Dark_Serpent

27




The day was fading when John arrived at the town hall, and lights from inside shone through the high windows. He stopped and tapped on the front door.

A man opened the door and nodded brusquely. ‘In you come.’

The snake people were grouped around the conference table, with Margaret sitting at the head. John recognised Jamie, the owner of the café, his blonde daughter, and Mabel Defaoite, but none of the others were familiar. Tea and coffee were laid out on the table, as well as what resembled a pot-luck dinner Western-style. The smell of the food made John aware of the fact that he hadn’t eaten in days. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, but he needed to keep his energy levels up and carbohydrates would definitely help.

Margaret gestured for him to join her at the end of the table. ‘Come and tell us about the demons.’

He sat and leaned forward on the stone table top. ‘The interior of the black house was gutted. It had been set up as a demon nest.’

This caused consternation among the group.

‘You said they were all dead?’ Margaret said.

‘They seem to be closing down their Earthly operations and moving everything to Heaven. I need to get up there.’ He eyed the food on the table. ‘Is any of this vegetarian?’

‘I’m afraid not,’ Margaret said. ‘We really enjoy meat.’

‘I can understand that, I’m half-snake myself,’ John said. ‘You said you’ve located a gateway to Heaven?’

Margaret fetched a glossy modern book written by an archaeologist about the ancient Celts. She flipped it open to a page marked with a post-it note and pointed. ‘They’ve studied our people, and found a vast amount of valuable weapons and armour in this lake. The people threw them into the lake as a sacrifice, believing that they’d go to Heaven and be with the gods.’

‘Where’s the lake?’ John said.

She placed a map of the island on top of the food bowls. The lake was circled with a black marker. ‘There. Does this help?’

John placed his finger on the marker for Holyhead, then traced a route to the lake, running his finger over the topology and noting the hills and landmarks. ‘Thank you. I’ll go straight there.’

She returned the map to a side table. ‘Will you need scuba gear or something?’

He smiled slightly and shook his head. ‘I am one with the water. I am the water.’

‘So you’re, like, the Chinese version of Poseidon?’ Jamie said.

‘I’m the Chinese god of water, so probably, yes. I don’t know too much about your gods. My wife, Emma, did the research and I was counting on her wisdom and knowledge to help me find them.’ He rubbed his hand over his eyes. ‘I’m lost without her.’

Margaret put her hand on his shoulder. ‘We’ll help you. Anything you need to know, we’re here.’

‘Thank you. I do need your help with something.’ John pulled his pocket open. ‘Out you come, little stone. You should stay here.’

The stone floated out of his pocket and hovered in front of him.

‘That’s not Ruby, is it?’ one of the women said.

‘No, this is a baby stone. Its parent and family were stolen from the stone circle behind the school. Its parent hid it, and it escaped being captured.’ John nodded to Margaret. ‘Can you care for it while I’m searching?’

‘Can I stay with you, black turtle?’ the stone said.

‘No, little one, where I’m going is too dangerous,’ John said. ‘These people have a friend who is a stone, and they will care for you until I bring your parent back.’

‘Is there anything special we have to do?’ Margaret said, studying the stone.

‘No. You don’t need to feed or care for it in any way except to keep it close, talk to it, and don’t let whoever took its parent find it.’

‘I’m scared,’ the little stone said.

‘I’ll look after you,’ Margaret said, her face softening.

‘Hold your hand out,’ John said, and she did.

The little stone floated to sit in her palm. ‘Hello,’ it said, its voice soft and shy.

‘Hello,’ Margaret said.

John glanced around at the people sitting at the table. ‘The little stone has called for help from the Grandmother of All the Rocks. If she comes, treat her with respect, give her my regards, and give the stone to her.’

‘What does she look like?’ Margaret said.

‘You’ll know her when you see her. And the stone will as well.’

‘She’s really big!’ the little stone said.

‘I’ll head for the lake immediately, and I’ll call you if anything happens.’

‘Just find our Ruby for us,’ Jamie said, gruff. ‘I wish I’d never yelled at her now.’

John called into the Tesco’s supermarket, bought a bag of grapes and ate them while he flew west over the island to the lake. It had muddy edges full of weeds and rushes; his favourite sort of environment when he was a land turtle. His boots squelched in the mud and he lifted himself slightly to float over the surface until he was past the reeds and over the water itself. He sent his senses down to the muddy bottom, thick with algae and weeds and full of life.

