By Felicia Chan - National Library Singapore

By Felicia Chan

CONTENTSChapter 1: The Dragon Statue..................3Chapter 2: Land of the Ten Mountains.....13Chapter 3: Chushan...................................23Chapter 4: The DragonKeeper..................31CHAPTER ONETHE DRAGON STATUEChapter 5: Adventure in the Night............42Chapter 6: The Rescue..............................55Chapter 7: The Library..............................63Chapter 8: Double Betrayal......................71Chapter 9: A Special Doll.........................772 3

The apartment was in a mess. It had been in a mess for as long as Ethancould remember. Both he and his father had given up trying to get his mother todo anything about it. Mess to her was the natural state of the apartment, importantto a saleswoman who needed to buy things cheap and sell them off for asmall profit. In the name of business, the apartment had become a warehouse.There were bundles of clothes in one corner, some costume jewellery on thetable and more than a hundred plastic bundles containing various goods piledinto a mountain in the living room. Moving around the place was like wadingthrough a flood of plastic bags.“This mess is annoying,” Ethan mumbled to himself as he tried to pickhis way through it. “I cannot see wy Mom must bring back all this junk. There isnot enough room in this tiny house—it’s not even a house, in a miserable, smallHDB flat. The only difference between her and a rag-and-bone man is really inthe quality of items picked —the things they collect are all rubbish, Mom’s arereally just better looking junk, that’s all,” his grumble turning into an exasperatedstatement.Ethan had barely reached his room when the door clicked open. Ethanlooked at the four new bundles of bags being hauled in and let out a groan. “Notagain, Mom. There is no more room in the house. Why don’t you sell off what4 5

we have first before getting new stuff?”“Shush… this time round, I have found a treasure. A real treasure. Maybeeven an ancient forgotten piece that could be worth a fortune. It just needs alittle polishing. I got it from your uncle Richard. He has a contact who supplieshim with good stuff.” She quickly carried the bags to the table, then reached intoone of them and pulled out a statue. It was the size of two fists and not unlike anancient emperor’s seal. It was a golden dragon.Ethan eyed the dragon statue suspiciously. It certainly did not look liketreasure. There were scratches on some of its scales, the gold looked dull and notto mention, somewhat pasted on like cheap gold paint. Empty sockets remainedwhere the dragon’s eyes used to be, making the old and worn statue most disconcerting.All in all, the statue was in a sorry state. Ethan thought his mother’sjudgement must have hit rock bottom if she had even considered this patheticlittle thing to be worth anything.Nonetheless, he indulged his mother and commented, “Well, it looks…”He paused before continuing, “Interesting. It looks interesting.”“You think so? That’s what I thought too and I just had to rescue itfrom your uncle. He was just about to throw it onto a rubbish heap. Since youlike it, I’ll put it in your room. I think it will make a fine companion,” his motherremarked happily and matching action with words, promptly brought the statueto Ethan’s room leaving him no chance to protest.The statue found its home on a low shelf, just at Ethan’s eye-level whenhe lay down on the bed. It was weird – while the dragon had no eyes, Ethan hadthe strangest feeling that it was staring at him. He found it hard to close his eyeswith the dragon looking so intently at him. Turning away only made him feelmore vulnerable because it was like having someone observing him while hisback was turned. It was only after what seemed like hours of struggle that Ethanfinally drifted off to sleep.KRRAANG!!! Ethan was jolted from his slumber. The sound could onlyhave come from his pet lizard’s plastic tank falling onto the ceramic floor. He6 7

mentally scolded himself for leaving the tank precariously perched on the edgeof his shelf but he had hardly any other choice. There was simply not enoughroom anywhere. Before he had the chance to get out of bed to pick up the tank,he heard his lizard hissing. Adjusting his eyes to the darkness, he turned hishead in the direction of the sound and thought at once his eyes were playingtricks on him. The dragon statue was glowing in the dark! And his pet lizard, aregular Singaporean garden skink he had caught in the nearby park was hissingvehemently at it.Ethan scrambled out of bed, switched on the light, looked about, grabbedthe long ruler on his table and edged his way to the shelf cautiously. He pickedthe agitated lizard with the ruler’s edge and put it back hastily into the plastictank on the floor before turning to look at the statue.The dragon was still glowing. In fact, it was no longer as much a statue asit was a live reptile sitting on a pedestal grooming itself as a cat would.Ethan stared.“Err… Hello.” he said, immediately feeling silly. After all, if it was somekind of animal, it would not be able to understand him. The dragon uncurleditself and stared at Ethan, who was struck by the thought of how odd it was tohave an eyeless dragon staring at him as if it could read his thoughts.Much to Ethan’s astonishment, it said in a deep voice, “I have been waiting.”He could not decide whether he was more surprised that the dragon spokeat all or that it spoke in a voice much bigger than itself. “I need your help. AsI am not of this world and am powerless here.” the dragon continued withoutwaiting for Ethan to speak.“This is a dream. I am dreaming. Talking statues. Glowing dragons. I amgoing back to sleep.” Ethan said, half to himself and half to the statue which heimagined to be a product of his overactive imagination.“No. This is not a dream. My presence here is as real as your body in thisroom. But I am stranded. Without my physical eyes, I am incomplete. I cannotgo back to where I came from unless I have my entire body intact. And if I donot go back, my people will die. I need you to help bring my eyes back.”8 9

“Wait a minute,” said Ethan, “what world, what people? Are you tryingto tell me that there are other worlds out there? Anyway, I am only twelve yearsold. What can I do?”“There are many other worlds and my world is only one of them. I comefrom Chushan, land of the ten mountains, which is a world similar to yours. Aportal has been opened from this world to mine and wrongdoers have crossedinto my world, threatening to take all that is important to us. They have forcedme, the protector of the mountains, here, into this world, where I am nearlypowerless,” the dragon continued, ignoring Ethan’s last question.It must be a dream, Ethan thought again but was interrupted by a sharppain on his right palm. “Ouch!” Ethan yelled, “What did you do that for?”“To convince you that this isn’t a dream. And to give you the mark of theCelestial Dragon, which is of course…me.” said the dragon, this time rising upto sit back on its tail, looking proud as someone who had just announced animportant piece of information.“I thought you were powerless!” Ethan exclaimed. “Anyway, what kindof protector are you if you can so easily be turned into a statue and thrown outof your world.”A sudden growl disturbed the stillness of the room, forcing Ethan tomove one step back in alarm.“You need to learn some manners boy,” the dragon snapped. “You didnot listen closely. I said ‘nearly’ powerless. I cannot leave this pedestal but thatdoesn’t mean I cannot do small things like mark you or plant the thought inyour mother’s mind to pick me up from the pile of broken idols set aside to bediscarded.”“Well, you come into my world, wake me up in the middle of the time,cause me pain and you expect me to be polite?” Ethan replied in an attempt todefend the tone that he used earlier.There was a moment of silence and Ethan thought he heard the dragon10 11

sigh. He forced himself to ignore the pain on his palm and then waved at dragonjust to test if it could really see him.“I am not blind, you know. I do not have physical eyes but I can see bysensing. We dragons are not as limited in our abilities as you humans are.” thedragon remarked wryly. “Something has gone wrong with the worlds. Portalsare being opened from one to another when the worlds are supposed to be keptseparate, each with a guardian spirit watching over it. My spirit resides in thisstatue and in my own world, when the need arises; I am called upon for help.Something has gone wrong and my people did not get a change to call upon mebefore I was moved out of my world.”“All right, all right, I believe you. Can you remove the mark now?” Ethanreplied with a hint of impatience and held out his palm for the dragon.“I cannot remove it. A gift once given cannot be taken back.”“A gift? This burn?” Ethan moved his fingers from the spot on his palmand saw at once that the burn had now turned into a large circle with a strangesymbol in its centre. “Woah! What’s this?”CHAPTER twoland of the ten mountains“The mark is important. It will provide you protection in my world. It is alink between us, enabling me to send you there and bring you back. It is also thesign which you have to show to my people in order to earn their trust.”“Who has said anything about helping you?” Ethan protested. All boysdreamt of adventure, and as much as a part of him wanted it, going off to anunknown world for real was something else altogether. Something he had neverthought possible. All his life, he had always been practical and preferred thepredictable.Ethan suddenly felt a wave of sleepiness wash over him. It was definitelya dream. He made a mental note that when he woke up in the morning, he wasgoing to ask his mother to get rid of the statue.The last thing he heard before he drifted into unconsciousness was: “Lookfor the eyes. They are green emeralds. Do not fear. The dragonkeeper will help12 you. You are stronger than you think you are. You have been chosen.”13

