Demon Child (24 page)

‘Stop,’ the King said, and John went still, panting on the ground with his eyes open.

Martin put his arms under John’s shoulders and assisted him to sit on his chair. John flopped, his eyes open but unseeing, and a dark stain spread over his pants: he’d lost control of his bladder during the seizure. I pulled my chair closer and sat next to him, slipping under his arm to keep him upright, but he was obviously unconscious with his eyes open.

The King stood. ‘I didn’t mean to embarrass him to that degree.’ He bowed slightly. ‘I apologise for this dishonour, Ah Wu.’

Martin positioned himself behind us and put his hands on either side of John’s head. His hands glowed with shen energy for an instant and John snapped back to consciousness. He quickly dried himself and pushed me away to sit upright unaided, but was obviously still dazed.

‘Have you finished torturing him?’ I said. ‘You’re not achieving anything except to prove that you can’t be trusted.’

‘It had to be done. He has to be out of the way,’ the King said. ‘See you in Hell, guys. I tried to avoid this, and it’s your choice to make it happen.’

He gestured towards Lucinda without looking at her, then rose and bowed to John and me. They turned and walked out of the hall together.

‘There’s another child?’ Martin said.

‘Wait,’ John said, raising his hand. He relaxed. ‘They’re gone. They’re not trying the Celestial; they’re returning to Hell.’ He dropped his voice. ‘I need medical attention. I can’t see out of my left eye.’

Martin and I both assisted him to struggle to the Celestial Palace medical centre. His left leg dragged and he had difficulty with his balance. Halfway there he had another seizure. His
movements were so violent that he writhed out of our grip and fell again. He scrabbled at the ground, his eyes wide, and made horrible garbled noises. After an eternal couple of minutes, the seizure stopped and John lay silent and unmoving on the ground with his eyes open, again unconscious, and with blood trickling out of his mouth.

‘I can only do this two or three more times before it kills me,’ Martin said, putting his hand, loaded with shen, on John’s face.

John snapped back to consciousness, pulled himself onto his hands and knees, and looked around. He reached for me. I helped him to his feet, and he clutched me. Martin moved to his other side and we held him up. He wiped his hand over his mouth and winced at the blood there; he’d bitten his tongue.

John squeezed me and spoke, but what came out was meaningless gibberish. He tried to speak again, and again it was meaningless. His eyes widened and he switched to silent speech, but again the words were mangled beyond recognition in my head.

Martin levered John off him and turned to peer into his eyes. ‘His left pupil is severely dilated, but the other one is okay. Brain damage? We need to find him medical attention right away, but if this is serious he may need an Earthly hospital.’

‘John, do you understand me?’ I said.

He didn’t respond; he just leaned on me, panting.

‘Shit,’ I said softly. ‘We need someone to take him to the Mountain. Can you?’

‘I can try,’ Martin said, and lifted John off me to take his full weight. ‘What about you?’

‘Can you take both of us?’

‘No.’

‘Just him then. We have to take him to the Grotto.’

‘Why the Grotto?’

‘We’ll put him into the Celestial Jade cage. Take him to the Grotto and put him in —’

We landed outside the Grotto and I raised my head. ‘Thank you!’ I said loudly to the Jade Emperor. I dropped my voice. ‘Ming. Go into the armoury where the Celestial weapons are kept — the Celestial Jade cage is there. Meet us back here with it.’ John leaned more heavily on me. ‘Hurry!’

I opened the Grotto door and carefully assisted John down the stairs, his feet dragging. I laid him on the cold stone next to the water and raised my head to speak to the fish.

‘Everybody out. That’s an order.’

Martin came down the stairs, the door closing behind him, and passed me the casket.

I put it on the floor and removed the lid. ‘I hope he’s conscious enough to change. Hold him, and when he changes put him inside. I’ll close the lid.’

Martin held John’s head up. John lay unmoving with his eyes open and his face slack.

‘He seems too out of it, Emma.’

‘Can you speak to him?’

Martin put one hand on the side of John’s face and pulled it around to look into his eyes. He shook his head. ‘He’s too far gone.’

‘We need him conscious and aware. The demons —’

Martin’s head shot up, and I felt it as well. The Jade Emperor had called battle stations. The demons had attacked Hell.

