Blue Dragon

spend a few more weeks together.’
    ‘I will not come out the other side of this, and you know it,’ John said. ‘Either the demon will capture me and take my head, or I will take True Form and tear it into very small pieces. There is no other way out of this. So I ask you, Emma Donahoe, as a woman of your word. Promise me.’
    ‘No,’ I whispered.
    ‘Promise him, Emma,’ Leo said.
    ‘Do it, dear,’ the stone said. ‘It would reassure me as well. I don’t want to see you thrown to the Mothers. All three of us are asking you here.’
    ‘Promise me,’ John said. ‘You will only use the phone if I go down or if Simone is in real danger. And if you must use the phone, you will pretend to give in to the King’s advances. Promise me.’
    ‘Only if I must,’ I said. I took a deep breath. ‘I promise.’
    ‘I thank you, my Lady,’ John said, and turned back to the road. ‘Now let’s go and destroy this demon and get our little girl back.’
    ‘This is all my fault,’ Leo whispered.
    ‘You have failed us, Leo,’ John said. ‘If you wish to redeem yourself, then do your best to stay alive.’
    ‘My Lord.’
    Leo stopped the car in a yellow-lined no-parking zone directly in front of the Kowloon City Park gates. We slammed the car doors shut, pulled our weapons out of the trunk, and moved as one through the gates of the Park. John took Dark Heavens; he was too weak to carry Seven Stars. I had my Serpent sword. Leo carried Michael’s white sword.
    It was nearly six o’clock and there were still many people strolling around. The park was Chinese-stylegardens with paved paths meandering between them, and pavilions alongside the paths. A large pond formed the centrepiece. We attracted quite a few concerned glances as we stormed along the path holding the blades.
    The Tiger, the Phoenix, the Dragon and Na Zha appeared from behind a pavilion and joined us. They all appeared as perfectly normal Chinese; they’d even made themselves very plain. The Phoenix was a middle-aged Chinese lady; the Dragon and Tiger were men of similar age. Na Zha looked like a regular Chinese teenager.
    ‘There is an entrance under the yamen building,’ I said.
    ‘Let’s go,’ the Tiger said, and we headed through the gardens towards the building.
    John stopped dead. ‘Wait.’ He concentrated. ‘Stone.’
    ‘My Lord?’ the stone said.
    ‘Will you be able to talk to us once we’re under here?’
    ‘I will be able to communicate with the Lady,’ the stone said. ‘Other than that, I will be silenced.’
    ‘Not even Gold?’ John said.
    ‘No,’ the stone said. ‘Only the one who bears me.’
    ‘Okay,’ John said, glancing around. ‘Mark this place. About one hundred metres below us, directly below me, Simone is being held. Can you guide us back to this location once we’re under?’
    ‘Yes,’ the stone said. ‘Done.’
    ‘Can you see through, John?’ I said.
    ‘No,’ he said. ‘I can just sense her presence. She is there.’
    ‘Can you talk to her?’
    ‘No,’ he said. ‘From what I can see, however, she is unharmed.’
    ‘Can you sense Martin?’ I said.
    ‘No.’ He hefted his blade and continued along the path, pushing past a family who were strolling veryslowly through the park. ‘Let’s go.’ The family saw the blades, exclaimed loudly and took off, walking quickly.
    ‘Damn,’ I said. ‘They’ll probably call the police and report a gang war.’
    ‘Here’s the yamen building,’ Na Zha said. ‘The police won’t find anything.’
    The yamen building was the old administration building for Kowloon Walled City. It was red brick, with a traditional green tiled roof and a pair of cannons flanking the doorway. Inside, it was bare concrete. We all stopped and looked around.
    ‘This is difficult,’ the Phoenix said, concentrating. ‘Because of the blockage to our vision, we cannot see the entrance at all.’
    ‘Stone?’ I said.
    Gold appeared and saluted us. He took his stone form and floated around the room, checking. The stone drifted out of my ring, grew to a similar size to Gold, and moved along the opposite perimeter of the room from Gold. It shrank and returned to my ring, and Gold returned to human form, gesturing to indicate the floor.
    ‘The entrance is here. I don’t know how to open it. It appears to be some sort of trapdoor.’
    John nodded. ‘Don’t worry, we will find a way in. You are dismissed. Well done.’
    ‘Get the bastard who did this to my siblings,’ Gold