Ethan woke with a stiff back and the sun shining right into his eyes. Hesat up slowly and then looked around. Ok, so I’m still dreaming, he thought.All around him was grass and in the near distance were high mountains thatstretched endlessly across the horizon, not unlike the pictures he saw in a bookabout the Himalayas. There were a few scattered goats grazing and the sky wasa clear blue. He was gazing around dreamily when someone prodded him hardwith a wooden stick.“Who are you and what are you doing here? If you are thinking aboutstealing any of my goats, I warn you that there is more strength in these oldbones than you think.” he spoke harshly, pointing to his limbs.“Oh no, no, no…” Ethan was quick to reply, nursing his arm where a slightbruise had started to form at the spot where he had been prodded. “I am nota thief. In fact, I am not sure if I am in the right place. It would be great if youcould tell me where I am. I think I am lost.”The shepherd eyed him for a while, as if trying to decide if the boy was lyingor telling the truth and after a short while, decided on the latter. “You are onthe hills just outside Chushan.”“Chu…Shan. How can this be? It’s not real!” Ethan croaked. “That crazydragon…”“No, you don’t look to be from these parts. Have you come far? And whatis your business here?” the shepherd snapped, looking annoyed and offended.Ethan was alarmed. He had no intention of going around offendingpeople in a strange place. “I don’t know. All I know is that I am going to have aheadache.” Just then, Ethan noticed that his pet lizard was with him too. It appearedto be a little bigger and was eyeing him strangely. Ethan swore it wouldhave talked if it could.“You finally noticed me. I was wondering when you would,” said the lizardin its smooth and lazy voice, looking at Ethan intently.“Oh no! I think I am really going to be sick. First a talking statue now atalking lizard… Did the dragon send you too?”asked Ethan rubbing his temples.“Oh, that brute of a beast! Just because he is bigger and higher up in theanimal ranks does not mean he can go bossing lesser folks like us around. Hewas probably showing off by sending me here,” said the lizard, turning its headat an angle, as if it was snubbing the dragon.Turning around, Ethan realised that the owner of the stick was an oldshepherd who looked about a hundred years old with tangled white hair, brownweathered skin and more wrinkles than Ethan could count.14 15

The shepherd, who had been quiet all this while, relaxed and found it hardto keep his lips from twitching in amusement. “I guess you have a story to tell.Come with me, we better get you some warm milk and clothing. It will get colderand your clothes are not suitable for this mountain weather. Your lizard friendwill not be too pleased to be out in the open for too long. We will talk more later.I believe you have been magically transported here and the experience must beuncomfortable for you.”“Magically transported?” Ethan squeaked. This time, he was terrified.Magic was something he thought only existed in books.The shepherd laughed at Ethan’s obvious discomfort. “Well, I am curiousabout it myself. Moving around with magic is rare. There are limitations as towhat one can do with magic. I am not even sure you were magically transported.I just see no other way to explain it since you seemed to have appeared out ofnowhere.”“Aren’t you getting cold?” commented the lizard. “You warm-bloodedcreatures are not good with the cold like us.”Ethan realised that it was indeed getting cold. He nodded and proceeded tofollow the shepherd though not before picking the lizard up. “If you want to getback, just stay close and keep your mouth shut,” Ethan snapped and placed thelizard into his pocket.“Touchy…” drawled the lizard from the inside of the pocket. “Fine, I haveno intention of having silly conversations with boys who are no better than hatchlings.”They finally came to a tent about two metres high and covered with somesort of black felt. Unlike the pictures of Red Indian tents that Ethan had seen inbooks, this tent had a square base instead of a circular one. When he entered thetent, Ethan’s eyes were drawn to the welcoming fire in the middle and he walkedover immediately to feel the embrace of its heat. Despite the fire, the tent was notfilled with smoke, as there was a hole at the top of the tent just above the fire.The shepherd went to the fire and in a low voice, mumbled something that16 17

Ethan woke with a slight headache. It was morning and the sun was shiningbrightly outside. Ethan was grateful for the warmth of the sun after the bittercold night. He did not spend too long remembering the events of the day beforeand started to find himself getting excited about what lay ahead. After all, being ina magical mountain town, far from home, far from his world, was pretty exciting.With anticipation bubbling in his stomach, Ethan stepped out of the tent to andbreathed in the fresh mountain air.“Awake at last?” the shepherd called out from behind the tent. “Come, havesome breakfast and then, we’ll get ready to go to town. I have already prepared theyak and cart. We should not dally too long if we want to catch the market crowdand pick up the latest information.Ethan approached the cart, finding his lizard already there, sunning itselfat the back end. The yak turned and looked at Ethan… and remarked in a grandfatherlyvoice, “You are looking better today—Nothing is as refreshing to one’syouth as fresh mountain air.”Ethan could only stare. “You can talk too?”“Of course, he can.” said the shepherd. “A lot of our animals do. Not all buta good number can hold a fairly decent conversation. Watch out for the ravensthough. They can talk for hours on end. Just don’t get them started.”The grey, mangy beast, with its two horns, one slightly shorter than theother and torn at the tip, laughed and snorted at the same time. “Well, the ravenswould probably turn blue if they did not speak. But enough about ravens, if wehope to get to town soon, we had better get going. These legs of mine are no longeras fast as they used to be. I am quite old, you know.”With goat’s butter spread on white bread in his stomach, Ethan hopped onthe cart and the shepherd started their drive into town. The scenery was beautiful.Ethan had never seen anything like it in his whole life. Wide-open fields filled withwild flowers, gigantic towering mountains. And as they travelled along the welluseddirt track, it seemed to Ethan that the mountains were growing even biggerby the minute.24 25

