‘On my way there already, Majesty,’ I said.
John and the stones flew as quickly as they could to Court Ten, next to Court One on the island wheel. A couple of black-armoured demons guarded the entrance, and John yinned them.
‘Pull that yin back, Emma,’ the Emperor said.
‘Whoops, sorry,’ I said, and absorbed the yin into me.
‘Good to know you can use it too; we may need it,’ he said under his breath.
‘You know that’s an extremely bad idea.’
‘Sometimes bad ideas are the only ones we have.’
Martin ordered those holding the blood weapons to attack the armoured demons, and directed the rest of the Heavenly army to strike the normal demon warriors. Guan Yu leapt off the wall into the middle of them, swinging his halberd with a rage so furious his skin glowed red.
‘We’re overmatched, and they probably have reinforcements,’ I said.
‘So release Pao now!’ the Emperor said. ‘We need our Immortals from the Pits and those lasers working!’
John strode into Court Ten, yinning a couple more armoured demons as he charged through.
Pao was in his chair on the dais, bedraggled and weary. ‘Ah Wu! Thank the Heavens. You have no idea how glad I am to see you.’
‘The demon garrison at the centre of the island has been alerted and the guards are coming, my Lord,’ Gold said, his voice urgent.
‘Shut the doors,’ John said. ‘Can you barricade the Court?’
‘We’ll stonewall,‘ Gold said.
They’d chained Pao to his chair and John freed him. Pao jumped to his feet, threw his arms around John’s neck and let go into his shoulder with high-pitched wheezing gasps. ‘It was a nightmare. They made me sentence everybody. They’re all in the worst Pits —’
‘You need to release them,’ John said gently, easing Pao off him. ‘We need them. The Gates are under attack and the demons from the garrison in the middle of the island are on their way here. Pao?’ He bent his head to gaze into Pao’s eyes; Pao was beside himself with grief and relief. ‘Pao. Pao!’
Pao visibly pulled himself together, hesitated for a moment, then swept the chains aside and sat back in his chair. He pulled the book of sentencing closer and inked his brush.
‘Free the big cats first, this is most important,’ John said. ‘The Tiger and his biggest sons and daughter.’
‘With a great deal of pleasure,’ Pao growled, sweeping the brush over the sentencing entries with wide strokes.
Loud thumps echoed through the walls. ‘Gold. Is it holding?’ John said.
We have it, my Lord. They can’t get in. It seems all the biggest armoured demons are at the Gates; these are just small unarmoured ones. His voice changed to dismay. They’ve thrown everything they have at the Gates.
The Tiger appeared in the middle of Court Ten and collapsed. Michael fell to lie unconscious next to him, and John ran down the stairs to them.
Simone has appeared on the other side of our wall and is taking down the demons, Gold said. She is quite magnificent.
The Tiger’s Number Three landed next to Michael and collapsed as well. John went to the Tiger first and put his hands on either side of his face.
‘About time I had the chance to pay you back for Guangzhou,’ he said, feeding the Tiger shen.
The Tiger woke, saw John and grabbed his arm. ‘Ah Wu. Ah Wu. Ah Wu!’ He pulled himself up, put his hands on either side of John’s face and kissed him hard, then pulled back to stare at him as if he could disappear any moment. ‘Holy fuck, am I glad to see you.’
Simone appeared next to them and lowered her weapons. ‘Goodness, that felt strange.’ She raised her voice. ‘Close it up again, Gold!’
Already.
My attention returned to the Heavenly Gates as the Jade Emperor spoke. ‘We need those cats up here now!’
A blood-weapon wielder emptied his reservoir onto an armoured demon and it screamed and dissolved where the blood hit it. The reservoir was empty and the soldier tried to back off, but was torn to pieces by the armoured demons following.
Our forces were dwindling and more demons appeared on other side of the Gates, sandwiching Ma and his small elite force and tearing them to pieces.
Martin had stopped calling yin — probably too exhausted to control it — and had moved so that his back was to the wood of the Gates, the Silver Serpent singing as he swung it with focused ferocity. The Heavenly soldiers fell around him, their screams filling the air and their blood soaking the grass.
