‘My Lord,’ she said. She rose and saluted him, then me. ‘My Lady.’
She turned to go, her green robes flowing around her. She stopped at the door and glared at the Dragon. He opened his mouth to say something to her, but she made a loud sound of disgust and stormed past him and out of the office.
The Dragon hesitated, looking after her, then came in. He was holding something like a baby, wrapped in the folds of his robe. As he neared us, it became apparent it was a fifty-centimetre-high tree sapling with a slender stem, bare roots, and a bushy gathering of leaves at its top.
‘It took me nearly a full day, but I found one,’ he said.
‘You managed to salvage some of the Tree?’ I said, relieved.
‘No,’ the Dragon said. ‘She’s gone. This is one of her children.’ He bent with grief for a moment, then straightened. ‘This is the only one that survived; I fished it out of the ocean. Can you help it?’
The leaves shifted and seemed to form a face, then they drifted apart again and were just a random pattern. The tree spoke with a voice like a child’s whispering: ‘I have been doused in salt water for days. I cannot be saved.’ ‘Ah Wu?’ the Dragon said.
John generated a bubble of water and placed it over the plant, washing it clean. The sapling shivered within the water, then shook itself. John released the water and the tree faded again. John changed to Serpent, so big that the transformation knocked me off my feet and slammed me into the wall. The desk toppled over, scattering its contents.
‘Are you okay?’ John said in the Serpent’s female voice.
‘Yeah, no damage,’ I said, wriggling out from under its coils. ‘I think you broke your desk.’
‘I know, Zara will kill me.’
It touched its nose to the sapling and the tree changed from yellow to green, a subtle transformation.
‘Stop,’ the Dragon said, his voice full of urgency. ‘Enough.’
John changed back to human and turned his desk right way up. He concentrated and the papers that had been on it flew back to land haphazardly on its surface. He bent to pick up the Ninja Turtle figure and carefully placed it next to the monitor.
‘Thank you, Dark Lord,’ the tree said. ‘But three days in salt water . . .’
‘I know,’ the Dragon said. ‘You need nourishment. Take it.’ He held his arm out so the robes pulled away from his forearm.
‘Highness,’ the little tree said, ‘you are one with us and we will not harm you.’
The Dragon put the tree on top of his arm. ‘Do it. You are the only one left.’
‘I cannot.’
‘I did this for your mother, and I will do it for you. It will connect you with the forest, child, it must be done. You are the last one. Do it!’
The tree’s roots grew and lashed out like whips, wrapping themselves around the Dragon’s arm, then piercing the skin to bury themselves into it. We both stepped forward, but he raised his hand to stop us, his face fierce with pain. He staggered, and John and I helped him to sit. The tree’s roots ran under the skin up his arm, and he jerked as it penetrated his chest and spread through him.
His face went blank and he looked up at us. ‘Ah Wu. Some Shen are killing a tree. They’ve taken a tree to Europe and they will sacrifice her to open a portal.’
‘Stop them, Lord Xuan, they are planning to kill one of us,’ the tree said.
‘How close to the grove are they?’ John said.
‘They’re halfway there; she’s fighting them every step of the way.’
‘We have to stop them,’ I said.
‘I know. Do you need someone to remove the little tree when it has fed enough?’ John asked the Dragon.
‘No,’ the Dragon said. ‘I’ve summoned my Number One. He will find a safe place to put it once it’s killed me.’
‘Very well,’ John said.
* * *
He took my hand, and teleported me to a location floating above the ocean. Both of us took True Form: him the two creatures, and me a serpent. His Serpent separated from the Turtle and I took its place, wrapping my coils around its shell.
Ready, I said, and the three of us dived into the ocean.
We reviewed the troops as he swam. Less than five thousand left to defend the Heavens. We shared the horrible knowledge that if the tree died and its sacrifice worked, a portal into the European Heavens would open. We could spring a surprise attack on the demons and dramatically increase our chances of success.
