Chapter 103: Chapter 85

Marie

 

Helga and Philip hadn't spoken a word to her and Pia all day.  Instead, they only talked to the few nobles in their class. Eventually, Pia had enough. During the break, she pulled Marie behind her and walked towards her two friends, who were standing outside under the roof with the other students. It was raining a bit.

"Helga? Philip? We need to talk!", she shouted to them.

Marie became nervous. She suspected that Helga and Philip were mad at her about something, but she didn't know why. Had she upset them? No. Certainly not.

"About what?" Helga frowned.

"In private!", added Pia. "Please."

"All right." Philip took Helga by the hand and the two followed Pia and Marie a bit away from the other students. When they were out of earshot, Pia crossed her arms. "Why are you ignoring us?"

"If we ignored you both, we wouldn't be here. With you. You're exaggerating, Pia!" Helga snorted. "Was that all?"

"No! It wasn't!" Now Pia snorted too. "You hardly talk to Marie or me. Today you didn't even say hello to us! You didn't want to do group work with us... What's going on?"

"Did we upset you?", Marie dared to ask the two.

"No, of course not", Philip replied. "But... We just want to do something with others... Wich..."

"Which corresponds to our stand! The princess is not there. Who knows if she will come back? Of course, I hope that she comes back and is just somewhere on the way, but... You two alone are not the right company for us. You are the friends of the princess, so we met with you... And yes, I came to like you. But we're not of the same state, don't you understand that?"

"The princess is not here at the moment, and my parents have written to me in a letter that they want me to surround myself more with my peers. Helga's parents probably think the same way", Philip continued. "We should do more with our own and less with you. That doesn't mean we don't like you or don't consider you friends."

"We're not mad at either of you", Helga quickly added. "There's just no reason for us to talk to you right now. To meet with you. It was nice with you, refreshing even, but everything has an end. Oh yes... You might be interested in hearing this: Philip and I have been a couple since last night."

"Congratulations!" Pia almost spat out the words. "Then we'll leave you alone from now on."

Marie was shocked. So that's what they thought of her? Am I  nothing in their eyes?

Helga and Philip returned to their new friends with a terse farewell greeting, as if nothing had happened. As if they hadn't just torn Marie's world to pieces.

"We were never their friends." She looked at Pia sadly. "They only talked to us because of Julia."

"I'm not surprised. Nobles. My parents always said they looked down on others. When Julia returns, they'll probably crawl back."

"Are you sure about that?" Marie watched as the group around her former friends laughed.

"Either that or they try to get Julia into their new group. But they can forget that!"

"What if Julia doesn't come back? If something happened to her?" Marie was very worried. She is my only real friend besides Pia. Why don't the others like me? It was the same among mortals. Mom said they were jealous. First envy and then suddenly I am not a person of a society-befitting status?

"I don't know." Pia sighed. "Not really. Maybe we just have to accept it?"

"I don't think I can."  I finally had friends... A whole group of friends.

 

Marko

 

It rolled through the leaves that had fallen down in Leopold's parents' garden. Finally, he was out. As a wolf! He chased the falling leaves and ran back and forth. Finn sat on a pumpkin and watched him laughing.  Everything smelled wonderful. The wet leaves, the grass, the earth, and Finn. Finn smelled best. He smelled just right. Marko shot playfully towards him, braced himself on the pumpkin, and licked his boyfriend's cheek lovingly. Flora had allowed them to go into the garden as long as they promised not to leave. After Marko had begged for it again and again. After all, Julia had also been outside. Flora had been against it at first. Of course, she was. She didn't want to risk the eldest coming up with stupid thoughts, as she called it.

"Marko!" Finn laughed and wiped his cheek. "I like you too, but that's disgusting!"

Disgusting?  He licked his cheek again.  That's what you get for this! No one calls my proofs of love disgusting!

"Aren't you cold?" Julia came outside. She had wrapped herself in a blanket.

"No", Finn replied, as Marko couldn't speak at the moment. "We wolves aren’t cold so quickly. Especially Marko in his fur."

"Is that so?" Julia sat down next to Finn, as the pumpkin was big enough, and petted Marko's head.

"You're so soft!", she announced.

Marko responded with a wet wolf kiss on her cheek. "Marko!", she protested immediately. And while he was at it, he licked Finn's cheek again. Finn also protested.

"Do you give kisses?" Leopold came around the house. He had been watching everything. Marko growled softly. You won’t get one!

"Juli?" Leo, the traitor, smiled amused. "Your brother is looting my mother's wardrobe."

