by Kylie Chan
‘What?’
‘We’ve created a harness-type thingy big enough to hold you, and it can go on a really big horse’s back. The demon should be fine to carry you, and the snow won’t bother it too much if we rug it up right and put snowshoes on it. Problem solved.’
‘Not solved,’ I said. ‘Demons can’t survive in a vacuum, you said that yourself. And there’ll be bugger all air up there.’
‘Fuck.’ He hung up.
I leaned back in my chair. Leo and the stones wouldn’t be back for another day; the paperwork could wait while Chang learnt the ropes; the students were in class; all was well. I picked up the phone.
‘Mr Hawkes’s office.’
‘This is Emma Donahoe. I’d like to speak to Mr Hawkes, please.’
The woman’s voice became brisk. ‘Would you like to speak to Mr Hawkes’s liaison officer? Mr Hawkes doesn’t take personal calls. How did you get this number?’
I leaned forward. ‘No, this is Emma Donahoe. Put me through.’
‘I’ll put you through to his liaison. Just a moment.’
‘No…’ The phone clicked. ‘Damn.’
‘Roger Davison, can I help you?’
‘This is Emma Donahoe and I want to speak to Mr Hawkes. Tell that new secretary who I am.’
‘Oh! Sorry, ma’am. Yes, ma’am, give me a moment.’
The phone clicked again, putting me through to the Taipan.
‘This is Hawkes. So sorry, Emma, what can I do for you? Demons attacking again?’
‘Nothing as major as that, David. My car was destroyed and I need a new one pretty quickly. Do you have a black E-class saloon in any of your dealerships that would be ready to go right now?’
‘Let me check the database.’ I heard him tapping the keys. ‘So really no demons right now? You sure? Because having your car destroyed sounds like fun. I quite enjoy the mayhem you people bring into my life.’
‘We destroyed the demons that did it, and we’ll be chasing down their masters soon, and no, you can’t come along. I would have thought you had enough to deal with running an operation like yours.’
‘Bah, global financial crisis is small potatoes compared to some of the stuff you people have swirling around you. Ah, here we are. Sorry that took so long, the car dealerships are such a small part of the business that I don’t have much to do with them. E-class, black, not fully optioned, just up the street from you in our Wan Chai dealership. Would you like it? If you’re willing to wait a few days we can get one with all the bits and pieces for you.’
‘No, we don’t need all of that. What you have would be perfect.’
‘It’ll be delivered to your secret headquarters this afternoon. Free for afternoon tea? I can deliver it myself, and you can tell me how the demons destroyed your old one.’
I choked with laughter. ‘Secret headquarters? We’re hidden right out in the open. No, I have a new secretary, I need to show him around. But I’ll get him to arrange something as soon as he’s up to speed.’
‘Don’t be a stranger, crazy lady. Any word from John?’
‘Did you ever see his animal form, David?’
‘I didn’t even know what he was until that business two years ago, Emma. I always thought he was just a local businessman.’
‘He appeared to me and Simone a couple of days ago in his animal form; he’s slowly coming back.’
‘That’s good to hear. I look forward to seeing him again. Anything else I can do, please let me know. That business two years ago was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life and being in the normal world just isn’t enough excitement for me any more.’
‘I’ll keep that in mind.’
I went out of my office to find Chang sitting at Yi Hao’s…his desk, his face screwed up with concentration as he worked through the hundreds of emails in my inbox supervised by the IT demon.
He glanced up when he saw me. ‘Would you mind if I reorganised the way the messages are filed? This seems chaotic to me.’
‘She was a demon, she was an expert at chaos,’ I said. ‘Do whatever you think you need to do to get the job done.’ I nodded to the IT demon. ‘I don’t know your name. Do you have one?’
‘I’m still deciding, ma’am.’
‘Take your time about it, a name is important; but if you choose an English one check the dictionary first. How’s everything coming along? I’d like to borrow Chang for half an hour, if possible. I need a break, and I want to evaluate his skills.’
‘A break would be good for him, ma’am.’
‘Good.’ I leaned on Chang’s desk. ‘Ring Lok, ask him which training room is free right now.’
