His Celestial Majesty is fully engaged in directing the Celestial armies to keep the demon horde at bay. He does not have time to dwell on details such as you.’

‘I’m a
detail
?’ I said, incredulous.

‘Not for long,’ he said, held the blade in front of him and rushed me.

I stepped aside, moving faster than was humanly possible, and he easily matched my speed. He swung the halberd in a quick arc and smacked me square in the side of the head with it.

I didn’t fall, but I reeled back, the ground moving beneath me. I didn’t see the next blow but I felt it; he caught the blade under my chin and knocked my head back. He was so skilled that he struck me with the blade of the polearm without cutting me.

I somersaulted back, shaking my head to clear it. He stood and waited for me, his halberd still held in front of him in a defensive position.

Yield
, the stone said.

I don’t think he’s hurt me enough to let it go yet
, I said.
But at least we know now that it’s about my gender and nothing to do with pursuing Simone.

You say that like it means he’s not going to kick your ass
, the stone said.

I drew the Murasame and dropped the scabbard. I held the sword above my head in a defensive position, my left hand in front of me with two fingers raised, ready to use chi if necessary. Not that I had much chi left.

‘The Destroyer. The sword that thirsts for the blood of its victims. Fitting,’ Er Lang said, and came for me again. He swiped my sword out of the way and, before I had a chance to do anything, once again smacked me on the side of the head.

I reeled back again, disoriented, and shook my head. ‘Are you trying to damage my brain?’ I said. ‘Because you’re wasting your time. Everybody in the Academy knows I don’t have one.’

He tried to hit the side of my head again, and the Murasame swung around, almost by itself, and blocked the blow. The blade bit slightly into the wood of the halberd’s handle and we were locked together for a moment, both of us fiercely pulling at our weapons to free them.

Er Lang grimaced with anger. ‘The demonic weapon of destruction assists you, woman.’

I ripped the blade free and stepped back. ‘It’s not demonic. It’s just yin. Same as the Dark Lord.’

He swung the halberd at my head again and I ducked underneath it.

‘The Dark Lord overcame his true nature,’ Er Lang snarled. He swung the blade back again and struck me on the side of the abdomen, knocking me two metres sideways so that I slid along the polished wooden floor. ‘But his eyes were still clouded by you, woman.’

Yield!
the stone said.
This is getting serious!

I used the sword as a lever to help me up. ‘Get over this thing with women already! I’ve been given this job that I don’t want and I’m doing my best to serve the Celestial!’

‘Resign. That would be the best service you could do Heaven,’ Er Lang said. He spun the halberd in his hands and used the end of the pole to knock my feet out from under me before I was even fully upright. He really was at least three times faster than I was, and I was inhumanly fast. He spun the halberd again and held the blade over my throat.

‘I yield,’ I said, looking him right in the eyes.

The blade quivered above my throat. I was surprisingly calm; he was going to kill me quickly and cleanly. I was dead. I waited for the blow to fall. Sorry, John, I really wanted to be here for you, healed and whole.

He wrenched the halberd away from my throat, spun it in his hands, and turned his back on me. He strode away down the tunnel, his dog following.

The officiator scurried after him, waving the scroll that contained the match details.

I pulled myself upright, the beginnings of a massive headache building behind my eyes. I retrieved the Murasame’s scabbard and hesitated about whether the blade would still require feeding. To hell with it. I shoved the blade into its scabbard. If it was mad at me later then it could feed then. Right now I’d had enough.

Simone, Jade and Gold appeared next to me. Gold moved to take my arm and assist me, but I waved him away. ‘I’m fine.’

‘Meredith wants to check to see if you have a concussion,’ Simone said. ‘Come through to your prep room and we’ll have a look.’

I was about to protest but the stone said, ‘Go, Emma, he landed some very square blows there.’

I shrugged. Someone took my arms on either side and I was half-lifted, half-guided back down the tunnel to the prep room.

Half a dozen people were crammed into the room when I returned; I was too disoriented to distinguish them all. Someone pushed me into the chair at the side of the room and hands worked to unbuckle my armour and lift it over my head.

Meredith’s face appeared in front of me, her features concerned. She put her hands on either side of my head and concentrated, gazing into my eyes.

I moved weakly to protest. ‘I’m okay, really, he didn’t hit me that hard.’

Meredith released me, straightened and looked away. ‘No permanent damage, but I’d like her to take a couple of days off and rest. I think she’s going into shock.’

‘I don’t have time to rest, Rhonda comes back day after tomorrow,’ I said, but nobody seemed to hear me.

‘Good idea, Meredith,’ Simone said. Her face was now in front of me, then her hand. ‘How many fingers am I holding up?’

