Paper Dragons #2: The Rise of the Sand Spirits - Hardcover

Mcdermott, Siobhan

 
9780593706152: Paper Dragons #2: The Rise of the Sand Spirits
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0593706153 ISBN 13: 9780593706152
Verlag: Delacorte Press, 2025

Inhaltsangabe

The adventure continues in the thrilling book two of the Paper Dragons series! Zhi Ging must face sand spirits, unexpected dragons and hidden secrets to save the fallen Silhouettes.

Return to the underwater realm . . .

Following the infiltration of Hok Woh and possession of her friends, Zhi Ging sets out on a dangerous mission to find Reishi, the Silhouette Scout, whom she believes has been lured into a dangerous trap. 

With her adorable now-phoenix Malo by her side, Zhi Ging must fight off dangerous sand spirits, power-hungry enemies and magnificent dragons if she is to save her friends and her new home in the world of the immortals. 

But as secrets are uncovered and new enemies emerge, can Zhi Ging figure out who to trust? And, more importantly, how to survive?

Die Inhaltsangabe kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Siobhan McDermott was born in Hong Kong and grew up on a steady stream of stories filled with Chinese legends and Irish folklore. She now lives in the UK and continues to order dim sum in Cantonese tinged with a distinctly Dublin lilt. Paper Dragons: The Fight for the Hidden Realm is her debut novel and was chosen as Waterstones Children's Book of the Month. The story was inspired by moments across her life: from childhood ferry trips between Lantau Island and Hong Kong, to travelling around Taiwan, Italy and Spain.

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Chapter 1

Zhi Ging leaped to the shore, pebbles scattering beneath her feet. Behind her, Hok Woh’s glass stepping stones vanished back beneath the waves, leaving no hint of the underwater realm she’d begun to call home. She smiled up at Pou Pou, the giant floating jellyfish Sintou had sent to keep her company, and nodded toward the clifftops.

“All right, let’s see if you’re as fast as Gahyau.”

They raced up the carved steps, the last of the fog streaming behind Pou Pou’s bubble like a twirling comet. Before Zhi Ging could reach the top, the jellyfish shot past, bouncing to a stop in the tall grass. He waggled his tentacles in triumph, exaggerating the final distance between them. Zhi Ging shook her head, snorting as she tried to catch her breath.

“Great, you’re somehow faster and smugger than ­Gahyau.” But her smile faltered as she peered out across the empty clifftop. Several well-­worn paths cut through the grass, each snaking in a different direction. Some vanished into dense forest, while others swept toward distant mountains. Zhi Ging took a half step forward, her earlier confidence wavering as she realized she didn’t even know which province Hok Woh bordered.

She ran a nervous hand through Malo’s feathers. The little phoenix continued to snore, occasionally hiccupping in his sleep. Her feet suddenly felt rooted to the cliff, unable and unwilling to choose between paths. It could take months to search each province for Reishi and the missing Silhouettes. What if I go the wrong way?

She grimaced and turned back toward the sea, searching for the underwater waterfall. Ami had been far too calm when she fell into its depths. What if she managed to escape and return to where she’d trapped the others? Zhi Ging’s hands unconsciously curled into fists, the indecision that had locked her in place melting away.

I have to get there before Ami. Wherever there is.

She rummaged in her pockets and her fingers brushed against the small folded slip Jack had given her earlier.

“Sintou was right,” she murmured, half to herself and half to Pou Pou. “I could use some help. The floating market can cover Wengyuen faster than I can.” She unfolded the scrap and let green ink drip onto her shoe. The dye pooled across the surface, forming Jack’s smiling face in miniature. He winked up at her, then rippled, transforming into a jade-­green arrow. Its pointed tip tugged the cloth, pulling Zhi Ging’s left foot forward. She smiled as she veered away from the steps, her shoe marching her confidently along a path that curved around the cliff edge.

“I wish we had one of these to find Reishi.” She chuckled as the arrow swiveled sharply, pointing to a new path. Just as Zhi Ging turned, a bright flash shot past her ear, ruffling the loose strands along her braid.

It was a pure white starling.

The bird swept past Pou Pou, wings rustling like paper as it flitted over the surprised jellyfish. Malo’s eyes snapped open and he tumbled out of Zhi Ging’s hood, his tail feathers fanned out in excitement as he waddled furiously after it.

