“The red stone!” it screeched. “You wish to go to the Northern Mountain?”

“Yes,” Ku-Ang said.

“Do you know horrible Haiyi?” the bird screamed.

Ku-Ang nodded.

“I will let you pass if you agree to bring me the bones of horrible Haiyi’s younger brother,” the evil bird screeched. “Or I will kill you now.”

“Never!” Ku-Ang shouted. “I have my own brother, and I would never harm another’s!”

“Then die!” the bird shrieked, and it grabbed Ku-Ang with its stabbing claws, flew into the sky, and flung him away with all its might.

When Ku-Ang was finally able to open his eyes and sit up, he saw he sat on the Northern Mountain. The sea stretched below him, the red stone was in his hand, and the top of the mountain was not far away. Although he sobbed with pain, he knew he could not give up now. Swaying and stumbling, he made his way toward the top of the mountain.

Just as he was reaching the top, he heard a loud shout that filled him with dread. It was horrible Haiyi!

“Ku-Ang!” Haiyi bellowed. “Give me that stone!”

Ku-Ang clutched the stone. He could not let Haiyi have it. Should he throw it into the sea? But then I’ll never find the Sea King, Ku-Ang thought. “What should I do?”

The ruffian had almost reached him. His ugly face jeered as he saw that Ku-Ang was trapped. “Give me that stone,” Haiyi called, “or I’ll get you!”

“Never!” Ku-Ang shouted, and he put the stone in his mouth and swallowed it.

Immediately, an excruciating pain burned inside him. A noise bellowed from his throat, startling Haiyi and himself. Ku-Ang fell backward off the cliff, slowly turning and spinning in the air.

The sky seemed to embrace him, for the wind blew around him as if coating him with a new skin. The pain from the stone began to dissipate, but Ku-Ang could still feel its power pulsating; his whole body felt as if it were bursting.

Ku-Ang stretched his hands in front of him, and, with shock, he saw they had turned into claws! His arms were covered in scales! And as he plummeted downward, he saw his reflection in the strangely still water. He had turned into a dragon!

The sea stirred. A wild whirlpool began to spin, its white waves becoming a herd of longma—dragon horses—racing to herald him in. When Ku-Ang touched the water, a crashing roar echoed and the entire sea opened, as if welcoming an honored ruler.

For it was. Ku-Ang, the Sea King, had arrived.

“So the boy turned into a dragon and found himself the king of the sea,” Old Sai said.

Pinmei looked at him in surprise, her eyes refocusing. She had gotten so lost in telling the story she had forgotten people were listening.

“That was great!” Sifen said, his face glowing. “You truly are the Storyteller’s granddaughter!” And Pinmei felt a shy smile creep onto her face.

“That red stone,” Yishan said. “I know we’re not sure about the dragon’s pearl… Do you think maybe that’s the stone the emperor is looking for?” He looked at her.

Pinmei slowly shook her head. “The red stone never glowed,” Pinmei said. “It would never have lit the night like the one the emperor keeps asking for.”

“And what would the emperor want with a stone that doubles rice and dumplings? He has plenty of both!” Suya said, but she was looking at Sifen’s changed face with a smile. She turned to include the others, and Pinmei saw that unlike her earlier close-lipped smile, this one was soft and kind.

“Maybe the emperor would want it so he could be transformed into a dragon,” Old Sai suggested.

“I doubt it,” Sifen said. “Besides, didn’t the old man say you had to be pure of heart? You couldn’t say that about the emperor.”

“Shh! Sifen!” Suya said, looking as if she were afraid a soldier would jump out of a wall. She stood up and shook her head. “I’ll go start dinner,” she said, and then added, with a warm glance at the children, “for all of us.”

CHAPTER 14

Amah fell on the stone floor of the dungeon. The guard said nothing but lifted her so she sat against the wall and locked a long leg chain around her ankle. Then, as if ashamed, he took off his outer garment and laid it over her. Feeling its warmth on her, Amah looked up at him gratefully, but he did not meet her eyes. Instead, he turned and closed the door.

“Ah, another lucky one,” a weak voice said.

Amah turned toward the voice, her eyes adjusting to the dim light. A man sat on the opposite side like a stick of bamboo leaning against the wall, his leg also chained.

“Are we lucky?” Amah said.

“Yes,” the man said. “We are prisoners. It is obvious the emperor does not keep many. He prefers to send them to work or have them killed.”

Amah looked at him, noticing the whiteness of his skin and his gaunt face.

“You have been a prisoner a long time,” she said.

“I was imprisoned by the emperor when he was still known as the Tiger King,” the man said with a bitter laugh. “While the Imperial Palace is supposed to be grander, the dungeons are all the same.”

“The emperor took you with him?” Amah asked.

“Strange, is it not?” the man said. “But he thinks he might have need for me in the future. He said as much when he had the guards take me away. First he ordered me executed, but then he changed his mind.”

“Changed his mind?” Amah said. “Why were you being punished to begin with?”

“Well,” the man said, “a giant white stone washed up from the sea and the Tiger King ordered me to make a sculpture of himself on a horse from it.”

“And you didn’t?” Amah said.

“Oh, I did,” the stonecutter said. “My daughter and I worked on it for months. But when we finished, my daughter said, ‘Father, the horse is so beautiful, but the man is so ugly! He ruins it!’ And I could not help but agree. Finally, we could not bear it, so my daughter and I smashed the man off the horse. Of course, the Tiger King was not happy.”

“So he was going to have you executed.” Amah nodded. “Then what happened?”

“I remember it well,” the man said, as if in a dream. “The guards were just about to drag me away when the Tiger King said under his breath, ‘He said I would not learn from my mistakes. Bah!’ And then he ordered the guards to stop and said, ‘Put him in the dungeon. I may have need for him later.’ ”