Dark_Serpent

24

Zhenwu

Ruby and the stone arranged a meeting at a pub in a small village on the island of Anglesey, which sat between the mainland of Wales and Holy Island. The pub was located across the road from a ruined castle.

Simone stopped when they entered. ‘Wow. Nice.’ The interior had been renovated in cream and gold, with fine linen and flowers everywhere.

Ruby was waiting for them at one of the tables and waved when she saw them.

‘Why isn’t anyone else here?’ Simone asked as the four of them sat.

‘The restaurant’s not open for lunch,’ Ruby said. ‘But they know me — you can get a sandwich or something from the bar.’ She picked up her glass of red wine. ‘I had no idea they were planning an ambush. Snakes are supposed to be smarter than that; looks like being human for too long went to their heads.’

Is she telling the truth? John asked the Jade Building Block.

I should be offended you even ask that of one of us, the stone said. But under the circumstances … Yes, she is.

‘I’ve already updated Ruby on what happened,’ the stone said out loud.

‘The copy of Emma said that it was created somewhere high with a lot of windows,’ John said. ‘Does that sound like one of the big houses around here?’

‘Can’t be the castle across the road,’ Ruby said, gesturing with her head towards the window. ‘That’s just old stone walls.’

‘We should check anyway,’ Simone said.

‘We will,’ John said. ‘What about the other two houses Emma knew of?’

‘One was the residence of the Marquess of Anglesey, but it’s a museum now,’ Ruby said. ‘It has big windows overlooking the strait between Anglesey and mainland Wales, but it’s not very high up.’

‘Sounds like we should still go there,’ Simone said.

‘The other place is a mansion, not very old, on top of a cliff overlooking the water,’ Ruby said. ‘It’s unusual because it’s so black, but it has big windows as well.’

‘Which is closer?’

‘The castle here, then the manor, then the black house.’

‘We’ll check the castle first,’ John said. ‘Then head for the manor.’

‘One other thing,’ Ruby said. ‘Holy Mountain itself is the highest point anywhere around; the demon may be remembering the Heavenly analogue.’

‘After the big houses, we’ll check that too. Eastern Number One said that they were building a demon army in a big house.’ John rose, eager to start. ‘Let’s go.’

The castle was three storeys tall, but had no roof, internal flooring or fixtures; it was just bare stone walls. It had been an impressive fortress in its prime: the walls were high with battlements and the corner towers had slits for archers. An artificial inlet from the sea had been dug right up to the walls to create a moat around the building. It would have been a centre for town trade a thousand years before, and John wished he had been there to see it.

He heightened his senses as they split up and walked around inside the castle’s yards, now just lawn between the walls. He couldn’t feel more than a few centimetres below the surface, even though it was soaked from the British rain, so he pulled his boots and socks off and held them in one hand while he felt the ground beneath him.

‘Ruby,’ the stone said.

‘I know.’

‘What?’ Leo said.

‘Something here isn’t right,’ John said.

‘I can’t sense anything,’ Leo said.

John dropped to one knee in the wet grass and put his hand on the ground. ‘Below thirty centimetres I can’t feel anything. This is the same as Kowloon City Park.’

‘No,’ the stone said.

‘Take True Form and scout the area,’ John said. ‘There will be an entrance here somewhere.’

‘You mean they’re dead? All those stones are dead?’ Ruby’s face was ashen.

‘Some could still be imprisoned. We will find them,’ John said.

Ruby changed to True Form: an uncut ruby the size of a human fist. ‘And avenge them,’ she said, her voice full of menace.

John stood again and felt the ground beneath his bare feet, looking for the entrance. The bare feet triggered his change to his basic form and his hair came out of its tie and quickly tangled. He ignored it as he checked the corner towers. Their partly-hidden interiors would be ideal for a secret entrance and exit.

What he was looking for was in the second tower.

I’ve found it.

They gathered inside the remains of the circular stone tower. Water ran down its walls, making the round black stones shine.

Simone gestured towards the shoes in his hand. ‘Your feet are filthy, Dad. You are absolutely impossible.’

‘I can feel things more effectively barefoot.’ He pointed at the ground. ‘Under here.’