As he swam, we worked together to select a force of a thousand of the finest soldiers in the army, and mobilised them to the far west of the Western Heavens, ready to move if the way to the European Heavens was opened.
After three hours of liaison with our staff, we ran out of things we could do remotely and instead silently shared the sensation of underwater travel. He was in his True Form, the Serpent whipping through the water beside his Turtle, and his quiet joy at being whole and in his element eased my own spirit.
The Serpent changed to male human form: taller and leaner than the John I’d known, but with the same dark eyes and noble face. He swam to me and settled to sit cross-legged on the Turtle’s shell, carefully moving my coils to make space. I wrapped my serpent body around him and he stroked my scales, the tips of his fingers sending ripples of pleasure through me. He pulled my serpent head down and smiled into my eyes. He stroked his hand over the top of my head and down the side of my neck, and I leaned into his touch. He pulled me closer and I rested my chin on his shoulder as he held me, his Turtle thrusting through the water beneath us.
He changed to Serpent and his coils slid cool and silken around me. We twined against each other, the feeling delicious on my scales.
You won’t lose control of the Turtle? I said as we both moved down to lie on his shell.
I may be forced to stop for a short time when things become very interesting, both of him said in unison.
I hesitated. I’d never done this before — serpent to serpent — and I wasn’t sure how the mechanics . . .
Relax, the Serpent said. Slide. Sssslide.
We slid over each other and the sensual movement on my scales ignited something deep inside me.
Yes, wonderful, you’re there, he said. Taste it.
I flicked my tongue and tasted the essence in the water around us. It tasted of me: cool and musky and ready. And of him: sweet and wild and full of the freshness of the ocean.
Good, right species. If I was the wrong species it would be most traumatic for you. I haven’t done this as snake in a very long time.
Turtle only?
I have more powerful urges, the Turtle said beneath me, making his shell vibrate and driving me to greater need.
I wrapped my coils more tightly around the Serpent, knowing that I needed to position myself correctly. Snakes only had a single opening and I wondered how . . .
Now I need you to trust me, he said with both voices. Don’t be afraid. His head was next to mine and he flicked his tongue again, touching my scales. I know it looks —
‘Holy shit!’ I shouted, quickly disentangling myself. The scents that had filled the water around us dissipated. ‘There’s two of them? Those spines make the Turtle’s organ look tame! No way will both of those things fit inside me.’
‘Didn’t you know? You used to own a snake.’
‘Monty never grew big pink cactuses!’
He changed to human. ‘Perhaps I should have warned you.’
‘That has to hurt like hell, John. Hasn’t a female serpent ever warned you?’
‘Most of the time I am a female Serpent, Emma. And the experience is extremely pleasurable, believe me.’ He ran one hand down the side of my body. ‘When the species is right, the body of the female is built to accommodate the body of the male. Everything slides into place and locks and it’s . . .’ Even though he was in human form, his scent filled the water again, and I couldn’t help but flick my tongue to taste it. ‘It really is very good. Trust me.’
‘Just l
ike you trusted me,’ the Turtle said beneath us.
‘You stopped swimming,’ I said without looking away from the Serpent.
‘Oh,’ he said with both voices, and the Turtle swam again.
‘But there’s two,’ I said.
‘I only use one.’
‘What, and jerk off with the other? That must be hard with no hands.’
He bent to put his forehead in his hand and his shoulders shook. Thank you, he said as he laughed silently, probably for the first time in weeks.
I coiled up beside him and put my head in his lap, and he stroked me between the eyes, scratching behind my eye ridges and below my jaw where the most sensitive spots were.
‘Do you want to try again?’ I said.
‘I can’t perform unless your scent fills the water. And I don’t think you’re in the mood now.’
‘The big pink cactus things can’t emerge unless I make the scent?’
‘That’s right.’
‘We can try again later,’ I said.
‘It might be better to stick to human form.’
