She could tell he was glad that Ping had angered the placid red dragon.
“You say you can make it rain,” she snapped. “If you can, why don’t you do it?”
“We don’t help humans.”
“It isn’t only people who die of thirst and hunger when there’s drought. All the creatures of the world need water to live.”
“We have all the water we need.”
“Why did Heaven give dragons the power to bring rain if not to use that power? Dragons are one of the four spiritual beings. The phoenix and the qilin have already disappeared from the earth. Whatever powers they had have been lost to us. There are only dragons and tortoises left. Heaven put you on the earth and gave you unique powers for a reason.”
“You are just a little girl. You are not qualified to speak of such great matters,” Hei Lei snarled.
“I have a tongue, I can speak.”
“What have humans done to deserve our protection?”
“Nothing. People were given the honour of bonding with dragons and abused the privilege. I don’t blame you for choosing to live apart from people, but you still have a job to do in the world. If you don’t do it, you will change. You will become wild creatures, no different to eagles or leopards. Magnificent creatures to be sure, but you will lose your wisdom.”
Hei Lei snorted and stomped off. Ping stood alone, seething with frustration. Her bitter words echoed in her ears as if they were still in the air around her, trying to find someone who wanted to listen to them. She shook her head. She might as well have talked to herself.
Ping’s anger was still festering when the dragons woke from their nap. Kai spent time with the females most afternoons. They told him which plants and insects should be gathered for food and healing. They taught him how dragons conserved plants and populations of animals and insects, so that they never took too much and risked a food source dying out. Whenever an animal was killed, a portion of it was kept aside to be cut into strips, soaked in one of the sulphurous pools and then dried in the sun for use in winter.
Ping had been allowed to join the female dragons when they were teaching Kai. Even though she couldn’t understand what they said, she had enjoyed sitting with the females. But she’d caused so much fuss that day—tripping the intruder alarm, upsetting Jiang—that she thought she had better keep to herself.
The role of female dragons in the cluster was crucial. Ping already knew that they acted as decision makers. They also looked after the treasure cave and memorised dragon lore so that it could be passed on. Kai loved spending time in the treasure cave, touching the precious objects and learning their histories. One of the most important jobs for the female dragons should have been to care for unhatched eggs and dragonlings. But there were none.
Ping waited until she could speak to Jiang alone.
“I’m sorry I spoke so harshly to you,” she said.
“You do not know our history,” the red dragon said. “You do not know what humans did to us at Long Gao Yuan.”
“Tell me,” Ping said. “Then I will know.”
Jiang said nothing, but she didn’t walk away. Finally she spoke.
“There was not one dragon hunter, but many. For some reason they put aside their rivalries and banded together. I don’t know how they discovered our haven. They waited for winter to begin. When we had been asleep in our pools for just a few days, they crept up to Long Gao Yuan. We had grown careless. We had stopped keeping watch. The dragon hunters had a sorcerer as an ally. He had prepared a strong sleeping potion to put in the pools. The hunters didn’t want to poison us—our organs would have been worthless. Instead they wanted to paralyse us so that we were easy prey, unable to fight back. In those days, we all spent the winter in the pools. All except Hei Lei. Black dragons never sleep in water. He was sleeping in the cave when they came. He attacked the dragon hunters but there were too many of them. The potion paralysed us for a few hours. The dragon hunters had prepared many iron weapons—swords, spears, hooks. Some were sharp and shiny, others had been left to rust. The hunters attacked us while we slept, hacking us to pieces one by one. The sharp weapons killed outright, the rusty ones made unbearably painful wounds.”
Ping wept as Jiang continued the tale.
“Just seven were able to resist the potion enough to escape. Hei Lei was badly wounded, so was my mother. It was her last flight. She flew only a short way, then crashed to the ground. But winter was deepening and the hunters couldn’t risk staying to track down those who had escaped. They were content with their kill. It was difficult enough for them to carry away their awful plunder. They left the bones.”
Ping couldn’t speak. She searched for words as the image of the pile of bones at Long Gao Yuan swam in front of her eyes. She couldn’t think of anything to say.
