Black Jade (21 page)

Do you believe what he says about the Mountain and the North? That he'll let us stay there and look after the refugees?

You've never asked me, Emma,
he said,
if it was true when he said he was a human child with her feet bound. China has been binding the feet of its women for a thousand years. This King is obviously much, much older than that.

I assumed it was true,
I said, dark realisation blossoming within me. John was right: the King and Yue Gui had been demon lovers in Hell long before the practice started. The Demon King couldn't possibly have been a human woman with her feet bound.
It was a lie?

Of course it was a lie. He pinpoints your greatest weaknesses and tells you what you want to hear, confirming your existing beliefs. One of your weaknesses is your need to fight the oppression of women. He played on that.

It was all a lie? He was never a child with her feet bound?

It's possible that it is the truth — foot binding has been around for a very long time — but the chance is vanishingly small. He's been female in the past, all of the biggest ones have, but lying is like breathing for demons. They must be cunning and deceitful simply to survive.

And now he's offering you the thing you want most in the world,
I said,
your Mountain and Heavens safe, and your subjects protected. Is that a lie too?

Are we willing to risk finding out? If I turn and pledge allegiance to him, I will be compelled to obey every cruel order he gives me.

But if we fight, we'll lose.

Unless the Jade Emperor has, as you said, something up his sleeve.

My spirit crashed like a great rock.
This all comes down to whether or not you trust the Jade Emperor. His silence could be a test of your trust.

No. He would not do that to me. If he had a secret weapon, he would share it with me. My guess is that he has some wildly improbable solution that will no longer exist if he as much as whispers it to any of us.

Tears filled my eyes and I wiped them away. ‘This is impossible.'

‘I know,' the Demon King said, his voice full of pain. ‘How many soldiers are lined up there?'

‘Five thousand, one hundred and three,' John said.

‘How many are mortal?'

‘Four thousand, eight hundred and sixty-five,' John said. ‘Two thousand, two hundred and thirty-four have families: spouses and children. Three thousand, eight hundred and sixty-nine have living parents or siblings. More than twelve thousand people will have their lives destroyed when these last remaining fighters are lost.'

‘They'll hate you,' the King said. ‘They'll hate me. We can stop this. The daylight's fading. Decide.'

‘History will judge us,' I said.

‘So make the right fucking decision,' the King said, his voice a low growl.

John rose and bowed to the Demon King. ‘I will see you on the field. Remember our agreement. I will enter a cage in True Form if you will keep my family safe.'

He put his hand on my shoulder and teleported me back to Persimmon Tree, left me there and returned to the platform.

He drew his sword and raised it. ‘Prepare for attack!'

‘What happened? What did you say? What did they say?' my family asked me all at once.

‘Turn the television off,' I said. ‘You don't want to see what happens next.'

‘No,' my mother said. ‘We trust John. He and the Jade Emperor will protect us. Everything will be fine.'

‘You can't see the future, Mum,' I said, moving to turn the television off. ‘It's all bad.'

My father took my wrist to stop me. ‘She's right. We have to trust the Jade Emperor. John beat the demons before. They can do it.'

‘Oh god,' Jennifer said, and I turned to see.

The demons were approaching at a run and thundered through the barricades. The vanguard were trapped on the razor wire,
and the rest of the demons climbed over their bodies to reach our forces.

The Celestial army charged to meet them.

I was glad for the lack of sound. The clash of metal from the initial contact, and the ensuing screams from the soldiers in the front lines who died in the first minutes of battle, always broke my heart.

The ground shook and I staggered, then looked around, bewildered.

‘What was that?' my mother said.

‘Earthquake?' Greg said.

‘What's
that
?' Amanda shouted, pointing at the screen.

The platform that John and Er Lang had been standing on was gone, crushed under a massive scaled . . . thing. It looked like a grey snake's coils but must have been ten metres across. The camera showed nothing but the wide body of the reptile; the head wasn't in view.

‘They created a giant Snake Mother,' Greg said with dismay. ‘I cannot believe this.'

A roar shook the earth again, and we all held onto the couch as the ground shifted beneath us.

‘That thing is
huge
,' my mother said. ‘We can hear it all the way from here? It must be fifty kilometres away!'

‘Demons,' said a voice as big as the Earth itself, and the remaining pockets of fighting stopped. Soldiers from both sides ran from the Snake Mother in panic.

John, is that a huge Snake Mother
? I said.

No,
he said, his voice full of wonder.
It is Nu Wa.

‘Oh lord, it's Nu Wa,' I said.

