Heaven to Wudang (20 page)

‘Martin says I should trust you,' he said, and stopped yielding to my movement. He held my blade as I tried to force it down.

‘Thank you,' I said.

It became a test of strength. I tried to force his sword down; he held it. We were evenly matched until he exhaled, softened his stance and effortlessly swept my
blade back up again. I let him push it completely away and up over my shoulder, leaving my centre line unguarded, but he didn't press home the advantage.

‘I concede,' I said.

‘How about energy?' he said. ‘You were always better. I'd like to match you now that I'm Immortal.'

‘Meredith says no energy for a while. I have to conserve my chi and get better,' I said.

He nodded and lowered his sword. ‘Makes sense.' He looked around. ‘It's not the same here without the weapons museum on the wall.' He grinned at me. ‘We had some good times, though, eh?'

‘More will come,' John said from the other side of the room where he'd appeared with Simone. He gestured towards Leo. ‘Let me see.'

Leo went to John, fell to one knee in front of him and held out his sword horizontally.

John took it and held it vertically, eyeing the blade with interest. ‘After the fifteenth fold it just becomes academic; it's more for show and boasting rights than anything. They've done a fine job.'

He held the sword out horizontally to Leo and Leo took it back, his head bowed.

‘Up,' John said.

Leo rose, summoned the scabbard and put the sword away.

‘Meeting, dining room,' John said. He stopped and glanced at me. ‘Is this area secure?'

‘Yes,' I said.

He nodded and led us out of the training room into the dining room, where we sat at the table.

‘Where's Monica?' John said.

‘John, Monica's in her mid-fifties now. She married one of the Tiger's sons from a Filipina wife, and asked to retire so they could return to the Philippines to be with their respective families.'

‘Is she provided for?'

‘Generously.'

‘Do you visit?' he asked Simone.

‘As much as I can, Daddy, but school takes up a lot of my time.'

‘Ah Yat?' he said.

‘She Ascended.'

He slammed one palm on the table. ‘Excellent. Now that the important business is taken care of, we have to deal with these demons. Not even Simone can identify them; I'm the only one. You said you had some spray paint?'

‘Yes, in the Mountain office. But I'm concerned that once they realise we're onto them, they'll all explode.'

He leaned back, his face rigid with restraint. ‘The current King does not permit the creation of such demons.'

‘He didn't create them.'

He grimaced. ‘Civil war in Hell just as I return. This is very bad. What do you suggest we do about the demons?'

‘Go up to the Mountain, go to your office, seal it from anyone listening, and tell a stone which are the demons. We'll do our very best to quietly remove them from classes and destroy them before they can explode.'

He rose and nodded. ‘Good. Let's go.' He concentrated a moment. ‘Some of the Celestial Masters will meet us there.'

‘John.' I stood in front of him. ‘Do me a favour? Do something for me that you've never done?' I held out my hand and my voice thickened through my control. ‘Take me to the Mountain?'

‘Oh,' Simone said, and disappeared.

He pulled me into a fierce hug and held me tight as he spoke into my ear. ‘Serpent, Turtle, Mountain. All of me is yours.' He took a deep breath, moving his chest into me, and we were on the Mountain.

He stepped back slightly, still holding my hands, and gazed into my eyes. ‘Lady Emma. Welcome to my Mountain, the seat of my power and my home. Will you share it with me?'

‘I would be honoured, Lord Xuan Wu.'

He grinned. ‘Good. Now let's sort these demons out.'

‘Emma and Simone should go back down, they're both mortal,' Leo said.

‘Don't even think about,' I said, but John had stopped.

‘No!' Simone said. ‘You send me down and I'll be right back up here.'

‘Ditto; I'll just order Leo to take me,' I said. ‘If things go pear-shaped, we'll head out. But if we do this right, they'll never know we're onto them.'

‘We could use your brains as well, Serpent Lady,' John said. ‘The minute we've dealt with this, I am finding the other half of me.'

‘Oh God, Daddy, tell me you're back for good,' Simone said.

