I did it again. Leo sighed with bliss. ‘Damn.’
I saw the ulcers in his mouth and throat. I moved without thinking and covered one of the ulcers with chi, just to blanket it.
‘Stop, Emma,’ Ms Kwan said from the other side of the table, her gentle voice urgent.
I halted, still with the chi over the ulcer.
‘Don’t touch her,’ Ms Kwan said before John even moved. ‘Leo, stay very still.’
We all remained absolutely motionless.
‘Move the chi into the centre, then radiate it out,’ Ms Kwan said.
‘That’s what I was about to do.’ I moved the chi into the centre of the ulcer, then made it flow outwards until it covered the ulcer. The ulcer disappeared.
‘Holy…’ Leo said, then swallowed the rest.
‘How much energy did you just use, Emma?’ Ms Kwan said.
‘Hardly any,’ I said.
‘Continue, if you wish,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘Ah Wu, move away. Let me supervise this.’
I heard them moving but didn’t turn. I concentrated on the next ulcer, moved the chi, and healed it.
‘Well done,’ Ms Kwan said next to me. ‘You may continue.’
I healed the ulcers one by one.
‘Cool,’ Simone said softly. ‘That must really have hurt, Leo.’
‘Not any more,’ Leo whispered. ‘Hurry up and finish, Emma, I’m starving.’
I laughed softly, and healed the remaining ulcer.
‘Stop,’ Ms Kwan said.
I hesitated.
‘You must be very, very careful removing your consciousness,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘Remove your awareness from the Lion very slowly and gently, otherwise you could render him unconscious.’
I carefully removed the tendrils of my awareness from Leo. I felt his gratitude and smiled. I pulled the remaining essence out and snapped open my eyes. ‘Done.’ I focused on Leo. ‘Have something to eat.’
Leo didn’t need to be told twice. But he poured himself a huge mug of coffee first.
‘Well done, Emma,’ John said from the other side of the table. ‘That was remarkable.’
‘Can I do that to myself if I’m injured?’ I asked Ms Kwan.
‘Yes,’ she said, smiling. ‘You can do it for just about anybody, except for Ah Wu.’
‘This is the part where you tell me that only Immortals can do that,’ I said.
Neither John nor Ms Kwan said anything.
‘Can I learn that?’ Simone said.
‘When you’re bigger,’ John said. ‘You need to have very good energy control to do it. Maybe when you’re about twelve.’
‘Okay,’ Simone said, and returned to her cereal. ‘Emma can teach me.’
‘I’m sure she will,’ John said, his eyes sparkling.
‘Hurry up and finish your toast, Emma,’ Simone said. ‘I want to go down to the pool, and see the bowling place. Can we go to the islands tomorrow?’
‘Sure,’ I said. ‘Leo can stay here and rest today, and go with us to the islands tomorrow.’
‘I’m fine now,’ Leo said.
‘You still need to spend the day here near me,’ John said. ‘Go out with the ladies tomorrow.’
‘My Lord,’ Leo said, sitting down to a plate piled high with food.
‘Can I talk to you privately for a moment, Ms Kwan?’ I said.
Ms Kwan rose. ‘Come into my room.’
I followed her. They watched me go, silent.
‘Is there a problem, Emma?’ Ms Kwan said, sitting on the end of her bed.
I sat in one of the wicker chairs. ‘They don’t know about this, and Simone didn’t really understand. Simon Wong tried to control me on the plane when they attacked us.’
‘Ah Wu told me that he had no control over you,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘Trust yourself, Emma. You will never hurt them, you know that.’
‘That’s not what I’m concerned about,’ I said. ‘It’s something else.’
‘What?’ Ms Kwan said gently.
‘Wong wanted to test me. To see if he had full control. He took a mouthful of blood and commanded me to kiss him. I did. I swallowed the blood.’
‘And that was what brought out the Serpent,’ Ms Kwan said, understanding.
‘Ms Kwan,’ I said, bending forward to speak fiercely to her, ‘it was Leo’s blood. A big mouthful of it.’
‘I fail to see…’ Ms Kwan began, then her face went rigid. ‘I understand.’
‘Can you check me?’ I said.
‘No,’ she said. ‘I cannot do it. It is not in my nature.’
