Free Black Jade by Kylie Chan

the table, and I sat next to him on his left, with Martin as Number One on his right. Each Wind had brought their Number One along, and the Dragon had brought both his Number One and the human avatar of the Tree herself.
    â€˜Their next target is the East,’ John said. ‘The Tree floats ten kilometres off the ground on the Celestial; the Palace Under the Sea is a kilometre below the surface on the Earthly. Their firsttarget will probably be the Tree, as it’s the Eastern Bastion. I’ve reviewed both Celestial and Earthly weaponry and there are a variety of ways to take down the Tree, but I may have missed some. We need to be ready for all of them and prepare our defence in advance.’
    â€˜Can they bring a human army up through the Gates, even when we still hold them?’ the Tiger said.
    â€˜As long as the demons hold the South we cannot seal the Gates. With a large enough force they can overrun the Gate defences and bring anything in,’ John said.
    â€˜Could flyers attack the Tree?’ the Phoenix said.
    â€˜Too high for them, the air is too thin,’ John said. ‘Human drones could do it, but they can’t carry enough of a payload to destroy the Tree. Aircraft are a definite issue. If he sends a fleet of jet fighters, the Tree is toast.’
    â€˜Toast?’ the Tiger said.
    John waved one hand towards me. I shrugged.
    â€˜I have no defence against any of these weapons,’ the Tree said with misery.
    â€˜How likely is it that the King has fighter jets?’ the Dragon said.
    â€˜Very likely,’ I said. ‘The Russian air force has been updating for a while, and they’re selling off obsolete jet fighters complete with guided air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles. Demons are in charge of the Russian government; the European Demon King has replaced most of the senior leaders in Europe with his own thralls; and our Demon King is doing the same thing here.’
    â€˜Air-to-air missiles against the Tree?’ the Dragon said. He put his forehead in his hand and the Tree patted his back.
    I had an inspiration. ‘How fast can a really quick dragon fly?’
    The Dragon glanced up. ‘Mach 3?’ He leaned back and his expression went rigid. ‘No.’
    â€˜It may be our only option, Ah Qing,’ John said. ‘Start training your Immortal dragons immediately in air-to-air combat.’
    â€˜I don’t have enough Immortal dragons. I’ll have to use mortal ones too.’ The Dragon ran his hands up the back of his neck and flipped his long turquoise hair. ‘I cannot ask them to do this!’
    â€˜I have no self-destruct mechanism,’ the Tree said. ‘I couldn’t bear to be invaded and occupied by demons, Ah Qing.’
    â€˜Can you make a self-destruct device for us?’ the Dragon asked the Phoenix.
    The Phoenix hesitated, then said, ‘What would happen if I blew you up, dear Tree? What would happen to your soul, your essence?’
    â€˜I don’t know, it’s never happened,’ the Tree said.
    â€˜Trees aren’t generally Immortal,’ the Dragon said. He put his hand on the Tree’s and she clutched it. ‘I only hope she’s different.’
    â€˜The best option is to evacuate me,’ the Tree said. ‘Don’t worry about defending me. Take everybody off and I’ll go as high as I can and still live.’
    â€˜You are the Eastern Bastion,’ John said. ‘We can’t. There must be a garrison stationed on you, and a core group of the Dragon’s family as a Celestial presence. Less than that and the Eastern defence is gone, and the demons can move straight up to take the North.’
    â€˜I don’t like my chances,’ the Tree said.
    â€˜I’ll begin training dragon defenders,’ the Dragon said. ‘Do you have anyone who is expert in air-to-air, Ah Wu?’
    John gestured towards the Phoenix.
    The Phoenix nodded. ‘We birds