Dark Serpent

by Kylie Chan

  ‘Two months maximum.’

  ‘That’s it then.’

  ‘Understood.’

  The guards saluted him and headed down to the castle. The human, Red, was the only one of that pair who would need supplies, and hopefully Marble could work on a way to get in and out of the tunnel.

  ‘Wide Eagle and Gentle Wind, you stay with these stones. A human family lives in the house over there.’

  ‘Understood, my Lord,’ Eagle said.

  ‘Contact me the second anything happens.’

  The two humans saluted him. He rose into the air and headed towards the castle to let Red and Marble in. Afterwards, he flew to the top of Holyhead Mountain and settled on one of the ancient Roman walls. He pulled his boots off and dug his feet into the damp spongy ground, then recoiled at what he felt. He had expected power, but this was pure death.

  The ground was full of the dark energy that the serpent people had conjured when they’d performed their sacrifices. The saturation of death in the ground had been building over many years, casting a dark pall over the entire area. Any other creature would have found it horrifying, but John’s nature resonated with it. He reached out with his consciousness and searched the area, looking for something approaching a gateway. He found nothing, but the amount of dark power focused on top of the mountain was so intense that a gateway had to have existed there.

  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and arranged for two more Elites to guard this location as well, hoping they wouldn’t be too affected by the nature of the lingering corruption.

  As he waited for them, he looked out over the town of Holyhead and the mountains of Wales beyond. He hoped that Emma was managing on her own in Heaven, and allowed himself a small elation-filled burst of excitement at the prospect of sharing the joys of parenthood with her.

  He would find her. He would find both of them.

  32

  Emma

  I searched the riverside clearing in the fading light, looking for shelter and enough dry wood to make a fire. I found neither, even though the clearing was edged by large trees and smaller bushes. Everything was damp from the cool autumnal air. I curled up under a tree, wrapped around myself as much as I could, and shivered as night fell.

  I tried to distract myself from the cold by planning for our child. Cloth or disposable nappies? I could use cloth because I was lucky enough to have Er Hao to help me. There weren’t many births on the Celestial Plane, and the demons would be thrilled to bits, to the point that we may even have to warn them off being around the baby too much.

  I sighed and shivered. The baby. I remembered holding Louise’s baby and thinking that I may never get there myself; and here I was. It was worth the cold and the misery to be free, and to know that by the time the sun rose I may be in John’s arms and we could go home.

  I must have dozed despite the cold, and it was bliss to feel the morning sun touch me with its warmth. I uncurled myself, stiff from cold and exertion and nearly unable to move. I vowed never to take warmth for granted again as I wriggled my hands and feet, trying to return some circulation to them. It took me a couple of minutes in the weak sunlight before I was warm enough to stand, and even then I hobbled towards the stream with stiff joints.

  Hunger drove me to the edge of the water; I summoned the Murasame and plunged the blade into the pond. Its special curse as the Destroyer meant that anything alive would be pulled into its blade. After a couple of minutes, it was obvious that nothing was alive in the water. For a moment I saw movement and readied to grab whatever it was, then relaxed as it became apparent that some weed had dislodged from the bottom of the pond by the force of the dark blade’s pull.

  I put the blade aside, took a long drink of the icy-cold water, trying not to get my clothes wet, then stood up. I moved to the centre of the clearing to catch as much of the sun as I could, and performed a fast-moving Tai Chi set to warm myself up. It was like moving through mud: my muscles were painful from the cold and lack of movement. If it rained, I could quite easily die of exposure in the cold night air; my clothes were definitely not made for this.

  I put the rising sun to my back and headed west, hoping that the Glass Citadel’s immense height would soon make it visible. Occasionally I felt what seemed to be kicks from the baby, but dismissed the idea. No way would I be feeling anything this early; it was possible that the foetus was only two weeks old and the size of a full stop. I ignored the fact that I hadn’t had a period in twelve weeks and the baby could be more than five times that. I concentrated on walking, still not moving with my usual ease. It would take some time before I loosened up. I smiled grimly; by the time I was warm, the sun would be gone again.

