Lou

  Harper led him towards the roar. Lou couldn't see anything. It was already too dark. He clung to his friend and stumbled blindly after him. But Lou was not afraid of the dark, not of being able to fall down the cliffs. No. He feared the rumbling of the dragons.

  "We'll be there in a second. Better we hide first!" Harper murmured hastily.

  "It’s truly not Louise?"

  "No. Someone else. I don't know the smell. Young. A girl. She... She doesn't smell too foreign. But strange enough to be careful."

  "Not too foreign?" Lou frowned. Again he heard a loud roar. Furious. Threatening.

  "Duck down!" Harper pulled on him. Lou was startled for a moment and groped around. They hid behind a piece of rock. Here the roar of the dragons was deafening. A girl shrieked. "Harper? Who is it?" he asked agitated. "What does the person look like? If it's Nina... I..."

  "A blonde girl. As old as Nour, I think. The older ones want to chase her away."

  "Blonde?" His sister Nina was blonde. "Light curls? Little hair? Like the fluff of a chick?"

  "Definitely blonde curls..." Harper grumbled. “She’s not very pretty. She doesn't look like you and Louise either."

  "Please! I want to go to my brother!" the girl shouted. Again one of the dragons roared and she shrieked. Lou stood up and looked over the rock. But apart from the darkness, he saw nothing. "Nina?" he called.

  "Lou!" Harper protested, but Lou was already stumbling past him from behind the rock. Through the endless darkness. "Nina? Is that you?" He cautiously felt his way forward. A hand on the rock face next to him. Step by step. "Nina?" Then he got his foot stuck on something, a small stone perhaps, and fell. "Ah!"

  "LOU!" shouted two people at the same time. Harper and the girl. Harper, however, reached Lou first. The girl, Nina, was held back by the dragons. Harper knelt next to Lou, who sat up with a groan. His hands and knees were bloody, and the pants he was wearing were torn. Harper helped him up. "Lou. You're hurt again!"

  "It's Nina!" Lou murmured. "They can't hurt her!"

  "It could be a trap."

  "It's Nina!"

  Harper sighed and finally helped Lou to his feet. "Let them through. Please. It's probably Lou's younger sister."

  "Are you sure?" one of the dragons roared. Lou narrowed his eyes.

  "Yes. Please! Let her come here", Harper answered.

  "GOOD! Then go, girl. If you cause problems...", the dragon threatened. "We will not grant you any mercy."

  The girl was frightened. "Why... should I?"

  And finally, finally, Lou heard approaching, hurried footsteps. "Lou! Lou!"

  "Nina? You are Nina? Nina!" Lou stretched one hand into the darkness until a rger, rough hand touched his. He hadn't heard his sister's voice for a long time. She sounded different now. Older. "Nina?"

  Harper growled softly.

  Then someone threw his arms around him. "I'm so sorry, Lou! I was a terrible sister. I never visited you! I thought it was all true! But Louise..." Nina was shaking and her hands were ice-cold. "I... The dragons... I... I'm so sorry."

  Louise? Lou froze in his sister's arms, still clinging to Harper with one hand. The dragon sighed. "You're Nina?"

  The girl nodded. She pressed her cheek to Lou's face. Her hands trembled.

  "You don't resemble Lou or Louise!" Harper snorted. "But you smell a bit like Louise. Less like Lou. Where is Louise? Didn't she come with you? Why did you come here alone? That was stupid of you!" In the background, one of the dragons growled again.

  "No, Louise didn't come. She wanted to, but she wasn't at the meeting point. That's why I went alone."

  "She wasn't there?" Lou asked quietly, still rigid in her arms. Nina had never come so close to him before. He didn't know how to react, or if he liked the hug. Most of the time he didn't like hugs. Memories of pain and cruelty besieged his thoughts like malicious creatures.

  "Let's go to the cave," Harper finally grumbled. "Come on, Nina. Let's go, and follow me."

  "Vivi?" Nina hesitated a bit, but then she actually let go of Lou. Lou immediately fled into Harper's arms. He heard the other dragons flying away. He felt the wind caused by their huge wings. "I thought they were going to burn me. Or eat me!" his younger sister murmured.

  "They would have done so if they hadn't been able to chase you away. Humans are not allowed here. Only VIVI. Louise is tolerated. What did you think would happen if you came here alone? That you are given flowers?" He hissed annoyed. Nina, on the other hand, was startled.

  "Hm!" protested Lou. In his head, old, past images danced confused dances.

  Harper sighed. "Follow me, Nina. Attention, the paths are narrow. Vivi? Is everything okay? You're so pale."

  "Hm." Lou clung to the dragon. They would have eaten Nina...

  "Okay..." Nina took a deep breath and followed Harper and Lou. They were all silent until they reached the cave. Harper's family sat in it, grumbling and hissing. Presumably, they healed each other. A small fire burned so that Lou could see the outlines and colors of the white dragons. And Nina, who walked behind him. He turned to her and looked at her. Or rather, her colors.

  Nina was a little taller than him and wore a light brown tunic. Now that they were in a cave, she seemed all the more insecure. "Dragons..." she whispered. “More of them... Is that?"