“We no longer hibernate, we have to stay alert, and no humans were allowed in our haven—until you came along.”
The fire dragon’s jet of steaming water spurted into the air. Jiang turned and made her way to the orange pool.
Ping sat thinking about Jiang’s story. She felt drained and miserable. The sky was darkening and Ping shivered. She had been in the dragon haven for almost a month. Summer was nearly over. The days were still warm and cloudless, but they were getting shorter, and after sunset, the breeze had a sharp edge to it. A full moon slowly rose above the jagged black peaks of the distant mountains.
Kai was looking up at the night sky. “It’s the dragon moon,” he said. “Tonight all the dragons will take part in the gathering. It will last until the dragon moon fades into dawn. Each dragon will take a turn to speak.”
The moon hung above them, pale yellow, like some sort of luminous fruit. It seemed so close that Ping felt she could reach out and pluck it from the sky.
“Kai is going to speak at a moon gathering for the first time,” the little dragon told her.
“What will you speak about?” Ping asked. She could tell by the tone of his voice that it was an important occasion.
“Kai will tell them the story of the dragon who redrew the riverbeds for Da Yu after the great flood, and the tale of Ying Long, the dragon who fought alongside the first emperor in the battle against the rebel Chi You.”
“Don’t they know these stories?” she asked.
“They know parts of them, but not the whole stories.”
Ping felt a swell of pride. She had taught those stories to Kai.
“Also tell them about Father and Kai being dragons of the Empire,” he added.
Ping half-wished Kai would keep silent about those times. The little dragon had experienced imperial comfort, but he had also endured pain and distress at the hands of the Emperor. So had Danzi. It was Kai’s life story, though, and he was entitled to recount it as he wished.
The steam rising from the gathering pool had an orange tinge to it. It drifted eerily across the moonlit plateau. The dragons, all of them, slowly walked through the mist towards the pool. Kai followed them. For the first time, the males climbed respectfully into the orange waters.
Ping imagined them telling the stories of their long lives and yearned to hear them. They each spoke longer than on other nights. Ping wrapped herself in her bearskin ready to sit out the night with them.
The dragons glowed brighter under the dragon moon. Sitting together in the moonlight they looked like an outcrop of strangely-shaped rocks, glittering with minerals. The red dragons’ scales blushed rosy pink. The yellow dragons were flecked with gold as the moonlight reflected on the texture of their scales. The white dragons’ scales were speckled with silver. Hei Lei’s scales were lit with streaks of steely grey, like glints from a polished sword. Kai glowed from head to foot. His scales were luminous green, like a jade vase that was lit from within. Ping wished she could wade into the pool and that the orange waters would magically give her the ability to understand what the dragons were saying. But she hung back as she always did, sitting at the entrance of her cave, watching the magnificent creatures from a
distance. She had to be content with the knowledge that she was the only person who had ever seen such a sight.
When his turn came, Kai’s unfamiliar dragon voice was clear and confident. The other dragons listened carefully to what he had to say. When he had finished, they asked quiet questions, which Kai answered confidently.
When it was Sha’s turn, to Ping’s surprise, the yellow dragon stood up and made a sound like she had never heard before. It was a melodic sound, as if Sha was singing, but it was more like a drone, a humming. It was achingly sad. Ping thought she must be singing to her dragonlings, who had died before they were hatched. It made the hairs on the back of Ping’s neck stand on end.
Hei Lei’s voice was deeper than the other dragons’. He spoke firmly and without pause. He didn’t speak as long as the others and there was a silence after he finished, as if the others were pondering his words.
Gu Hong spoke next. Her speech was more faltering, her voice soft. Ping had wanted to sit up all night, but the sound of the dragons’ voices lulled her to sleep.
• chapter twenty–one •
TEETH, TALONS AND TAIL
Kai and Hei Lei were face to face in the orange pool.
They glowed in the moonlight—Kai, bright green,
Hei Lei, glittering grey.
