Lou

Lou was blamed for the sandstorm.

Actually, it was his curse. But that meant the same for the people in the slums. Lou told himself that they were just too desperate to see him and the curse separate. They needed a scapegoat to explain their misery.

But Lou was tired of their insults, so he made his way to the slightly better neighborhoods of the city. He hoped to meet Remy. Remy would never scold him. Lou missed his friend. He wondered if he should tell him about the dragon or not.

The memories of the white, shimmering creature reigned in his thoughts. So much, so that Lou accidentally stepped into one of the water pipes and fell. He knew where the gutters were, but he hadn't been paying attention. "Damn!", he muttered and crawled out of the water. He heard people whispering around him, but no one helped him. As usual.

Lou was used to it. People from better backgrounds sometimes threw small stones or rotten eggs at him, but that was better than the bad words of the people in his neighborhood. The words hurt more. And here he was able to meet Remy.

He didn't expect any help from the people. Lou got up and walked on. Today, no one threw anything at him. That was good. Relieved, Lou searched for his friend. He did not dare to go as far as the rich quarter. If Remy had time for him, he would look for him somewhere here, in this neighborhood. And Lou was lucky!

"Lou! What happened?"

Lou raised his head and stared in the direction the voice was coming from. Remy's voice. "Lou! You're all wet!"

Lou nodded. He looked at the colors that approached him. Remy's colors had changed again. "You've got new clothes!", he said.

"Oh!" Remy laughed. He was standing very close to Lou. Lou could therefore recognize the fine fabric of Remy's new tunic. Light green fabric. The tunic was decorated. Lou could blurrily make out the decorations of golden yarn and small pearls. Beautiful. He was carrying a bag that he had hung around his shoulders.

Sighing, Lou knocked the damp sand out of his clothes. Or, at least he tried. "Don't you have to work?", he asked with a barely perceptible, hopeful undertone. But of course, the tone did not escape his friend.

"Later. I'll meet up with my dragons. We fly patrol. I was just on my way to you. Are you okay? Did something happen?" Remy sounded worried.

"I'm fine. Nothing happened." Lou grimaced. The people in his neighborhood would have chased Remy away if he had tried to visit Lou. They didn't want any misfortune to happen to Remy. Just like Lou. But he still spent time with him. "Do you think black dragons are attacking again?" Recently, the attacks had become more frequent. Once they had set fire to a house very close to Lou's hut. Since then, he slept poorly. After all, it could have been his house.

"I hope not", Remy grumbled. "And they always attack at night, so it's hard to spot them. But don't worry, I'm protecting the city. Come on, let's walk the streets together for a while. I've got figs for you. And a gift from Louise. I met her on the way. She sends her greetings to you. Did really nothing happen?"

"Figs?" Immediately, Lou's stomach growled. Lou ignored the other question. Presumably, Remy had noticed the bandages on his knees. These had gotten wet. Lou ignored that too.

Laughing, Remy pressed a fig into his hand. "Eat!" Lou was startled at the sudden touch.

"And you?", he asked anxiously.

"I've already eaten."

Immediately, Lou shook his head. "I only eat when we share!" Lou liked to eat with Remy. And being able to share something was a luxury that Lou was usually denied.

"Fine! Stubborn boy! I eat one too. But only one. The rest is for you!"

"Good!" Smacking, he bit the fig. It tasted delicious. Lou followed Remy's colors and voice through the monotonous colors of the streets. Remy didn't touch him. Only from time to time the fabric of Lou's clothes. That was fine. After all, it was Remy. The neighborhood they walked through was mainly home to the middle class. Craftsmen, tailors... Although a few of the houses were colorfully decorated, the colors almost disappeared in the monotonous, brown of the sandstone. "Everything is the same for me. And you?"

"Lou! You're limping!" Remy sounded shaken. "Did something happen? You have bandages on your knees. And they're all wet!"

"I fell! How are you?"