‘We need reinforcements, Ah Wu,’ the Emperor said. ‘If we don’t have the cats up here soon, the Gates will fall.’
‘We’re waking the cats now,’ I said.
‘Simone, are you able to give Number Three some shen energy? We need these cats up and fighting,’ John said as he put his hands on Michael’s face and brought him around. ‘Tiger, head straight to the top of the Gates of Heaven. Go to your Number Four — he has a laser weapon for you. Hurry! They’re at the Gates and we don’t have many left.’
The armoured demons at the Gates ran over the top of the blood-weapon wielders, safe now that their reservoirs were exhausted. Martin fell, and there was nothing between the demons and the Gates. The remaining Heavenly army were surrounded by the demons, fighting with desperation.
‘You should retreat, Majesty. They’re ready to breach the Gates,’ I said.
The Emperor concentrated and raised his arms and a wall of rock appeared behind the wood of the Gates, reinforcing them so they would be impossible to open. ‘Not until this falls as well.’
There are no demons left here, they’re all at the Gates, Gold said.
More demon reinforcements appeared down the hill from the Gates: hundreds of armoured demons, human-shaped and four metres tall.
The Tiger landed next to us on top of the Gates, grabbed one of the laser weapons from the Horseman holding it and connected it to his wrist. He shared a word and a nod with Number Four, then he roared and jumped into the air, shooting the armoured demons from above. He focused the laser to a tight beam on an armoured demon until he’d bored a hole through its shell, bringing it down in clouds of filthy-smelling smoke.
Number Three woke on the floor in Court Ten and Simone spoke urgently into her face. ‘You’re needed up at the Gates to use one of the laser weapons, Katie. Are you up to it?’
‘Fuck yeah,’ Number Three said, and disappeared.
‘Simone!’ John shouted. ‘Secure this area. Revive the Celestials as they’re returned and station them around the Courts. Hold as much of the Celestial island as you can; we need One and Ten as an absolute minimum. Then send everybody else up to the Gates to help defend. Minimal numbers down here. Got that?’
‘I understand. Go!’
‘Gold, bring your war-trained stones with us and leave the rest here as barricades,’ John said. ‘Simone, Martin just fell and he’ll arrive here soon. Keep him here to help. Okay?’
‘I have it. I’ll send Martin to you to help defend the Gates.’
‘Let me know if you need him then. Gold, with me.’
‘My Lord.’
The demons had destroyed the wood of the Gates and were scrabbling at the Jade Emperor’s stone barrier. The Heavenly force continued to whittle at the rear of the demons, but the armoured ones far outnumbered the laser carriers. The demons struck a heavy blow on the stone barrier and the Jade Emperor bent double, his face weak with pain.
Er Lang and I rushed to assist him and held him up.
‘You should go, Majesty,’ I said.
‘No, I can hold this indefinitely. They can’t get in,’ the Emperor said.
‘You’ll need to rest eventually, Majesty,’ Er Lang said.
The Eastern Demon King appeared on the blood-soaked ground next to the Gates and crossed his arms over his chest. He watched with satisfaction as the demons threw themselves at the Jade Emperor’s wall, destroying themselves in their frenzied assault. The stones cracked and the Jade Emperor
staggered, his face ashen.
John appeared in the middle of the demons and swung Seven Stars, destroying them around him. The tall armoured demons strode through the middle of the demon force, crushing their fellows underfoot, until they reached John. John guided the stones to battle them. The demons couldn’t injure the stones, but the stones couldn’t hurt the demons either. Instead, they kept them occupied while the Tiger and his three children picked them off slowly with the laser weapons.
John jumped into the air and floated next to the Tiger, helping him destroy the demons with concentrated shafts of yin; but controlling it soon became too much and he landed again to strike at the non-armoured demons with Seven Stars.
I hurriedly closed the link between us as he was overrun by them and decapitated, landing in Court Ten with the rest of the downed Immortals. Pao scribbled furiously in his book, trying to keep pace with the bodies piling up in front of him.
