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HEARING a Yulan lullaby, the birds nesting in the Guidepost Tree responded with their own songs. The autumn insects chirped melodies of love as well.
“Do you know any other Yulan songs, Fodder?” Angelina asked.
“…I do,” Feilong replied.
“Can you sing them?”
“I’d like to hear them as well,” Kyril added.
“Me too, me too!” Ryuho began pestering the emperor.
“If you insist,” Feilong acquiesced with a slightly embarrassed laugh. However, none of the children noticed the tinge of red in his ears due to the evening glow.
The autumn sun set early, and the great white, golden star twinkled in the twilit heavens. Before long, the north star would shine upon the inky canvas of the night sky. Down below, the evening chill caused Angelina to sneeze.
“But perhaps we should head back inside for today,” Feilong said, readjusting his hold of Angelina.
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“LINA, Lina, Liiiiina!”
A lively atmosphere filled the North Star Palace. To practice his transformations, Ryuho had been playing in his human form often as of late. Today, he and Angelina were playing with his favorite toy, the jingling ball.
After throwing the ball skywards, Ryuho’s face scrunched up in a pouty expression. “I can’t throw as high as Feilong.”
Previously, Feilong had thrown the ball high enough for it to disappear. Attempting to catch it while predicting where it might land had been tremendous fun. Ryuho wanted to play the same game right now.
Angelina tried throwing the ball skywards as well. Of course, it didn’t fly very high. “Yeah, it is pretty difficult,” she said. “How do you think we can make it work better?”
Both children furrowed their brows in contemplation as they tossed the ball back and forth. The watching palace ladies found the scene charming.
“Should we have Fodder teach us some other time?” Angelina asked.
Ryuho stomped his foot on the ground. “Hell no! Absolutely not!” His hidden tail and ears both popped out of his human body. Then, his tail bobbed back and forth in anger.
“Why not?” Angelina asked.
Ryuho pursed his lips. “Well…”
He wanted to become as capable as Feilong. If something made Angelina happy, he wanted to be the best at it. Realizing how far he still had to go frustrated him.
“If you learn from someone else, you’ll get better faster,” Angelina noted.
“I know, but… I definitely don’t want Feilong to teach me! Not in a million years! He’ll just make fun of me!”
After stomping the ground again, Ryuho grabbed the ball with his tail and launched it into the air. The beautifully embroidered ball zipped through the sky, climbing higher than it ever had until now. Angelina feared that it might pierce the clouds.
“That was amazing, Ryuho!” she cried.
“Yeah, it was!”
Both children cheered in delight. Though Ryuho hadn’t thrown the ball nearly as high as Feilong could, this was still the farthest he’d ever launched it. He and Angelina looked up at the sky, waiting for the ball to drop. In an attempt to catch it first, both fidgeted restlessly, trying to predict where it would land. With the ball absorbing their whole attention, Ryuho bumped his rear into Angelina’s back, which caused them to fall on their backsides.
“Are you okay, Lina?!” Ryuho cried out.
“I’m fine, but what about you?!”
After confirming each other’s well-being, the ball thumped against Ryuho’s head. With a jingle, it then rebounded and landed in Angelina’s arms. The pair looked at each other and burst out laughing.
“Yeah, this is super fun!” Ryuho shouted.
“I know, right?!”
As the laughter of two children resounded throughout the sanctuary, the palace ladies regarded the charming scene fondly.
“Next time, let’s call Mishter Dragon and have him drop the ball from the sky!” Angelina exclaimed.
“Yeah, I totally agree! That sounds great!”
At that moment, the sky darkened with an ominous rumble. When the two children looked up, they found the Golden Dragon flying above them.
Angelina waved her hand at the sky. “Ah! Mishter Dragon!”
“What do you two think I am, exactly?” the dragon asked with a sigh of exasperation.
In response to his rumbling voice, the palace ladies fell to the ground and trembled.
Angelina cocked her head. “You’re a protective deity of Jinlong, aren’t you?”
The Golden Dragon laughed heartily. “Indeed. In that case, I suppose I should protect your smile.”
After descending from the sky, he grabbed the jingling ball in his talons and began climbing the heavens again.
The palace ladies all looked upwards, their wide eyes brimming with reverence. “A true rising dragon…!” one of them shouted.
The Golden Dragon continued climbing rapidly. Finally, he seemed to disappear into the sun. Angelina and Ryuho both squinted while looking up at the bright sky.
“Mishter Dragon took our ball…” Angelina mumbled.
“And I really liked it…” Ryuho added.
When the two children exchanged glances, the Golden Dragon’s voice boomed from the sky. “Here it comes!”
Angelina and Ryuho hurriedly looked upwards again, careful not to let the sun burn their eyes. As white herons flew across the azure expanse, not a sound echoed from the sky. Both children furrowed their brows.
“Nothing’s happening,” Ryuho said.
Before long, the ball began to fall, accompanied by a thunderous roar.
“Lina!” Ryuho shouted, his tail puffing out. “Get out of the way! Don’t let it hit you!”
He tackled her out of the way to protect her from the falling ball. As a dull thud reverberated against the ground, the minuscule toy jingled once. The drop had buried it in the garden of the North Star Palace, which caused both children to break out in goosebumps.
“If that had hit us, we would’ve died…” Angelina mumbled.
“Yeah, no kidding…” Ryuho agreed.
As they stared at the ball in disbelief, smoke hissed upwards from the small crater. Undoubtedly, their precious toy had been destroyed.
“How was that, Angelina?” the Golden Dragon called out, returning to the ground in high spirits. “Pretty amusing, no? Well then, time for round two!”
Ryuho raced over to the carter, picked up the ball, and cradled it in both hands. “My jingly ball…” he murmured, turning his back on the dragon to prevent the deity from taking it. “It’s ruined…”
Angelina glared at the dragon while hugging a whimpering Ryuho. “Bad Mishter Dragon!”
“This is what you two wanted, no?” the dragon asked.
“Bad Mishter Dragon! I won’t give you head pats!”
After coiling himself around the two children, the Golden Dragon stuck his face out in front of Angelina. “You intend to threaten me by withholding head pats?”
When Angelina remained deadly serious, the dragon laughed. People often threatened others in ways that they themselves would find inconvenient.
“Then allow me to apologize,” the dragon said. “I wouldn’t want to lose your head pats.”
Angelina smiled in relief. “You’re a good boy, Mishter Dragon, sho I’ll give you lots of head pats!”
As she rubbed him between the horns, he narrowed his eyes blissfully and let forth a great yawn.
Ryuho cast a timid glance at the Golden Dragon. “You promise not to take the ball again, sir?”
“No need to worry, my boy,” the dragon replied with a laugh. “I won’t take anything precious to you.”
Ryuho’s tail shot straight up, and he bounced on his feet. “Thank goodness!”
Seeing his excitement, Angelina smiled as well. “Yeah, thank goodness!”
Both children squealed with delight, embraced each other, and spun around. When the ball fell from Ryuho’s hands, it rolled upon the ground, producing a jingling sound. As the Golden Dragon’s scales glittered in the afternoon light, Angelina savored her happiness inside Ryuho’s arms.