Blue Dragon

that was deafened, not the stone silenced.
    ‘If you’re talking to me I can’t hear you,’ I said. ‘But I’m out of ideas.’
    I cut off a shriek as my hand was stabbed with pain. The stone had grown some sort of appendage and was cutting into me.
    I tried to rip the ring off my finger, but it wouldn’t let go. The stone continued to slice into the back of my hand, then moved to the vein on my middle finger and sliced that as well.
    The appendage disappeared back into the stone as I watched it with horror. Then, of all things, the stone grew a little smiley face on its surface.
    I rushed to the desk and grabbed some tissues to staunch the flow of blood from my lacerated hand, silently cursing the stone. What the hell had gotten into it?
    Then I saw them coming with my Internal Eye. Wong, and Kitty Kwok. Both of them.
    I went ice-cold with fury as I frantically mopped up the blood. That bastard would not get me; I would blow myself up with chi first. And take him with me if I could.
    The stone had done a good job; the finger was dripping; it had definitely hit a vein. The blood was everywhere. I concentrated, ready to heal the wounds, and the goddamn stone stabbed me again . I pushed the tissues into the wound, trying to stop the blood.
    Blood.
    Sweet.
    Oh, yessss .
    The door opened. Wong and Kitty sauntered in. The children sitting on the floor behind them were visible before Kitty closed the door.
    ‘Thanks,’ I said, and shoved the back of my hand into my mouth.
    Sweet. My own blood wasn’t as good as somebody else’s, but the bitch in front of me looked extremely tasty, and the Demon Prince was powerful. But not nearly as powerful as me.
    I pulled my hand away and grinned.
    Kitty shrieked and spun. Wong pushed her aside and ran to open the door. He went through and closed it on her hand, making her shriek again. He opened the door,pushed her hand out of the door, then closed and locked it in her face.
    She turned, leaned against the door, and slid down it to sit on the floor.
    I went up to her, still grinning. I crouched in front of her. Her terror was delicious.
    I picked up her hand and dropped it. She was limp with fear. Her mouth was open in a silent scream.
    ‘ Simone !’ somebody shouted, and I remembered.
    I changed and jumped through the open window between the bars. I was three storeys up, and I smiled as I fell.
    A while later the sky was becoming dark and I was running out of puff. I was causing panic wherever I went, and I wasn’t even very big. I found a perfect place to hide.
    ‘Emma.’ Something prickled the back of my head and somebody was whispering my name.
    ‘Emma, wake up.’
    There was a stone right in the middle of my back and it hurt . I grimaced.
    ‘Emma. Come on, I know you can hear me.’
    ‘Wha’?’
    ‘Simone needs you!’
    I shot upright and cast around. I was next to a tall chain-link fence. On the other side were railway tracks. I was sitting in the dirt. It was dark. I was completely naked.
    ‘Where am I?’
    ‘You are in a vacant lot near the Kowloon Tong KCR station. You came here after you escaped from them. You went through the links of the fence and hid at the back here, in the tall grass, where nobody could see you. Then you changed back. I think you were too weak to conjure the clothes.’
    ‘Oh damn , not again!’
    ‘It saved your life, I think.’
    My left hand hurt like hell and I checked it. It was covered in a network of cuts. I remembered, concentrated, and healed it.
    ‘Thanks for that,’ I said. ‘I didn’t know what you were doing.’ I looked around. ‘Could you call Gold for me?’
    The stone was silent.
    ‘Oh my God, they got him, didn’t they?’
    ‘I am afraid he is not answering my calls,’ the stone said.
    I felt a stab of pain and dropped my head. Gold was gone. Then I pulled myself together. ‘Well,’ I said, ‘I need to contact somebody to come and take me home. I can’t go anywhere like this. Any suggestions?’
    The block was covered with construction debris, trash and tall grass, and surrounded by a chain-link fence. I’d chosen a good place to hide. The fence was nearly three metres high; it would take a good jump to get out, and I’d have to do it carefully so that nobody saw me.
    ‘I’ll see if I can contact any of my other children,’ the stone said. ‘They may be able to relay a message for you.’
    I looked down. A snake’s trail wound across the dirt next to me. I was concerned there may be snakes in