Blue Dragon

Form.’
    ‘We’ll need to tell your students,’ Gold said. ‘And the staff of the Mountain. So that nobody attacks you.’
    I shook Simone’s hand free so that I changed back. I picked up my chair and flopped into it. I put my elbows on the table and my head in my hands. ‘No. Please. I don’t want them to know.’
    ‘Don’t tell anybody,’ Simone said. ‘We can fix it.’
    ‘My Lady,’ Gold said.
    ‘Geez, this really sucks, Emma,’ Michael said.
    ‘What’s done is done,’ I said. ‘Tell me about the Turtle. Under the icecap of the North Pole.’
    Gold looked down. ‘The Turtle has no memory of what it is. It has no intelligence. It is…’ He looked straight into my eyes, his own filled with anguish. ‘It is a beast. It has no consciousness, no sentience, no awareness. All it knows…’ He breathed a deep sigh. ‘All it knows is that it has lost all that is dear to it. It searches through the darkness and cries.’
    ‘No,’ Simone said softly.
    ‘At least now he’s whole,’ I said.
    Jade and Gold looked at each other again.
    ‘He did rejoin?’ I said. ‘He did become whole?’
    ‘No,’ Jade said, barely audible. ‘The Serpent is swimming in the stormy freezing waters of the Antarctic, half a world away.’
    Simone moved to grab my hand again but I managed to avoid her.
    ‘He has lost everything,’ Jade whispered. ‘Only the Heavens know when he will return.’
    Gold looked back at me and his voice became firmer. ‘Remember, my Lady. He has promised. He will find you. He will Raise you. He will marry you. And you will go to live on his Mountain with him.’
    ‘Oh my God,’ I said softly.
    ‘What, Emma?’ Simone said.
    Jade and Gold looked at each other again.
    ‘He didn’t think at all when he made that promise to me,’ I said. ‘He is so stupid sometimes.’ I glared at Jade and Gold. ‘Why didn’t you tell us?’
    They both looked down.
    ‘What?’ Simone said again.
    ‘He’ll have to find me,’ I said softly.
    ‘But you’re not lost,’ Simone said. Then she understood. ‘No.’
    ‘It wasn’t just an oath, Simone. It was a curse,’ I whispered.
    ‘I’m going to be very cross with him when he comes back,’ Simone said.
    ‘Wait in line.’ I leaned back. ‘Well, whatever happens, he’ll Raise me and marry me. I don’t care about the meantime. I’ll just wait.’
    ‘I’ll wait with you,’ Simone said. ‘We’ll find a way to fix you up, we’ll go and find Leo, and then we’ll wait together. We have each other, and we’ll be fine, whatever happens.’
    She hopped off her chair and climbed into my lap. I wrapped my arms around her.
    I changed again. I lowered myself onto my coils, wrapping my tail around so that she could sit on me. She sat on my black scaly body and we held each otherclose. ‘I love you, Emma,’ she whispered, leaning her head on me. ‘Everything will be okay.’
    I buried my face in her hair and held her tight. ‘I know.’
    I wandered through the darkened office. Neon lights from the Wan Chai street lit up the ceiling. Complete silence. I paused for a moment, enjoying the solitude. Not another living thing; I could sense the security guards on the ground floor, far, far below, but that was all.
    I’d stayed late to review the reports for the latest recruitment drive. Gold had done well. Some of these kids would go far.
    I sighed. Time to go home. I went to the corner of the building. I couldn’t help myself; it was a ritual I indulged in every evening before I went home.
    The door was closed. I opened it and went into his office.
    The desk was immaculate; I’d tidied the paperwork after he’d gone, to tie up the loose ends he’d left. He wouldn’t recognise it when he returned.
    I went to the chair, stood behind it and ran my hand over the back, looking out the window. For a moment it was as if he was there with me, searching for me, and then the feeling left me.
    Time to go home. The family would be waiting for me. I turned and went out, closing his office door behind me.

Epilogue
    The Turtle surged blindly through the thick water. Its shell scraped the ice with a vibration felt for miles.
    It searched through the darkness. It cried. There was no answer.
    The Serpent tossed its head above the waves. The sky was roiling and low.
    The water was dark and freezing. It cried. There was no answer.

GLOSSARY
    A NOTE ON LANGUAGE
    The Chinese language is divided by a number of different dialects and this has been reflected