Ms Kwan rose. I will spend some time with Simone now, but I dont think I will need much. She is remarkably resilient.
Thats because she has Emma, John said.
CHAPTER TWO
In the dining room, Emma, John said into my head mid-afternoon.
Gold and John were waiting there for me. Gold was in his usual human form: early twenties, slender and jolly, with cute dimples and a kind smile under his shock of golden brown hair. Architectural blueprints covered the table.
Gold wore a smart tan suit, but both John and I were dressed in our usual at-home clothes. John had on a pair of scruffy black cotton pants with a shredded hole in one knee, topped by a fraying faded black T-shirt. His long hair had already come out of its tie. I wore a pair of plain jeans and a shirt, and my hair was a mess as well.
Wheres Jade? I said.
Shell be along later, to do the costing, John said. Right now shes trying to find someone to reset the seals on the apartment. They are completely blown, anybody can come straight in.
What about demons? I said.
After the Attack there arent that many left, but we will have to be vigilant, John said. Make sure the front door is locked at all times.
Okay. I looked down at the blueprints. Are these the Mountain?
Yes. Gold spread them out. Each page covers about half a hectare.
Western measures?
We took an architectural firm from New York to the Mountain, Gold said.
You took architects from New York to the Celestial Plane? What did they say when they found out they were going to Heaven?
They thought they were in China, John said. They were very impressed. Some of them went back to Hubei Province later, and were thoroughly confused. The Earthly Wudangshan is nothing like this one is. Was, he corrected himself, wincing.
The blueprints were a mass of yellow highlighter. Is the highlighter the damage? I said.
Yes, Gold said. Areas completely destroyed have a cross through them with highlighter. Partial damage is just marked.
I checked the sheets. There were about twenty pages of detailed plans, with a single master plan showing the whole Mountain. The buildings clung to the hillside below the seven peaks, surrounded by a wall. Yellow highlighter splashed all over the plans: about two-thirds of the buildings had a cross through them, and every other building seemed to be marked. It was obvious where the demons had broken through the wallit was covered with highlighter; with more yellow where they had cut a swathe through the buildings.
Holy shit, I said softly. This is really bad.
Emma! John said sternly. Really!
What? Then I understood and grinned. Leo said youd dismiss me if you heard me using language like that.
He wasnt wrong, John said. Most unfitting.
Deal with it. I flipped through the blueprints. So whats first?
We need to get the school up and running, Gold said. Right now there is no training taking place. We have lost an extensive number of both Disciples and Masters. There are insufficient Disciples to defend the Mountain if the demons attack again.
It will be a while before they try me again, John said. Every demon in Hell was called to the Attack.
Gold looked at John, wide-eyed. Every one?
Every single one.
No, I said, and they both looked at me. We had four down here as well. A house demon, a Shape Shifter, a Snake Mother, and Simon Wong. Those four are the ones that blew the seals on this apartment.
You faced a Mother? Gold said with awe.
Leo took it down, I said. I didnt have anything to do with it.
You looked a Mother in the face and didnt run? Gold said.
Run? I was protecting Simone. Of course I didnt run. I grinned. Ugly, arent they?
Gold shook his head. Remarkable.
I glanced down at the blueprints. Well need a list of the remaining students, a list of the remaining Masters and their areas of expertise, and what we have left in the way of training spaces. Then we can match them up and see how we go.
They were silent, so I looked up. They both stared at me, speechless.
What? I said. Is that wrong? Do they train differently on the Mountain to how we do here?
John grinned. Ill go out and leave you to it.
Dont you dare! You know your students and Masters better than anyone. I jabbed my finger at him. You stay right here!
Golds boyish face lit up and I rounded on him. What?
He raised his hands. I dont have those lists, maam, the link between here and there is down. Ill have to return to the Mountain, log into the network and copy them onto a CD.
You have a LAN there? Wait, you have a link between here and there? Between Earth and Heaven? How does that work?
Rather complex use of Celestial Harmony. Did it myself. I put in the Mountain LAN after I was assigned to the Dark Lord, thats a standard network. Had nothing before I arrived, he said, looking pointedly at John, who ignored him, but most of the hardware was damaged in the Attack. I had an off-site backup in the Western Palace, so the systems are already up and running, but the link between here and there is down, so Ill need to go myself and take a copy of the lists.
Go then, I said. And bring back a hard copy as well, if its not too big.
My Lord?
