by Kylie Chan
‘I’m on my way,’ he said, and hung up before I could say anything.
I immediately called him back.
‘How bad is it?’ he said. ‘Be quick, I’m taking True Form.’
‘You don’t need to come. He’s fighting it and hurting himself. I need you to call Simone for me and tell her to come back down and try to calm him. She’s not answering her phone.’
‘Oh.’ The Dragon was silent for a moment. ‘All right. You don’t need me? Nothing happened?’
‘Apart from him stressing out and hurting himself, no. All’s secure.’
‘I should come anyway.’
‘Hold off, Ah Qing. If Simone can’t calm him, I’ll have you bring a reptile-type sedative and we’ll knock him out so he’ll be forced to heal.’
‘Good idea. I’ll stand by. Let me see what I have around here.’
‘Thanks, Ah Qing. Bye.’
‘Do you know you sound an awful lot like him sometimes?’ he said, and hung up.
‘Yes,’ I said as Simone opened the doorway and the light flooded in again.
When she reached the bench, she knelt so that her face was next to the cage. The tortoise ignored her, continuing to hiss and bang its beak on the bars.
‘Daddy,’ she said, and pushed her finger between the bars to stroke its leg. It moved faster than was visible, its beak snapped and she ripped her hand back and shook it.
‘Ouch! He bit me.’
I knelt on the damp stone next to her and checked her hand. The sharp beak had cut her deeply, but the wound disappeared as I watched.
I pulled out the phone and called the Dragon. ‘I think we need you.’
‘He’s still doing it?’
‘Yes. Do you have something that will work on a reptile?’
‘Yes. How much would you say he weighs?’
‘Three or four kilos?’
‘On my way.’ He hung up.
Five minutes later the Grotto lit up again as the door above us opened. The Blue Dragon came down the stairs in human form.
‘You were right,’ he said, ‘this whole thing was a terrible idea.’ He held a Tupperware container with two syringes in it. ‘This should do it. My own vet says it’s the correct dose; and there’s a second syringe to increase the dose if it doesn’t affect him like a normal turtle.’
He took a syringe out and crouched in front of the cage.
‘What is it?’ Simone said.
‘Diazepam. Valium. Should work on reptiles. I’ve used it myself in dragon form for panic attacks, and it doesn’t matter whether it goes into a muscle or a vein, it’ll work either way.’
‘Panic attacks? You?’ Simone said.
‘Sometimes.’ He studied the tortoise. ‘You said he was distressed.’
I crouched next to him to look. The tortoise had stopped fighting and was squatting with its eyes half-closed.
‘A minute ago he was frantic,’ Simone said. ‘Maybe biting me let some of the anger out.’
‘He bit you?’ the Dragon said, glancing up at her.
She shrugged. ‘He’s all animal.’
The Dragon put his elbows on his knees and levered himself upright. ‘Well, he’s settled now and he should heal.’ He put his hand on my shoulder. ‘Do you want me to stay, Emma?’
I hesitated.
‘It’s no bother, really,’ he said, gently rubbing my arm. ‘I’m just hanging around at home worried sick about him anyway.’
Simone stared at the Dragon.
‘Let’s sit and see if he becomes distressed again,’ I said. ‘If he does, we’ll use what you brought.’
Qing Long nodded, then took full huge True Form and settled himself on the rock, resting his head on his crossed forelegs. ‘I hope he heals up; those feet were torturing him. It was most painful to see.’
I sat on the other side of the cage from Simone. ‘His feet have already stopped bleeding. How’s his beak?’
‘No change so far,’ Simone said.
‘We’ll just wait and see.’
‘I hope this works. It’s been heartbreaking to see him like that, it really has,’ the Dragon said. ‘I’m just glad I could help.’ He raised his head slightly. ‘Is Jade here today?’
‘No, she’s on the Earthly arranging the orphanage accounts at the bank,’ I said.
‘Well, damn,’ he said. ‘Can’t have everything, I suppose.’ He sighed and his dragon nostrils flared. ‘She’s my whole world and she won’t have anything to do with me. She has three times the integrity I ever will. She makes me feel small and worthless.’
‘Drop the act and she’s yours, Ah Qing,’ I said.
