Earth to Hell: Journey to Wudang Bk 1

  I took advantage of his moment of disorientation and moved closer to take off his head, then stopped at the last minute. His leg may not have caused him to explode, but his head probably would. It was a trap to make me explode it on myself. I stepped back, holding the sword in front of me as a guard.

  Six came at me again, swiping at my head with his enormous mouth. I ducked under his head and took off two of his feet. He fell screaming again, and I stepped back as he concentrated and again regrew the limbs.

  I banged the stone on the wall. ‘Wake up, dammit!’

  The stone didn’t respond.

  Six stepped forward, swinging with both front feet and his head again. I took off one of the feet but he seemed to be less bothered by it, pushing me back through the lobby as he hobbled on three legs.

  I lowered the sword and took some deep breaths. I was still fit but I couldn’t keep this up forever. In the end I’d have to destroy this thing or be destroyed by it.

  After another ten minutes of dodging his blows and cutting his feet off only to have them grow back, I really was beginning to feel it. My phone in my bag had rung twice; probably Simone trying to find out where I was. Six undoubtedly had some sort of stone shield so that nobody could see what was happening here. I could only hope that she would get tired of waiting for me and come to chase me up. I smiled grimly as I dodged another of Six’s attacks. I just had to hold out until the little girl saved me. Again.

  He saw that my reflexes were slowing. ‘Come on, Emma, finish it. You never know, you might like being one of us. The food is great—you said that yourself.’ He swiped again at my head, and I was tired enough for him to hit me. I slid across the floor and crashed into the wall. He approached me, grinning with menace. ‘Or maybe I just kill you and take you with me. That works too.’

  He put one huge paw on my abdomen and held me down, then opened his mouth wide to take my head. I changed into a small snake, slithered out of his grasp and raced to the other side of the room. He clumsily turned; his large bulk made it difficult for him to move in a circle easily, but he was lightning-fast in a straight line. He thundered after me and tried to grab my snake form in his mouth.

  I raced to the other end of the room again, turned and faced him. I grew to about five metres long, the same size that he was. I opened my mouth to release my fangs, spitting poison at him. The poison didn’t have any effect.

  ‘Bad idea, Emma. I can definitely kill you like this, and I like the taste of snake,’ Six said.

  He swiped his head at me, trying to grab my head in his mouth, and I moved with inhuman speed to avoid him.

  He stamped one foot on my body to hold me down and I fell to the floor, writhing with pain. He had me. He lowered his head to look me in the eye. ‘Change into a human and take me down.’

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘I’ll die as a snake.’

  ‘You can kill me with your sword, you can take me,’ he said. ‘You’ve cut my feet off so many times. Do it. Kill me!’

  ‘No!’ I shouted and buried my fangs in his leg. He ignored it. I ripped them free, and hissed with pain as one of them broke.

  He opened his mouth wide and lowered it to kill me, and I sincerely wished that I had eyelids.

  His head stopped slightly above me and his eyes widened with shock. Then he was thrown off me and flew across the room. I lifted my head to see what had happened; Leo had appeared next to me.

  ‘Need a hand, ma’am?’ he said.

  ‘You’re Immortal, you don’t call me ma’am now.’

  Leo stood facing the demon. ‘I don’t feel Immortal.’

  Six raised himself back onto all fours and shook his head. ‘Good. You can come with me too.’

  ‘You just threw that thing all the way across the room,’ I said. I changed back to human form and resummoned the Murasame. ‘Need a sword? You can ask for Dark Heavens, I’m sure it would come to you.’

  ‘No, it wouldn’t,’ Leo said, but at the same time the sword appeared in his hand. ‘Well, how about that.’

  We faced Six side by side.

  ‘This one doesn’t look too big for you, Emma. Why haven’t you killed it?’ Leo said.

  ‘If I absorb any more demon essence, I’ll be turned into a Snake Mother.’

  ‘Oh, that’s not good.’

  ‘You can take it down, my friend. You’re an Immortal.’

  He glanced down at me. ‘I don’t feel any different. If there’s anything special I can do, I don’t know how to do it yet.’

  ‘Oh, this is wonderful,’ Six hissed. ‘I get to destroy a shiny new Immortal. It’s completely worth it.’ He threw himself at us.