‘Do you think having the Serpent come out would somehow have cleared it?’
‘Emma.’ She sighed. ‘Emma, I have no idea. You should not have done that.’
‘Tell me about it.’ I ran my hands through my hair. ‘I didn’t even think at the time.’
‘You were probably more concerned with survival,’ she said wryly. ‘Quite understandable.’
‘You don’t know?’ I said.
She silently shook her head.
‘Okay.’ I straightened and pulled myself together. ‘Whatever. I’ll have myself tested, and won’t worry about it until then. The important thing is Simone.’
‘Either way, when Ah Wu returns, rejoined, he can heal you,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘Remember. He has promised. It will be.’
I grinned. She was right. ‘Thanks, Ms Kwan.’
She smiled and rose. ‘Go and finish your breakfast. Simone is becoming impatient. If she does not have a chance to see the whole resort very soon I think she will explode.’
The Dragon met us at the door of the suite the next morning. He looked similar to the way he had appeared when we had arrived: an ordinary, good-looking Chinese man of about thirty, wearing a pair of smart grey slacks and a silky shirt. His eyes were a milky greenish-brown under his expensive sunglasses.
‘You can’t change your eyes all the way?’ I said as we waited for Leo and Simone.
‘Too difficult to bother about,’ he said. ‘Nobody looks anyway. As long as my eyes aren’t bright blue, nobody notices.’
Simone wore her Australian solar swimmers, which were already too small for her. We would have to make a trip down to the resort shop later to buy her some new ones. Leo wore a fluorescent floral Hawaiian print, both shorts and shirt.
‘I am not taking you out looking like that,’ the Dragon said.
‘Looking like what?’ Leo lisped.
‘Flaming.’ I turned and took Simone’s hand. ‘Come on, sweetheart, let’s go and see the islands.’
Leo made a strangling noise as he followed us down the hallway.
The Dragon sighed loudly and brought up the rear.
The marina was right in front of the hotel. It was shiny new and there weren’t many boats moored there.
‘It will fill up as more people come in,’ the Dragon said. ‘The condominiums aren’t finished yet. I’m expecting wealthy Malaysians to set up holiday villas here. I have a ship’s chandlery licence but it’s not worth starting business until I have some buyers.’ He turned to me as we walked. ‘You might consider purchasing a condominium after the Dark Lord has gone. Come here for your holidays. School holidays.’
‘Yeah!’ Simone said.
‘I’ll probably be on the Mountain during the holidays,’ I said. ‘I’ll need to find someone to take me.’
‘Won’t be me,’ the Dragon said. ‘Won’t have the time.’
‘I don’t expect you to,’ I said.
‘Here it is,’ the Dragon said.
It was a fourteen metre fly bridge cruiser, the Crystal Dragon.
‘Is this it?’ I said. ‘It’s awfully small.’
The Dragon stared at me, astonished. He pointed to a massive fifty metre yacht moored on the other side of the marina. ‘You want to take the big one?’
‘That one won’t manoeuvre around the islands, will it?’ I said.
‘Nope. This one is better for viewing the reef.’
‘Oh well, then I suppose this’l
l have to do,’ I said wearily. ‘We’re not going very far anyway.’
The Dragon turned stiffly and boarded the boat.
‘Good one, Emma,’ Leo whispered.
‘Oh, the fun is just beginning,’ I whispered back.
The sky was a brilliant crystal blue and the sea was a matching deep blue, almost purple. The breeze was fresh and clean and a welcome relief from the pollution of Hong Kong. It was a brilliantly mild warm day.
The islands were tiny and picture perfect, each with a little head of bristling jungle hair. The Dragon pointed them out in turn as his staff drove us towards them.
‘On the right, the large one, is Palau Gaya, Gaya Island. It’s inhabited. Not much in the way of reef there. Police Beach around the other side is good, but there are better beaches on the other islands. Next to that, the small one there,’ he pointed to the island next to Gaya, ‘is Sapi. Very pretty. Some reef off the eastern end. Small but good beach. Probably too many tourists there right now, we’ll stop and see how we go.’ He turned to Simone. ‘Take care, dear, there are monkeys on that island, and the tourists have been feeding them. They can be aggressive.’