‘I doubt she’d have me even if I dropped the act.’
‘What act?’ Simone said.
‘Me,’ he said. ‘All of me. Everything.’ He let his back end fall sideways and stretched his hind legs like a cat. ‘I thought it was about time you saw the real Qing Long.’
She was silent for a long time.
‘Ask,’ he said gently, his huge turquoise eyes glowing in the dark.
She started to say something, then changed her mind. She thought for another long moment, then said, ‘Why?’
‘It is in my nature to be … graceful, delicate, soft, kind? There’s no real word for it.’
‘Effeminate,’ Simone said. ‘You? Really?’
‘So there is a word for it,’ he said. ‘There was a time when people did not respect a soft and gentle man, so I became the opposite — an extremely macho arrogant dick. Looking back, it was a stupid idea. Now I’m stuck with it. I can’t admit I’ve been living a lie for these thousands of years.’
‘So you’re like, more feminine than the Phoenix?’
‘I am the Lesser Yin. She is the Greater Yang. Of course I am.’
‘Are you gay too?’
He chuckled and his scales rippled along his body. ‘No. You know about me and Jade.’
‘She won’t marry you because it’s all an act?’
‘That’s right.’
‘I don’t blame her,’ Simone said fiercely.
He dropped his head on his forelegs again, and when he spoke his voice was full of grief. ‘Neither do I.’
8
I was wrenched out of my meditation by my phone ringing. The Dragon’s phone rang as well, and he snorted and raised his head. Simone floated out of the water; her phone was ringing too. All three of us answered them at the same time.
It was Marshal Ma on my phone. ‘Emma, we can’t contact Ah Wu. Where is he?’
‘In retreat. Resting. What’s the problem, Ma? Did something happen?’
‘Hell is under attack. We need him.’
I rose and paced. ‘Who is defending? What’s the status? Wait.’ I bent to peer at the tortoise in the cage; his eyes were still half-closed. I tapped the bars and he didn’t respond. I returned the phone to my ear. ‘He’s … unavailable. Defending? Status?’
‘Three battalions are defending. Looks like a good four thousand demons.’
‘Dear Lord. Level?’
He was answering already without waiting for me to ask. ‘Not too big, about level forty. Each about the same strength as one of ours, with a similar level of training.’
‘Which battalions?’
‘Ninth, Sixteenth and Thirty-First.’
‘How about we add the Third and Twenty-Second?’
‘Most of the Third was lost when we tried to win back the Serpent. I already mobilised the Seventeenth and Twenty-Second.’
‘Sorry, I forgot; that’s John’s area of expertise. But five battalions should be enough if we can bring a couple of Winds down as well. Anything bigger that we can’t handle?’
‘According to the intel their Number One gave us, this attack was planned with elementals too.’
I let my breath out in a long gasp. The Dragon took human form, his face rigid with restrained fury.
‘Metal or wood?’ I said.
‘How did you …? Never mind. Both types. I believe the Dragon kn
ows about it already, but I don’t have the authority to summon the Phoenix or the Tiger. It has to be Ah Wu.’
‘Can it be me? Never mind, I know it can’t.’ I checked John again; he was insensible. ‘Tell Er Lang. He can let the Winds know.’
‘Actually, Emma, yes, it can be you,’ Ma said. ‘You’re a better option than Er Lang to talk to the Winds. They don’t acknowledge his seniority, and they all have a soft spot for you. Go ahead and talk to them.’
‘Anything else you need me to pass on?’
‘Tell them to mobilise their defences. This may be a diversion while they try for the rest of Heaven.’
‘Understood. Keep me up to date. Bye, Ma.’
I hung up and quickly called the Tiger. He didn’t answer. The Phoenix did when I called her.
‘I know. I’m on my way,’ she said.
‘Is the Tiger aware of what’s going on?’ I said.
‘He isn’t responding. His Number One is dragging him out of his harem.’
‘Geez, poor Michael,’ I said under my breath.
‘The Dragon told me what you’re doing with the cage,’ the Phoenix said. ‘How is Ah Wu?’
‘Completely out of it.’ I rubbed my free hand over my forehead and paced in a circle. ‘He was beating his brains out on the cage, then suddenly stopped. I thought he’d settled, but they obviously hit him with something before they attacked. I should have seen it for what it was.’
