Blue Dragon Part 70

The Tiger was a white blur. He leaped at them, tore their throats out, and worried them as they fell.

The demons moved back from me, obviously concerned by the energy. John, Leo and the Tiger continued to battle.

I sent another bolt of chi through the snakes, then more into the ground.

John ripped Dark Heavens through the demon he was facing and it fell.

All gone.

We all stood, panting, trying to regain our breath. Leo stumbled to me and leaned against the wall next to me. John came and stood with us, the Tiger backed to us.

'Anybody injured?' John said.

'Poisonous,' the Tiger said, panting. 'Fangs. Leo?'

'Yeah,' Leo said.

The Tiger transformed into human form and went to Leo. Leo slid down the wall to sit on the floor, his face ashen. The Tiger took his hands, lowered his head and concentrated. Leo's face screwed up with agony and he gasped.

'Hold,' John said, putting his hand on Leo's forehead. 'The pain will pa.s.s.'

Leo was completely still, his face stiff with control.

'Breathe,' John whispered.

Leo took a deep gasping breath and arched his back, then went limp. The Tiger concentrated again, and his hands filled with the golden glow of chi. The energy grew like a nimbus around his hands, then moved onto Leo, creating an aura around him. He appeared to be surrounded by golden fire for a split second, then it was absorbed into him.

Leo exhaled a huge deep breath, snapped open his eyes and smiled. 'Thanks.'

'It wasn't as bad as I thought,' the Tiger said. 'The fang just grazed you. You were very lucky.'

Leo raised his left forearm and examined the long red mark where the fang had sliced across. 'Gone.' He pulled himself to his feet. 'Any more between us and Simone?'

John and the Tiger faced the door at the end of the room and concentrated.

'No idea,' John said. 'Stone?'

'What you just faced was nothing compared to what is on the other side of that door,' the stone said grimly. 'Twice as many. Much bigger. Turtles.' Its voice softened. 'They are guarding Simone. She is on the other side of that room, in a holding room.'

Everybody looked blankly at me, so I relayed the message.

'Emma, Leo,' John said, 'you two will go straight through, grab Simone and take her out. Take her straight home, both of you. The Tiger and I will finish our business here. Just make sure Simone is safe.'

I didn't say anything, I just studied the door.

'Emma?' John said.

I nodded. 'Okay. I suppose this is goodbye.'

'No, it isn't,' John said. 'Because I will return for you. I promise. Now.' He hefted his sword. 'Let's get Simone out of this.' He didn't look away from the door. 'Leo, I am giving you a direct order. You do not have permission to give your life. Simone will need both of you. I order you to stay alive.'

'My Lord,' Leo said, expressionless. 'It's the least I deserve.'

'Tiger, on the count of three, open the door,' John said. 'One, two-'

The door flew open by itself and Martin threw himself through, holding Simone, unconscious, in his arms. His eyes blazed. 'Go!' he shouted when he saw us. 'Get out of here!'

John ran to them and turned to bring up the rear. 'You heard him, run!'

We all turned and raced for the door. Leo hit it first and went down. The Tiger crashed into it as well. The rest of us managed to stop before we reached it.

I put my hand out. There was an invisible barrier where the door should have been. The door appeared to be open, but we couldn't go through.

'Move,' John said. He raised Dark Heavens, filled it with brilliant white shen energy and tried to break the barrier with it. The sword glanced off.

John pulled the energy back out. We all faced back into the room. The door on the other side was open, but the demons weren't coming in yet.

The Tiger shook his s.h.a.ggy head and pulled himself to his feet. 'Never seen that before.'

'Leo?' I said.

Leo grunted, then pulled himself up to sit, shaking his head as well. The Tiger moved next to him. 'How many paws am I holding up?'

'Two,' Leo said.

'Close enough,' the Tiger said.

Leo clumsily pulled himself to his feet and staggered to the white katana to retrieve it.

I went to Martin. Simone lay limp in his arms.

'Is she okay?' I said.

'Yes,' Martin said. 'I broke out of my cell and found her. But-' He glanced at the other room, then gently put Simone onto the floor next to the door. 'Give me your sword, and stand back with Simone. Let us deal with them.'

I glanced at John. 'Do as he says,' John said.

I pa.s.sed the Silver Serpent to Martin and he studied it. 'It's been a long time.' He hefted it and faced the centre of the room with the other men.

'You two stay back,' John said. 'Emma, lean on the doorway. If the barrier is taken down, grab Simone and run. Leo, stay with them, stand your ground. Go with them if the barrier falls.'

They all stiffened and faced the open door.

'Here they come,' Martin said softly.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN.

John was ugly in Turtle form, but these were monsters. Their sh.e.l.ls were twisted with protuberances and indentations; some of them dragged feet that seemed to be only half flipper. Each was about a metre and a half from nose to tail; not physically large, but at least level eighty demons. Enormous.

John raised Dark Heavens, then opened his mouth and released a sound I had never heard before. It was a combination of rage, anguish and grief, and seemed to gather all of the pain that he had suffered since the demon had killed Mich.e.l.le.

Then his voice was drowned out by the Tiger's roar and the three of them threw themselves at the demons. I clutched Simone.

