DAC 3 Precious Dragon (23 page)

Mrs Pa agreed. She bought three boxes of noodles from a street-side café, no more than a cluster of children around an iron wok, and consulted Inari about the badger's requirements. She did not want it to feel left out, but she need not have worried. The badger ran off behind the café, returned with a squealing rat, which it devoured headfirst.

"He prefers meat," Inari explained.

"I like insects," the badger said, through a mouthful of rat.

"At least he can fend for himself," Mrs Pa said.

By midafternoon they were more than two-thirds of their way across the city, through Pellucid Island and Shaopeng, skirting Bharulay and Peng Ti.

"Are you all right, Mrs Pa?" Inari said. "You can still take the tram if you want."

But it was Precious Dragon who answered. "We are safer together," the little boy said. "Even if you are not a warrior, Inari, we are still safer."

"I don't quite see how," Inari said. "I'm getting a little worried. It's not all that long until twilight and you've got blisters on your feet, Mrs Pa."

"Nothing happened at noon," Mrs Pa said hopefully.

"No. But maybe badger is wrong. Maybe it's not the high points of the day, but only the in-between times that we need to watch out." She pointed to the sun, now sinking down between the distant tower blocks of Ghenret. "Another hour and a half, and it'll be gone."

"Let's keep going," Mrs Pa said. "As quickly as we can."

But whatever Precious Dragon might really be, he was still in the form of a small boy and small boys cannot walk for miles across the hard streets of a city, not without a break. So Inari, belying her fragile appearance, had been carrying him for the last hour or so. And Mrs Pa, as Inari had correctly observed, did indeed have blisters. Her feet burned with every step; even in the comfortable old slippers that she used for cleaning, she was not used to walking so far. Nearly there, she told herself, as though she was the small child and not Precious Dragon. Nearly there.

And it was true. As the sun sank further, with every hurting step, they were drawing closer to the temple and Mrs Pa kept herself going by imagining what it would be like. Inari had told her that the temple had been ruined but was in the process of being restored, and she envisaged it as being a little like the temple in which she had first learned about Mai's marriage. Big statues of the gods, fierce with their swords, a stone floor, a courtyard beneath a curling, tiled roof. A large, once-splendid place. It must be, if it was dedicated to the son of the Celestial Emperor. There was a temple to the Celestial Emperor himself, after all, and that was enormous. She had been there only once for its inauguration, many years ago now, and she had only been permitted to enter the outer precincts, along with all the other ordinary people, as the elite of the city filed through in their magnificent robes into the inner courts. This place must be very similar.

So when they came onto the crest of a hill, to see the downtown area stretching behind them to the harbors, and the hillside suburbs before them, Mrs Pa was surprised to hear Inari say, "There it is," and point to a ramshackle little building on a slight rise some distance away. The building was covered in vines, glowing golden in the sunset, and even from this distance it looked as though part of the roof had fallen in.

"Is that really it?" Mrs Pa asked, disappointed, and Inari said, "Why, yes. The most powerful places are not always the largest."

"Is that so?" Mrs Pa said. The idea had not really occurred to her before and she was not sure that she agreed. She looked back. Paugeng's red bird floated above the other towers of the downtown area, highest of the high. She knew that this was power. It did not seem equivalent to the tumbledown place before them.

"We need to hurry," Inari remarked, with an anxious look back at the sun. Its lower rim was touching the sea now, casting a gilded path across the waves that seemed to flow right across the city and catch the little temple.

"I'm going as fast as I can," Mrs Pa said. The blisters had burst now, and she could feel the wetness in her shoes. Every step was like walking on needles. Inari's free hand was grasping Mrs Pa's arm, but the other was holding onto Precious Dragon. A normal boy would have been asleep by now, head lolling on the grown-up's shoulder, but Precious Dragon was staring out across the city with narrowed eyes. Beyond the temple, beyond the point where the built-over foothills started to rise and climb, the light was already dying over the mountains, and they were purple and in darkness.

Nearly there, nearly there. They were hastening now down a narrow street where the stalls mainly sold cooking wares: pots and woks and steamers. Mrs Pa looked at the things hanging on hooks, the burnished kitchenware, to try to take her mind off her feet. Now that they had come down from the rise, the temple was only just visible on its slight hill, the shattered, vine-covered roof a glimpse through the awnings and tiles.

