The Demon and the City - By Liz Williams Page 0,89
approach, and vanished into the dawn. A plant like a small, blue vine had covered much of the temple and Robin could smell fermenting fruit.
"Mhara, what is this?"
Mhara dismounted from the back of his deer and smiled at her. "This is my temple."
"Your temple? But it's a ruin."
"I never wanted worship, Robin. Other sons of other Jade Emperors have had temples all over the place, all the followers they could wish for. But I hadn't done anything to merit it, you see. If people were going to worship me, then I wanted to be worthy of it, and I haven't done much with my life so far. I am young, by Heaven's terms, but even so . . . That was partly why I went to Earth, to see what could be done."
"Yet you said this is your temple."
"It's the only one. Someone disobeyed the edict and built a temple to me. In terms of Earth, it lies just outside Singapore Three—or it used to. The suburbs have crept up around it. On Earth, the equivalent to this building is surrounded by apartment blocks. It's a real ruin; I asked them to desist—and the priest left, so there was no one to take care of it. There's not much left. It sits on a piece of waste ground and it's a home to stray cats, mainly. But here, as you can see, it's in the middle of nowhere. No one comes here, I'm sure all the family have forgotten about it. But apart from through the Night Harbor, it's the one place where I can enter Earth: my own portal. It's how I came in the first place. I should have headed back there, but Paugeng's troops turned up and we were forced into Shai."
"Kuan Yin didn't need a temple to send those policemen back," Robin said.
"No, because all of Heaven is her precinct, and that of the other major Lords. But if she manifests on Earth, she can only do so for any great length of time in her own temple, and if she travels to the Night Harbor, for instance, where she has no place of worship, she has to journey there like anyone else. Well," Mhara amended, "not quite like anyone else, but she still needs a vessel." He glanced at the growing light. "They'll soon notice that I'm not in my bed. We have to get going."
He turned and whispered to the deer, who sprang away down the hillside. Then he and Robin stepped together into the quiet ruin and Mhara spoke a word.
It was like stepping into a moving lift. The world fell away, rushing past Robin's ears. She felt them pop with pressure. The breath left her lungs and she clutched Mhara for support. Moments later, the air of Heaven was replaced with fumes and the smell of cat piss. They were back.
Forty-Nine
Chen and the demon stood outside Kuan Yin's temple, waiting for Sergeant Ma.
"Well," Chen said, looking at the cracked roof of the temple behind them. The temple had not been too badly damaged, but the priests had closed it off just in case the roof came down, and now the faithful milled unhappily around its walls as if seeking shelter. "I think that answers the question of whether Senditreya's here or not."
"Here and on the rampage," Zhu Irzh remarked. "But if so, why?"
"It might not even be intentional," Chen said. "The very presence of a goddess where no goddess is supposed to be—especially one that has such a close connection to the land itself—could be disruptive."
"So how do we go about tracking her down?" the demon asked. "Just follow the fault lines and the havoc?"
"The most obvious place would be Senditreya's own temple."
"She's not likely to hole up there, is she? It's too obvious."
"Perhaps not, but she's likely to have come to Earth there. And Zhu Irzh—wherever she goes, it will be obvious. She's a deity." He stepped out into the road and raised a hand. "Hey, there's Ma!"
The squad car skidded to a halt. Behind the wheel, Ma's face was white with fright and concentration. Chen, the demon and the badger bundled themselves into the car.
"Senditreya's temple, Ma. Quickly!"
"What?" Ma stared at him. "They're saying that's the epicenter. You'll be lucky to get within half a mile of it. Buildings are collapsing all over the place."
"Sorry, Ma, but we don't have a choice." As Ma took the car out into the road, Chen brought him up to date.