‘Cool,’ Simone said.
The Dragon pointed further to the left. ‘That’s Manukan. Bigger than Sapi. The sand isn’t as soft, but there is some rather good reef off the northern end. We’ll stop there after Sapi and you can jump off the boat and snorkel on the reef.’
‘Got enough gear for us?’ I said.
‘I’m not going in,’ Leo said.
‘Plenty,’ the Dragon said. ‘Further to the left, Mamutik, very small; and Sulug, only good for scuba. Anybody have a licence?’
Nobody replied.
‘Oh well, the Princess is too small for scuba anyway.’
‘You didn’t learn to dive, Leo?’ I said.
Leo didn’t say anything. I decided to leave it.
‘Okay then,’ the Dragon said. ‘Easy. Sapi first, then Manukan, off the reef. Then we’ll land on Manukan and have a barbecue under the trees, where we won’t be accosted by monkeys. Hold; I will inform my staff.’ He stopped and concentrated.
Simone jiggled with excitement and leaned over the edge of the boat. I grabbed her around the waist and held her.
‘I won’t fall in, don’t be silly, Emma,’ she said, impatient.
‘Just being extra careful, pet,’ I said. ‘Your dad’s not here to rescue you.’
‘Qing Long can breathe underwater too,’ Simone said. ‘He’s a dragon. Some of them have big palaces at the bottom of the sea.’
‘Does he?’
‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘We should ask him.’
The Dragon snapped back and moved next to us. ‘All organised.’
‘I’m vegetarian,’ I said.
‘Of course you are,’ the Dragon said. ‘You are well on the way to attaining the Tao. What does the Serpent eat? I would love to see it. Can you summon it at will?’
‘Damn,’ I said softly. ‘No,’ I said loudly. ‘And as far as I know, I’ve never eaten in Serpent form.’
‘You never dream about eating babies?’ he said softly into my ear.
I went stiff and ignored him.
‘Here we are,’ he said as we approached the jetty on Sapi. He concentrated, and the boat slowed as we neared the pier.
‘Look down,’ he said.
Simone leaned over the edge of the boat and squealed. I leaned over as well and nearly squealed too.
There were thousands of brightly coloured fish in the shallow water. The water was only about three metres deep and absolutely clear, as if it wasn’t there. The fish glittered as they swam beneath the boat, all changing direction together with brilliant blue and yellow flashes.
‘You can swim with them,’ the Dragon said. ‘You can hand-feed them. They are very tame.’ He glanced up at the island. ‘This is a marine park. Fishing is prohibited. There is a large amount of exceptional sea life here. The local people are very protective of it. Please take care you do not damage the habitat; we would be in serious trouble.’
‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘We’ll treat it with respect. Look whose family we are.’
The Dragon chuckled. He concentrated again, and his smiling staff brought out bags of snorkelling gear, bamboo mats, an enormous cooler and mountains of fluffy beach towels from the front of the boat.
‘Are they all demons?’ I said.
‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Human staff are much too expensive for such menial tasks. Most of them are local demons, tamed here myself.’ He gestured towards the jetty. ‘After you.’
A number of grinning locals stopped to watch us as we disembarked. The Dragon greeted them casually and they waved and smiled.
‘What are they all smoking?’ Leo growled.
‘Leo!’ I said. I dropped my voice. ‘Please. Not in front of Simone.’
‘They are smoking fresh air, a relaxed lifestyle and a friendly culture,’ the Dragon said. ‘But be careful not to tread on any toes.’
‘None of them are smoking, silly Leo,’ Simone said impatiently. ‘Hardly anybody here smokes, not like China. It’s really good.’
‘You are quite correct, Princess,’ the Dragon said.
I held Simone’s hand and helped her off the boat, and the Dragon caught her from the jetty. ‘Let’s go onto the beach.’
We had a choice. To the right was a narrow sandy beach facing Gaya Island, shaded by huge trees. To the left was a wide beach without shade, ending in a tiny promontory covered in jungle and petering out into rocks that jutted into the water. The beach on the right was packed with screaming Hong Kong tourists. The beach on the left was nearly deserted.
As a group, and without saying anything, we all turned left.
There was a single shady spot under a huge tree. Some American tourists had set up there and were munching on snacks, their snorkelling gear strewn around them.
