Nothing for it: I had to free it the old-fashioned way.
I summoned Dark Heavens and clambered around the Serpent’s coils to its head. I pulled the head back, revealing its throat, and prepared to make the most effective throat cut — the point of the blade horizontally into the side and then the whole blade ripping out the front. I shifted into position, hampered by the size of the Serpent and the smallness of the cage, and made the thrust. The sword disappeared.
I resummoned it and it returned to my hand. I tried to ram it through the Serpent’s eye into its brain, and it disappeared again. The blade would not destroy its master, however dire the need. Dammit.
‘Energy it is,’ I said, and grunted as I let its head fall. I sighed and put my hand on its head. ‘I don’t even have the stone here to record a message for you or anything. I have no other choice, John, we need you so we can win this. Everything we both love is at stake. With our children held here in Hell, we have to do this.’ I dropped my voice. ‘I guess Kitty wins after all. She programmed me to want to be one with you, and she’s finally getting her wish. If you can hear me at all, I’d appreciate an effort to keep my individuality intact.’
The Serpent didn’t move or reply. It was probably in a similar brain-damaged coma to John’s Turtle form. I wondered if the Serpent had a human form distinct from the Turtle, or whether they would be one human form when they rejoined. The Serpent had a female-sounding voice — perhaps the two human bodies that John had hinted at were one of each sex. It was so weird that I wouldn’t put it past him, but nobody had ever mentioned it.
‘I guess I’ll find out soon,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry it had to end this way. We knew what the chances were —’
I heard a sound and raised my head. Footsteps, echoing down the tunnel. I didn’t have any more time. I put both hands on its head behind its eyes and fed it chi.
It worked; the chi flowed through it and lit up its intelligence, making it glow with awakening. I tried to stop the flow but I’d lost control of it.
‘John, you’re draining me,’ I hissed. ‘Ease up.’
‘Huh?’ the Serpent said.
My hands sank into its back. I attempted to pull them away, but the vacuum holding them in place was too strong. I sat on the floor of the cage, put my feet on the Serpent’s side and tried to lever my hands out, all the time becoming weaker as the energy was sucked out of me. I kicked at it, yanking at my hands, but they were drawn into the Serpent’s back. I was up to my elbows. I pulled away with all my strength, with no result. My strength gave out and my face was slammed into the Serpent’s side by the force of the suction. I panted, eyes wide, as my face was dragged into it. I wouldn’t be able to breathe …
The energy drained from me, going into the Serpent, and I couldn’t hold myself away any more. I was drawn in and surrounded by suffocating darkness. It was dark. It was dark …
Not good enough; this was not happening. Totally unacceptable. I threw my will at it: You are not absorbing me, Xuan Wu. I am in charge here and you will do what I say. You will stop pulling me into you and you will let. Me. Go!
I popped out next to the cage and panted with relief. Mentally ordering it to stop taking me must have worked. I wasn’t absorbed; in fact, I’d gained a tremendous amount of energy from the short time we’d been merged.
I turned to check it, and it was gone from the cage. Not surprising after I’d released it. I searched for it, sending out my consciousness, and horrified realisation blossomed: the Serpent was within me.
It was like huge stone blocks sliding into place. Many of the things I’d said and done in the past — and the future — resonated from this moment; ripples through time from when I combined with the Xuan Wu. It was an immense black sun; dense, cold, silent, profoundly intelligent — and intensely aware of what we had just done. Our serpent natures orbited each other, separate but equal. It sat barricaded in the back of my brain, quiescent in its exhaustion. It hadn’t absorbed me; I had absorbed it.
More like possessed, it said.
I’m possessing you?
I’m very drained, Emma. You must move fast. As I recover I will grow, and I will not be able to stay so small. Your mind will not hold me. I will expand and encompass you.
You’ll take me over?
You must hurry. Take us to the Turtle. Open its cage, let it out. If the Turtle is in front of me, I will ignore you and go to it.
