The Dragon’s Pearl

Part 1 of The Wizard Of Whyr

No one in the village thought her odd or peculiar at first. Scrubbed clean of the muck and filth of the forest, the child was thought to be uncommonly fair. But fey she was. And fey she proved to be.

The child could recall no memory of having a mother or father, nor any kind of family at all, before the crofter had come across her, wandering lost and alone.

She had fallen from the sky, she said, and so they called her Raindrop.

By some dark magic, her thoughts became realities. The child need only imagine herself biting into a soft ripe peach and the fruit would appear in her hand. She thought her narrow cot with its coarse woollen blanket cold and uncomfortable, and slept that night in a proper bed, under a thick quilt of goose-down. The small dank cottage of the crofter who had taken her in became a spacious house, two stories high with a thatched and gabled roof, and filled with sunlight streaming through leaded-glass windows. There were servants to bathe and dress and cook for her. And instead of an old cart, there was a fine and handsome carriage, drawn by a team of four white horses in jingling harness.

When the crofter worried how he was going to pay the servants and feed and keep the horses with only the few coppers in his purse, she changed them for gold. A grove of alder trees became an apple orchard. Grape vines covered what had been a bare and barren hill-side. Fields of barley and corn ready for the harvesting appeared where before there was nothing but marsh and bog. And the crofter himself awoke one morning to find his bald pate crowned with thick black curls, and his mouth full of strong white teeth in place of those that were once yellow and rotten. His crooked stoop was gone, and his bones no longer ached, nor did his joints creak. His eyes and ears were as sharp as they had been in his youth.

She cured the sick and healed the lame, the old and infirm, those whose minds were afflicted with the moon madness. Livestock grew fat in fertile green pastures. Geese and chickens lay eggs with double yolks. There was wheat enough to grind until heavy sacks of flour were stacked to the mill's rafters. No one in the village need go hungry, nor fear the cruel bite of winter when their larders were empty.

Such a change in fortune could never be kept a secret for long, and as word of the witching child spread, so with it gathered the crows - wicked souls who sought to use her gift for their own profit; but she would suffer no such evil to prosper, and the cruel and the corrupt simply vanished, never to be seen again. Only then did the people of the village begin to wonder what the child might do next. And even though the girl had never harmed any of the villagers, they were country folke, and it was in their nature to fear what they could not explain.

Nor could the child explain her mysterious powers, or where she, or they, had come from.

She was an angel, some said. A blessing from the heavens.

Others believed her to be faerie. A wood-nymph.

But nymphs did not fall from the sky. They were of the earth. Bound to the old and sacred places by bonds they could not break.

A witch.

A miracle.

A puzzle.

Rumour and gossip brought an old man to the village. His robe and cloak were of no particular colour, but shifted with the light from brown to green to blue, like the feathered wings of a kingfisher. He walked with the aid of a tall staff, and told any villager he met that he wished only to ask the child if she might soothe his bunions.

The inn-keeper's goodly wife said to soak his feet in vinegar while he waited, and brought him a jug of it, along with a basin and a towel.

You're too kind, said the old man.

Pish-posh, replied the inn-keeper's wife. Brown vinegar for bunions, my old mother used to say, and white for blisters.

A boy was sent to fetch the crofter - who appeared with the child some short time later.

Raindrop looked at the old man curiously.

I know you, she said. You are the wizard... Aldhyrwoode.

And I know you, said the wizard. You are the Dragon's Pearl.

The Dragon I speak of, said Aldhywoode, is the Emperor of Qin Xa. And Raindrop is his daughter.

The crofter couldn't hide his disbelief. Does she look Qin to you?

The Emperor of Qin Xa is not of the Qin, Aldhyrwoode told him, but of a far more ancient race. The child looks like any other human girl, but perhaps you cannot see her as clearly as I do.

I found her in the forest, said the crofter, almost petulantly, and the forest is a long way from the Jade Temple.

It is, agreed the wizard, but not for a flying machine.

The crofter looked lost. Eh?