  Harper snorted. "My parents and siblings. They won't hurt you."

  "A guest?" Bojan's voice thundered through the cave.

  "Lou's little sister", Harper expined. "Nina."

  "Then it's better she stays overnight. The cliffs are particurly dangerous in the dark. Welcome, child." Lou heard the dragon stretch and fp his wings, then curl up again, like a tired cat. A dull sound echoed through the cave as the dragon y down again.

  "Thank you?" Nina squealed a little as she answered the dragon.

  "Let's sit down!" murmured Harper. "Come on, Nina."

  Lou let go of Harper's hand and went forward. He wanted to wrap a bnket around him and hide, even though everything was fine. Sometimes he didn't understand his own thoughts.

  "Okay..." Nina was slow to follow them. Lou heard her timid footsteps.

  Lou knew his way around the cave well. Without help, he found his way to the seat cushions, which also served him as a bed. He sat down, grabbed his bnket, wrapped it around him, and petted the spot next to him so that Nina could sit down there. Harper sat down on the other side and leaned against the rock wall.

  "You live here?" Nina asked and sat down carefully next to Lou. She didn't let the mighty dragons out of her sight. After the excitement before, she now spoke quietly. She sounded nervous.

  "Yes." Lou leaned close to her so he could see her face. He clung to his bnket. Lou's hands trembled slightly. He didn't know why. But Nina leaned away immediately. She blinked in surprise.

  "He can't see otherwise!" hissed Harper immediately.

  "Oh yes...", Nina sighed and came closer again. She looked at Lou skeptically. "You look like Louise", she said after a long pause.

  Lou only blinked briefly in response. He didn't think he looked like Louise. Instead, he was very interested in what Nina looked like now. Her hair was still a delicate fluff, her skin tanned by the sun. She looked older than fourteen. Older and tired. Her face was round, her lips full and slightly cracked, rough and dry. "Hm", Lou whispered. "Would you like to drink something?" The girl sitting in front of him looked like Nina, but he didn't know her. Nina was a stranger to him.

  "Gdly", Nina answered anxiously. "Um... Have you looked at me long enough? It feels weird..."

  "Ah!" Lou immediately leaned back. Harper, on the other hand, kissed his cheek and then stood up. "I'll get you water and some figs, yes?" Lou nodded gratefully. Harper kissed him again, leaving Lou alone with his sister. "How are Mom and Dad?" he asked them.

  "Not well. They miss you."

  "Yes?"

  "Yes. I'm really sorry. I.."

  "You don’t have to." Lou shook his head and pressed his hands close to him. "How have you fared? And where is Louise? You said..." In the background, he heard Harper's family snuggling up to each other. The feathers of their wings rustled as they did so. Sometimes one of the dragons snorted.

  "Our house is still standing. It's broken, but it's still standing. Your room is unchanged. Mom sits on your bed every night and strokes your old pillow. I don't know where Louise is. We wanted to come here together. I hope nothing happened to her." Nina pulled her legs up and rested her head on her knees. "She told me a lot. The curse does not exist and... The vision for which they tried to... It was a lie."

  "Oh." The eternally lurking darkness deep within Lou spread at these words. "And Louise?"

  "She quarreled with one of the seers and one of the Wise Men. She still went back. Maybe something happened to her? Louise was very angry. I have never experienced her being like this before. I don't know what to do."

  "Nothing!" Harper returned. He carried a tablet with a jug, two cups, and a few figs and nuts. He pced it on the ground. He poured Lou a cup of water and handed it to him. Nina had to take care of herself. "Leave the Wise to us dragons. Go home tomorrow. It was stupid of you to come here."

  "I know." Nina sighed and reached for a fig. "But I had to apologize, otherwise…"

  "Otherwise?" growled Harper. "So that Lou forgives you and you can continue to live your life in peace? Do you even know your brother?"

  "Hm!" Lou tugged at Harper's tunic. ?… Not... It... is fine. Let her be. Please."

  "Nothing is fine, Lou", Harper contradicted him angrily. "Nothing at all!"

  "He's right..." Nina put the fig back on the tablet. Lou could only see the movement. His sister sounded deeply saddened. "I always bmed Lou for our situation. Because of my situation. I was unfair. And I never tried to get to know him. I believed all the lies. Louise was angry with me for that. I am sorry. But now I want to do better. Lou? I'm afraid."

  Harper ughed bitterly and mockingly. Lou, on the other hand, felt for Nina's hands. He found her right hand and csped it. His hand was still shaking. But he forced himself not to withdraw it. Isn't that how a big brother behaved? When his sister was afraid, a brother was there for her. "I'm also afraid. Go home tomorrow. Maybe Louise was just stopped."

  “And if not?”

  "Then we'll find out what happened." And by we, Lou meant the dragons. He himself never wanted to return to the city. But if Louise was in danger, then... Then he might have to go back. If I have to, I'll exchange my life for hers. Hers is much more valuable than mine. Who am I? A broken, ugly person. Only Harper... He...

  "Are you sure?" Nina's hand felt wet and cool.

  "Sure!" Lou promised and then he made a decision. He leaned over and hugged her.

  sasi