  A path led through the forest in the right direction, and it was possible that the picnic or camping ground could have been a daytrip ride out from the Glass Citadel. I hoped they hadn’t been in the habit of hunting large carnivores because the lack of prey meant that the large carnivores would hunt me.

  I’d just had that merry thought when three demons appeared on the path in front of me and one dropped to land behind me. I was surrounded.

  I summoned the Murasame, but I was too slow. The one behind me grabbed me and held my arms to my sides, while the others prepared some cuffs.

  I dropped the sword, then bent forward and down onto one knee. The demon behind me was forced to drop with me, and I grabbed him around the ankles and flipped him over onto his back. When he was down, I lifted him by the ankles and swung him into the other three, using him as a bludgeon to take them down.

  I picked up the Murasame again, feeling the stiffness and difficulty of my movements, and sliced two of the demons in half. They didn’t disintegrate, just oozed black goo. The other two scrambled to their feet and backed off before I had a chance to fell them, and their faces filled with cunning.

  I moved into a long defensive stance, sword raised.

  Each demon reached up and grabbed a weapon out of the air. They came at me together and I couldn’t parry both of them; I wasn’t fast enough.

  Sorry, I said to the child, filled the Murasame with my chi and blasted them. Again the backlash slammed me backwards, but I was ready for it and wasn’t knocked off my feet. A rush of nausea filled me and I bent, retching. Wonderful. Morning sickness on top of everything else.

  That wasn’t a kick I felt as I dismissed the gleeful sword and checked the demons for any sort of communication device, without success. I headed west again, listening carefully for anything following me.

  After another couple of hours of walking, it became obvious that I was in trouble. What started as mild digestive cramps turned into full-on suffering, waves of agony coming at regular intervals. Each time, I had to stop and hold on to a tree, too weak to block the pain.

  ‘I will not lose you,’ I said to the baby, continuing to struggle towards the west.

  I stopped after an hour of misery, aware that I was losing blood. I checked the path behind me and nearly collapsed: I was losing a lot of blood. I couldn’t afford this after all the Demon Kings had taken. I fell onto the dirt and sat with my head between my knees, the rich scent of my own blood filling the air around me, then fell sideways as another wave of agony racked me.

  Two demons slid noiselessly out of the trees on the path behind me. I tried to put my hands up and failed.

  ‘She’s hurt,’ one of them said. ‘Did the other group injure her?’

  I attempted to get to my feet and they pulled weapons. I stopped on one knee and panted for a moment, trying to get my breath. They eased to stand in front of me and I kept my hands where they could see them.

  ‘I surrender,’ I said. ‘Get me to the Demon King. Either of them. Hurry, I’m losing the baby!’

  One of them concentrated, communicating, and the other carefully slipped its arm under mine and helped me to my feet. A wave of spasms went through me and I cried out, nearly making it drop me. I hung from its grasp, shaking as the pain tore through me, then collapsed when it stopped.<
br />
  The helicopter hovered overhead; I hadn’t even heard it coming. A rescue stretcher was lowered and the demons strapped me into it. The stretcher was lifted, and I had a horrible, helpless eternity of nausea, sure that the stretcher would swing too far and I’d fall out, or the rope would break. Then strong hands grabbed me and roughly pulled me into the helicopter, smashing me into the side in their haste.

  The next thing I knew, I was lying on my back in a white room and the Demon King was yelling at demons who were running around me. I couldn’t make out his words, but he sounded angry.

  ‘Save the baby,’ I said to him, and he looked down at me, blurring in and out of focus.

  ‘Don’t worry, love,’ he said. ‘This baby is worth more than all my armies put together. We’ll make sure it lives.’

  ‘Save it, then let us go,’ I said.

  ‘Not fucking likely.’

  The light was bright in my eyes and I whimpered and tried to turn away. There was a drip in my arm and I thrashed weakly at it, then collapsed, exhausted.

