Treasures of the Twelve

by Cindy Lin

  The Dog Heir nodded. “She should’ve been here to see us complete her most important assignment.”

  Usagi bit her lip. She didn’t say it, but she also wished to know what had happened to Uma, who’d disappeared in the midst of the fighting. Usagi had asked Yunja and the other rebel Midagians to keep an eye out for her sister. She didn’t see how Uma could survive by herself in the middle of the wilderness, let alone the Sea of Trees, which had driven away many from the flanks of the sacred mountain. Usagi prayed that she’d somehow gotten to safety.

  At least the Dragonlord and Tupa weren’t around to hurt her—or any youngling—anymore. Usagi pulled her rabbit pendant from her pocket and rubbed at it.

  Inu cocked his head. “What happened to the chain?”

  “The Blue Dragon broke it.”

  “Of course.” He inspected it with a grunt. “I’ll fix it. We’ll have to make you a new blade, too. Good thing you’ve got Teacher’s walking stick until then.”

  Usagi smiled in spite of her struggle to climb. “Teacher always said, ‘Even the strongest are tried by the Steps of Patience.’ I don’t think she was only talking about these.”

  The others passed them at a faster clip, all eager to be home. As Usagi and Inu neared the top of the staircase, he frowned and sniffed the air. He stopped and Usagi turned to look at him. “What’s wrong?”

  Nezu and Tora squeezed by and rushed off into the Singing Bamboo, while Inu kept sniffing. A strange look came over his face and he raised an eyebrow. “We have company.”

  Usagi heard a yelp, then Tora’s voice filtered from the courtyard. “Oh, my stars and spirits! Usagi!”

  The urgency in her voice jolted Usagi. She hurried up the last few steps and ran through the swaying bamboo, swept past the twelve guardian lanterns, and burst into the main courtyard, only to fall to her knees.

  There, before the Summoning Bell, stood Uma, petting Kumo’s great furry head. Her hair was an even more disheveled mess, and her Dragon Academy uniform was filthy and torn. But she was alive—and at the Shrine of the Twelve. Her wide brown eyes met Usagi’s, and she gave her a shy smile. “Oh, at last. I’ve been waiting for hours!”

  “How . . . ?” Usagi gawked at her sister in disbelief. “You—you came up here all by yourself?”

  With a modest shrug, Uma nodded. “Everyone was so busy fighting, it was the perfect time to slip away. I was going to hide in the forest, but then I saw this lighted path and I couldn’t help but follow it.” She fingered a big hole in her tunic. “There were a couple of tricky parts. But I figured it out.” Beside her, the cloud leopard nudged her arm, and she resumed scratching its furry ears.

  As the others exclaimed in astonishment and bombarded Uma with questions, Usagi got to her feet. Shakily, she embraced her sister. “I can’t believe you’re finally here.”

  “Do you forgive me?” whispered Uma.

  Usagi’s heart swelled, easing a ragged ache borne for so long, she’d nearly forgotten its presence. “Only if you forgive me,” she said, hugging Uma tight.

  The Monkey Heir smiled at them both. “You know what this means, don’t you? The mountain goddess has chosen the next candidate for Heir to the Horse Warrior. Looks like we’ve got a new Heirling.”

  “The Welcome Song,” an old Midagian tune traditionally sung before feasts, echoed off the walls of the Marble Gorge. Winter was giving way to spring, and the Heirs had come from Mount Jade to celebrate the Spring Festival in the ancient meeting place of the first Midagian tribes, by invitation of the Miners.

  Tora sat happily by her brother’s side, clapping and singing. Imugi’s snaggleteeth matched Tora’s as they smiled at each other. He and his followers had pledged to join the Heirs in reestablishing order in Midaga, and the last few weeks had been busy.

  After the Blue Dragon disappeared, the capital was thrown into chaos as his advisers sent search parties throughout the kingdom to look for Lord Druk and Captain Tupa. Most of the Dragonstrikers with zodiac powers denounced their former roles. Some turned up in their old hometowns and provinces, while others wound up joining with rogue groups of talented younglings like the Miners and the Ghosts of Butterfly Kingdom. The Dragon Academy was dissolved, and many younglings returned to their families to much relief and rejoicing. Only Strikers without powers and Guard were left, without a master to serve. Some had gone on a looting rampage, which had to be stopped by ordinary Midagians and groups of rebel younglings around the kingdom.