  Leo wasn’t inhumanly fast and Six grabbed his body in his mouth. I had no choice. I jumped up, swung my sword and took off his head, trying to land as far away from the exploding demon as I could. Leo fell to the floor, stunned.

  I landed in a long defensive stance and watched as the essence sailed towards me in slow motion. Damn, I should have stayed a snake and let both of us die. My Snake Mother form really was as dangerous as Six wanted it to be. This was going to be horrible.

  I turned my sword on myself, hoping I could destroy myself before the essence hit, and the essence stopped. It hung in mid-air between Leo and myself. Then it fell to the floor and disappeared.

  I flopped to sit, panting. I’d been fighting flat out for nearly forty minutes and that really was the longest anyone could keep that type of intense activity going without their muscles turning to mush.

  Leo got up and came to sit next to me. ‘I don’t want to learn any more superpowers under such circumstances, is that understood?’

  I just dropped my sword and threw my arms around him, holding him tight.

  ‘I don’t think I can walk now,’ he said into my shoulder. ‘The adrenaline’s worn off. Do you guys have a wheelchair around here? ‘Cause I can’t walk home as a lion.’

  ‘You teleported in,’ I said.

  ‘I have no idea how I did that. I just knew you were in trouble and came to help.’

  ‘Thank God you killed that monster, Emma, and nothing will be able to control us again,’ the stone said. ‘I’ve been trying to get you help since it appeared.’

  ‘Can you ask Simone to come in and help Leo?’

  Simone appeared next to us, fell to her knees and threw her arms around Leo. ‘Welcome back, Prince Leo.’ She pulled back to touch his face. ‘Are you ready to come home?’

  ‘That’s the best thing anybody’s said to me today,’ Leo said. ‘Is the car all fixed up? I want to drive.’

  ‘It’s downstairs waiting,’ I said.

  ‘Do you have a wheelchair here?’ Leo said.

  ‘Lok is bringing one,’ Simone said. ‘Let’s go home.’

  The next evening, the grassy area next to the lake in the Northern Heavens was full of people and brightly coloured lights. A small stage had been erected, also strung with coloured lights, and a band of musicians played Chinese New Year music with gusto. Some of the plum and cherry tree Shen had moved their trees, rich with the blossoms of early spring, to the field to allow them to be decorated with more lights, making the whole area glow with colour. More colour was provided by the elemental sculptures that were spread over the lawn, and the marquees at the sides selling flowers, cumquat bushes in pots, novelty lanterns, hand-made calligraphy banners and all the other requirements for a happy Chinese New Year. There was no moon in the sky above us; Chinese New Year was set by the lunar calendar and always fell on a new moon.

  Yue Gui and Martin had met us and now walked with us through the sculpture display, admiring them. Simone and Eva’s sculpture was the only one to feature two intertwined elementals: a blue water serpent and a red fire phoenix forming a stylised yin-yang symbol.

  ‘Most of the Tiger’s kids’ ones are pretty boring,’ Simone said. ‘Just copies of movie stars and animals.’

  ‘Their execution is almost flawless though,’ Yue Gui said. ‘They are masters of the technical aspects of elem
ental sculpture.’

  ‘Boring,’ Simone said. ‘But the wood ones are so pretty! I’ve never seen a wood elemental before.’

  We stopped in front of one of the wood elemental sculptures.

  ‘Oh,’ Simone said, reading the sign next to it. ‘This was made by Sang Shen.’

  ‘He’s been bored these last two months,’ Yue Gui said. ‘It’s kept him busy.’

  ‘It’s so detailed,’ Simone said with wonder.

  Sang Shen’s sculpture was made of glossy dark wood and depicted the life cycle of the silkworm in a stylised large tree. It began with the eggs on the branch of the tree, then showed the worms on another branch eating green leaves, which were so beautifully carved they looked alive, went to the cocoons, then, in a striking departure from the brown and green, showed a vivid purple silk robe draped over a branch, its fabric decorated with glowing white silkworm moths and silver dragons.

  ‘I thought only the Dragon and his children could work with wood elementals,’ Simone said.

  Yue Gui nodded. ‘He traded some of his leaves for the services of a dragon from the East.’