"What?" Julia raised her eyebrows. "Does your mother know that?"

"She's standing next to him. He told her that he likes to wear dresses..."

"Dear heaven!" Julia laughed and brushed a strand of hair from her face.

"If I had fabric, I could sew him something", Finn murmured. "Flora is smaller than Peter. Her clothes won't suit him..."

Suddenly, they heard a loud scream. Two dark shadows whizzed high above their heads, into the forest.

"Were those dragons?" Finn blinked. "Here?"

"It looked like they wanted to land nearby!" Leopold looked in the direction in which the two animals had disappeared. "Should we go and check?"

"But that's dangerous!" Finn shook his head. "They're dragons! No. It's better we stay here. I don't want to end up as dragon fodder!"

But Marko was seized by curiosity. As fast as his four paws could carry him, he hurried after the dragons.

 

Julia

 

Leopold and Julia ran after Marko in panic. Finn had stayed by the house because he couldn't run and didn’t want to risk his life. He had quietly complained about Marko's stupidity. It didn't take long for them to find Marko. Hidden behind a large stone, he observed two very large reptiles that had landed a few meters away between the trees. Some trees had been knocked over.

The dragons looked around. One seemed to be fully grown, a snow-white dragon with feathered wings and scales that shone like mother-of-pearl. Some of the scales on his large paws were orange. The other dragon was smaller. A young dragon, it seemed. The young dragon had a long, pitch-black body, except for the orange scales on his legs, and also on his head, but his feathers were as white as those of the other dragon. Both dragons had small, pointed horns. Only male dragons had these.

"That’s what we needed", Leopold whispered. "Dragons. Here!"

He and Julia hid behind the stone together with Marko. Julia stroked the wolf's fur anxiously. They watched as the older dragon took the younger one under his wing and sniffed the air. "Can they smell us?", murmured Leopold, alarmed. Marko growled softly.

Then something unexpected happened. The two dragons changed shape. The two large reptiles became two humans. A man and a boy. Both had orange hair and, to Julia’s surprise, wearing clothes. After all, Marko was naked every time he transformed back.

The two dragons moved towards them.

"We can smell you!", said the older man. "Come out."

"Oh no!" Leopold turned pale.

"Come on, kids!" The older dragon smiled, while the younger one seemed to be hiding behind him. Tears shimmered in the boy's eyes. "We won't do anything to you!"

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Marko put on his ears and walked slowly and growling around the stone. Julia and Leopold looked at each other worried and followed him.

"A werewolf, an elf and... You smell of magic, girl!" The dragon looked at her with amusement. "A little witch? What are three children doing alone in the forest?"

They did not answer. Julia did not utter a single word. She trembled. Dragons. Dragons that look like humans.

By now, the dragons were close enough for Julia to see that the elder had orange eyes. They looked as if a fire was burning inside them. His pupil was slit. The younger one, who wasn’t much younger than Julia, looked at her curiously. His eyes shone brighter. Yellow. They did not burn, they glowed. Those eyes made her nervous. The younger one seemed more dangerous than the older dragon, who looked at her curiously. How old could he be? As old as Ingried? Or much older? Even dragons stopped aging after a certain point in time.

"Well. Why did you follow us?", the dragon wanted to know.

Marko growled. With his gaze, he fixed the younger dragon, which was hiding behind the other again.

"We were curious." Julia found her voice. "What are two dragons doing here?"

"I was looking for my sister and found my nephew."

Julia saw the younger dragon tug indignantly at the other's clothes. "Niece!" His voice, or rather, hers?, was barely audible. Now the elder looked surprised at his nephew ... Niece? Julia was confused. "Niece?" The dragon seemed no less surprised. "But..."

"Niece!", now the younger dragon's voice was louder. "Not nephew. Uncle."

"Should we leave you alone with this debate?" Leopold sensed the chance to escape.

"No need!" The elder now pulled his niece in front of him and wrapped his arms around her. "We saw a village... Isn't there a chance to find something to eat for us?"

"What?" Leopold's mouth remained open.

"Oh. Not you! Or any other person... No. Food! Fruits, vegetables... Whatever. I don't want to draw more attention to us than necessary." The dragon laughed. "My name is Fiete. And this is..." Fiete looked at his niece.

"Josefine", she murmured, almost sobbing. Her uncle kissed her on the hair.

"Josefine!" He smiled. "I found her only recently. She was in the swamp. Alone. There he could ... She? She couldn’t stay there. It smelled like a vampire with bad intentions everywhere! Surely you don't mind if we accompany you?"

