Journey to Wubang 01 - Earth to Hell (49 page)

Three of the eggs began to hatch at the same time, the shells cracking.

‘Move quickly,’ Da Shi Yeh said.

‘That would be a good idea, ’cause I can’t hold this Mother forever,’ Simone said.

‘Let us know when you start to lose it and we’ll let her have the rest,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘We’re lucky to have even one from a clutch this big.’ He raised the spitting demon he was holding. ‘You are so
cute
!’

The Tiger strode into the clutch, pulled a cracked shell away, and lifted out a red demon child that was a similar size to the black one. He yelled and shook his hand as it bit him, then changed his grip so he held it by the throat. The demon struggled furiously in his grasp, clawing at his arm as he threaded his way out of the clutch to the edge of the indentation next to Da Shi Yeh. ‘Cranky little bastards.’

‘Get that wound cleaned up later,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘Otherwise it’ll go septic—their saliva is toxic.’

The Tiger checked his clawed hand. ‘Charming.’

An egg in front of me cracked open and a tiny naked twenty-year-old man, only about a metre tall, emerged.

‘A human, grab it!’ Da Shi Yeh said.

I lashed out with my serpent head and took it by the abdomen in my mouth, carefully not squeezing hard enough to hurt it. I pulled my head back out of reach of the other eggs while it kicked and raked at me with its fingers. The fluid from the egg that still covered the baby demon hit my sensitive taste buds. ‘God, it tastes
awful.
’

‘Let me see how
you
taste, bitch,’ it said, still flailing at me. ‘Let me
go
!’

‘A real prize,’ Da Shi Yeh said.

Another egg burst open and General Ma reached in and pulled out another black baby demon. He brought it to Da Shi Yeh.

‘The King will be very pleased,’ Da Shi Yeh said.

The demon I was holding was slimy from the egg fluid and it slipped out of my mouth. I lunged forward to grab it, but I was too slow. It moved faster than any human could, ran to Da Shi Yeh, scrambled up his leg to his torso, reached the demon he was holding, and bit it on the face and throat repeatedly, making it howl.

I made another lunge and grabbed the human-like demon again, this time with a stronger grip. I pulled it with difficulty off the demon that Da Shi Yeh was holding, and moved back.

Da Shi Yeh studied the injured demon.

‘I can’t hold her much longer,’ Simone said. ‘You have twenty seconds.’

‘On the count of three, let her go,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘One…two…three!’

Simone released the Mother and scrambled back. At the same time, Da Shi Yeh threw the injured baby at the Mother, and she caught it with one hand then raised it to her face. She unlocked her jaw, opening her mouth wider than was humanly possible, shoved its head in, then snapped her jaws shut.

‘Well done, everybody,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘Salvaging three from a clutch this big is unheard of—and particularly one that is a human-shaped demon. The King will be very pleased.’

The Mother lowered herself on her coils, crunching the baby’s head in her mouth. The final egg hatched and she grabbed the baby out of it, holding it with her other hand.

A few of the other Mothers sidled towards us, and Seventeen hissed at them. They retreated, intimidated.

‘Let’s take these to the nursery,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘Then I’ll show you the way to where you need to go.’

He led us away from Seventeen towards the other side of the cavern.

‘Oh, Little Grandfather!’ Seventeen called from behind us, her mouth full of demon baby.

Da Shi Yeh turned back. ‘Yes, sweetie?’

Seventeen gestured to one side, still holding the half-eaten corpse. ‘Some Mainland
slut
went and blocked up the toilets again—probably throwing her sanitary pads down there. Teach those cows how to use civilised bathrooms, for God’s sake!’

‘At least we’re not spoiled helpless
bitches
like you Hong Kong scum,’ one of the other Mothers shouted.

Seventeen rounded on her. ‘You Mainland whores throw trash everywhere and shit all over the bathroom. You’re
animals.
’

‘We are not!’ another Mother shouted. ‘At least we know how to clean up after ourselves, and don’t squeal for servants to wipe our precious little asses!’

The Mothers started squabbling, some of them trading blows. Demon guards in the form of human eunuchs appeared out of the darkness and lashed at the Mothers with bullwhips, cracking them loudly and making the Mothers howl with pain. The fighting Mothers scattered.