John made some garbled noises, pushed Martin away and struggled to climb to his hands and knees. He bent his head for a moment, panting, then lurched to his feet and staggered, nearly falling. With visible effort he regained his balance and took Celestial Form with Seven Stars on his back. He bent, took my hands, raised them to his face and kissed them; then stood straight and turned to hold his hand out to Martin.

Martin hesitated for a moment before he grimly clasped it and both of them disappeared.

‘Goodbye,’ I said.

I stood silently for a couple of minutes, then shook myself out of it. I needed to find Simone and make sure she was okay, and that she knew what had happened to her father. I put the cage into its casket and climbed back up the stairs, each of them seeming ten metres high.

The minute I was out of the Grotto the stone spoke to me. ‘Simone’s gone to fight, Emma. Go put that cage away and I’ll keep you updated.’

‘Can Zara go with him and relay for us?’ I said as I carried the casket towards the armoury. All around me, Disciples hurried to their positions.

‘She won’t. She doesn’t want to bring him bad luck.’

‘How about you then?’

‘I vowed to stay with you.’

‘Find someone, please. I need to know what’s happening.’

‘I’m looking. There aren’t many of us left, and we have to use mundane technology to communicate from Hell —’

‘— because it’s underground. I know.’

Lucy Chen was distributing weapons at the entrance to the armoury, and nodded to me as I passed her. I went through the empty shelves to the end of the room and walked through the wall. The Murasame was the only Celestial weapon remaining in the high-security section. I closed my eyes to walk through the gold bars, and placed the casket at the far corner of the room against the stone wall.

I passed the box containing the Elixir of Immortality as I headed out, and stopped for a moment. I made a snap decision and put my hand on the featureless black surface. The box shimmered into nothingness, revealing the black and silver jug. I picked up the jug, held it down by my side so Lucy wouldn’t see it, and went back out again.

They were all gone when I exited the armoury, so I carefully carried the jug back to the Imperial Residence. Smally was standing in the entrance hall, her eyes wide and frightened.

‘There’s no demon master, ma’am, we don’t know what to do,’ she said.

‘Return to barracks,’ I said. ‘Tell all the other demons to return to quarters immediately.’

She nodded, concentrated to share the information, then hesitated. ‘Can I stay with you?’

‘No. Go back to the demon quarters, and lock them up when you’re all in there.’

‘Ma’am,’ she said, and went towards the rear of the house.

I followed her into the kitchen and watched the demons head out to their quarters. I found a sports bottle in the kitchen cupboard, carefully poured the Elixir into it, and sealed it tight before the powerful scent of it made me pass out.

‘You’re wasting your time. There’s nobody to take you to Hell,’ the stone said.

‘There are two very easy ways I can get there,’ I said.

‘Two?’

‘I can change to serpent and teleport myself as well.’

‘As well as what?’ the stone said, confused.

‘As well as the obvious way of getting to Hell.’

I went into the living room and sat on the couch, rigid with dread and holding the sports bottle.

‘You do that to yourself and I will never forgive you. Nobody else will either,’ the stone said, its voice sharp. ‘And the Elixir won’t go with you, so don’t even think about it.’

‘I promised Simone I wouldn’t, don’t worry.’ I raised my head. ‘How’s John? Is he still alive?’

‘Surprisingly, yes. I think the Jade Emperor’s helping him. Martin is also giving him a hand. It appears that they’re using him as a weapon — pointing him at things and having him destroy them.’

‘Who’s winning?’

‘Too early to say.’

‘Okay.’ I pulled my legs up to sit cross-legged on the couch with the bottle in my lap, and tried to relax as I waited for them. ‘Keep me updated on Simone. I wish you would leave me and go to her.’

‘I promised.’

I leaned back on the couch. ‘I understand.’

Its voice softened. ‘Emma …’

‘I know,’ I said.

‘You know?’

‘He’s not coming back. Whether we win or lose, he won’t be coming back.’

The stone was silent for a while, then said, ‘Okay. I’m here for you.’

My throat thickened. ‘Thank you. Just keep me updated on Simone.’

‘At the moment, she and her horse are doing magnificently.’

‘Let me know if the situation changes.’ I raised the sports bottle in front of my face. ‘And let me know the
second
there’s any chance she’ll need this.’

‘Of course.’

I sat in silence, waiting for word from them.

