Blue Dragon

something under my foot and kicked it away. It made a clicking noise in my head as I hit it. I froze.
    I very carefully put the chi back, then moved silently and slowly to find whatever I had kicked.
    It was a tiny pebble on the floor, only about half a centimetre across. I leaned over it, and nearly fell overfrom the shock of recognition. It was Gold, in True Form. I touched him carefully, then picked him up.
    ‘Gold. Gold. Can you hear me?’
    Nothing. Not even a click.
    I carefully carried Gold out and went to find John. He wasn’t in his office, so I went to his room and rapped on the door.
    Hm? Come on in, Emma.
    I went in. John had been sleeping, his long hair almost completely out of its tie. He didn’t move, he just smiled at me from the bed. I went to the bed, crouched, and put Gold in front of his face so he could see the stone.
    He leaped up, grabbed Gold out of my hand and ran out of the room, his long hair flying behind him. ‘Come on, I may need you too,’ he called as he raced away.
    I followed him down the hall and into the kitchen. He pushed Ah Yat aside and stood in front of the stove, fiddling with the knobs. The minute he had the big wok burner on, he dropped Gold into it.
    ‘Will that help him?’ I said.
    John crossed his arms over his bare chest. He’d just been wearing a pair of plain black shorts to sleep because of the heat, even with the air conditioner on. ‘I hope so.’ He pulled his hair roughly out of the way and retied it.
    ‘Can a stone like him die?’
    John lowered himself to watch Gold in the flames. ‘Normally, no. But he’s been almost completely drained of all energy; nearly destroyed. Damn!’ He made a sudden, sharp movement towards the flame. ‘I don’t have anybody who can drop him into a volcano.’
    ‘Can the Phoenix help?’ I said. ‘If he needs to stay in fire?’
    ‘She’s on the Celestial in Court, Emma. Not available.’
    ‘Amy,’ I said.
    ‘Good idea,’ John said, and his eyes unfocused. ‘Go and open the living room window for her. She’s not too good on direct travel yet.’
    I went to the living room and opened the window. It seemed like an eternity before Amy appeared, whipping through the air in her black dragon form. She came through the window, landed lightly on the carpet, and transformed. She fell to one knee and saluted me.
    ‘Did the Dark Lord tell you what happened?’ I said, gesturing for her to follow me into the kitchen.
    ‘Something to do with Gold,’ she said. ‘I’m so glad he’s not dead. I thought he was dead.’
    ‘He nearly is,’ John said as we went into the kitchen together.
    Amy stopped dead and blushed furiously when she saw John.
    ‘What?’ he said.
    ‘She’s not used to seeing a god in his underwear,’ I said with a grin. We moved forward to the flame. ‘He’s in the fire, Amy.’
    ‘Will he be okay?’ she whispered.
    ‘We’ll leave him in the flames for another ten minutes or so, and then you will need to fly as fast as you can and drop him into an active volcano,’ John said, studying Gold closely. ‘Do you think you can do that?’
    ‘Where’s the nearest one?’ she said.
    We all shared a look. ‘I’ll go and look it up,’ I said. ‘I’ll be right back.’
    I came back with a printout of the website I’d found. ‘Do you need to have flowing lava, or is just the crater enough?’
    ‘Lava,’ John said.
    ‘Hawaii then. I’m not sure about the closer ones, they may not have any lava. Hawaii definitely does, and there’s more than one of them. It’s our best shot.’
    ‘Got it,’ Amy said. ‘Come on, Gold, you can make it.’
    ‘Amy?’
    Amy crouched, moving her face as close to the flame as she could. ‘I’m here, Gold. We’ll make it.’
    ‘Amy,’ Gold’s voice sighed. ‘What happened?’
    ‘Don’t worry about that,’ John said. ‘We’ll just let you toast in the fire for a while, and then Amy will take you to Hawaii and drop you into the volcano there.’
    ‘That would be good,’ Gold said weakly. ‘That really sounds very good.’
    ‘You’ll have about fifteen minutes once I’ve turned off the flame,’ John said to Amy without looking away from Gold. ‘You will need to fly very, very quickly. Don’t attempt to take him directly—you would destroy him. Don’t go underwater; that would be too cold for him.’
    ‘I can do it,’ Amy said softly without turning away from Gold.
    ‘Amy?’ Gold whispered.
    ‘I’m here.’
    His voice softened.