‘She's enormous!' Greg said.

Nu Wa lowered her head to speak and it became visible on the screen. She had the face of a beautiful woman, but no other human features.

‘Demons,' she said again, and we heard it from the Mountain. ‘These are my children and you will not hurt them. Be gone!'

The demon soldiers stood frozen, watching her. Then they must have been given the order because they attacked the Celestial army again. Some of our soldiers were still staring at Nu Wa and were taken by surprise, killed before they knew what was happening.

‘You will not touch my children!' Nu Wa roared.

She slammed the length of her snake body onto the ground, her face hitting the grass, and the earth shook so violently that the remote controls in front of us bounced off the coffee table. The Celestial soldiers were untouched, but the demons exploded as one, turning into black dust that quickly disappeared.

We sat stunned for a long moment.

‘Holy shit,' Greg whispered. ‘She destroyed them all.'

‘What happened?' my mother said.

Greg was shaking his head with wonder.

‘Emma?' my father said.

Nu Wa raised her coils again, and the Celestial army stood and looked around, bewildered.

John, what happened?
I said.

Nu Wa destroyed the entire demon army. Every demon on the field is gone.

I jumped up. ‘Yi Hao, are you okay?'

‘Yes, ma'am,' Yi Hao said from the doorway. ‘Has it started?'

‘I think we just won,' I said with wonder.

‘We won!' Jennifer yelled, throwing her arms into the air. She embraced Greg and kissed him hard, then leapt up and ran into the boys' room. ‘We won! We're safe!'

My parents hugged each other, and Amanda and Alan touched foreheads. Greg had a huge grin on his face.

I watched the screen: the Celestial army were celebrating, jumping with joy and embracing each other. Nu Wa had changed to her small matronly human form and John was holding her hands and speaking earnestly to her, with Er Lang on one knee next to them.

I fell to sit on the couch, feeling as if a huge weight had lifted off me. My premonitions had been wrong, because Nu Wa was too primal and ancient to be predicted. It was over and we could start living our lives without the threat of the demons. My dream of sharing a peaceful family life with John on the Mountain had come true.

Greg came to me and put his hand out, and I took it. He teleported me to the battlefield, and I knelt in front of Nu Wa.

The army had broken ranks and were yelling, some of them still jumping up and down. Many were on their phones talking to loved ones with tears streaming down their faces. The noise was immense.

‘The destruction of the platform was a small price to pay,' John was saying to Nu Wa. ‘Immensely preferable to the destruction of the Heavens.'

‘I suppose you're right,' Nu Wa said. ‘And here she is, the Turtle's Folly. So young and small to be so wise.'

‘We serpent women are exceptional, my Lady,' I said.

‘That we are,' she said with amusement, tapping my head. ‘Up you get, dear, and you too, Er Lang. Now where's that old fool who likes to think he runs things?'

The Jade Emperor appeared next to us, and everybody except Nu Wa fell to one knee again.

‘Thank you for coming,' he said. ‘I knew you couldn't sit by and let the Heavens fall.'

‘You shouldn't have relied on me,' she said. ‘It was a terrible decision. There was a good chance that you'd all be at their mercy right now. But I suppose I should thank you for giving me the opportunity to atone.'

‘All the Heavens are in your debt, Goddess,' he said. ‘Rise, everyone, and thank the Mother.'

‘The Demon King and his most senior lieutenants escaped before I destroyed them,' she said as we all stood. ‘Don't waste any time meeting with them to negotiate a new treaty with Hell. They'll be plotting again straight away.'

‘Xuan Tian,' the Jade Emperor said.

‘Majesty,' John said. ‘And we need to clear the demons from the Earthly. We still have a great deal of work to do.'

‘Will you stay, Lady?' the Jade Emperor said. ‘I'm sure the citizens of the Heavens would like to show their gratitude.' He nodded to John. ‘Ah Wu, if you don't mind hosting the banquet for the families who have not been made homeless? The ones who have lost everything should be shown the greatest support, and I will provide them with a celebration at the Celestial Palace.'

‘We would be honoured, Majesty,' John said.

Jade, did you get that?
I said.

How many demons can I take food shopping on the Earthly?
she said.

Take as many as you need.

Budget?

If you don't go completely overboard with the spending I will be very disappointed.

She was silent for a moment, then said,
I need to work out what to save for the wedding. Some dancers at this one, but we won't use martial arts demonstrations —

Jade,
I said,
I have things to do.