How do I —
Emma, even talking to you is making me grow. I must shut down and stay small otherwise you are lost. Take me to the Turtle!
I couldn’t teleport out. I had to wind my way back through the Pits to the staging area to reach the gateway to the surface. I heard voices and footsteps coming. There was only one way out of there — the way the demon guards were coming in.
I had an inspiration and went to the door of the cage. I broke off the tiny rod of jade that would slide into the hole to hold the door in place, silent in wonderment that such a small brittle thing could hold something as big as John. Rather like me holding the Serpent.
I went into the cage, pulled the door shut — fortunately it stayed shut, even without the latch — and changed to my biggest serpent form, lying on the floor of the cage.
‘Wah!’ one of the demons said. ‘What the fuck?’
‘There’s blood everywhere!’ another one said. ‘Looks like a serious fight and they all lost.’ It dropped its voice. ‘Damn, what a waste of good blood.’
‘Shit!’ one of them said, and ran to the cage. ‘No, it’s still here, and still asleep.’ It gasped with relief. ‘Whew. Dad would tear our scales off if it was gone.’
‘We’d better head back and report. Dad will be furious at losing five of those cockroach things.’
‘They did their job though,’ the other said as they turned away to leave. ‘So much blood — they must have torn the human to pieces. No body parts, though, why … Oh.’
‘What?’
‘No body — it must have been a Celestial! I wonder which one it was. When Dad is back from the West he’ll have another one to play with.’
‘Damn, and we missed seeing it being torn to bits,’ the other one said, and they laughed together.
After they’d left, I checked around for surveillance equipment and didn’t find any. Their monitoring was probably much less mundane than simple electronics. I pushed at the cage door and nearly cried with relief when it opened. I changed to human form and closed the cage behind me.
The Serpent studied the cage with loathing. So much suffering — the bottom of the cage was stained with excrement and blood and scattered with loose scales and my skin.
I grinned with grim malice, leaned my hand into the side of the cage and shifted my feet into position. I took a deep breath in and out, centred my chi, pulled my hand back and tapped the cage with my index and second fingers. It disintegrated into glittering dust that slowly fell with a soft sound of powdery spatters.
I turned and silently followed the demons. I had a very good idea where I needed to go; I just needed to make it there with a minimum of fuss.
I summoned my sword and Seven Stars appeared in my hand.
Shit. I hadn’t thought about it too hard and John’s sword had come to me … to us. Wonderful.
I dismissed it and called Dark Heavens, and the unadorned blade sang with delight as it appeared. I held it by the scabbard in my left hand, ready to draw. Using it was probably as bad an idea as using the big one; both of them were attuned to the Serpent within me.
The Serpent lay inside me, quiet and unmoving, watching me with its serpent eyes.
The Serpent lay quiescent, observing without acting, small and invisible, watching and silent
I reached the end of the tunnel and the room where all the snake and turtle hybrids had been.
The Serpent wailed with grief at the loss of so many of its children, used to make these unnatural abominations
And made myself invisible.
No, Emma, using
my abilities will blur the edges between us. Dammit, don’t do things like that!
Like I had a choice.
The two demons were in the room, reporting to that damn eye thing that the King used as a security camera. The new eye demon was different colours from the old one: purple and orange with much fewer eyes in it. Obviously he had started a new collection.
I slipped invisibly past them and down the tunnel towards levels eight and nine.
The Serpent suffered many years of torture here, ordered by the Celestial as fitting punishment for its crimes before it turned —
Shut up, John, I need to concentrate here.
The Serpent settled into the back of my mind and I sighed with relief. I needed to hurry; I wouldn’t be able to keep it contained there forever.
It was nearly dawn and the demons would be moving again, bringing the corpses down from the Trees of Swords so they could regrow their arms and legs and be dismembered again. I hurried past the trees, not looking at my friends, colleagues, my brother the Tiger …
‘Ah Wu?’ he growled softly.
