Lou

  Lou sat deep in the cave. It was dark and cold.

  So dark that he couldn't see anything. There was only the cruel bck. Bck, like the scales of the monsters that haunted his dreams. He was afraid. The footsteps of the dragons echoed muffled through the tangled corridors. It smelled damp and musty deep in the mountain. Dusty. Restlessly, Lou reached out to Harper. The dragon sat next to him in human form, but Lou couldn't see him unless he turned his head towards him. Then Lou saw the bright glow of the dragon's eyes. Two orange eyes in the darkness. Glowing lizard eyes. Scary, but also beautiful.

  Immediately, a warm hand touched his. "I’m here! I'm not going away", Harper said softly. "Don't be afraid. Nothing can happen to you here."

  "Hm." Lou bit his lower lip. He heard a loud rumble. It echoed through the cave passages. There was a rustle. Harper's family kept their distance. Since Lou was now even more afraid of the dragons, Harper's entire family had taken human form when he was brought here. They were very friendly and spoke in a calm voice. Lou didn't know how to respond to her kindness. But they remained dragons. White dragons.

  Now that Lou was alone in the cave with Harper, they didn't have to. Now and then he heard thunderous footsteps, rumbling, roaring... He narrowed his eyes.

  Lou knew that white dragons weren't much of a threat, but even that knowledge didn't help his fear. Their wings are beautiful. And their scales. But... He remembered sharp teeth and shuddered.

  ?I’m cold!", he mumbled.

  "I can change that!" Harper announced. The next moment, Lou felt one of the soft wings again. "Better?"

  Lou nodded. Until he remembered that it was very dark. Could Harper see it if he just nodded? "Oh. Yes, better!", he said sheepishly, but the dragon ughed.

  "I see well in the dark, Vivi!"

  "You do?" Lou was hardly used to conversations. He had only ever exchanged a few words with his mother, and occasionally with Remy. Most of the time he was left alone. But now this was different. Even the sound of his own voice seemed a little strange to Lou whenever he heard it. As if it didn't belong to him. As if it was a strange being bursting out of him and disturbing his silence. "You can see in the dark? Even as a human?"

  "Yes! I can see everything very well. We are sitting in a rge vault. The stone sparkles in some pces. If you break it out and grind it, you get wonderfully glittering stones. Diamonds! We are sitting on what you humans call a fortune. I have heard that the wise men have asked to be allowed to rob the rocks of our caves of their treasures! Cheeky."

  "Oh." That didn't sound very nice... Strange. Why should the wise do this? They are wise.

  "Do you want me to break a stone out for you?", Harper asked suddenly. The two boys sat close to each other. Harper held the hand that Lou had held out to him.

  "A stone?"

  "Yes. They sparkle beautifully." Harper's eyes glowed with excitement all the more.

  "Do you like things that sparkle?"

  "All dragons like things that sparkle!" The dragon snorted indignantly. "Who doesn't like them? Nice stuff. Your eyes sparkle beautifully, too."

  "Hm." Lou didn't know how to respond. He didn't own anything beautiful. He'd seen beautiful things in Remy's room, but the sight of the riches had made him all the more uneasy. Lou belonged in the dirt, not in good, expensive clothes, in beautiful rooms... My eyes sparkle?

  "Yes. I'll give you a sparkle stone!" The next moment, Lou sensed something very strange and wet to him. Then Harper jumped up. The dragon had kissed Lou's cheek, which now felt uncomfortably hot. Lou's stomach tingled unusually until the cold of the cave teased him again.

  "Haper! It's cold!", he wailed. Then something crashed. "Harper!"

  "I'm done already!", shouted the dragon and hurried back to him. He took one of Lou's hands and pced a cool stone in it as he wrapped Lou in his wings. "In the sunlight, you can see the sparkle of the demolition surface. It also sparkles unpolished. But not as beautiful as polished. A particurly rge number of these stones can be found in our sanctuary."

  "Sanctuary?" Lou snuggled up to Harper's wing and weighed the stone into one of his hands. It was big and heavy. But not too heavy. Sparkle Stone... My Sparkle Stone?

  "Where all our eggshells are! They also shimmer so beautifully. We'll keep them there. Every eggshell of every dragon born here. In between are a few feathers and the stones. We would never leave them to humans. But you get to have one!" Harper teasingly tugged at one of Lou's strands of hair. "Someday I'll show you my eggshells! Strangers aren't allowed in the cave, but you might be fine to go in."

  "Why are you so sure?" The stone was cool and rough. Lou stroked the smooth edge of it.

  "Because you're cute!" Harper ughed again and hugged Lou. He was startled at first, but then leaned against the other boy's warm body and hugged the diamond.

  I? Cute? Someone ugly, cursed, like me? I was born cursed. Everyone could see it. A curse like mine is described in old stories, Mom said. But that's all she wanted to tell me... And the priestesses and priests confirmed the curse. They asked the gods. Why would gods lie? Do the gods hate me? How far is it to the cliffs?

  Lou didn't believe the curse didn't exist. He clung to it. For if he had not been cursed, why would he have had to suffer? No. He had to be cursed.

  It couldn't be any other way.

  "Lou! Don't cry!"

  Lou hadn't noticed tears running down his cheeks. Tears that Harper lovingly wiped from his face. "It's all good", said the dragon. "You don't have to cry anymore. You cry so much. Crying and screaming... Oh, Vivi. You are so cute. You'd look pretty if you'd smile." Harper sighed. "Not that you don't look pretty... Oh! Don't cry, please."

  But Lou shook his head and covered his ears desperately. The stone fell into his p. Haper's words hurt. The dragon's soft, loving voice ached. Lou's heart pounded wildly. His ears were ringing. "Please don't", he whispered helplessly. Smile?