Blue Dragon Part 79

I sat through oaths of allegiance from three hundred and forty-five senior demons. I counted them. Most of them grinned viciously at me without looking at Wong. The Snake Mothers especially made a point of glowering at me as they swore the oath.

'The ladies want you, Emma,' Wong said. 'Should I give you to them?'

'Oh, yes, please, Simon,' I said. 'I'd love to go and play with them.'

'No, I don't think so,' Wong said kindly. 'I think I'll keep you all to myself.'

Something huge and black materialised in the centre of the hall. It was like an enormous black cloud, but darker and more menacing. The cold seeped from it; the air around it glittered with condensation. The demons raced away from it, a flowing wave of panic.

'Oh good good,' Wong said with satisfaction. 'I was wondering when it would turn up. This just gets better and better.'

The darkness coalesced into an enormous black turtle, its sh.e.l.l glistening with moisture. It was about five metres long. Its head was pointed and vicious. Its sh.e.l.l was curved and black. Its enormous feet were clawed.

The demons rushed away in panic. Most of the demons disappeared. It was faster than those that were left; it turned and raced right into the middle of them, grabbing them and snapping them in half with its enormous razor-sharp beak, one after the other. They didn't have a chance.

The demons began to scream and there was a crush at the door as they tried to get away.

The Turtle generated a blinding beam of chi and sent it through them, destroying every demon it touched.

Wong rose and sauntered down the stairs to face the creature.

It moved towards him, its mouth open, its huge beak razor-sharp. It wasn't slow; but it wasn't as fast as John was in human form. The remaining demons cowered against the walls.

Wong stopped in front of the creature, totally unconcerned. He concentrated and raised his arms.

The Turtle opened its mouth wider and a blast of pure white s.h.i.+ning energy shot out, straight at Wong. Wong disappeared in the brilliance.

The Turtle closed its mouth and the beam of light stopped.

Wong was still there, smiling.

The Turtle moved closer. Wong didn't attempt to move out of the way. A light blue aura grew around his head. He smiled beatifically and the light surrounded him. It was full of crackling bolts of energy. He lowered his head and concentrated, and the energy quickly rushed to his hands, forming a huge ball of something that resembled chi, but a delicate shade of pale blue.

He smiled and raised his head to study the Turtle. He lifted his arms, still holding the huge ball of energy in his hands, closed his eyes and threw his head back. The energy went black. It streamed from him straight at the Turtle's head.

The Turtle raised its head and opened its mouth, a black shadow within the darkness of the energy. Its edges turned blue, then it shredded in the blast.

It dissipated. It was gone.

'No,' I moaned. 'No.' I took a deep, gasping breath. 'Oh G.o.d, no.'

'I am the most powerful thing that h.e.l.l has ever produced,' Wong said. 'Even the Xuan Wu is no match for me.'

He proceeded up the stairs to me.

'He was weak,' I said loudly. 'When he's back to full strength, he'll come after you and tear you into very small pieces.'

'I really hope so, because his cage is nearly ready,' Wong said as he seated himself on the throne. 'Now. Let's get to work.'

I bided my time. As soon as he brought in Simone and Leo, I would use the Destroyer to free us all.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO.

'Listen up,' Wong said conversationally.

The demons moved forward to hear him.

'There will be some changes. The King was old and stupid. Times have changed. We are mobile, we are active, and we will use the new technology to its fullest.'

None of the demons moved or spoke.

'We will travel to the four corners of the world. We will negotiate with the other Centres. We are going to take control.'

There was complete silence.

'Work is to start immediately on the construction of new hybrids. The old way is gone. There is a new way now. My My way.' way.'

'Lame,' I said under my breath. 'You've been watching too many Hollywood movies. You need a better scriptwriter.'

The doors flew open at the other end of the hall. There was a huge commotion, but I couldn't see what was causing it. Then demons began to disintegrate. Blinding white flashes of light burst through their ranks and destroyed them.

'Holy s.h.i.+t!' Wong shouted. 'What the h.e.l.l is that? that?'

The source of the flashes cut a swathe through the demons. The beams of light went upwards and outwards and destroyed everything in their path.

'Stop it!' Wong yelled. 'Whatever that thing is, get in there and stop it!'

Two of the senior demons raced down the stairs, weapons in hand. They were destroyed before they were within three metres of it.

A figure emerged between the remaining demons and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. It was Simone. She was wearing her school uniform. A glowing white aura of shen energy surrounded her as she floated slightly above the floor, her arms out from her sides as if to help her balance. Her hair writhed around her head with the static. Her eyes were blinding white orbs, s.h.i.+ning with shen energy.

'h.e.l.lo, Emma,' she said, her little voice the same as it always was. 'I came to get you.'

'Hi, Simone,' I said. 'I'm perfectly okay and happy here. Please go back home.'

Wong rose to his feet. 'Good,' he said viciously. 'You are mine. Both of you.'

'You want to come home with me, Emma?' Simone said, the brilliance of the shen energy causing shadows around her.

'I'm sorry, sweetheart,' I said, trying to keep the desperation from my voice, 'but I promised the King that I'd stay here until your daddy comes back. So you don't have to worry about me. You can go home.'

'Oh, okay,' Simone said, her eyes still blinding. 'Let's get the King and talk to him. He might let you go.'

'The King is my prisoner,' Wong said. 'I am King.'

