balance.’
‘A bargaining chip to keep you on the throne.’
‘If you will.’
‘And you would dishonour yourself by attacking someone who came in peace?’ Church chose his words carefully.
‘There is no dishonour in facing such a powerful enemy.’ He waved his hand almost imperceptibly and the Hu Hsien attacked.
Church was momentarily stunned by the ferocity of the assault. They came at him from all directions with a ritual cry, spinning and leaping twelve feet or more into the air, and as they moved they changed, their faces becoming vulpine, slavering jaws snapping savagely, claws breaking through the tips of their fingers.
‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ Church said under his breath. ‘Kung fu foxes?’
2
The sounds of battle echoed as Shavi and Tom moved quickly away from the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
‘I do not like leaving Church behind,’ Shavi said.
‘We’re not fighting men. Our job is to find something we can use to convince them to tell us what we need to know.’
Shavi scanned the expansive precincts of the Forbidden City, now bathed in shafts of sunlight breaking through the silvery clouds. ‘What are we to look for?’
‘If you had half a brain, you’d already know.’ Tom polished the lenses of his spectacles superciliously. ‘You saw the reflection over the throne. Those things are demons … usurpers. The true rulers of this Great Dominion are too powerful to have been eradicated by such as them.’
‘So they will be imprisoned somewhere.’
‘I’m sure they will be very grateful if we can free them. Now enough of your stupid mutterings and put that monstrous eye to good use.’
A moment later Shavi and Tom were running north, past the smaller Hall of Preserving Harmony, leaving the ceremonial Outer Court behind, with its discreet symbolism designed to represent heaven. Ahead lay the Inner Court with its more complex arrangement of halls and avenues, designed in the shape of the Kun trigram to represent Earth.
The Guei were everywhere, heads down in their grey spirit-existence, tramping their meaningless paths. But as Tom and Shavi approached the entrance to the Inner Court, a change came over the shadowless ghosts. Across the sweep of the Forbidden City, as one the Guei turned their pointing hands towards Shavi and Tom.
Tom cursed under his breath. ‘I could have put money on that happening.’
The Guei nearest said in a high-pitched screech, ‘I see shadows!’
‘Why aren’t you speaking Chinese?’ Tom shouted back.
‘I think you would be better off putting your energy into running.’ Before Shavi could move, the Guei lunged. It reached him in the blink of an eye, talons tearing through his shirt and drawing blood.
‘I thought ghosts were supposed to be insubstantial,’ Tom snarled.
The Guei ran silently towards them from all corners of the city. As each one saw Tom and Shavi, it shouted, ‘I see shadows!’
Shavi threw off the Guei thrashing viciously for his throat and ran with Tom towards the Palace of Heavenly Purity. The Guei swarmed, not even a single footstep echoing in the eerie silence.
‘Bloody stupid idea,’ Tom gasped. ‘He’s gone and got us all killed.’
Shavi and Tom ducked and leaped through the attacking ghosts, feeling fingers tear through their hair and scrape their cheeks, each blow coming a fraction closer. Ahead, the Guei swept to close off their path.
‘See?’ Tom shouted. ‘I’m right. I’m always bloody right! Dead as a doornail in a foreign city, and I can’t even pay my debts!’
Burning blue energy flared across the court.
Tom and Shavi were thrown to the flags and the Guei were driven back, hands in front of their dead eyes, shrieking silently. From the shelter of the Palace of Heavenly Purity darted Ruth, wielding the Spear of Lugh from which bolts of sapphire energy still discharged. She helped a beaming Shavi to his feet.
‘You escaped Veitch!’ he said.
‘No time for talk. I’m tapping into some huge reservoir of power here, but I don’t know how long it’s going to last.’ Her features were defiant, her eyes constantly watching the circling Guei. Shavi thought how much she had grown in stature since she had thrown off the Void’s fake persona.
‘You don’t
With the Guei close at their backs, Ruth led them at a run into the shade of the Palace of Heavenly Virtue.
‘They aren’t going to give us the time to do what we need to do,’ Tom said.
Yet barely had the words left his mouth when the Guei came to a halt and turned as one to look back towards the Hall of Supreme Harmony, their heads bowed deferentially.
‘Are they worshipping?’ Shavi said.
In the distance, a figure moved quickly through the ghosts.
3
The Hu Hsien attacked Church from all sides, a blur of whirling bodies and limbs. As they shapeshifted, snapping jaws and flashing feet and hands appeared from nowhere, lunging for his throat, then disappearing just as quickly.
Church was forced to draw on all his fighting skills. Blue Fire crackled through the air as Caledfwlch swung in constant motion, creating a defensive wall of flame and steel. He couldn’t drop his concentration for even a fraction of a second.
But the relentless attack was taking its toll, and more and more blows were getting through his defences. Teeth raked across his forearm. A rib cracked from a high kick that sent him sprawling, and though he was on his feet in an instant, claws tore open the back of his neck. It was only a matter of time before one blow laid him low, and then they would be on him in a frenzy of tearing jaws.
Satisfied he had given Tom and Shavi enough of a head start, he checked the path to the door. His opening came when one of the Hu Hsien telegraphed an attack. Church brought the sword up and put all his weight behind it. With the sizzle of cooking meat, his attacker was bisected mid-change. The two halves fell apart, internal organs flipping and twisting as they continued to morph between man and beast.
A rush of shock ran around the crowd. The King of Foxes half-lifted himself from his throne in disbelief.
In the brief lull, Church sprinted for the door. As he laid his fingers on the handle, Tai Sui appeared. He bowed quickly and lifted the clock that hung around his neck. With one slim finger, he spun the hands forward.
The world spun with them. The Hall of Supreme Harmony blurred into complete darkness and after a moment of queasy disorientation Church realised he was somewhere else.
It was dark and cold and there was the damp smell of deep underground. Echoes rang distantly in a great space, and here and there lonely torches flickered in the gulf. Church was on his knees, his body wracked with pain. Blood spattered onto stone. Beside him, Caledfwlch lay shattered, its outlines blurred and continually changing, the Blue Fire extinguished.
Rough hands grabbed his jacket and hauled him up. His head spun with the blood loss.
‘Three minutes till you’re dead, Brother of Dragons.’ It was the Libertarian. His scarlet, lidless eyes glowed