Chang started frantically rummaging through the documents on his desk looking for the phone book.
I touched his arm. ‘Don’t rush. Take your time. Do what you need to do.’
He took a deep breath, found the phone book, opened it and called. ‘Master Lok. Lady Donahoe would like the use of a training room…immediately. Yes. Thank you, sir.’ He hung up. ‘He says training room fifteen.’
I pushed myself off the desk. ‘Good. Come with me.’
The training room was two storeys up and we took the stairs. We passed a junior class on the way and I stopped for a moment and poked my head in.
‘Master present!’ the instructor shouted, and everybody stopped what they were doing, fell to one knee to salute me, and then returned to their work. I leaned on the doorway and watched them, Chang standing uncomfortably next to me.
‘How long do you think these guys have been learning, Chang?’ I said softly.
‘They must have been learning for more than ten years, ma’am. Do you take them into your school when they are children, as Shaolin does?’
‘Nobody here is taken unless they are older than eighteen; and sixteen for the Twelve Villages. These are second years.’
He inhaled sharply.
‘Having Shen teaching is a huge advantage,’ I said, still talking softly. ‘We can accelerate the learning process—use special techniques to build strength and flexibility in our students that can’t be learnt anywhere else.’
He crossed his arms over his chest. ‘That’s cheating.’
‘No, it isn’t, because they need the head start if they’re going to face demons, which are ten times harder than any human.’ I gestured with my head. ‘Room fifteen is this way.’
We went into the training room and I summoned the Murasame. I used it to point towards the weapons rack at the end of the room. ‘Pick something you won’t hurt yourself with.’
He stared at me. ‘Where did that sword come from?’
I dismissed the sword and resummoned it. This time it came back slightly heavier. ‘Have you ever heard of a legendary weapon called the Murasame?’
He shook his head, still wide-eyed at the sword’s appearance. ‘No.’
‘Good. Picked something yet?’
‘That sword is legendary?’
‘A bit, yes,’ I said. ‘Come on, Chang, we have to get you back in about twenty minutes. Let’s not waste time.’
He turned to the weapons rack, appeared confused for a moment, then quickly grabbed a sword, removed the scabbard and tossed it to one side.
I lowered the Murasame and shook my head. ‘I said don’t waste time. I didn’t say rush. Goodness, but you have a lot to learn. Now put that sword back and choose something with care. Don’t rush it.’
‘Even if I were to choose again, I would choose this weapon,’ he said. ‘I think it’s the most suitable.’
‘Very well.’ I stepped back and prepared myself. ‘Take it very, very slowly. These weapons aren’t blunt, they’re sharp. I don’t want to see you hurt.’
‘I treat all weapons as if they were sharp, ma’am,’ he said with pride and stepped forward to engage me.
I put my sword up and guarded as he made some tidy strikes at me, moving slowly and with elegant precision. He ramped up the speed slightly and I continued to guard, following his moves and backing up t
o give him room.
When I was close to the back wall I said, ‘Stop.’
He halted immediately in mid-strike.
‘Good. Now guard.’
He nodded and lowered the sword and I moved through the attacks. He blocked with impressive style, and I ramped it up a bit faster, with him continuing to block effortlessly. His face went rigid with concentration and he changed from guard to attack, performing a fast horizontal waist-high swing at me. I blocked it easily, pushing his blade down, but his own momentum worked against him. His sword sliced over the top of his knee and he fell. He watched with horror as a small fountain of blood spewed out of him and spiralled into the Murasame. The sword continued to siphon the blood even after I’d tossed it to one side.
The sweet fragrance of his fresh, warm blood filled the room and my eyes clouded over as the need hit me. It would be so good to change and share the sword’s feasting…
I put my hand over the wound to stop the sword from draining him. When the Murasame had eased its pull, I took my hand away and tore the fabric of his pants where they’d been cut to have a closer look at the wound. It was deep but hadn’t hit any major blood vessels. It looked like his blade had gone underneath his kneecap and torn all the ligaments holding it in place—a small, neat wound that could easily make him limp on that leg for the rest of his life. His face was white with shock and he panted as I put pressure on the wound.
