Thats astonishing. How do they do that? Tom said. He was watching the Disciples working on the forecourt.
They were performing a level five staff set, the most advanced staff kata on Wudang. They had placed their staves upright, climbed up them, and were standing on the tips of the vertical staves with one foot, their hands clasped in front of them. They swapped from foot to foot without the staff falling, then switched to one hand, doing a handstand on the end of the staff.
Are there holes in the stone for the staves to sit in? Ben said.
No, I said, its a matter of balance and energy control.
Could I learn that? Vincent said.
If we dont have you doing that within a year Ill hand in my gold sash, I said.
I heard that! Leo said. Its a bet!
I strode to Leo, held my hand out and we slapped palms. I bent to whisper in his ear. Youre supposed to be celibate at the moment, so no sexing him up to ruin his energy manipulation.
Im with Martin right now so I wouldnt do it anyway, he whispered back.
I straightened and studied him. Its that serious?
No, he said, meeting my gaze. I am.
My mobile rang in my bag and I pulled it out. It was Ronnie Wong.
I hear you just found something very interesting, maam. I was wondering if youd let this worthless small demon examine it? Is it really a male Mother?
East-West hybrid, I said. Hold on a minute. I turned to Ben and Tom. I have a gentleman who is an expert on demonkind who would like to have a look at you. Do you mind?
Ben and Tom shared a look, and Tom nodded.
We trust you, Ben said. Do what you have to.
I returned to the phone. Are you big enough to come up here unescorted?
That I am, maam.
Call me again when you reach the main gate.
Ho ak.
Hes been in Hong Kong too long, I said as I snapped the phone shut. Ho ak indeed.
Better than Hell, Simone said.
Vincent, do you know Ronnie Wong? I said.
No, Vincent said.
Ben? Tom? Do you know a gentleman by the name of Ronnie Wong? He runs a really small crappy fung shui shop full of paper effigies and Hell money out in Western District.
Both of them shook their heads.
I looked down at the phone. Then how the hell did he know that we just found you?
Ask him when he gets here, Simone said. Lets go to the admin area and sort out what well do with this lot.
We walked along the path from the three main halls on the largest peak, heading east to the support areas. The buildings here were close together, mostly low, brick and single storey, except for the Imperial Residence a two-storey courtyard house standing alone, flush against the stone side of the mountain and the Armoury, which was one floor but had an exceptionally tall roof. We crossed a twenty-metre-long marble bridge, a perfect semicircle over the deep chasm between the peaks, to the administrative area: a cluster of small buildings housing offices and meeting rooms around a central larger hall the War Room.
We went into my office and sat at the small conference table, and Yi Hao ran off to find the allocations for quarters in the residential area.
If this is Chinese Heaven, then what about Western Heaven? Ben said. Have you been there?
The Eastern Shen the gods from here have made intelligence-gathering trips to the West and encountered demons, but havent met any Western Shen, I said. Xuan Wu the most powerful guy, the boss of Wudang actually has a house in Kensington and spent years in London, and never met a single Western Shen.
Its possible they may have been avoiding him because he has a very dark nature, Simone said. Xuan means dark, and he sort of changed sides and joined the Celestial.
But other Shen have been over there too, and tried to visit Western Heaven, and found nothing, I said. Its like its only demons over there, no Shen at all.
Not many of the Asian Shen have shown much interest, though, Simone said with resignation. Theres still the Middle Kingdom mentality. China is the central ninety per cent of the world and nothing else really matters.
Middle Kingdom? Ben said.
The Chinese characters for China are Middle Kingdom, Dad, Tom said.
Oh.
My phone rang and I answered it.
Emma, this is Gold. We need an advanced energy worker over at the infirmary Amys in labour.
Wheres Meredith?
Here, but we need you too. We have to deliver by caesar; she cant deliver normally and hold her shape. If she changes to dragon, shell kill them.
I snapped the phone shut, rose and bowed slightly. One of our dragons is about to give birth to human children and Im needed to make sure that she stays in human form. If youll excuse me, Ill be back later.
