Painting with the Dragon. Book 3. Danger from the Past and the Lotus Lantern

By Elena Kryuchkova and Olga Kryuchkova

Excerpts from the book:
The remaining journey to the house where Ōi spent her childhood passed without incident. Having flown up, Shotaro landed, and the girls deftly jumped from his back to the ground.
“There really is a dark spell here,” the dragon said, looking around. “I think I also need to check out the inside of the house.”
“But how do you get inside?” the artist asked a reasonable question.
Her bewilderment was more than justified. After all, the dragon was a very large creature. Because of this, he simply cannot enter the houses of ordinary humans.
“Oh, I just recently learned to turn into a human!” he answered joyfully. And then he added in a sad voice: “But I didn’t think that this skill would be needed so quickly and for such a sad reason.”
Ōi and Satsuki looked at each other. The dragon concentrated. His face, which has extremely rich facial expressions, expressed great concentration. And then, after a few moments, the supernatural creature was engulfed in a silvery light. The radiance shrank before the girls’ eyes, as if Shotaro inside it was rapidly becoming smaller. Shrinking to the size of a human child, the glow began to take on the shape of a boy.
When the silver light went out, a boy about ten years old appeared before the eyes of the artist and the owner of the cosmetic shop. The girls, as soon as they saw him, were stunned on the spot. After all, this was Shotaro as a child! The same as they remembered him when he lived as a simple human! Except that now he seemed a little older.
“My human form looks the same as I did in my past life,” the boy commented on the obvious. “And this appearance corresponds to my current dragon age. The thing is, dragons grow differently than humans. Therefore, by human standards, I am now ten years old.”
Ōi and Satsuki, unable to contain their emotions, ran up to the boy and hugged him. He did not expect such a reaction, and asked in surprise:
“What's the matter with you? We've seen each other so many times! Even though I was in the form of a dragon.”
“But now you look so much like yourself as a child!” the girls exclaimed in one voice. “We didn’t think we’d see your old appearance again!”
“Probably because I became a dragon as a child, I don’t fully understand human feelings,” the boy decided to himself. “Apparently this is very important to them.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elena Kryuchkova
• Release date: Dec 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005454302

Elena Kryuchkova

Elena Kryuchkova started her creative path in 2012. She writes in different genres, such as: esotericism, fantasy, Slavic fantasy, sci-fi, dystopia, post-apocalyptic and others. Has several graphic works. A number of her novels were co-authored with Olga Kryuchkova.She is inspired by various fantasy and science fiction.Loves cats and draws.

Book preview

Painting with the Dragon.

Book 3. Danger From the Past and the Lotus Lantern.

Elena Kryuchkova, Olga Kryuchkova

Painting with the Dragon. Book 3. Danger From the Past and the Lotus Lantern

Written by Elena Kryuchkova, Olga Kryuchkova

Copyright © 2021 Elena Kryuchkova, Olga Kryuchkova

All rights reserved

Cover Design © 2021 Elena Kryuchkova

Elena Kryuchkova

Olga Kryuchkova

Painting with the Dragon

Chapter 9. Ohana

Chapter 10. Danger from the Past

Chapter 11. Another Dragon and the Lotus Lantern

Japanese System Divides the Day

Book 3. Danger From the Past and the Lotus Lantern.

This story is fiction and any similarity to real people or events are coincidental.

The names of real people who lived in the past are marked with footnotes. But the description of their life in this story is fictitious.

This story is completely fiction.

Chapter 9. Ohana

Thirty-fifth year of the reign of Emperor Kōkaku (1814).

Five years have passed. During this time, a lot has changed. After the story of Suigetsu's death and the appearance of Ageha's spirit, Satsuki redeemed herself from ‘Peony’ a few moons later. To do this, she had to sell most of the jewelry that was given to her by clients and Karen, who became the cat spirit. But the woman did not regret it at all. After all, the main thing for her was to leave the red-light district.

When she finally left Yoshiwara, as planned, she agreed with Mr. Maruo to resell the cosmetics (of course, the man would receive a share of the profits). He supported this idea and agreed to give part of the goods to the former oiran.

Satsuki, with the remaining funds, bought herself a small house on a decent street in Edo. She opened a shop on the ground floor. For the sake of respectability, the woman took her surname, Nishimori. It was different from her old surname, which the former oiran, for obvious reasons, preferred not to remember.

It should be noted that Ms. Nishimori’s business quickly went well. In addition to Mr. Maruo, she found several other cosmetics suppliers. And despite the fairly high cost of goods, there were enough buyers in the shop.

Mr. Maruo continued to visit the now former oiran. She didn't mind. Even though the merchant did not have a particularly attractive appearance, he was a pleasant conversationalist and an attentive person.

After some time, when a certain time of the month did not start on time, Satsuki realized that she was pregnant. Of course, remembering her conversation with the spirit of Ageha, she guessed who exactly would be incarnated in her child.

And in due time, Ms. Nishimori gave birth to a healthy girl. Without thinking twice, she named her Ageha. As for Mr. Maruo, he was very happy to learn that he had another daughter. And he often brought various gifts to the girl and her mother.

Karen, in the form of a cat, still periodically visited Satsuki. In a word, the life of the former oiran improved.

Ōi's life has also undergone some changes over the past five years. Her older sister, Tatsujo, continued to live with her husband and children. Her mother, Mrs. Okiko, still remained in her house. The artist’s younger sister, little Ohana, turned eight years old this year.

According to beliefs, children belong to deities until the age of seven. Therefore, last year, as soon as the girl turned seven, her parents, as planned, sent her to be raised in a monastery. There Ohana learned to play the biwa and other musical instruments. Like many people deprived of sight, she had sensitive hearing. And she made great success in the musical field. Everyone in the monastery praised her very much.

However, alas, the girl’s health did not improve. She remained weak and was often sick. This worried both her parents, her sisters and older brothers, and the teachers from the