The stone and Ruby changed to human form, shared a look, then both crouched and put their hands on the ground. They stayed there unmoving for a full minute, then Ruby shook her head and stood.

‘We can’t open it, it’s not in tune with our nature,’ she said. ‘It’s something demonic.’

‘Of course it is,’ John said. ‘Move back.’ They stepped back slightly and he waved his hand at them. ‘Further.’

He put one hand over the centre of the entrance and released a tiny amount of yin. A black circle, thirty centimetres across, appeared, showing the tunnel entrance. It wasn’t big enough, and he hoped they didn’t see him quivering with the effort of controlling the rush of yin through him as he opened it further. This fine work required an immense amount of restraint; the yin wanted to flood through him and take out most of the stars in that part of the galaxy. It was made doubly difficult by the fact that the coating on the wall wanted to grow back and cover the opening, and he had to maintain a flow of yin just to keep it open.

The circle expanded to reveal a stairway leading down, its walls and steps made of the same wet black stone. John held his arm out to stop anyone from rushing in, and climbed down the first few stairs. He sent his awareness down, sensing what he could, and came up against a blockage at the bottom. There was a door there, covered in the stone coating.

‘How many have died?’ the stone said quietly.

‘I can’t feel past the door,’ John said.

He sat on the damp stairs and put his socks and boots back on, not enjoying the enclosed feeling around his feet. He made an attempt to tidy his tangled hair, roughly braiding it to keep it out of the way.

‘Simone and Leo, remain up here. Ruby and Building Block, in True Form with me.’

He moved down the stairs with the two stones in True Form floating at his shoulders. He pressed his ear against the door. His heightened senses might not be able to see anything on the other side, but there was still basic physics. There was no sound, so he pushed against it. It didn’t open, and had no handle. He put his palm against it and pulled it towards him. It swung open and he stopped it at a five centimetre crack.

The Building Block floated through the gap. Clear, it said.

John pulled the door all the way open to reveal a corridor, its walls and ceiling lined with the same black stones as the castle above. The floor was packed earth. The tunnel smelled of damp mud and mould and the death of the stones that had been made into paint and used to coat the walls.

It was only forty centimetres wide and one and a half metres high; he had to stoop and turn slightly sideways to fit. He glanced at the stone; this couldn’t be good for its claustrophobia.

Stay there, he said to Leo and Simone, still on the surface, then released the yin and let the hole seal itself.

The two stones rested on his shoulders so they could communicate.

It’s getting narrower, the Building Block said.

It isn’t, that’s just you, John said. Try to keep it under control.

The tunnel appeared to follow the contours of the castle, suggesting it was part of the structure. It opened on the right into one of the circular corner towers, two metres across. The room was made even smaller by the shelves lining the walls. Ruby changed to human form and picked up one of the many shoe boxes on the shelves.

‘Dad?’ she hissed, picking up a stone from one of the boxes and cradling it in both hands. ‘Mummy?’ She fell to her knees, bent protectively over the stone. ‘Please talk to me.’

‘I’m sure I heard something,’ a voice said down the corridor.

They’re coming. We need to get out, the Building Block said. ‘Go, Ruby, take your parent. Lord Xuan, take her out. I’ll stay here and monitor.’

Ruby didn’t respond; she seemed to be stricken with grief.

I’ll just destroy them, John said.

They’ll call for help and you’ll have all of them down on you. They’ll probably kill you. Simone needs you up there.

You won’t be able to communicate! John said.

‘In the stone room?’ another voice said, and John made them invisible.

A pair of Western demons filled the doorway.

‘Nothing here,’ one of them said.

‘Something’s not right,’ the other said. ‘Listen.’

Ruby was softly sobbing, unaware of her surroundings.

‘I’ll be damned, listen to that,’ one of the demons said. ‘Haunted. How cool is that?’

Just go, the stone said. I’ll find out where they’re holding Emma and make my way back to you. The stone took the form of Ruby’s parent and floated to lie in the shoe box.

John hesitated.

‘I don’t think that’s a ghost,’ one of the demons said, and both drew their weapons. ‘Get backup.’

