Kylie Chan - Heaven to Wudang

‘I’ll start checking the files,’ Clarissa said.

I waited until we were out in the corridor with the office door shut behind us before I spoke to Leo. ‘Can you talk to Liu?’

Leo’s eyes turned inwards for a moment, then he nodded.

‘Tell Liu that I summon the Third Prince, and he has to get his ass to the top of 15 Wellington Street, Central, in less than five minutes. And that’s an order, as First Heavenly General.’

Leo relayed the message as we walked to the lift.

‘I added that you were on the warpath,’ Leo said.

‘Won’t make any difference to that little asshole,’ I said.

‘Then he’s unique,’ Leo said.

We took the lift up to the top floor, then I unlocked the stairway to the roof. The rooftop was bare concrete stained with mould, the lift mechanism and the large concrete water tank the only features.

Leo looked around. ‘Not even a window-cleaning cradle.’

Na Zha appeared, flying towards us, clouds of mist forming and disappearing around him as he broke the sound barrier. He halted three metres away from the roof, standing on his fire wheels over the road. He was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and a black tank top, and didn’t even salute me.

I pointed towards the ground. ‘Clean that off. Now.’

‘What?’

I jabbed my finger. ‘That. Get rid of it. The police were here, accusing me of being a Triad member because they thought that was a Triad mark.’

He leaned over to see and grinned broadly. ‘Really? Cool. I wish I’d done it.’

‘They’re on my case constantly because of this bullshit. They may even look Michael up now because I mentioned him. If they go after him, Na Zha, it’s your fault.’

He shrugged. ‘Not my fault, I didn’t do it.’

I stomped to the edge of the roof. ‘I’m giving you an order as First Heavenly General, asshole. Make that go away.’

He grew irate. ‘I didn’t do it — don’t blame me!’ he said, then his face went blank with shock.

Leo shouted, ‘Watch out!’

I was struck from behind and propelled over the edge of the roof. My legs hit the waist-high concrete wall as I went over with a shock of pain in my shins. I tried to concentrate on the energy centres as I fell, my shins screaming with pain. I slowed my fall, but it wasn’t enough: I was going to land on a car going up Wellington Street.

Na Zha caught me with a blow that knocked the wind out of me. He carried me back up to the rooftop, hoisted me over the edge and dropped me next to Leo’s empty wheelchair. I lay helpless for a few long moments, trying to get my breath back.

Na Zha landed and immediately joined Leo in fighting the demons that had attacked us. There were three of them: big red humanoids carrying swords. I checked them and they were at least level eighty: really big ones. A challenge for Leo but Na Zha shouldn’t have a problem.

I hauled myself to my feet, my shins still sharp with pain. One felt like a fracture and was already starting to swell. I did my best to stand on it but when the adrenaline wore off I’d be in trouble. My vision blurred, and I took deep breaths and dropped my head. The last thing I needed was to pass out.

I leaned against the wall and watched. The two Shen had changed to Celestial Form: Leo in his larger form, wearing the Mountain uniform; Na Zha in his more adult form, wearing pale blue Tang robes. Na Zha had no difficulty with the two demons he was facing, and Leo was more than a match for his. I sat down on the concrete with the wall at my back, still trying to suck in air.

Na Zha seemed to be enjoying himself, blocking the blows from weapons on both sides with his whip and wheel without doing any damage to the demons in return. Leo wasn’t wasting energy, though; as I watched, he broke through the demon’s guard and sliced it from midriff to shoulder and out, making it dissipate. He turned and took the head off one of the demons fighting Na Zha, then dismissed his sword and came to check on me. He knelt in front of me and put his hands on my head, feeling for lumps, then pulled my eyelids open, checking my pupils.

‘I’m okay,’ I said. ‘Just winded.’

‘Did you hit your head?’

‘No.’

‘Lion!’ Na Zha yelled, and Leo turned, then jumped back up and recalled his sword.

Na Zha had finished the humanoid he was facing and had taken a couple of steps back. A flock of flyers approached us, more than twenty of them.

‘These are really big ones,’ Na Zha said. He glanced back at me. ‘Run, Emma. Take off over the rooftops and wait for us.’

I shook my head; I wouldn’t leave them.

‘A stray could get through us with this many,’ Na Zha said. ‘We’ll keep them busy; just move so we don’t have to worry about you.’

The flyers landed on the roof between us and the stairs. I couldn’t go back inside now.

Leo patted me on the shoulder, then helped me up. ‘He’s right. Head along a few roofs to the end of the street and wait for us there.’

‘Let me help you,’ I said. ‘Let me fight.’ I summoned the Murasame and it came to me without difficulty. I raised it. ‘I can do it.’

Na Zha backed up slightly as the flyers moved menacingly towards him. ‘Remind me to get you to sign a waiver next time I see you, so that black bastard doesn’t blame me if something happens to you.’

Leo stood in front of me and faced them. ‘I won’t blame you, because nothing will happen to her.’

‘I didn’t mean you.’

‘Call Simone,’ I said to the stone.

‘I’m blocked,’ it said.

‘Absolutely bloody useless in a crisis,’ I grumbled.

‘Stay behind us,’ Leo said, and moved next to Na Zha.

‘They’re scared of you,’ I said, watching the flyers hesitate. None of them wanted to be first to attack. I gathered the energy within me, generated a ball of chi and blew up a couple of them that were trying to ease their way around Na Zha and Leo to me. The energy return bolstered me and I stood straighter and stronger.

That was enough to set them off. The demons attacked.

Leo and Na Zha had no difficulty with them, the flyers never made it through their guard. Leo worked with elegant precision, close on the skill he’d had before he’d gone to Hell all that time ago. It wouldn’t be long before he exceeded any human warrior.

A flyer leapt over Na Zha’s head and he missed it on the way through. I destroyed it with chi and enjoyed the sensation of its energy returning to me — it’d been a long time since I’d felt that rush.

A couple more made it round Na Zha, and I destroyed them with the Murasame before they even hit me.

I scanned around, watching for anything bigger that could possibly ambush us. These were too easy; there had to be something else.

The rooftop door opened and Clarissa appeared behind the flyers. She looked around and her face filled with fear.

I took a huge leap over the top of the flyers to Clarissa and pushed her behind me into the top of the stairwell. The demons turned to face me, and Leo and Na Zha took advantage of their distraction to hit them from behind.

‘Stay there, don’t move,’ I said to Clarissa, and stepped forward.

The stairwell was in the corner of the roof and only a couple of them could try for me at a time. They were slower than me and, although bigger and stronger, also clumsy. The one in front of me swiped with its front leg and I stepped back to avoid it. It swung its head to grab me in its mouth, and I rolled under its chin and shoved my sword into its belly.

‘That is very bad technique!’ Leo shouted as I ducked to avoid the spray of demon essence then jumped back.

‘You can talk!’ I shouted back as I used my backwards momentum to avoid another flyer’s foreleg, bounced off the wall of the stairwell and sliced its head off, somersaulting over it.