DAC 3 Precious Dragon (21 page)

"Do you know what it was?" Mrs Pa asked her grandson.

"I have never seen anything like it before. It was strange, as though the form it took was not its natural form, but a shell which it wore."

Inari stared at him. "You didn't tell me that."

"I have been trying to work things out."

"We can't go back to the boat," Inari said. "It might come back or something else might come, and you see, Mrs Pa, I am not a warrior. And my husband is not here. I'm sorry to be so feeble."

"You're not feeble at all," Mrs Pa said. "But I am. I saw what came to my house. I couldn't do anything to stop it."

"If it came to your house," the badger said with slow logic, "then it knows where you live and we cannot go back there, either."

"Then where can we go?" Mrs Pa asked.

"The temple of Kuan Yin," said Inari. "My husband used to be under her protection."

Mrs Pa stared at her. "Used to be?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, he disobeyed her instructions when he rescued me from Hell and she renounced him. She has helped him since, however."

"Well, so I should think," said Mrs Pa. "After all, she's supposed to be merciful and compassionate. It doesn't sound very compassionate to renounce your servant because he helps someone else."

"Gods are weird," said Inari. There was a short silence.

"Anyway," Mrs Pa said. "You still think that her temple is the place to go?"

"It's the only place I can think of," Inari said. "Unless—oh, wait! I have an idea." She sank down onto a nearby tree trunk. "Last year, Chen and Zhu Irzh helped some people. One of them was the son of the Celestial Emperor."

"My word," said Mrs Pa faintly. "That's quite something."

"He had a friend, a human woman. She died, in a battle. But because of the friendship, she's still living here in Singapore Three. There was a ruined temple to the Emperor's son—he didn't like being worshipped so it fell into decline. But his friend decided to restore it and now she's its priestess. We went to see them once, at the Water Festival last year. It's a nice place now. I think we should go there rather than bother Kuan Yin again. You see, I don't have any other friends here. Chen and I can't socialize, because of what I am."

"Well, it sounds like a plan," Mrs Pa said. She felt rather stunned. First, all this business with Mai and Precious Dragon, and then here she was, about to start hobnobbing with the son of the Celestial Emperor. But someone of that status would surely be able to protect them from unknown demonic assassins. Wouldn't they? "Where is it, this temple?"

"That's the only problem," Inari said. "It's on the other side of the city. And it's dark now, I don't want to start wandering about, especially after what's just happened. You must know how it is with Hellkind. Some humans can see us, like yourself, others can't, but I don't want to take a risk."

"Well, we'll wait until morning, then," Mrs Pa said. She sat down beside Inari. "Would you like a bun?"

"Mrs Pa, you must have been sent from the gods yourself," Inari said with a wan smile. "I'm hungry."

Precious Dragon curled up beside Mrs Pa after they had eaten, and the badger sat next to Inari, eyes glittering in watchfulness. A day's cleaning work, and then the excitement of this evening, had made Mrs Pa exhausted, but she could not sleep. Inari's head drooped and Precious Dragon's breathing deepened, but Mrs Pa and the badger sat wakeful late into the night, until the stars hung low over the harbor and the mournful hoots of passing boats sounded out across the water.

Much later, however, Mrs Pa woke. At first she was completely disoriented, then memory came back in a rush. The badger was growling low under its breath.

"Badger," Mrs Pa whispered. "What is it?"

"Something is on the boat," the badger replied.

Mrs Pa could just see Inari's houseboat through the bushes and with dismay she saw that the badger was right. Something—no, several things—were swarming up from the water and onto the deck of the houseboat. Mrs Pa nudged Inari, who woke with a start.

"What are they?"

Inari shook her head. "I don't know."

They moved like human beings, but even from this distance, in the uncertain lights from the harbor, Mrs Pa could tell that they were not. They made her senses prickle. Precious Dragon had been right: it was like looking at shells, at simulacra of human beings. They wore slick black outfits like sealskin, and if it hadn't been for that terrible sense of wrongness, Mrs Pa would have assumed they were human divers. But instead, she had the impression that she was seeing their actual flesh.