"Lou..." Remy sighed. "I had an argument with my mother. But this is not so important.  I hope to be able to introduce you to my dragons soon. So far, the wise have prevented it... I wanted to see you earlier, but the last few days have been stressful."

Lou nodded. Remy had tried to introduce Lou to his dragon. Shortly after he made the covenant with them. The wise men had sent guards to prevent the project. They had forbidden Remy to meet Lou. Remy didn't listen to them. And so they gave the young man a lot of work so that he would not have time to meet Lou. How long had it been since they last met? Two weeks? Remy had only had a few minutes for Lou.

All city guards were instructed to keep Lou away from the precious sorcerer, so the two always met where they could not be discovered too quickly. As long as Remy had time. Their meetings were usually very short. Remy didn't want to risk the guards punishing Lou. And they would. A few ugly, rough scars on Lou's back testified to this. Remy didn't know anything about them. He wasn't there when Lou was punished. And Lou stayed silent about it.

"Never mind", Lou replied. In the meantime, he had met a dragon. Now he didn't want to meet Remy's dragon so badly anymore. If they had wanted to meet Lou, they could have sought him out... Unless they had, and Lou just hadn't recognized them as dragons. In that case, however, they would not have introduced themselves to him either. "Take care of yourself, yes? I don't want a black dragon to hurt you."

"Nothing will happen to me, Lou. I’ve been flying with Renan, Narcisse, and Basil for a long time. We are a good team. Eventually, you'll meet them! They're going to love you."

“How can you be sure? They don't know me." Hardly anyone liked Lou.

"Because I love you!" Remy stroked the cloth with which Lou protected his face as usual. "Little brother!"

"I love you too, Remy! That's why you have to take good care of yourself." Lou didn't want to lose his big brother. And that’s what they were. Brothers. "How's Louise doing? Does she feel comfortable in the temple? Is she a good priestess?"

"Yes, yes. She had an interesting vision the other day. She saw a dragon walking through the city. Unrecognized. It was not one who has a covenant. Now the wise men want to know what the dragon wants here. But they haven't discovered it yet. Maybe this will happen in the distant future?"

"A dragon? Here?" Lou frowned. "I wouldn't recognize him. I hardly know anyone either."

"I know! But this is the fault of others and not yours. They don't know what good they're missing! Eventually, we'll move in together. I'm saving money to build a beautiful house. Right next to the temple. Then you would be close to your sister. Or we'll just move into the temple!"

"Remy!" Lou snorted annoyed. "You know perfectly well that I’m not allowed to go to the temple. You said you have something for me? From Louise?"

"Ah! I almost forgot!" Laughing, Remy rummaged in his bag. Lou stood close enough that he could see what his friend did. "Here! New clothes!" Remy pressed the fabric to Lou's chest.

Surprised, Lou reached for it and held the new clothes close to his better eye. He saw bright fabric embroidered with simple wooden beads. "Pretty!"

“Isn't it? A pair of trousers is also included! Louise spent a lot of money on it!"

Lou nodded, moved. "She's a great sister."

Remy stayed silent.

"Remy?"

"Oh... It's nothing. But now I have to go back to the temple. Stretch out one of your hands. I'll give you the last figs. They are in a bag. You can keep it."

Lou did as he was told, so Remy could give him a heavy bag. "What? How many are there?" Lou heard someone calling for the guards. Had they been discovered?

"Enough that you can eat your fill! I've got to go, Lou. I am sorry. Take care! Go home quickly. A few of the people here called the guards! Stupid pack! They don't follow you to your hut, so go. Fast! They are too afraid of the curse and vengeance of the gods to go near your hut. They say the soil is already contaminated by the curse!"

"Stupid? No. You have to be careful too!", Lou objected as he said goodbye. Contaminated? Lou had never heard that before. Yes, it was true. Around his hut, the sand had been almost black for a few days. This was due to the ashes that settled on the ground after the fire.

A dragon, a meeting with his friend, and new clothes. It seemed like a dream to Lou.

With a strangely tingling sensation in her stomach, Lou made his way back. But he wasn't fast enough. Quick steps approached.

