The Mothers suddenly stilled. Those who had been moving away stopped to listen as well.
‘Don’t you worry about what’s happening in the middle,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘You stay away from those big ones, they’ll eat your tails for breakfast.’
‘But their babies won’t,’ the big Mother said.
‘Ooh, babies,’ Fifty-Three said. ‘I love babies.’
‘Nearly as good as snake broth,’ one of the other Mothers said.
‘You going to fight a Mother in the centre for her clutch?’ Da Shi Yeh said with amusement.
The Mothers hesitated at that, then most of them wandered back to their cushions and televisions.
A couple stayed. ‘You would protect us, Little Grandfather,’ one said. ‘Let us see.’
‘I want to see,’ the other said.
‘I cannot protect you from something as big as her,’ Da Shi Yeh said.
‘You both wanna die? Go right ahead,’ the older Mother said. ‘I’m going to watch TV.’
The two smaller Mothers shared a look, then both turned and slithered away.
‘So restless right now,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘Let’s go.’ He led us through to the Mothers in the centre of the nest.
‘How many in here?’ I said.
‘About fifty. The King has been extremely productive,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘Might have to move some of these out; we’re beginning to lose the ones around the edges.’
‘They kill each other?’ I said.
‘Don’t ask obvious questions like that in here — you’re supposed to be a demon,’ General Ma said very softly into my serpent ear.
‘Why didn’t they recognise Martin?’ I said. Martin had remained at the back of the group, quiet and cowed, during the whole episode.
‘I only came here in Celestial Form,’ Martin said. ‘They wanted me as a Shen.’
‘Or you didn’t come here at all and the King was lying,’ I said.
‘I can change to Shen form and have them recognise me — and then play with me, if you like,’ Martin said.
‘I don’t think that will be necessary,’ I said.
The number of Mothers in the cavern thinned as we approached the centre.
‘Here’s the clutch,’ Da Shi Yeh said.
A group of Mothers stood in a circle around the eggs that were about to hatch. They were really big ones, at least five metres long, some of them even longer. They towered over us in their True Forms.
Da Shi Yeh casually hit a few of them with his staff and they moved back for him, hissing with menace.
Seventeen was wrapped protectively around her eggs, glaring at the Mothers hovering over her nest. She relaxed slightly when she saw Da Shi Yeh. ‘I thought you’d never get here, Grandfather.’
Da Shi Yeh raised his arms at the other Mothers. ‘You girls go away now and let us do this.’ He waved his staff and they hissed at him. ‘Shoo!’ He grinned over his shoulder at me. ‘Give me a hand, people.’
Simone grew another sixty centimetres so that she was as large as the biggest Mother. She slapped a few of them on the head and shoulders, easily avoiding their retaliatory blows. ‘You heard him! Move back.’
The Mothers retreated, making swipes in the air in Simone’s direction, but she wasn’t intimidated by them. She grabbed one around the middle, lifted it easily and tossed it away from the nest cavity. ‘Move back!’
The Mother she’d thrown raised herself and slithered quickly away. The other Mothers moved back to form a wall of waiting demons, just out of her reach.
‘That’ll do nicely, thank you, missy,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘Now, let’s see what we have here.’
He approached the clutch and Seventeen hissed at him, rising on her coils. He slapped her snake end — ‘Don’t try that with me’ — and she subsided. The clutch was five eggs, each about forty centimetres across, the slightly translucent shells showing the dark shapes of the baby demons within. He put his hand on one of the eggs and concentrated for a moment, then summoned a stethoscope from the air and put it in his ears. He listened to the egg, then nodded, satisfied, and made the stethoscope disappear. ‘Right on time.’
He gestured for us to gather and listen. ‘When they start to hatch, we won’t have much time. You’ll have to move fast, people. Let her have the first one or two, they’ll keep her busy, but once her immediate urge is satisfied she’ll be paying more attention and she’ll try to stop you. So as soon as one hatches — even if part of it emerges from the shell — grab it and move way back. Then you’ll have to stop the other Mothers from eating it.’ He straightened. ‘Piece of cake really.’
‘Why don’t you just take the eggs away from her and let them hatch in a safe place?’ Simone said.