‘This time I think I am,' he said, full of delight. ‘Now let's go to the office, summon Gold, and see if we can tidy this up very quietly.'

M
eredith, Liu and Gold were waiting for us in John's office.

‘Why do you have all this spray paint here anyway?' John said as I pulled the box out of the cupboard.

‘Because I saw this coming,' I said. ‘They've been harder and harder to identify. I thought that eventually only Immortals would be able to do it, and we'd have to mark them. Hopefully we can pull them out quietly without having to use it.'

‘You are extremely scary sometimes,' John said.

‘Thank you, Dark Lord. Now tell us where the students are.'

‘First: in the mess hall; there are two eating together. Chinese girl and white girl, southwest corner.'

‘Got it,' Meredith said. ‘Sending someone now.'

There was an explosion and everybody jumped.

‘They're onto us!' I said. ‘Gold, announce the spread procedure. Meredith, get Edwin down there; we'll have injured students.'

All students into demon-defence spread formation immediately. We are under attack
, Gold broadcasted.
All students into demon-defence spread formation immediately. We are under attack.

I handed some spray paint to John. ‘Go and identify them.'

There was another explosion, closer this time, and the ground shook.

John grabbed a few more cans of paint. ‘Stay here.' He raced out the door, followed by Meredith and Liu.

Gold changed to his battle form.

‘Continue the broadcast,' I said.

‘Sorry,' he said. ‘Just checking the babies.' He restarted the announcement, then stopped and his eyes unfocused. ‘Done. The students and Masters are now so far apart across the Mountain that each explosion will only kill two or three of them.'

As if to punctuate his sentence, another blast went off.

‘Oh God, no,' I said. ‘How's John doing?'

‘He is moving through them quickly …' He stopped for a moment. ‘They've given up on exploding, it doesn't do enough damage. They're attacking the students with physical … Oh no.'

‘What?'

He let his breath out in a long gasp. ‘The Dark Lord lost it again and returned to the Grotto.'

I jumped to my feet. ‘Gold with me. Leo and Simone — don't argue, guys, just head down to the Earthly and I'll let you know the minute you can come back up.'

‘You should go down too,' Leo said, reaching for me.

I moved away. ‘No! We have to bring him back, and I'll be needed.' I scrabbled through the cupboard and found the cat food and bowl. ‘Now head down, and this time we're bringing him back for good.'

‘Don't do it, Emma,' Simone said.

I stopped and looked into her eyes. ‘We don't have a choice. Now go.'

‘Come on, sweetheart, she's right,' Leo said gruffly, and Simone didn't protest.

‘Gold, see if we're the only Bastion under attack.'

‘We are.'

‘Summon Ma and Yang Biao and Gao Yuan. It's time to pay the price.'

‘Done, ma'am. They're on their way.'

‘Is the way to the Grotto clear?'

‘No.'

‘We'll have to fight our way through then. Ready?'

‘Ma'am.'

I opened the door of the office and looked out. A few students were moving through the courtyard, taking their positions in the spread formation, which kept them a good five metres apart.

‘Stay put,' I said to the terrified students standing in the spread formation. ‘We're handling this. Whatever you do, don't group together. The minute you do, you'll be a bomb target. Understood?'

They nodded, but their faces were full of fear. One of the girls, Rachel, from my junior energy-work class was hugging herself desperately and crying uncontrollably. She fell to sit on the ground, rocking and weeping.

A boy nearby strode towards her and raised his hand to slap her out of it. I ran to catch up with him and blocked him.

‘Don't even think about it,' I said.

‘But she's hysterical!' he said, trying to pull his arm away.

‘Is she more talented than you?'

‘No …'

‘Did she attack you?'

‘That's beside the point.'

I pushed him away. ‘You would strike someone weaker than you who has made no move towards you? I don't care what the situation is, that's completely without honour. See me later. It's obvious you haven't understood the lecture about the power rush from dominating someone weaker than you. Now move back to your place.'

His face reddened, but he said ‘Ma'am', and returned to position.

‘Time's moving,' Gold said.