He dropped vertically into the water and sent his awareness through it. There was a deep hole near one of the banks that the archaeologists had missed; inside were a couple of weathered bronze swords and the remains of a wooden rectangular shield the height of a man.

John merged with the water, becoming one with it, and was dazzled by the entrance to the Western Heavens: a vast, blindingly white gate that occupied the entire lake floor. He pulled his human form back together, then changed his mind and turned into his Celestial Form, so tall that the top of his head nearly protruded from the surface of the lake. He drifted down through the opening and emerged into the sky of the Western Heavens. The land spread before him, green and lovely, and the dark water of the lake entrance shimmered above.

What had Emma said? ‘Green and crystal and beautiful.’ This was definitely it. A cluster of impossibly tall glittering towers rose from the plains, their many spires linked by soaring walkways. The low hills were covered in green grass, rolling forever.

There was absolutely no sign of life, but John wasn’t concerned. He had a start, he was in the Western Heavens, and it was just a matter of time before he found the Glass Citadel. The crystalline towers were a good place to begin.

Bells went off in his head and he stopped, hovering under the gateway. He opened himself to communication and Simone linked up with him. She was shouting.

We need you here right now! There are hundreds of them!

She sent him a mental image of an army of demons attacking the Mountain. The Disciples were seriously outnumbered.

On my way. Less than an hour. Just hold them off until I get there.

He took a deep breath, lowered his head and tried to suck energy out of the Celestial air around him — but it was the wrong Centre; there was nothing there for him. He teleported to the Earthly, and landed in the river in London. He tried to pull energy out of the water, again without success, and teleported again. It would take less than an hour to return to the Mountain, but after making the journey he would be dead from the effort within two hours.

He put that aside and teleported again. His Mountain needed him.

He contacted Liu Cheng Rong as he neared the Mountain. Cheng Rong sent him a mental appraisal of the battle situation and it wasn’t good.

The demon force was around two hundred, all between level thirty and fifty. In the old days before the Attack, they would have easily routed them, but in its current undermanned state, the Mountain was struggling. Only two hundred Disciples remained actively fighting against the overwhelming force.

The demons had somehow managed to carry a hydraulic crane up to the southern gate and were close to being able to use it as a battering ram. The hook on the end of the crane’s arm had been removed and a pointed steel cap put in its place.

All the reinforcements are out, Liu said. That’s everybody.

Casualties?

More than you’ll be comfortable with. Most of the Celestial Masters have already fallen. His voice changed slightly. I was on the verge of sending out the first years.

That won’t be necessary, John said. Retreat. Pull them into the walls and shore up the gate. I’m ten minutes away.

I’ve already called them in, Liu said. We’re threading energy around the gate, but we don’t have much. Hurry.

Have you asked for help?

Northern Palace is under attack from a single large demon that’s trying to destroy the castle itself. Prince Ming says it is under control but it’s keeping the entire Northern Imperial Guard busy. West is besieged by insects — small, seemingly natural ones, which are deadly toxic if they bite you. Thirteen wives have died and twenty-three more are close to death. I have asked for the Phoenix and Dragon to help us and they are both sending reinforcements; they weren’t attacked.

John arrived at the familiar mountains of Celestial Wudang and saw the demons driving the crane into position to destroy the southern gate. He couldn’t risk using yin so he took Celestial Form, summoned Seven Stars and threw a massive ball of his remaining shen energy at the crane. The Disciples loudly cheered from the battlements as the crane hissed and melted, steam rising from the structure.

The demons abandoned it and scattered. Some stood their ground, and a couple of them fired at him using modern automatic weapons. He was hard-pressed to dodge the fast-moving bullets. He landed behind the crane and hacked into the demons with his sword, mercilessly destroying them. He couldn’t block all the bullets and did his best to ignore them as they lodged in his thick Celestial skin.

Some of the demons were trained and could parry a few of his blows, but they were completely outclassed. They retreated to the other side of the melting crane and gathered into a group of a hundred, then charged in an effort to topple him. He leaned into the weight of them and they didn’t knock him over. He summoned his aura and those closest to him disintegrated.