Simone seemed to notice Wong for the first time. 'I don't like you.'

'That doesn't really matter, sweetheart,' Wong said, walking down the stairs. 'Because the way you feel about me makes absolutely no difference at all.'

'Go home right now right now!' I shouted.

Simone raised her hands slightly and hit Wong with a blast of shen, knocking him backwards off his feet.

He clambered to his feet, shook himself, and advanced towards Simone again. 'Not good enough, little girl. I am going to take your head off and put it next to your father's.'

Simone's face went rigid and she inhaled sharply. 'You killed my daddy.'

Wong smiled with malice. 'That's right, sweetheart. I took his head off.'

The white light in Simone's eyes went out. They returned to normal and widened. She dropped to stand on the floor, the aura disappeared, and her hair fell around her face. 'You killed killed my my daddy daddy!'

'That's right,' Wong said. 'I killed your daddy. I killed your mummy too.'

Simone stiffened, eyes still wide.

'I killed your mummy's brother, and your mummy's mother and father,' Wong said without emotion. 'I killed Charlie. I nearly killed Leo, but I didn't get the chance to finish him. And now I'm going to kill you.'

He concentrated, and the blue light grew around him. He smiled.

'NO!' I yelled and moved to jump between them. 'Simone, RUN!'

I hit a wall halfway down and slid onto the stairs. It was like an invisible barrier. I couldn't approach them.

The Snake came out and struck helplessly at the barrier.

The blue aura grew around Wong, crackling with lightning. His smile broadened, he raised his hands and a huge blast of the black stuff engulfed Simone with a roar like an airplane engine. She disappeared inside the dark energy beam.

The Snake struck again at the barrier, with absolutely no effect. I changed back, grabbed the Murasame and ripped it from its scabbard. I slashed at the barrier with it. I filled it with chi and tried to burn a hole through.

The energy was all around Simone; I couldn't see her. She didn't make a sound. Wong's face was twisted into an ugly grimace of satisfaction.

I put the black stuff into the sword and tried to use it to blast my way through the barrier. Nothing. I threw the sword to one side and pounded my fists on the invisible wall, crying out. Simone. No. 'No!' I sagged down the wall and pounded it helplessly. Simone. I wiped the tears out of my eyes; I couldn't see. I rested my forehead on the barrier. No.

Wong snapped his wrists and the beam of energy stopped. There was complete silence.

Simone stood there completely unharmed, a sweet smile on her little face.

Wong took a step back, unsure now, then raised his hands and began to gather the blue energy again.

'It's okay, Emma, this is my fight,' Simone said with a smile. Her eyes went black. Wong hesitated.

'You killed my daddy,' Simone said absently. 'You killed my mummy.'

She raised her hands.

Something formed above her head. It was difficult to see, because it was so dark. It was a whirlpool of nothingness. Black, empty, cold nothing. The creeping cold coming from it was colder and darker and emptier than anything I had ever felt.

Simone snapped her wrists above her head without looking up. Some of the blackness shot out of the whirlpool and gathered like writhing tendrils around her hands. She watched Wong with her black eyes.

Wong took a step back. 'No.'

'You killed my daddy. You killed my mummy.' Her little voice was as sweet as ever. 'You killed my Charlie. You hurt my Leo.' The black oily mist writhed around her hands and expanded.

Wong was paralysed. 'No.'

'I don't like you.'

He was frozen with terror. 'Yin.'

'Yes,' Simone said, as if from a million miles away. 'My daddy is yin.' She smiled serenely at Wong, her eyes still black. The whirlpool above her head grew and a cyclone of yin detached itself and spun around her head, making her hair fly upwards. It lengthened and darkened into a black writhing ma.s.s of s.h.i.+ning strands. 'I am yin too, when I want to be.'

The moisture in the air around her froze, forming swirling icy sleet. Simone had gathered pure yin. Pure, dark, cold, absorbing death.

'Are you yang or yin?'

Wong was speechless with horror.

'I suppose it doesn't matter,' Simone said calmly as she approached him, her eyes still black, her hair writhing above her. She smiled sweetly, held out her hands and the yin leapt to him. 'Because you won't be around long enough to tell me.'

The yin spiralled. Wong watched it surround him. His mouth was open but he didn't make a sound. The yin spun like black ribbons around him; where it was close to him, he was sucked into it. Small parts of him separated and flew into the spiralling force. The holes in him grew larger. He raised his face, his mouth wide but silent.

Simone smiled as her black hair whipped around her head.

The yin spiralled up around him and circled his head. His eyes rolled up. His head dissolved. The rest followed. He was completely sucked into the yin. He was gone.

Simone held out her hands and the yin leapt back to them. She raised her arms, her face became a mask of rapture, and the whirlpool above her head absorbed the yin. It spiralled out of her hands, upwards into the vortex. The vortex shrank and disappeared.

Her eyes snapped back to normal and her hair lightened and fell to frame her face.

The barrier disappeared and I fell forwards. I pulled myself to my feet.

'Now,' she said, 'let's find the King and get you out of here.'

'I'm here,' the King said behind me. 'h.e.l.lo, Simone.'

Simone's eyes went black again.

'No!' I shouted. 'Don't hurt him, Simone!'

'He took you away from me,' Simone said.

'He had to,' I said softly. 'It was the only way he could get both you and the bad demon here, so that you could destroy it.'