I bent to speak to Rachel. ‘I know you're scared and you can't control the crying. But I need you to stand up and be brave. Keep crying if you can't do anything about it, but stand up and be ready to run if you need to. All right?'

She sat for a moment, still sobbing, then nodded. I reached down and pulled her to her feet and then into a hug.

‘Be brave, Rachel. I'm bringing Lord Xuan back and we'll make sure our Mountain is safe. Okay?'

She nodded into my shoulder, then pushed me away and stood proud and brave and still gasping with huge sobs.

Stay in the allocated spaces
, Liu said to everybody.
Do not group together.

‘Let's go,' I said to Gold.

As we ran through the Mountain gardens towards the Grotto, we heard the occasional explosion and sounds of battle. We passed through the administrative complex towards the Armoury, where we encountered two girls fighting in one of the small paved courtyards between the buildings. One had a dagger, and they were circling each other with menace.

‘Disengage,' I said.

‘I can't, ma'am,' said the girl with the dagger, Melissa. ‘She attacked me.'

‘She attacked me! I'm just defending myself,' the other girl, Lydia, said.

They continued to circle one another.

‘Disengage!' I said. ‘Let us handle it.'

A boy strode out of one of the breezeways. ‘Lydia, honey, come and stand with me; I'll defend you. She has a knife and you don't.'

Lydia didn't look away from the other girl. ‘The minute I take my attention off her, she'll try to kill me again. She's armed and way stronger than me — she'll kill me for sure.'

‘Drop your weapon, Melissa,' I said.

The boy, Steven, took a couple of steps towards them and Melissa took advantage of the distraction to slash at Lydia. Lydia dodged the attack, spun and performed an almost perfect roundhouse kick into Melissa's head. Melissa fell hard and limp, her neck obviously broken. The knife dropped to the ground. Lydia picked it up and stared at it.

Steven rushed to Lydia and held her. ‘Are you okay? You're not injured?' His expression filled with shock. ‘Why? What?'

He grunted and fell — she'd stabbed him. She turned towards us and her face went bright red in the seconds before she exploded.

Gold spread himself to shield me from the blast, then returned to his battle form. ‘Are you all right, Emma?'

‘I'm fine. Some essence on me, but not injured.' I knelt to check the students.

‘They're all dead,' Gold said. ‘Let's get down there and bring the Dark Lord back.'

I stood and looked down at myself. I was covered in slimy demon essence, but it was a dark rich red colour instead of black, and looked unpleasantly like coagulating blood. I focused on what needed to be done. This could wait. ‘What's the damage so far?'

‘Twelve have exploded. Another fifty-odd are fighting. It appears that the rest are biding their time and haven't been activated yet.'

‘Not the demons! How many students have we lost?'

‘More than forty already.'

That hit me like a physical blow. I took a deep breath and grabbed that thought again; focus on what needed
to be done. We continued towards the Grotto, passing terrified students, all still standing rigid in the spread formation. Some of them saw me and their faces filled with even more horror.

‘No chance of doing something about the state I'm in?' I asked Gold. ‘It's starting to burn.'

‘Sorry, ma'am, not a dragon,' he said without stopping.

I changed to snake, quickly changed back again, and sighed with relief. The gore was gone.

Ma, Gao Yuan in brown robes and Yang Biao gently glowing in his silver robes were waiting at the entrance for us, with the two platoons of demon soldiers. We all ducked when another explosion rocked the Mountain, and the soldiers moved into a defensive formation around us.

‘Send the soldiers out and put them on guard,' I said. ‘Destroy anyone who attacks without provocation. If there are students already fighting, they're to do their best to separate them without hurting them. We don't know which is which.'

The demon soldiers moved off to spread out among the students.

I put my hand out and opened the Grotto. We raced down the stairs.

‘How do we make the Turtle come up?' Gold said, standing at the edge of the water.

‘Dammit, I lost the cat bowl and food when I changed to snake.' I sighed with resignation. ‘Call Simone. She can carry him up here.'

Martin appeared next to us. ‘No need. Give me a moment.'

He ran towards the water and dived in.

‘Rock, paper, scissors?' Yang Biao said.

