Lou

  Something tickled Lou's face. Something very moist. And energetic.

  Confused, he opened his eyes and looked into Amba's tiny face. Lou didn't know when he had fallen asleep. In the heat of the day, he suddenly felt incredibly exhausted, so he curled up on his soft mat. He must have fallen asleep. He also didn't know when Amba had come into the cave. What he did know, however, was that he wasn't particurly eager to have someone lick his face. Just like Amba was doing right now.

  Lou pushed her away from him, the tiny dragon squealed in protest and sat up. Then he took Amba on his p. "Don't lick", he murmured and looked around. Something was missing between all the colors he saw with his good eye. The colors of the dragons, their voices, or other sounds which would tell him that Harper and his family were in the cave.

  But there were only Lou and Amba here.

  Lou frowned and teased the soft wings of the tiny creature. How do you get here?

  Something bit carefully into his left, big toe. Confused, he pulled his foot away, only to discover a second tiny creature. Trixi, probably. He couldn't recognize the baby dragon enough to tell who it was. "No, ouch!" grumbled Lou and pulled the second dragon onto his p as well. Then he took a closer look at the second tiny one, lifting the struggling and happily squeaking child.

  It had been hard to tell the dragon children apart at first, but now he recognized them by their behavior and by their eyes if he could see them. Trixi was easily recognizable by her eye color. And it was Trixi. Of course, it was Trixi. Only she and Amba would run to him.

  There were golden, shimmering speckles in Amba's orange eyes. Trixi, on the other hand, had bright orange eyes. Brighter than the eyes of her siblings. The darkest eyes of the quadruplets were those of Weiko, almost red. But apart from Trixi, the three other children of Ernst and Kra were hardly interested in Lou. Bibi, Weiko, and Philip had only one thing on their minds: eating a lot and fighting together.

  In general, the eyes of all white dragons differed. There were different shades of orange. Some lighter, some darker, but always orange. Harper's eyes, for example, shone in a bright orange tone. The same color as his mother's eyes. Only in Harper's case did he find a few golden-yellow speckles when he looked closely. The eyes of the rest of the dragons of the family were a little darker. But only a little.

  But none of these dragons were in the cave. Only two babies. "What are you doing here?" Lou asked, confused. But instead of an answer, Trixi began to tug at his clothes while Amba wanted to lick his face again. "No!"

  Both children squealed happily and did not let themselves be deterred from their pns. "No, no, no!" Without further ado, Lou put the two on the floor. Trixi held on to his tunic and finally tore out a piece. Lou heard the fabric give way to the tiny creature's teeth. "If you do nonsense, I won't cuddle with you!"

  Amba froze. Trixi, on the other hand, ran away satisfied with her prey. He saw her tumble through the cave as a small, white spot until he could no longer make out her colors. She was too small.

  A loud growl could be heard. Startled, Lou looked up, only to suddenly find himself on his back. With a dragon on him, who looked happily at him like a huge dog. Lou had hit his head and this dragon child was bigger and heavier than the tiny creatures.

  "What?" Taken by surprise and in pain from the fall and the weight of the dragon, he gasped.

  And this dragon also licked his face. Carefree and without noticing Lou's predicament. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the rough outlines of Amba's attempts to pull her brother away from Lou biting his wing. But Lou had other worries.

  "Bilge? You're too heavy!" Moaning, he turned his head away and raised his hands to escape the tongue of the stormy dragon. "Don't lick! No! Ouch!"

  "Lou! Oh! Excuse me!" Olive's dragon voice echoed thunderously through the cave. The next moment, a huge white head pulled Bilge by his wings away from Lou Lou. "Bilge! Amba! And Trixi! What is this? And... Why are you here?"

  The dragon's voice, rumbling and loud, caused Lou all the more headaches. He couldn't hear the children's answers, only their soft growls and squeaks. "Ouch." Lou sat up again, swaying slightly, and wiped his face with a sleeve.

  "Trixi? What do you have in your mouth? Is this a piece of Lou's clothes? How naughty!" Olive continued to rant. "Lou? Are you okay?"

  Lou just nodded and blinked. He wanted to ask what the three were doing in the cave and how they had come here, but Olive was already talking. "These children! Sahli was only supposed to watch over them for an hour. Our brood and Kra's! Then I come back from the hunt and see Bilge running into this cave! They must have run away from Sahli and followed their noses to you. Impudent! I won't leave Sahli alone with the children again anytime soon! When Kra hears that... Oh... She probably just thinks it's funny. Nothing happened, did it?"

  "I was sleeping... Everyone is gone...", Lou whispered. "Ouch."

  "Ouch? Oh yes... Dragon children are heavy. Are you... Wait! What? Where's your Harper? His family? They left you here alone? Without telling you?" Olive snorted. The three dragon children pressed close to Lou. Bilge held his head down in remorse. "Yes, shame on you!", Olive turned briefly to the three. "Bilge! You are the oldest! You shouldn't..."

  Bilge growled indignantly.

  "What?" Olive now sat down on the floor and id her head in Lou's p, annoyed. "So it was Amba's idea. She is only a few days old but is already making escape pns... What did I do wrong?" Growling, the huge dragon snorted.

  "Nothing?" Lou stared at her head, which rested heavily on his legs. He didn't know what to do. Stroke her? Ask her not to touch him? He tended to the tter, but he didn't dare to say it when Harper finally came into the cave.

  "What?" Lou heard his boyfriend's voice. He put something heavy on the ground and hurried to them. "I was just going to get fresh water! Why... Are you having a party here? Am I invited? Olive? Lou doesn't like that! Lou!" Hands touched Lou's head. "Is that a bump? Did you bump your head? Does it hurt?"

  "Hm." Lou nodded, and Amba growled softly and bit into her brother's wing. Lou could hardly see this, but he heard Bilge's angry protest loud and clear.

  "Get water? And you left Lou alone? He was asleep!" Olive grumbled and finally lifted her head from Lou's legs. "He woke up and was alone! And this naughty brood next to him attacked him." When she said the tter, she sounded a little amused.

  "Ross wanted to be back for a long time. Something... Oh!" Harper's voice sounded armed.

  "I can smell it too!" hissed Olive.

  "What?" Lou asked quietly. His head still hurt, but it was slowly getting better. "What do you smell?" He grabbed one of the baby dragons and carefully pressed it to him. The baby immediately purred and bit into his tunic to tug at it. Trixi. But Lou ignored this. "What's going on?"

  "A human is coming. Again!" Harper sat down next to Lou and freed Lou's clothes from the tiny creature's teeth, while Amba climbed onto Lou's p and rolled onto her back. Stretching all legs away. Bilge gently tickled her belly with his nose.

  "Children!" warned Olive, as Amba bit her brother heartily in the nose. Lou heard the boy squeal in fright, then he disappeared from Lou's field of vision. "Don't py on Lou! Humans are fragile!" Olive snorted again.

  "Who’s coming?" Lou wanted to know.

  "I don't know. But we'll find out soon! I smell Ross. He's finally on his way here! He had promised me to come here as soon as I left! You needed new water."

  sasi