Heaven to Wudang by Kylie Chan Page B

which was the Mountain itself.
    â€˜Open,’ I said, and the wall disappeared, revealing a room full of brass that shone in Simone’s light.
    The ceiling in the Celestial Weapons Archive was much lower, and carved with twining snakes and turtles. The walls were smooth polished stone, and the pillars and beams holding up the roof were clad with brass, again embossed with the symbols of snakes and turtles. Soft voices sounded just at the edge of hearing: some of the weapons were talking in their sleep.
    The far end of the room, from one side to the other, was partitioned off with iron bars clad in gold. I stopped and took a few deep breaths: this was the hard part. I preferred not to do it, but it was the only way.
    â€˜It’s in there, Emma, don’t worry about it,’ Simone said.
    â€˜That’s beside the point,’ I said. ‘I need to go in there and have a little chat with it about why it’s not coming when I call it.’
    â€˜It’s not worth the risk.’
    â€˜No risk. I can do it.’
    â€˜I’ll bring it out for you.’
    â€˜It’s not talking to me so I can’t tell it not to hurt you. Still want to try?’
    Simone was silent at that. She’d touched the sword before and knew how much it hurt.
    I took some more deep breaths and concentrated, then closed my eyes. I took three steps forward and opened them again. I was inside.
    Simone did the same thing, and stood beside me.
    Seven Stars stood vertically on a solid silver stand in the centre of the room, its presence dwarfing the aurasof the other weapons. I went around it, but Simone stopped to run her finger over the well-worn hilt.
    The Murasame sat in the corner, laid horizontally Japanese-style on a stand of carved bone. Its darkness provided an eerie counterpoint to the brittle whiteness of its stand. I went to it and took its handle, then hissed with pain and pulled my hand away.
    â€˜It hurt you?’ Simone said.
    â€˜It doesn’t recognise me,’ I said.
    â€˜This is the first time since you’ve recovered,’ she said.
    â€˜I know,’ I said. ‘It hasn’t seen me without the demon essence.’
    â€˜Want some blood?’ she said.
    I turned to her and glared. ‘Don’t you even think about it.’
    She shrugged. ‘Worth a try.’
    I put my hand out towards the sword. ‘I’ll just have to tell it who’s the master.’
    â€˜Well, that’s what you’re good at,’ she said, and moved away.
    â€˜Is that you, Simone?’ Miss Chen, the Weapons Master, called from the main room.
    â€˜It’s just us, Lucy,’ I said.
    She walked through the bars with her eyes closed and approached us. ‘What are you doing here at this time of night?’
    She was wearing a hot pink bathrobe pulled around her portly form, over old-fashioned flannel pyjamas decorated with tiny pink flowers. Simone stared at her for a moment, then grinned.
    Miss Chen peered at Simone through her thick glasses. ‘What’s so funny?’
    Simone smothered the grin and turned away. ‘Nothing, nothing.’
    Miss Chen straightened the curlers in her hair. ‘You’ll get as old as me one day, young lady, and it’ll be just asmuch hard work.’ She turned to me. ‘Now what are you doing here in the Celestial Armoury in your pyjamas? Seems a strange place for a sleepover.’
    â€˜The Murasame won’t come when I call it,’ I said.
    She came to stand next to me and studied the sword without touching it. ‘This is the first time you’ve called it since the demon essence was burnt from you?’
    I nodded.
    She frowned for a moment as she thought about it. ‘I guess the reason you’re not touching it is because it doesn’t recognise you as its master any more and it’s hurting you?’
    I nodded again.
    She rubbed her chin. ‘But it’s still here, so it hasn’t reverted