Red and gold for the colour scheme of course, but —
She stopped talking mid-sentence.

‘I need to contact the Demon King and start the treaty negotiations now,' John said.

‘Go,' the Jade Emperor said.

John took my hands.
I'll be back directly. Wait for me.
I fell into his dark eyes, full of quiet joy at our victory.
No displays of affection in front of the Mother. We will have to celebrate privately later.

I raised his hands to my face and kissed them anyway.
We have all the time in the world.

‘You two must marry immediately,' Nu Wa said.

‘I agree,' the Jade Emperor said.

‘We can marry now?' I said, and looked back to see the Jade Emperor beaming at us. I turned back to John. He was gazing down at me with the same intensity that I felt.

‘Of course,' the Emperor said. ‘But do not hurry to wed; take your time to organise it. We want this to be the grandest and most lavish wedding the Heavens have ever seen.'

‘No,' John and I moaned quietly, and touched foreheads.

Nu Wa chuckled.

‘It will happen, so deal with it,' the Jade Emperor said. ‘Ah Wu, chase down the Demon King and begin negotiations immediately.'

‘Majesty.' John kissed the top of my head and disappeared.

The Jade Emperor smiled down at Nu Wa. ‘Lady? My wife awaits us at the Celestial Palace. She has come down from the Peach Garden to see you and says it has been far too long since you last talked. Tea?'

‘I would be delighted,' she said.

‘Lady Emma, dismissed. Call upon Er Lang and the Four Winds to assist you in re-establishing our administration.'

‘Majesty,' I said.

The Jade Emperor's head shot up and his expression went blank. ‘What is that? That should not be there.'

He turned to look. The Demon King and a few of his most senior commanders stood at the other end of the field.

Nu Wa studied them as well. ‘They have returned,' she said.

John reappeared. ‘The Demon King is here.'

‘Good. We can use his marquee to negotiate
his
surrender,' I said.

A hammering roar became audible at the edge of hearing, from the other side of the field where the Demon King stood.

‘Helicopters?' I said. ‘Who brought helicopters?'

Five helicopter gunships appeared over the horizon. A convoy of armoured personnel carriers, at least twenty of them, drove beneath them, lifting a cloud of dust. They stopped on the far side of the field, three hundred metres away, and the helicopters landed behind them, blowing more dust into the air. A battalion of European human mercenaries, fully equipped in modern battledress, some armed with automatic rifles and some with handheld rocket launchers, scrambled out of the personnel carriers. A couple of big trucks drove up and disgorged more soldiers.

‘Reform the lines!' Er Lang shouted, running down to the army. ‘Reform! We will be attacked!'

Our soldiers quickly ran to retake their positions. Some scrabbled around on the ground, looking for their weapons.

‘Humans,' John said with dismay. ‘He has humans fighting for him.'

Nu Wa's expression was infinitely sad. ‘I cannot help you with this. I will not harm my children. Any of my children. All humans are sacred,' she said, and disappeared.

More soldiers appeared through the dust. The Demon King had thousands of them.

‘The Heavens have never fought modern Earthly forces before,' John said.

‘And we never will,' the Jade Emperor said. ‘Disable them without harming them. We protect humans, we do not kill them.'

‘Celestials kill humans all the time,' I said. ‘This is no different. They're attacking us. We have the right to defend ourselves.'

Er Lang returned to us. ‘Ready for your order, Majesty. I suggest we fill the sky with dragons to fight the helicopters, and focus on destroying the ground troops with our most powerful Immortals.'

‘We will disable them and prevent them from harming us, but we will not harm them,' the Jade Emperor said again. ‘The Celestial protects humans.'

‘The Celestial harms humans all the time!' I yelled, frustrated.

‘Madam, remember your place. You are young and new to the Celestial,' he said. ‘Individual Immortals sometimes behave in an immoral manner and are punished for it. But We are the Celestial and We protect the mortal residents of the Earthly.'

‘That's right, I'm new. I was one of those mortals last year,' I said. ‘If an army attacked my home, I would not hesitate to defend it with everything I had.'

‘And now you are Immortal and better than that. Stop arguing with me or I will order you silent.' He turned to Er Lang. ‘Defend as you have suggested, but
no humans are to be harmed
. Understood?'

‘It's the twenty-first century meeting the sixteenth, Majesty,' John said. ‘We may not be able to stop them without harming them.'

‘We must,' the Jade Emperor said.

‘Reconsider, Majesty,' John said, his voice strained. ‘Modern weapons are more destructive than you have ever seen, and we must defend ourselves.'