‘They die,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘If they spend more than a couple of hours away from her, they lose energy and die. And if we tried to take them now, she’d just smash them anyway.’
One of the eggs rocked. The baby demon inside hammered at the shell, and Seventeen raised her skinless body, staring transfixed at the egg.
A piece of shell broke away, punched out by the tiny black demon hand inside. Seventeen swooped on it, but Simone was faster. She pounced on Seventeen, grabbed her by the throat and stared at her. Seventeen stared back, flicking her long snake-like tongue, but didn’t move otherwise.
‘I have her bound,’ Simone said. ‘She can’t move. Take the demon spawn.’
‘How long can you hold her?’ Da Shi Yeh said.
‘I dunno, five or six minutes?’ Simone said, staring at Seventeen.
‘Should be long enough,’ Da Shi Yeh said.
He went to the egg, grabbed the demon hand that had appeared through the shell and yanked the demon out. He lifted it by the arm as it hissed and kicked, trying to bite him. It was about ninety centimetres at full length, a black humanoid with bulging eyes and small horns protruding all over its head. He smiled up at Seventeen. ‘It’s a girl.’
Three of the eggs began to hatch at the same time, the shells cracking.
‘Move quickly,’ Da Shi Yeh said.
‘That would be a good idea, ’cause I can’t hold this Mother forever,’ Simone said.
‘Let us know when you start to lose it and we’ll let her have the rest,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘We’re lucky to have even one from a clutch this big.’ He raised the spitting demon he was holding. ‘You are so cute!’
The Tiger strode into the clutch, pulled a cracked shell away, and lifted out a red demon child that was a similar size to the black one. He yelled and shook his hand as it bit him, then changed his grip so he held it by the throat. The demon struggled furiously in his grasp, clawing at his arm as he threaded his way out of the clutch to the edge of the indentation next to Da Shi Yeh. ‘Cranky little bastards.’
‘Get that wound cleaned up later,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘Otherwise it’ll go septic — their saliva is toxic.’
The Tiger checked his clawed hand. ‘Charming.’
An egg in front of me cracked open and a tiny naked twenty-year-old man, only about a metre tall, emerged.
‘A human, grab it!’ Da Shi Yeh said.
I lashed out with my serpent head and took it by the abdomen in my mouth, carefully not squeezing hard enough to hurt it. I pulled my head back out of reach of the other eggs while it kicked and raked at me with its fingers. The fluid from the egg that still covered the baby demon hit my sensitive taste buds. ‘God, it tastes awful.’
‘Let me see how you taste, bitch,’ it said, still flailing at me. ‘Let me go!’
‘A real prize,’ Da Shi Yeh said.
Another egg burst open and General Ma reached in and pulled out another black baby demon. He brought it to Da Shi Yeh.
‘The King will be very pleased,’ Da Shi Yeh said.
The demon I was holding was slimy from the egg fluid and it slipped out of my mouth. I lunged forward to grab it, but I was too slow. It moved faster than any human could, ran to Da Shi Yeh, scrambled up his leg to his torso, reached the
demon he was holding, and bit it on the face and throat repeatedly, making it howl.
I made another lunge and grabbed the human-like demon again, this time with a stronger grip. I pulled it with difficulty off the demon that Da Shi Yeh was holding, and moved back.
Da Shi Yeh studied the injured demon.
‘I can’t hold her much longer,’ Simone said. ‘You have twenty seconds.’
‘On the count of three, let her go,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘One … two … three!’
Simone released the Mother and scrambled back. At the same time, Da Shi Yeh threw the injured baby at the Mother, and she caught it with one hand then raised it to her face. She unlocked her jaw, opening her mouth wider than was humanly possible, shoved its head in, then snapped her jaws shut.
‘Well done, everybody,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘Salvaging three from a clutch this big is unheard of — and particularly one that is a human-shaped demon. The King will be very pleased.’
The Mother lowered herself on her coils, crunching the baby’s head in her mouth. The final egg hatched and she grabbed the baby out of it, holding it with her other hand.
A few of the other Mothers sidled towards us, and Seventeen hissed at them. They retreated, intimidated.
