Five Dragon Pearls

Chapter 1. Whispers of the Pearl Compass

The weight of responsibility pressed down on Shenlan's shoulders like the heavy baskets of fish she carried each morning—inescapable, necessary, and growing heavier with each passing day. Standing at her stall in the seafood market, she wiped sweat from her brow with the back of her wrist, careful not to let the fish scales on her hands touch her face. Eighteen years old, and yet time had already etched fine lines around her eyes that appeared whenever she squinted against the morning sun, searching the crowded marketplace for her sisters.

"Three copper for the mackerel!" she called, her voice blending with the chorus of vendors that filled the air. "Fresh from the morning boats!"

Her gaze darted between potential customers and Shanqi, who was supposed to be collecting seashells from the nearby shore but instead had wandered toward a stall selling candied ginger. At eight years old, her youngest sister—save for baby Hongbei strapped to Shenlan's back—was a dreamer, forever chasing butterflies and gathering trinkets that caught the sunlight.

"Shanqi!" she called, the sharpness in her voice cutting through the market noise. "Come back here, now."

The silver-haired child turned, her wide eyes reflecting momentary guilt before she skipped back, her small hands filled with shells of varying shapes and sizes. Shenlan sighed, adjusting the sleeping Hongbei, who stirred against her back, making small, distressed sounds.

"I found some good ones," Shanqi declared, holding up her treasures. "This one looks like a dragon scale."

"Very nice," Shenlan murmured, though her attention was already elsewhere. Haiyan was late returning from Master Hai's workshop, and Xirun should have arrived with the freshly woven baskets by now. Father was away on another trading journey, and grandfather expected his daily visit and meal. The mental ledger of responsibilities filled her mind, each task awaiting her attention, each moment of delay compounding tomorrow's burdens.

A sharp cry from Hongbei pulled her from her thoughts. The baby's wails escalated quickly, piercing and desperate, as if she sensed some approaching calamity. Several customers glanced over with disapproving frowns.

"Hush, little one," Shenlan whispered, reaching back to stroke the baby's fevered cheek. "All is well."

But all was not well. The air in the market had shifted, conversations faltering as attention turned toward the docks. A small crowd had gathered there, their voices rising in confusion and alarm. Something had been found.

"Stay here with the stall," Shenlan instructed Shanqi firmly. "Do not move. I mean it."

With Hongbei still strapped to her back, she navigated through the crowded market, her heart quickening with each step. The gathering at the docks had grown, fishermen and merchants clustering around something Shenlan couldn't yet see. As she approached, the crowd parted slightly, revealing a weathered boat that had washed ashore, its wood bleached by sun and salt, its hull broken and abandoned.

"It just drifted in with the morning tide," a grizzled fisherman was saying. "No one aboard."

"Look at the markings," another voice added. "Those are dragon scales carved into the wood."

Shenlan pushed forward, curiosity overwhelming her usual caution. Within the boat, half-buried beneath sand and debris, lay an object that gleamed despite the grime covering it. A compass, its metal casing etched with intricate patterns that seemed to shift in the sunlight.

As she stared, transfixed, Hongbei's cries abruptly ceased. The sudden silence against her back felt more disturbing than the wailing.

"Don't touch it," came a voice she didn't recognize—deep, measured, with an authority that made the crowd hesitate.

Shenlan turned to find a stranger standing beside her. Tall, with broad shoulders and obsidian-black hair that caught the light in an almost unnatural way. His eyes, when they met hers, were a piercing pearlescent color that made her breath catch. Something about him seemed both foreign and oddly familiar, as if she'd glimpsed him in dreams she couldn't quite remember.

"Why not?" she asked, surprised by the steadiness in her own voice.

"Because it doesn't belong to you," he replied simply, his gaze shifting to the compass. "That is a Pearl Compass. It's dangerous in the wrong hands."

"And whose hands would be right?" The question came from behind them. Haiyan had arrived, her cropped hair disheveled, her aquamarine tunic stained with the grease and charcoal from Master Hai's workshop. Her quick temper was evident in the challenging tilt of her chin.

The stranger—for he was a stranger, despite the nagging sense of recognition Shenlan felt—regarded Haiyan with calm assessment. "Those who understand its purpose," he said finally.

"And you do?" Shenlan asked.

"I know enough to be cautious," he replied. His attention returned to her, and something in his expression softened almost imperceptibly. "My name is Yuan Ze. I'm acquainted with your grandfather."

The name struck a chord in Shenlan's memory—whispered conversations between her father and grandfather, arrangements made in quiet tones. The family friend to whom she was promised in marriage, a fact she had buried beneath more immediate concerns.

"You're early," she said, the words coming out more tersely than intended.

A flicker of surprise crossed his face, followed by a slight, almost rueful smile. "I wasn't aware there was a schedule."

Before she could respond, shouts erupted from the other end of the market. People scattered in panic, stalls overturning as a group of men pushed through the crowd. Their expressions were hungry, determined, their hands reaching for weapons concealed beneath robes.

"They've found us," Yuan Ze muttered, moving almost instinctively to shield Shenlan and Hongbei from view. "We need to leave. Now."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Shenlan said, even as her body betrayed her by stepping closer to his protective presence. Despite her mistrust, she felt an inexplicable sense of safety near him.

"Then stay and face them alone," he replied, his eyes scanning the approaching threat. "But they're after the compass, and they won't care who stands in their way."

Haiyan had already snatched up the Pearl Compass, its metal surface glowing faintly at her touch. "We should take this to Master Hai," she insisted. "He knows about these things."

Shenlan hesitated only a moment. The weight of Hongbei against her back, the sight of Shanqi now running toward them with wide, frightened eyes, and Xirun finally appearing from the direction of home, her dark wavy hair flowing behind her—all her responsibilities converged in that instant.