‘Either way, he would still be in that cage so we have to manage without him. Let me call up some elementals and take some Red Warriors and we will deal with this.’
‘Mobilise your Red Warriors in the Southern Heavens as well. This may be a distraction,’ I said.
‘Already.’ She hung up without another word.
The Dragon lowered his phone. ‘I need to go as well.’
‘Go,’ I said.
‘Wait for me,’ Simone said. ‘I’ll take some water elementals with me.’ She smiled with grim delight. ‘My new weapons need blooding too.’
The Dragon turned to me and opened his mouth.
‘We’ll be fine. I have my phone. The Mountain is in lockdown.’ I waved them away. ‘We can’t afford to lose Hell. Go!’
‘The phone I gave you will be useful. Place it on the floor and tell it to show you what’s happening,’ the Dragon said.
The Dragon and Simone ran up the stairs together, and light flared above as they went out. The sound of the bells ringing for battle stations echoed through the Grotto, then they closed the door and I was left in the darkness with the dozing tortoise. I placed the phone on the floor as the Dragon had said and hesitated, wondering what to do with it. I pressed the button on the front and it spoke with a young girl’s voice.
‘Please ask me a question.’
‘Show me what’s happening in Hell.’
‘I have no sources to show you what is happening in Hell.’
I rose again and walked in a circle, then remembered that the Jade Building Block had dealt with these AI things before.
I tapped the stone in my ring. ‘Stone.’ It didn’t reply. ‘Stone! Jade Building Block.’ I hit it harder. ‘Stone!’
‘Huh?’
‘Are you hungover or something? Hell’s been attacked. John’s in a cage of jade here, knocked out. Help me get this phone thing to work, will you?’
‘Why is the Turtle in a cage and knocked out?’
‘The cage will force his feet to heal up, but the demons knocked him out before they attacked. Help me out. I’m sitting here in the dark and Hell could fall.’
‘Damn, I hate these things,’ the stone said. ‘Phone.’
‘Please ask me a question,’ the phone said.
‘Perverted unnatural piece of shit,’ the stone said under its breath. It raised its voice. ‘Project a screen above yourself showing us what’s happening in Hell.’
‘I tried that,’ I said. ‘It didn’t do anything.’
‘I have no source of information from Hell,’ the phone said.
‘What information sources do you have?’ the stone said.
‘The Lord Qing Long is carrying a camera.’
‘Then show us that,’ I said, exasperated.
‘Why didn’t you show us that?’ the stone said at the same time.
‘He is not in Hell,’ the phone said, and a moving 3D image, forty centimetres across, appeared floating above the phone. It was the view from Qing Long’s eyes.
‘How did he do that?’ the stone said.
‘Headcam,’ I said. ‘I’d like to know how he fits it to his True Form.’
‘Confirmed,’ Qing Long said. ‘Emma, I’m wearing a headset, but stay off the channel, please. Haruna, I need you to keep an eye on the situation and liaise with the Celestial. Keep me informed on the status in Heaven as well.’
‘Understood, my Lord,’ a young woman said, then her voice filled with awe. ‘Emma? The Dark Lady’s on the channel?’
‘No, she’s off the channel and watching. Mind your console, Haruna,’ the Dragon said. ‘Is the comms room fully staffed?’
‘Yes, my Lord,’ Haruna said.
‘Does the Tiger finally have his dick put away and his damn pants on?’
Haruna sounded amused. ‘He’s on his way.’
‘I’m moving to Hell now,’ the Dragon said, and the signal dropped out to snowy static.
I checked the tortoise; he was still semi-conscious.
‘Greetings, Dark Lady,’ Haruna said.
‘Hi, Haruna. Better keep quiet or your dad will have both of us for breakfast.’
‘I know,’ she said, breathless with excitement. ‘Where is the Dark Lord? I think they will need him.’
‘I’m hoping he’ll be back soon.’
‘But where …?’ The signal popped back on above the phone. ‘Never mind.’
The Dragon was prowling at the back of a waiting army of the Phoenix’s Red Warriors and his own dragon soldiers, all standing tensely at the end of one of the causeways that linked the sides of Hell. A massed troop of demons stood on the causeway a hundred metres away, but not moving to attack.