It was a short ride and soon, Ethan caught sight of majestic town gates. Hewas not sure what he had been expecting but what he saw were two grand redgates with dragon motifs running down the sides, thrown wide open in welcome.The town itself was not on flat ground, but rather into the mountains, each buildingseemingly carved out of stone from the mountainside, step by step, one buildingtowering over the next.Ethan’s eyes scanned the buildings, up and up until he saw the greatest oneof them all at the highest level of the mountain. It was white with red windows andyellow horizontal bands that ran across the building in parallel lines. Ethan was toofar below to discern the pattern on the bands but they looked intricate. The whiteedifice had been built into the face of the mountain with walkways protruding infront and on the sides. The walkways perched precariously, balanced by perpendicularbeams pushed deep into the mountain. Ethan marvelled at the architecture.And as he tried to take in all the details, he saw that the highest point of the structurewas a dome the body of a huge sparkling golden dragon curled around it.Again, its face was similar to the one on his statue.“Come on, don’t stand there gaping. We need to hurry to the market.” saidthe shepherd who had gotten off the cart and was in the middle of tying it to a post.“That, by the way, is the palace of our king. It is both a palace and a temple forthose chosen to serve the dragon god. On a special day every year, the lower levelsof the palace, where the temple is, are opened to everyone to pay their respects andoffer gifts to the dragon god. It is also the day where young apprentices, the oneswith the mark, show their proficiency in magic.”Ethan was not sure he understood everything. He was too busy lookingaround to ask the shepherd to elaborate.The shepherd continued. “Too bad you missed it. The ceremonial day is agrand affair and it happened a week ago, just before the king fell ill and the dragonkeeperwent missing. You would have enjoyed watching all the rituals and magicaldisplays. What made this year’s ceremony even more special is that a successorto the aging dragonkeeper was officially announced, a young girl of exceptionaltalent where magic is concerned.At the word dragonkeeper, Ethan turned his head to look at the shepherd. “Isthis young dragonkeeper missing too?”The shepherd nodded his head sadly. “Alas that is true. We have heard nonews of either the dragonkeeper or her successor but what can we do, we are justcommon folk going about our daily lives.”Ethan did not know how to reply and followed the shepherd as he jumped offthe cart, leaving the yak to watch over the cart. The shepherd moved in a directionaway from the palace. Ethan followed the shepherd closely as they weaved throughthe streets. He smelled the market even before he heard it: Something spicy lacedwith various types of incense. He could not pin down the exact spice but thought itclose to the smell in the air in Little India back home, the rich and pungent smell ofdried goods as well as livestock. As they drew closer, the thick odor of livestock gotstronger and it was all Ethan could do to stop himself from holding his nose. Whenthey reached the market, Ethan found it strangely quieter than the wet markets heknew. A little odd, since with it emanating such a strong smell, he had expected tosee a vibrant market with a large number of people selling goods.There was a feeling of uncertainty in the air. There were people and there wasnoise but it was all muted as people shuffled along talking in whispers. Very likely,Ethan thought, speculating about the going ons at the palace. And afraid of beingheard lest what they said were really true and became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Somuch for the power of words.The shepherd approached a bread stall and spoke to the owner in soft undertones.He gestured for Ethan to come over and show his palm to the bread seller. Thebread seller’s expression was not unlike the shepherd’s. He pulled Ethan’s palm for acloser look.“How can this be? How can the sign appear on an outsider?” he exclaimed in alouder voice than he intended to.“Hush!” said the shepherd. But it was already too late. A small crowd hadgathered nearby, not more than five people, but the damage had been done. People26 27

saw. They talked. Soon, more people crowded around to see the mark that hadstrangely appeared on a foreigner.Ethan felt awkward being the centre of attention. Their visit was supposed tobe secret and this kind of exposure could only be bad. “See?” said the lizard, whohad found a place on Ethan’s shoulder. “I knew the shepherd was not to be trusted.I think trusting people is a bad idea.”“Hush!” said Ethan anxiously. “I don’t need a wet blanket now. We needto get out of here before the wrong people see us.”On impulse, Ethan pulled himself away and ran into an alley just behindthe bread stall to escape the crowd. People might chase after him but it was betterthan being gawked at openly. Just as he reached the end of the alley, he startedto feel faint. Just before he lost consciousness, he felt his legs give way underhim. “Oh no…” he said. And then, everything went black.28 29

CHAPTER fourdragonkeeper30 31

Ethan immediately noticed that the girl’s eyes had little blue flames dancingin them ever so slightly. Then, they turned to an ordinary brown. He shook hishead, convinced it had just been his imagination.“Are you crazy? Do you want to be killed? Showing the mark out there toeveryone in public? You can be sure that if I had not dragged you off, the palaceguards would have come for you and then, it would have been goodbye to yourpitiful life!”Ethan was speechless for a second. Then he said, “I think you’ve made amistake! You’re confusing me with someone else. I didn’t do anything. And whoare you?”The girl looked at him, slightly scornful. “I, am the dragonkeeper.”Ethan found himself speechless for the second time. This young girl wasthe dragonkeeper? He had imagined the dragonkeeper as a wise old man. But thisgirl? He had certainly never expected it! “You are so young… and you are a girl!”Ethan burst out and immediately regretted it remembering vaguely that the shepherdhad mentioned something about a young female successor.“What does that mean?” asked the girl, her eyes glittering dangerously.“What is wrong with a female dragonkeeper?”“Nothing! Nothing wrong. It… well… it just seems like the kind of thingsboys usually are. Actually, I don’t know. I just thought it as the way of life in smalltowns, away from the cities—you know, girls stay at home to sew and cook…I don’t know how to explain it.” Ethan sighed, making a mental note about notmaking assumptions in future in places he is not familiar with.Ethan opened his eyes. He was in a small room with nothing but a bed,a table, two chairs and a chocolate brown thing like a cat sitting on his stomachand peering into his face curiously. Ethan sat up with a jerk and the thing leapedoff the bed and onto one chair. Just as he was about to get up from the bed, thedoor burst open and a girl of about fifteen stormed in. She was beautiful, fair ofskin, with jet-black silky hair that fell down to her waist.The dragonkeeper was now even angrier. “I don’t know what girls in yourworld do but here, they are as important as men and it is the tradition that alldragonkeepers are female and most apprentices too. Sometimes, we’d get a boybut that is rare. You, as a male and an outsider, would be the first that I know of.But I have no time to argue about this with you. We have things to do. Just rememberthat here in Chushan, females are the keepers of our traditions.”32 33

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“Oh calm down, Rinzen. That boy is harmless. He obviously said whathe did in ignorance” said the thing on the chair in a motherly voice. It was now,sitting up on its hind legs.“I have no time for foolish boys, Nima.” said the girl to the brown animaland then turned to Ethan. “Now, you, tell me your story and how you come tobe here.”“Hey, I resent that. I don’t mind you being strong and opinionated butthe least you could do was ask politely.” said Ethan, his temper flaring up.“Right… the pot calling the kettle black.” muttered Ethan, sore that shewould not allow him to interrupt her when she had spent the whole time interruptinghim when he had been telling his story.Rinzen ignored him and continued, “For some time now, we have beenhaving visitors from a place we are not familiar with and considering your story,probably from another world. As a people, we are generally hospitable. We offeredthem what little we have, our welcome and our friendship. We even invitedthem for our ceremony, the day of the dragon, which just happened a week ago.That was a big mistake.”“What happened?” asked Ethan.“Oooh, now you certainly got her angry.” Ethan’s lizard snickered as itpopped its head out from the pocket of Ethan’s shirt.The girl looked at the lizard in surprise then shifted her attention backto Ethan as he sighed and began to tell his story a second time. He was interruptednow and then by the occasional question, which he tried to answer ascordially as he could, getting more and more irritated by the girl’s domineeringattitude. When he had finished, he felt dreadfully tired. The day’s events hadexhausted him right down to the bone.After hearing his story, the dragonkeeper sighed and said, “My name isRinzen, which means guardian of knowledge. Ignorance is dangerous. You’dbetter know what was going on here at the moment so we could see how best toretrieve the eyes belonging to the Heart of the Dragon, which is what that dragonstatue really is. It houses the heart of the celestial dragon and when we holdour rituals, we invoke it. It is the source of our greater power…”“Greater power?” asked Ethan.“I would appreciate it if you didn’t interrupt! Yes, greater power. Powersthat are used to do bigger things. Like, influence the weather. As opposed tolesser powers, which are used to influence the immediate surroundings.” answeredRinzen in one breath.Rinzen ignored him and continued, “they have been coming and going,bringing us unusual items we have never seen before, in return for some of ourown. Especially things made of gold. They discovered, we don’t know how, thatwe were able to turn things into gold and…”“You can turn things into gold?” Ethan gasped, unable to stop himself.A look of exasperation crossed Rinzen’s face, but she continued, “Theystarted to get really curious about what we do and how we do things. And soon,they had asked for the secrets of our magic and that, the king could not agree to.They tried very hard to persuade the king but he refused. And then, things turnedugly on the day of the dragon.”Rinzen’s face turned deeply distressed and directing her story more toherself, she started to mumble:“In fact, they killed my teacher, the dragonkeeperbefore me. There were too many of them. I didn’t know there were that many.They seemed to have come from nowhere and they all had weapons, not swordsor knives but these black things that they hold in their hand, which kill by a loudsound. My teacher’s heart broke open at the sound from it. My teacher told me torun, as after her, I was the next dragonkeeper and it was my duty to call the dragonto come to our aid. My safety was of greater importance and so, I ran. I did notknow that they took the dragon’s heart.”Seeing Rinzen in distress, the brown creature continued the story. “It actuallyhappened after the ceremony ended and most of the townsfolk have left,leaving just the apprentices who were cleaning up as well as a few townsfolk who36 37