John grabbed Ruby and teleported them both out of the room and into the corridor behind the demons. As the demons entered the room to investigate, he moved as silently as he could, taking her back up the stairs. He opened the ground again to see Simone and Leo waiting. He pushed Ruby at them. ‘Take her back to the pub and wait for me there.’

He dashed back down the stairs and made himself invisible, then sent his awareness down the corridor. The demons were still checking the stone room.

He pushed his awareness as far as he could, and sagged with disappointment. This was a stone laboratory occupying the old tunnels beneath the castle. There were only five rooms branching off the corridor, and all of them were full of stored stones. A circular area at the end held a nasty-looking variety of saws and crushers. The walls were covered in stone stuff, but there were no other doors. Emma wasn’t there.

He eased down the corridor, wincing as he brushed against the stones. He was so low on stamina that just the invisibility was as much as he could handle; he couldn’t manage the added effort of making himself soundless. The demons walked out of the room and headed down the hall away from him.

I’m back. Go out. I’ll check around, he said.

The stone didn’t reply.

Stone? He went to the box and touched the stone lying in it. Stone?

Emma’s not here, the stone said.

I know. Let’s go.

Let me stay here to do some reconnaissance, the stone said. I’ll learn as much as I can and meet up with you.

John hesitated. What if they catch you?

Finding Emma is more important than losing an old tired stone, Turtle. Come back after you’ve checked the other two houses and I’ll meet up with you.

You’d better, John said. I will return for you.

He went back up the stairs and walked across the road to the pub. He stopped at the door and raised his face into the misty rain, absorbing the energy of the natural water. So far from his own Centre, it didn’t do much. He dried himself and went inside.

Leo and Simone were sitting at a table with Ruby, who was still clutching her parent in both hands.

‘I have to find help,’ she said when she saw him. ‘We have to go in and stop them.’

‘Where’s the Jade Building Block?’ Simone said.

‘It stayed behind to scout the location,’ John said.

‘You should not have let it do that!’ Simone said. ‘It’ll get itself killed, like Ruby’s parent.’

‘Don’t say that, my parent isn’t dead,’ Ruby said. ‘I just need to find the other stones and they can help me.’

‘Have you ever seen anything like this before?’ John said, sitting across from her.

‘Never.’ She took a drink from a glass of red wine. ‘You should not have left the Jade Building Block in there. The same thing will happen to him.’

‘He’s old and crafty,’ John said. ‘I have faith in him. Can you show us where the next house is?’

‘I’ll show you where they both are, then I’m finding help to destroy everything down there and free those stones,’ Ruby said. ‘You can go to the houses yourselves.’

John looked from Leo to Simone and opened his mouth.

‘Don’t even think about it. We’re coming with you,’ Simone said.

John closed his mouth. Waste of time arguing with them.

He stood up. ‘Let’s go then.’

The manor was only half an hour from the castle, on its own large estate between Anglesey and the Welsh mainland. It was rectangular, two hundred metres long, three storeys high, and made of brick with large double-storey windows overlooking the strait.

‘This could be it,’ Simone said as they landed in the grounds.

John extended his senses around and down. The earth below him wasn’t blocked; there were no tunnels beneath this building.

They entered a three-metre-wide, double-storey hall with huge Renaissance paintings that filled the entire height of the room. From there they went into the ballroom, which was largely empty except for the portraits along the walls. Only about ten other people were present in the museum, and when they were alone in the ballroom John quickly dropped to one knee to concentrate on the floor. The building didn’t have a basement and he could sense the sodden earth for a long way down. He stood up, went to a wall and leaned on it to send his awareness through the building.

On the other side of the manor was a dining room and parlour, each ten by five metres with a six-metre-high ceiling. A magnificent mural covered an entire wall of the dining room and John wished he had time to admire it. These rooms had double-storey windows overlooking the strait, but there was no trace of demonic presence anywhere and no trace of Emma.

‘She’s not here,’ John said. He led them to the dining room and gestured towards the windows. ‘These may be what the demon copy was talking about, but if so it must be the Heavenly analogue because there’s absolutely nothing untoward here. We need to find the gateway to the Celestial Plane.’

‘Is there one here?’ Simone said.

‘Leo, check the gardens. Simone, stay with me and we’ll look around,’ John said.

