Hidden in the freezing caves, off the shore of a frozen ocean, in the craggy rocks of icy cliffs, there sleeps a dragon. He wears a great mass of deep cerulean scales. His ears droop at the side of his long, sombre face. His pale rose horns are almost as bright as his eyes. They are white, a soft snow-white. With no pupils the dragon's eyes are like lonely pearls. This is Jearie, the Pearl Dragon.
A long time ago, there lived an oyster fisher. His name was Frze. He was a kind and hardworking man who was always just. At the beginning of each week, he would go to the frozen ocean, slicing holes into the thick ice, and wielding a net in the bitter water. He would catch many oysters then in the evenings he would bring them to his selfish, but also hardworking brother, Nae. In the following days, Nae would open the oysters, looking for blue pearls to sell on the days his brother went fishing. This was the way Frze and Nae made a living.
One evening before he was to sell his finds in the market, Nae was sitting alone in his workshop opening the last few oysters. His brother was asleep in hopes of getting an early start in the morning. In the dim room, Nae had drawn open the curtains and turned off the lights, working in the moonlight. Though the stars were hazy, blending into the sky, the moon shone brightly. A beam of light was flowing into the dark workshop. Nae fumbled with his second-to-last oyster tiredly. Suddenly the oyster snapped open and Nae was filled with shock. He had forgotten all about being tired, fascinated with the pearl; for it was white. White pearls were very rare; almost unheard of to most people.
Nae slowly picked up the pearl. He held it with three of his fingers, close to his nose to observe it. Gently turning it, he noticed faint grey lines making out folded wings, in the tiny pearl. He was in awe. Never in his life did Nae see something so wondrous. It would sell for a lot of money; it would make him rich. But he was a selfish man, a greedy man. He wanted it only for himself. At once he looked for a place to hide it. Laying it gently in the palm of his hand, he started towards the giant shelves filled with books and equipment. In one hand he balanced the pearl, while he threw books and papers off the shelves with the other. Eventually he found a small chest. His mother had given it to his Frze before she had died.
Before, Nae had laughed at the gift Frze had gotten. For he had gotten the inheritance of money from her. But now the chest seemed to come in handy. He gently picked open the lid, which was no bigger than his finger. He them rolled the pearl into the chest, on the violet silk cushion. He closed it with no intention of telling anyone. Tired from his discovery, Nae opened the window into his workshop to let a breeze in. He left the room to get some sleep.
During the night, a lone burgundy pelican stitched through the clouds. She looked for food for her children in the cold town. Getting a slight smell from below, she swooped down close to a little house. She traced the smell coming through an open window, which welcomed her. The pelican hopped through it and found herself in a workshop. She finally spied a single oyster on the desk of the study. Snatching the oyster, the mother flew out of the window and into the hazy night.
Nae was to busy with the white pearl to realize that he had forgotten to open the last oyster. Earlier, at home, he had checked the chest to see his pearl. Even then he did not look to see the last oyster, that he had not opened was no longer there. When he came back in the evening from selling, he waited impatiently for his brother. Ultimately Frze came back and at once Nae got to opening to the pearls.
The red pelican flew through the shaded, cotton clouds though the day was starting to transform to night. Apart from the oyster, she had collected a vile of red liquid, torn pieces of waffle, and a small golden ball. The mother pelican soared on, though she was troubled by the weight. When the sun started setting, she made it back to her nest. She dropped off her finds at the side of her home while she softly woke her children. Suddenly the air was filled with high-pitched cries and yells of hunger from the little pelicans. Then there was chaos as the birds fought for the food. The mother made for the oyster, which she retrieved successfully but struggled to open. Finally she pried it open with her beak. The mother pelican messily pecked at the insides, eating all she could. She ultimately came to a pearl, which she spit off the side.
