Blue Dragon Part 65

'I feel the same way, old friend,' John said.

There was a soft sc.r.a.ping sound at the dining room door. John rose; we both knew who it was.

He opened the door and Leo entered unsteadily, his hind end wandering out of control every few steps. 'I hope you're including me in this.'

'Yeah, Leo's a beast, I saw that,' the Tiger said loudly. 'How the h.e.l.l did this happen, Ah Wu? I've never seen anything like this before. The Lion was human human.'

Neither John nor I said anything.

Leo made his way to the chair next to John's. 'I don't think I can do it on my own yet,' he said. 'Anybody care to help me?'

'You're too big to sit on one of Ah Wu's dining chairs, you'd break it,' the Phoenix said, and the chair next to Leo transformed into a large rosewood chest.

The Phoenix used PK to raise him like a kitten being lifted by the scruff of the neck, his legs curled in front of his vertical body. She lowered his back end gently onto the chest and his front end onto the table.

'Thanks,' he said.

'My pleasure,' the Phoenix said.

'How did this happen?' the Dragon said. 'Humans don't change like that.'

'I do,' I whispered.

'Yeah, that's right,' the Tiger said. 'Must be something to do with continuous prolonged exposure to the extremely peculiar Xuan Wu creature.'

'Or black chi,' I said miserably.

All of them stiffened at that. They studied me intensely. I even felt more than one of them turn their Inner Eye on me.

'That is my Lady and your Regent that you are prying into,' John said forcefully, and the examination stopped.

'Black chi?' the Tiger said, slightly too loudly. 'You, Emma? Black chi? Really? Whoa.'

'Demon,' the Dragon said.

'Oh, will you give it a f.u.c.king break break, Ah Qing,' the Tiger said, leaning back and slapping his hand on the table. 'I looked inside her, and she told me herself, truthfully, that she is not not a demon.' a demon.'

'Show us, dear,' the Phoenix said gently. 'Just a very small amount, don't over-stress yourself.'

I held my hands out and generated a ball of black chi about the size of a tennis ball.

'Move it in front of me, I want to see it,' the Tiger said.

I moved the chi so that it was about ten centimetres from his nose. He gingerly held out a hand and touched it. 'Yep, that's the same stuff, all right. Maybe you're right, Ah Qing.'

'My Lady is no demon,' John said. 'And I suspect that I could generate a similar thing if circ.u.mstances warranted. Also, I have investigated, and the effect that this chi produces is entirely different to that produced by the King.'

'There's a King that does stuff like that?' Leo said as I reabsorbed the chi. 'Which King?'

'King of the Demons, Leo,' I whispered.

'Leo, I want you to come with me,' the Lady said. She had been silent throughout the entire exchange. 'I would like to look at you. I may be able to remedy the situation.'

She gracefully rose, raised her hand, and Leo disappeared. 'I will examine him in your practice room, Ah Wu,' she said. 'I may be able to reverse the process. I will return when I am sure one way or the other. I do not think you require me in these arrangements.'

'Mercy,' John said softly, and she disappeared as well.

'This black chi turns people into beasts?' the Tiger said.

'He was the first human I've hit it with,' I said, 'and it was an accident. It bounced off one of those fake metal elementals.' The Tiger nodded, understanding. 'Sometimes it doesn't do anything at all; sometimes it changes the demon to another type of demon; and once it...' I stopped, unable to finish.

'It what?' the Phoenix said. 'What?'

'It changed a demon into a human being,' John said.

There was complete silence.

'Why didn't you tell us about this, Ah Wu?' the Dragon said softly. 'This is most important.'

'No, it isn't,' I said, 'because I'll never use it again. The results are too destructive and unpredictable. Heaven knows what it'll do next time. Never again.'

'What if it's life or death?' the Tiger said.

'Then death,' I said. 'That stuff is too dangerous.'

'What if it's life or death for Simone Simone?' the Dragon said.

I was silent. He was right. I wondered what would happen if I used it on myself.

'Let's return to the topic at hand,' John said. 'After the Lady and I have done the feed for seven days, the Tiger and I will go in. Dragon, Phoenix, will you remain with the students and my Lady while we do it?'

'I'm going with you,' I said.

'You are staying with Simone,' John said. 'Don't be ridiculous.'

I sighed with feeling and decided to drop it. 'Can't you take some Hors.e.m.e.n or something?'

'No need,' the Tiger said. 'In True Form, together, nothing will stand against us.'

'He is correct, Emma,' the Phoenix said gently. 'The Bai Hu and the Xuan Wu are the two greatest demon destroyers on any Plane. Together they are unstoppable.'

'Take the Third Prince,' I said.

'Good idea, if he's up for it,' John said.

The Tiger nodded agreement. 'He should enjoy some straight-out rampant destruction. Just what he likes.'

'We will meet back here in seven days,' John said. 'Dismissed.'

The Dragon disappeared.

'Let me heal you first, Emma, then I will return and check my chicks,' the Phoenix said.

'Are they okay?' I said as she took my hands and her fiery presence moved through me. She was like a liquid flame coursing through my energy meridians, but I felt no heat. Her essence moved to my leg and I felt the warmth on the injury.

'The Demon King obviously did not wish to take advantage,' the Phoenix said. 'The Celestial Plane was not attacked. Tell me if the heat is too great.'