John went outside the Court and found Simone; she and Marshal Ma were working together to direct the stones to hold Hell.
‘We’ve destroyed the bridges the demons built over the ends of the causeways, and the stones are enlarging the holes so they can’t come back,’ Simone said. ‘You said the Tiger has laser weapons that will destroy the armoured demons?’
‘They do,’ John said. ‘But we’re close to losing the Gates. We must hold this island.’
‘If we can station the laser weapons around the Courts, we should be able to hold the island without difficulty,’ Ma said. ‘Your daughter has done a most meritorious job in securing the island.’
‘Thank you,’ Simone said.
‘Pao just released me,’ John said, and headed up to the Gates, joining us on top.
The Celestial army was defeated. The remaining soldiers joined us on top of the Gates and the demons stopped attacking the stone barrier. The demon army pulled three metres back from the Jade Emperor’s barrier and there was complete silence as they stared at the stone wall.
The Demon King smiled up at us from his position next to the Gates and five glowing fluorescent slime demons appeared. They flew onto the stone and stuck to it, and the Jade Emperor screamed. His eyes went wide with horror as his robes and the skin of his hands dissolved as if they were bathed in acid. The fabric of the robe disintegrated to reveal his naked body, thin and pale. It was a distressing blow to his dignity for us to see him so exposed. The skin of his abdomen dissolved in front of our horrified eyes.
‘Is Hell secure?’ he shouted.
Simone?
Yes?
Is Hell secure?
Yes.
‘It is, Majesty.’
I can’t hold this much longer, the Emperor said in broadcast mode. When it falls, follow them to the West and let them take it. He quivered with agony as the slimes dissolved the wall and him with it.
‘No! You can’t have my Western Palace!’ the Tiger roared. ‘It took me two thousand fucking years to build that beauty! You are not having it!’
He jumped off the top of the wall and ran his laser weapon over the slime demons. The beam burnt them, producing acidic, foul-smelling smoke, then the burn holes closed over and the demons continued to eat at the wall.
‘Tiger, come back, you’re wasting your time,’ the Emperor said. ‘Be ready. You’ll be needed in Hell soon.’
‘Fuck, I don’t believe this,’ the Tiger said as he returned to us. ‘They cannot fucking win.’
The slime demons shrank; melting the wall was a destructive process for them. The Jade Emperor collapsed, leaning heavily into me and moaning with pain. The slime demons shrank to nothing, their work complete, and the Emperor panted with relief.
The rest of the demon army hit the stone wall and the Gates shook. The wall crumbled and a hole appeared through its middle, mirrored in the Jade Emperor’s abdomen. The demons hit the wall again, and the hole grew to thirty centimetres across.
There was a breathless hush of anticipation from both sides as the demons drew back to hit the wall again.
‘Let it go,’ I said into the silence.
Laser-equipped warriors to Hell and hold it against the armoured demons, the Jade Emperor said. Heavenly forces, his voice changed to deep regret, retreat. Fall back to the Celestial Palace.
The demons rushed the stone wall, and as they struck the Jade Emperor dismissed it. The demons roared with victory and charged through the Gates into Heaven. The Demon King summoned a flyer, mounted it and led the demons west.
‘No!’ the Tiger yelled, and ran to follow them.
Tiger, to Hell. Now, the Jade Emperor said. Number One son of the Tiger, Michael, are you there?
Majesty, Michael said.
Go with Ah Wu to the West and observe. When they are settled there, his voice changed, yang it to the ground with all of them in it. Extra commendation if you can take the King with them.
Majesty, Michael said, and he and John headed west.
‘Emma, the Serpent is to liaise with Ming Gui as to the disposition of laser-equipped cats in Hell. We must hold Hell at all costs.’ The Emperor collapsed into Er Lang, his skin and robes returning as he healed. ‘As soon as Hell is absolutely secure, both of you come to the palace. You’re almost completely merged with him and if we wait much longer I will not be able to extract you. Er Lang, help me to the palace.’