Ping woke with a start. It was still dark. There was a pain in her stomach. A sharp pain that made her cry out. Her heart thudded in her chest. She struggled to her knees, but she couldn’t stand up. She’d never felt such pain. It radiated from her stomach all over her body to the tips of her fingers and toes. It felt like her bones were being ground to powder. The pain shut out everything else. She couldn’t move. She could barely think. Deep breathing helped her to clear the pain from a small space in her mind.
A loud noise had woken her. She could still hear it. Two dragons were roaring. Arguing. One of the voices was more familiar to her. It was Kai’s. The other belonged to Hei Lei. The dread had returned. The black dragon wanted to hurt Kai. He wanted to do more than hurt him—he wanted to kill him.
She had so little control over her second sight. What was the point of knowing that Kai was in danger, if the warning was so painful it left her unable to protect him? Ping focused her mind and tried to concentrate her qi. She had to use it to reduce the pain. Previously, she had always directed her qi power outwards at someone or something else. She had never used it to attack something within herself. The dread felt solid in her stomach. She surrounded it with a sphere of qi, squeezing it tighter and tighter until all the pain and discomfort was in one small, concentrated lump. It still hurt, but she could move. She staggered to the edge of the pool.
Kai and Hei Lei were face to face in the orange pool. They glowed in the moonlight—Kai, bright green, Hei Lei, glittering grey. Tun and the female dragons had all climbed out and were watching from the rocks. The two dragons were still arguing. None of the others were trying to stop them.
“What’s happening?” she asked Jiang.
“Kai disputed something that Hei Lei said.”
Ping knew that was a serious breach of the rules. The dragons never interrupted each other at a gathering.
“What? What did he say?”
“It was about Dragonkeepers. Hei Lei said that dragons would have been better off if they’d never made an alliance with humans. Kai said that wasn’t true.”
Ping concentrated hard. She desperately wanted to be able to hear what Kai and Hei Lei were saying. But it didn’t work. The sounds they made were still unintelligible.
As Kai glared at Hei Lei, Ping saw hatred in the little dragon’s eyes. She’d never seen that before. He spoke again, but this time she heard his words in her head. He was allowing her to listen.
“Father believed that if it wasn’t for the bond with Dragonkeepers, dragons would be just like oxen and goats. They would have no wisdom.” He was repeating what he’d heard Ping say. She wished she’d kept her mouth shut.
Hei Lei made a sound like bells ringing. He was laughing, but it wasn’t a happy sound. Ping felt his red eyes drilling into her.
“The humans who want to kill dragons are not Dragonkeepers,” Kai continued. “They are bad people, greedy and stupid. Dragonkeepers are special people.”
Hei Lei snorted. This time he too spoke so that Ping could understand him.
“Your father was deluded,” he spat. “He couldn’t make a decision unless he consulted his keeper. Without a human he was like a sheep without a shepherd, an ox without a boy with a switch. He was just a beast.” “Father was wise and good.”
“He was weak. Danzi was the leader of this cluster once,” Hei Lei said. “I challenged him, but he was too cowardly to fight me. After one swipe of my talons he gave in. That’s why he left Long Gao Yuan.”
Kai stood in stunned silence.
“You didn’t know that, did you?” Hei Lei gloated. “He left to save his own scales. He was too weak to stand up to humans, and too spineless to accept my challenge.”
Kai reared up on his hind legs.
“Kai will challenge Hei Lei!” he said. “Kai will fight to defend Father’s name.”
Kai was so small, even on his hind legs, he didn’t reach Hei Lei’s shoulder. Ping would have smiled if the situation hadn’t been so serious. She was waiting for Gu Hong to put an end to the argument, but the old dragon was silent.
Ping turned to Jiang. “Gu Hong is the leader. Why doesn’t she …”
“She is not our leader,” Jiang interrupted. “She is our elder. We respect her, but she doesn’t lead us. We have been without a head dragon since Danzi left. Hei Lei wants to take the leadership, but we females don’t want him as leader.”
“But you’re not going to let Kai challenge Hei Lei …?”
“No one can stop him,” Jiang said.
Ping felt her insides dissolve.
“You must. It’s not fair! Look at him, he’s a baby.”
“We don’t have the power to stop a challenge once it has been laid down.”