volunteered to help. These volunteers were actually those who mean us harm indisguise. We were caught unaware and all of the apprentices were captured andimprisoned. The leader of the group, a middle age man, whom the king consideredto be a friend, took him hostage. Rinzen and I managed to escape.”towards her to put his arm around her shoulders, her expression changed and shespoke, this time resolutely.“I had planned to go back to the palace to summon the dragon, but now ourfirst priority is to go back to find the eyes. After that, we can send you back so youcan bring the Heart of the Dragon back. We need to find a way to rescue the king aswell as the other dragon apprentices when you are gone. These people have takenover the palace and have put notices up all over the city to inform the people thatthe king was sick. There have also been more guards around but, even though theyare in palace uniform, I know they are not ours. They are looking for me.” Angerblazed in Rinzen’s eyes.“But how are we going to get into the palace? With the dragon not in thisworld anymore and guards looking for us, it seems like an impossible task.” saidEthan, feeling like a wet blanket and slightly intimidated by the girl’s suddenchange of mood. “And what happened to your own palace guards?”“Our guards?” replied Rinzen, “I actually have no idea and now that youmention it, it is strange that they did not come to our aid.”“It is strange. I have been suspicious of it for a while. Some things don’t fittogether properly. I believe there is a traitor in our palace.” said the brown animal,which had been quiet all this while. “I am also surprised these people knew that thespirit of the dragon is housed in the dragon statue. There are so many dragon statuesin the temple, how is it that these men were able to pick the correct one that isthe Heart of the Dragon?”Rinzen looked at the animal and nodded. “You are probably right. We’ll haveto be very careful.”“I know this sounds rude. You see, I am not used to talking animals, so I reallyhave to ask… What are you exactly?” Ethan asked the brown animal sheepishly.“Pardon me. I should have introduced myself. I am a mountain marmot. Afemale mountain marmot. And my name is Nima.”Ethan thought Rinzen looked as if she was going to cry and he was worriedbecause he did not know how to comfort a crying girl. Just as he was about to walk“Oh,” said Ethan, “err… well. This is my pet lizard. I didn’t really give it a38 39

name, but it’s a garden skink, a common lizard from where I come from.” Andthen added as an after-thought, “From a country called Singapore”. Althoughhe was quite sure that no one would have heard of it or known where Singaporewas.“How nice. I have no name and I am common. I find it extremely degrading.”grumbled the lizard.“Singapore? That’s strange. That is where those people said they werefrom. If you hadn’t borne the mark of the dragon, I would have imagined you tobe in cahoots with them.” exclaimed Nima.“I have a question.” said Ethan, “If they know the dragon is the source ofpower, why don’t they just take it and go?”“I keep forgetting that you are ignorant of our customs. The dragon is ourguardian and ‘a’ source of power. There is another important source of powerand the two must go together. That is our Dragon Library. It contains the scriptsfor many of the incantations that we must use to do what we do. Each book ofspells has a specific location in the library and its presence alone is power. If abook is missing, even if we knew the rituals and spells belonging to that bookby heart, we would still not be able to fully invoke the dragon and the powers weown.”“You mean, if the book that has the spell for making a fire goes missing, youwill not be able to make fire by magic?” asked Ethan.“Yes, something like that. We breathe life into words, drawing it from ourown internal energy so, in a way, the power is from ourselves. However, thingsneed to be able to recognise words. For example, the fire needs to know it is beingspoken to and in order for that to happen, we have to create and then seal thespell. It’s like a pact between the fire and us. We have many of these pacts andthey are sealed in the books of the Dragon Library. If we removed these books, thepacts would be gone. The fire, for one, would no longer be able to recognise us.”explained Rinzen.“I don’t quite follow your explanation.” said Ethan. “I thought you said thepower was from the dragon? And now, you say the power is from ourselves?”“You ask too many questions!” said Rinzen. “I don’t have time to stand hereand explain!”“But I need to understand! If I don’t, how then am I supposed to help you?”Ethan pointed out sharply. Then slyly,“ You said it yourself: ‘Ignorance is dangerous’.I might make mistakes because I didn’t know any better. Surely, you don’twant to think you could have prevented it by explaining everything to me clearly.”Earning himself another glare from Rinzen, he got his answer from the marmotwho spoke quickly.“To put it simply, the dragon, acts as the authority on the pact. Any newspell must be created with his blessing for it to work. He is also a source of powerfor more complicated spells. A human would not have enough energy to changeweather even though he could make fire.” Nima said patiently.“So everyone here can do magic?” Ethan continued and before he could stophimself, added, “even me?”40 41

“Yes, even you but we are not sure how good you will be,” said Nima, “andonly the dragonkeeper, apprentices and members of the royal family can invoke thedragon’s power for the bigger spells. We are not sure where you fit in.”“All right. So, is making gold a big or small spell?”“It is considered a big spell because it involves changing the property ofmetals. To change something entirely is complicated because we have to convincethe thing we are changing that it is better off as something else.” Nima answered,ignoring Rinzin’s displeasure in her simplification of the complex nature of spellsand what it takes to change metal into gold.“So even if the men got the books, they cannot do anything, right? And theyhave sent the dragon off to another world because…” Ethan’s voice trailed off.The dragonkeeper grinned. “That is why they want me, you see. They cannotpossibly know all the details. They assume that the Heart of the Dragon is onething and the books another. The traitor probably told them to get rid of the dragonbecause we could call upon the dragon for help. No one but the king and dragonkeeper—andnow you—know the details of how our magic works. Of course, thereis also the fact that only the king and I together are allowed to open the doors to theDragon Library. Even if they captured the king, without me, they would have noaccess to the library.”CHAPTER FiveADVENTURE IN THE NIGHT“Ah… so you are not worried about them stealing the power as much as youwant to save the king and retrieve the eyes so things could go back to what theywere.” Ethan said, returning the grin in the process. “That said, I still cannot understandwhy they took the dragon’s eyes?”“As men of greed, I suppose they wanted the huge emeralds the eyes weremade of.” Rinzen shrugged. “I don’t really know.”“So, what do we do now? I am all ready to go.” said Ethan“What we need now is a plan.” And the dragonkeeper pulled a map out ofher pocket.42 43

