‘Careful, Ling-Fei,’ said Dylan, taking a few steps back.
‘I can tell this creature is gentle,’ said Ling-Fei. She walked right up to the animal and picked it up. ‘Hi, little one!’
The animal gave a small yap and licked Ling-Fei’s face, before squirming out of her grasp. It hopped up and down a few more times, then trotted towards Dylan.
Dylan let out a yell and ran round the group in a circle as the animal chased it.
‘Relax, Dylan!’ said Ling-Fei with a smile. ‘I bet it just wants one of the pork buns.’
Dylan grabbed a pork bun and turned to look at the creature. He moved the bun in a large circle in front of him. The river pup followed the bun’s movements with its whole head.
‘Aha!’ said Dylan. ‘It’s the pork bun you’re after, isn’t it? Not me.’
Dylan slowly crept forward with the pork bun held out in front of him. When he was a few paces away, the river pup leaped up and snatched the bun out of Dylan’s hand, swallowing it whole. It gave a satisfied yap and hopped directly at Dylan, who caught the pup in his arms instinctively.
‘Now you want to cuddle it?’ asked Billy.
‘I couldn’t help it! It was looking at me with those big eyes. Ling-Fei is right,’ said Dylan, as the animal nuzzled his chest. ‘This little pup is sweet.’
‘I knew it,’ said Ling-Fei.
Charlotte looked on warily. ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘My mama always said not to pick up strays you find in the street because you don’t know where they’ve been.’
The animal yapped again and licked Dylan on the cheek, leaving a trail of saliva. Dylan made a disgusted face and the other three laughed out loud. It felt good to laugh. It melted some of the tension of feeling lost without their dragons and reminded Billy that, even though they didn’t have much of a plan, at least he wasn’t alone.
The river pup continued to nuzzle Dylan, nosing around on his chest. Dylan laughed harder. ‘That tickles!’
Still laughing, Billy watched the strange creature press its nose harder against Dylan’s chest. The Granite Pearl began to emerge out of the top of Dylan’s suit, and as it did Billy realized with a sharp pang what was about to happen. It was like the moment before a falling glass shatters.
‘Dylan! Your pearl!’ he said, lunging towards Dylan. But it was too late. The animal grabbed the Granite Pearl in its mouth and leaped out of Dylan’s arms. The chain around Dylan’s neck snapped, and the pearl went with the river pup.
Billy felt as if everything was moving in slow motion, like he was trapped in a bad dream. He knew how much they needed the pearls – not only to help them stay alive in this dangerous world, but also to have a chance of defeating the Dragon of Death.
‘No!’ yelled Dylan.
‘Get it!’ said Charlotte.
They chased the river pup as it ran back to the river. It glanced over its shoulder at them, and then jumped in, swimming downstream with its head above water.
‘We’re never going to be able to keep up!’ said Dylan, running along the edge of the river.
‘Billy, you’re a surfer, right?’ Charlotte asked between panting breaths.
‘Yeah,’ said Billy, keeping his eyes on the river pup.
‘So you’re a good swimmer?’ said Charlotte.
‘Sure,’ said Billy. ‘But there’s no way I can swim fast enough to catch that thing.’
‘Do you trust me?’ she asked.
‘Of course,’ Billy said.
Without warning, Charlotte picked Billy up by his waist and spun round twice.
‘What are you doing, Charlotte?’ Billy yelled.
‘Try to keep your body straight and stiff,’ she said. And she flung Billy into the sky.
Billy cut through the air like a javelin. ‘Great thinking!’ Billy yelled as he used his new agility skills to fly through the air and keep himself on track.
‘You can do it, Billy!’ yelled Charlotte. ‘Go! We’ll catch up with you!’
Billy sliced into the water just behind the river pup. He swam as fast as he could, but as hard as he tried he couldn’t reach it. His arms and legs grew heavy, and he knew he’d have to stop and rest soon. Then, as the river pup was almost out of sight, it leaped from the water and dashed into a cave at the side of the river.
‘I’m going to follow it!’ Billy shouted over his shoulder, hoping his friends could still hear him as they fell further and further behind. Billy swam until he reached the cave entrance, pulled himself up on the riverbank and warily went in.
The cave was huge, and completely empty apart from a large pile of rocks in the middle. The river pup was running round the rocks, yelping and looking remarkably pleased with itself.
‘You are a naughty river pup,’ said Billy, walking up to it. Then something caught his eye. ‘What’s this?’ Behind the rocks was a jumble of random items, including a large claw, a bloody fang, a gold coin the size of Billy’s palm and, most importantly, the Granite Pearl. The river pup barked twice, and Billy could have sworn it grinned. ‘Sorry, buddy, you can’t keep this,’ he said, reaching for the pearl.
As his hands closed round it, there was a loud scraping sound. Billy looked over his shoulder and let out a yell.
A Bargain
Walking towards him was the strangest creature Billy had ever seen. It was made entirely of rocks, with distinctive legs and arms that were covered in moss and barnacles. An almost-human face stared out from its large rock head. As it scraped its way towards Billy, he could tell it was angry.
‘MINE!’ it roared, charging straight at him.
Billy dropped the Granite Pearl immediately and jumped to the side.
The rock creature practically dived into its pile of treasure. It stared at Billy, who now found himself trapped between