Ill take care of this, Leo said.
Thanks, I said, and hurried out.
Did she just say what I think she said? I heard Ben say with disbelief behind me.
Im going to be an auntie! Simone said.
CHAPTER 3
Gold held Amys hand and smiled down at her while the staff gave the newborns their first bath. Amy smiled back at him, then around at everybody else.
Do you have names for them? Meredith said.
Richard after Amys father, and Jade after mine, Gold said.
Hows the urge to change? Meredith said.
Amy didnt reply, and Meredith nodded.
Were nearly done here, Edwin, the Academy doctor, said. Youll be able to change to dragon very shortly.
Will the wound still be there when I change back from dragon to human? Amy said.
Edwin nodded. This much trauma and blood loss will lower your transformation ability.
You could always stay dragon and bottle-feed them, Gold said.
Amy shook her head. I want to give them as much of a boost as I can. My human milk is the best for them. And if I cuddle them as dragon I wont be nearly as soft.
Can you give me an estimate on when I can release the meridians? I said.
Edwin raised his hand and the forceps holding the suture appeared over the edge of the screen. Im on the final layer, maam, less than three minutes.
You okay, Emma? Meredith said.
I can manage.
Do you want me to administer an analgesic so you can release the meridians? Edwin said.
No, I said. If I pin down these meridians before I withdraw, the pain relief will last a good six hours, and I can come back then and top it up.
Dont hurt yourself, maam, Amy said.
Dont you maam me, I said. Do you have any idea at all how good it feels to be able to contribute like this? With clean, pure, healing energy?
I can only imagine, Amy said, then gasped and grimaced.
Sorry, I said, and returned my concentration to the meridians. Id let one of them slip and shed felt it.
It wasnt anything, just a twinge, she said. She turned her head to see Gold again. Did you manage to contact my father?
It wasnt anything, just a twinge, she said. She turned her head to see Gold again. Did you manage to contact my father?
I told both your parents, and your father is bringing your mother up here to see them, Gold said.
My father and mother together? Thats unbelievable, Amy said.
I think your mothers making a special effort because she wants to see her grandchildren, Gold said. I spoke to her before him You should have warned me she was so so
Did she go ballistic at you?
I think shell rip my throat out if we dont get married within the next two weeks, he said.
But she doesnt know what we are, and that dragons and stones dont do that sort of thing.
Actually she does. She knew all along your father was a dragon. He told her Im a stone, and that stones dont marry, and apparently its made her even more determined to see it happen.
Im done, Edwin said.
Meredith took my hand and our consciousnesses touched; she still had Amy held down hard into human form. She studied the meridians alongside me and indicated the top point on the core meridian. Start here.
Dont let her intimidate you. We dont have to do it if it doesnt feel right, Amy said.
I concentrated, and with Merediths assistance pinned the energy into the meridians so that they stayed lit. I released them one at a time, moving slowly down the core to the area where theyd opened Amy up. Her body was shrieking with distress at what had been done to it, and I spread the energy from the meridians to soothe its panic and ease the nervous reactions. The energy flowed through the area, giving it a healing boost, and I carefully withdrew completely.
Its something Ive been meaning to ask you for a while anyway, Gold said. Will you marry me, Amy?
Amy shivered and her teeth rattled; a normal feeling of extreme cold that came when an energy worker withdrew after a major energy healing.
Are you in any pain? Meredith said.
Amy shook her head, her teeth stopping her from speaking.
Is that a no? Gold said.
Amy shook her head again, still unable to talk.
Im going to release you now, you can change back, Meredith said.
Amy transformed into dragon, raised her head, then dropped it again with a huge sigh and closed her eyes.
Natural sleep, no pain, leave her to recover, Meredith said. In a couple of hours wake her up and see if she can change back to human. She turned to me. Magnificent job, madam. You can take it easy now.
I stood up and toppled sideways.
Meredith caught me. Oh, and congratulations, Master Gold. I think you just got engaged.