‘No,’ I said, raising my serpent head. ‘That was very good until the cactuses came out. I really do want to try again.’
He stroked my head. ‘I promise it’s worth it.’ He dropped his voice. ‘And your snake form is so damn hot — I’ve been wanting to do that for ages.’
‘How far left to go?’ I said.
‘We’re nearly there.’
I settled my head in his lap again. ‘Then we should stop fooling around and prepare.’
‘We have to stop anyway. Simone is flying to catch up with us when we reach France.’
‘France?’
‘This grove is in western France, near the Spanish border. Old Gaul.’
‘Send Simone home. She shouldn’t be involved in this,’ I said.
‘We may need her.’
‘She shouldn’t be fighting.’
I’m probably the most powerful thing on the Celestial apart from Daddy right now. If we can break through into the European Heavens, you’ll need me, Simone said.
‘You’re too young.’
Simone’s voice filled with grim pleasure. You forget who my father is, Lady Emma. I’m not a child. I am adult spawn of the reptile God of War, the Destroyer of Demons. It is in my nature to be a warrior.
‘You’re changing into something darker and more destructive,’ I said. ‘This isn’t you!’
Yes, it is, she said, the grim pleasure even more pronounced. I’m not changing, I’m growing. This is who I really am. Her voice went back to a cheerful young woman. I just sensed something out there. Daddy?
John was silent for a moment, then said, ‘Move to the side. I want to merge.’
I shifted and he changed to Serpent form, then combined beneath me. I wrapped my coils around his Serpent and clung to it while the Turtle carried us through the water.
‘I have it,’ he said. ‘I smell death. A great deal of death. The tree — Sang Ye, Sang Shen’s sister — she’s mad.’ The Turtle raised its head and moved with more force. ‘We have to stop her, she’s infecting the forest.’
After ten minutes of frantic swimming, he surged out of the water and flew. Simone came into view next to us, flying in Celestial Form in her dark blue robes and armour, with her twin swords on her back and her immensely long black hair streaming behind her.
Hang on, John said, and he gathered himself and shot forward so fast that the breath was knocked out of me. His Serpent held me as we streaked towards the mountains between France and Spain, Simone easily matching our velocity.
I smelled it before I saw it: decay and destruction.
A spiralling whirlwind of darkness full of black leaves rose a hundred metres into the air in front of us. The trees in the forest below thrashed in a gale that wasn’t there. The trees weren’t just dead; they were rotting where they stood, black goo dripping off them.
Sang Ye stood in tree form in the middle, seemingly untouched, but her branches writhed in the wind. The Shen who had tried to sacrifice her lay with their bodies decomposing into the dark sodden earth. The trees on the edge of the contaminated area died, their leaves falling, then turned black in an expanding circle around her.
‘The only thing I can think of is to yin around the edge and create a firewall,’ John said. ‘Any other ideas?’
‘That’s what I was thinking as well,’ I said. ‘As long as Simone has enough control to run it around the edge without it getting out of hand.’
‘We’ll have to move fast, it’s growing,’ Simone said.
‘Emma, go down to land and wait for us,’ John said. He turned in the air towards me as he changed from True to Celestial Form.
‘At least a hundred metres from the edge, and keep well back from it. Stay snake.’
Simone’s Celestial Form grew and darkened, the stars within her robes becoming bright pinpoints floating around her. She dropped feet-first towards the earth, then banked to the edge of the black trees and started to yin behind them. I turned and flew well back to land on a small hill overlooking a farmhouse. There were sheep in the field, but no other signs of habitation. The wind picked up, blowing cold across me, as the god and goddess yinned a firewall around the heaving branches of the blackened forest. The smell of decay was even stronger and I resisted the urge to flick my tongue.
Okay, John said. Come to the edge.
I lifted off the ground and drifted closer to the contaminated area. A swathe of empty, yinned earth, twenty metres wide, circled it. The trees on the inside dripped black goo from their bare branches, their leaves spinning in the localised wind. The darkness was still spreading; the damage moving through the earth across the yinned gap. We didn’t have much time.
