Blue Dragon

her teacher Ng Mui.’
    ‘Oh, thank you very much ,’ I said. ‘What next?’
    ‘Me,’ Leo said, coming through the door with two staves. He threw the smaller one to me.
    ‘Now this is more like it,’ I said. ‘I haven’t beaten Leo up in quite a while.’
    ‘I’ve been learning, Emma,’ Leo said, readying himself. ‘Bet you a day’s guard duty I can take you.’
    ‘You are on !’ I said with delight. ‘I haven’t had a proper day off since I finished my thesis.’
    ‘Whoa, whoa, wait a minute there,’ my father said loudly. ‘Leo’s much taller than Emma and must weigh three times what she does. This is hardly fair!’
    ‘You are quite right, Brendan,’ John said. ‘Not a fair match at all.’ He concentrated.
    Michael appeared in the doorway, holding a staff.
    ‘This is more like it,’ John said with satisfaction.
    ‘All bets are off if I’m facing both of them,’ I said. ‘Michael’s half Shen.’
    ‘Double or nothing,’ Leo said.
    ‘Come on, Emma, give it a try,’ John said. ‘We might even be able to bring the snake out.’
    I gestured towards Michael. ‘He’s half goddamn Shen!’
    Michael grinned and saluted me, holding the staff.
    ‘She’ll fight both of them?’ my mother said softly.
    ‘Yes!’ Roland said. ‘I have a video camera in my office. Wait! Please!’
    ‘There are a hundred and fifty demons out there waiting for you,’ I said.
    ‘Let them wait,’ he said. ‘I don’t think this will take long.’
    Roland came back with a video camera. ‘Move into the big room.’
    ‘But there are students in there!’ I protested.
    ‘Tell them you taught her,’ John said to Roland.
    ‘They wouldn’t believe me, Your Highness,’ Roland said. ‘I’d have to tell them that she taught me .’
    ‘That would work,’ John said. He pulled himself up off the floor and took Simone’s hand. ‘Let’s go.’
    ‘You know Emma’s only been learning off the Dark Lord for less than a year and a half?’ Leo said to Roland as we went out.
    ‘ Wah !’ Roland said. ‘Amazing! Such talent!’
    ‘Damn,’ I said softly.
    ‘She turns into a snake, you said. Why is that? Is she a Shen?’
    ‘Nobody’s quite sure what she is,’ John said amiably. ‘She’s not a demon, that’s for sure. We’ll just have to wait and see.’
    ‘Maybe she’s the White Snake,’ Roland said.
    John stopped and his face froze. ‘Not possible.’
    ‘I’m black in Serpent form,’ I said.
    ‘If the Pagoda has fallen then she may be the White Snake,’ Roland said.
    ‘If I’m the White Snake then where’s the Red Snake?’ I said.
    ‘Ah. You know the legend,’ Roland said.
    ‘Of course I do,’ I said as I entered the larger room. ‘I’ve been doing an enormous amount of research on the nature of Serpent Shen, for obvious reasons.’
    ‘She is not the White Snake,’ John said, moving to catch up with us. ‘Not possible.’
    The students lounged against the long wall, waiting quietly for Leo to return. Roland directed them loudly in Cantonese. ‘All of you, back to the far short wall, stand still, stand quiet. You are about to be extremely privileged. Silence!’
    The students moved back, quiet and cowed.
    Roland gestured. ‘Whenever you are ready, my Lady.’
    ‘Mum, Dad, you okay?’ I said. My parents nodded. ‘Go stand with John.’
    My parents moved over to John and Simone in front of the mirrors. This room was larger, about six by four metres. Simone took my mother’s hand and smiled up at her.
    ‘Wait,’ Roland said. He pulled the video camera out and turned it on. ‘Okay, go.’
    I nodded to both Leo and Michael. They saluted back. We moved into position. Both of them faced me, side by side.
    I held my staff out in front, guarding. Leo I could take easily, but Michael was an unknown quantity: not justhalf Shen, but half tiger as well. He had been learning from John for months now, and had probably come a long way since I had easily bested him when I trialled him for the job as trainee bodyguard to replace Leo.
    Leo came at me first. He swung at my head. I blocked it with my own staff, swung it down, twisted it, and tried to take his feet out from under him with the other end.
    Michael came at me at the same time. As Leo’s staff went down, Michael went for my head. I flipped my staff under Leo’s and guided it into Michael’s. Their staves clashed together hard and both of them winced.
    Leo dropped one hand from his staff and shook it, grimacing.
    I jumped