A sword was plunged into his shoulder. He reached around, ripped it out and used it in his off hand to destroy the demons in front of him. He swung the swords wide, Seven Stars singing its deadly bass song, and blunted the pain of the blows that he received as the demons tried to use force of numbers to overpower him. Another weapon hit him in the left shoulder; even he couldn’t battle a hundred at once without taking some damage. Blood ran down his left arm, making his grip on the sword slip. The demons saw the damage and one of them attacked with a vicious axe blow that took his left arm completely off. He didn’t have time to cauterise the wound; he continued to swing one-armed at the demons around him, his vision blurring and red from exhaustion and blood loss.

A shout rang out overhead. The demons panicked and scattered as a wash of flame destroyed everything for metres in front of him.

Clear the field, someone said from above.

John staggered towards the gate and looked up to see fifty of the South’s Red Warriors in crimson phoenix form. They swept over the battlefield and flame jetted from their beaks, engulfing every demon below. The demons’ screams rose in pitch and the acrid smell of burning demon essence spread over the landscape.

Lord Xuan, you need to move. We don’t have precise control over the flame, the lead Red Warrior said.

John fell to his knees next to the gate, deafened by exhaustion and barely able to see. I’m finished. Forget that I’m here and do what needs to be done.

We will work around you.

Destroy everything, including me, and that is an order.

A phoenix lifted him in its claws, carried him to the battlements and lowered him gently onto the stone.

‘Move away, give me room,’ Edwin said. ‘Simone, freeze the stump for me.’

‘What? No!’ Simone said, distraught.

‘We’re losing him; we need to stop the bleeding. Do it.’ Edwin’s voice changed to regret. ‘Never mind, there’s no pulse. He’s gone.’

‘Please don’t rejoin, Daddy,’ Simone said, her voice full of tears.

John went deaf; he tried to concentrate on Court Ten as everything spun away.

He felt a wash of relief as he landed, standing, in Court Ten in Celestial Form, facing the dark furious face of Judge Pao.

‘Kneel before your judge,’ one of the court officers said.

‘Go to hell,’ John growled.

Pao pushed his chair back and stood. He stomped down the stairs towards John and stopped in front of him, glaring. They were of equal height and John matched Pao’s stare, not shifting his gaze from Pao’s black-skinned face, darker than his own.

‘You have a choice,’ Pao said. He paced in front of John, one hand on the belt over his yellow silk judicial robe. ‘The Celestial Himself has summoned you —’

‘I’m heading straight back to find Emma.’

Pao spun and glared at John. ‘The Celestial is well aware of your ridiculous weakness in regards to human women. So you have a choice.’

‘Humans are our reason for existence.’

‘Your choice is this,’ Pao said, ignoring him. He walked back to stand in front of John and they matched stares again. ‘Either go immediately to audience with the Celestial, or face punishment in every single level of Hell. Your choice.’

John tried to leave to find Emma, but couldn’t.

‘Choose,’ Pao said.

‘I am First Heavenly General, Pao, you can’t do this to me —’

‘I can and I have. I answer to none but the Celestial Himself,’ Pao said with quiet fury, stabbing his index finger at the floor between them. ‘You do not have precedence over me.’

He walked back up the stairs to the top of the dais and sat at his desk. ‘Personally, I would love to send you through all ten levels and teach you the meaning of responsibility. You are failing in your duty to protect the Celestial realm. People — your oh-so-dear-humans — are dying, Zhenwu, and you are running around the far corners of the world chasing a single worthless woman. These are not the acts of an Immortal Worthy.’ He dipped his brush meticulously into the ink on the inkstone and held it over the judgement scroll. ‘Choose, Turtle. Heaven or Hell.’

‘Release me to Heaven and I will attend the Jade Emperor immediately,’ John said through gritted teeth. ‘He is the one who sent me to the West —’

Pao didn’t let him finish as he wrote the judgement onto the scroll. ‘Very well. You are released.’

John stomped through the Celestial Palace, but carefully held his yin in check — the palace didn’t need to suffer for his fury again. The buildings were full of activity; fairies were fitting every window and door with insect screening.

He entered the Jade Emperor’s informal meeting room and fell to one knee. ‘Ten thousand years.’

