Painting with the Dragon. Book 4. Lotus Lantern and Moon Oil

By Elena Kryuchkova and Olga Kryuchkova

Excerpts from the book:
...Meanwhile, in the Cloudy Moon Kingdom, the following events occurred. Namely: Tōmei woke up in luxurious chambers. The room had elegant carved furniture, and the walls were draped in soft purple silk. Tōmei’s first and completely natural thought in this situation was: “Where am I? What kind of place is it?”
He continued to look around, not understanding anything at all. Suddenly the man realized one thing: either everything began to seem bigger and higher, or he suddenly became shorter.
“Hmm, how strange,” flashed through his head. “What's happening? And how did I end up here? Am I still dreaming? Because I don’t see any other way to end up in such a place! I couldn’t really go after the dragon and meet those strange Lady Gekko and Lord Azayaka who did something to me? I remember they said that I would take on the appearance of Princess Uzuki, the daughter of the Ruler of the Cloudy Moon Kingdom! What nonsense!”
Minamisawa laughed. But after a few moments, he realized that his laughter did not sound at all like usual.
“What?” he stammered.
And then he realized the changes that had occurred in his voice. Namely: his voice became higher and more pleasant. In a word, it sounded like a woman’s.
Tōmei felt his insides grow colder. An unpleasant chill gripped all his internal organs. The man tried to calm down, and then his gaze fell on his hands. Instead of the usual male hands, he saw thin female hands with long fingers and very delicate skin.
Panic began to grip the owner of the oil shop even more. He felt his face, and to his horror, he did not find a single familiar feature. In addition, he discovered that his hair had become waist-length. And as luck would have it, everything seemed extremely material and realistic, and doubts about whether what was happening was really just a dream crept in more and more!
Finally, Mr. Minamisawa's eyes found the only mirror in the room. It was located at a low table in the opposite corner of the room. The man jumped up from the bed and rushed there. But bad luck! He immediately became entangled in the hem of long purple silk robes and almost fell!
“I should be more careful,” he sighed.
And again he was horrified — the sigh turned out to be so feminine, as if a gentle fairy-tale princess had sighed. Of course, Tōmei didn't like this. He already guessed what exactly he would see in the mirror. But still, the man, having pulled himself together, picked up the hem of his long robe and moved forward, towards the polished bronze disk, which was supposed to reflect the harsh reality.
Finally reaching the mirror, Minamisawa took a deep breath and looked into it. And at first he didn’t even understand what exactly he saw there. When he finally realized it, the room was filled with his heart-rending scream. And there really were reasons for this. From the mirror surface, the reflection of a woman’s face looked at Tōmei...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elena Kryuchkova
• Release date: Dec 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005501969

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 4. Lotus Lantern and Moon Oil

Elena Kryuchkova, Olga Kryuchkova

Painting with the Dragon. Book 4. Lotus Lantern and Moon Oil

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 12. Meeting in the Underwater Palace and the Dream from Which it is Impossible to Wake up

Chapter 13. Princess Uzuki's Diary

Chapter 14. The Lotus Lantern and Moon Oil

Epilogue

Japanese System Divides the Day

Book 4. Lotus Lantern and Moon Oil

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 12. Meeting in the Underwater Palace and the Dream from Which it is Impossible to Wake up

Meanwhile, Ōi, Satsuki and Shotaro, completely unaware of Tōmei following them, after passing through the glowing gate, flew through the shoji with a dragon depicted on it.

And they found themselves in a very picturesque place: near a huge lake with clear water, which was surrounded by a lush coniferous forest. In the middle of the lake, right from under the water surface, several palace towers rose to the sky.

This is the palace of my current father, Ryūjin, Shotaro anticipated further questions. And just today, my current mother, Ryūjin’s wife, Lady Shirohebi, had a new baby hatch from her egg. It turned out to be a lovely dragon girl. And guess who was reincarnated as this child?

Satsuki and Ōi looked at each other in confusion. After which, Ms. Katsushika was struck by a bold guess. She felt nervous and dizzy, and barely audibly stammered:

Is it really Ohana?

Exactly! the dragon smiled happily. Like me, she also fully remembers her past life! I was so happy when I realized it was her!

The artist was in a daze for several moments, after which she burst into tears of joy. Satsuki also wiped away the tears from her eyes and began to calm her friend down.

Ohana is back! Katsushika could only repeat this.

Shotaro also had a hard time holding back the emotions that came over him all this time. And he almost burst into tears along with the girls.

Finally, Ōi was able to pull herself together and began asking her childhood friend questions:

Ohana can see now? How does she feel? And what is her name in her new life? And what does she look like?

Her name is, as before, Ohana, he smiled. She looks like me, but smaller because she was just born. And her horns on her head, unlike mine, will always be small, like those of any dragon girl. She sees everything perfectly and feels great. In a few months, she will be able to fly, and she will join me in visiting you and Satsuki in the World of Dreams. In the meantime, she also can’t wait to see her beloved sister.

The artist felt truly happy. She couldn't wait to meet Ohana soon.

Meanwhile, Shotaro said:

Well, now it’s time to go to the palace of my father, Ryūjin. We'll have to dive under the water, but don't be afraid. Because while you are sitting on my back, you will be able to calmly breathe under water, talk and not get wet. Such is the magic of dragons. The main thing is to hold on tight!

Satsuki and Ōi assured their friend that they would hold on tight. And the dragon, carrying his friends on his back, headed towards the water surface.

When he dived into the depths of the lake, the girls were seized with fear. But remembering the dragon's words, they continued to hold tightly to his back. Of course, at first they were confused and involuntarily held their breath. But after a few moments, having come to their senses, they tried to take breaths. Indeed, they could breathe