The sun was nearly setting when Rinzen had finished, much to Ethan’srelief. They would set out that night under cover of dark and enter the palace by ahidden tunnel, accessible from an area near the town gates. It was an escape routefrom the palace, which could also of course be used to enter the palace and cameout onto the lower level of the temple. Rinzen, to Ethan’s delight, taught him aspell that would render him invisible, though according to her, it was more tomake one’s presence undetected as opposed to being completely invisible. Ethanhad difficulty mastering it as it required mental concentration but Rinzen reassuredhim that she would help him.When the sky turned dark and the streets emptied, Ethan and Rinzenslipped out and slid unnoticed into the streets, keeping to sidewalks and back alleys.It was deadly quiet. Everyone had retired to their homes especially since noone was sure what was happening and therefore, wanted to be safe in their homeonce the sun had set.It was not long before the town gates came into sight. Rinzen took a shortcut. Ethan did not recognize the route they took and was entirely reliant onRinzen’s sense of direction. His pet lizard had expressed displeasure at havingto leave the cosy room but was now quiet in Ethan’s pocket stuffed with wadsof cloth to keep it comfortable and less disagreeable. The marmot kept close toRinzen and moved without making the slightest noise. Just like Rinzen, who wassoft-footed and moved soundlessly. Not so Ethan who had trouble followingtheir example. His footsteps, soft as they were, echoed clearly in the silence of thetown. Fortunately, no one was around to hear them.The gates were already long closed and the red welcoming doors Ethanhad seen earlier in the day were now dark and imposing. The dragons on thedoors looked almost sinister and the crescent moon created long shadows on theBy the time Rinzen had finished explaining her elaborate plan which involvedcreeping out that night from the inn where they were hiding, breaking intoground.the palace, finding the king’s advisor who would have a clear picture of the situationand fishing for the location of the dragon’s eyes, Ethan found he could hardlyhave a bad feeling about our plans for tonight.”“It’s not a good night,” said Nima, looking up at the overcast night sky. “Ikeep his eyes open. When Rinzen went on to explain the palace in detail, the locationof the rooms and where to go, Ethan thought he was going to die of boredom.“Nima, you are such a worrier.” said Rinzen. She then made a suddenturn to the right.An adventure was supposed to be exciting but this felt more like a lesson.44 45

noises.“She is charmed!” exclaimed Nima. “There must be a traitor. She is preventedfrom revealing the who he is.”Rinzen reached out her hand to Madame Dohna. “It is all right. You donot have to tell us who he is,” and at once the choking sounds stopped. Do youby any cance know whereabout in the palace those intruders are residing?” continuedRinzen, this time, worry showing on her face.“Those disrespectful people have taken the king’s chambers! I do notknow what you are going to do but no matter what happens, you must not kill.A dragonkeeper’s hands must be free of bloodshed.” said the hag in hoarsely,her voice interrupted by croaks as she recovered from the spell.“Yes, Madame Dohna. I will keep your wise words in mind.” said Rinzenreverently.“My, is she ugly… and I thought I have seen worse.” said the lizard, poppingout and shattering all reverence.Rinzen looked horrified. But the hag was unaffected.“Here, take this. It is stained with the blood of the dragon and will wardaway instruments of harm. It was a gift to me as a temple keeper and I am giving itto you because your need is greater than mine.” the hag said as if nothing had happenedand placed an amulet of turquoise blue in Rinzen’s hand. It had the mark ofthe celestial dragon engraved on it with a ruby held between the dragon’s claws.Rinzen wore the amulet around her neck, hidden beneath her clothes. Shebowed reverently to the hag and then pulled Ethan away. When they had gonesome distance, she grabbed and held the lizard by its tail.“You are lucky I did not turn you into stone!” she hissed, struggling in heranger to keep her voice down.48 49

“Put me down, you beastly girl! Didn’t they teach you how to behave likea girl in this town?” hissed the lizard in return.“Arrgh!” growled Rinzen and she threw the lizard back at Ethan who justbarely caught it.“See… I told you to keep your mouth shut.” said Ethan.Anticipating another round of accusations, Nima quickly said, “Comeon, we must hurry!” And then added for Ethan’s benefit, “As you must havealready guessed, Madame Dohna is the temple keeper and attends to all templechores. She has been here for a long, long time. No one knows how long Shegoes way back to a time before any of those living now.”“All right, now, try to concentrate. I will make us both invisible.” Rinzensaid, her temper which had almost erupted a moment ago already firmly underrein.are snoring. I will stand guard outside the king’s chamber doors and whistle ifdanger approaches. You should act quickly and be safe.”“You coming with me?” Rinzen asked Ethan.“Me? I… err…yes, I guess so.” answered Ethan nervously. “The emeraldeyes are likely to be with the chief of those men, right?”“Probably. That’s why we are here.” Rinzen said in an almost matter of factvoice and Ethan could not help but admire her guts.Rinzen pushed open the door quietly. Ethan heard snores drift out the doorand he followed Rinzen carefully into the room. Through the warm glow fromthe lamps in the room, Ethan could see a magnificent room in red and yellow andornate carvings on all the sitting chairs placed on one side of the room. And as ifcarvings were not enough, there were also many wooden animals—deer, mountainlions—and other strange creatures that Ethan had never seen before. EachThey walked down corridor after corridor and soon, Ethan lost count ofthe many turns they had taken. Most of the corridors looked the same in thedark—wooden beams supporting each side of the passageway placed at regularintervals and between every beam on the left hand side, a dark hollow spaceindicating the entrance to a room.After leading Ethan into what he imagined was the heart of the mountain,Rinzen turned into a brightly lit passageway that was wider than the rest. Thewalls on either side of them and even the ceiling were filled with murals of allsorts. There were mountains and waterfalls; animals of all kinds, from the domesticto the wild. And in every single one, Ethan saw, a dragon dominated thepicture.Rinzen slowed her pace. “We are approaching the king’s chambers.Nima, do you hear anything? I am surprised that there are no guards. Somethingis wrong.”Nima stopped and again stood up on her hind legs listening intently. “Ibelieve they are asleep. The breathing of those in the rooms are deep and a few50 51

of these animals was lifelike as if the real thing had turned into wood. Ethancould not help but feel a bit scared. The room would have resembled a forest ifthe walls had been painted green. Ethan could not imagine being alone in theroom with these wooden statues. They looked like they were going to come aliveanytime. It was like a horror story waiting to happen and Ethan had never likedhorror stories.“Those are the king’s spiritual guards,” whispered Rinzen. They can becommanded to come to aid by the king, should danger arise when he is sleeping.Ethan looked at the statues, awe struck until Rinzen nudged him andpointed to the smaller chamber at the opposite end. Ethan squinted to see whatwas there but all he could see was a bed. Rinzen nudged him and they bothmoved through the first room as quietly as they could. When they entered thesmaller chamber, Ethan noticed a few men huddled in various corners, fastasleep. He could not help thinking that probably no one had wanted to sleep inthe first room.The bed was occupied by one man of fairly large proportions, thoughEthan could not see his face clearly as he was covered by a luxurious blanket. Hewas snoring loudly.Rinzen crossed over to one side of the bed and picked out a pouch fromthe side table. She broke into a large grin and Ethan knew that they had retrievedthe dragon’s eyes. She mouthed the words, “Let’s go” and they bothbroke into a slight run, as they wanted to get out of the room as soon as possible.In their rush, Rinzen did not concentrate on keeping them invisible. Withher back turned away from the inner chamber, she did not see the blow comingand was knocked off her feet. Ethan turned around just in time to jump aside.The club missed his left arm by inches.He saw the face of the attacker. Something was terribly wrong. The manwas none other than Uncle Richard, his mother’s brother who traded in goodstogether with her! Both stood staring at each other in complete shock.The next few moments seemed somewhat like a dream. A deer came52 53

CHAPTER SIXTHE RESCUEcharging at Uncle Richard who moved quickly to fend off the creature. A man asthin as a bean-pole with pale, sickly white skin rushed into the king’s chamber,picked Rinzen up from the floor and hurriedly dragged Ethan away, mentioningsomething about being the king’s advisor. He led the way quickly down the manycorridors.54 55