And they were exactly like the thing that had invaded her home a little while ago.

"Inari," she murmured. "Is there any way that they can track us, do you think? By smell?"

"I don't know. I hope not."

One of the things was on the roof of the houseboat. It stood and looked around, then it crawled face down along the wall to the lower deck. It moved with unnatural speed, reminding Mrs Pa of a spider or crab. A moment later, all the things returned to the waters of the harbor with barely a splash.

"I think we should move," Inari said. Mrs Pa thought so, too.

"We could climb a tree," she suggested. It sounded so futile, but looking around, they didn't have many other options. There was a ruined pier further down the shore, but the scrub had petered out at that point and the shore was exposed. Behind the trees was a high wall, a concreted cliff that would be impossible to climb.

So Mrs Pa hoisted Precious Dragon up into the branches, and then Inari helped her up, with some difficulty.

"I'm too old to be sitting in a tree at my age," Mrs Pa said ruefully. She clutched the trunk. It seemed a very long way to the ground. Inari shinned lithely up beside her, followed by the badger.

Then they waited. At first, Mrs Pa thought that it was over. The things had merely wanted to check the houseboat and had returned to the water. But then the badger, crouching beside her on a branch, stiffened, and she saw a narrow wake out in the harbor, heading fast for shore.

"Precious Dragon," she murmured. "Don't even breathe." But her grandson was already as still as stone.

The wake reached the shore and one of the black beings glided out of the water. Closer to, it looked nothing like a human being. Its limbs were too thin, but the muscles and veins were hideously prominent. Round black eyes like lenses were set into its shiny skull. A small circular mouth opened to reveal needle teeth and a long probing tongue that snaked over the shore, testing and questing. Its hind legs were jointed the wrong way, bending backward, and its feet were long, razor-edged paddles. It came quickly up the shore and left no trace in the sand.

Mrs Pa and her companions stayed still and quiet. The thing investigated the place where they had slept. Then it looked up. Mrs Pa found herself staring directly down into the black lenses and it was like looking through a gateway, into a vast dark land where everything was storm and cold. She gasped and the thing was already swarming up the tree. Inari kicked out and her foot connected with its head. The head snapped backward, as if its neck was made of rubber, and righted itself. The thing gave a little curling grin. It seized Inari by the ankle and threw her out of the tree. She landed heavily, but the next moment was up again and grasping for the creature, trying to avoid the sharp, flailing paddle of its left foot. The badger bit into its arm and hung on. The thing, still grinning, tried to dislodge it but the badger clung solidly.

Something pushed past Mrs Pa and she almost lost her grip on the trunk. Precious Dragon stood precariously in the fork of the tree. He was mumbling the pearl, working it inside his cheek, and as Mrs Pa watched, aghast, he spat. A long stream of glistening white saliva shot out and plastered itself over the thing's face. It screamed, a discordant shrieking which delighted Mrs Pa's heart. She would have struck at it herself but she was afraid of falling out of the tree. The saliva was burning, eating away the creature's face like acid and revealing a thin sheen of bony skull that soon dissolved. Inside, at first there wasn't anything, and then there was everything: a whole world. Mrs Pa was looking through a gap in the air, the size and shape of a human figure, and beyond it was that immense, storm-riven land. She was looking down through the clouds, a distance of thousands of feet and all at once she felt she was falling. She screamed and clutched at Precious Dragon and then they did fall, but out of the tree. Mrs Pa felt a sickening crack at the back of her head and then there was nothing.

It started with my mother," Underling No said. They were still sitting at the café table. "She worked for the Ministry of War all her life, it's in our family. She was a warrior." No banged the table with her mailed fist for emphasis. "Then one year there was a dispute between War and Lust—the two Ministers fell out over something. There were raids between the Ministries, and a raiding party from Lust overpowered my mother and her unit. They took her into the Ministry and we never saw her again, but we knew what had happened to her because they sent us photographs. Big ones. Full color. She was raped and put to work. Can you imagine how humiliating that is for a warrior? For anyone?"

"I'm so sorry," Chen said. He had to restrain himself from reaching out and putting a hand on No's arm; he did not think she would appreciate it. He felt, at gut level, that she was telling the truth. Zhu Irzh made a tutting noise.

