Dragon Moon by Carole Wilkinson Page A

dragon, rearing a whole brood of them would be no trouble at all. In fact, she would enjoy it.
    As she walked, Ping thought about Danzi and the long journey they had made together. They had travelled from the western border of the Empire to where it ended in the east on the shores of Ocean. The Empire was green and lush when she had travelled with Danzi. Now it was dusty and dry from lack of rain.
    Danzi was a dragon of few words, but his son was a chatterbox. As they walked, Kai talked endlessly. He pointed out interesting things—a hill shaped like a sleeping animal, a snaking riverbed, a large bird’snest. Because of his exceptional eyesight, most of the things he indicated were too far away for Ping to see. He also enjoyed recounting his own adventures, most of which Ping already knew about, though occasionally she would discover some mischief that he had caused at Ming Yang Lodge or at Beibai Palace when her back had been turned. The only time he stopped talking was when someone approached them on the road and he had to shape-change. Ping was glad Kai had mastered this dragon skill. She didn’t want to attract any attention.
    Ping was also relieved Kai had grown out of the stage where he constantly asked questions. Now he preferred to show her how clever he was—naming plants, birds and animals—and telling her how brave he would be if they met a tiger or a dragon hunter. Ping grunted occasionally to show that she was listening, though much of the time her thoughts were elsewhere.
    As Kai recounted the story of how he’d been stuck inside a vase at Ming Yang Lodge, more than half of Ping’s attention was on what they would eat for their evening meal. She saw a slight movement out of the corner of her eye. It looked like something had fallen from the saddlebag. She stopped and looked back.
    “Did you drop something, Kai?” she asked.
    “No,” the dragon replied.
    “Are you sure?”
    As she checked the ties on the bag, she noticed something lying on the road behind them. She went back to pick it up. It was one of Kai’s purple scales.
    “Are you feeling all right?” she asked anxiously, hurrying back to the dragon and feeling the tips of his ears. “Do you have a fever?”
    “Kai is feeling well.”
    He scratched himself behind his left shoulder. Another scale fell off.
    “Is it the bag? It must be rubbing your scales and making them fall out.”
    “No, Kai’s scales are tough, like a soldier’s armour.”
    Ping made the dragon sit down while she looked at his tongue, felt his pulse at each ankle, and peered into his eyes. He seemed to be perfectly healthy. As she examined his scales, another one came off in her hand.
    “What’s happening to you, Kai?” exclaimed Ping, now very alarmed. “Why are your scales falling out?”
    “Moulting,” Kai said calmly.
    “Moulting?”
    “Like goats losing their winter coat. Like a snake changing its skin.”
    Ping looked closer at the part of the dragon’s hide where this latest scale had fallen out. In the space between the hard, leathery purple scales there was a soft new one. It was pale green and shimmered when it caught the sun. There were more pale green patches where the other scales had fallen out.
    “You’re changing colour,” Ping said in amazement. “The purple scales must be your baby scales.”
    Kai twisted his neck and lifted his leg to try and see. He lost his balance and fell over. He rolled on his back, but still couldn’t get a glimpse of his new scales.
    “What colour are they?” he asked.
    “Green,” Ping said. “A beautiful, soft green like new spring grass.”
    Kai made tinkling sounds. “Same as Father,” he said.
    She smiled. “Yes. The same as Danzi.”
    He dug a hole and scooped the purple scales into it, then covered them over with dirt.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Don’t want people to find scales.”
    Ping set a fast pace, but their progress was much slower than when they had been in the carriage. At the palace