‘We do not harm humans,' the Jade Emperor said, and disappeared. He reappeared on top of the wall above us.

‘Can you use mind control on the human soldiers?' I asked John.

‘The Demon King is already well established in their heads. If we attempt to break his hold it will destroy their minds.'

‘And that counts as harm.' I dropped my voice. ‘He's attacking us at our greatest weakness.'

‘I know,' John said. He looked around. ‘We need someone to move you to safety.'

‘I'll stay and help fight. It's all or nothing now.'

‘I don't think I have a choice; there's nobody to carry you,' John said as the human mercenaries formed ranks and marched towards us.

The Celestial soldiers took up their weapons again.

‘This is guns against swords,' I said. ‘Even with our abilities —'

‘I know,' he said, took Celestial Form and drew Seven Stars.

I summoned Dark Heavens and matched his motion, growing to my own battle form as well. ‘Fight well, Dark Lord. I will see you on the other side.'

‘Dark Lady, you honour me.'

‘The honour is all mine,' I said, and both of us moved to the front lines.

The Tiger and a few of his children stood their ground next to us. When the humans were within range, the soldiers dropped to one knee to fire at us and the cats stopped the bullets.

John and I shared a look. Ranged weapons were not best used in the open like this; the soldiers should have had some sort of cover. The human mercenaries must have known that — further proof that the King was in their heads, using them as disposable battle fodder.

Great rocks emerged from the earth in front of us, giving us the cover we needed, and our fighters moved behind them. I silently thanked the Jade Emperor while at the same time despairing at the small numbers we had left. Many of our soldiers had already been killed in the battle with the demons.

Four helicopters lifted off and flew towards us. They released rockets, and Celestials — John, Er Lang, the Phoenix and the Dragon — flew up to intercept them.

John and the Dragon weren't damaged by the blasts; but the Phoenix couldn't fly well after donating her tail to the infirmary, and she exploded into a cloud of red feathers as the missile she caught blew up. The Dragon attempted to grab one of the helicopters, but they fired a rocket at him from inside and he fell, dead.

The helicopters sent more rockets at us. Er Lang caught one, and so did John, but another two hit our forces and killed more than fifty soldiers in a wide crater of carnage.

The soldiers with handheld launchers concentrated on destroying the Jade Emperor's barricades, taking all the soldiers behind them as well; and he was obviously having difficulty replacing them as they were blown up.

The soldiers on foot marched towards us, took aim and fired. The Tiger and his children caught most of the bullets, but more of our soldiers fell.

The Tiger roared and launched himself at the human soldiers.

Stand down and do not harm the humans,
the Jade Emperor said from the top of the wall.

The Tiger roared again with frustration and obeyed the order, returning to the front of the lines. One of the mercenaries shot him between the eyes and he fell.

Fall back,
the Jade Emperor said.

Fall back,
John said, and the Celestial army retreated, most still facing the enemy, until we were clustered around the Northern Palace's wall and the remains of the platform.

I stood close to the wall near the gates, ready to escort our soldiers inside if it came to a siege.

A rock wall appeared before the gates of the Northern Heavens, defending them; and the Jade Emperor appeared at the centre of our forces. He raised his arms and concentrated on the human army approaching us, his will streaming towards them. The soldiers hesitated, and some of them backed up. The Jade Emperor yanked off his hat and threw it on the ground next to him. Sweat beaded on his forehead. John stood beside him on one side and Er Lang on the other, guarding him as the Jade Emperor forced the humans back step by step. It was a battle of wills: the Emperor against the Demon King.

A shot rang out. John jumped in front of the Jade Emperor and blocked it with Seven Stars. Three more shots rang out at the same time and John and Er Lang blocked them.

There was silence for a moment, then a single shot rang out from the other side of the field, three hundred metres away, and the side of the Jade Emperor's head exploded into bloody fragments at the same time. He toppled, dead, and the barrier in front of the gates fell.

The human army charged towards us. They outnumbered us by at least five to one, and sprayed us with bullets as they ran. The helicopters had flown back behind their lines to re-arm but they would be returning soon.

The Demon King had the Jade Emperor in Hell. It was all over.

‘Quickly, before the aircraft return,' Er Lang said.

Open the gates,
John said.

The gates of the Northern Heavens opened, swinging outwards.

Retreat into the city
, John said, but it was too late.

Our forces turned and ran, and the humans fired on them as they tried to escape. At least a third of our troops fell. The human army didn't stop firing, picking them off as they retreated.