"Stop!", someone says. "Curse bearer! You broke the law."

Lou rolled his eyes. "I didn't", he muttered, barely audible.

"You were talking to an important sorcerer! There's ten lashes for that!", one of the guards continued. There were several, but Lou didn't know how many there were. Frightened, he stared at the colors of the guards. They had gray uniforms. If he could, he would have run away.

The guards wore gloves to protect themselves from his curse. No one dared to touch him with their bare hands. Remy, too, rarely touched him directly. But that was because his friend respected that Lou didn't like to be touched.

"And what is it? Stolen goods?" Someone grabbed him. Another took the presents away from Lou.

"No! That's mine!", he cried pitifully. "I'm not a thief!"

The guards laughed derisively. Then Lou was pushed to the ground. He wanted to crawl away. But someone was holding his feet. Someone else pulled on his rags, exposing Lou's bare, scrawny back and bony butt. Lou cried. Then all he felt was pain. A hard stick hit his delicate back. Again and again. Lou cried out.

"Hey! Stop!" Someone ran towards him. The voice sounded familiar to Lou. The hits stopped.

"What do you want?", one of the guards asked.

"That you stop it! Can't you hear? Why are you hitting the boy? Why did you take away his things? They were a gift! I saw that! Give him back his things!" The voice sounded annoyed. Lou heard growling. "Immediately!"

"Of course!" Something fell next to Lou's head and the soldiers ran away.

Lou stared at the sand in bewilderment. His back hurt. "Vivi!", the voice shouted.

His helper knelt beside him. Lou trembled. "Vivi! You're bleeding!"

Lou didn't react. It wasn't until the person gently touched his shoulder that Lou cried out. "No!"

"Sh! It's good!", the voice murmured. Did he know this person? Who was Vivi? Everything was spinning.

Lou writhed over and hid his face in one hand. Touch meant even more pain. He wanted to leave. But he couldn't run away. Everything hurt. "Vivi! It's all right! They're gone!"

Lou whimpered softly.

"Vivi? Don't. Sand will get into the wounds! Let me adjust your clothes, okay?"

"No!"

"Sh. I won't do anything to you."

"No!"

But Lou felt warm hands gently tugging at his tunic. The person next to him casually touched his intact skin. Lou sat up and tried to push the person away from him. "No!"

"Sh!" Then the person wrapped his arms around Lou. Carefully, so as not to hurt him, but firmly. The person tried not to touch the wounds, but the other boy did not succeed. Lou screamed and cried. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks. "It's fine. You're afraid, I know. Calm down. You're safe with me. Sh."

"No, no, no!"

"Sh! Everything is alright."

Lou felt soft fabric on his face. The body of the boy who held him was warm. Very warm. He knew the voice. Lou wanted to get away from the warmth and that voice. But the other boy wouldn't let go of him until Lou had calmed down exhausted.

Lou noticed that he was almost sitting on the boy's lap. Confused, he looked at his face. The boy's face was close enough that he could see brown eyes and dark brown hair. Harper. "Oh." Lou blinked. Only now did he realize that apart from the boy he could not see any other colors, except those of the sandstones. They were alone. No one stopped the boy from hugging Lou. "What? No one is here..."

"I scared them all away!" Harper laughed happily.

"How so? Please let me go."

Immediately, Harper released him from the embrace. "Sorry."

Lou nodded and put some distance between them. He swayed a little. Everything hurt. "Why are we alone? How did you scare everyone away?"

"Oh. I’m the son of powerful parents. People better listen to me."

"Ah." Thus, Harper came from a family related to the Wise Men. That explained why the guards had left. "My things?" He tried to find the fabric and the figs. The colors differed little from the sand.

"Wait. Vivi! I'll give you your things!" And Harper held out the clothes and bag to him.

"Vivi?"

"Your new nickname. Do you like it?"

"What?" Perplexed, he gently hugged the gift. He didn't want to crush the fruit. More tears rolled down his cheeks.

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