‘Let’s get this done quickly,’ Da Shi Yeh said, ‘so I can come back and sort this out.’

He led us to the side of the cavern, where a simple pair of large wooden double doors, painted green, were set into the obsidian wall. He raised his staff and the doors opened in front of us, leading into what appeared to be a hospital corridor.

‘Nursery’s this way,’ Da Shi Yeh said, gesturing with his staff.

He took us to the end of the corridor where another pair of double doors opened to a room that looked like
an animal-testing lab. Large barred metal cages, each about a metre cubed, lined the walls of the room, stacked three high. Some of the cages held small demons, which threw themselves at the bars trying to reach us, clawing at the air, screeching with frustration. A stainless-steel veterinary examination table stood in the middle.

A small Snake Mother, only about three metres long, came in holding a clipboard. ‘This Seventeen’s baby?’

Da Shi Yeh gestured expansively. ‘We got
three
out, and one of them is human!’ He waved his arms with glee. ‘Three babies!’

The Snake Mother stared at him, then glanced at the struggling babies we were holding. ‘Unusual.’ She opened three cage doors, the metal squeaking. ‘Toss them in here.’

‘Help me close the door on it,’ I said, my voice muffled by the demon in my mouth.

Michael raised himself on his hind legs and put one paw on a barred door. ‘Go ahead.’

I tossed the human-shaped demon into the cage and Michael slammed the door shut before it had a chance to escape.

The Snake Mother went to the bars and studied it, just out of reach of its grasping hands. ‘And the King sired this on Seventeen?’

Da Shi Yeh shrugged. ‘I don’t ask their parentage, I just stop their mommies from eating them. But the King’s the only one big enough to sire spawn on Seventeen, you know that.’

The Snake Mother continued to study the baby demon. ‘I know. But still…never seen a human come from this pairing before.’

‘Whatever, we have places to go,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘We’ll take some flyers.’

The Snake Mother indicated behind her with her chin. ‘There’s six or seven next door; you can take them
if you like. Just make sure they come back in one piece; they’re to be handed to the troops later this week.’

‘Why?’ I said.

The Snake Mother glanced at me, then pointedly ignored me and spoke to Da Shi Yeh. ‘They’re well trained, they just need their final battle training, so don’t get them destroyed, okay? A lot of work went into them.’

‘Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere particularly dangerous,’ Da Shi Yeh said.

The Snake Mother nodded. ‘I trust you, Little Grandfather.’

‘This way,’ Da Shi Yeh said, and took us into the next room.

It looked very much like the stables at the Jockey Club riding facility: concrete stalls, the floor of each thick with rice straw. The demon flyers were black and similar to dragons, but more lizard-like, with four legs and two bat-like wings. Some were standing in their stalls; others were lying down half-asleep.

‘Flyers aren’t intelligent?’ I said as the demons saw us and rose with curiosity, poking their heads out of the stalls. They seemed completely unafraid of my serpent form.

Martin dropped his voice so that nobody nearby could hear his answer. ‘No, they’re just like animals, but they are occasionally used for crossbreeding with low-level demon thralls.’

I dropped my voice as well. ‘I should know that, shouldn’t I.’

‘There’s a lot that you and I don’t know, Emma,’ Simone said, her voice similarly soft. ‘I s’pose I really should spend more time finding this stuff out.’ She rounded on the Tiger. ‘And don’t mention CH!’

The Tiger raised both clawed hands. ‘Never said a word, sweetheart.’

‘You ride these to Six’s nest,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘Just hop on and I’ll tell them where to go. Wherever they land, that’s the destination. Jump off; they’ll come back here.’ He shrugged. ‘Easy.’

‘You’re not coming with us?’ Simone said.

‘No, I’d better sort my girls out,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘I don’t like to see them fighting. Then I have some other places I need to be.’

‘I can’t ride something like this, I’m a freaking snake,’ I said.

‘Just wrap your body around it, it’ll be fine,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘They’re used to it.’

I gestured towards General Liang, with his dragon-like body and monstrous head, and Michael in demon form, on all fours. ‘What about them? They can’t ride like that.’

‘I can fly myself,’ General Liang said.

‘So can I,’ Michael said.

