‘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.’
The Jade Emperor raised his voice to be heard by all. ‘Before you ask, the Demon King electrocuted the Dark Lord and he is in a coma. If he is roused he will probably rejoin with his Serpent. Either way, he is lost as well.’
I lowered my head and wiped my eyes.
‘We do not have the means to take Hell back from those armoured demons,’ the Emperor said, and it wasn’t a question.
‘I suggest a stealth mission to release our people held in Hell,’ Martin said. ‘There must be at least three hundred Immortals held by the demons now that Court Ten has fallen.’
‘Good idea,’ Er Lang said.
‘You would fail,’ the Jade Emperor said with finality.
Martin opened his mouth to argue and closed it again.
‘Give me permission to get the Serpent out,’ I said.
‘No.’
‘You were quite happy for me to go down to certain death two days ago,’ I said.
‘That was just your life. This is your whole Immortal existence,’ the Emperor said. ‘If things become extremely dire I may consider permitting you to make an attempt for the Serpent, but this sort of sacrifice goes against everything that the Celestial stands for.’
‘The Celestial stands for nothing if it has fallen,’ Guan Yu said.
The Jade Emperor rose and stood in front of his throne. ‘Before anyone says anything, do not blame Lady Emma for this. Anyone who does will be reprimanded. This has been coming for a long time, and this is the most intelligent and devious Demon King we have ever faced.’
‘Of course he is, he was originally a human woman,’ Er Lang said. ‘It’s not surprising that many human men are so terrified of their females that they oppress them.’
‘And oppression breeds hatred. It is a vicious cycle,’ the Jade Emperor said. He paced the dais with his hands behind his back. ‘Regardless of his background, this was inevitable from this King. Our own honourable nature has been a large factor in this result, and we will not compromise our principles and lower ourselves to their level.’
‘Even if the Celestial falls?’ Guan Yu said quietly.
We were all silent at that.
The Jade Emperor stopped in front of the throne. ‘Venus is down there right now. He’s offering them what they asked for in the first place: the Earthly in return for our half of Hell and safety on the Celestial.’
‘They won’t agree,’ Guan Yu said.
The Emperor paced again. ‘I know. I’m keeping them busy so they don’t immediately go and celebrate on the Earthly. I don’t expect them to agree to something that they already have in their hands.’
‘Once they’ve regathered, they can take the Earthly by force,’ Guan Yu said.
‘They do not plan to take the Earthly by force. They will take it by stealth, infiltration and economic incursion, the same way they did it in the West with no Celestials to impede them. The humans will never know that they have been subjugated by demons. All they will know is that the few and wealthy control them absolutely, through their government, legal system and economy.’ He continued to walk up and down in front of his throne. ‘Once the demons’ hold on the Earthly is secure — and they are well on the way already — they will make a try for the Celestial. And their plans for the conquest of Heaven are not nearly as bloodless.’
‘How long do we have?’ Er Lang said.
‘We have about three weeks. Their losses in this latest battle were as large as ours. They only have those armoured demons remaining, and they will need a large force to take and hold Heaven. They will attack us constantly for the next two weeks to soften us up while they hatch a new army. Then they will make a big final push at the end of spring, aimed at conquering the entire Celestial.’ He ran his hand down his beard and suddenly appeared very old. ‘Bai Hu, order a small team of your best Horsemen — and women — to capture one of those black demons to experiment on. Qing Long, have your people find a way to use our blood as a weapon. All the Winds are to start donating blood immediately. My blood is to be taken as well.’
The Tiger and Qing Long silently saluted the Emperor.
‘Take our blood too,’ Ma said.
‘You are too human,’ the Jade Emperor said. ‘Only the blood of the five elemental creatures will work.’
Wait, what? Simone said. The Jade Emperor’s an animal too?
Tell her about his animal nature and that nobody’s really sure what he is, I said to the stone.
Nobody to relay; tell her when you’re home, the stone said. We stones have long speculated that the Wind of our element is a qilin, but many say he is a dragon.
‘Go and rest, all of you,’ the Emperor said. ‘They are as battered as we are and they will not attack again for a few days. Take this time to be with your families and arrange for the safety of those closest to you. Things will be worse before they are better.’
He walked down the stairs at the back of the dais and disappeared without another word.
25
I sat at John’s bedside watching him. It was very late and I should have been sleeping, but I didn’t know how long I had left with him.
Simone spoke silently to me. Marcus is here.
‘Come on in, Marcus.’
