Harper

  "I don't like it!" Lou mumbled softly. I looked at him worriedly.

  My parents were hunting. They had promised to bring me something to eat. Since Lou was getting restless without me, I refrained from going out myself for the time being. I had tried it once, at night. But Lou had woken up, couldn't find me, and was panicking. Mom struggled to calm him down. When I saw him for the first time, he seemed dazed. As if all feelings were dull. Hardly noticeable. By now, Lou was full of emotions. But most of them weren’t positive.

  "What don't you like?" Narcisse had left some time ago. He wanted to get water for Lou so he could wash himself. In addition, ointment and new bandages. He would probably bring Basil or Renan with him. I hoped Basil would come along. Renan's inherently bad mood wasn't something I wanted to expose Lou to too often. My siblings had fun mimicking the three dragons. Connie was very good at imitating Narcisse's exaggerated ways. But I paid no attention to them.

  "That they want to visit me", he murmured, resting his head on my shoulder as he bit into a fig. Lou still wasn't eating enough. At least he ate at all. "I just want to see my family."

  I nodded. "Of course. I'm sure Narcisse will manage to bring Louise here secretly."

  "He promised!"

  "That's right." I assumed, however, that Narcisse was willing to promise Vivi anything. As delighted as he always looked at him. That, in turn, I didn't like. At least the way he looked at Vivi was simir to Remy's. Brotherly. Yay.

  "Sweet Louhou!", whispered Sally, and sat down next to him. She smiled broadly, her sharp teeth fshing in the st rays of the sun. But Lou couldn't see this, so he wasn't frightened. "Eat some more! Do you like some of the bread?" In fact, we had enough food for Lou to fill his stomach. But he just shook his head.

  "Are you full yet?", she asked skeptically. Vivi had eaten all the figs by now. But he ignored the rest.

  Vivi didn't answer Sally's question. "Why do you call me sweet?", he asked instead. He frowned skeptically and pressed himself even closer to me. I nudged him with my right wing, which I still wrapped around him.

  "Because you're cute." Sally rested her chin on her knees. "Don't you think so?"

  "I'm not cute."

  Neither I nor Sally could agree with that. But we were both silent. Instead, I changed the subject. "Well, now that the Wise Men are no longer looking for you, would you like to take a closer look at the mountains tomorrow? We can walk along the paths. As long as you stay close to me and hold my hand, nothing should happen to you."

  "Hm." Lou chewed on his lower lip.

  "What do you think?"

  "Hm", he repeated.

  "That sounds like a good idea", Sally agreed. "Except..."

  "Except for what?", I asked.

  "The other dragons", she growled. "According to Narcisse, they want to see Lou."

  Immediately, Lou turned pale. "I'm staying here!"

  "I'm sure no one will want to scare you", Sally tried to change his mind. "It's beautiful up here in the mountains."

  Lou shook his head. "I can't see it anyway."

  Sally sighed. "But.."

  "No." Lou shook his head again. "No."

  Slowly it became darker and cooler in the cave. Max and Ross lit a campfire to keep Vivi from freezing.

  "And when Louise is here? Don't you want to show her the beautiful mountains?", I tried my luck now. "The other dragons won't hurt you. And we'll take care of you." After all, I was with him. And normally, no one should be so hungry that it became dangerous for Lou. No matter how much Remy feared it.

  "Are the mountains beautiful?", Lou asked quietly. He tugged at one of my feathers with trembling hands. It tickled a bit. "Would Louise like it?"

  "Oh yes!" Sally nodded eagerly. "Very beautiful! We should go for a walk together. The three of us, yes? Harper and I take care of you. What do you think? And then we'll show Louise everything. YOU show her. We're just coming along."

  But Vivi shook his head. "I can only see the colors."

  "Our mountains have very beautiful colors!" Sally didn't give up. "I'm sure Louise will like them too. Don't you want to see everything? For your sister?" I gred at her. Are you trying to manipute him? However, it seemed to work. Vivi thought about it. Sally winked at me proudly. She was just about to celebrate her triumph when Lou came to a, or rather, no decision.

  "Hm. I... No? Yes? I don't know." Vivi looked at me helplessly. I grinned. Not because of Lou. No. I grinned because Sally was pouting now. "You can decide tomorrow. Spontaneously", I said. "Okay? Vivi? You don't have to decide that now."

  This seemed to calm him down and he nodded. "Good. Maybe!"

  Remy

  I gave Narcisse ointment, medical herbs, and bandages. He wanted to take them to Lou. Renan and Basil helped him carry it. He was holding a bowl and a rag. Basil, on the other hand, held a carafe of clear water. Renan sniffed the ointment and herbs skeptically. Both were in small cy pots. The three of them were standing on the roof of my house. In their half-form. Officially, all this was for a dragon that had been wounded so badly in battle that its wounds healed too slowly. I was standing by the stairs leading to the roof.

  "Narcisse? Don't spill anything", I warned him.

  Narcisse rolled his eyes. "I don't! Our friend will be pleased!" he announced. If someone eavesdropped on us, they wouldn't know it was about Lou. And sure enough, an elderly man was watching us from the street.

  Renan snorted indignantly after the herbs made him sneeze. "We should go", he reminded Narcisse. "Our companion is waiting for his medicine!"

  Basil suppressed a soft ugh and winked at me. "We'll take good care of the injured dragon !"

  "Thank you!"

  The three spread their wings and flew away. I watched them worriedly.

  sasi