'My Lord,' the Tiger said, shaking his hands in front of his face. 'I want to wait and see if the Lady can remedy the Lion. If she can't, I can give him some quick lessons on being a cat. I can have him walking, running and fighting in that form, and you will have a valuable ally in the battle.'

'Ah Bai,' John said. 'Bring Michael back. We may need his help to guard when Simone returns.'

The warmth in my leg stopped and the Phoenix removed her consciousness from me. I s.h.i.+vered; I suddenly felt cold.

'It will pa.s.s,' she said. 'You adjusted to my fire essence remarkably well. Very impressive.'

'Yang. Serpent,' John said.

'Yes,' the Phoenix said. 'Most serpents are quite yang. Can you transform at will, Emma?'

'No,' I said.

'Stand up,' she said. 'Let's see how it looks.'

I rose. The leg was still slightly stiff but the wound had definitely healed. I pulled the bandage off, wrapping it around my hand. There was a large hole in my jeans where the metal had pierced them. I opened the hole and inspected my leg; there was an angry red mark where I had been stabbed, but it was healed. I lifted my leg and swung it: still stiff and difficult to move, but nothing worse than the aftermath of a hard workout with the sword.

'Thanks, Zhu Que.'

'My pleasure,' she said with a small smile. 'Rest it for a couple of days. The wound was very deep. By your leave.'

'Go and check your babies,' I said.

Her smiled widened, she saluted me, and disappeared.

Emma, come, the Lady said in my head. John and the Tiger nodded to me and I went out. The door of the training room was closed. the Lady said in my head. John and the Tiger nodded to me and I went out. The door of the training room was closed. Come in Come in, the Lady said before I'd tapped on it.

Kwan Yin sat cross-legged in the middle of the mats in True Form, her beautiful serene face radiant. The long white robes cascaded around her. Her enormous s.h.i.+ning pile of hair nearly touched the ceiling. I watched her with awe. Her hands were held out over Leo's p.r.o.ne form, a pure white light surrounding both of them. Leo was human again. He appeared to be unconscious, stretched out naked on his side on the floor in front of her.

Do not approach, she said, her glowing oval face not moving. she said, her glowing oval face not moving. I am not quite finished. I suggest you go find some clothes for him for when he returns. I am not quite finished. I suggest you go find some clothes for him for when he returns.

I turned and went out, closing the door softly behind me.

'It worked,' I whispered, hoping the Tiger's acute hearing would pick it up.

Good, the Tiger said into my head. the Tiger said into my head. He will be much more useful with a weapon anyway. He will be much more useful with a weapon anyway.

I let myself into Leo's room and laughed quietly as I went through his drawers. He'd kept some of the pink underwear, hidden at the bottom. I hadn't known that. I grabbed some boxers and a robe for him.

Come in, Ms Kwan said when I reached the door to the training room. Ms Kwan said when I reached the door to the training room.

She was sitting exactly the same way, but had returned to her normal human form. Leo sat cross-legged opposite her, his face full of calm serenity.

I hesitated, then went in anyway.

He heard me and glanced up. He smiled. 'I feel doubly naked when there's no fur.'

I tossed him the robe and he pulled it around himself and rose. I pa.s.sed him the boxers and he tugged them on.

Kwan Yin gracefully stood.

After Leo had tied the belt of the robe, he fell to one knee and saluted her. She placed her hand on his head.

'Will he be able to do it at will?' I said.

She hesitated, gazing at him, her hand still on his head. 'With a great deal of concentration and training, in the right circ.u.mstances he will.'

'I won't get a chance to try then,' Leo said, returning to his feet and fixing the robe. 'One more week, and then I'm off demon hunting.'

'You may be able to learn it in a week,' I said.

'I'll be practising with the sword,' he said. 'That will be much more useful than claws anyway.' He turned to go out of the room, took a couple of steps, and tottered. I rushed to hold him up, and he leaned on me.

He straightened. 'Let me go. I'm not weak, it's just a matter of regaining my balance.' He took a couple more steps, realised that he had it, and moved more confidently. 'Tell Mr Chen I'll meet him back in the dining room when I've put some clothes on.'

'Emma,' the Lady said, and I turned back as Leo went out. A glowing white aura surrounded her. 'It does not matter what you are. The fact that you can make this energy is inconsequential. Do not let the foolish Dragon sway you. You will never harm your family. Never.'

'But what am I?' I said.

The aura blinked out. 'It does not matter what you are. Because it is who you love that is the most important.'

She was right. She was always right.

I went to her, fell to one knee and saluted her as Leo had. She placed her hand on my head and I felt her power move through me: a feeling of total peaceful serenity. 'You will never harm them,' she whispered. 'Go and prepare. Ask Ah Wu to teach you energy calming techniques, because very soon you will need them.'

'Not for a week,' I said. 'But thank you, that's a good idea.' I pulled myself to my feet.

'I am no longer needed here,' she said. 'Remember, though, Emma, you can call me any time you need me.'

The doorbell rang: Simone was back. I raced out of the training room with delight. John and the Tiger were already in the hallway, and John opened the door.

Simone threw herself at her father and squealed. He raised her so that she nearly touched the ceiling, then held her close.

Martin smiled through the doorway and disappeared.

John moved Simone to one hip and closed the gate and then the door.

'h.e.l.lo, Uncle Bai!' Simone said loudly. She saw me. 'Everybody's okay? Everybody's fine?' She saw the wreck of the living room. 'Is everybody okay?'

'Everybody's fine, sweetheart,' I said. 'And Gold had a baby.'