Dragon Keeper (book)

Dragon Keeper is the first book in the Dragon keeper series, published in 2003. It is followed by Garden of the Purple Dragon, and takes place after the events in Dragon Dawn. It is set in 141 B.C.E, in the Han dynasty.

Plot
The story begins with Ping, and orphan slave girl, working for a cruel man named Master Lan. She works by feeding the animals around the gardens. While she feels comfortable around most of the animals, there are two dragons down in a pit that she is wary of them. One day, Ping was taking food to the dragons and then one dragon began to roar, she finds out the other dragon is dead. Master Lan needs to destroy evidence of the dragons death so he pickles it, sells its organs and burns its remains. Ping starts to take care of the dragon better, but then the emperor makes an unexpected visit, in which he wants to sell his dragons to a dragon hunter(Diao) but then finds out there are no longer 12 dragons, but only 1, Master Lan blames Ping, and she escapes. Danzi, Ping, and the strange 'Dragon Stone' (which is really a dragon egg, a fact that Ping doesn't know) are on their way to a mysterious land called Ocean, but encounter Diao many times as he tries to kill Danzi and take the dragon stone at some point throughout their encounters with Diao, Ping and Danzi find out that the emperor has died. They finally reach the China's capital, Chang'an, and they meet up with an old friend of Danzi's, a herbalist named Wang Cao. Ping and Danzi are forced to leave early, however, because Ping spots Diao in the marketplace. While they were there, Ping overheard a conversation between Danzi and Wang Cao, in which Danzi insists that Ping is a Dragon Keeper. They soon encounter a village, and are about to stay overnight, when they see Diao again, and this time, he sees them. He captures they with the help of the villagers, and Danzi and Ping are put in a cage. Ping comes up with a clever plan of escape, and they are soon free. The dragon stone, however is left with Diao. At first Danzi is very upset, but he soon calms down and says, untruthfully, that it is okay that the stone is gone. They soon arrive at a dock and Ping buys passage on a boat. The name of the captain is Jiang Bing, and Ping likes her. They travel for a ways, but soon come to a town that Jiang Bing says she has to drop off some cargo. The town is Wucheng, and Ping knows thatrat slaughterers and sorcerers gather there. Ping says that they will go ashore for a time, and he reveals to Ping that he knows that the dragon stone is there. Danzi eventually find the stone, she has to steal it from a strange Necromancer. While they are making their escape, Ping and Danzi realise that the boatwoman, Jiang Bing was working for the Necromancer the whole time. There is a long struggle, but Danzi and Ping eventually overcome them, afterwards, Ping accidentally crashes into the a boat. the boat she stole from Jiang Bing sinks and guards help Ping out of the water. She soon realises that it is the emperor's boat. She is taken aboard with him, and she discovers that he is only a child. They travel back to the emperor's summer estate, a place called Ming Yang Lodge. Ping and the emperor soon become friends, and Ping finds out his real name, Liu Che. Ping stays for a long time, but Danzi insists that they must go to Ocean. One night, Ping discovers that Danzi and Wang Cao have escaped, and left her behind. She is very upset for a long time, but eventually decides to go with the Liu Che to Mount Tai Shan, where he will offer sacrifices to the gods. When they get there, Ping see Danzi and Wang Cao fighting with Diao. Ping comes to help, using Qi power to knock Diao off of the mountain, killing him. Ping leaves the mountain on Danzis back, and they fly to Ocean. When they get there, The dragon stone hatches, and Ping realises that it was an egg all along. The story ends with Danzi flying off to a mythical place called the Isle of Blest, leaving Ping to care for the the baby dragon, named Long Kai.

Notes

The story, while fictional, contains many references to China in the Han dynasty.

1. The emporer who Ping meets, named Liu Che, is based on the real emporer of the same name.

2. Wucheng is possibly based upon a real city in ancient China.

3. The things that Danzi is afraid of, iron, mulberry leaves, five coloured yarn, and centipedes accurately reflects how the ancient Chinese believed Dragons acted.

4. Ping learns to focus her Qi power, which bears much similarity to how the Chinese believed that Qi was.