Ping was aghast. “But he has no horns, no wings. Hei Lei will kill him.”
Jiang spoke to the other female dragons. They all shook their heads firmly.
“Hei Lei must accept the challenge or leave. Those are his only options,” Jiang told Ping. She then turned to the black dragon. “Do you accept?”
Hei Lei nodded his great head. Ping tried to run to Kai, but Tun stopped her.
“Can’t I just say something to him?” She desperately wanted to put her arms around the little dragon.
Tun took no notice of her plea.
“Kai,” Ping called out. “Tell them you didn’t mean it. Withdraw your challenge.”
“Kai must defend Father and defeat Hei Lei.”
Whether that was because of the dragons’ rules or his own stubborn pride Ping didn’t know.
The female dragons were speaking together.
“Hei Lei, please don’t hurt him,” Ping begged.
“I wasn’t the one who challenged,” the black dragon said. “I have to defend myself.”
The females finished their discussion.
“Teeth, talons and tail,” Jiang told Ping. “Hei Lei is not permitted to use his horns or his wings.”
Ping could find little consolation in that. She suddenly remembered the sixth line of the Yi Jing reading. When a dragon is arrogant, there will be cause for regret. She had always thought Hei Lei would be the arrogant one. But it was Kai. She had no doubt there would be cause for more than regret. There would be cause for pain, death and despair.
“Kai must choose where the challenge will take place,” Jiang said.
Kai didn’t hesitate. “There,” he said, pointing a talon at the rocks alongside the yellow pool.
Ping thought there would be some ceremony to start the fight. She thought that one of the dragons might speak, but if there was a signal to start the combat, Ping didn’t see it.
Kai leapt at Hei Lei. He was still in midair when Hei Lei’s tail swiped
him. The tail caught Kai in the chest and knocked the breath out of him. He fell into the pool with a splash. Hei Lei peered into the opaque water, waiting for Kai to appear. Minutes passed, but Kai didn’t resurface. Hei Lei gingerly climbed into the shallow end of the yellow pool. Then he yelped and leapt up onto the rocks again. His right hind leg was bleeding. Kai had bitten him while he was underwater. The surface of the water broke and Kai reappeared. Despite her revulsion at the sight of dragons fighting, Ping felt a surge of pride. The first blood was Kai’s.
Hei Lei had been calm so far, confident of an easy defeat but Ping sensed that his anger, never far below the surface, was about to erupt. He hadn’t been expecting Kai to be a real opponent. The black dragon waded back into the pool. Kai lunged at Hei Lei, raking his talons across the black dragon’s shoulder. Purple blood sprang from deep cuts. Ping was now glad that he’d been sharpening his claws. Hei Lei dug his talons into Kai and picked him up by the scruff of the neck. Kai dangled from his talons as if he were a rabbit or a fawn. Ping sensed Hei Lei’s savage strength. She fumbled for her pouch and took out the dragon-stone shard. She wanted to be ready to go to Kai’s aid, and if she took on the black dragon, she would need every shu of strength she possessed.
Hei Lei raised Kai’s small body, ready to throw him against the surrounding rocks. Ping cried out. The sound distracted the black dragon. He hesitated. In that moment Kai twisted around and whacked Hei Lei in the face with his tail. Hei Lei let go of Kai in surprise. Kai disappeared beneath the water again. It was no accident that the contest had ended up in the yellow pool. It was Kai’s favourite environment, and one where Hei Lei was completely uncomfortable. Kai had lured Hei Lei there.
Hei Lei’s anger exploded. He had kept his temper under control until then, but he was no longer a reasoning dragon. He was a wild animal. He swept his front paws through the water trying to find Kai, then jumped and growled angrily. Kai had bitten him again. Hei Lei’s grasping talons found Kai and dragged him up out of the water. This time he hurled him against the rocks, but his anger made him rush the throw. Kai was winded, and bruised, but not seriously hurt. Hei Lei pounced on Kai, sank his teeth into his flank and tore off a hunk of Kai’s flesh. Purple blood, bright in the moonlight, splashed on the rocks.