  With the help of the Treasures, the Heirs were beginning to put things to rights. Bringing all Twelve Treasures back to the shrine on Mount Jade had strengthened their individual powers as never before, and the very mountain itself seemed charged with energy. Soon, they knew, they would find Warrior Heirs for every branch of the zodiac. “Once the Circle of the Twelve is complete, the Shield of Concealment will return,” said Saru confidently. “Until then, we help the people of Midaga fight back against the remnants of our oppressors, and when the shield is back in place, the Guard and their ilk can be expelled from the island. They will never be able to find their way back again.”

  Rana had been made the Snake Heir for her bravery in the ambush by the Blue Dragon and his Strikers and for burying him with her earth gift, which had been enhanced by the Jewels of Land and Sea. Tora, who was steadily learning to access her visions without the tiger-iron bead, was pleased it had gone into restoring the Treasure. “It sure makes touching the Tree of Elements worth it. Maybe surprises are a good thing after all.”

  For Rana’s ceremony, Usagi had helped fashion a fine weapon—a hollowed length of wood that served as both a walking staff and as a blowstick. In a removable top section of the stick, she’d added compartments for storing poisoned darts. Inu made Rana a cuff bracelet that sported a latched container. It held grains of sand from the Dancing Dunes, which Rana could turn into a stinging whirlwind. “I think it will serve you even better than a jacket of metal scales. That was a brilliant idea, turning the sand into a weapon,” he told her.

  “I got the idea from the Ring of Obscurity,” said Rana. Her dark eyes sparkled as she slid the bracelet onto her wrist, and Uma leaned over to admire it.

  As the most junior youngling on Mount Jade, with finely developed horse speed and fire gifts, Uma was now the official candidate for Heir to the Horse Warrior. Other younglings with horse talent among the rebels had expressed interest in becoming candidates themselves. But Uma wasn’t worried. “I got through both the Dragon Academy and the Running of the Mount—no one’s going to beat me!”

  A formal invitation was extended to Tora’s brother to join them as Heir to the Dragon Warrior, but he declined. “The Miners depend on me,” he explained. “I’d rather we help you from our corner of the kingdom. But if you’re looking for good candidates, Panri’s got the fighting mettle of a wild boar and a bulletproof hide, and that silver-eyed Dragon Girl has potential.” He nodded at Miru of the Ghosts, who’d impressed everyone when she arrived in the Gorge on the back of the emperor butterfly. The young Ghost had managed to tame the giant butterfly after it had carried Usagi around Butterfly Kingdom, and often flew it around the island.

  Yunja and his little band of younglings had arrived at the gorge in their strange contraptions, which they proudly showed to all who’d congregated there. “If those of us with powers can help those Midagians without, why not?” said Yunja, patting the horseless cart they’d come in. “Make every Midagian more powerful, and we’ll never fall to outsiders again!” They’d sent their headless horses back with the townspeople of Woodwing, who reported that the wooden steeds had cut down on precious travel time for young and old alike. They’d also made progress on free-flying, using constructed wings of bamboo and woven reeds to glide a fair distance. Ji had flown to the Marble Gorge on them, accompanied by her seagulls. She and Miru delighted in soaring through the towering cliffs on her wide, woven wings and the giant butterfly.

  Now they were all gathered in the Painted Hollow, around a feast assemble
d by everyone in attendance. “No more fake food here,” said Imugi. “This food will truly satisfy.” There were roast ducks with crackling-crisp skin, an enormous roasted boar on a spit, seasoned sticky rice steamed in bamboo and lotus leaves, grilled fresh-caught fish, and plenty of wild greens, foraged mushrooms, and starchy roots fried into a delicious tangle. It was simple but filling food, brought and prepared by all of them together, and Usagi thought it was just as delicious as anything she’d ever tasted from the Conjurer.

