Blue Dragon

the reef.’
    ‘Oh well, then I suppose this’ll have to do,’ I said wearily. ‘We’re not going very far anyway.’
    The Dragon turned stiffly and boarded the boat.
    ‘Good one, Emma,’ Leo whispered.
    ‘Oh, the fun is just beginning,’ I whispered back.
    The sky was a brilliant crystal blue and the sea was a matching deep blue, almost purple. The breeze wasfresh and clean and a welcome relief from the pollution of Hong Kong. It was a brilliantly mild warm day.
    The islands were tiny and picture perfect, each with a little head of bristling jungle hair. The Dragon pointed them out in turn as his staff drove us towards them.
    ‘On the right, the large one, is Palau Gaya, Gaya Island. It’s inhabited. Not much in the way of reef there. Police Beach around the other side is good, but there are better beaches on the other islands. Next to that, the small one there,’ he pointed to the island next to Gaya, ‘is Sapi. Very pretty. Some reef off the eastern end. Small but good beach. Probably too many tourists there right now, we’ll stop and see how we go.’ He turned to Simone. ‘Take care, dear, there are monkeys on that island, and the tourists have been feeding them. They can be aggressive.’
    ‘Cool,’ Simone said.
    The Dragon pointed further to the left. ‘That’s Manukan. Bigger than Sapi. The sand isn’t as soft, but there is some rather good reef off the northern end. We’ll stop there after Sapi and you can jump off the boat and snorkel on the reef.’
    ‘Got enough gear for us?’ I said.
    ‘I’m not going in,’ Leo said.
    ‘Plenty,’ the Dragon said. ‘Further to the left, Mamutik, very small; and Sulug, only good for scuba. Anybody have a licence?’
    Nobody replied.
    ‘Oh well, the Princess is too small for scuba anyway.’
    ‘You didn’t learn to dive, Leo?’ I said.
    Leo didn’t say anything. I decided to leave it.
    ‘Okay then,’ the Dragon said. ‘Easy. Sapi first, then Manukan, off the reef. Then we’ll land on Manukan and have a barbecue under the trees, where we won’t be accosted by monkeys. Hold; I will inform my staff.’ He stopped and concentrated.
    Simone jiggled with excitement and leaned over the edge of the boat. I grabbed her around the waist and held her.
    ‘I won’t fall in, don’t be silly, Emma,’ she said, impatient.
    ‘Just being extra careful, pet,’ I said. ‘Your dad’s not here to rescue you.’
    ‘Qing Long can breathe underwater too,’ Simone said. ‘He’s a dragon. Some of them have big palaces at the bottom of the sea.’
    ‘Does he?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘We should ask him.’
    The Dragon snapped back and moved next to us. ‘All organised.’
    ‘I’m vegetarian,’ I said.
    ‘Of course you are,’ the Dragon said. ‘You are well on the way to attaining the Tao. What does the Serpent eat? I would love to see it. Can you summon it at will?’
    ‘Damn,’ I said softly. ‘No,’ I said loudly. ‘And as far as I know, I’ve never eaten in Serpent form.’
    ‘You never dream about eating babies?’ he said softly into my ear.
    I went stiff and ignored him.
    ‘Here we are,’ he said as we approached the jetty on Sapi. He concentrated, and the boat slowed as we neared the pier.
    ‘Look down,’ he said.
    Simone leaned over the edge of the boat and squealed. I leaned over as well and nearly squealed too.
    There were thousands of brightly coloured fish in the shallow water. The water was only about three metres deep and absolutely clear, as if it wasn’t there. The fish glittered as they swam beneath the boat, all changing direction together with brilliant blue and yellow flashes.
    ‘You can swim with them,’ the Dragon said. ‘You can hand-feed them. They are very tame.’ He glancedup at the island. ‘This is a marine park. Fishing is prohibited. There is a large amount of exceptional sea life here. The local people are very protective of it. Please take care you do not damage the habitat; we would be in serious trouble.’
    ‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘We’ll treat it with respect. Look whose family we are.’
    The Dragon chuckled. He concentrated again, and his smiling staff brought out bags of snorkelling gear, bamboo mats, an enormous cooler and mountains of fluffy beach towels from the front of the boat.
    ‘Are they all demons?’ I said.
    ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Human staff are much too expensive for such menial tasks. Most of them are local demons, tamed here myself.’ He