“Wait, get back here!” Zhi Ging cried, as both Malo and the starling vanished into the forest. She tried to race after them, but her left shoe wouldn’t budge. The green arrow had transformed into a tiny hand, stubbornly clinging to the path. Its message was clear: the forest was not the right way to Jack.

Zhi Ging turned to Pou Pou as she struggled to take off her shoe, both hands soon splattered in green ink as the miniature hand morphed back into an arrow that wove furiously between her fingers. “Don’t let Malo out of your sight. I’ll be right behind you.”

The jellyfish shot forward and Zhi Ging pulled hard, as if she was paddling over a particularly steep wave at dragon boat training. The ink finally gave up, and the arrow split in half; it formed a pair of folded green arms, frustration radiating off them.

“I’m sorry!” Zhi Ging whispered as she hopped after Pou Pou. “But we’re not leaving without Malo.”

A heavy canopy soon blocked out the rising sun, and Zhi Ging shivered, the air between the trees somehow both humid and cold. Without the sea breeze, every twig that broke beneath her shoes seemed to echo, but there was no sign of Malo anywhere.

As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, Zhi Ging realized the trees were different than those back in the glass province. Here the bark was made up of bright stripes of color, streaks of celadon green, hawthorn red, and mandarin orange decorating each trunk. She ran a hand along the closest tree in disbelief. With his multicolored feathers, Malo was going to be even harder to find.

She continued deeper into the forest, finally spotting the top of Pou Pou’s bubble floating behind an overturned trunk. As she clambered over the fallen tree, Zhi Ging let out a small laugh. A disgruntled-­looking Malo was trapped beneath the jellyfish’s bubble, his feet kicking petulantly at the leaves around them. Pou Pou waved a serene tentacle up at her while Malo immediately began to chirp, clearly unimpressed with how they’d teamed up against him.

“Haven’t you learned by now not to wander off by yourself?”

Malo blew a raspberry at her, then turned his back on them. Zhi Ging suppressed a smile and gestured for Pou Pou to release the sulking phoenix. She leaned forward, tickling the feathers at the top of his head. “Hey, you never know, there could still be some thralls lurking around—­”

A loud crack echoed through the trees and Zhi Ging crouched down, her heart pounding as visions of gray-­eyed thralls possessed by the Fui Gwai filled her mind. No, she reminded herself. The Fui Gwai’s not a real spirit. Ami’s the one possessing everyone.

The cracks continued, each one creeping closer toward them. Even Malo was silent as Zhi Ging hurried them to a dense thicket of bushes. She pressed against the leaves and peered through a small gap. A hunched figure shuffled back and forth on the other side.

Every so often, the figure would stoop down, their back to Zhi Ging as they considered the dried curling leaves caught between exposed roots. Although each leaf looked identical to her, some were discarded while others were tossed over a gnarled shoulder to a small but growing collection of kindling in the center of the clearing. The figure twisted, their profile suddenly outlined against the murky haze, and Zhi Ging jerked back.

Even if the shadowy figure wasn’t a thrall, it definitely wasn’t human. Dark bulbous growths covered its spine, rising up along its back in two diagonal lines. The creature knelt, clinking as it bent over the pile of leaves. Zhi Ging glanced at Pou Pou, but the jellyfish shrugged his tentacles, equally confused by the curious hollow ­chiming.

The creature hit two shards of flint together and sparks leaped out, catching the dry leaves. Light blazed across the clearing, and Zhi Ging blinked in surprise.

It was a boy.

He looked a few years younger than her, with short black hair that stuck out in every direction, as if he was floating underwater. Strapped across his back were two thick silk braids, different-­sized porcelain jars strung along their length, fabric looped through their handles.

Zhi Ging tapped lightly against Pou Pou’s bubble and gestured away from the strange scene.

Let’s get back to the path, she mouthed. The boy might not be dangerous, but he also...

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Verlag
Delacorte Press
Erscheinungsdatum
2025
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0593706153
ISBN 13 
9780593706152
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Anzahl der Seiten
384
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
preigu
mail@preigu.de

Lengericher Landstr. 19
Osnabrück
49078
Deutschland

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