  Upon finishing their meal, Inu, Nezu, and Saru brought out instruments to play music. The Dog Heir promised, to hoots and teasing, that his flute was an ordinary one. Several of the Miners picked up their instruments, and rounds of singing began anew. As Goru and Rana got up and danced, Usagi noticed that her sister and Tora were nowhere to be seen in the cave.

  Slipping out, she saw that they were a short distance away, sitting on a ledge overlooking the winding ribbon of the Peacock River. Beside Tora, Kumo rested, his broad head raised just enough to survey the gorge. His ears swiveled as Usagi came up and settled herself between her sister and best friend.

  “Did you get any of the sweets?” she asked. “I was going to save you both some honeycomb from the clifftop hives. The Miners say that the honey from those bees gives you beautiful dreams and visions. But I think Goru ate the last piece.”

  “He can have all he wants. This is my dream right here,” declared Uma. “We’re not hungry, we’ve got each other, and we’re safe. I don’t need honey to make it beautiful.”

  Tora’s snaggleteeth glinted, and she rubbed Kumo’s broad velvet nose. “I get plenty of visions. And these days, they’re all full of reunion.” She glanced back over her shoulder at the cave, its walls echoing with singing and laughter. “I’d say that’s sweet enough.”

  With a sigh, Usagi put her arm around her, and draped the other around her sister. Uma looked up at her. “What do you suppose Mama and Papa would think if they saw us now?”

  Usagi gazed out over the gorge as the sun slipped toward the horizon, throwing a final band of gold against the deepening blue of the sky. The Silver Sea, a broad swath of stars, spread across the heavens like a celestial spill of milk. She spied a pair of stars that seemed to glow green. As they twinkled at her, Usagi smiled, thinking of the Tigress. “They would be proud.”

  The sounds of music and voices floated from the cave, joining with the roar of the Peacock River’s tumbling rapids. It created a wild song that harmonized with the love vibrating in Usagi’s heart. She looked at Uma and Tora, and they grinned at each other. Together, they could do anything.

  Above them, the stars shone bright.

  Acknowledgments

  I’m so grateful to be able to continue the story of the Warrior Heirs, and to bring a second book into the world. It could not happen without the work and support of a whole host of people, all of whom are Treasures in my eyes.

  My thanks to Josh Adams for being the best agent and cheerleader a writer could ask for. Your belief in me keeps me going, and is a light in the dark fogs of doubt. All my appreciation goes to you, Tracey, and Cathy. I am so proud to be part of the Adams Literary family.

  Endless gratitude to my editor, Kristen Pettit, for seeing the potential in my clumsy early drafts. If this story achieves any liftoff at all, it’s because you gave me both the guidance and the space to run with it. Thank you for helping me reach for the skies.

  Kudos and credit must go to the crack team at HarperCollins. Praise and thank-yous abound to Clare Vaughn for taking care of the details; to Molly Fehr and Alison Donalty for the beautiful book design; to artist Sher Rill Ng for gorgeous cover art that took my breath away; to copy editor Maya Myers for your meticulous attention; to production/managing editors Jessica Berg and Gwen Morton for making everything run smoothly; and to production manager Kristen Eckhardt for staying on top of it all. Thank you to the marketing duo of Robby Imfeld and Emma Meyer, and publicists Kadeen Griffiths and Maeve O’Regan, for getting the adventures of Usagi and the Heirs in front of more eyes and into more hands. Thanks also to Kate Morgan Jackson and Suzanne Murphy. I’m so fortunate to be in such formidably capable hands.

  Since the publication of the first book, I’ve met and heard from many who grasped what I was trying to do, and I am beyond grateful for your words of support and for championing The Twelve. A special shout-out to the wonderful folks at Owl Crate Jr. for showing it so much love, and to the Junior Library Guild, for its recognition. To the readers, librarians, bloggers, Bookstagrammers and booksellers—I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