She’s not answering, Simone said, her voice raw with pain. She’s gone.
The three of us flew up and over the decaying forest until we were in the eye of the whirlwind of leaves. The trees thrashed below us, seeming to reach up to destroy us.
There’s a portal, Simone said with wonder. We’re in!
You wait here while I go in, John said. Destroy her after I’ve gone through.
Simone didn’t reply.
You’re not strong enough to destroy her?
Simone shook her head.
Okay. Back up while I do it, John said.
No, Simone said. I’ll dash through the portal, you destroy her. Easiest.
John was silent for a while.
I’m Immortal, Dad, and we hold Hell.
I really don’t like this. Give me a minute.
We waited as the leaves thundered around us.
I see no major losses in the future, he said. Take very special care, please.
On my mark, she said. Go.
She swept down to the portal so fast that she was invisible.
John dropped at the same time and sent a concentrated column of yin straight into the middle of the blackened trees. The trees stopped thrashing as ice spread from the centre of the forest outwards, covering them in a coat of glittering crystals. The whirlwind weakened and the leaves fluttered to the ground.
The portal disappeared and there was complete silence.
John floated down and landed in the cleared space where Sang Ye had stood. He checked the area, then gestured for me to join him. I flew down as well and landed next to him, and changed to human — the ice was bitterly cold against my snake belly.
Simone? I said.
Nothing.
‘Can you sense her?’ I asked John.
‘No,’ he said, staring where the portal had been. ‘But she may not be able to contact us. We’ll just have to wait.’
10
After two hours of sitting on the damp ground, the sun was gone and I couldn’t control the shivering. I was too new an Immortal to be unaffected by the cold.
‘I’ve been summoned,’ John said, his voice full of pain. ‘The troops are two hours away. I’ll station a squad here and have them wait for her.’
‘Do I have the JE’s permission to remain?’
‘Yes. But wait at the chain hotel nearby; she’ll contact you if she comes out. There’s no need for you to freeze to death.’
He was right. I’d suffered through a cold night with no shelter before and wasn’t in a hurry to repeat the experience. We flew to the small hotel and checked me in. The Eastern European woman behind the desk was astonished when John appeared to speak fluent Estonian, and she gave us a free upgrade.
When we were in the room and the door was shut, we wrapped around each other.
‘I’m sure she’s fine,’ I said into his shoulder. ‘She’s Immortal.’
He pulled me tighter. ‘Try to rest.’ He moved away to speak to me, still with his arms around me, his dark eyes full of the deep connection we shared. ‘I don’t sense anything bad in the near future; she may just be stuck.’ He looked away. ‘I can’t delay any longer. We’ve run out of food for the refugees in the Northern Heavens and need money quickly to pay for supplies. I’m the only one who can sign the documents to sell the securities on the Earthly. I have to return.’
I pulled him down for a long kiss and he held me like he’d never let me go.
‘Trust her,’ I said. ‘We’ve given her all the knowledge and wisdom we could. Now we must trust her to do what’s right. She’s probably smarter than both of us put together.’
‘My Turtle agrees with you. My Serpent is offended,’ he said, quickly kissed me again, and disappeared.
I sat on the bed and switched on the television. As usual, there were nearly a hundred cable channels and nothing worth watching. I tried to meditate, to avoid the horrible images of what could be happening to Simone alone in that unforgiving place full of demons. I missed my stone; it could provide me with updates from the network and always gave valuable advice in difficult situations like this. I wished I’d asked Gold for a new phone before we left so I could check my messages.
Two hours later I gave up. Perhaps I should take a shower, and try to wash my clothes with the hotel soap.
I rose and walked from one end of the room to the other, feeling alone and helpless. There wasn’t room for a tai chi set. Meditating was ineffectual. I didn’t have the strength to contact people back home by telepathy. Simone was out there alone and —