‘Come and sit, Ah Wu,’ the Jade Emperor said from his yellow silk cushioned chair, its rosewood carved with six-toed dragons.

John sat in one of the guest chairs that faced side-on to the Emperor’s throne and the Jade Emperor poured tea for them both. John tapped the table next to his cup in thanks.

‘Don’t worry, Ah Wu, I will release you to find her,’ the Jade Emperor said. He saw John’s relief. ‘We still need to find out what’s happening over there. You are no good to us here fretting. You have already demonstrated what happens when you’re distressed: the palace itself suffers.’

‘That won’t happen again,’ John said.

He sipped the tea and let its pure fragrance ease his worries slightly.

‘Good tea always takes away some of the horrors,’ the Jade Emperor said. He sipped, then put his cup down and opened a box and tipped out an enormous wasp, fifteen centimetres long. ‘This is one of them. The other three Winds are on their way; together you must study these new demons and find a way to deal with them before you go. They are deadly.’

‘Was it the stings that killed the wives?’ John said, studying the insect without touching it.

‘Yes. They contain a large amount of toxin because of their size. We have never seen a poison like it. One of the wives suggested it may be a variant of snake venom because of the speed of death. She said it was like an Australian viper of some sort. She was stung herself.’

‘Australian? It wasn’t Emma’s friend, Louise, was it?’ John said, concerned.

‘We’ll ask Thirty-Eight. She was there, and she’s waiting outside to speak to me.’

‘What escorted these demons to Heaven?’ John said, lifting the wasp’s stinger with the end of one of the Emperor’s writing brushes.

‘A cockroach the size of a bus. It wasn’t poisonous itself, but its sharp legs did quite a lot of damage to the walls of the Western Heavens. Largest insect-type we’ve ever seen.’ He answered John’s question before he asked it. ‘The Horsemen took it apart.’

‘Did any of these wasp things invade here? You’re having screens put in.’

‘No. Only the West.’

‘But you’re taking precautions,’ John said.

‘Better to be safe. I have many mortals here as well.’

John contacted Yue Gui. Number Two, have the entire Northern Heavens insect screened. Tell the Lius to do the same to the Mountain. Liaise with the Celestial Palace, they are having it done now.

Already being arranged, Yue Gui said. Father, there is much that we need to discuss —

Later, he said, and cut her off. ‘You said Thirty-Eight is here and she saw what happened?’ he asked the Jade Emperor.

‘Yes.’ The Jade Emperor raised one hand and a beautiful slender Chinese woman in her mid-forties entered the room.

She fell to one knee. ‘Ten thousand years.’

‘Thirty-Eight,’ John said, nodding to her.

‘Lord Xuan.’ She sat on the other side of the Jade Emperor, her long fingers clutching the arm of her rosewood chair. ‘My Lords, I seek your permission to take True Form and sortie into Hell for you. I will gather intelligence on what is happening.’

John glared at her. ‘That is too dangerous, Sophia. They’ll see through you and destroy you.’

‘The King is never there; and hardly any of the new generations know me.’

‘They’ll see you’ve turned.’

‘No, they won’t.’

‘You can’t do this, Sophia, you’re close to regaining your free will. Don’t throw it away like this,’ John said.

‘Three of my best friends were attacked by those horrible things!’ she said, distraught. She sniffled and wiped the back of her hand over her eyes. ‘I love Xiao and Louise and Yuko like sisters, and two of them are in a coma and one is dead. So many of my dear friends and sisters died.’ She gulped a huge breath. ‘I must go down and find out what’s happening.’

‘Wait … Louise?’ John said. ‘Emma’s friend Louise?’

‘In a coma,’ the Tiger said as he entered. He fell to one knee. ‘Ten thousand years.’ He sat next to Thirty-Eight and held her hand in both of his.

‘How are they?’ she said.

‘We won’t know for a while. They’re on life support so they won’t die, but the doctors need to wait and see how much damage has been done.’ He lifted one of his hands from hers and rubbed his face. ‘It’s possible they’ll be fine. It’s possible they’ll end up vegetables. It’s possible they’ll never wake up at all.’

She dropped her head and sobbed once, quietly.

‘Be strong, Sophia,’ he said gently.

