Blue Dragon

don’t know,’ the demon said, looking back up. ‘He’s been making really incredible hybrids—you should see some of the things he’s produced. Some of them are pretty scary.’
    I tried to control my face.
    ‘Look,’ the demon said with a shrug. ‘I just want it to be over. Can you do it for me now? It won’t make a mess, and I just want to be gone. Please.’ Its voice became anguished. ‘Help me!’
    ‘Any weapons around here?’ I said.
    ‘I can call my sword, my Lady,’ said Lionel Chan, the other Wudang Weapons Master. ‘I can do it now if it is your wish.’
    ‘No!’ the demon said. ‘Only the Lady. None other.’
    It fell to its knees in front of the couch and touched its head to the parquet flooring. ‘My Lady, I beg you. Only you. You are the only one I trust. No other.’
    ‘Okay.’ I pulled myself to my feet in front of the demon. ‘Call your weapon, Lionel.’ I glanced down at the demon. ‘Anything else you want to tell me?’
    The demon carefully pulled itself to its feet. ‘Yes. One other thing.’ It lowered its voice. I strained to hear. ‘This,’ it whispered, and leaped.
    It felt like someone had stabbed me in the neck. The pain was excruciating. I grabbed its head where it had buried itself into my neck and ripped it away. It grinned at me, still in human form, its long black pointed tongue clearly visible.
    ‘You little bitch !’ I shouted, and backhanded it across the room. It crashed into the window, but didn’t break it. It pulled itself to its feet and came for me again.
    Lionel jumped in front of me, sword raised, and the demon smiled. It moved so fast it was a blur. It leaped and buried its head into his throat, holding his arms. Lionel struggled but the demon had him.
    I raced forward and punched the demon on the head where it was biting Lionel. It held him, then let go and moved back. Lionel sagged to his knees, then fell over like a dead tree and disappeared. Master Sit moved forward to block the demon, and it hit him right in the middle of the chest with a blast of something black and horrible. He disappeared.
    The demon straightened and grinned. ‘You and me.’
    I straightened as well. ‘Try me.’
    ‘The toxin is already moving through your bloodstream,’ the demon said. ‘You don’t have much longer anyway. As soon as you’re out, we’ll visit my Master.’
    I put my hand to my neck and pulled it away covered in blood and clear sweet-smelling venom. She was right. I readied myself. ‘I won’t let you take me, sweetheart.’
    The demon rushed me. I dodged under its attack and hit it with my feet as it went through. I knocked it down but it rolled, turned and was back on its feet facing me.
    The toxin was in my neck. It was moving through my bloodstream; I could feel it. But it didn’t feel too bad at all. I could deal with it.
    ‘Does it burn?’ the demon said with a grin.
    ‘Nope,’ I said. ‘Doesn’t worry me at all.’
    If I hit the demon with chi I would blow myself up; it was too big. I had to do this one with physical.
    The demon came at me again, so fast it was a blur, but I was way ahead of it. I hit it across the neck with the blade of my hand, then used the momentum to swing my foot into its abdomen. But its human shell was thick and I didn’t get through.
    The demon latched onto my neck again. I hit it across the windpipe, but it had injected more venom into me before I freed myself. The little bitch was like a dog humping my leg; she just wouldn’t let go.
    The venom was really starting to move through me now. I could feel it, but it felt good . It seemed to be making me stronger, not weaker.
    I didn’t have time to wonder about it. The demon was at me again, but this time she seemed to be slower. I clasped my hands and used them together in a crushing hammer blow right at her temple. I was through her.
    She disappeared.
    The venom burned through me and everything looked really weird: the colours were all wrong and all the furniture seemed to be a strange shape. A strong smell of acetone filled the room. The television was on its side, and I could see the threads of the rug, sideways, right in front of my eyes. No, that wasn’t right…
    It was hard to hear the voice talking to me through the roaring in my ears. I couldn’t see anything.
    ‘Emma, concentrate. You have to clear this out of your system.’
    ‘Meredith?’
    ‘Emma, thank the Heavens. Concentrate. Help me.’
    I shook my head but still couldn’t see.