‘I will return for you,’ I said.
‘Thank the Heavens,’ he breathed. ‘Hurry up and rejoin and get us the fuck out.’
‘I will.’
‘Go,’ he whispered.
I pelted down the tunnel on the other side and came out in the staging area: Immigration. The demons were awake and some of them were Mothers. Dammit.
‘Invisible Celestial over near the door!’ one of the Mothers shouted. ‘Someone stop it.’
A small group of Mothers in True Form surrounded the end of the tunnel. I tried to push through them, and one felt me passing and grabbed my arm. She jerked me back and slammed me against the wall of the cavern, hitting my head hard and stunning me so that I dropped the invisibility.
‘Holy shit, it’s the Xuan Wu!’ someone shrieked.
The Mother released my arm and backed away.
Don’t you dare take my Dark Lord form. You’ll make things a hundred times worse, the Serpent said.
I concentrated on my Emma form and grew physically shorter. I grinned with menace, drew Dark Heavens, loaded it with energy and threw the energy at the Mothers. They weren’t completely destroyed, but the blast was enough to knock them back and in the confusion I ran between the desks to the other side of the cavern.
They followed me. One of them tackled me and I fell heavily. I couldn’t roll and recover with her locked around my lower legs, so I kicked at her. She held me firm.
‘Shackles or something — quickly!’ she shouted.
No way. I changed to serpent, slid my tail out of her grasp, and slithered to the gateway on the other side of the cavern. I dodged a few blows, and ducked as a blast of dark energy flew over my head.
I reached the gateway, changed to human form, and ran through it to the surface.
I charged out into the middle of a busy sidewalk in a city in China. There were more bicycles than cars, wending their way along the path marked out for them at the side of the road. A pagoda stood on the crest of a hill not too far away, and the shock of many memories rattled through me: Jingshan Park, directly north of the Forbidden City. Okay: Beijing, and not far from the Imperial Palace.
The Ming was the best time. I had a charming, comfortable house next to the palace and enjoyed wise discourse with the highest levels of the Empire’s scholars. The Earthly Emperor suspected who his military advisor truly was and treated me with awed respect. We shared tea, and wine, and the Emperor even offered me his own concubines — and was more certain of my identity when I politely refused them. We wandered the carefully tended gardens together, discussing the needs of the Empire and whether there would be enough rain for the coming harvests —
The gateway was obvious. I didn’t need the Serpent’s old-man recollections, and I wish they would stop
Sorry.
I’d seen the Gates of Heaven on the Celestial Plane and knew exactly where I needed to be.
The Earthly analogue is not Tiananmen; it’s Wumen, the Meridian Gate. The third and final barrier before the palace itself.
People around me stopped and stared at the half-naked European woman covered in blood. Five big demons stormed out of the gateway behind me and looked around. They shouted when they saw me.
I ran into the crowd of pedestrians, then took the Turtle’s usual small, middle-aged Chinese female form, dressed in black slacks and a silk jacket. I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jacket, put my head down and gaped in exactly the same way as everybody around me. Humans never saw Shen transformations; as far as they were concerned, the European woman had just disappeared as if she’d never been there. All of them had the confused look of people who didn’t believe their own eyes; a look I’d seen many times before.
The demons pushed through the pedestrians, even shoving me out of the way in the urgency of their search. Good luck finding me in this mob, particularly when they were looking for a topless, brown-haired foreigner among the black-haired locals. As a dumpy, plain-faced, middle-aged woman I couldn’t be more invisible if I tried.
I made my way towards the Imperial Palace, and saw barricades and signs at an entrance to the subway. It was early morning and there was a queue outside the entrance as limited numbers of people were permitted to enter the overloaded system. To hell with that; it would probably be quicker to walk the kilometre or so to Tiananmen, the first gate, even through the choking pollution that would be sure to weaken me. The walk sign lit up on the crosswalk and I dashed across between the cars that, as usual, failed to stop for pedestrians.
