Blue Dragon Part 22

We had breakfast on the balcony the following morning. The Dragon provided us with a vast range of tropical fruit, Western-style eggs, vegetarian congee for John, and four different types of tea. One of the demons hovered to serve until I sent it out.

John and Ms Kwan were both subdued.

'Is ten days enough?' I said.

They nodded silently.

'How long will you hold the charge?'

Neither of them looked at me or said anything.

'Okay, whatever,' I said. 'We'll talk about it later.'

Ms Kwan sipped her tea. John didn't move.

'Emma, take Simone into the pool and around the resort today,' John finally said, his face grim. 'Leo, stay here with us. Stay nearby. Just for today.'

'My Lord,' Leo said. 'I was about to request the day anyway.'

I glanced at Leo. He wasn't eating. He held a cup of water.

'Is it that bad?' I said softly.

'The ulcer's come back and spread to my throat,' he said, just as quietly. 'It's very painful to eat. Anything except warm water is very painful.'

John sat straighter, suddenly brisk. 'Emma, sit next to Leo and take his hands. Let's get the Lion eating.'

Simone moved away so that I could sit next to Leo and hold both his hands. Leo smiled slightly at me.

'Look inside,' John said. 'Leo, warn her if she hurts you.'

I opened my Inner Eye onto Leo. I could see the pain and winced. It was torture for him.

'Whoa,' Leo said softly. 'That feels weird.'

'You know where the meridians are?' John said. 'Meredith's taught you?'

I nodded, concentrating.

'Find the meridian that relates to the pain he's suffering.'

I concentrated and traced the meridians through Leo. He gasped and held my hands tighter.

'Is she hurting you?' John said quickly.

'No,' Leo said. 'It just feels really strange.'

'Found it,' I said.

'Good,' John said. 'Now, start this very slowly, a tiny amount at first. I will supervise.' He came around the table, leaned on it and put his hand on Leo's bare arm, gold on black. 'Good. Use a very small amount of chi and block the related meridian. Use the chi like a needle, stick it into the points.'

I found the points along the meridian. I moved a tiny amount of chi into one of the points, and the point lit up.

'Good,' John said. 'Move up and fill them all, with a similar amount.'

Leo appeared to me like an acupuncturist's dummy, the meridians and points clearly highlighted through him. I moved up the meridian, gently pushing chi into the points.

'How does that feel, Leo?' John said.

'Absolutely fantastic.'

John took his hand away. 'Put a similar amount of chi in again. Double it.'

I did it again. Leo sighed with bliss. 'd.a.m.n.'

I saw the ulcers in his mouth and throat. I moved without thinking and covered one of the ulcers with chi, just to blanket it.

'Stop, Emma,' Ms Kwan said from the other side of the table, her gentle voice urgent.

I halted, still with the chi over the ulcer.

'Don't touch her,' Ms Kwan said before John even moved. 'Leo, stay very still.'

We all remained absolutely motionless.

'Move the chi into the centre, then radiate it out,' Ms Kwan said.

'That's what I was about to do.' I moved the chi into the centre of the ulcer, then made it flow outwards until it covered the ulcer. The ulcer disappeared.

'Holy...' Leo said, then swallowed the rest.

'How much energy did you just use, Emma?' Ms Kwan said.

'Hardly any,' I said.

'Continue, if you wish,' Ms Kwan said. 'Ah Wu, move away. Let me supervise this.'

I heard them moving but didn't turn. I concentrated on the next ulcer, moved the chi, and healed it.

'Well done,' Ms Kwan said next to me. 'You may continue.'

I healed the ulcers one by one.

'Cool,' Simone said softly. 'That must really have hurt, Leo.'

'Not any more,' Leo whispered. 'Hurry up and finish, Emma, I'm starving.'

I laughed softly, and healed the remaining ulcer.

'Stop,' Ms Kwan said.

I hesitated.

'You must be very, very careful removing your consciousness,' Ms Kwan said. 'Remove your awareness from the Lion very slowly and gently, otherwise you could render him unconscious.'

I carefully removed the tendrils of my awareness from Leo. I felt his grat.i.tude and smiled. I pulled the remaining essence out and snapped open my eyes. 'Done.' I focused on Leo. 'Have something to eat.'