Leo dropped his head and disappeared.

‘The top floor’s occupied by the Lord of the manor,’ Simone said. ‘The rest of it’s a museum. Where do we start looking?’

‘The stables,’ John said. ‘The big building next door.’

He took her hand and they teleported to the stables. They were as large as the house and a similar shape, with gothic arched windows. The interior wasn’t as well-kept as the house; assorted junk from the house had been stored there and the paint on the concrete walls of the loose boxes was peeling. They walked the length of the building and found nothing.

‘Back to the house, but I’m sure there’s nothing there,’ John said. ‘Go straight onto the roof.’

The villages and hillsides on the other side of the strait were clearly visible from the roof. John walked around, feeling for anything different, and found nothing. Simone crouched and put her hands on the roof tiles, then shook her head and stood up again.

‘I don’t think there’s a gateway here. We need to find one somewhere else.’

‘There’s one near Holyhead: two stones that are obviously a way to the Celestial Plane. This house looks too much like what the demon was describing to be a coincidence. We’ll go straight there.’

Meet us on the roof, he said to Leo. There’s nothing here.

Already on my way back, Leo said. We’re wasting time and need to find her.

They flew over the gateway twice before Simone spotted the field halfway up Holy Mountain that held the stones. The ocean was visible a long way below them. The stones stood behind a grey cottage with a stone wall behind it and a line of laundry flapping in the cold autumnal wind.

‘Just keep an eye out for those crazy snake people,’ Leo said.

‘They were after Emma, not us,’ Simone said.

She hesitated when she neared the ponies in the field, but when they didn’t act aggressively she moved towards the stones with more confidence.

Where are you, Father? Martin said.

You should not have come, you have duties to perform in the North, John said, well aware of Martin’s reasons for coming with the squad. Lock onto my location. We are at the Penrhos Feilw standing stones, preparing to sortie into the Western Celestial Plane. You will take Simone and Leo home before I go.

Understood, Martin said.

‘Don’t touch them!’ John yelled at Simone when she put her hand out towards one of the stones. ‘Remember that stone that One Two Two used — it was a teleporter to take you to him.’

‘I remember,’ she said, pulling her hand back. ‘These don’t look anything special. I can’t even feel how old they are.’

‘We should have made the Jade Building Block come along,’ Leo said.

‘Stand back from them,’ John said.

He opened all of his senses and prowled around the stones, looking for the gateway. They were mossy slabs of rock, thirty centimetres by five centimetres, three metres high and three apart. Simone was right: they appeared to be ordinary stones.

Martin and the squad appeared down the hill from them. Martin waved as they approached. He quickly embraced Leo and Simone, then fell to one knee in front of John. ‘Xuan Tian.’

‘Rise,’ John said. He turned to the stones. ‘Before you go, take a look at these.’

Martin studied the stones without touching them. ‘I see nothing interesting at all about them except for the fact that they were put up here about three thousand years ago.’

‘They should be a gateway,’ John said, putting his hands on his hips. ‘I’m loathe to touch them; something isn’t right.’

Martin nodded. ‘Let me then.’

John gestured with one hand towards the stones.

‘No, Ge Ge,’ Simone said. ‘Stop him, Daddy.’

‘We can’t risk our father right now,’ Martin said.

He summoned shen energy and put it into his hands, then gingerly rested them on the closest stone. He stood for a moment, investigating the stone with the energy, and John could see that he achieved nothing — it behaved as if it was an ordinary stone. Martin tried the same with the other stone, then looked back at John and shook his head.

Here goes, he said, and walked between the stones.

‘No!’ Leo said, then, ‘Huh? Nothing happened.’

Martin turned around and walked back through the stones.

John approached and gingerly put his hand on the stone. The minute he touched it he felt the life gone from it.

‘This stone was once alive,’ he said, looking deeply inside the granite’s core. ‘Both these stones were once alive, and they were a gateway. But someone has killed them.’

‘And I think we have a good idea who,’ Leo said. ‘We’ll have to find another way up.’

‘I will find another way up,’ John said. ‘You and Simone are returning with Martin.’

‘I am staying here and finding Emma!’ Simone said.

