Nina

  "Mom?"

  A loud scream had woken me up. It came from my parents' bedroom. I ran, through the dusty corridors of our house, until I arrived at my parents' room. A little light filtered past the curtain of rags. I saw grains of sand sparkle in the light. Mom sat on the simple wooden bed and shook my father.

  "Wake up!" she shouted.

  "Mom?"

  "Wake up! Dear! Wake up!"

  "Mom?" Slowly I panicked. "What is..."

  "That can't be! Louise had bought more medicine! Yesterday you were fine!"

  "Mom..." Slowly I understood. Shaking my head, I sank to the floor and leaned against the wall of the room. Papa had been ill for a long time. No medicine had helped him in the long term. Now it was over. He would never cough so badly again. "Mom?"

  "Nina..." Mom turned to me. She cried. "Do something!"

  "I..." Again I shook my head... Then I got up trembling. I walked slowly over to her and hugged her. Tears ran down my cheeks. Mom felt old and bony in my arms. Hadn't she always been strong and young? "We did everything we could..."

  A few hours ter, my father was taken away. A few servants of the temple picked him up and took his body deep into the burial cave. An underground chamber close to our neighborhood. On the outskirts of the city, next to the Wall.

  Our people believed that keeping the dead in the city brought bad luck. Poverty. Whenever a soul passed away full of resentment or grief. And who knew what was going on in a person's head? What did they think about when they died? That's why the first hall was close to ours. We were already poor. And sometimes someone who was believed to be dead woke up within three days. It was said that sometimes the soul decided to stay in the body after all. The soul had three days to decide. And during this time the body stayed in this hall. There, in this hall, Papa's body would be kept for three days before he could be buried. With certainty. In another, underground hall. This was outside the city, but right next to the city wall. All the dead of the city rested there. Not in the city and yet with us. There they could bring no misfortune. There they could rest in peace.

  Mama sat in front of our low table and washed and polished cy dishes, which had long since been clean. Her hands were slowly turning red. But she did not let herself be dissuaded. Next to me sat Louise. We snuggled up to each other and watched Mom clean tirelessly. I had run to the temple to get Louise. And to inform the temple of Dad's death, as was tradition. A family member had to go. And Mom cked the strength.

  "Mom... It's clean... Your hands" My sister tried to stop Mom, but she wouldn't let her. Mom cleaned and cleaned. Tireless.

  "We have to tell Lou that..." I murmured. We have to tell him."

  "I know," Louise answered. "But we are not allowed to go into the mountains. We can only wait at the river, hoping to meet a dragon or Lou there. He is not allowed into the city. Otherwise, he remains in the dark. Maybe it would be better? He would not be allowed to attend the funeral. Maybe we'll let him believe a little longer that everything is as always... That Dad didn't..." She sobbed.

  "Our graves are in front of the city", I grumbled.

  "I don't think they'll let him go there, Nina." There was still no answer from the gods. We don't know what they are pnning for Lou. All we know is that they... That it was a mistake. They didn't want us to... The gods." Louise spoke of the attempted execution. But she didn't dare to say the words.

  "Lou is innocent."

  "I know."

  "Is Lou coming home?" Mom asked quietly. "Louise? Will they let my boy come home?"

  "I hope so", Louise whispered. "I very much hope so."

  But neither of us believed in it.

  Harper

  Lou was still asleep, but it was afternoon by now. In the morning he was awake briefly, but he quickly fell asleep again.

  My Vivi had hardly slept that night. Now he y curled up like a child close to my mother's dragon body and slept peacefully. Mom didn't miss the opportunity to nudge him with her muzzle and take care of him in dragon style. She licked his hair, Vivi protested in his sleep, she put her wing protectively over him, and she carefully rolled around him so that he was warm.

  My siblings were on the road, my father visited Ernst... Only the three of us were in the cave. Again I was worried about Vivi. He needed answers. Without these... I had the feeling that without them, his bright light would faint. Lou didn't know how much he was glowing. When sunlight hit his fair hair, it sparkled like gold. And when he wanted something, really wanted something, his eyes shone with determination.

  And I didn't want that radiance to be lost.

  Why didn't the gods love him? Or did they love him, but these stupid people were unable to recognize this? Did they exist? The Gods of the Sand? Or was it just a fairy tale?