Nearly there—but then Inari cried out and the badger growled and Mrs Pa turned to see the creature coming fast over the rooftops, leaping across the tiles like a great black ape, its curling mouth set in a red needle-grin and its eyes two glittering black lenses. Twilight was falling and the demons had found them.

Blinded by unexpected radiance, Chen stood blinking in the vast hall of the Ministry of Lust like a foolish owl. Zhu Irzh grabbed him by the arm and dragged him behind a nearby column. As his vision cleared, Chen saw that it was a twirling pink spiral of meat, pulsing in the same unwholesome rhythm as the tunnel through which they had just come. That was when he realized what he had hitherto been only dimly conscious of: the Ministry was alive.

"This row of columns leads to this passage, see?" Underling No was explaining. Chen peered over her shoulder at the map which Zhu Irzh held open, and saw that the huge circular space in which they now stood was clearly depicted.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"This is the main Ministerial chamber of Lust," Zhu Irzh said. "They're on recess now, lucky for us."

"I don't see any seats," Chen said.

Underling No shot him a curious glance, which Chen thought he could interpret as embarrassment. "It's not that sort of Ministerial chamber."

Any explanations that might have been forthcoming were abruptly cut off by the sound of footsteps. Chen and his companions kept very still. Peering cautiously around the side of the pillar, Chen saw two female guards walking past: both tall, willowy demons clad in the minimum of clothing and carrying spears. One of them stared suspiciously at the pillar from emerald compound eyes, but neither of them stopped.

"I think we need to get out of this chamber," Zhu Irzh murmured.

"Does the Ministry itself know we're here?"

"Actually, I doubt it, although it probably knows that we're walking about on it. I don't think it can tell who we are, though, or that we don't belong to it."

"Is it sentient?"

"Not really, as far as I understand it from Daisy. It's apparently highly sensual, but not capable of much actual thought. I mean, if you think about the function of the Ministry, and the bits to which it corresponds—"

"Are you telling me that we're standing in some kind of semi-aware testicle?"

"Basically, yes, in a manner of speaking. Or a kind of womb."

"I don't know why," said Chen, "but I don't find that nearly as repulsive."

Zhu Irzh shrugged. "You can see the Ministry personnel as being sperm or eggs, or both."

"I hesitate to ask," Chen said, "but where do we go now?"

"Upstairs. From this map, and from what Daisy's let slip, the upper stories of the Ministry are where the cells are. It's sort of spongy upstairs, like a hive."

"Where does the Minister actually have his office?"

"Ah," Zhu Irzh said. "Here, I see we have a misunderstanding. The Minister of Lust is a woman."

"It hasn't always been the case," Underling No said earnestly, suddenly regaining her equal opportunities hat. "The previous Minister of War was female, one of our greatest warriors. And the Minister of Lust was a man."

"It tends to go in opposites," Zhu Irzh said. "Traditionally, they're said to complement one another. Doesn't really bear thinking about."

He began to walk along the rows of columns, which grew closer together and more intertwined as they went on, until Chen had to duck beneath sticky pink tendrils. Eventually the web became too close and cloying and they were forced to step out into the main hall again, first checking to see that no one was in sight. Chen felt very small and vulnerable in the enormous cavity of the central hall, and he hastened after Zhu Irzh and Underling No with all possible speed until they reached the point indicated on the map, where they could dive into another narrow passage. Here, there were more of the mauve fungi, but the Ministry at this point appeared blighted and rotten, for the fungi were covered with weeping yellow sores.

"Lust and Epidemics had a disagreement some years ago," Underling No whispered. "Epidemics released a sexually transmitted disease on the Ministry of Lust. Hundreds of people are still in the lower levels; it was a terrible thing. The Ministry itself almost collapsed but they found a cure."

"A not entirely successful one, though," Zhu Irzh added. He nodded toward the blighted fungi. "That's the result."

"I've always wondered whether my mother was one of those affected," Underling No said. Her face grew fierce. "If I can find her—"

"We'll help as much as we can," Chen said firmly. "But we need to find Qi first."