John didnt look up from the blueprints. Orders from the Lady Emma are to be treated as orders from me. Then he glanced sharply at Gold. Make this clear. To all.
Gold bowed slightly. My Lord. My Lady. He disappeared.
Sorry, John, I dont mean to tread on your toes, I said. Let me know if I cross the line.
He looked at me, expressionless, then his eyes wrinkled up. I think youre drawing a new one.
While we waited for Gold to return, John flipped through the plans. Only about a third of the buildings are useful, and none of them are training or residential. His voice softened with pain. Hall of the Purple Sky, East Hall, West Hall, Dragon Tiger Hall, all gone. Some of those buildings were more than a thousand years old.
Well rebuild it, John. It will be better than it ever was.
He dropped into a seat at the table. I dont know what to do. It will take years to rebuild the training pavilions, and the dorms have been demolished. The White Tiger has been a true friend in looking after the Disciples.
How long can they stay at the Western Palace?
As long as they need to, he says. He doesnt mind at allthe Disciples are providing a useful exchange of skills with his Horsemen. He sighed and tied his hair back. The training pavilions are gone, and there isnt any open space suitable for training Disciples because of the steepness. Only the most indestructible Celestial Weapons made it; all of the other weapons are gone. And my Disciples have nowhere to live. The Mountain is effectively out of action and nobody will be learning the true Arts for many, many years.
Can the Masters teach at the Western Palace?
Not with the Tigers women around. The Disciples are confined to barracks.
I see. I sat next to him, and pulled the plans closer. Monica!
Monica poked her head in the door. Maam?
Tea, tikuanyin, and three cups, please.
Maam. She pulled her head back into the kitchen.
Youre a mind reader, John said.
Will she ever call me Emma again?
Nope.
John. I turned to him. Should I tell her about the situation? That I cant marry you until you come back because youre a Shen?
Monica has made it very clear that she doesnt want to know anything, John said without looking up from the plans. When Michelle hired her she tried to explain that we werent a normal household, and Monica said, Dont tell me, maam, I dont want to know. Just tell me what to do. Shes terrified of the strange things that happen, but she loved Michelle, and she loves Simone, so she stays and puts up with us.
We have to protect her then, and make sure that nothing scares her.
Thats what Michelle said.
How long were you and Michelle married, John? He hesitated, expressionless.
I turned away and shuffled the plans. Sorry, dont bother.
We were about to celebrate our fourth anniversary when it happened, he said, wistful. Simone was only two.
Oh my God, you were hardly married any time at all! I lowered my voice. Does Simone remember much?
I dont know. She wont talk about it.
Gold reappeared with a stack of printouts. My Lord. My Lady.
John rose and pushed the blueprints aside. Okay, lets see what we have here.
I stood up and riffled through the lists. Hey, many of these names arent Chinese.
Of course not, John said. I take the best, it doesnt matter where theyre from.
A good proportion of the names were Chinese, but there were some recognisably Anglo-Saxon ones, plus Japanese, Korean, and even African names. It was a complete cross-section. I scanned the Anglo names: many of them were women.
Did you have separate dorms on the Mountain? I said.
For the different nationalities? No, of course not, John said, and then, Oh, for men and women, of course. Except for those who are married or bonded to each other. He saw my face. No, Im not slow. Im just cold-blooded, like you said.
Get out of my head.
Im not in it, he shot back. He turned over the lists. Lets see the Masters.
This list was much shorter. There were only about fifteen names.
So few, John?
They gave their lives for the students, Emma. Even the human Masters. They were killed by the demons. He put his hand on the list. These are the Immortal Masters that have returned. And a small group of mortal Masters who were too old or frail to take part in the battle.
How many students died? I said.
He sighed with pain. Almost half. Nearly three hundred.
I flopped to sit. Holy shit. Masters?
Nearly all of them. About fifty.
How many of the Masters were human?
He sat next to me. Of the ones that were killed? About three-quarters, love.
Nearly all of them. About fifty.
How many of the Masters were human?
He sat next to me. Of the ones that were killed? About three-quarters, love.
How will you tell their families? I whispered. Three hundred and fifty people.
He put his head in his hands. I dont know.
Do their families know where they were?
John was silent.
No, my Lady, Gold said. Most of their families thought they were learning martial arts on Earthly Wudangshan. This is the greatest loss that the Mountain has seen in centuries. Even the Celestial Ones have become involved in dealing with this issue. A decision is yet to be made, but the consensus is that the Celestial will erase the existence of the students from the Earthly.