  I prised open my eyes and saw a hospital room — again in the hospital, this was becoming too much of a habit — and a demon exiting it. She closed the door behind her. I breathed deep and remembered where I was. I quickly put my hand on my stomach, and wondered if they’d managed to save the baby. Everywhere inside ached. From the amount of cotton wadding wrapped around me I was obviously still losing blood, which was a very bad sign.

  The female demon returned with George, who sat next to my bed.

  ‘Did you save it?’ I said.

  He took my hand and shook his head, his face grim with remorse. ‘It didn’t die in the gutter.’

  I snatched my hand away and turned towards the wall to hide my anguish.

  ‘Let it out, you need to have a cry,’ he said.

  ‘Fuck off.’

  ‘Feisty. I like a woman with spark,’ he said, his voice rich with sarcasm.

  ‘So what will you do with me now?’ I said to the wall. ‘Impregnate me again as soon as I’m useful?’

  ‘Nobody will be impregnating you ever again. Too much damage.’

  That pushed me over the edge. Our baby had died and I’d killed it. This was completely my fault, I should never have used energy. I’d made a horrible mistake and our child had paid the price. I would never be able to hold my baby in my arms and share the joy with my family. I was completely empty inside and it hurt.

  I tried to hold the grief in, and gasped a huge sob as it overcame me. I squeezed my eyes shut and held my breath, and when I couldn’t hold it any more another wheezing sob escaped me. I tried to control it and shook with the effort, tears cascading down my face. I used the sheets to wipe my face, and a box of tissues landed next to me. I ripped a few out and blew my nose, but didn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing my face. I gulped air a few times, my throat raw, still shaking with the effort of holding it back.

  ‘You have a choice now, Emma,’ he said, his voice becoming casual. ‘You can agree to turn and help us train our armies, and we’ll look after you exceptionally well; you’ll be a queen among us. If you choose not to help us, we’ll take you outside and drop you halfway to nowhere, because like this you’re completely fucking useless and a waste of resources.’

  ‘Leave me out there. He’ll find me.’

  ‘He already did, sweetheart, when you were in Hell. And you won’t last the night out there. If he does find you, he’ll find you dead. You’ve lost a hell of a lot of blood and you’re still bleeding. Francis doesn’t want to drain you because of the contamination, so if you won’t turn we’ll throw you out of the car onto the side of the road. You have an hour to make your choice.’

  ‘I don’t need an hour,’ I said.

  ‘Oh, that’s very good news. I have a gorgeous suite ready for you, with five servants and a really big hot spa full of the natural mineral springs that come out of the ground here. The water’s like magic; should heal you in no time. There’s a vegetarian banquet waiting for you, although if you turn you may as well go all the way and eat some meat. A rare steak would do you a hell of a lot of good. Designer outfits — choose what you like, we have a personal shopper. All yours, Queen of the Damned.’

  ‘Side of the road, please.’

  ‘Suit yourself,’ he said, rose and went out.

  They put me in the back seat of a four-wheel drive. I couldn’t stay upright, but they didn’t go far; only ten minutes and they stopped. A big demon threw me over his shoulder and followed the King into a stand of trees that thickened and grew blacker as we went deeper in. The chill of the air made me gasp. Something was seriously wrong with this place; something had died here. Many things had died here.

  The demon dropped me in a clearing in the trees and I cried out as I hit the ground. It was cold and black and something inside me writhed at the contact, but I couldn’t tell whether it was pleasure or pain. Everything hurt.

  ‘Last chance, Emma,’ the King said, standing over me. ‘Warm spa, mineral water, bubbles, servants, great food, a big soft bed. Your choice.’

  ‘Bye, Kitty,’ I said.

  ‘Humph.’

  He led the demon away and I lay alone in the gathering darkness, well aware that in this state it was unlikely I’d survive the night. I was beyond caring. I didn’t feel cold any more. I was strangely at peace.

  I rolled onto my back and looked up through the trees. Darkness was falling and the sky was a soft, delicate violet. Stars were beginning to emerge. The silhouettes of the trees were different: dark and menacing. They leaned over me as if they wanted to shove their branches into me.