‘I’m so damn tired of being strong,’ she said. She pulled herself together and glared at John. ‘Don’t try to stop me. I’m going down there to find out what’s happening.’

‘You will be dead within two hours,’ John said. He switched to silent speech and spoke to the Tiger. She’s not yet gained free will. Forbid her or lose her.

‘Sophia, please,’ the Tiger said. ‘I don’t want to order you to stay out of there. Let the experts handle it.’

‘I’m a level seventy-eight Mother — I’m more expert than anyone!’

‘I am a greater expert and I say you will not last five minutes in there,’ John said.

‘You don’t know me,’ she said.

‘Sophia, darling,’ the Tiger said.

She ripped her hands out of his. ‘I am not your darling right now.’

‘I really don’t want to spoil what we have by ordering you. Give it up and we’ll find another way.’

‘Why can’t I leave?’ she said. She glared at the Jade Emperor. ‘Are you stopping me from going?’

‘Of course I am, dear one, because the men are right. Listen to them,’ the Jade Emperor said.

‘Oh, the men are right, are they?’ she said with a sneer. ‘Of course, the woman,’ she said the word with such malice that John flinched, ‘is wrong and you know best. They were like sisters to me, something I’ve never had, and I want this to stop.’

‘Thirty-Eight, I order you —’ the Tiger said.

‘No!’ she yelled. ‘Take my free will and I might as well be dead. Just let me find out what’s happening.’

‘I order you to return to the Western Heavens immediately and stay there until I order otherwise.’

She went ice-cold. ‘I cannot believe you would do such a thing to me. I may not be home when you get there, darling.’ She angrily shook his hand free from hers and stormed out.

The Tiger shook his head. ‘Set her back by a hundred years.’

‘It was her will or her life,’ John said. ‘I would have done the same thing.’

‘You know what, Ah Wu?’ the Tiger said, studying John carefully. ‘I think you would let your wife die rather than take her free will. But that’s just me. Now.’ He leaned over the dead wasp on the table. ‘My kids in the lab are looking into these — they’re a nasty reptile-insect hybrid the like of which the Celestial has never seen.’ He looked up at the Jade Emperor. ‘They are making new and more fearsome hybrids all the time, and we need to find where they’re making them.’

‘Ah Wu has my mandate to return to Europe,’ the Jade Emperor said.

‘Good. Do you want to take anyone with you?’ the Tiger asked John. ‘I’d come myself, but I have too many mortal wives to protect. Take some of my Horsemen.’

‘No, I’m faster working alone,’ John said. ‘I made it into the Western Heavens just as we were attacked. I think the fact that we were attacked at all demonstrates that I was in the right place.’

The Jade Emperor rose and bowed slightly to them. ‘The Phoenix and Dragon are here. I will leave it to the four of you to coordinate your plans for defence. If you require Er Lang to attend, he is nearby supervising the reinforcement of the palace walls.’

John and the Tiger stood, then fell to one knee as the Jade Emperor glided out of the audience hall. He stopped at the doorway and spoke to someone outside. ‘They’re in here.’

The Dragon and Phoenix came in, and the four Winds pulled their chairs closer together.

The Tiger gingerly picked up the wasp by its wings. ‘There’s a snake in Australia, tiny little thing, kills you in thirty minutes. This is the same venom.’ He dropped the wasp and brushed his hands against each other, then glanced at John. ‘So what’s the word in Europe? I hear you found Emma’s people.’

‘Hybrid snake-demon people. Bred by their Shen to fight human conquerors, but it all went bad.’ John ran his hand over his face. ‘They say that all their Shen are gone, and it looks like the demons have taken Heaven.’

‘That’s really not good,’ the Tiger said.

‘Understatement of the century,’ the Phoenix said.

The Dragon jumped; his mobile phone had gone off in his pocket with a Japanese pop tune accompanied by an impossibly sweet girl’s voice.

‘That’s a vocaloid,’ the Phoenix said with amusement. ‘You are far too old to be listening to that.’

‘I own it,’ the Dragon said as he checked who was calling. ‘I was developing software to see if demons could be controlled by a voice at a particular pitch, and it turned out the voice sounded magnificent when it was singing. I had some of my kids match it to a cute girl model and I’m making a fortune; it’s hugely popular.’ He smiled slightly. ‘Never did get the demon thing working.’