The minute he entered and I saw his face, I knew.
He pulled a chair close to the bed and studied John. ‘I wanted to tell you after we’d won. I’m sorry I have to tell you after we lost. How is he?’
‘I’m hoping that I can keep him here when he wakes up, but we’ll probably lose him when he does. He’ll go straight to his Serpent and be gone.’
Marcus wiped his hand over his eyes. ‘Monica passed away earlier today. There’ll be a memorial service in Hong Kong …’
That pushed me over the edge. All my students and friends, the love of my life, my son, and now this wonderful woman who was a part of the family … I couldn’t face it any more. I ran into the bathroom and closed the door, then sat on the lid of the toilet and let go.
The stone changed to human form, picked me up, sat on the toilet lid, pulled me into its lap and held me close as I wept.
‘It’s been nearly half an hour, Emma, you should stop,’ the stone said eventually, still holding me.
‘I can’t,’ I said. ‘I’m trying and I can’t!’
‘Oh, that’s bad,’ the stone said.
The door opened and Meredith came in. Simone hovered, concerned, behind her. Meredith knelt in front of us and put her hands on my face.
‘Emma,’ she said gently, ‘the best thing for you right now is to sleep. I’ll knock you out and we’ll put you into the spare bed.’
‘I can’t be asleep,’ I said, still choking. ‘I need to be here if he wakes up.’
‘I am awake,’ John said behind Meredith, and I leapt off the stone’s lap, ran to him and threw my arms around him.
He picked me up and held me, buried his face in my hair, and carried me out to the bedroom.
‘It’s okay,’ he said softly. ‘You need to rest. I’m not going anywhere. Come and I’ll put you to bed and you can sleep it off. Anybody would crack under this sort of pressure.’
‘Stay with me,’ I said, clutching him.
‘I will,’ he said into my hair. ‘Dismissed.’
The stone returned to my ring, and Meredith ushered Simone out of the bedroom and closed the door quietly behind her.
John laid me on the bed and brushed his hand over my face. ‘I’ll be here. Just as you are always here for me.’
‘I love you,’ I said, then his cool hand was on my forehead and I didn’t remember anything else.
When I woke, it was dark and he was sleeping beside me, his hand protectively on my back. I sat up, slightly dizzy and with a throbbing dehydration headache. My throat still hurt from crying too much.
He woke, sat up beside me and put his hands on either side of my face. ‘Stay still.’
I remained completely motionless and fell into a light tranc
e. He rested lightly on the surface of my consciousness, barely touching it, like an insect suspended on the surface tension of water. The force was there, we were still trying to merge, but he held back and controlled it with skill that I could only aspire to.
He released me and nodded. ‘I don’t know what Meredith did to you, but it worked.’ He shook his head. ‘Human minds are beyond me sometimes. You seem completely fine.’
‘Good, I can go back to work.’ I dropped my voice. ‘Don’t tell anyone I lost it.’
‘I won’t.’
It all came surging back to me. ‘Dear Lord, Hell’s fallen. We need to regroup and take it back.’
‘We are. It will take time to reorganise our resources. I also need to spend some time in the cage as soon as I can. I’m still blind in one eye and my balance is ruined.’
‘Let’s go now,’ I said, throwing the covers off.
‘No need,’ he said, putting his hand on my arm to stop me. ‘We can do it tomorrow. The demon army is busy occupying Hell and sorting out their prisoners. If you rest and have plenty of,’ he smiled slightly, ‘extremely excellent intimacy with the very best of me, in two weeks we should both be close to a hundred per cent and I’ll be strong enough to lead a surprise attack before they’re ready for us.’
‘Really?’
He nodded.
I was filled with new enthusiasm. We could do this. We could take Hell back and sort this out once and for all.
‘Sounds like a plan.’ I lay back down and pulled the soft silk quilt up. ‘Let’s get some sleep; we’ve both had a hell of a day.’
He lay beside me, and we clutched each other silently as both of us took a long time to go to sleep.
I woke late the next morning alone, and to a Mountain that was eerily silent. I couldn’t hear a single shout or clash of weapons.
Full of foreboding, I pulled my uniform on and headed downstairs. Smally met me at the dining room.
‘What’s happening?’ I said. ‘Where’s the Dark Lord?’
‘In his office, preparing to speak to the students,’ she said. ‘They’re all gathered in the mess waiting for him.’ She gestured towards the dining table. ‘We have breakfast for you, ma’am.’