“What was that?” Ethan asked when they finally stopped running andhe had managed to catch his breath.“The king’s animal guard. It just needed a little awakening,” replied theman stiffly.The advisor was a man of few words and even fewer smiles. Thethought that his life must be really boring for him to be so serious flittedthrough Ethan’s mind. He was dressed in a deep red robe with a yellow sashand a frown on his face.Rinzen, was just beginning to regain consciousness and the advisorplaced her gently down against the wall.“That was a very silly thing you did, young mistress. If anything hadhappened to you, how are would we be able to account for the loss of ourdragonkeeper? You were fortunate that I had been keeping close to see whatthose men were up to. When I saw your pet companion at the door, I knewyou must have gone in,” he said tersely.“I had to retrieve the emerald eyes of the dragon!” Rinzen replied angrily.“What else would you have me do? There is a traitor among our people. Someonemust have told those men to send the dragon away.”“A traitor?” repeated the advisor, frowning deeply. “That is bad newsindeed… It is no wonder then that those men knew when to ambush the king– when he was away from the animal guards in his room.” Then he added in amore respectful voice, “I am sorry for speaking out discourteously. I was worried.”The angry flush that had risen in Rinzen’s face now also gave way to afrown. “You are forgiven. Thank you for saving our lives. We now need to find56 57

out how we can send Ethan back to the dragon. I have never opened a portal beforeand I am not familiar with the spell. We have to enter the Dragon Library tofind it.”Rinzen looked a little troubled. “But I need the king with me to enter the library.Wait… is he injured? Where is the king? As his advisor, your first duty is tohim. Why are you not with him—you are not without powers yourself, surely youmust have gotten him to safety,” Rinzen’s voice rose as she got more and moreanxious.‘Husssh…” said the advisor. “The king is safe. I know where he is beingheld. Getting no answer from the king as to your whereabouts, those evil menlocked him up in one of the cold rooms on the Lower Level. With your powers,you should have no problem breaking the lock.”Ethan had remained quiet the whole time, revealing nothing about beingrelated to the man who had disrupted the peace of the kingdom. He felt suddenlyill at ease and uncomfortable about hiding the truth and keeping quiet.“The cold rooms?” said Rinzen, horrified, and started to run, breakingEthan’s train of thoughts.The cold rooms, Ethan later discovered, were not actually cold. Theyreferred to a place reserved for users of rough magic, people who abused theirpowers. The magic that lined each of the cells was very old and served to keepprisoners extremely weak and powerless. It was an insult for a king to be placedthere, not to mention the fact that he was also old with his magical energy no longerthe way it used to be.The rooms were located even lower than the temple level and accessibleonly by a narrow passageway on the far right of the palace. The passage curveddownwards and inwards into the mountains and ended at a stone cavern withmany rooms. It was a cold and heartless place, an area where the warm pulsingenergy within each person was sapped dry.Every stone room in the cavern contained a door of wooden bars with locks,the few doors in the whole palace with locks on them. Rinzen had mentioned to58 59

Ethan briefly that it was impossible to break open these doors by force as theywere magically enhanced. The locks could only be opened from the outside bythose who knew how to work the lines of magic contained within each of them.“Who’s there?” said a weak male voice from the last room at the endof the cavern.Rinzen immediately ran towards the voice and knelt down. Your Majesty,I have come to get you out.” She quickly placed her hands over the locks.A green glow emanated from Rinzen’s body to her hands. The woodendoor swung open and.Rinzen went it and helped the frail-looking white-haired king to hisfeet. She begged his pardon for letting him suffer in such a horrible place. Thenexplained all that had happened and the tasks ahead.“Your Majesty, who placed you in the cold room?” asked the advisor.“If I remember correctly, only you and the dragonkeeper know the spell to sealthe door.”“I have no idea. I was blindfolded.” Said the king. “I thought it wasodd too but in any case, I am glad to see that no harm has come to you, my friend.I was worried.” Then he good-humouredly added to Rinzen, “I knew those animalswould come in useful. Do not apologise. You did what you had to do. Allthings happen for a reason, I am sure things will turn out fine.”Looked at Ethan, the king said, “Welcome, guest. Please accept my humbleapologies as host of this country. It is not my wish that you should see our beautifulhomeland in a state such as this.” He gestured to his advisor and continued,“Come, help me walk. I am weak but we must hurry to the library before ourenemies find us.”Ethan found it impossible to utter a single word, not with that guiltly feelinggnawing at his stomach. He bowed to the king and stood aside to allowRinzen and the advisor to return through the passage. He felt worse by the minuteand had a really bad feeling that something was still wrong.It was far too quiet and the way to the library too long. His uncle shouldhave caught up with them by now together with the men who had been in theroom with him. The passageway to the cold rooms had been a perfect place for anambush, so why had no one come? And the lock, how had his uncle and the menmanage to put the king in the cell and lock him up? Ethan was quite certain thatwhile his uncle might be cunning, he did not know any magic.He wanted to yell to Rinzen to stop and hide for a while but he felt dumbstruckand his mind could not find a real reason for any delay. So, he followedthem, with the growing certainty that they were walking into a trap.60 61

CHAPTER SEVENTHE LIBRARY62 63

Their progress was slow. Ethan felt his heart beating against his ribs as theymade their way deeper into the mountain towards the library. He found himselflooking back every few seconds to see if anyone was following. Rinzen had leftNima to follow some distance behind and raise the alarm if she saw the men inpursuit.From the cold rooms right at the bottom to the highest levels of the palacethey climbed until they reached the curved dome that Ethan had seen when he hadfirst entered the town.The room under the dome was empty. It had two doors, the one they hadjust entered and the one facing them. The roof of the dome had clouds painted allover it and among the clouds were painted red dragons playing with balls of fire.The painting above was so real Ethan thought he saw the clouds moving and thedragons looking at him playfully.Lying by the door in front of them was a pile of stones. The oddest pile ofstones Ethan had ever seen. The more he looked at it, the more it looked like asleeping man made of stone. Ethan calmed his fast-beating heart by telling himselfthat if that thing were alive, it would have woken up the moment they had entered.Rinzen and the king walked to the centre of the room right where thefloor tiles in their mosaic design converged. They pressed their hands together asone would do in prayer and started to sing. The song was half song, half chant andhypnotising.Ethan closed his eyes and listened. They were singing in a language he didnot know but to his surprise, the more he allowed himself to fall into the rhythmof the song, the more he could understand it. They were singing about the circle oflife and invoking the elements that were dependant on each other. He shudderedinvoluntarily as he felt its magical powers seep through his blood. Then his jawdropped.As they sang, the pile of stones in front of the door started to move and arrangeitself. It moved one stone at a time, some piling on top of another, othersjoining in at the sides. Ethan recognised the creature forming before his eyes as astone elemental. It now towered over them all.64 65