The baby pelicans were pecking at the waffles. One of them stubbornly tried to open the vile to no avail. It threw the vile out of the nest and in a fit of shrieking and squawking it kicked out the pearl and golden ball. The vile fell first, shattering to a hundred pieces and spilling its vermillion contents as it hit the frozen ocean. Next the golden ball fell and rolled along the ice. Lastly the snow-white pearl fell. Gently it bounced on the surface until it hit the broken vile and rolled into the red liquid: blood.
Nae was furious. All the pearls were blue; not a single one was white. He had stayed up all night looking through all the oysters Frze had brought. He stormed out of his workshop and woke his brother angrily. Yelling at him, accusing him; Nae suspected that Frze had found out about his white pearl and was stealing the rest for himself. But Frze hadn't. He was confused and did not know what his brother was talking about. Finally Nae got really angry and with a knife killed Frze. He took his brothers body and put it in a large sack. He started at once for the frozen ocean. Once he had reached it he went to the farthest hole from shore and threw the sack into it. While on the frozen ocean, Nae could not resist looking into the holes to see if he could find a few extra oysters.
Hundreds of thousands of miles away from where Nae had left his brothers body to drift in the frosty waters, a mermaid rose to the surface of the ocean, where it did not freeze to ice. Her name was Ladrarella. She had felt someone calling her, and found when she was out of the water, a fellow merman, Nigg.
"I…" she started, and Nigg nodded. She felt no need to continue.
Ladrarella was an important mermaid, being part of the high counsel under the king's rule. His majesty of the Merpeople often called upon her, having small, special responsibilities. Usually she acted as a messenger. The mermaid had pale rose hair and peachy-white skin. Her eyes were blue, though sometimes they flashed with silver. Her long fluked tail matched the colour of her eyes and drifted like cloth in the wind.
Nigg, on the other hand, was an old, tattered merman. His hair was a translucent white, and his skin was wrinkled and aged like ragged cloth. But he was still, nevertheless, an important and well known man. Some say he was a magic worker for he told advice and helped many people. He even foretold the future. This evening though, Ladrarella did not know why he had called her. She noticed his golden eyes twinkle, as he spoke.
"I have a friend, a far way from here. His name is Ziir-Gzarrar. He lives on the land, a ground-dweller, and he has contacted me. For he, as I, have felt a burst of new life, stronger than when we are born. This is the birth of a dragon."
The playful, little creature hopped about, scratching the ice and slipping. He was playing with a little golden ball he had found, one that was a little stained with blood from a broken vile, not too far off. Suddenly he stopped, surprised by a squawk coming from above. Then a tiny piece of waffle drifted down to the ground. The little dragon took at it at once, nibbling at the little frayed piece. The dragon was a small one having just been born; he was no bigger than a human hand. His scales were a shiny, light cobalt. He had rosy horns, and pale eyes. He soon finished the waffle and realized how hungry he was. For the first time, the dragon, struggled, to stretch out his wings. He quickly grabbed the golden ball, and what was left of the vile, as he flew upwards, parallel to the cliffs. He eventually reached the top and got quite a surprise. For there was a nest, filled with little red pelicans as well as a big one. The baby dragon forgot about the waffles.
When the dragon was done, he laid himself in the nest, lying on his back, with his big, but content belly sticking up. As he started to doze off, he gave a soft burp as a red feather suddenly flew up out of his mouth and down past the little golden ball and vile, held loosely in the blue dragons grip. It still slowly drifted lower, past the nest of sticks, lower onto the unsuspected head of Nae. He was tired and drenched and cold. The night was slowly beginning to awaken at five hours past dawn. Nae made his way slowly to the town.
He spent the rest of the night drinking. Then at daybreak, he found himself in his workshop, sitting at his bureau. Nae stared at the tiny chest that was opened on his desk. This is it; there is no other one like it. He stared at the contents of the chest as light of the awaking sun poured into his room. The reflection of the white pearl was in his eyes. The mysterious, lone pearl. The only one, his only one. His love, his life, his precious. These were the thoughts he burned into his mind that morning, the thoughts that would forever change him. There is no other one. But what he did not consider was the fact he might be wrong.