‘Go into a stall and hop on top of one.’ Da Shi Yeh bowed slightly to me. ‘Or wrap yourself around one and then just hold on. I’ll do the rest.’

Ask General Ma if we can really trust this guy!
I said to the stone.

I don’t need to
, the stone said.
You can trust him.

How do you know?

I’ll tell you later.

I hissed under my breath with frustration, and carefully went to one of the stalls. The flyer inside watched me suspiciously as I neared it, but didn’t make a move to attack me. I cautiously moved to its left side, hoping that they were trained to be mounted from the near side, the same as horses, then put my chin on its back. It stayed unmoving, not attempting to fight me, so I slid my head to rest on top of its, then wrapped my body around it, carefully keeping my coils free of its wings so that it would be able to fly unobstructed.

I raised my head to see the rest of the group.
Everybody except for Michael and Liang Tian was mounted astride.

Da Shi Yeh looked around at everybody. ‘Ready?’

Nobody replied, in the typical Chinese way of indicating yes without saying anything. ‘Ready,’ I said.

Da Shi Yeh concentrated. ‘Okay, I’m telling these little fellows where to go. Just hold on tight, you’ll be travelling through the air ducts. It may get a little…’ He hesitated. ‘…Tight.’

Oh, wonderful
, the stone said.
Can I go home now?

The gate of the stall opened by itself and the flyer carefully walked out, as if testing my weight. The other flyers carried their riders in a coordinated queue towards the large doors at the end of the stable. Mine moved more easily as it worked out my weight.

‘How far is it?’ I said.

‘About four hundred li,’ Da Shi Yeh said.

‘That’s a couple of hours’ travel,’ the Tiger said, glaring back at Da Shi Yeh. ‘No
way
is the Hell ventilation system that big!’

‘Shows how much you know, Mr Pussycat,’ Da Shi Yeh said. He waved to us and turned away. ‘Have fun, and give my regards to the Black Lion. The Japanese have a word for such as he—
Samurai.
’ He grinned knowingly over his shoulder at me, then went back to the nursery, closing the doors behind him.

Holy shit, that was
—

Don’t even think it!
the stone said.
And don’t say anything out loud to anybody—anywhere! He helps the Mothers hatch their clutches, and he visits with the longer-term residents of the Pits to give them some comfort. He is who he is and nothing more. Anything said anywhere could put him in peril.

I was silent for a moment, then,
I understand.

We are not going to dwell on this matter any longer. Oh, and hold on.

W
e went through the doors to a large domed room with holes at irregular intervals in the ceiling. I coiled my body slightly tighter around the flyer as it took a few running steps forward, then launched itself into the air, surrounded by the other flyers. With each beat of its wings it fell then jerked upwards again. I had never ridden a flying creature with wings before and the sensation was rough and unsteady, each tiny gust of wind seeming to throw it sideways, its wings making it lurch clumsily through the air.

The flyer rose quickly and I clutched its body, hoping I wouldn’t slide off in the steep ascent. It rapidly approached one of the holes and I raised my head slightly. It wouldn’t fit into that hole; no
way
it would fit in that hole.

I know, I know, but it will fit. Unfortunately it will fit
, the stone said.

The flyer approached the too-small hole at collision speed, then was deafened by a wall of pressure as it entered the hole. I was sure that its wingtips had clipped the sides as we went in.

Actually, it had at least a metre on each side to spare
, the stone said.
But I hate it too.

We were now in a perfectly dark tunnel, with flashes of light appearing and disappearing down the sides; I wasn’t sure if they were really there or if the darkness was tricking my eyes.

Are the rest of the group okay and with us?
I said.

They are.

We lurched sideways in the darkness, then fell almost straight down for two hundred and fifty metres. I clutched the flyer and it bent its head back to nip at my coils, then levelled out. I released it slightly and it took a huge breath.

Don’t strangle it, Emma
, the stone said.

Hard not to when it feels like we’re falling out of the air.

Just try to relax
, Simone said.
I know it’s hard for you ’cause you can’t see, but it’s really very interesting for us who can—you should see all the stuff below us!

I raised my head and peered down past the flyer’s head, but I couldn’t see anything. It suddenly veered left, went up fifty metres, then veered right.