‘Let’s take these to the nursery,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘Then I’ll show you the way to where you need to go.’
He led us away from Seventeen towards the other side of the cavern.
‘Oh, Little Grandfather!’ Seventeen called from behind us, her mouth full of demon baby.
Da Shi Yeh turned back. ‘Yes, sweetie?’
Seventeen gestured to one side, still holding the half-eaten corpse. ‘Some Mainland slut went and blocked up the toilets again — probably throwing her sanitary pads down there. Teach those cows how to use civilised bathrooms, for God’s sake!’
‘At least we’re not spoiled helpless bitches like you Hong Kong scum,’ one of the other Mothers shouted.
Seventeen rounded on her. ‘You Mainland whores throw trash everywhere and shit all over the bathroom. You’re animals.’
‘We are not!’ another Mother shouted. ‘At least we know how to clean up after ourselves, and don’t squeal for servants to wipe our precious little asses!’
The Mothers started squabbling, some of them trading blows. Demon guards in the form of human eunuchs appeared out of the darkness and lashed at the Mothers with bullwhips, cracking them loudly and making the Mothers howl with pain. The fighting Mothers scattered.
‘Let’s get this done quickly,’ Da Shi Yeh said, ‘so I can come back and sort this out.’
He led us to the side of the cavern, where a simple pair of large wooden double doors, painted green, were set into the obsidian wall. He raised his staff and the doors opened in front of us, leading into what appeared to be a hospital corridor.
‘Nursery’s this way,’ Da Shi Yeh said, gesturing with his staff.
He took us to the end of the corridor where another pair of double doors opened to a room that looked like an animal-testing lab. Large barred metal cages, each about a metre cubed, lined the walls of the room, stacked three high. Some of the cages held small demons, which threw themselves at the bars trying to reach us, clawing at the air, screeching with frustration. A stainless-steel veterinary examination table stood in the middle.
A small Snake Mother, only about three metres long, came in holding a clipboard. ‘This Seventeen’s baby?’
Da Shi Yeh gestured expansively. ‘We got three out, and one of them is human!’ He waved his arms with glee. ‘Three babies!’
The Snake Mother stared at him, then glanced at the struggling babies we were holding. ‘Unusual.’ She opened three cage doors, the metal squeaking. ‘Toss them in here.’
‘Help me close the door on it,’ I said, my voice muffled by the demon in my mouth.
Michael raised himself on his hind legs and put one paw on a barred door. ‘Go ahead.’
I tossed the human-shaped demon into the cage and Michael slammed the door shut before it had a chance to escape.
The Snake Mother went to the bars and studied it, just out of reach of its grasping hands. ‘And the King sired this on Seventeen?’
Da Shi Yeh shrugged. ‘I don’t ask their parentage, I just stop their mommies from eating them. But the King’s the only one big enough to sire spawn on Seventeen, you know that.’
The Snake Mother continued to study the baby demon. ‘I know. But still … never seen a human come from this pairing before.’
‘Whatever, we have places to go,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘We’ll take some flyers.’
The Snake Mother indicated behind her with her chin. ‘There’s six or seven next door; you can take them if you like. Just make sure they come back in one piece; they’re to be handed to the troops later this week.’
‘Why?’ I said.
The Snake Mother glanced at me, then pointedly ignored me and spoke to Da Shi Yeh. ‘They’re well trained, they just need their final battle training, so don’t get them destroyed, okay? A lot of work went into them.’
‘Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere particularly dangerous,’ Da Shi Yeh said.
The Snake Mother nodded. ‘I trust you, Little Grandfather.’
‘This way,’ Da Shi Yeh said, and took us into the next room.
It looked very much like the stables at the Jockey Club riding facility: concrete stalls, the floor of each thick with rice straw. The demon flyers were black and similar to dragons, but more lizard-like, with four legs and two bat-like wings. Some were standing in their stalls; others were lying down half-asleep.
‘Flyers aren’t intelligent?’ I said as the demons saw us and rose with curiosity, poking their heads out of the stalls. They seemed completely unafraid of my serpent form.