The sight of it was enough to strike fear in Ethan. It could kill all ofthem with a swing of its arm. It turned around, and began to push open the door.It became clear to him then that without the stone elemental, they would neverhave been able to open that door—a door of marble, patterned in shades of whiteand brown rust with natural red swirls. When he had the door fully opened, thestone elemental went back to its original position and fell back into its former pileof stones.“You three go ahead. I will keep watch,” said the advisor.“Let Nima stay with you. Her ears are sharp and you can send her towarn us of any danger,” Rinzen added, with glowing sparks in her eyes, the aftereffects of invoking magic.With those words, Rinzen, Ethan and the king went through thedoors. They continued deeper into the mountain for what seemed like a longtime. The walls were of cold stone but were lit with a glow of their own. As theywalked further in, Ethan realised that there were indeed glow-worms that hadmade their home on the stone walls. They were as fat as his fingers with nearlytranslucent bodies. Staring at one closely, Ethan saw the creature’s heart beatingagainst the luminous skin and with each heartbeat, the heart let out a glow thatencased the bug in a yellow light.“Can they be eaten?” quipped his lizard who had chosen that momentto make his appearance after a long bout of silence.“If you ate any, I would personally hang you and roast you in thetoaster when we got back home,” said Ethan absently-mindedly as he continuedto watch the bugs.“I’m hungry,” grumbled the lizard, then who reluctantly, sank backto into silence.Fascinated by the bugs, Ethan momentarily forgot about his missionand soon, was at some distance away from Rinzen and the king who wereconcentrating on the path ahead. When he found that he had lost sight of them,he picked up speed and ran after them. In his haste, he tripped and fell into apuddle of water. When he got up, he found himself surrounded by what lookedlike angry sprites, buzzing at him in a language he could not understand. One ofthem somehow got entangled with his lizard and they struggled for a momentbefore the lizard decided it was too feisty to be worth eating, lost interest and letit go. The sprites soon scattered after voicing their anger and Ethan saw that hewas now out of the stone passage.His eyes grew wide as he found himself in the most amazing placehe had ever been. He was in a monstrously large cavern and built into the wallsall around and above him were shelves full of books. The shelves reached all theway up to the ceiling and everywhere he looked, there were books, books, andmore books. Even in small stone niches, there were books, some as small as his66 67

hand and others as thick as his thigh.Right down the centre of the cavern was a pool that reflected the stalactiteshanging high above it. Around the pool were stones with their top smoothened toform tables and chairs. It looked like a place that had once had a large number ofpeople walking in and out and learning from the books. Now it was empty, withonly sprites flying around.“It’s beautiful, is it not?” said Rinzen from his left. “A long time ago,when everyone understood the magic and knew how to use that knowledge responsibly,the library was open to everyone. But now, people have become greedyand power is a dangerous thing to have, as magic in the wrong hands can causegreat harm. These days, it is only a few who are chosen by the dragon to be speciallynurtured who will be able to draw from the magical source that is in thislibrary.”“What do the sprites do? They seemed to be upset with me earlier,”asked Ethan.“The sprites?” Rinzen laughed. “They are the guardians of the library.They take care of the books; keep things in order and do whatever else it takes toprotect the books. They are harmless. They just do not like noise and you madequite a splash before you entered.”It was the first time Ethan had heard Rinzen laugh and its pleasantsound ringed in his ears, like a fresh breeze entering the library.“Rinzen, do you know where the portal books are?” asked the kingwith quiet urgency, directing the topic back to what was important. “I am worriedthat we may not be alone for long.”Rinzen nodded and walked over to a group of sprites and soon, theywere flying up to one of the higher shelves at the further end. It did not take themlong to bring Rinzen the book she wanted. It was a bigger than average-size book,the size of an encyclopedia with a mirror on the front cover. Rinzen flipped it openand started skimming through the pages at incredible speed, finishing one pageevery few seconds.68 69

CHAPTER EIGHTDOUBLE BETRAYALBarely a minute had passed when she picked out a page and detached the mirrorfrom the front cover. She passed the mirror and the two emerald stones she hadbeen holding to Ethan and was about to start reading aloud from the page when shestopped short, her eyes fixed on the entrance to the cavern .Ethan followed the direction of her eyes and saw a large number ofsprites clustered at the entrance. Then, he heard a voice he knew he had been wishinghe would not hear while he was there.70 71

“What’s this?” said a gruff voice. “Magical creatures eh?” The man grabbed one ofthe sprites and squeezed it until it stopped moving. The rest of the sprites flew away in terror.“That was not too difficult to settle.”Ethan stared at his uncle Richard in horror. He could not believe his uncle hadjust committed murder and even though the thing he had killed was not human, it hadstill been a living thing. Meanwhile, Rinzen had been dealing with another shock. Standingjust behind Ethan’s uncle was none other than the king’s advisor.“So that is the reason you could spirit me out of the king’s room andwhy we rescued the king without any problem. It was you. All along it had beenyou,” Rinzen shouted angrily, partly at the advisor and partly at herself for beingso blind and foolish.Ethan’s uncle patted the advisor on the back heartily. “We neededto let the man rescue you so that you would trust him and open the way for us.”He then flashed Ethan a big grin displaying his rotted teeth. “Ethan my boy, whowould have thought that you would be here too? Well, why don’t you come overhere, by my side and we can be rich together. You and your family would nothave to live in that small miserable apartment. Think about it. With the ability tomake gold, you could afford a big house and have all the things and space you’dever want. Doesn’t that sound good?”“You know him?!” exclaimed Rinzen. She felt as if her heart werebreaking, so hurt she was by this betrayal. “I thought you were a friend sent bythe dragon.”“I am. I was.” said Ethan “I don’t understand what is happening too.But I am on your side.” He looked at his uncle and suddenly finding his voice, heshouted, “Why? Tell me why you are doing this!”“I am frankly disappointed in you. I thought you were a lot smarterthan that. You see, we have known of this place for a while and we have beencoming here dressed as traders to buy their gold. Gold is cheap here and one day,we found out that it is because these people have the ability to turn any metalinto gold. Then we decided to make ourselves known to the king as foreign visitorsover a week ago so we could learn their secret. Can you imagine how rich wecould be if we knew the secret of alchemy? We could turn cheap, unwanted scrapmetal into expensive gold. We would not need to travel here all the time. We canjust make all the gold we want back home,” his uncle said in a satisfied voice.“I’m sorry, young mistress. A part of me regrets that things have had to cometo this but the prospects are much better in his part of the world,” the advisor said looking“This is wrong!” Ethan said decisively. “I won’t let you hurt theseRinzen in the eye without remorse or fear in his face. “Here I am just an advisor but imaginethe many worlds out there for me to conquer. With the magical knowledge that I havepeople!”been accumulating while you and your king have been busy running the place, I can easily“You? What can you do? We outnumber all of you three to one andbecome the most powerful man around, especially in non-magical worlds.”72 73

you have always been a weak, sickly boy. There is nothing you can do. My advice to youis to join me. I do not want to hurt you,” said his uncle mockingly. “Come on, stop being asilly boy and be a man. All this talk of right and wrong when you do not fully understandit yourself. Take it from me, a man who has seen many things, right is always where themoney is.”As he finished, three of his men rushed towards Rinzen, tied her hands behindher back and pushed her down so she would not be able to run. At the same time, theadvisor walked towards the king to prevent him from assisting Rinzen in any way.“You!” the king spat, “how can you be so disloyal to your people? Have youno pride in your country?”Ethan snapped into action and ran to Rinzen’s side to try and pry her freefrom the men. There was a struggle and Ethan managed to kick one of the men in theknees. The sprites came in full force to help, momentarily distracting the men as they hadto grab the sprites one by one to injure them. The advisor soon came to the men’s aid,chanting to disable the sprites and together with the strength of 3 grown men, it becametoo much for Ethan and he fell to his knees, pushed to the ground by the his uncle himself.“Look into the mirror! Look into the mirror!” Rinzen told Ethan desperately.Ethan suddenly realised he was still holding the mirror and the emeralds. “You havepower within yourself. All you have to do is concentrate and think of the task you wereasked to do by the dragon. I will guide your thoughts to the right words.”At the same moment that Ethan obeyed, he heard in his mind a chanting in the languagethat he recognised as the one which the sprites had used. Unlike the song that theking and Rinzen had sung together, this tune was discordant and the words out of time,like musical notes thrown out from their bars.Ethan looked into the mirror and realised that it had started to fog.“Stop!” Ethan’s uncle yelled and suddenly, Ethan heard a gunshot and felthands grab his waist.“No!!!” But it was too late.74 75

