Red Phoenix

first, in True Form, tiny, skinny and black with big ears and grotesque faces. They played the musical instruments and looked like a little naked marching band.
    A huge sedan chair followed. It was the colour of dried blood with gold trimmings. Four very high-level demons carried it; these demons had the bodies of huge men.
    They were about three metres tall, wore brown trousers, and were naked from the waist up. The two carrying the front of the chair had the heads of horses. The two at the back had the heads of bulls. John had mentioned these demons before but I’d never seen them.Apparently these particular ones spent most of their time in Hell.
    John had referred to Hell once or twice in the past but wouldn’t elaborate.
    Eight Snake Mothers slithered in formation around the sedan chair. Their front ends looked like men with the skin taken off; veins stood out over the muscles and the blood was clearly visible moving through them. From the waist down they were black snakes, oozing toxic slime.
    John nodded and the two Masters Liu moved back together to protect Simone, Michael and myself as we stood against the wall.
    ‘I have never seen so many Mothers in one place outside the nests,’ Meredith said with wonder. ‘Liu, how about you? You have about six hundred years on me. Ever seen so many?’
    ‘Nope.’ Liu spoke to me over his shoulder. ‘Emma, did you bring a camera with you today?’
    ‘No need to when we come here. We all know this place inside out and have seen absolutely everything we need to see.’
    ‘Would have been nice to take a photo of this though,’ Meredith said. ‘He hardly ever comes out of Hell, and this is the second time this year.’
    ‘Who?’
    ‘The King of the Demons.’
    ‘Oh my God, no. John,’ I wailed softly. ‘No.’
    ‘He’ll be fine, my Lady,’ Shaolin Master Liu said. ‘The King is probably just here on a courtesy call. I think he wants to parley.’
    ‘But what about is anybody’s guess,’ Meredith said. ‘I can’t see what he would want to discuss with the Dark Lord. It’s only been a few months since he nearly destroyed the Mountain.’
    John transformed into Celestial Form, nearly four metres tall. His hair was long and black and wildaround his head. His face was square and dark and fearsome, with a long, thin black beard. He wore traditional Chinese black lacquer armour. He slid his Seven Stars sword into its scabbard on his back, then took a couple of enormous paces forward to face the sedan chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
    Jade and Gold took Celestial Form as well. Each was around two and a half metres tall, slim and elegant, wearing long, flowing old-fashioned robes of embossed silk. Jade’s robes were green and Gold’s were tan. Jade’s shining dark green hair cascaded down to her knees, with elaborate buns and braids decorated with gold and jade on top of her head. Gold’s long flowing hair, tied on top, was snowy white with golden streaks through it, similar to the colour of his stone. They took up position as Retainers behind John.
    Simone took a couple of staggering steps towards me. I quickly grabbed her and pulled her into me, burying her little face into my stomach. ‘Don’t worry, sweetheart, you know it’s only Daddy.’
    She didn’t say anything, she just clutched my clothes with both hands.
    The demons gently lowered the sedan chair. One of the horse-headed ones turned, went to the side of the chair, bowed, and opened the red fabric curtains.
    Meredith and Liu moved very slightly closer to us. John, Jade and Gold didn’t move at all.
    The King stepped out. He was about the same height as Xuan Wu, but where John was black, he was blood-red and gold. His young, fair face had a fine, ethereal beauty that was a stark contrast to Xuan Wu’s dark ugliness. His blood-red hair stood up at the top and swept in an enormous mane down to his waist behind him. He had blood-red bushy eyebrows but was otherwise clean-shaven. His maroon lacquer armourhad gold trimmings, and he wore scaled boots of red and gold.
    All of the Snake Mothers transformed at the same time. They turned into beautiful tall graceful women of all races, wearing identical blood-red cheongsams. They didn’t move a muscle otherwise.
    The Demon King bowed and saluted John crisply.
    John saluted back.
    An enormous Chinese-style outdoor ceramic table appeared, large enough for them to sit. Six ceramic stools appeared around it. The Demon King walked stiffly to