Gao Yuan and Yang Biao faced each other.

‘Ma, call it,' Gao said.

‘On three. One, two, three,' Ma said.

Gao won, and Yang turned away, frustrated. He turned back. ‘Best of three?'

‘Nope, I'm the one who cuts the chains of the Wheel,' Gao said. ‘If you want it that bad, ask him later.'

‘I believe I will,' Yang said. ‘I was completely ready.'

Martin surfaced, holding John's Turtle by the front of its shell. It must have been four metres long, too big for him to carry in his arms. He floated to the ledge and lowered the Turtle gently onto it.

The Turtle spun to return to the water, moving with unnatural speed, and Martin stopped it. His expression filled with effort and he fell to one knee, holding the Turtle's shell with both hands. Another explosion went off and the ground shook.

‘I can't hold it for long, it's extremely strong,' Martin said. ‘Do what you were planning to do.'

Leo charged down the stairs in black lion form, stopped halfway and took a huge leap towards the Turtle.

Gao grabbed him in midair with one hand and slammed him into the ground. ‘No, you don't, this is my job.'

Leo changed back to human form, jumped up and pushed Gao away. ‘Let me do it!'

‘With all due respect, sir,' Gao said, ‘I have the power of a burning star and even that will not bring him to one-tenth of his full strength — but it will bring him back. What you have to give is nothing compared to that.'

Leo tried to shove past him. Gao reached towards Leo and touched him in the middle of the forehead with his index finger. Leo stopped, staring at Gao, and Gao effortlessly pushed him down onto his knees.

‘Stay there,' Gao said, and Leo knelt unmoving, his eyes wide.

‘Hurry,' Martin said, his voice strained with effort.

‘Shut your eyes, ma'am,' Gao said, and exploded in a searing flash of brilliant light that sent everything around us into black and white relief. He became a glowing white-hot sun a metre across with arcs of burning fluorescence shooting from him. I reeled back, shading my eyes; the heat coming off him was immense.

He moved towards the Turtle and it turned to stare at him, transfixed.

‘Can John refuse the energy?' I said.

‘No,' Gao said, his voice crackling from the interior of the star. ‘Say hello to him for me — and goodbye.'

He shot into John's shell and the Turtle lit up from within. There was another brilliant flash and John stood on the ledge in front of us in female human form, dazed and naked. She staggered back then regained her balance. A tiny ball of light, ten centimetres across, appeared from her abdomen and floated at waist height. It hovered for a moment, then shot straight up through the roof of the cavern and disappeared.

‘Oh my God,' I said softly.

‘This is new,' Ma said.

If John had a sister, this was how she would look: very tall, with a strong, muscular build, small breasts and generous hips, her long black hair floating in a tangle around her.

John concentrated for a moment and conjured a black Mountain uniform. ‘That was totally unnecessary and the needless sacrifice of a good man!' she shouted.

‘Definitely still him,' Gold said softly.

‘Yell at us about it later,' I said. ‘Right now, there are demons exploding on the Mountain above us and you're the only one who can identify them.'

‘Right, I remember,' she said. She came to me and quickly bent to kiss me. ‘I'll grab those spray cans and start marking them.' She looked around. ‘Ma, with me.
Grab a platoon of demons and help take them out as I identify them. Gold, go up and coordinate. Emma.' She smiled into my eyes. ‘Stay beautiful, and stay here where it's safe. I'll be right back when this has all been handled.'

She trotted gracefully up the stairs barefoot and disappeared into the darkness.

‘Oh, my,' Ma said. ‘He doesn't know.'

‘He'll retake male form as soon as he realises. Don't worry, Emma,' Gold said.

‘I'm sure he will.'

He glanced at me. ‘You don't seem to care that much.'

I shrugged. ‘What's important is that he's back and our students are protected.'

‘She, now,' he said.

‘Just get up there and make the damn announcements,' I said.

He inhaled sharply. ‘Kitty Kwok and the Death Mother just landed on the forecourt outside Dragon Tiger.'

We have Michael's woman, and we'll kill her if you don't come to us right now
, the Death Mother said.