‘Stay still,’ I said. ‘Don’t move.’ I raised my voice to be heard in the next room. ‘Sit, I need you in here, please.’
Sit came in, followed by five or six of his students.
‘Students out, wait in the next room,’ I called. ‘Just Master Sit.’
Sit came and crouched next to us. ‘What happened?’
‘Bad guard, hit his kneecap with the sword,’ I said. ‘Murasame nearly finished him off for me.’
Sit glanced at the dark blade. ‘Not surprised.’
I leaned in to speak into Chang’s face. ‘Chang, can you hear me?’
He nodded, his face rigid with pain.
‘It’ll save a great deal of time if I heal this up now rather than passing you on to Edwin,’ I said. ‘There’s a lot of tendon damage here; it will take multiple operations to fix it.’
‘Does he know?’ Sit said.
‘No,’ I said.
‘I’ll hold him if you like.’
I nodded, and Sit went behind Chang and held his arms.
‘What are you doing?’ Chang said. ‘Why are you holding me?’
I spoke into Chang’s face again. ‘We’re holding you to keep you still because this isn’t going to be fun. Chang, I can heal this wound as if it never happened, but to do that I’m going to have to change form.’
He stared at me.
I put my hand on his shoulder and gazed into his eyes. ‘Don’t panic. I won’t hurt you.’
I rose, took two steps back, concentrated and took my snake form. Chang went berserk, making guttural snarls of terror and trying to free himself from Sit’s grasp. I concentrated on his knee, touched my nose to it and healed it while Sit easily held Chang’s writhing body.
I changed back and crouched in front of Chang again. ‘All fixed. The snake is gone.’
‘I should sedate him,’ Sit said.
‘He’ll be working closely with me,’ I said, putting my hand on Chang’s arm to steady him. He went rigid and stared at me with horror. ‘If he can’t deal with the fact that I’m a snake then we might have to find someone else.’
I tapped his cheek. ‘Chang. Chang, it’s me. You don’t need to be afraid. If you want to work with me, you have to accept that I’m a snake. If you can’t deal with it, we’ll put you back with Lok.’
‘She will never hurt you,’ Sit said into Chang’s ear. ‘Trust her. The snake won’t hurt you.’ He dropped his head and shook it, loosening his hold on Chang. ‘Phobia. This is bad.’
I rose and turned away from his expression. So close.
‘Deep breaths, deep breaths,’ Sit said softly. ‘Breathe.’
Chang grunted and I turned back to see that Sit had released him. Chang was pulling himself to his feet without his usual grace, clumsy with shock. He stood staring at me, panting.
I spread my arms. ‘I’m sorry, Chang. I did it to heal you.’
He took more deep breaths, but didn’t move. ‘Change again.’
‘That wouldn’t be a good idea. I can see how I affect you.’
He took a quick step forward, then his face froze as he realised that he was closer to me. He gestured towards me. ‘Change again. I can handle it.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘You healed me. You didn’t hurt me. You’re right: I need to get used to it,’ he said.
I changed to snake again and he bellowed with terror and jumped back.
‘Hold, Chang,’ Sit said from behind him. ‘It’s her.’
I stayed very still.
‘Say something,’ Sit said.
‘It’s me,’ I said gently. ‘I know it’s strange, but it’s really me. The Dark Lord himself, Xuan Tian, is a snake too, Chang. You’ll have to get used to us.’
‘That’s right, he’s a turtle snake thing,’ Chang said with wonder. ‘I remember him from the temple. He’s so strange.’ He gestured towards me. ‘But not as strange as you, ma’am.’
‘You are quite correct,’ Sit said with quiet amusement.
Chang took a couple of deep breaths and sidled towards me. ‘Will you hurt me if I touch you?’
‘No,’ I said. I dropped my head slightly so he could reach. ‘Feel free.’
‘What is that on your head?’
‘It’s her crown,’ Sit said with pride. ‘She is Empress of the Northern Heavens.’
‘It’s not and I’m not, but I’ll let that slide for now,’ I said. ‘You okay? Do you want to continue working with me?’
