The Eight Pearls

‘Joining us is not without risks,’ said Spark. ‘We cannot promise you will come out of it alive.’

Billy’s stomach tightened. The thought had occurred to him earlier, but hearing the dragons say it out loud made it so much more real.

‘We won’t be bringing you into battle completely unprepared,’ said Tank. ‘You will also be strengthened by the bond.’

‘There’s another important thing that needs to happen before we go into the Dragon Realm,’ said Xing. ‘And I think you are all going to like this part.’ She held up the jade stone that had been encased in Ling-Fei’s necklace. ‘Do you have any idea what this is?’

The children all shook their heads.

‘I just know it was my grandma’s,’ said Ling-Fei.

‘I wonder…’ said Spark thoughtfully. ‘I wonder if your grandma knew how valuable it was.’

‘What do you know about the Eight Great Treasures?’ asked Xing.

‘I know what they are in Chinese mythology,’ said Ling-Fei, frowning, ‘but I thought they were just symbolic.’

‘Well, I didn’t think dragons were real,’ said Dylan. ‘And here we are.’

‘The Eight Great Treasures are real,’ said Xing, ‘but not in the way you might think. There are eight ancient pearls, each of a different substance. The Flaming Pearl – a pearl glowing with an eternal flame. The Ice Pearl that is always cold and can never be melted. The Lightning Pearl with a storm captured inside it. The Coral Pearl. The Granite Pearl. The Gold Pearl. The Diamond Pearl. And the Jade Pearl. No dragon or human knows exactly where they came from, and we are not sure of their full capabilities. But we do know they provide a measure of protection over the one who carries them. A single pearl will not make you invincible, but it will protect you from harm, to an extent.’

She gave Ling-Fei what Billy thought was an attempt at a gentle smile, or as gentle as she could, given her perpetually fierce expression. ‘Your grandmother might not have known exactly what it was, but I suspect she recognized it as a protective talisman of sorts. By gifting it to you, she’s been protecting you even though she isn’t here.’

Ling-Fei blinked away tears. ‘It’s always sung to me,’ she said simply. ‘I feel better when I have it close.’

‘That isn’t all the pearls do,’ said Buttons, hopping up and down, barely able to contain his excitement. ‘Tell them! Tell them!’

‘We know that there is power when all eight pearls are together,’ said Tank, ‘although I do not know if that has ever happened. The Dragon of Death was trying to find all eight, but only managed to locate one.’

‘Not that!’ Buttons burst out. ‘Tell them the other thing about the pearls. The thing they’ll want to know.’

Billy’s eyes darted back and forth between the dragons and the pearl. He didn’t think he could be any more excited than he already was, having just bonded with a dragon, but there was something about the way Buttons was talking that had Billy’s heart racing even faster.

‘When a human who is dragon-bonded has a pearl, the pearl awakens a unique power in the human,’ said Spark.

‘A power?’ breathed Billy.

‘Are you saying I’ve been wearing a magic pearl for half my life?’ said Ling-Fei, her eyes huge.

‘Not any magic pearl, but a magic pearl that I once carried,’ said Xing. ‘It was lost many years ago, but it sounds as if your family has been keeping it safe. And now it has come back to me, just when I need it most. You being the one to return it to me makes it all the more valuable. Two treasures instead of one.’

Ling-Fei blushed. Billy was surprised to hear Xing being so sentimental about both the pearl and Ling-Fei. He wondered if Spark felt like that about him.

‘But it is magic?’ asked Dylan, staring at the pearl.

‘You need the dragon bond for it to do anything really magical. Only then can the pearl unleash an innate power within the human who holds the pearl,’ explained Spark.

‘So I get… a magic power?’ Ling-Fei said, staring at the Jade Pearl.

‘You all get a magic power,’ said Buttons, sounding delighted. ‘Dylan, I have the Granite Pearl for you. Nobody expected me to have a pearl, but I’ve been saving it for many years. Now I can finally bestow it on a human! On my human!’

‘And I have the Gold Pearl for you,’ Tank said to Charlotte. ‘I have always carried a pearl.’

Billy looked expectantly at Spark. She shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, Billy, I do not have a pearl for you. I once had the Lightning Pearl in my possession, but during our battle with the Dragon of Death it was lost.’

Disappointment washed over Billy like a wave, so strong it almost knocked him down. Would he be the only one without a magic pearl? Without a power to help defeat the Dragon of Death? Could he even survive in the Dragon Realm without one?

‘But,’ Spark quickly went on, ‘we believe the Lightning Pearl is close. I cannot bestow it on you, but you can retrieve it. And then your power will be unlocked.’

‘What?’ exclaimed Billy.

‘How do you know it’s close?’ said Charlotte.

‘Xing can sense magic, and because of that she can sense the pearls, the way an animal can track its prey,’ said Tank. ‘And she knows this pearl is nearby.’

‘It is in the Human Realm,’ said Xing. ‘I sensed it when you opened the mountain.’

‘I think I know where it is,’ said Billy slowly. A memory was tugging at him. A flashing orb. A storm.

‘Slow down,’ said Dylan. ‘We literally just learned about the existence of these apparently magical pearls and you somehow know where one is?’

Billy felt his ears get hot. ‘I might be wrong.’ Everyone stared at him. He took a deep breath. ‘The other night, during the storm, I had to go to the bathroom—’

‘How all great stories begin,’ said Charlotte.

‘Shh! Let him finish,’ said Ling-Fei. She nodded at Billy encouragingly.

‘And, when I was walking back, I saw something. Whatever it was, it was letting off its own light. And I thought I saw flashes of lightning around it.’

‘Billy, buddy, sounds as if it could have been a lot of things. A light bulb, a glow-in-the-dark toy, a lamp, a laptop…’ Dylan listed the items on his fingers as he went. ‘And where even was it?’

‘In the small cabin near the bathroom,’ said Billy.

‘That’s Old Gold’s office,’ said Ling-Fei.

‘Who is Old Gold?’ asked Xing.

‘He’s the closest thing I have to a yeye. He runs the camp we’re at.’ She paused. ‘He loves collecting old artefacts. He might have come across it and not known what it was. Like me with the Jade Pearl.’

‘Interesting,’ said Xing. She turned to Billy. ‘Did it light up like this?’ She tapped on the side of the Jade Pearl and, whereas the thing Billy had seen let out blue sparks of lightning, the Jade Pearl gave off a soft green glow. It was different in colour and form, but the effect was remarkably similar.

‘Yes!’ said Billy.

Ling-Fei stared open-mouthed at the glowing Jade Pearl. ‘How did you do that?’ she asked.

‘You will learn,’ said Xing.

‘It sounds as if what you saw might very well be the Lightning Pearl,’ Buttons said. ‘Do you think you can retrieve it?’

‘Definitely,’ said Billy with more confidence than he felt. ‘We’ll find the Lightning Pearl and then come back –’ he swallowed – ‘to join you against the Dragon of Death.’

‘A good plan,’ said Tank. ‘But, before you go, there is one thing we must do. It is time to unlock your powers.’