"Dreadful business. Happens a lot between Ministries."

"I know that," Underling No said. "But Lust has additional weapons. At least with Epidemics, for instance, all you get is some foul disease. You're not broken."

"Very true," Zhu Irzh said. "I've never liked Lust. Well, you know what I mean. The Vice Department had a lot of dealings with them, obviously; we had to carry out their remits. It was always a pain in the ass. They were always getting on their high horse about something or other, always whining."

"Also, your brother-in-law works for them," Chen reminded him.

"Yes, well, that doesn't exactly endear me to them. Daisy worked for them for a bit, too, before she landed her bureaucrat and started giving herself airs and graces. She was a secretary. In fact, come to think of it, as a family we've probably had more dealings with the Ministry of Lust than with any other department over the decades."

Chen bit back what he had been about to say, but he knew that both he and Zhu Irzh were thinking the same thing: Given those connections with Lust, what was Zhu Irzh's mother doing with the Minister of War?

"I can understand why you're not a fan of Lust, in that case," Chen said to No.

"This is why I want to come with you. Miss Qi—I don't know her, of course. She is a Celestial, our enemy. But sometimes enemies can be closer than one's friends and I saw what kind of a person Qi is—she is like my mother. A warrior, too—I saw her with the bow. And I do not like to think of her in the hands of Lust. I couldn't save my mother, I was too young. But perhaps I can help you save Miss Qi, and maybe, if I can get into the Ministry, I might also be able to find out what happened to my mother. She might even still be alive."

"Have you tried before?" Chen asked.

"Twice. Each time, I failed. I did not have this map—I was surprised that the Lesser Lord gave it to you."

Chen sighed. "I'm afraid demons don't matter, Underling No. Miss Qi is a Celestial and they're too scared of a diplomatic incident with Heaven not to give us some help, at least."

"Then you'll take me with you?" Underling No asked.

"Yes," Chen said. "We will." He did not know whether it was wise to put any faith in Underling No's story, but you had to trust your instincts some time, and Chen's had already told him that the demon was telling the truth. Besides, they could use her help.

"Good!" No leaped to her feet. It struck Chen that in many ways, No was the mirror image of Qi: both warriors of integrity, one mild and one ferocious, one serving Heaven and the other Hell. It gave him the discomfiting feeling that the worlds might all have their counterparts: Was there a Celestial version of Zhu Irzh? Of Inari?

"I shall bring more blood," No announced. "We will drink to our success!"

"She's very keen," Zhu Irzh remarked as No disappeared in the direction of the café's interior. He leaned languidly back in his chair and looked in the direction of the Ministry of Lust. Chen followed his glance. The Ministry seemed to have swelled.

"You can see why."

"There's a fair chance her mum's still in there, unless she's been dispatched to the lower realms. If you ask me, she's coming along for the ride simply to find out what happened to her mother. I doubt she gives a toss about Qi."

"Very probably you're right," Chen said, though he wasn't entirely sure about that. "Do you have objections to her coming along, though? She could be useful."

"No objections. I agree with you. I think we'll need to keep an eye on her, though. She's likely to go running off at a crucial moment."

Underling No came back with drinks, and they resumed a study of the map. The most promising entrance lay at the back of the building, in the grounds. Chen remembered the extensive shrubberies that he had seen in the gardens of the hotel: both the grounds of the hotel and those of the Ministry adjoined one another.

"We're going to need some kind of disguise," he said. "We can't just pretend that we're going back to the hotel. Someone will be watching."

"I have a method of temporary invisibility," No said. "It's standard use among the troops. It won't work once we're inside the Ministry itself, though. They have protections against that sort of thing."

Chen shrugged. "Sounds good enough to me. As long as we can actually get inside the Ministry, we'll take it from there. If we go back to the hotel and use your method, then we can slip out again. I'm reluctant to leave this any longer."

"So am I," Underling No said. She grimaced. "You didn't see the photos of my mother."

Zhu Irzh downed the last of his drink and got up. "Let's get on with it, then."