Leo didn't need to be told twice. But he poured himself a huge mug of coffee first.

'Well done, Emma,' John said from the other side of the table. 'That was remarkable.'

'Can I do that to myself if I'm injured?' I asked Ms Kwan.

'Yes,' she said, smiling. 'You can do it for just about anybody, except for Ah Wu.'

'This is the part where you tell me that only Immortals can do that,' I said.

Neither John nor Ms Kwan said anything.

'Can I learn that?' Simone said.

'When you're bigger,' John said. 'You need to have very good energy control to do it. Maybe when you're about twelve.'

'Okay,' Simone said, and returned to her cereal. 'Emma can teach me.'

'I'm sure she will,' John said, his eyes sparkling.

'Hurry up and finish your toast, Emma,' Simone said. 'I want to go down to the pool, and see the bowling place. Can we go to the islands tomorrow?'

'Sure,' I said. 'Leo can stay here and rest today, and go with us to the islands tomorrow.'

'I'm fine now,' Leo said.

'You still need to spend the day here near me,' John said. 'Go out with the ladies tomorrow.'

'My Lord,' Leo said, sitting down to a plate piled high with food.

'Can I talk to you privately for a moment, Ms Kwan?' I said.

Ms Kwan rose. 'Come into my room.'

I followed her. They watched me go, silent.

'Is there a problem, Emma?' Ms Kwan said, sitting on the end of her bed.

I sat in one of the wicker chairs. 'They don't know about this, and Simone didn't really understand. Simon Wong tried to control me on the plane when they attacked us.'

'Ah Wu told me that he had no control over you,' Ms Kwan said. 'Trust yourself, Emma. You will never hurt them, you know that.'

'That's not what I'm concerned about,' I said. 'It's something else.'

'What?' Ms Kwan said gently.

'Wong wanted to test me. To see if he had full control. He took a mouthful of blood and commanded me to kiss him. I did. I swallowed the blood.'

'And that was what brought out the Serpent,' Ms Kwan said, understanding.

'Ms Kwan,' I said, bending forward to speak fiercely to her, 'it was Leo's Leo's blood. A big mouthful of it.' blood. A big mouthful of it.'

'I fail to see...' Ms Kwan began, then her face went rigid. 'I understand.'

'Can you check me?' I said.

'No,' she said. 'I cannot do it. It is not in my nature.'

'Do you think having the Serpent come out would somehow have cleared it?'

'Emma.' She sighed. 'Emma, I have no idea. You should not have done that.'

'Tell me about it.' I ran my hands through my hair. 'I didn't even think at the time.'

'You were probably more concerned with survival,' she said wryly. 'Quite understandable.'

'You don't know?' I said.

She silently shook her head.

'Okay.' I straightened and pulled myself together. 'Whatever. I'll have myself tested, and won't worry about it until then. The important thing is Simone.'

'Either way, when Ah Wu returns, rejoined, he can heal you,' Ms Kwan said. 'Remember. He has promised. It will be.'

I grinned. She was right. 'Thanks, Ms Kwan.'

She smiled and rose. 'Go and finish your breakfast. Simone is becoming impatient. If she does not have a chance to see the whole resort very soon I think she will explode.'

The Dragon met us at the door of the suite the next morning. He looked similar to the way he had appeared when we had arrived: an ordinary, good-looking Chinese man of about thirty, wearing a pair of smart grey slacks and a silky shirt. His eyes were a milky greenish-brown under his expensive sungla.s.ses.

'You can't change your eyes all the way?' I said as we waited for Leo and Simone.

'Too difficult to bother about,' he said. 'n.o.body looks anyway. As long as my eyes aren't bright blue, n.o.body notices.'

Simone wore her Australian solar swimmers, which were already too small for her. We would have to make a trip down to the resort shop later to buy her some new ones. Leo wore a fluorescent floral Hawaiian print, both shorts and shirt.

'I am not taking you out looking like that,' the Dragon said.

'Looking like what?' Leo lisped.

'Flaming.' I turned and took Simone's hand. 'Come on, sweetheart, let's go and see the islands.'