He sharpened his voice and snapped into the phone, ‘What? I left strict instructions that I was not to be disturbed.’ As he listened, his eyes widened and he glanced at John. ‘No. Don’t tell anybody. Need-to-know basis only, do not share this. No, we all know she’s alive anyway, so don’t tell anyone. YouTube? Okay.’

He pulled the phone from his ear and glared at it as he cut the line. ‘Ah Wu, there is something very important that you have to see,’ he said.

He placed his phone on the table face up, waved one hand over the device and a transparent computer screen appeared hanging in the air. A keyboard made of light shone onto the surface of the table below it.

‘This technology isn’t released yet, so mind who you tell about it,’ the Dragon said, tapping on the keyboard. ‘My daughter says there’s a YouTube video with a password attached so only we can see it.’ He quirked a small smile. ‘They know way too much about you, Ah Wu: the password is “genbu”.’

John stiffened slightly. It wasn’t common knowledge anywhere outside the present company how much he hated his Japanese name. The name itself — Genbu — wasn’t an issue, but the Japanese had turned his spiritual nature into a creature of humour and disrespectful parody in anime and manga far too many times.

The Dragon brought the video up on the screen and tapped the table where the volume button was, then pressed play. It was Emma, sitting alone in a chair and facing the camera. She had the blank face of a …

‘Demon under control?’ the Phoenix said. ‘How is this possible?’

‘All her snake ancestors are part-demon,’ John said. ‘A very small part. They’re so close to human —’

Emma started talking and he stopped.

‘Don’t come back for me,’ she said. ‘Don’t try to …’ She choked on the words. ‘To. To. To. Don’t. Try.’ She stared at the camera, eyes wide and frightened, then screwed up her face with effort.

‘Read the card,’ someone ordered off screen. It wasn’t the Eastern King of the Demons.

Emma panted a few times, staring into the camera with desperation, then spat the words out quickly. ‘Don’t try to enter this Plane again, they’ve closed it. We will …’ She dropped her head and shook it. ‘Will. Will. No.’ She raised her head. ‘John! I’m at Caer —’

The sound was turned off, but they could still see her mouth moving. It was obvious that she was saying ‘Caer Wydr, the Glass Citadel’.

‘Oh, well done, Emma,’ the Tiger said softly.

John didn’t remember standing but he was on his feet.

On the screen, two guard demons grabbed Emma and bundled her out of the chair. A man moved into view, slightly out of focus. The sound returned.

‘I hear you’ve vowed to destroy us all,’ the man said. ‘What if she’s a mix? Part-human, part-demon? What if one of us can control her? What happens to your vow then? I can control her, so from where I’m standing she’s a demon, and you’ve vowed to destroy her. Funny when things are only in black and white, isn’t it?’ He grinned at the camera. ‘George wanted you out of the way so we could seal everything up. There’s no way into the Western Heavens now. Be good, sit tight, don’t attempt to attack either of our realms and the demon woman won’t get hurt. You can see we haven’t harmed her, and as long as you stay put she won’t be.’ He waved one hand dismissively at the camera. ‘That’s enough. Turn it off.’

The Dragon waved one hand over the phone to make the screen and keyboard disappear, then picked it up and speed dialled.

‘That video,’ he said. ‘Yes. I want it pulled apart pixel by pixel. I want to know who that is and where it is. That demon has to have an Earthly identity. Anything you can find. No! I don’t want excuses. I want information.’

He hung up. ‘So where now?’

‘Caer Wydr — I thought so,’ John said. ‘It’s just a matter of finding the entrance again and then finding the castle. Emma probably knows a great deal about what’s going on there, including the source of the demon hybrids.’

‘We’ll send some soldiers with you,’ the Phoenix said.

‘My guys are better utilised as tech backup this end,’ the Dragon said. ‘Tiger?’

‘I won’t leave my wives,’ the Tiger said with regret, ‘but I should be able to spare some Horsemen.’

‘I will give you some of my Red Warriors,’ the Phoenix said. ‘That will be all that is needed. The Southern Palace won’t be attacked; the demons fry just from the proximity.’

‘That may not be the case with these new hybrids,’ the Dragon said.

