Harper

  When I woke up shortly after sunrise, there was hustle and bustle in our mountains. I woke up after someone flew screaming into our cave. Basil. He was followed by Renan and Narcisse. More dragons gathered in front of the cave entrance. Confused, I stood up and shook my limbs, which were a bit stiff from sleep. Then I stretched. 'Mom? What's going on?'

  'Outrageous!' Renan's voice boomed in my head. 'The Wise interfere in the affairs of the dragons! And now THIS!' A roar of approval could be heard. I could almost smell the anger.

  'Remy was arrested. Just like Lou', Mom replied. She snorted. 'They took the boy out of Remy's house and locked him up.'

  'And why are we still sitting here?' I hissed, shaken. If I was tired just a moment ago, I was now wide awake. I fpped my wings angrily. Lou was in the hands of the Wise Men? That couldn't bode well. I hurried to the cave entrance. There, Sally nudged me lovingly.

  'What are they pnning? The Wise Men?' Ross asked. Steam came from his nostrils. Narcisse fpped his wings indignantly.

  'We don't know yet. But we'll find out!', Renan grumbled.

  ‘We're about to leave,’ Basil said. Of Remy's dragons, he was the calmest. 'We're not going to let them get away with that.' Renan, on the other hand, looked like he was going to bite the throat of anyone stupid enough to approach him. And Narcisse? I waited for him to throw himself on the floor to theatrically weep over his misery. But he didn't. Instead, he nodded eagerly and nudged Basil with a wing.

  'We confront the Wise! And then we'll get Remy out of there!', he announced.

  'And Lou?', I asked quickly. 'What about Lou?'

  'First of all, we need to find out where Lou is. Finding Remy is easy. We could follow his smell all the way to the underground dungeons of the temple. But when we flew over the city earlier, we couldn't smell Lou. Just Remy.' Basil hissed. 'They didn't put Lou in the temple.'

  'He's gone!', growled Renan. "Probably wizards or witches made his smell disappear.'

  'Can they do that?', Connie asked. 'Make odors disappear?'

  Narcisse nodded. 'Apparently. How cheeky...'

  'How terrible!' Mom put a wing around me. Trembling with rage, I pressed myself against her.

  Dad wrapped Connie and Max under his wings. He was silent, but his gaze was ominous.

  'Vanished?', I shook my head. The other dragons, especially my siblings, were chattering. But Remy's dragons stayed silent now. They lowered their heads and hung their wings.

  'We must find him!', I cried. I wanted to run, storm out of the cave, and fly into the city. However, it did not come to that. Mom held me by my wings with her sharp teeth. Ouch.

  'Calm down, boy!', my father growled. 'Don't act rashly. We dragons don't interfere with people's affairs.'

  'Lou has been our business for a long time!' Max contradicted him. 'He's Haper's friend. And Remys.' She pronounced Remy's name less enthusiastically. 'We shouldn't have let Remy take the boy with him. I knew it was a stupid idea! Very stupid!'

  That's what I said! But no one listens to me... I angrily tried to free myself, but my mother held me down without much effort. Her teeth dug uncomfortably into my wings. 'Let me go!'

  'Harper?' Basil now came to me. 'Leave the search to us. We find Remy, we find out what the Wise are pnning, and we find Lou. I promise. And then we'll bring him here.'

  'But!' I shook my head. 'I want to help!'

  'No. You're still young. We'll take care of it.' Basil nudged my forehead with his muzzle. 'We'll find out where your friend is.'

  Eventually, I had to stay behind while Renan, Basil, and Narcisse flew into town. My parents guarded the cave entrance so I wouldn't fly away. They were afraid I might do something STUPID. I wanted to look for Lou. Was that stupid? Mom insisted that I trust Remy and his dragons. They would find Lou.

  I hoped she was right.

  My siblings tried to distract me. They told me silly jokes or tried to involve me in childish games. I didn't get distracted. No. I felt sick. Sick with worry.

  Some time passed before Narcisse returned. Without Lou.

  'Couldn't you find Lou?', Connie shouted before I could say anything. 'And Remy? Is he okay?'

  Narcisse shook his wings, then sat down exhausted. 'We've found Remy. In the subterranean dungeons. It was easy to free him. However, we had to kill a few guards, all skilled wizards. Basil was slightly injured. They were expecting us. But they weren't enough to stop us. They won't make that mistake again... Renan took Remy with him. We couldn't find Lou. And the Wise refuses to say where he is. Remy was terribly angry... He... It's a disaster.'

  'What happened?', my father asked.

  'Remy's hands are stained with Mitko's blood. When we freed Remy, Mitko and three more of the Wise Men came running towards us. They wanted to stop us. Said we should come to our senses. Remy is a criminal and they have the right to imprison him. Such nonsense! Remy wanted to know where Lou was. But they stayed silent about it. Mitko ughed. He said he had the will of the gods on his side. That they finally... Got an answer. Bah! I'm sure they've come up with the answer! Just the way he looked at us! I trust them to do anything! And who can control it? What the seers actually see? Remy bmed them for that. Mitko ughed even more, and then... Then it escated.'

  'What?' Shaken, Max fpped her wings. 'There was a fight?'

  Narcisse nodded. 'Remy attacked the Wise Men when they refused to tell him where Lou was. We had to get Remy away before... If all witches and wizards would attack us. Even three dragons will have a hard time escaping unscathed. They have their ways of stopping us. Even if it is almost impossible for them to kill us. But they can harm us. And especially Remy.' Narcisse wrinkled his nose. 'Basil, Renan, and I wouldn't survive that. Losing him.'

  'Lou?', I asked.

  Narcisse let his head hang. 'Sweet Lou. Poor, sweet Lou. They want to execute Lou. Tomorrow.'

  'WHAT?' Shaken, I ran to Narcisse and tugged at one of his wings. 'They want to kill him? They can’t do that! We have to stop them!'

  'We will.' Narcisse nodded and freed his wing from my mouth. "The execution is to take pce tomorrow. Public. With enough witches and wizards to stop a rescue attempt. Those were Mitko's st words before he burned.'

  'How terrible!' Sally hid under Ross's wings. 'Poor boy!' None of us felt sorry for Mitko. My parents had been silent until now, but now they both growled softly.

  'That's my child!', hissed Mom. 'Bring my child home, Narcisse! Please!'

  'We have to save him!', I shouted at the same moment.

  'Of course. Remy, Renan, and Basil are already pnning. I'm here to get you.' Narcisse winked at me. 'If your parents allow it... After all, you're still a cub. But I think you want to help. Hallie? You'll get Lou back.'

  'And if they attack here?', Dad finally asked quietly. 'To hold Remy accountable?'

  'Not many wizards are gifted enough to stand up to a dragon. That would be very stupid of them!', growled Narcisse. 'We are in an advantage here. Harper?' He nudged me encouragingly. 'Will you help us with the pnning? If you may?' He gnced briefly at my parents.

  I nodded eagerly while my parents moaned. In the end, however, they let me go with Narcisse. They said it would be better for me to pn something with experienced dragons than to fly into town alone to save Lou. And that's what I would have done if they hadn't let me go.

  sasi