Zhenwu

Of all the brain injuries to have, damage to the language centres was absolutely the worst. John couldn’t give orders and Martin couldn’t provide information; instead, they communicated through raw emotion and with non-verbal direction, passing images between them. They stood side by side in front of the barricades that blocked the entrance to Court Ten, the last line of defence. Martin fought next to him, indicating demons for John to attack, but John wasn’t able to direct the army and had no idea how the battle was progressing. On top of that, he was close to death, half-blind and had no idea whether Simone was safe or not.

John sent Martin a picture of Simone’s face. Martin sent him a reassuring emotion and John silently thanked him; Simone was okay. He sent a blast of shen energy to destroy the Mothers around him, then turned to Martin and sent him a query.

Martin responded with despair, giving John an overview of the situation. The demons had overrun the Celestial island and were marching on Court Ten. Courts Two to Nine had already fallen, and Court One was … As Martin sent the image it changed. The demons were in One. The Celestial forces had pulled back to Court Ten, but they’d been devastated by the forces of Hell — both types of demon, East and West — and the Celestial army was a fraction of its initial numbers. Only a hundred or so of the biggest Celestials — the
Winds themselves, and the Generals — were falling back to form a ring around Court Ten, with the horde savagely trying to break through the lines.

They needed reinforcements. The Twelfth was guarding the Earthly and some of them could be pulled down quickly to bolster the defence. He sent the number twelve — a cross with two horizontal strokes beneath it — to Martin.

Martin sent back bewilderment.

John sent the Western twelve and a soldier.

Martin nodded understanding and hesitated, passing the order on. Maybe they could do this after all. Martin moved into position next to John and raised the Silver Serpent. If they couldn’t break this final attack, they would retreat behind the barricades and shore up Court Ten for siege.

Martin sent him an image of Pao behind them, standing in front of his court with a sword in his hand and a resolute expression. John sensed Pao’s desperation: the judge was frantic with concern that the Court would fall and every Shen sent to it would be imprisoned by the forces of Hell. Pao was probably prepared to stay with his Court to the end; he had a level of stubbornness that made Emma look pliant.

Martin indicated five black Western demons approaching. John hefted his sword and prepared to fight them. He didn’t have much left, but by the Heavens he would take out as many as he could before he fell. Martin attacked two and John attacked three, but their blows glanced off.

Oh shit.

Martin made his sword sing and it slowed them, but the black demons didn’t stop.

Martin sent futility: a suggestion that they fall back.

John sent determination and summoned yin. It floated around him in a cloud of destruction and he pushed his left hand out towards the demons and released it into them. They shredded in its cold cloud, and he fell to one knee with the effort of calling it back to him. Martin patted his shoulder as John clambered back to his feet. John nodded; they could do this together.

Martin broadcast shock and sent John an image. There were more than two hundred of these black demons approaching; they
had overrun the Celestial lines and were descending on them. Behind them came a cockroach the size of a bus, its shell the same shiny black material as the demons. The insect would be able to dismantle the barricades around Court Ten with ridiculous ease.

John lifted Seven Stars and prepared to fight them to the end. It wouldn’t be long and he would rejoin, and even if he was to suffer at the hands of the demons it would be a tremendous relief to be whole once more.

Simone rode in on a sweat-lathered Freddo behind the demons and generated a cloud of yin that destroyed them. Martin raised his hands and sent yin into the vanguard of the armoured demon’s forces. Their yin clouds were a fraction of what John could generate. If John could add his full capability without destroying everything, they could still win.

He gathered himself, leapt high above the demon force and prepared for a final release that would destroy most of what remained.

The Serpent was shocked with electricity again and he lost control. He reached the apex of his leap and fell, helpless. The pain was excruciating and his muscles heaved in spasms until he hit the ground hard and lost consciousness.

Emma

I heard voices behind me and turned. Martin and Simone had appeared in the Residence’s courtyard, Simone mounted on Freddo and Martin next to the horse’s head. They were blackened with demon essence. John was thrown across Freddo’s back behind Simone.

Simone dismounted, then she and Martin lowered John onto the grass and knelt next to him. I rushed out to see them.

‘Are you okay?’ I said.

Simone rubbed her hand over her forehead and smeared demon essence over her face. She looked at her hand and grimaced, then dropped it. ‘We lost.’