John saluted the Phoenix. ‘Thank you for the assistance; your Red Warriors were invaluable in yesterday’s battle. But all of your armies are better utilised here. The Red Warriors can be a shock force if anywhere is attacked — they seem to be immensely effective. The realms must be defended and I’m relying on you to see it done. I’ll go alone, and if I need backup I’ll let you know.’

‘Just leave your damn phone on,’ the Tiger said, gruff.

John winced. ‘I promised my contact in the serpent people I’d give it to her. I still have it.’

‘Let me give you one of mine,’ the Dragon said. ‘A variation on Gold’s work with Celestial Harmony and artificial stone AI, and linked to us through the Tree. My kids have done some great work with advanced tech.’

‘Can you load it with information and addresses for Kitty Kwok’s biotech labs?’ John said.

‘Done. I’ll load it with everything I have on Europe, and the AI will respond to verbal questions.’ He smiled slightly. ‘Do you speak Japanese?’

‘What, the actual language without Celestial translation?’

‘Yes. Do you speak it like a human does?’ the Dragon said.

‘As a matter of fact I do.’

‘Excellent. Speak to the phone in Japanese rather than English. English is too hard to understand, too many words. It will work like an artificial stone.’

‘Good. I hesitate to take a stone with me; I’ve already lost two.’

‘Emma’s stone is with her?’ the Phoenix said.

‘Emma’s stone is lost. A Western stone is also lost. The stones in Europe have been disappearing, probably to be used in experiments.’

‘Has the Grandmother heard of this?’ the Phoenix said.

‘Yes. I expect her to move soon.’

‘Good. Angering her is a very bad idea.’

‘Don’t tell her about my phone technology, okay?’ the Dragon said. ‘You know how she feels about artificial stone AI.’

‘Don’t worry, Ah Qing, nobody will,’ the Phoenix said.

‘Is there anything else?’ John said. ‘The trail is going cold. I need to get back to that lake. If I’m quick I may get there before they close it up, it will take them a while to seal something that big.’

‘Just a minute,’ the Dragon said, and dropped his head, his turquoise eyes intense. He shook his head. ‘They are so slow.’ He gestured towards John. ‘The phone will be here in ten minutes. Sit and drink and tell us what’s happened so far.’

John hesitated, then picked up his teacup. He needed that phone.

After ten minutes of him bringing the other three Winds up to date, a young woman raced into the room. She was in her late teens, with brilliant blue hair and wearing skinny jeans and a T-shirt with a design of a cat on it. She stopped when she saw them and quickly fell to one knee, head bowed. ‘My Lords. My Lady.’

‘Don’t worry about that, give me the damn phone,’ the Dragon said, holding one hand out. ‘Is this the latest version?’

‘This has pina colada running on it,’ she said.

‘Is that four or five?’ the Dragon snapped. ‘Just use numbers; these code names for versions are ridiculous. Completely meaningless.’

‘Five point five. Six is still in beta,’ she said.

‘Phone,’ the Dragon said.

‘Please ask me a question,’ the phone said.

‘Where are Penrhos Feilw standing stones?’ He glanced at John. ‘That’s how you pronounce it, right?’

‘Yes.’

The phone replied in a sweet synthetic female voice, sounding almost like a child. It was similar to the vocaloid. ‘The Penrhos Feilw standing stones are fifty metres back from the road at …’ It gave the map coordinates.

The Tiger glared. ‘I prefer the natural way of doing things.’

‘That’s why you’ll always be trailing behind,’ the Dragon said. He handed the phone to John. ‘As you can see, it’s marked the stones on the map for you, and knows where you are in relation to them.’

‘Where is the Glass Citadel, Caer Wydr?’ John said to the phone.

A map appeared on its screen. ‘The Glass Citadel, also known as Caer Wydr or the Glass Fortress, is thought to exist in the Western part of the Western Celestial Plane. It is surrounded by low rolling hills and there is a river nearby.’

‘I programmed that in after the Archivist gave us the information,’ the Dragon’s daughter said with pride.

John rose. ‘Thank you. I’ve wasted enough time; I need to find Emma and find out what they’re doing over there.’

He clasped hands with each of the Winds in turn and headed directly out towards the West.