‘Majesty,’ Er Lang said, gruff with grief.
35
John and Michael followed the demons to the Western Palace and positioned themselves in the desert not far from the walls. They watched as the demon army, with the King at its head, marched triumphantly through the gates of the palace. A few of them stopped to urinate on the walls before they entered, but the King angrily prevented them, destroying any that broke ranks.
‘They can’t see us?’ Michael said.
‘I have it,’ John said. ‘They don’t know we’re here.’
‘There are still some demon servants there,’ Michael said. ‘There are about seventy demons in our main hall.’
‘Order them to leave immediately.’
My Lord, Franklin said.
Leave now, Franklin, John said.
My Lord. We know the demons are coming. We will talk to them, welcome them and keep them in a limited location so they can be yanged without destroying the entire palace.
You are worth more than that ugly pile of rock, John said.
What he said, the Tiger said. All of you, out. They’re just stones and I can rebuild.
You want to destroy all of them, Highness, and this will ensure it, Franklin said.
Dammit, you are the last of your kind and so close to Ascension it doesn’t matter. You are not to do this, I forbid it! John said.
We waited a long moment before Franklin replied, No.
Franklin, dude, the Tiger said. If you can disobey him, you’re in the middle of Ascending. Get the fuck out of there because if you’re yanged before you do it —
The King is here, my Lords. The other servants have obeyed you and left the palace, but I’m holding him for you. They are in the main hall; we prepared a feast for them.
All the wives and children are out, right? Michael said.
They are. It is just me here.
Did you at least get the fucking horses out? the Tiger said.
Uh … that’s the feast, Franklin said.
The Tiger howled with rage and pain in John’s head.
I’m ready. Do it, Franklin said.
Are you seeing gold yet, Franklin? John said.
No, Gold’s not here. Oh! Oh. I see what you mean. Wow. Gold. Everything’s gold. His voice became urgent. The King is gathering a large force to move to the next Bastion. You need to do this now!
‘Do it, Michael,’ John said.
‘But Franklin —’
‘Do it, that’s an order. And don’t just take out the main hall; yang the entire thing to bedrock. Everything.’ He lowered his voice. ‘That is a direct order.’
‘Please witness my execution of this
order under extreme duress, Celestial Highness.’
‘Acknowledged,’ John said. ‘Now do it!’
Michael stood, dropped his head and stared at the Western Palace. He raised his hands and the sky glowed.
Memories flooded John as he watched the sky ignite above the red stones: the good times he’d spent there with his brother the Tiger. Helping the Tiger design the ingenious system of cooling fountains; arguing over the finest steeds to stock his stables. Feasts and merriment, shared with their families. All to be destroyed.
I am so sorry, brother.
Fuck this. When I rebuild, you’re paying for it.
Of course.
John hoped that Franklin had made it out before the twenty-metre-wide circle of blindingly white light appeared directly above the centre of the palace. It expanded to fifty metres and the waves of heat coming from it made the stones of the palace appear to ripple. Michael made a soft sound of effort and a shaft of hot white light exploded from the sky into the earth with a deafening roar that made the ground shake.
‘Nice control,’ John said softly.
A ring of light shot from the pillar, then two more. They expanded so fast they were almost invisible, rushing outwards past Michael and John into the distance and fusing the sand and every stone around them into glass.
The deafening shockwave hit a moment later, full of dust and debris, and the ground shook again.
The circle in the sky contracted. The pillar of light crashed into the earth with another tremendous impact felt through the ground, and spread in a dome of light, kilometres across, that expanded then shrank to a white-hot dot in the centre of a circle of destruction.
The dot disappeared, the stones fell from the air and there was silence; the only sound the pinging of the fused stones cooling around them. No mushroom cloud in the aftermath; the destruction was complete. A smooth polished circle three kilometres across remained where the Western Palace had been.
Michael fell to his hands and knees with grief. John held him, then sent his senses out, searching for demons, and found none.
‘Majesty?’ he said. ‘I can’t sense any. Did we destroy them all?’