CHAPTER NINEA SPECIAL DOLL76 77

Ethan was lying on green grass again. Not too far away stood a small stonemountain with a lake at its foot. The place looked incredibly familiar, but feelingslightly disoriented, Ethan could not remember where he was.His lizard jumped on the ground into the spot of sunlight next to him andlet out a hiss. Ethan stared at his lizard… It could no longer speak! The lizard washissing at someone else and Ethan’s heart dropped. Not too far off, the advisorwas lying unconscious on the ground. The spell must have brought them bothback, Ethan thought desperately.Adventures were not supposed to end this way. They were supposed to behappy with all the bad guys punished. The bad person was not supposed to beyour uncle either. To Ethan, it had all gone terribly wrong. Worse still, he broughtback someone from another world. He looked at his hands and found that he washolding the two emerald stones instead of the mirror and the realisation that hestill had a task to complete hit him.He got to his feet immediately and started to run home. If he was not dreamingthen he could go back. If he could get the eyes back to the dragon, maybe, itcould go back and save Rinzen and the whole kingdom.It did not take him long to reach home. He rushed passed the living roomand into his room, stumbling over the bundles of bags left lying on the ground. Hequickly slotted each of the stones into the dragon statue’s empty eye sockets.For a moment, nothing happened. However, just before Ethan was about topick up the statue and throw it to the floor in frustration, the dull tone on the statuestarted to fade away and the dragon scales turned lifelike and shiny. The statueno longer looked like an imitation from some souvenir shop but a real dragon sealmade of real gold and a dragon that was almost alive in its likeness.Ethan prodded the dragon, expecting it to speak but it said nothing. Atfirst, he was worried that he had made a mistake and missed out a step. Then heremembered that the dragon only said to bring back the eyes without any furtherinstruction. He felt disappointed and cheated, as if everything had amounted tonothing. If the dragon statue could not go back to where it had come from, thepeople of Chushan would have lost their protector for ever.Suddenly, his knees felt weak and he collapsed to the ground, one handholding the statue and another pressing the side of his head in a useless attempt tostop it from spinning. The sensation was somewhat familiar but this time, insteadof feeling confused and uncertain, Ethan was sure of where he was heading. Andhe did want to go back. Desperately.Then he remembered everything that had happened and he started tolaugh and cry. He was home. He was in Little Guilin Park, back home in Singaporeand a stone’s throw from his home. But knowing he was home also meantThey could not be touched and it was cold every time he was in the middle ofEthan opened his eyes and found little cotton-like pieces moving pass him.that he could not go back to help Rinzen. She had been shot and that was the end.one. After a while, he realised that they were clouds and it was he himself, not the78 79

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clouds, who was moving and moving fast.“You lack patience and even more so faith. I must say I expected more ofyou,” said a familiar voice.Ethan nearly lost his balance, this time in shock from the realisation that hewas not riding a dragon. He gripped hard with his knees to avoid falling. The sensationof dragon scales against his skin was not very pleasant: Cold and slippery.Ethan looked down and felt a sudden rush of vertigo. He tried to stop imagininghimself falling through the thin layer of clouds. From the top, the mountainslooked like hills. But they were growing bigger with every passing moment as thedragon started its descent.“Patient or not, I must thank you, young one. Without you, my people and Iwould be separated forever in the sands of the many universes that lie within ourtwo worlds. Now that I am back, we must set right what has been made wrong. Ifyou look down now, you will see the town. We will land just outside it,” said thedragon.Ethan could not reply, partly from the fear of being so high up and partlybecause the air was thin and it took up all his energy to concentrate on breathing.He looked down and saw the town. They were heading to the open field outsidethe town gates.The dragon slowed down as it prepared to land with its claws outstretchedto break the fall. Soon, they were on the ground and Ethan slid clumsily off thedragon’s back.sight of a the long red dragon walking by the side of a boy no more than ten yearsold. Ethan felt a lot braver with a huge dragon next to him. He had never quite appreciatedthe size of the creature until now.“Fools! What are you standing there for? Get your guns and shoot thatdragon,” yelled Ethan’s pudgy uncle.Ethan was never quite sure what happened next. He heard a voice in hishead and when he repeated the words in his mind, he called forth an elegantsword, one that was light but no less deadly. The dragon took to the air and circledthe men and most them dropped their guns in fear.However, that was not what stopped the men. The people of the town hadneeded some kind of incentive to overcome their fear of the guns. The threat to killtheir god and protector had suddenly stirred them into action. The moment themen hesitated when the dragon circled them, they took the opportunity to strike.With raised sticks, pots and pans and all sorts of things, the townsfolk attacked.The townsfolk were a force to be reckoned with. Ethan saw them pummelthe men who were taking their gold. He saw a man being hit on his head by abroom and another tripped by a child who dove in between his legs. In a matter ofminutes, the people had all the men tied up and loaded onto the wagon. Ethan’suncle was not among them.Suddenly, Ethan felt a strong blow to his back. He stumbled forward butmanaged to catch his balance before he landed on the ground, turning just in timeto use his sword to parry another blow. Ethan was surprised at his own agilityand found confidence in it. The fight carried on for a minutes, Ethan growing instrength and ferocity, party out of anger over Rinzen’s death. His uncle was nomatch for his speed and soon Ethan had his sword at his uncle’s throat.A huge crowd had already gathered at the gates. There, at the entrance,Ethan’s uncle and his men were loading huge quantities of gold on a wagon; theold king was their hostage. Rinzen was nowhere in sight. Ethan’s uncle had a“Do not move or try to escape. The sword is sharp and can take your lifebook clutched tightly under his arm and Ethan assumed that it was the book thateasily,” commanded Ethan with newfound authority in his voice.contained the charm to turn metal into gold.“Well done,” commented the dragon approvingly.Ethan and the dragon approached the men in full view of the people andone by one, they dropped what they were doing and stared in disbelief at theEthan nodded, breathless from his fight and handed over his uncle, who82 83

your help. You will need to find them and set things right as you have done here.You must also stop the advisor from using his knowledge to bring harm.”Ethan was speechless. Next few quests? He could not believe this was happening.Ignoring Ethan’s look of protest, the dragon continued, “Rinzen, as you workis done here, you will accompany Ethan on his next few quests.”“Me?” asked Rinzen, “how about the role of dragonkeeper?”“Do not worry about that. The apprentices are many. I am sure one will riseto take your place. The two of you have a greater task ahead. Go with my blessing.Good luck.”“Wait! Why me? All these tasks, is it an accident that I have been chosen? Oris it for a particular reason? I must know if I am to continue in this,” said Ethan,feeling indignant“Must there always be a reason? Children always have a lot of questions.”The dragon shook its head and said, “There are no accidents in the world, justpossible ways of reaching an end. It would have been you either way. It was just amatter of timing. Perhaps, there is more to you than meets the eye. I am not privy tothat part of your life and I too wait eagerly to know how this next story will unfold.“I have another question! How would she be able to come back with me? Ican’t have a girl staying in my room. My parents would have a fit!” Ethan protested.It was not easy to argue with a dragon used to getting his way.The dragon eyed Ethan, this time with amusement twinkling in its eyes, “As Ihave said before, you have too little faith.”“You are finally up! It is already noon. Just because it is the holidaysdoes not mean you should be sleeping in so late.” nagged his mother. Then, shecaught sight of the wooden figure. “Where did you get that?”“Errr… In your pile of things?” Ethan replied and then quickly added,“Could I keep her?”“I don’t see why not, but I don’t remember buying it.”The spinning sensation started again and before Ethan could count to five,he was back in his room. This time, instead of a dragon statue in his hand, he hada girl made of wood, carved in the exact likeness of Rinzen. At that moment, hismother walked into the room.“That’s because you have too many things, Mom.” Ethan smiled andplaced the wooden figure on the shelf, in the exact same spot where the dragonstatue had been.THE END86 87