'Don't look,' Leo said without turning to me. 'Some of these are more animal than demon.' He ducked and a spray of blood shot over our heads and splattered on the wall above us.

'Has John taken True Form?' I said, trying to peer around him to see.

'No.' Leo ducked again, then raised the sword and sliced the head off an injured turtle that had come for us. It dissipated into black feathery streamers.

Martin moved in front of Leo, blocking any more demons from coming for us. He had filled the Serpent with shen and it sang, but it didn't seem to make any difference to the demons. He sliced through the turtles with the singing sword anyway.

John stood in the middle of the room and destroyed them in grim silence. He was faster than the demons, and they were incredibly fast. He was almost invisible. The Tiger battled next to him; they guarded each other's back.

A turtle threw itself at us and Martin blocked it. It landed with all four feet right in the middle of his chest, knocking him over. Leo leaped forward to take off its head, but it was too fast. It lunged its head on its long flexible neck, opened its mouth and snapped it shut on Martin's throat. Martin gave a strangled cry and went limp.

Leo didn't hesitate; he took the turtle's head off, then scooped up the Serpent and held it behind himself without looking back. I grabbed it, and he moved forward again, guarding.

Martin disappeared. Dead.

Another turtle rushed us and Leo readied himself. This one leaped for his throat, knocking him over, and he fell onto his back. I sliced its head off before it could take out his throat.

Leo rolled the turtle away. 'You always were faster than me.' He tried to rise but couldn't. He struggled to pull himself to his feet, then gave up. 'I think I'm in trouble.' He crawled to the wall and leaned on it next to Simone, who was still unconscious.

I hefted my sword. I stood in front of Simone.

John and the Tiger still battled back to back, taking the demons out around them. The Tiger's flank was stained with blood, soaking through his fur, and one ear hung lopsidedly. The side of John's shirt was dark with blood and there was blood on his face.

I couldn't do anything. These demons were far too big to take out with energy. The backlash would kill me.

Another turtle approached us and I took its head off before it could attack me.

Only a couple of turtles remained, fighting John and the Tiger. The Tiger lunged, took out the neck of a turtle, and it fell. The Tiger fell as well; his bloodied side heaving. He disappeared.

John ran his sword through the top of the last turtle's head. All gone. Most of them had dissipated, but some had died like animals, their dark blood spreading over the floor. Even in death they were grotesque caricatures of the natural animals; wrong in the wrong places.

John staggered to us and flopped down next to Leo. 'Has the barrier gone down?'

I felt behind me. 'No.'

'Reinforcements are on the way, we don't have much time,' John said. 'Give me a minute to catch my breath and rebuild my energy, and then I should be able to break it down and the two of you can get Simone out of here.'

'We could just take Simone home, John, the three of us,' I said softly. 'We could just go home and have some more time together.'

John shifted where he sat, and grimaced. 'My side is cut open. I wouldn't make it. I'll use the last of my energy to unseal the door. Once I've done it, I will change. You go. Once the barrier is down and the Turtle is released, take them, Leo. Take them and go.'

'I'm not going anywhere either,' Leo said. 'My spine is broken. I can't feel my legs, I can't move them. My Lord, quickly. They're coming. You don't have enough energy to break the barrier, you know it. Drain me-'

'No!' I whispered.

'He has to,' Leo said to me. 'It's the only way you're gonna get out of here.'

'I can't, Leo,' John said. 'You're Worthy. If I drain you, you can never gain Immortality.'

Leo snorted. 'My spine is broken and I'll stay that way, I know I will. All eternity being a cripple pining after something I can't have? Please. Do it. Quickly. My last request, Lord Xuan: drain me. Allow me to become part of you. Hurry!'

'Do it, John, it's what I'd want,' I said. 'Quickly.'

John hesitated.

'Please,' Leo said, begging. 'Take my energy. I know I'm big. Take my soul. With what I have you can get Simone and Emma out.'

'Do it for him, John.'

John shook his head fiercely. 'I wish there was another way.' He placed his hand on Leo's forehead and Leo smiled up at him. A white aura of glowing shen energy surrounded Leo and he began to fade. He became transparent. John was taking all of him.

There was a blinding flash of light and Kwan Yin appeared in True Form next to Leo. John jerked his head back and stared at her, incredulous.

'The Black Lion is mine,' she said. She reached out and touched Leo's head. Leo's eyes widened and his face filled with wonder. Then his expression changed to a fierce grimace of anger. 'No!'

He cast around at us, desperate. He became totally transparent. He was gone.

Kwan Yin disappeared.

'Oh, dear Lord, John. She's going to Raise him, isn't she?'

'She has taken him to be Judged,' John said.

'But if he's Raised he'll stay as he is. For all eternity.'

'As a human Raised Immortal, yes. I know.'

'He'll fight it every inch of the way.'

'I know.'

'Can we help him?'

John looked down and hesitated, then spoke without raising his head. 'No. There is nothing we can do for him right now.'

'Oh my G.o.d. Poor Leo,' I whispered.

'We do not have time to worry about Leo. The best thing we can do is take his gift and fulfil his will. I will break this barrier, and you and Simone can go out.'