Kylie Chan - Heaven to Wudang

‘They’re fine, they’re alive,’ one of the Mothers said, her voice hissing. ‘We’re not One Two Two, we’re honourable demons. We just want you, Emma. Come on out and we’ll let the others go.’

Simone’s head shot up and her eyes unfocused. She shook her head violently, grimacing with distaste, then appeared to give in.

‘What?’ I said. ‘Who’s talking to you?’

‘Your stone,’ she said. ‘Through your touch. Michael, Emma, hold still, this is worth a try.’

She reached towards Michael, slipped her hand inside his shirt, then pulled it out covered in blood. She quickly turned to me and swiped her hand across my face. I put my hand up to stop her, but too late.

‘What the hell, Simone?’ I started, then I tasted it. Michael’s blood tasted of Shen: warmth, sunshine and fresh air full of an icy fizz and mown grass. It poured into me and something dark and strong grew. I rose to stand and the power sang inside me with a deep bass rolling surge.

I pulled Leo up with one hand so he was standing next to me. ‘You and me, Lion, let’s go get them. When you have a good view of them, try your new shen energy.’ I glanced at him. ‘You’ve been abstaining, right?’

‘What happened to you, Emma?’ Simone said.

‘I have no idea,’ I said, the power growing and roaring, making me bigger, wider, darker and much, much meaner. ‘But it worked.’

Leo stared at me. ‘Yeah, I’ve been abstaining. What have you been doing?’

‘Tasting the blood of a child of Shen,’ I said, my voice deeper than it normally was. ‘Call your sword, it’s time for some reckoning. David and Bridget didn’t deserve that.’

I put my hand out and demanded that the Murasame obey me. It appeared in my hand, then grew slightly to fit me.

‘Am I in some sort of Celestial Form?’ I said.

‘No, you’re just … taller,’ Simone said.

‘Stay here. Stay back.’

Leo called his sword, the Black Lion, and flanked me on my left shoulder. I walked around the front of the car into the centre of the lane. I smelled the demons before I saw them. The earthy rich scent of human blood from David and Bridget was a nagging distraction on the edge of my senses, but these demons needed to die.

They shot at me, but I saw the bullet slide slowly towards me and easily evaded it. The four Mothers stood in front of a van in human form: tall, sleek, beautiful women. One of them had a modern assault rifle, but I didn’t recognise the type; time to ask the Mountain staff about firearms training so I knew what I was up against. She shot at me again, and again I easily evaded it; obviously not an automatic weapon.

The range of effects I could accomplish with my black chi scrolled inside my head. It was an incredibly useful tool and I could achieve so much with it. I hoped I’d remember the list when I came down off this insane blood high.

I moved into a long defensive stance, held the Murasame horizontally above my head with the point towards the demons, put some black chi into it and shot it at the demon with the gun. She exploded. The other three Mothers backed up, intimidated.

‘Who’s the boss?’ I said. ‘I see you all as about the same size.’

One of them summoned a slender Chinese sword and rushed us. Leo hit her with a ball of shen energy sixty centimetres across and she exploded.

‘Nice,’ I said.

‘Thanks.’

The two Mothers remaining changed to True Form and summoned weapons. The one on the left took a polearm; the one on the right, a two-handed battleaxe.

‘Stay back,’ I said. ‘These ones are mine.’

I ran to them and swung the Murasame in a wide circular stroke towards the one on the left, dodged easily under her weapon and cut her in half. Ordinarily a swing like that was an invitation for a skewering, but I moved so fast she didn’t have a chance. I turned to the last one, pulled some demon essence out of her into the ecstatically vibrating Murasame and bound her.

‘Right,’ I said, as casually as I could. ‘Who sent you?’

She relaxed and concentrated, and something to the left of me in a corner of the car park pinged loudly.

I raised my left hand and pulled it towards me: it was a pebble, one of Six’s stones. This was what was blocking teleportation and telepathy inside the car park. It flew into my hand and I crushed it; the blocking ceased.

Leo went to David and Bridget and knelt to check them.

‘A buttload of big Celestials are on their way,’ I said to the demon. ‘You can turn if you like; or you can tell me who sent you and why, and I’ll spare you. Do neither and I’ll suck the life out of you and put you in my demon jar.’

‘The Death Mother sent me,’ she said urgently. ‘She wants you dead. She knows you’ve made a pact with the King to take Kitty Kwok to him. It’s only a matter of time before you know where she is, and she won’t have Kitty’s protection any more.’

‘You’re here because she’s scared,’ I said. ‘Good. She has reason to be. Where’s her base?’

She shook her head, mute.

I put my left hand around her throat and lifted her. A small part of me whistled with admiration at me doing this to a level eighty-three Mother.

‘Holy shit, Emma,’ Leo said softly from behind me.

The Mother’s eyes bugged out and I enjoyed the show as I throttled her. ‘Where’s. Her. Base?’

‘I don’t know!’ she gasped. ‘One of the other Mothers organised this — I don’t know where Forty-Four’s base is. That’s the truth, you can see it!’

It was the truth. I released her slightly.

‘I told you who sent me; you vowed to spare me.’

‘That I did,’ I said, my hand still around her throat. ‘The only one who’ll be able to change you back is the Demon King himself. Good luck going to see him; he may not be as merciful as I am.’ I sent some black chi into my hand, pumped it into her and changed her into a cat. I stroked the top of her head and released her. ‘Go find a rat to eat.’

I sighed. I shouldn’t have destroyed all of the Mothers; the last one hadn’t given me any information that I didn’t already know. I heard footsteps behind me: Simone, with Michael leaning heavily on her. I turned and smiled at their shocked expressions.

‘We have people on their way,’ Simone said. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Just fine,’ I said, going to David and Leo.

Leo had loosened David’s shirt collar and was checking him for injuries. ‘He’s been hit in the abdomen. Bridget’s been shot in the leg.’

Bridget was lying panting on the ground, her eyes wide and glazed.

‘Simone, get me a pad to put on David’s bleeding,’ Leo said.

‘I can’t, I’m flat out telling them where we are,’ Simone said.

‘Bridget,’ I said, and she focused on me. ‘Tell me your home phone number and your domestic helper’s name. We’ll take you to hospital, but we need to tell your boys that you’re all right and you’ll be late home.’

‘We need to call an ambulance,’ Bridget said. She howled with pain. ‘God, it hurts!’

‘Help is coming but we need to fix up your boys,’ I said.

She reeled off a mobile phone number. ‘Rosalinda’s our helper. She’s at home with them right now.’

‘Stone, can you relay through someone?’ I said.

‘We’re underground, Emma,’ Simone said. ‘I’m in touch with Gold and he’s sending the message.’

Bridget groaned and lay back on the floor. I moved to hold her head in my lap and her hand in mine while Leo looked after David, who was still unconscious.

‘God, hurry with the ambulance, any pain relief, please,’ Bridget said.

I used the contact I had with her hand and worked through her meridians, easing the pain.