Aldhyrwoode lit his pipe. Order us a pint of the inn-keeper's best, he said. And something for the girl.

Raindrop had been listening the whole time. Tell me more about my father, she said. Why don't I remember him? Do I have a mother?

And how did the child know you? Added the crofter, returning with two foaming mugs of ale and a glass of cold butter-milk. When she doesn't know her own name. Her real name. Or anything of her past.

So many questions, sighed Aldhyrwoode. You had better get another round in. It's a long story.

Your father's name is Ataam, he told the child. And yours is Eav. Your home is a palace built on the side of a high mountain, that rises above still more mountains, and these mountains are said to be the highest in the world. The Qin call these mountains The Stairs To The Eternal Throne. And your father, The Dragon Emperor, is believed to be the Sky God come to earth. Your powers come from your mother, but I cannot tell you her name, or where she is. That is something you must ask your father.

When can I see him? She asked.

Soon, said Aldhyrwoode. He is already on his way here.

And what of me? Asked the crofter. I love the child like she was mine own. What if I don't want to hand her over?

Would you really be so selfish? Said Aldhyrwoode. Or so foolish? Eav does not belong here. She does not belong to you. Or to this village.

Others might not agree.

Then you must convince them. You are a good man. They are good folke. And none of you can say you have been poorly rewarded for your kindness. Must I tell you right from wrong?

The crofter looked at the girl and shook his head. No. But it might be wise if...

The wizard touched a fingertip to his nose If Eav was to vanish as mysteriously as she appeared.

Why don't I? Asked Eav. I could think myself home.

Then you would be there, said Aldhyrwoode, and your father would be here.

Oh. Right. So I should wait? Why do you smell of vinegar?

Aldhyrwoode had forgotten all about his soaking feet under the table. He pulled them out of the basin and wiped them dry with the towel.

Eav laughed and said, You don't really have bunions, do you?

I really do, said Aldhyrwoode. And the inn-keeper's wife was right. They don't ache at all now!

Where does Raindrop - Eav - know you from? The crofter asked. Have you met before? Is her memory returning?

It is her blessing and her curse to know everything and everyone, said Aldhyrwoode. It was Eav who created the world with her thoughts. She is Mother Earth. And we are all her children. And - Aldhyrwoode held up a hand - before you say she is still only a child herself, Eav is older than time. The child you see is not who she really is.

Then why does she not remember? Said the crofter. Making the world is not something you would forget.

Oh, I don't know, said Aldhyrwoode. I'm always forgetting where I left my keys, or my spectacles, or my hat...

This is no time to jest!

Who's joking? I don't see anything funny about it.

Tell me about the flying machines, said Eav.

Yes, said the crofter. What are they?

The flying machines, said Aldhyrwoode, are machines that fly. What else would they be?

If you had told me such machines existed before I knew Rai - Eav - I would have thought you too far in your cups, said the crofter, but now...

And why not? Asked the wizard. Birds fly. All that is needed is enough power to lift an object off the ground and keep it in the air. The De-Xian discovered a way to create such power by harnessing the energy of the stars.

The De-Xian?

Are Eav's people, said Aldhyrwoode. De means new in Qin, and Xian means star. So they are literally the new star people.

So, what are you saying? That Eav fell out of one of these flying machines? And survived?

Fell, said Aldhyrwoode. Or was pushed.

Pushed?

Or perhaps the machine crashed. I cannot say until I have looked in the forest. Or it may be that Eav was never in a flying machine at all. That she thought herself here - for some reason. And cannot remember because she wished to forget.

Why would I do that? Asked Eav.

Indeed, said Aldhyrwoode. Why?

So, I could remember if I wanted to?

I think so. Yes.

But I don't want to?

Aldhyrwoode nodded. It would appear that way.

The door of the inn creaked open and a red cloaked and hooded figure stepped inside. Hands with long claw-nailed fingers pushed the hood back, revealing a strikingly beautiful woman the colour of ebony with high cheekbones and emerald-green eyes. Master? How much longer? The De-Xian are here.