  He would find me. He would. And I’d be alive, because he had to Raise me. He would find me.

  I began to shiver, and tried to curl up around my aching insides. He would find me, and I would have to tell him that I’d killed our child.

  33

  Zhenwu

  People rushed out of the way as John and Er Lang, both in Celestial Form, strode together to the War Room in the Celestial Palace. The double doors opened and they went in; the Council were standing next to their chairs in a traditional show of respect. John and Er Lang halted inside the door, accepted salutes from everyone in the room, then John walked around the table to take his place at the head, with Er Lang on his right. The entire wall behind them was a specially commissioned ink painting of warriors on horseback and on foot, in both human and True Form, during the Shang/Zhou.

  As John sat, the other members of the Council sat too, carefully following order of precedence.

  ‘Time frame?’ the Phoenix said. They’d all been briefed.

  ‘Less than six months,’ John said.

  ‘Celestial says prepare now,’ Er Lang said. ‘We will be attacked by early softening skirmishes almost immediately. Main force late spring, just under six months from now.’

  ‘The Mountain is so understaffed,’ Ma said with frustration. ‘Is it too late to recruit?’

  ‘Yes,’ John said.

  ‘The Western Heavens are closed. We need to find out how the demons did that and duplicate it,’ the Dragon said.

  ‘And pull everybody in before we do. Full evacuation of everybody on the Earthly,’ the Tiger said.

  ‘Hell?’ Michael said.

  ‘All civilians are to be evacuated from the Celestial side of Hell and we will bolster its defences,’ Er Lang said.

  ‘Where will they start?’ the Dragon’s Number One said. ‘Do we know their first target?’

  Nobody replied.

  ‘Do we have any intelligence at all?’

  ‘As soon as the Elites are in we’ll know a hell of a lot more,’ said the Phoenix’s Number One, a small fragile-looking female Red Warrior.

  She was a new Number One for the Phoenix; John tried to remember her name and couldn’t. The Red Warriors kept mostly to themselves, in the Southern Palace under the volcano, and the heat of the location made socialisation for most of the residents impossible.

  ‘We should tr
y to lure them out so they open a gateway,’ the Phoenix said.

  ‘Good idea,’ John said. ‘Team to brainstorm that?’

  The Phoenix’s Number One, Michael and the Dragon’s Number One, Golden Dragon, raised their hands slightly.

  ‘Done.’

  ‘Join us, Prince Ming,’ the Phoenix’s Number One said.

  ‘I’ll be busy organising accommodation for the Twelve Villages, Flute,’ Martin said. ‘I’ll give you Yue Gui. She’s smarter than me anyway.’

  ‘Three of you are sufficient. Yue Gui has another role here,’ John said.

  He contacted her at the Northern Palace. Yue Gui, I am about to nominate you to coordinate preparation for the full evacuation and housing of refugees from the Earthly and Hell. If we are going to bring everybody up here where it is safe over the next six months, we need to prepare now.

  My Lord.

  ‘Yue Gui will coordinate the evacuation; we’ll use her as a central administrator,’ John said.

  There were general nods of agreement around the table; Yue Gui’s efficiency and competence were legendary.

  Move to the Celestial Palace, the job is yours, John said.

  My Lord.

  Zara. Zara?

  No reply.

  Yue Gui, I was about to give you my stone secretary but it has gone with the Grandmother. Take the Jade Girl to assist. She has admirable skills in dealing with people and they are wasted just doing public relations for the Mountain.

  Thank you, Father, most appreciated. Her voice changed slightly in his head. I hope we find Emma soon.

  We will.

  ‘What else?’ John said.

  ‘If you coordinate the defensive lines, I’ll set the forges to work,’ Er Lang said.

  ‘I suggest we return to our realms, arrange our defences, then meet back here this time tomorrow to map out the full Heavenly strategy,’ the Phoenix said. ‘The Number Ones can work together and see what they come up with from here.’