‘Watch this,’ the Dragon said, and concentrated.
‘Don’t you dare!’ I cried, but it was too late.
A troupe of small brown macaque monkeys descended on the tourists. They pulled at the snorkelling gear, approaching quickly and then darting away as the tourists gathered the gear closer. A larger male, about the size of a corgi, came down from the trees and sauntered over to the tourists. He opened his mouth wide, revealing long gleaming fangs, and approached them menacingly.
As one the Americans grabbed all their stuff and fled.
‘What a rotten thing to do,’ I said. ‘Please don’t do that again.’
‘They were only Americans,’ the Dragon said, and Leo stiffened. ‘Come.’
The monkeys disappeared into the trees and the Dragon’s staff laid the mats out for us in the shade.
The Dragon didn’t sit. ‘I’ll stay on the boat, it’s more comfortable. I have some calls to make,’ he said. ‘If you need anything, tell the demons. I’ll leave one here for you.’ He gestured. ‘Nelson here.’
The demon appeared as a youthful Malay who grinned and bobbed his head.
The Dragon turned towards the water. Kota Kinabalu was clearly visible across the ocean, with Mount Kinabalu jutting out behind it. ‘These rocks on the right,’ the Dragon said, pointing, ‘lead to a rather nice small reef. Follow the rocks out to the end, go about three, four more metres. You are on the reef.’
‘Thanks, Dragon,’ I said. ‘But please don’t do that to the other tourists again.’
‘They were only Americans,’ the Dragon said mildly.
‘The Black Lion is American,’ I said.
‘Oh, is he?’ the Dragon said, amused. ‘Then I shall make him an honorary Japanese, as I am.’ He bowed mockingly to Leo. ‘You are now a real person.’
Simone got to her feet. ‘You are being mean to my guardian, Qing Long, and I don’t like that. If you don’t stop tormenting Leo, I will have a serious talk to my father about you.’
Qing Long stiffened, his expression rigid. Then he grinned and chuckled. He bowed to Simone, then salu
ted her. ‘As you wish, my Lady. I will in future treat the Lion with the utmost respect.’ He turned to Leo and saluted him. ‘Lion. My apologies.’ He saluted Simone again. ‘My Lady. By your leave.’
Simone turned away and sat, ignoring him.
The Dragon chuckled again, saluted me, and turned to walk back to the boat.
What a creep, I signed.
With you there, Leo signed back.
‘Is that sign language?’ Simone said.
‘Yes,’ I said.
‘What did you say to each other?’
‘Grown-up stuff,’ I said.
‘Bad words about the Dragon,’ Simone said with confidence.
‘Exactly,’ Leo said.
‘I want to learn too,’ Simone said.
‘You don’t need to, pet,’ I said. ‘You can talk right into our ears anyway.’
Oh yeah. Simone switched back to out loud. ‘Who’ll go out to the reef with me?’
‘Have you ever used a snorkel before?’ I said.
‘No, is it hard?’
‘It takes some getting used to. We’ll practise here in the shallow water, then see how we go.’
‘Okay.’
I fitted Simone carefully with the goggles and flippers. She said something into the snorkel, then laughed into it.
‘Pop your head under the water, and breathe through it,’ I said.
She nodded and put her face into the water. She squeaked through the snorkel, threw her head back up and said something unintelligible through the tube. She switched to silent speech. I can see really clearly! There are little fish right near my feet!
‘Don’t worry, they won’t hurt you,’ I said, and she nodded, eyes wide inside the goggles. ‘What we’ll do now is swim around in the shallow water to practise. Then you and me are going to the reef.’
Simone squeaked into the snorkel, her eyes wide, then thrashed out until the water was waist-deep and launched forward to swim. She swam around in the shallow water perfectly, breathing through the snorkel like a pro, occasionally making muffled comments to herself through the tube.
I glanced at Leo. He watched us from one of the beach mats with a huge grin on his face. I gestured with my head for him to join us and he shook his head, still smiling. I decided to leave it.
I pulled on my own goggles and fins, waded to Simone and grabbed her hand. She squealed and said something unintelligible through the tube. I didn’t bother answering; I floated horizontally, put my own face in the water and joined her.