John went to her and took her hands. ‘I know you want to, but you will slow me down and I will be concerned about your safety. Let me do this alone, quickly and dangerously.’ He put one hand on the side of her face. ‘I can do this much more effectively alone.’

‘Your father’s right, Simone,’ Leo said.

Simone screwed up her face and turned to Martin, but didn’t say anything.

‘Thank you, Simone. I will be reassured to know that you are safe in the East,’ John said. He nodded to Martin. Take care of her.

Martin put his arm around her shoulders. She is my little sister.

Simone turned back to John. ‘We need to stop in London and collect our stuff. I want to check that Franklin’s okay.’

‘You do that. I will return to the East as soon as I have found Emma. And I will find her, Simone.’

Simone’s eyes widened. ‘Didn’t you already find her in Hell?’

‘The Little Grandfather did,’ John said.

‘So this is it. You have to find her. She’s lost,’ Simone said. ‘Why didn’t you say so before?’

‘I hoped that finding her in Hell was enough. Obviously it wasn’t. Now go home and be safe,’ John said.

Simone ran to him and hugged him fiercely, pressing her face into his shoulder. ‘Find her fast, Daddy.’

He held her close. ‘I will. I have promised.’

She went back to Martin, who summoned a cloud. The three of them rose and flew away.

John headed back to the ruined castle to meet up with the Building Block, trying to control his panic. He was running out of options. He needed to find a way up to the Western Celestial Plane. As he travelled on a cloud, he cursed himself for his lack of curiosity all those years ago. He’d been preoccupied with the interesting events on the Earthly in the seventies and hadn’t thought much about the Celestial Plane. When no Western Shen had sought him out and he hadn’t found any gateways, he’d just shrugged and concentrated on the humans and, to a lesser degree, on studying the fascinating Western demons.

Huge mistake.

He hoped the stones would have more intelligence for him. Just flying upwards wouldn’t guarantee entry to the Celestial Plane; he needed to know the correct harmonics of the gateway. If he died in this region, he would just end up in Eastern Hell again. On top of everything, he was close to complete exhaustion. It was all he could do to stop the cloud around his feet from turning to ice and falling out of the sky. He had to find the gateway soon; hopefully being on the Celestial Plane would reenergise him. He couldn’t stop now and let the trail go cold.

The castle was an impressive sight from above, its black walls elegantly laid out in an almost perfect square, with the towers punctuating the walls and at the corners. He made himself invisible as he came in to land on the street in front of it. He nearly used his Inner Eye to check inside the pub for Ruby, then changed his mind. He had to conserve his strength. He went to the windows and looked in; she wasn’t there.

He walked across the road, quietly teleported inside the castle’s walls and went to the tower. He took a deep breath and had even more difficulty controlling the yin as he opened the ground. He slipped down the stairs again. Lights blinked at the edge of his vision and he shook his head to clear them. He pulled the door open a crack and had no choice but to send his awareness down into the corridor. The ground froze under his feet as he did.

He sensed nothing, so he pulled the door open further and went in without making himself invisible. He turned right into the first stone storage room and stopped. The shelves were empty. He leaned against the wall — the demons were gone. He eased himself back into the corridor and checked all five rooms; all had empty shelves. The equipment had been removed as well.

He checked his watch, having difficulty focusing on it. The tunnels had been cleared out in the three hours it had taken him to go to the standing stones and return. His thoughts were so sluggish. He needed a stone to help him find the Jade Building Block, or to help him reach the Celestial Plane. The only stone he knew here was Ruby, and he had no way of contacting her directly. But the serpent people knew Ruby and they possibly knew a way of reaching the Western Celestial Plane.

Ice formed under his feet as he walked back out of the tunnel and up the stairs. The walls appeared to be moving around him; he didn’t have much left. He stopped at the exit from the stairs. He couldn’t bring out enough yin to open the ground without destroying the entire town. There was no other way out; he had to rest.

He staggered back down the stairs and into the first room, then sat cross-legged on the damp earth and leaned his back on the wall. Ice crystallised and spread from him, covering the walls, floor and ceiling as he relaxed into a trance. Only for five minutes, and then he would move again.