‘Meredith just said I’m fine, Simone,’ I said. ‘If I’m going into shock, isn’t having a zillion people and a lot of noise and excitement here a bad idea?’

‘She’s right. Out,’ Meredith said.

I dropped my head in my hands; the headache wasn’t building any more, it was towering, and my skull throbbed with pain. Thankfully the noise subsided as people left the room.

I glanced up. Only Simone, Meredith and the Tiger in human form remained, and all were silent.

‘You have no idea how much I wish ordinary human painkillers worked on me right now,’ I said.

‘Is it that bad, Emma?’ Simone said, distraught.

‘I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck,’ I said, ‘that ran backwards and forwards over my head.’

‘Let’s get her home and see what we can do there,’ the Tiger said. ‘Is her car nearby?’

Simone concentrated. ‘Denis is at the end of Wo On Lane, double-parked. He’s made the car invisible.’

The Tiger nodded sharply with satisfaction. ‘Good lad. Let’s get her home.’

Meredith and the Tiger took one arm each and lifted me, but I shook them off. ‘I’m
fine.
’ I took a couple of steps and the floor rolled beneath me. They grabbed my arms again before I toppled over.

‘That was completely unfair and totally unnecessary,’ Simone said, her voice full of quiet anger. ‘He’s way more powerful than she is, and that was just…
wrong
.’

‘I hope he’s happy now,’ I said as they guided me out the door into the tunnel. The officiator, Mr Zhou, was waiting for us there.

‘Er Lang is satisfied and says that he does not wish to pursue this matter further,’ Mr Zhou said.

‘Well,
I do
,’ Simone said. ‘Can I challenge
him
? Beating up ordinary humans just because they’re female is
wrong
!’

‘Deal with it later, Simone,’ Meredith said. ‘I can feel Emma’s headache from here; this whole thing is catching up with her. Let’s just get her home.’

‘Sounds good to me,’ I said weakly. The world was beginning to fade and I felt vaguely nauseous. I leaned more heavily on Meredith and the Tiger; my legs weren’t strong enough to hold me up.

The Tiger lifted me and carried me like a child, and I didn’t have the strength to protest.

‘Got you where I wanted you, finally,’ he whispered in my ear as he carried me gently down the corridor.

‘Asshole,’ I replied, and relaxed into a half-conscious daze in his arms.

‘It’s definitely an effective way of dealing with this. All you need is more practice,’ Meredith said.

I was in the training room back at the Peak, with Meredith and Simone standing across from me, watching me. My headache was gone and I felt fine. I stared at them, disoriented.

‘Are you okay, Emma?’ Simone said.

I tried to remember what had just happened: one second the Tiger had been carrying me out of the Arena, injured; the next I was here and healed. Realisation jolted through me.

‘Did I just bring out the Serpent again?’ I said. I raised my hands. ‘Never mind, that’s obviously what happened. How long have I been home? What time is it?’

‘We’ve been home about an hour,’ Meredith said. ‘We walked you through the transformation again. You said it was easy.’

‘Now all I need to do is work out how to remember when it happens,’ I said.

‘That will probably come with time and practice,’ Meredith said.

‘And I still have no idea how I did it,’ I said, frustrated.

‘I wouldn’t worry too much about that, Emma,’ Simone said. ‘Even though you were pretty out of it, you just concentrated and brought the Serpent out easily. Meredith didn’t even need to help you much.’

‘And you’re fully healed from that thrashing that Er Lang gave you,’ Meredith said.

‘The Tiger is in Monica’s room checking out that stone thingy,’ Simone said. ‘Want to have a look?’

‘Sure.’

‘I’ll head out,’ Meredith said. ‘I’m needed in the Northern Heavens, it’s my shift.’

‘Spend some time with your husband!’ I said.

‘He’s coming with me,’ Meredith said with a grin. ‘Don’t worry, after three hundred years we don’t need to be together every minute of the day.’

‘That’s a lie and you know it,’ Simone said.

Meredith shrugged and disappeared.

Although Monica and Marcus’s room was enormous by the standards of most domestic helpers in Hong Kong, the three of us with the double bed and the wardrobe made it something of a squeeze.

‘Simone, can you pick up the stone?’ the Tiger said, studying it from the entrance to the bathroom without touching it. ‘So far it’s burnt me, Ronnie and Emma—a Shen, a demon and a human.’

Simone went to the stone and crouched to see it. She hesitatingly held out one hand, then picked it up. She held it in her palm and studied it. ‘Feels really, really weird.’

‘Bring it to the living room,’ I said.

We moved to the living room and sat on the couches. Simone put the stone on the coffee table.