Many years passed; days lapsed to nights, and nights drifted away at the light of the new sun. Time wielded its power on the world. The frozen ocean, stayed frozen. The holes of long ago had not frozen over. Instead fish now came to the holes looking for oysters whose population had grown since no one was hunting them. Seals had started coming to the holes to catch the new fish. This increase of animals had added to the city's economy.
Soon the town started to grow. A wall rose, looming around the city. New buildings were built. Soon a prince noticed the town, which now looked more like a city. He sent one of his counsel men to govern it, so that there would be no rebellion over his rule on the land.
Overtime Nae had stopped gaining money because he was no longer selling pearls, being to busy with his pearl. He had been arrested by the counsel's soldiers and was brought to the counsel who punished him by making him a slave. He stripped him from all the things he owned, including the little chest containing the pearl. Nae was bought by a mystic who needed a faithful slave. Seeing how hard working he was, he was perfect. The mystic's home was a messy laboratory. There were vials and bowls full of strange contents scattered everywhere. Papers and books lay tiredly on the floor and desks. There were many curious objects in every corner of the room. At once the mystic explained to Nae his rules, as he unlocked his chains.
"I will free you from your chains, but there is no use disobeying me, for I have many ways of treating assistants and different ways for rule-breakers."
Nae was too clouded with emotions for the loss of his pearl to be scared.
"Now my name is Ziir-Gzarrar, but you are to call me master."
The counsel had personally spent his afternoon that day looking through Nae's things. He was a just counsel as well as a kind-hearted one. He gave away most of the objects to people who really needed them. But for the things he liked, he kept. One of these was a small chest. Its sides were no bigger than his finger. The outside of the chest itself was so beautiful that he did not open it. The counsel gave the chest to his only daughter, who at once fell in love with it. But she was even more surprised when she opened the tiny box.
Ladrarella had spent these many years making her journey to the city, for she was on a quest to find the Pearl Dragon. Nigg had told her of how a long time ago there where two dragons that were separated. Because of this they were miserable, eventually getting angry and wreaking havoc. Finally a mystic came upon these dragons and imprisoned them in two oysters. He had thrown the two oysters into an ocean and froze it so that no one would find them. But someone had found them and one of them had been opened. She was now searching the dragon and trying to find the other pearl before the dragon got angry and destroyed the city. But she also had a personal reason.
During the years Jearie, the dragon, had grown. He still kept his golden ball and the remains of the vile. He had made his home in the cliffs, eating the pelicans and seals that came by his home. He now had learned much. This was because of the gold ball. One day while playing with the ball, it opened, dividing its top golden layer into three parts and revealing an inside. Within there was a glowing sphere that was an electric blue colour. It looked alive; for in fact it could think for itself. Went it finally finished opening it started spilling its knowledge to the dragon.
Through out its time with the dragon the sphere realized that it was a good dragon and knowing that dragons were creature of high intelligence, it told the dragon everything. And that was a lot. First it taught the dragon how to speak, in one thousand eight hundred seventy-five different languages. It told him of where he was and the local geography, and even the not-local geography (meaning the rest of the world). It told him about the different species and creatures that existed. It told it their names, the dragon's, Jearie, and the ball's, Figgatre. But most importantly, it told him of Jearie's past. Why he was born in a pearl, why he was all alone, and why he was Jearie, the Pearl Dragon.
The counsel's daughter slept peacefully in her large room. She was deeply wrapped in her long draping sheets of her giant bed. The little chest was on a small night table to the right side of her bed. One of her windows was open, so that the room would not heat up during the night. And through that window came a monkey. It was a monkey whose owner trained it to break into rooms, stealing precious objects. The monkey was a black-haired one, with deep, water blue eyes. It nimbly walked on the walls, searching the room like a scavenger. He started at once, grabbing anything he could get with his small stubby hands. He threw it all into a little bag it was carrying over his shoulder. When he was content with the load, the monkey scurried out of the room. Over the walls of the palace, down to the streets. There, his owner was waiting for him. The monkey hopped onto his shoulder and they disappeared into the night.
