Red Phoenix

snorted with derision. ‘He is the best demon-destroyer on the Celestial short of me.’
    ‘Don’t forget the graffiti he sprayed on the roof of Hennessy Road,’ I said. ‘That took Jade ages to clean off. Has his own tag and everything, the little…’ I swallowed what I was about to say. ‘…Celestial Worthy.’
    Both John and the Phoenix laughed softly.
    ‘Now I know how some of that graffiti gets in such unusual places,’ Zhu Que said. ‘I thought that they would have to fly to spray it there, and now I know: they do.’
    ‘How old is he anyway?’ I said. ‘He always looks so young.’
    ‘He was present during the Shang-Zhou, was he not?’ Zhu Que said.
    ‘Yes,’ John said. ‘Probably about three thousand, give or take a century.’
    ‘Why does he look like a teenager then?’ I said.
    ‘His essence is youth,’ John said.
    ‘Will he ever grow up?’ I said. ‘He hasn’t pointlessly killed anything recently, he’s mostly stuck to demons. Why did he kill that Dragon Prince anyway?’
    ‘He was young. It was there. He could do it. Usually that’s enough for him,’ John said.
    We all paused to watch Leo finish telling the story. Simone and the chicks sat wide-eyed and rapt. Zhu Que sighed with contentment.
    ‘Can they take human form yet, Phoenix?’ I said.
    Zhu Que nodded. ‘For short periods. Biggest and Littlest are boys. Middle is a girl.’
    ‘I’ll go and find some Lego for them to play with when Leo finishes his story,’ I said. ‘If they can take human form, it will be easy for them to handle.’
    ‘Good idea,’ John said.
    I went into Simone’s room and selected some Lego pieces, then returned to the training room. The chicks had never seen Lego before and they studied it curiously. Simone showed them how to put the bricks together. Leo sat to one side, the fire extinguisher at hand just in case.
    The chicks transformed into little round Chinese children of about three years old, wearing old-fashionedcotton jackets and pants. They dug their chubby hands into the Lego and talked cheerfully with Simone as they made things together.
    I rose and returned to the table. ‘Are they housetrained, Phoenix? They’re very advanced for chicks of only a couple of months old.’
    ‘They should ask, but we still occasionally have accidents. I’ll take them out soon anyway.’ Her smile became wry. ‘Don’t know how to use human toilets yet.’
    I laughed softly. ‘They’re adorable.’
    Simone shot to her feet and came to us. ‘Can the chicks have a sleepover with me?’
    We all shook our heads. ‘They’re not big enough yet, Simone,’ I said gently. ‘They’re still only tiny babies.’
    ‘When they’re bigger and they won’t burn things, they can come and sleep over if you like,’ Zhu Que said. ‘Middle is a girl, like you. I’m sure the two of you would have a lot of fun.’
    Simone looked at the chicks then turned back to us. ‘That would be nice,’ she said cheerfully. She returned to the chicks and flopped down with them.
    ‘How is she at school?’ Zhu Que said. ‘No problems?’
    ‘The school staff don’t know anything, and it’s working out really well,’ John said, then gestured towards me. ‘Emma arranges everything—she’s even volunteered to do some work at the school—’
    ‘Anything to escape those blasted budgeting sheets,’ I muttered under my breath.
    ‘—and Simone and Michael have settled in and made friends. Michael goes to a shopping mall near the school with a group of friends now and then, and Simone has even brought little friends home.’
    ‘She knows exactly what to do,’ I said. ‘She keeps them out of the training room, and talks out loud allthe time. She’s better at it than I am; I keep asking her to call John for me.’
    ‘None of us thought you’d pull it off,’ Zhu Que said with wonder.
    We watched the children play in silence. One of the chicks reverted to True Form and its Lego fell. Simone picked the Lego up and held it out for him. He changed back into human form, took the Lego with a smile, and finished building a little car. Simone clapped her hands with delight when he showed it to her. She was being a big sister to them.
    ‘Have you heard of any movements?’ John said softly without looking away from the children. ‘It is very quiet. Disturbingly quiet.’
    ‘They are planning something,’ Zhu Que said, also without shifting her gaze. ‘I have sent in agents, but they do not return.’ She