Ah! Aldhyrwoode clapped his hands together. Thank you, Shadow.

To Eav he said, Your ride is here.

The girl only had eyes for the woman. Or, to be more precise, the soft-furred black ears that twitched so beguilingly. Are those... ?

Shadow was my cat, Aldhyrwoode explained, but cats are not practical companions.

Reaching across the table, he closed the crofter's slack-jawed mouth.

A pair of Skraaal guards were posted outside the inn's door. They bowed to Eav and called her, Mother.

The Skraaal are descended from the De-Xian, Aldhyrwoode told the crofter.

Where is the ship? He asked Shadow.

There is a clearing in the forest, she said, not far from the man's house.

Eav held Shadow's hand, and the cat-woman purred.

A few steps behind them, the crofter was fascinated by the swish-swishing tip of Shadow's black tail, where it poked out from under the hem of her cloak.

Aldhyrwoode nudged him with an elbow and said, Eyes on the path.

The trees were giant Redwoods, tall and straight, with hardly any undergrowth, and a full moon made the trail easy to see. More Skraaal guards joined them as they neared the wide shallow bowl of the clearing. The crofter had regained his senses somewhat, and looked from the tall green skinned lizard-men to the fair-haired child.

Is that how the girl really looks? He asked Aldhyrwoode.

Her scales are smaller and closer together, answered the wizard, and more silver than green.

Like a fish?

Not exactly. More like a serpent.

A snake? Said the crofter.

Uhm... Not exactly.

What hovered silently above the ground of the clearing was a long slender tube of some dull dark grey metal. There were no obvious windows, but a circle of soft blue light from an open door illuminated a ramp. Around the De-Xian airship, a score or more of Qin warriors in gold armour stood ready.

Why so many soldiers? The crofter asked. Are you expecting trouble from the village?

Not the village, no, said Aldhyrwoode grimly, searching the night sky above the treetops.

Who then?

Eav's mother.

The crofter looked even more perplexed than usual. All this for one woman?

Aldhyrwoode shook his head. No. Not a woman. Eav's mother is... something other.

The crofter clutched at the the sleeve of Aldhyrwoode's robe. What are you not telling me?

The wizard shook him off impatiently. No more questions. Say your goodbyes and let us get the child safely onboard.

But surely her mother would never harm her!

Pushing past the now panicked crofter, Aldhyrwoode said, We cannot be certain of that. Females are often unpredictable.

And he urged Eav and Shadow to, Hurry.

They were nearly at the ramp when Eav's father strode out to meet them. Like his daughter, he had assumed human form, and wore long flowing robes of black on black embroidered silk that accentuated the paleness of his complexion, and his hair and eyes shone silver.

Just as Eav let go of Shadow's hand to run to her father, there was a terrible piercing shriek, and the sound of air rushing over enormous wings. And a great beast was silhouetted against the moon as it rushed towards them. Skraaal archers loosed crossbow bolts to try to fend it off, while the Qin warriors closed protectively around The Dragon Emperor and his daughter.

Go! Aldhyrwoode urged them. Quickly!

Shadow hissed, baring sharply pointed teeth.

The crofter stood frozen to the spot. Is that... ? It can't be!

Oh, yes it can! Said Aldhyrwoode. Run, you fool!

All was chaos.

The great golden dragon roared.

The Emperor lifted Eav in his arms and all but threw her up the ramp, into the airship.

The Qin warriors did not follow, but formed a shield with their bodies, prepared to die defending their Sky God.

And with them stood the wizard, Aldhyrwoode.

He pointed his staff and a streak of ear-splitting lightning burst skyward, only to be engulfed in dragon-flame.

Again came the terrible piercing shriek.

Still the wizard stood defiant.

Again the great golden dragon came sweeping spiralling down out of the night sky.

And again that sky was lit by bolts of crackling searing lightning from Aldhywoode's staff.

The De-Xian airship accelerated away, a streak of grey in a vacuum of white noise.

The piercing cry echoed one last time.

And then the great golden dragon -