Harper

  'Harper? You and Lou. Both of you, please come to the main trail. An ambassador of these Wise Men is waiting there! Ernst too! And he doesn't seem pleased', I heard my brother's voice in my head. 'I wouldn't be surprised if we were able to admire a burning ambassador soon.'

  'An ambassador?', I asked, unimpressed. I didn't move away from Lou. Instead, I sat next to him while Ross flew in front of our cave. With our wings, we could fly almost on the spot. And my brother was particurly skilled at it.

  The mini dragons looked at him admiringly. Everyone except Amba, who was busy plucking Lou's ribbon out of his hair. Olive stopped her by nudging her baby dragon with her muzzle. Lou was startled when the huge dragon's head came close to him again. Immediately, Olive nudged him as well. An attempt to calm him down. I pulled Vivi closer to me. 'An ambassador?', I repeated, annoyed, turning to my brother.

  'Yes. That's what I said!' Ross growled equally annoyed.

  'Why wasn't he chased away?' If there was one thing I didn't want, it was that one of these people came close to Vivi. Apart from his family. 'I'm certainly not taking Vivi to someone the Wise Men have sent.'

  'Harper? The ambassador remains on the path of wizards and witches. He will not go any further. Only the path that the new magicals are allowed to take once a year. Were allowed to, if it were up to me. We are waiting for you there with several dragons. Lou is safe. The ambassador said he had to pass on his news directly to Lou. He didn't want to tell us what it was about.'

  'Then just eat him.' I didn't like the whole thing. Uncertain, Lou tugged at my sleeve. "It's nothing", I assured him. 'Eat the ambassador. Burn him. I don't care. Vivi is staying here.'

  'Gdly.' Ross snorted angrily. 'Go. Both of you. We are waiting there.'

  "Harper?" Lou trembled slightly. "There is something, isn't it? Please don't lie to me, will you? I... So... Yes?"

  Ross was already flying away. I wrinkled my nose, shook my head, and stroked Vivi's cheek. "An ambassador has come. Of the Wise Men. We are expected there."

  "An ambassador?" Olive cautiously stepped to the cave exit and peered out. She carried her struggling daughter by the neck so that Amba could no longer try to steal Lou's ribbon. She mumbled a bit. Meanwhile, Trixi snuggled under Bilge's little wings. In the meantime, he had made himself comfortable next to Lou. Trixi yawned.

  "What does an ambassador want from Lou?" growled Olive.

  "Certainly nothing good!" I growled.

  Vivi was startled and clutched one of my hands with his. "Harper?"

  "You stay here. With the children. I'll go", I tried to calm him down. "Don't worry. No one will hurt you." As if I were taking my Vivi with me!

  Olive came back to us and sat Amba down next to her brother. "Bilge?" she addressed her son. The little dragon looked at her. "Be good and listen to Lou, okay?"

  The little one nodded, then rested his head on Lou's p, where Amba had been romping around before. Vivi, on the other hand, shook his head. "No. I... No!"

  "Stay here." I kissed his forehead and stood up. "Everything is fine." I would never take him with me. And Olive agreed with me with a sullen nod. But Vivi shook his head in frustration.

  "But", he protested. "What if... No. I. No."

  "Stay here, honey", Olive begged him aloud. "And don't worry, okay? Stay here and wait. We'll be back."

  I kissed Vivi's forehead again, then I took my true form and followed Olive out of the cave. We left Lou with the dragon children. I could smell his fear and worry.

  It only took us a few minutes to reach the meeting point by air. My brother, Ernst, Masson, and a few other dragons were already waiting for us there. Together with a young man dressed all in white and light brown.

  "Where's the boy?" he asked when Olive and I nded and he didn't spot my Vivi.

  "Safe!" growled Olive.

  "You can tell us what you want. We won't let Lou near you!" I hissed with bared, pointed teeth. "I won't let you near Lou. He's already experienced enough bad things."

  The stranger grimaced briefly, then smiled nguidly and unimpressed. At least that's what he pretended to do. He stank of panic. "Ah. I heard that dragons can be very difficult." The man smiled. "I have the task of informing the boy, not his, huh... Buddy?"

  I growled. Ernst growled. Ross growled. We all growled.

  And the ambassador did not manage to hide his trembling.

  "Well, since Lou is not here, I guess you'll have to make do with us!" Ernst showed his most fearsome dragon grin. A quiet threat. To me, on the other hand, he winked. 'I thought you wouldn't bring Lou with you. Good job. But this man was terribly unreasonable', I heard him say. 'I had to ask Ross to let you both know. He just didn't want to say what he had to say. Very brave of him. That's why I pyed along.'