They made their way past the livid fungi and toward the end of the passage. The map was correct. A flight of what passed for stairs led upward: short, yielding steps formed from a kind of membrane, lit by the same phosphorescent light that Chen had seen in the first tunnel. They climbed, feet sinking into the membrane. It felt very unstable, as though at any moment the stairs might give way and precipitate them downward. Chen saw Zhu Irzh disappear through an opening in the ceiling above, and moments later, he was able to follow.

Here, the passages through the Ministry of Lust were extremely narrow, obliging even Chen to bend his head. The Ministry was also hot, and now sweat was streaming down the back of Chen's neck, causing his shirt to cling clammily to his spine. Zhu Irzh remained as cool as ever and it was hard to tell whether Underling No's thick crimson skin was overheating or not. Chen kept glancing back, expecting to see one of the insect-eyed women close behind, but the passage remained mercifully empty.

"We're not far from the cells, according to the map," Zhu Irzh said over his shoulder. "Should be there in a minute."

"We'll need to watch out for guards, in that case," Chen reminded him.

But when they came to the cell area, they found that it was not as they had thought. As Chen and Zhu Irzh peered around a gristly outcrop, they saw that the first cells—small cavities in the wall of the Ministry—were decaying. The flesh of which they were formed had turned to a grayish green, with a strong smell of rotting fish. Zhu Irzh wrinkled his elegant nose and Chen clapped a handkerchief to his mouth to prevent himself from retching. There was no one in sight.

"This looks like it's been abandoned, Zhu Irzh," Chen muttered from underneath the handkerchief.

"I think you're right." The demon, followed by Underling No, stepped out from behind the outcrop and began to investigate the cells. "No, there's nothing here." He poked at a thick stain on the floor with the toe of his boot. "I wonder what this was? Or who?"

Chen gave him a curious glance. "Do you think these cells might have digested their occupants?"

"I've seen weirder," the demon replied.

They walked on, leaving the decaying cells behind, and turned a corner. The smell of rot filled the air. Zhu Irzh, in the lead at this point, dodged back behind a column of gristle.

"What is it?" Chen hissed.

"More cells," the demon answered, "but these ones are occupied."

Before he could stop her, Underling No shouldered past Chen and craned around the column.

"I can't see anyone," she said.

"Look. There." The demon pointed. Chen glimpsed a foot, clad in a red velvet slipper. It was motionless.

"I have to see!" Underling No declared, and stepped into the room.

"Wait!" Chen commanded, but it was too late. As soon as No set foot on the floor of the room that contained the cells, a sticky weblike substance fell from the ceiling and enveloped her. Chen felt something long and sharp touch his throat. Turning, he found himself looking along a spear's length into the grass-green insect eyes of one of the guards.

Mrs Pa gave a faint scream. Inari turned to see what had happened, and echoed it.

"Come on!"

The black demon skittered over the roof and down to the ground. It bounded along the road toward them, moving on all fours like an ape. With Inari's hand clamped to her arm, Mrs Pa broke into a hobbling run just as a monochrome streak rushed past them and confronted the bounding demon.

"Badger, be careful!" Inari cried but the badger growled only, "Run."

The temple was not far ahead now, but knowing what was behind them made the distance seem like a thousand miles. The badger's growls were terrible but Mrs Pa knew that she and Inari and Precious Dragon were not going to make it. And if she died now, with none of the proper paperwork, slain by a demon, she would go to the place that it came from. At least she would see Mai again, Mrs Pa thought as Inari dragged her along, but then came another dreadful thought: perhaps that was the essence of Hell, for you to know that you were in the same place as your loved ones, and to be unable to find them.

Something flew through the air, a ball of dark, and hit the wall of the temple with a thud. It fell into the surrounding bushes and again Inari cried out: "Badger!" Mrs Pa, even used to heavy shopping bags, could not have lifted the badger up in his animal-aspect and yet the pursuing creature had thrown him like a football. She felt a hot breath on the back of her neck and terror made her tear herself free of Inari's grasp, but her foot turned on a stone and her ankle gave way under her. She fell heavily, sprawling on the dusty tarmac. The thing shot over her head: it must have sprung at the instant that she fell and missed her, but now it was between them and the temple. She struggled up. The thing was crouching on its heels in the road. It spun round to face them and she saw again its wet, red grin. But then the temple door opened, with such force that it banged against the white plaster wall, and a voice cried out, "Stop!"