‘White Horsemen are in position on causeway nine,’ a young man said. ‘Seventeenth are in place. Twenty-Second are on their way. The main force is on causeways seven through nine.’
‘Someone give me another headset for Ma,’ the Dragon said.
The transmission filled with the sound of a microphone being rubbed against fabric, then Ma spoke. ‘Testing.’
‘Confirmed,’ Haruna said.
‘Are you sure this is better than silent speech?’ Ma said.
‘Haruna’s in Heaven and she can relay for us. The battle is won on information, and she can coordinate from above. I have three dragons carrying cameras above us — she can see everything. Haruna?’
‘The cameras are up and visibility is good,’ Haruna said. ‘I can’t see who’s heading the demons; there doesn’t appear to be a leader. No senior officers to hit; they’re all grunts.’
‘Their leader is running it by remote control,’ the Dragon said. ‘Look for flyers carrying cameras the same way we are. I can’t see any elementals. Haruna?’
‘I have no visual on any elementals,’ Haruna said. ‘Maybe they didn’t bring them along?’
‘Good,’ Ma said. ‘Damn, perhaps you’re right about these headset things. Marshal Deng of the Seventeenth.’
‘My Lord,’ Deng said, his voice rasping.
‘Marshal Xiao of the Twenty-Second,’ Ma said.
‘Moving into position across causeways three to five now,’ Xiao said in his usual old-man voice. ‘We have your back.’
‘Why aren’t they attacking?’ I asked the stone softly.
‘That’s what we’d all like to know,’ Ma said.
‘Wait, did you hear that?’ the Dragon said. ‘My lizard ears heard a vibration. There it is again. Can anyone else hear that?’
There was silence.
‘No,’ Ma said.
‘Haruna?�
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‘Uh …’ Haruna’s voice was uncertain. ‘There’s some vibration across causeway eight … I have a visual.’
‘I hear it now,’ Ma said. ‘It sounds like a huge machine …’
The screen flicked. I fell to sit on the bench next to John when I saw the tank.
‘There’s a modern army tank on causeway eight,’ Haruna said.
‘How the fucking fuck did they get a fucking tank into Hell?’ the Tiger shouted.
‘Haruna, quickly. Strategies,’ the Dragon said.
‘Accessing,’ Haruna said, her voice strained with urgency. ‘This is an ex-Russian army tank, bought surplus and restored. Weaknesses. Hold.’
The tank moved its turret gun and fired into the Tiger’s White Horsemen on the eighth causeway. The shockwave knocked the Dragon backwards, and the sound was so loud that it deafened the microphone for a second. At the end of the causeway, men, women and horses flew through the air in a cloud of gravel and dust, and some fell into the lake.
‘Holy shit,’ the Tiger said. ‘Back! Retreat! What’s the range on this bitch, someone? No, we can’t fight that. They have guns?’
There was a blast of automatic gunfire for twenty seconds and more of the Horsemen fell.
‘All sides,’ Haruna said. ‘We’re being mowed down on all three causeways.’
The Tiger roared with fury. ‘Retreat, everyone! Back up. We can’t fight these!’ He roared again. ‘Three! Five! Nine! Where the fuck is One! One!’ His voice became deeper and louder. ‘One!’
‘I’m working on it!’ Michael shouted. ‘I am trying to concentrate here! We’re on causeway eight, regrouping. The tank’s too far away to use metal abilities on it.’
‘Well, stop talking and build a goddamn shield to block these blasts —’
The Tiger was interrupted by the tank firing again. It blew a huge crater in the grass at the end of the causeway and flattened all the White Horsemen and their mounts in a ten-metre radius.
‘I said I’m fucking working on it,’ Michael said through his teeth. ‘Having trouble pulling together enough metal from the ground —’
‘Grab the metal from the bullets and stop them, you fucking idiot!’ the Tiger shouted. ‘Someone stop that damn tank!’
A White Horsewoman charged on her horse through the carnage towards the tank — it was Number Three. When she was fifty metres away she stopped and concentrated, and the tank’s treads and the muzzle of its turret gun visibly softened.