My father will kill me, Gold said, his hand on Amys back.
Who is scarier: your father or her mother? Meredith said.
Oh, definitely her mother.
Then you made the right decision. She hefted me in her arms. Come on, missy, youve been overdoing it lately and need some serious rest.
I woke, and had a moment of confusion as I saw the ceiling above the bed. Where was I? I looked left and nearly panicked: I was on the Celestial Plane, in the Imperial Residence of Wudang Mountain. Then I remembered that I didnt need to be a snake, and I settled further under the silk. I was here. I had made it. But something was wrong; something bad had happened. Something terrible had happened and I couldnt remember what it was; only the dark feelings of misery and despair that it brought me.
I sighed deeply and remembered.
Nothing bad had happened. I was feeling the grief for something that was yet to come. I often woke like this, feeling the loss. Something awful was going to happen to us in the near future and I had no idea what it was, only that it hung over all of Wudang.
I centred my chi and put the feeling aside. I was living in the present, enjoying the peace of now, and ready for the future when it crashed over us.
The four-poster was made of ebony, black with the deep sheen of many years of care. The dark grey curtains were embroidered with silver depictions of turtles and bats symbols of longevity and good luck. The bed was flush against the wall, with a raised twenty-centimetre barrier around three sides to hold the covers in place, the fourth side left open. The room around me was five metres to a side, the walls hung with elegant ink paintings of sea creatures. A black sofa and coffee table in front of the open fireplace gave it a warm, comfortable atmosphere. I slapped the mattress next to me. Theyd put me in the Emperors suite again, against my express orders. Id commandeered a room in the servants quarters attached to the Imperial Residence and they should have put me in there.
I rotated to put my feet on the silk rug, pushed them into the slippers sitting next to the bed, and wandered into the en suite bathroom. Fortunately Michelle had demanded modern Western fittings when John had built the bathroom for her, so there wasnt a squat toilet. However, thered been a compromise about the decor and the entire bathroom was tiled with black marble, giving it a dated eighties look. I didnt care, I just used it and wandered back out again.
You awake? I said.
Youve only been out an hour or so, the stone said. Ronnie Wong is in the gatehouse waiting for you. Theyve served lunch there so you can talk to him while you eat.
Any complaints about Tom being allowed in untamed?
Actually, no. General consensus is that hes so interesting theyre willing to risk it.
If anybody puts me to sleep in this bed again before John returns, I will personally take their head myself, I said as I pulled my clothes back on.
Even if its Simone?
Bah.
The gatehouse sat on the hillside outside the wall that protected the Mountain, in a grove of small cypress trees and surrounded by a tumble of granite boulders as tall as a man. It was a basic village house: two-storey and rectangular with a tiled roof. A living room, kitchen and dining room were downstairs, with two bedrooms and a bathroom above, all sparsely furnished because the administration of Wudang hardly ever met with demons there. It was too far for any but the largest demons to travel from Hell, and just the proximity to the Mountain scared them to death.
I walked in the front door and went into the dining room, Ben and Tom trailing behind me. Ronnie Wong and LK Pak were already there sitting at the table.
As soon as I walked in the door, Ronnie shot to his feet, knocking his chair over, and leapt backwards so violently that he knocked his glasses off. He stood spreadeagled on the wall behind him and stared at me, wide-eyed and trembling.
I backed up as well, then took a deep breath and controlled it.
You okay, Emma? LK said. You look like you saw a ghost.
Im fine. I just had enhanced vision for a moment, I said.
I moved away from Ben and Tom, but Ronnie didnt stop staring at me. It was definitely me, not Tom, that had freaked him out.
Its me, Ronnie, I said. What do you see?
Ronnie retrieved his glasses, put them back on and peered at me. Emma?
You dont even need the glasses, I said. What did you see?
He picked his chair up and returned it to its place. I cant really describe it, he said without looking at me.
I strode to him and he shifted uncomfortably away from me. I held my hand out. Show me then.