  'We should eat him', I answered.

  "Out with it!" hissed Masson. "What do you want from OUR boy, delicious little person?"

  Ernst's gaze remained fixed on the human, who now trembled all the more. "I have my orders. I'm just a servant. A messenger." He was probably not that brave after all. His knees were shaking and I could smell some urine. Coward.

  "We could eat you? People are indeed delicious", Ernst repeated my request and Masson's threat. "The boy is part of our community. They have no rights to him."

  The person looked as if he was about to either run away or fall over. I enjoyed the sight. His performance had failed.

  "What would you like?" Masson spoke up again. Grumpy as always. "I'm definitely a bit hungry." Ross and Olive nodded.

  "Ah! Please, don't! Well..." Shaking his head, the man sank to his knees, as his legs gave way under him. "The boy is never allowed to enter the city again. The Wise Men have decided to spare his life as long as he stays away from the city. If he returns, he will be executed. His family is forbidden to visit him in the mountains."

  "What?" Ross hissed. "They are his family!"

  The servant lowered his head. "For the time being. Only for the time being!!! Please. If the gods allow it, this rule will be lifted. I'm just a servant. Please." The stench of urine increased.

  That’s not very appetizing. I rolled my eyes. I'd rather not eat that. Miserable!

  "What about the river?" asked Ernst.

  "The river?" The man shook his head. "What about it?"

  "It’s not a part of your city!" Ernst snorted. "And the river and the area around it do not belong to you humans."

  "Ah. That's probably true. Partly. We have pntations there. I don't know. The Wise Men did not mention the river. Please, don't eat me. Perhaps, the river is okay? Outside our pntations?" Now the servant pressed his forehead to the hard stone floor. "Please. I'm just the messenger! I didn't choose this task!"

  Masson snorted. "Yes, yes... They are too fine to come in person. They'd rather sacrifice a servant, huh? How generous, how kind of them."

  "So our boy was officially banished? In this case, we also have a message for the Wise. Tell them!" Steam rose from Ernst's nostrils. He wanted to breathe fire, but did not do so. "No one of you is welcome in our mountains anymore. Not a single one. Except for Lou's family. A child needs its family. Apart from them, we don't tolerate anyone here anymore. No wizards. No witches. None of those who have a covenant with a dragon. If they want to meet their magical partners, then outside. And without the presence of other people. Wizards and witches with the possibility of entering into such a covenant, but are still one, are forbidden to approach a dragon."

  He walked slowly towards the tiny human who was crouching on the floor. Ernst bowed his head towards him. "If you viote this, we see this as a hostile act", he whispered to him. "In return, we will stay away from your city. As long as you don't give us a reason to break that promise. We will decide what exactly a reason is when the time comes. Pass this on and don't come here again."

  "What?" The ambassador pressed himself to the ground all the more desperately. "But!"

  "No!" Ernst snorted. "Ambassadors are only allowed to go up to this level, on the edge of our colony, which magicals visited on their first visit. No closer. And we only allow a single messenger to come here. No guards, no magicals. Only one ambassador. Or one of the Wise, if they are not too cowardly! And one more thing! We do not negotiate about the treasures in our mountains! The Wise can put their greed somewhere else! Don't think we've forgotten this impudence."

  Ernst stepped back from the man, who now carefully straightened up.

  "That's madn..." The ambassador fell silent as Ernst's eyes bzed angrily. I suppressed a grin. These people deserved to fear us.

  "Madness?" Ernst spat his fiery breath at the man. It missed him by only a few centimeters. Another threat. Startled, the man jumped up and ran away. I nodded contentedly and shook my feathered wings. That felt good. But for Lou, this would be terrible news. And Masson and Olive also looked unhappy. They had a covenant with wizards. They could not bear to be separated from them for long. Magic took care of that.

  Ernst punishes them too. Even if he doesn't want to.

  'I have to get used to that. I wanted to introduce my little one to Garry... But it's better that way,' Olive said quietly. I nodded.

  A little ter, when we flew back to the cave together with my brother, Salih came towards us. We were just thinking about how best to tell Lou the news when Salih's voice rumbled in our heads.

  'The children are gone!' he shouted angrily. 'Gone! Just gone! Darling! I can't find them!'

  Philip, Weiko, and Bibi held on to his wings with their teeth and cws while he carried them with him. This was one of the ways to carry cubs. From the very beginning, the tiny creatures were able to hold on to other dragons if they were not carried in their cws or on their necks.

  'Oh really?' Olive snorted.

  I grimaced. In his panic, he had probably forgotten to use his nose to follow their trail. They have frightened my Vivi, you idiot!