  ‘Wait,’ I said. I waved my nose in front of the sculpture. ‘Is the dragon aware that this sculpture is pointing out that Sang Shen provides the leaves for his silk?’

  ‘Knowing the dragon,’ Yue Gui said with amusement, ‘the idea never occurred to him. He is rock-solid in his high opinion of himself, and would never consider that people would think for a minute that his own products—including mulberry leaves—are not the finest.’

  ‘I like Sang Shen more and more all the time,’ I said.

  ‘Did I hear my name?’ Sang Shen said, approaching us. He was wearing a robe identical to that depicted on the tree, vivid purple with white silkworm moths and silver dragons. He carried a number of white paper bags, and passed them around; in each bag was a Chinese waffle, often sold in the streets of Hong Kong. Batter was put into a mould that was shaped like a bunch of balls slightly smaller than ping-pong balls and cooked over a gas stove. The result was sweet and feather light, and the balls could be torn off and eaten individually.

  He hesitated with the bag that was obviously for me.

  ‘Don’t worry about it, I’ve already eaten,’ I said.

  ‘How do snakes generally manage?’ he said.

  ‘I’ll break them off for her,’ Simone said. ‘Most other snakes can use PK—carrying—to lift and move things.’

  ‘I don’t have that,’ I said.

  Michael approached in the form of a tawny tiger, with Eva and the Phoenix.

  ‘Is that you, Emma?’ Eva asked me.

  ‘It’s me,’ I said. ‘Do snakes bother you?’

  Eva shivered. ‘Just a little.’

  ‘You don’t need to come close to me if you don’t want to,’ I said. ‘I understand.’

  Eva nodded and stood back from me slightly.

  Simone broke off a piece of waffle for me and I carefully picked it out of her hand, savouring the sweet flavour. Sang Shen had even asked the stall holder to put peanut butter on it for me, and the melted paste added to the delight. He watched me with barely concealed amusement as I ate the waffle.

  In big snake form my head was about the height of the Phoenix’s, and she moved closer to see my collar. Despite my protests, the stone had designed it so that the elegant filigree rose up the back of my neck and made a decorative cover over the top of my head, neatly fitting the curves of my serpent skull.

  ‘That’s gorgeous, Emma, where did you get it?’ she said.

  ‘The stone had it made,’ I said. I lowered my head slightly so that she could see. ‘Its setting sits between my eyes. Before, it lodged in my neck muscles and it was uncomfortable for both of us.’

  ‘I’m on top of the world,’ the stone said.

  Michael went to Leo. ‘Hey, old man.’

  ‘You still not walking yet?’ Leo said.

  ‘Won’t be long,’ Michael said. He nudged Leo with his nose. ‘It’s good to have you back.’

  Leo put his hand on Michael’s head. ‘It’s good to be back. Looks like I’ll be useful here after all—I just helped Emma.’

  ‘They just took Six down together,’ Simone said with pride.

  ‘Did it give you any leads on the rest of its group?’ the Phoenix said.

  ‘The Death Mother is in Thailand, and the one making the elementals is in Shenzhen,’ I said.

  The Phoenix nodded. ‘That’s good to hear. It’s only a matter of time before you find them.’

  The music on the stage stopped and an old-fashioned PA system crackled to life.

  ‘We have the results of the judging for the Celestial Elemental Artistic Competition,’ the MC said. He shuffled some papers, the noise loudly echoing over the speaker system. ‘Junior Elemental category. Second runner-up: Tiger Son Number Three Six Three, with “Four Kings”.’

  There was a smattering of applause.

  ‘Which one was that?’ I said. ‘I don’t remember seeing a Four Winds sculpture.’

  ‘Four Kings of Canto-pop,’ Simone said with derision.

  ‘Oh,’ I said, and hissed with amusement.

  ‘First runner-up: Tiger Son Number Two Nine Four with “Drunken Master”.’

  ‘That’s the Jackie Chan one,’ Simone said.

  ‘Did he give his permission to be used like that?’ I said.

  ‘Probably not,’ the Phoenix said. ‘But who’s going to sue the son of a god?’

  ‘Me,’ I said, and Simone chuckled.

  Eva gripped Simone’s arm and jiggled with excitement; either they’d won or they’d come nowhere.

  ‘Winner of the junior competition is Phoenix Princess Number…’

  The rest of the announcement was lost as Simone and Eva both shrieked with delight and hugged each other.