Martin dropped his voice so that nobody nearby could hear his answer. ‘No, they’re just like animals, but they are occasionally used for crossbreeding with low-level demon thralls.’
I dropped my voice as well. ‘I should know that, shouldn’t I.’
‘There’s a lot that you and I don’t know, Emma,’ Simone said, her voice similarly soft. ‘I s’pose I really should spend more time finding this stuff out.’ She rounded on the Tiger. ‘And don’t mention CH!’
The Tiger raised both clawed hands. ‘Never said a word, sweetheart.’
‘You ride these to Six’s nest,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘Just hop on and I’ll tell them where to go. Wherever they land, that’s the destination. Jump off; they’ll come back here.’ He shrugged. ‘Easy.’
‘You’re not coming with us?’ Simone said.
‘No, I’d better sort my girls out,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘I don’t like to see them fighting. Then I have some other places I need to be.’
‘I can’t ride something like this, I’m a freaking snake,’ I said.
‘Just wrap your body around it, it’ll be fine,’ Da Shi Yeh said. ‘They’re used to it.’
I gestured towards General Liang, with his dragon-like body and monstrous head, and Michael in demon form, on all fours. ‘What about them? They can’t ride like that.’
‘I can fly myself,’ General Liang said.
‘So can I,’ Michael said.
‘Go into a stall and hop on top of one.’ Da Shi Yeh bowed slightly to me. ‘Or wrap yourself around one and then just hold on. I’ll do the rest.’
Ask General Ma if we can really trust this guy! I said to the stone.
I don’t need to, the stone said. You can trust him.
How do you know?
I’ll tell you later.
I hissed under my breath with frustration, and carefully went to one of the stalls. The flyer inside watched me suspiciously as I neared it, but didn’t make a move to attack me. I cautiously moved to its left side, hoping that they were trained to be mounted from the near side, the same as horses, then put my chin on its back. It stayed unmoving, not attempting to fight me, so I slid my head to rest on top of its, then wrapped my body around it, carefull
y keeping my coils free of its wings so that it would be able to fly unobstructed.
I raised my head to see the rest of the group. Everybody except for Michael and Liang Tian was mounted astride.
Da Shi Yeh looked around at everybody. ‘Ready?’
Nobody replied, in the typical Chinese way of indicating yes without saying anything. ‘Ready,’ I said.
Da Shi Yeh concentrated. ‘Okay, I’m telling these little fellows where to go. Just hold on tight, you’ll be travelling through the air ducts. It may get a little …’ He hesitated. ‘… Tight.’
Oh, wonderful, the stone said. Can I go home now?
The gate of the stall opened by itself and the flyer carefully walked out, as if testing my weight. The other flyers carried their riders in a coordinated queue towards the large doors at the end of the stable. Mine moved more easily as it worked out my weight.
‘How far is it?’ I said.
‘About four hundred li,’ Da Shi Yeh said.
‘That’s a couple of hours’ travel,’ the Tiger said, glaring back at Da Shi Yeh. ‘No way is the Hell ventilation system that big!’
‘Shows how much you know, Mr Pussycat,’ Da Shi Yeh said. He waved to us and turned away. ‘Have fun, and give my regards to the Black Lion. The Japanese have a word for such as he — Samurai.’ He grinned knowingly over his shoulder at me, then went back to the nursery, closing the doors behind him.
Holy shit, that was —
Don’t even think it! the stone said. And don’t say anything out loud to anybody — anywhere! He helps the Mothers hatch their clutches, and he visits with the longer-term residents of the Pits to give them some comfort. He is who he is and nothing more. Anything said anywhere could put him in peril.
I was silent for a moment, then, I understand.
We are not going to dwell on this matter any longer. Oh, and hold on.
CHAPTER 30
We went through the doors to a large domed room with holes at irregular intervals in the ceiling. I coiled my body slightly tighter around the flyer as it took a few running steps forward, then launched itself into the air, surrounded by the other flyers. With each beat of its wings it fell then jerked upwards again. I had never ridden a flying creature with wings before and the sensation was rough and unsteady, each tiny gust of wind seeming to throw it sideways, its wings making it lurch clumsily through the air.