  To my friends in the writing community and beyond—thanks for being there along every step of the way, including your encouragement when this was all just a seed of an idea. Thank you for nurturing its growth, celebrating its fruition, and sharing it with the world. My humble gratitude to Paula Yoo, Erin Eitter Kono, Ken Min, Elizabeth Barker, Aurora Gray, Arti Panjabi Kvam, Hilary Hattenbach, Lilliam Rivera, Elizabeth Ross, Josh Hauke, Kristen Kittscher, Jason White, Mary Shannon, Frances Sackett, Helena Ku Rhee, Sherry Berkin, Rita Crayon Huang, Mike Jung, Jessica Kim, J.R. Krause, Brandy Colbert, Elana K. Arnold, Evelyn Skye, Naomi Hirahara, C.B. Lee, Cindy Pon, Lisa Gold, Laurie Zerwer, Erin Kieu Ninh, Oliver Wang, Joven and Leslie Matias, Stefanie Huie, Emily Liu, Kathee Lin, Roger Fan, Carol Young, Peter Kim, Mayumi Takada, Eileen Kim, Johanna Lee, Phil Yu, Harry Yoon, Emmie Hsu, Rosa Yan, Leonard Chen, Judy Moon Kim, Tiina Piirsoo, Darcy Fleck, Trish Dacumos, Harry Lin, Ryder LinLiu, Allie Chiu, Leslie Lehr, Francesca Lia Block, Jim Thomas, Kim Turrisi, the Novel 19s crew, the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, SCBWI, and so many others. Writing is a solitary occupation, but because of you, I never feel alone.

  Family is my foundation and my fuel, without which I could not pursue my dreams. Immense hugs to Amanda, Nicole, Lindsey, and John Paul, who inspire me every day. To my sister, Wendy, and brother-in-law, Dennis, eternal thanks for your unconditional love and encouragement. Thank you to the extended Chang clan for your embrace: Karena, Carl, Timothy, Joshua, Dave, Christina, Kadence, Tiffany, Harvey, Amelia, Steve, Virginia, and Grace. To Koo and Rosa Pak, and to the memory of Steven, my love always. To Aires, Pauline, Mimi, and my other Hou and Lin relatives, thank you for cheering me on. To-siā.

  And as ever, my biggest thanks to my parents, Paul and Martha Lin. Without your faith in me and unwavering support and confidence, I wouldn’t be here today. I love you.

  About the Author

  Photo by Joanna DeGeneres

  A former journalist with degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University, CINDY LIN has worked for Sony Pictures Entertainment and has written and produced many multimedia news features for children, one of which received a Peabody Award. She is also the author of The Twelve. You can learn more about Cindy at www.cindylinbooks.com.

  Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

  Books by Cindy Lin

  The Twelve

  Copyright

  TREASURES OF THE TWELVE. Copyright © 2020 by Cindy Lin. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  www.harpercollinschildrens.com

  Cover art © 2020 by Sher Rill Ng

  Cover design by Molly Fehr

  * * *

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Lin, Cindy, author.

  Title: Treasures of the Twelve / Cindy Lin.

  Description: First edition. | New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2020] | Sequel to: The Twelve. | Au
dience: Ages 8-16. | Audience: Grades 4-6. | Summary: “Usagi’s quest to save her younger sister, Uma, and save Midaga from the Dragonlord continues in this sequel to The Twelve”— Provided by publisher.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2019056123 | ISBN 978-0-06-282130-0 (hardcover)

  Subjects: CYAC: Fantasy. | Sisters—Fiction. | Orphans—Fiction. | Astrology, Chinese—Fiction. | Magic—Fiction. | Adventure and adventurers—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.L553 Tr 2020 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019056123

  * * *

  Digital Edition JULY 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-282132-4

  Print ISBN: 978-0-06-282130-0

  2021222324PC/LSCH10987654321

  FIRST EDITION

  About the Publisher

  Australia

  HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.

  Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street

  Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

  www.harpercollins.com.au

  Canada

  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

  Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower

  22 Adelaide Street West, 41st Floor

  Toronto, Ontario, M5H 4E3

  www.harpercollins.ca

  India

  HarperCollins India

  A 75, Sector 57

  Noida

  Uttar Pradesh 201 301

  www.harpercollins.co.in

  New Zealand

  HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand

  Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive

  Rosedale 0632

  Auckland, New Zealand

  www.harpercollins.co.nz

  United Kingdom

  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

  1 London Bridge Street