Blue Dragon

it is perfectly ordinary chi, nothing special about it at all,’ the Dragon said, bemused. ‘Please invite me along when you throw it at a demon. I would be interested to see what it does.’
    I released the chi back into my hands and gasped with shock. I hadn’t changed it back to gold and the skin of my hands flashed black for a split second as it went in.
    ‘Oh my, that was good,’ the Dragon said, taking my hands and studying them. ‘Please do that again.’ He glanced up at my face. ‘That didn’t hurt you in any way, did it?’
    ‘No,’ I said. ‘It just felt perfectly normal. Are you okay, stone?’
    ‘It felt normal,’ the stone said. ‘It just looked black. As you say, Lord Qing, most fascinating.’
    ‘Do it again,’ the Dragon said, releasing my hands.
    I generated chi, turned it black and dropped it into my hands. They flashed black again.
    ‘Try generating black chi right from the start,’ John said. He had approached us without me noticing and stood beside the Dragon.
    I concentrated, held out my hands and generated a ball of black chi.
    ‘Try moving your shen into it,’ John said. ‘Just a very small amount. See if you can move your consciousness into it.’
    I came around on my bed back in the hotel room with John and Simone holding my hands.
    I closed my eyes. ‘I really must stop doing this to myself.’

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
    W e waited until the next day for the Dragon to look inside me. John had some indoor things to teach us as well. These required privacy and quiet, so the Dragon chased all the staff out of one of the large function rooms and gave it to us.
    The function room was like a ballroom, with a huge chandelier and elegant wallpaper and carpet. We took a corner, and had an area of about five by five metres partitioned off. Chairs had been stacked against one of the walls and John pulled a few down for us to sit in the centre of the room.
    John sent Leo, Simone and Michael off to the country club while the Dragon looked inside me. The Dragon sat me in a chair and sat behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders. I relaxed and let him in.
    ‘I am honoured that you permit me to do this when you dislike me so much,’ the Dragon said.
    ‘I don’t dislike you that much,’ I said.
    The Dragon didn’t reply.
    He hunted around inside me, same as John and the Tiger had. I was accustomed to the feeling and stood back to watch as he rummaged around.
    ‘And the Tiger could bring the Serpent out?’ the Dragon said.
    ‘Yes,’ John said from his chair in front of me. ‘He dug his claws into her and dug deep. It came out.’
    ‘Depth. Depth,’ the Dragon said softly. ‘Depth.’
    ‘Interesting,’ John said. ‘You seem to become deeper every time one of us looks inside you. The stone was correct.’
    ‘Of course I was,’ the stone snapped.
    ‘And I will be astonished,’ John said. ‘I think I am astonished already, stone.’
    ‘Why will he be astonished?’ I said.
    ‘Please remain silent, my Lady,’ the Dragon said. ‘Stay still so I can look at you.’
    I subsided and let the Dragon see me.
    ‘And the taste of blood brings it out as well,’ the Dragon said. ‘I have some here. Just hold on, I’ll get someone to bring it.’
    ‘No,’ John said. ‘I forbid it. That is wrong.’
    ‘Very well,’ the Dragon said, shrugging inside my head. ‘Would have been an interesting experiment, though.’ He continued to shuffle through my thoughts and feelings. ‘Worthy.’
    ‘Of course,’ John said. ‘Anything?’
    ‘No…no.’ The Dragon stopped and pondered inside my head. ‘Hold out your hands and generate some black chi. Let’s see what happens from the inside.’
    ‘Are you sure that’s a good idea?’ I said.
    ‘Don’t move shen into it, just make the chi,’ John said. ‘Shouldn’t hurt you. Ordinary chi can be generated in these circumstances without any risk, and watching the process from the inside can be very informative.’
    I held my hands out and generated a small ball of black chi. I could tell that it was black without even looking at it.
    The Dragon ripped himself out of my head, tearing the inside of my brain and making my entire head explode with agony. He moved swiftly behind me and his chair fell over. He held me bound, with my hands out holding the black chi.
    ‘Destroy it,’ the Dragon hissed fiercely. ‘Do it now!’
    ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ John said calmly.
    I snapped open my eyes. John still sat in front of me. He