  Simone released Eva and came to hug me, holding my serpent head close.

  ‘…with “Fire Consumes Devil”,’ the MC finished.

  Simone released me and stood back, and she and Eva shared a stunned look.

  ‘My sister Minnie won it,’ Eva said in a disbelieving tone.

  ‘The one with the snake demon burning in fire?’ Simone said. ‘That was gross.’

  ‘Apparently the judges liked it,’ the Phoenix said. ‘With something like this, there’s no accounting for taste.’

  Eva went to Simone and took her hand. ‘We’ll win it next year.’

  Simone’s face went blank and she released Eva’s hand. ‘I’m going to a human school again now. I don’t think I’ll have time to do that kind of thing.’

  Eva hesitated, then nodded. ‘I understand.’ She shrugged. ‘I s’pose I should go and congratulate Minnie.’

  Simone nodded and Eva walked away.

  ‘The results for the Open Celestial Elemental Artistic Competition are…’ the loudspeaker began, but it was drowned out by the sound of cracking wood and shifting earth. We turned to see what was making the noise; Sang Shen’s wood elemental had moved, lifting its base out of the ground and walking towards us, making the ground shake with every enormous step it took. Other wood elementals in the display also pulled themselves out of the ground and began to move around.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Yue Gui said. ‘The winner hasn’t been announced, they shouldn’t be leaving yet.’

  The elementals moved towards us, their steps full of purpose. The one closest to us, Sang Shen’s sculpture, lost its silkworms and became all wood, a twisted shape that looked more like driftwood than a tree. Its branches writhed and grew, becoming tentacle-like, and it reached towards me.

  Snakes can’t move backwards so I turned and slithered away as quickly as I could. Something was seriously wrong here.

  The elemental swung one branch in a wide arc, hitting Simone in the stomach and knocking her flying. It thrashed its branches, hitting the rest of the Shen and knocking them down.

  The Tiger appeared next to us, grabbed a branch and used it as a lever to hold the elemental still. Then he
raised one hand and a couple of metal elementals appeared in the form of crescent-shaped blades, each about a metre long. The metal elementals carved up the wood elemental, cutting it into pieces that fell to the ground.

  The Phoenix changed to True Form and blew fire from her beak at another wood elemental, but it seemed unharmed by the flames.

  She raised her wings, standing in front of us to guard us. ‘I have the rear guard. Take them, Tiger.’

  Simone pulled herself to her feet, raised her hand and summoned Dark Heavens. She moved to stand beside the Tiger. ‘Are these fakes?’

  ‘Very good ones,’ the Tiger said. ‘Had all of us fooled.’ He turned to Simone. ‘Hey, you’re on the Celestial. Take Celestial Form and pull out Seven Stars. It’ll be easier to do up here. Come on, girly, don’t be a coward. Get the big sword out and have a go.’

  The elementals were about ten metres from us. The rest of the inhabitants of the Northern Heavens had scattered, except for those lying on the ground after being hit by the branches.

  Simone hesitated. ‘I’m not game, Uncle Bai.’

  ‘Do it.’ The Tiger glanced back. ‘Everybody else behind Zhu Que. Me and missy here should be able to handle this.’ He waved one hand at Michael. ‘You too, get back.’

  ‘I want to fight!’ Michael said.

  The Tiger glared at him. ‘With a sword, I’d say yes. Claws only, not good enough. Stay back.’ He saw me. ‘You too, Miss Snake-In-The-Grass. Weapons yes, fangs no.’

  The wood elementals attacked and the Tiger concentrated on them. The water elemental in Simone and Eva’s sculpture detached itself from its phoenix-shaped partner and flew in a sparkle of water droplets to assist Simone, but the wood elementals ignored it.

  Simone swung Dark Heavens at the first elemental, narrowly avoiding a blow from a second. The Tiger faced three. He swung at the one on his left with his big white katana and sliced it in half. The two pieces each grew limbs and became new wood elementals.

  ‘Seven Stars, girly,’ the Tiger said.

  Simone ducked under a swinging branch and buried her sword into the trunk-like body of one of the elementals. Her sword lodged in the wood and she was struck by one of the flailing branches as she tried to free herself.