‘Hell has fallen,’ Martin said, raising John’s eyelids to check his eyes. ‘They shocked him just before the final push and knocked
him out as they charged the Court Ten barricades. Our lines were overrun and Court Ten is theirs.’ He looked up at me. ‘Most of our forces are dead or their prisoners.’

‘It’s awful,’ Simone said and broke down, shaking with silent sobs. Martin reached around and pulled her into a hug and she clutched him.

I fell to sit on the grass, stunned. I took John’s hand. He was unconscious and Martin obviously didn’t have enough left to bring him around. At least he hadn’t rejoined, but he looked close to death and if that happened the demons would have him. He was so far gone that he would probably take off and rejoin the minute he woke up.

‘You’re safe here,’ I said. ‘The Disciples are here to defend. We’ll be fine.’

‘They have Michael!’ Simone cried, distraught. ‘Oh my
god
, poor Clarissa.’

‘Do they have any of the really senior people?’ I asked Martin.

‘They took down the Dragon, but obviously they don’t have another cage because he came back almost immediately. They don’t have any of the Winds or the Generals, but there isn’t much left of the army and many of our senior officers are prisoners. The Jade Emperor ordered us to evacuate when Father went down and the cockroach attacked the barricades, so the last of us made it out. Anyone left in Court Ten is theirs.’

‘A cockroach?’

‘I think I’m going to be sick,’ Simone said. She pulled herself free from Martin and ran to the powder room.

‘Ten metres long and covered in that armour you were talking about,’ Martin said. He looked down at John. ‘We need to get him to the infirmary.’ His eyes unfocused. ‘Never mind, it’s full of casualties. Edwin can examine him later. Let’s clean him up and put him to bed.’

‘Your patience is impressive, Freddo,’ I said without looking away from John. ‘Return to the stables. You’ve earned your rest.’

Martin glanced back at Freddo, who had been standing quietly the entire time. ‘Go and clean up and tell the mafoos you’ve earned an extra feed. Well done, my friend.’

‘I wish I could stay and help Simone,’ Freddo said. ‘It’s a pain being such a large animal sometimes.’

‘You saved her life more than once,’ Martin said. ‘You were courageous in battle and defended her fiercely. You are a huge asset as you are.’

‘Thank you, my Prince,’ Freddo said, and disappeared.

Edwin released John’s wrist after checking his pulse. ‘Hard to say. It could just be exhaustion, or it could be a coma from the brain damage. I’d love to do a scan but no stones are available.’

‘Where’s Gold?’ I said.

‘Coordinating from the Celestial Palace,’ the stone said. ‘He’ll be busy for a few hours; he’s acting as an information relay.’

‘You?’ I said.

‘I can’t do it,’ the stone said with regret. ‘I’m too …’ It hesitated, then its voice dropped. ‘Old and weak.’

‘I know the feeling,’ Edwin said. He checked his watch. ‘It’s 6 pm. If he hasn’t come around by tomorrow morning, I’ll put him on a drip and we’ll ask Gold to stab him in the brain again.’

‘Can you just leave him like this? If we bring him around he’ll rejoin,’ I said.

‘If we leave him in a coma, I’ll have to catheterise him, put him on a drip, insert a feeding tube …’ Edwin looked him up and down. ‘Believe me, having him awake is a much better option.’

‘I understand,’ I said. ‘How are the Disciples in the infirmary?’

He smiled without humour. ‘There are only ten, and they’re not badly injured. I’m hearing similar reports from the other medical centres. The ones we have are the ones that were on the back lines, or reinforcements that weren’t called up. The ones that fought the demons … all died.’

‘I see. Thank you, Edwin. Go find something to eat, and rest. I don’t know how long we have before the demons make their next move.’

‘Ma’am,’ he said, saluted me and went out.

‘I need to go check on Leo and Buffy,’ Martin said. ‘Will you be okay?’

I nodded. ‘Just one thing before you go.’ I patted the quilt and he sat next to me on the bed. ‘If I change to serpent, I can feel his
Serpent’s call, know where it is and go straight to it. Would you be able to follow me?’

He was silent for a long time, his refined features intent. Eventually he shook his head. ‘I don’t know.’

‘I think it’s worth a try.’

‘But we have you already, and you sound exactly like him.’

‘I’m small, human, mortal and inexperienced. We need him now, more than anything.’

Don’t even think about it
, Simone said.