The demons faded behind me and I filled with fierce exhilaration. I was free and soon I would rejoin and then nothing would stop me from exacting justice upon the demons that had dared to harm my family, my subjects, my children …
‘I’m Emma, I’m Emma,’ I mumbled over and over, thinking of my past and my family, concentrating on who I was. Emma. I’m not the Serpent. I’m not Xuan Wu.
Regrets
Just shut UP and let me get you there. Not far now, and I’ll be back in Heaven with my family … My children. By the Heavens, my children!
Gold!
My Lord?
Simone’s in Court Ten. She was Raised. Find out how she is. I don’t care how you do it, just do it. Is the Turtle still in the Grotto?
Yes. Simone was Raised? Is that you, Emma? How are you talking like this? What happened?
I have the Serpent with me. I’ll be at the Gates of Heaven in about ten minutes. I need a ride from there to the Mountain, as fast as possible. Be ready to open the Grotto for me.
My Lord.
My Lord?
‘Shit,’ I said under my breath, and charged towards the Gate of Heavenly Peace.
32
Modern Beijing had a ten-lane highway between Tiananmen and the square, with pedestrian underpasses to negotiate the ridiculously huge road. I stopped and looked around; it had been a while. I sneered with contempt at the ugly Stalinist-style halls that blighted the square, then turned towards graceful Tiananmen itself.
The cries of the dying students echoed in my ears. That was a bad time.
Mao’s portrait still hung on the gate, and I wondered again how long it would be before it was removed.
It was surprising that it had lasted so long. ‘Don’t make my image perfect, show my flaws,’ he said, so they made his image perfect except for a mole on his chin. Hypocrites.
I ducked into the underpass, unremarked by anyone around me. A dumpy, middle-aged woman was invisible; but a dumpy, middle-aged woman whose face was fierce with determination was terrifying.
Mao started the way most Earthly leaders start: full of fire to improve the world and make it a better place for everybody. He grew corrupt, the way most Earthly leaders do: seduced by the ease of power and privilege. Blinded by power, he led his people — my people — to mass starvation.
John, you need to close down you’re engulfing me …
The Serpent pul
led back, horrified at its creeping growth.
I came out on the other side, under Tiananmen.
‘But you can use the middle gate as well, can’t you?’ the Emperor said.
‘Not this one,’ I replied. ‘There is another, though, and I do not use the middle there either. It is not my place, either here or there.’
‘Where is your place?’
‘By your side, assisting you, Majesty.’
‘And I am glad for your counsel.’
‘Majesty.’
John! I can’t keep you down if these flashbacks don’t stop.
I have no control over them. It’s been a long time …
I went through Tiananmen; it wasn’t nearly as majestic up close, purely because it was so huge. The paved court on the other side led to the next gate. The trees were a nice touch. During the Imperial times, these courts had been completely bare of any greenery except for the occasional display of potted flowers.
Duanmen was next: the main gate. Not long now. People didn’t notice me as I lowered my head and charged through the gate towards the Wumen, the Meridian Gate, and the entrance to the Imperial Palace Museum.
I smiled. What would the Ming Emperor have said if I’d told him that one day the Forbidden City would be a public museum that even the lowest peasant could walk through? I could imagine the look on his face.
The gate was red and imposing, an inverted U-shape with its arms reaching towards me on either side above the fifty-metre-wide moat that surrounded the Palace. The red walls were brighter than they’d been in centuries. The damn Qing had let the place go; even the library hadn’t been used …
‘Counsellor, the library can’t have a black roof, what are you thinking? The fung shui is most inharmonious. All the Imperial buildings must have roofs of gold!’
‘The library is the most susceptible to fire damage. Its contents are a thousand years of our history, Majesty. Making the roof black will align it with the power of the Xuan Wu, the force of water, to protect the scrolls …’