Blue Dragon

Amanda’sfor rides on the Tiger. They’re having a great time. Don’t worry about them.’
    ‘Jade nearly died,’ I whispered.
    ‘And if I attempted to free her, she would stay as well,’ John said.
    ‘We all love you, my Lady,’ Gold said, still without moving. ‘We are profoundly honoured to serve you and the Dark Lord. I would rather be here with you than anywhere else in the world, and so would Jade.’
    ‘We do what we have to,’ my father said. ‘And we survive.’
    ‘Your father is a very wise man, and I can see where you gained much of your own wisdom.’ John looked up at my father. ‘No snake spirits in the family tree?’
    My father shrugged. ‘How would I know? Until a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t even know that snake spirits existed. What does that have to do with it?’
    ‘Snake spirits are renowned for their wisdom,’ I said into my knees.
    ‘Are they renowned for falling in love with the wrong guy?’ my father said.
    ‘Nope,’ I said, smiling despite myself, ‘that’s definitely a female thing. All women are renowned for falling in love with the wrong guy.’
    ‘Your mother didn’t,’ John said.
    ‘I don’t think you did either, pet,’ my father said. ‘This man is about as good as you can get. It’s just the situation that’s difficult.’
    ‘Thanks,’ John said softly.
    ‘Come and help with the kids,’ my father said. ‘Are all the sleeping arrangements organised?’
    ‘You should take my room,’ John said to me.
    ‘We’ve had that discussion, and you need your rest,’ I said, looking up from my knees. ‘And the boys want to share the same room. They’ll have a ball.’
    ‘Where will you sleep?’ John said, gesturing towards Gold.
    ‘I’ll move,’ Gold said.
    ‘You’ll stay right there,’ I said quickly. ‘That’s an order. I’ll find somewhere to sleep, don’t worry about me. I can share with Leo, sleep on the floor in the student room he’s using. Or on the floor here.’
    ‘Leo won’t let you sleep on the floor; he’ll give you his bed and you won’t be able to stop him,’ Gold said with amusement, without moving.
    ‘Now go and do those sword katas,’ John said. ‘Round Leo up, he can do them too.’
    ‘You really have to do that?’ my father said.
    ‘Oh yeah,’ I said, rising. ‘Absolutely. When it comes to the kung fu, he’s the Master and I’m just the student. If he tells me to do a hundred push-ups, then I have to do it.’
    ‘You still owe me a hundred push-ups from last week,’ John said. ‘You are extremely disobedient sometimes, Emma.’
    ‘Oh, shut up, old man,’ I said as I took my father’s arm in mine and opened the door.
    Gold made a strangling sound behind us as we went out.
    While Jennifer settled herself in the room she would share with my parents, the rest of us went into the training room for the demonstration. Jennifer didn’t want to see it, and the children were too little to stay still in such a small space.
    ‘Did you do those katas yet?’ John said from the doorway as my parents, Amanda and Alan lined up against the long wall.
    ‘After we’ve done this,’ I said.
    John nodded and went out. ‘I’ll call the carriers for tomorrow.’
    ‘What would you like to see?’ I said.
    ‘I’d love Alan to see you take down Leo,’ my father said with a grin.
    Alan gestured towards Leo. ‘He’s huge, Brendan, no way could Emma do anything like that.’
    ‘I saw her knock him down with a staff,’ my father said proudly.
    ‘She can take me down hand-to-hand, without a weapon, as well,’ Leo said. He sounded as proud as my father did. ‘And she’s one of the finest energy workers that Lord Xuan has ever seen.’
    ‘Lord Xuan?’ Amanda said.
    ‘John’s real name is Xuan Wu,’ I said. ‘It means “Dark Martial Arts”.’
    They all went silent.
    ‘It doesn’t mean he’s bad,’ I said. ‘It just means that he’s dark and he’s the God of Martial Arts.’
    ‘Dark?’ Amanda said.
    John poked his head in the door. ‘Yin. Dark, cold, water, winter, death. That’s me.’ He grinned. ‘I rounded up enough carriers for tomorrow. About 10 a.m. Is that okay with everybody?’
    ‘Death?’ my mother whispered.
    ‘He’s Death?’ my father said.
    ‘No, that’s Yanluo Wang,’ John said. ‘Lord of the Underworld. Great guy. Haven’t seen him for ages, haven’t been killed in years. I’m just yin.’ He pulled his head back into the corridor and disappeared.
    ‘Ten is