Remy

  Harper had taken Lou home.

  I still didn't like the pn, but we didn't have a better one. And they were right. In the evening, a couple of city guards had shown up at my front door to look for Lou. He wasn't there, and eventually, they believed me that I wasn't hiding Lou. Now he was finally suspected to be in the mountains. It was unclear which dragon had kidnapped him. Since I hadn't officially helped Lou, Narcisse was ruled out as the kidnapper. Until now, the wise had had their doubts about me, but now they had to believe me.

  Today it rained. It rarely rained in the desert. The city would celebrate this gift from heaven. With music and dancing on the wet streets. Candles of gratitude were lit in the temple, the light of which symbolizes the hope of the people that the gods will give us more rain. I did not take part in the festivities that day.

  Narcisse, Basil, and Renan accompanied me from dragon's ir to dragon's ir, begging all members of our community to maintain an iron silence. Before that, of course, I had had to ask Basil and Renan to keep quiet about Lou's remaining. Both agreed. Of course, they did. Only Basil protested at first. To him, this was against my vow to prioritize the dragons.

  But Lou was now also friends with a dragon. And Narcisse and Renan thought he was cute, but Renan didn't want to admit it. He hissed angrily when we teased him with it. Narcisse finally announced that he would adopt Lou immediately, and decred Lou an honorary dragon, so that Basil agreed in the end. However, under protest.

  But Narcisse and Renan hadn't allowed anything else. Narcisse sang praises of Lou's loveliness, forcing Renan to agree with him. The whole thing had been more than just amusing:

  "Lou is so pretty! Isn't he?" He nudged Renan urgently.

  "Hmpf", the other dragon replied, nodding reluctantly.

  "His hair is fine and soft!"

  "Hmpf."

  "He smells wonderful! Sweet."

  "Hmpf!"

  "And his eyes! Like the desert sand in the sunshine."

  "Yes, yes, fine. I promise. Protesting! You are impossible. Both of you", Basil finally excimed, annoyed.

  The reactions of the other dragons were very different. Those who had offspring were quicker to agree to hide a defenseless child. Even if the child was already sixteen. Their offspring were very important to dragons. Others only agreed when Narcisse and Renan insisted that Lou was a friend. For them too. Not just for me. And then, of course, there was Harper, who was very attached to the boy.

  And one more thing was decisive. Although the dragons stayed out of the affairs of the humans, they were now suspiciously watching the goings-on at the foot of the mountains. The wise men were a thorn in their side as they began to demand more and more. More than our people had agreed. Originally, it was only about protection from bck dragons, but now a few tried to get influence in the affairs of the dragons. They wanted to use their strength to make the city even more powerful. They dreamed of more dragon riders. That dragons, even without a covenant, let wizards and witches ride on their backs. But the proud reptiles would never agree.

  And so, in the end, when they heard about Lou, they agreed. Since he had been condemned to misery.

  Only the dragons of the other riders remained skeptical. After all, Lou had no bond with a dragon. And yet they should welcome him here? Without magic? They raised the same objections as I had. That hungry dragons were a threat to the boy. They mentioned the cliffs and everything else I had said before them. In the end, however, they agreed. They even wanted to conceal it from their bound partners. As a precaution. And that was a precious, rare promise.

  Satisfied, I now sat on Basil's back. We flew back to the city to be able to smuggle bnkets and other things into the mountains ter. I hoped very much no one noticed us. We wanted to go when the city was asleep. But a white dragon was also easily recognizable at night, as long as it flew low.

  'Remy?' Basil's voice thundered in my thoughts.

  "Yes?"

  'What about your pn? The one you don't want to tell us.'

  I sighed. "We'll have to wait until Lou is safe. We can't take him with us."

  'Take him with us?' Now Basil sounded interested. 'Where to?'

  "To a dangerous pce. Lou can't come with us, even though I'd prefer to. But when we return, he will be free."

  Basil ughed growlfully. 'All this just for Lou?'

  "Of course not. But he's one of my reasons. The city is trash. We're going to clean it!" And I would rule.

  'Good.' The dragon snorted. 'I have a clue about what you're pnning. We all have. You want to go to the bck dragons.'

  I ughed softly. "You can't be fooled, huh? But I don't say yes or no. Renan is a gossipy aunt. Even Princess Narcisse can keep secrets to himself better than him. And I don't want the wrong person to hear anything. Specute if you want."

  ?Fool!‘, brummte Basil.

  "I'll tell you soon enough what exactly I'm pnning."

  ?Stupid fool!‘

  "Hey!"

  Basil hissed softly. "It's true. This boy... He is not cursed. The wise are cruel. Insane. Power-hungry! And yes, he's cute. Very much so. Above all, he is pitiful. But he is also a human being. He smells delicious. It's a risk. That's why I was against it."

  "I know, Basil. You have a good heart." A heart of gold. I sighed as Basil nded on the roof of my house. He tripped over his paws and hissed again. The roof was smaller than that of my parents' house. "Careful!"

  'Yes, yes!', growled Basil. 'I am. But your new house is damn small. Couldn't you have bought a bigger one?'

  "A bigger one wasn't free." I climbed off his back, smoothed my clothes, and patted his soft scales. Then Basil turned back into a human. He sighed.

  "We're risking a lot", he whispered, now that others could hear us again. A few neighbors were out on the streets looking up at us. Some hurried to their homes in fear. The sight of a dragon was frightening for most.

  I nodded and patted his shoulder. "I know, my friend. And thank you."

  sasi