The next morning, Nae wandered the streets, peering through shop windows for the ingredients his master wanted. He walked through the tall gates that loomed over the city. He moved on, searching through the stalls and stands on the shore of the frozen ocean. As was strolling by he noticed a faint voice calling him. He turned around quickly only to see a woman with pale rose hair in a hole in the frozen ocean. He walked uncertainly to her.
He walked until he was right beside her. He kneeled down, face-to-face to her. Suddenly she darted out her arm and grabbed his neck.
"Take me to your master," she commanded in a no longer innocent voice.
Jearie lay down his head as Figgatre rolled around in a small circle, not far away from his nose. Suddenly he opened up, revealing the blue sphere and spoke in a rarely spoken dialect.
"There is something you must know," it said.
"What is it?" asked Jearie raising his head.
Figgatre started to explain, "The mermaids are looking for you and your sister. They want her pearl and will mix it with mermaid blood to make a merdragon."
"But-"
"We must go to my master, from who I was taken from. He will help us stop them."
And so without further discussion, Jearie took Figgatre and flew out to the master.
As the day dragged on, the thief was at his stall, counting the money he had earned from selling a white pearl he had stolen the night before. The man who bought it was a wealthy merchant. He bought a chain at another stall before heading home. He worked through the evening linking the pearl to the chain. He noticed faint grey lines on the pearl and made sure that this wing like blot was to be in the back of the necklace when he put it around his wife's short, blubbery neck. After showering her husband with kisses and signs of gratitude, the merchant's wife raced out to show all of her friends. She was too busy showing off to notice a strange man carrying a woman, wrapped in a cloth from head to toe.
Nae was tired as he walked the streets carrying the mermaid. He was relieved to finally be at his master's home. But when he entered the house he was shocked.
"Where is he?!?!?" shrieked the mermaid.
For the house was dark, and empty.
Jearie was soaring over the town, happy to finally stretch out his wings. Ziir-Gzarrar was riding on top of him, talking to Figgatre. The gold ball was telling him all that had happened. Suddenly from down below, in the city, there was cries and shouting.
The mermaid had pulled off her cloths that were hiding her fluked fish tail. Everyone around her was surprised. She had seen the dragon. Outstretching her arms to the side she called out words in the ancient mermaid tongue, summoning a glowing ruby ball in each hand. She then threw them in the air and they flew in opposite directions, then arced up, higher in the air and started darting towards each other, with the dragon between them. They smashed into each other, missing the dragon by a hair. But the impact had blown the dragon off to the side, spinning him madly. The mermaid sent two more hitting the dragon's tail. The dragon let out a terrible roar of pain as the mystic poured out a greenish liquid from a tiny vile. The contents poured out slowly spiralling as it fell down to the earth falling towards the mermaid. When it was just above her head it snapped and wrapped itself around her.
Swiftly a shower of arrows flew towards the dragon, half a dozen hitting him. Jearie let out a howl and sent down a fierce rain of fire upon the city. Many of the buildings collapsed. The mystic poured another liquid out of a larger vile. It quickly hit the earth and caused a ripple on the ground to occur shaking all the people and buildings. This spell did not break anything, though another blast of fire from the dragon did. The crowds below scattered.
The merchant's wife ran furiously, looking for shelter. Suddenly she stumbled cutting herself on the chin. The blood dripped from her chin, flowing down her neck. It poured on the necklace, onto the pearl. Then the pearl grew. At first to the size of a fist, growing to the size of a watermelon, breaking free of the chain. It grew larger yet, to the size of a hot air balloon. Then it popped, like a bubble. It burst air in all directions. When the effect had cleared there was a dragon. A rosy red one. She had sky blue horns and drooping ears to the side of her sombre face. Her scales fit on her like a coat that was a little larger than her. And her eyes were the brightest parts of her. They were a snow-white, almost likes lone pearls. She embraced with Jearie, and happily the flew off. The town seemed suddenly silent as the morning sun rose. It was quiet as the two dragons flew off, into the sun, with the frozen ocean melting under them.