‘Stop listening.’

She came into the room wearing a bunny robe over fleecy pyjamas and slippers, her long hair wet from the shower. ‘No. Don’t even think about it. You’ll end up in that cage as well.’

‘We don’t know if the cage works on people other than the Winds.’

‘And we never will, because you won’t try.’ She sighed, exasperated. ‘He’ll absorb you, Emma.’

‘We’ll have to open the cage before he can absorb me. If the cage is open, he’ll be free. It would be worth it.’

‘Not to me.’ She bent and took my hand. ‘If it comes to that, I’ll go myself.’

‘Promise me you won’t do this without consulting me first,’ Martin said. ‘If you do it, I will come along and take out the trap that is probably there waiting for whoever attempts this.’

‘Deal,’ I said, and both Martin and Simone relaxed slightly.

‘By your leave, ma’am, I really do need to check my husband and daughter,’ Martin said. ‘Leo says they’re okay, but I can’t be sure until I hold them in my arms.’

‘You really like saying that, don’t you — husband and daughter?’ Simone said.

He smiled at her. ‘It’s the best feeling in the world. They’re my light within this darkness.’

‘Go, Martin, and give them a hug for me,’ I said. ‘Come back soon. I think we have a lot of planning to do.’

‘Emma’s right,’ Simone said. ‘It’s only a matter of time before the demons take the next step, and we need to be ready for them.’

All our heads shot up. The Jade Emperor had summoned us to the Celestial Palace for a debrief.

‘So much for that,’ Martin said.

‘Can you take me?’ I said.

‘I am a Number One. Of course I can,’ Martin said. He sighed and stood, and looked at the palms of his hands. ‘Can I use your bathroom first? I’m still filthy.’

I gestured towards the bathroom. ‘Go right ahead.’

Simone hesitated in front of me. ‘Me too?’

‘The Celestial knows what he’s doing. Put some pants on,’ I said.

She concentrated and changed her pyjamas to a Mountain uniform. She pointed at the floor next to my feet. ‘Why are you carrying that One Direction bottle everywhere?’

I looked down at the sports bottle: she was right. ‘It has the Elixir of Immortality in it.’

‘In a
One Direction
bottle?’

I shrugged. ‘It was the first one I grabbed out of the cupboard.’

‘But why —’

‘Smally’s a huge fan.’

‘Oh. I keep forgetting how young some of them are.’

‘They may be young but they’re not children.’ I picked up the bottle. ‘I should probably put the Elixir back in the armoury before we go.’

‘And throw that bottle away.’

‘No way. It would break Smally’s heart.’

The Emperor met us all in a large audience room. It was the first time I’d ever seen every single senior Celestial in the same room together and their Celestial Forms were huge and intimidating. Everybody looked tired and bedraggled from the battle; even the Shen were too exhausted to clean themselves up for the audience. The Emperor sat on his throne on the dais and everybody else gathered, standing, around him.

‘Marshall Ma. Status of the Thirty-Six,’ the Jade Emperor said after the obeisances had been made.

‘Of our original twenty-five battalions that went into this battle, only three have enough soldiers to still be called a battalion,’ Ma
said. ‘The others were almost completely wiped out. We have just over fifteen hundred soldiers remaining.’

‘Winds?’ the Emperor said.

The three Winds stepped forward.

‘I have less than a hundred birds left,’ the Phoenix said. ‘The demons took pot shots at them with sniper rifles.’

‘Fifty dragons,’ Qing Long said.

‘A hundred and fifty Horsemen,’ the Tiger said. ‘Half of those were stationed at the palace guarding the Western border as you ordered. The other half were active in the Hell engagement.’

‘Northern Heavens?’

Martin stepped forward. ‘Twenty-three reptile Shen and a handful of humans. That is all.’

‘Elites, Er Lang?’

‘Three left, Majesty,’ Er Lang said, his voice rough with emotion.

‘Three?’

‘Majesty.’

‘Lady Emma, status of the Mountain?’

I stepped forward. ‘The hundred junior Disciples who were not called into battle remain on the Mountain. Five of our Celestial Masters and twenty-seven Shen Disciples obeyed your order to evacuate Hell and have returned.’ My voice broke when I saw the faces of my dead students in front of me, then I pulled myself together. We still had a long way to go. ‘The rest are lost.’