Chang took one large stride towards me, shoved out his hand and swiped me on the snout. I dropped my head and hissed with pain, and he leapt back again with another yell.
‘It’s okay, it’s okay,’ I said. ‘You just smacked me on the snout and it hurt.’
He moved forward again and touched my nose more lightly. ‘I’m sorry, ma’am. I didn’t mean to.’
‘I know that,’ I said. ‘What do I feel like? Move your hand over the top of my head and down my neck.’
He did as I said, feeling the scales. ‘You’re not slimy at all!’
‘Of course not,’ I said. ‘Only Snake Mothers have slime.’
‘What’s a Snake Mother?’
‘Uh…’ I hesitated. ‘Right now I don’t think knowing about them is a good idea.’
He nodded and ran his hand down the side of my neck, a surprisingly pleasant feeling.
‘You are dry and warm and soft,’ he said. ‘Nothing like I expected.’
‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘Serpents are healers. When someone is injured and I can help, I will take this form to heal them.’
‘You healed my leg,’ he said with wonder.
‘That I did,’ I said. ‘I would not have changed otherwise.’
He dropped his hand and grinned. ‘I think we need to get back to work now; they’ll be waiting for me upstairs.’
I changed back to human form. ‘You are one of the bravest humans I have ever seen, Chang. I saw what that took. You’re right, let’s head back to the office. Sit, could you take over his weapons training? He needs a lot of work.’
‘I’ll work out a schedule, ma’am,’ Sit said. He nodded to Chang. ‘You are very brave. I’ll be in touch with you about lessons.’
‘I want to learn with Lady Emma,’ Chang said.
‘You were just injured in a lesson with me, which means I’m not good enough to teach you,’ I said. ‘You need a better teacher, one who can control your impatience.’
His face fell. ‘Once again I’ve ruined it for myself with my own impatience.’
I turned to go and he stopped me. ‘Ma’am?’
I turned back. ‘Yes?’
‘You are going to leave the sword on the floor in the middle of the room? That blade is evil, it drank blood!’
‘It’s not evil, it’s just yin,’ I said. ‘And it will find its own way home, don’t worry about it.’
He shrugged. ‘If you say so.’
‘Thanks for the help, Sit,’ I said.
‘Not a problem at all, ma’am, he is a remarkable human. What do you have him doing?’
‘He’s my new secretary.’
‘But he’s a man.’
‘Oh, Sit, you disappoint me.’
Sit shook his head. ‘I disappoint myself sometimes, ma’am. My apologies, Chang. I’ll see you later.’ He disappeared.
Chang started with shock. ‘He is an Immortal?’
‘That he is; most of the Masters are,’ I said. I went out to the lobby and pressed the button for the lift. ‘Let’s go.’
Michael was waiting outside my office when we returned, in his work suit. Chang stopped when he saw him and glanced at me.
‘This is Michael,’ I said. ‘He’s part of the family and free to come and go as he pleases. He will occasionally take the form of a bloody great tiger as well; just ignore that.’
Michael nodded to me. ‘Can we talk, ma’am?’
‘Come on in, Michael.’
Chang gingerly took his seat behind the desk and started flipping through paperwork.
‘Round up anything you have questions on and we’ll go through them when I’m done with Michael,’ I said. ‘Also, contact Master Meredith Liu—her number’s in the Academy phone directory—and ask her to check with the Courts of the tenth level of Hell about how long it’ll be before we get the stones and the Black Lion returned. We need them as quickly as possible if we’re to raid this nest before I see Nu Wa.’
Chang’s mouth dropped open and his eyes went wide.
‘Chang, get a piece of paper, write it down,’ I said, and he scrabbled around the desk, then picked up a pencil and notebook.
I repeated the instructions for him and he shook his head. ‘Nu Wa—tenth level of Hell—are you serious, ma’am?’
‘Normal day in New Wudang, my friend,’ Michael said with amusement. ‘Hang around long enough and things will get really weird.’
Chang stared at him for a moment, then grinned broadly. ‘This was definitely the right decision.’