Now Marko and Julia looked at Leopold, whose face was petrified. Stunned, he stared at the dragons.

"If you don't want to eat anyone, then..." Julia sighed. That's crazy. Dangerous and crazy!  "Come with us."

"Wonderful!" Fiete smiled visibly pleased.

"And you don't eat anyone?" Marko had transformed back. Shameless as always. He stood naked in front of the dragons.

"Not now." The dragon looked at him with a grin. "And no one from the village. I promise. Is that enough for you?"

"Why?" Now Leopold spoke up.

"It's a long story. So... We're hungry!", the dragon urged, pushing his niece to Julia. She looked at the girl nervously. Josefine was a bit shorter than her... And seemed just as frightened. Maybe the idea isn't so terrible after all.

"All right. This way!" Leopold led the way. Julia was sure that the dragons knew exactly where the village was and had only asked out of politeness.

"Oh, yes", said Fiete now. "If someone asks. We are harmless hikers who have lost their way. No dragons. I want to avoid trouble. As I said. No unnecessary attention."

Julia nodded. Her eyes fell again on Josefine, who was walking beside her. With one hand she clung to her uncle's clothes. "Why were you alone?", asked Julia.

The girl swallowed. It sounded like a suppressed whimper. "Mom died. A vampire was nearby... He was following us... But then my uncle came and took me away."

"Oh." Julia hadn't expected that. "And you're a girl, though..." She had clearly seen the horns and female dragons had none.

Josefine wiped a lonely tear from her face. "Even though I'm a boy? You know, once I take the form of a human being, I don't feel like a boy anymore. Unfortunately, I can't adjust my body and otherwise, it's right. Mom gave me the name Josef. But if I'm like this, then Josef is not right."

"That sounds complicated!", said Marko, who was still looking at the two dragons worriedly. Julia felt the same way.

"Where are your clothes?", Josefine asked. She was visibly trying not to stare at him. "You're not wearing anything."

"Because he's a nudist", grumbled Leopold, who had been involved in a conversation with Fiete so far. One in which Fiete mainly spoke. He commented on each tree and praised the landscape. Leopold had only nodded nervously.

"What?" Marko laughed. "No. I have no clothes when I transform back. Why do you have clothes?"

"It's part of the transformation! We can change them as we please", Fiete explained. "Magic. Our own. It is different from that of witches. I can't say exactly how we do that. It's just the way it is."

Soon after, they arrived at Leopold's parents' house. Finn immediately turned pale when he saw the two 'wanderers'. "Are they dragons?", he asked immediately. "They smell like... Fire."

Fiete winked happily at him. "Keep that to yourself, ok?"

Finn's gaze wandered to Marko, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Did you find anyone in the forest?" Peter came running around the house. "I saw you from the window!"

"You're wearing a dress!", announced Marko dryly.

"And you wear nothing!" Peter stuck out his tongue. He wore a pink wrap dress with fine ruffles on the sleeves. It was a bit too tight for him and only went up to his knees. Under the dress, he wore the simple trousers he had worn before. "So? Guests?"

"These are Fiete and Josefine", Julia introduced them. "We found them in the forest! They got lost."

Fiete looked at Peter with interest. "Nice to meet you", he said.

Peter just frowned. "Found?"

"Found", Julia repeated.

Soon after, the two dragons were sitting in the small living room and got warm tea from Hanno, while Flora reminded Marko and Julia not to leave the garden. After finishing her scolding, she looked at Josephine. "How old are you, honey?" The eyes of the two dragons made her and her husband clearly nervous, but they tried not to let it show.

"Fourteen", Josefine replied quietly.

"And you got lost in the forest?" Hanno sat down on one of the small armchairs. "This is a really bad time to come here. But there's nothing we can do about it. Maybe you can stay with friends... We have no space."

"A bad time?", asked Fiete. "Why?"

"We expect soldiers." Hanno stroked his hair nervously. "Leopold said you were hungry? I'll cook some food. Do you like pumpkin soup?" He went into the kitchen, humming softly.

"Yes. Thank you very much." Fiete took a sip of tea and smiled. "The tea is delicious. Soldiers? That doesn't sound good. But don't worry. We don't want to be a burden to anyone."

"Oh, you don't", Flora quickly objected. "If need be, I'll find a place here where you can sleep.  We can do that. I'm just worried because... But you don't have to worry about that now."

"That's very nice, thank you!" Fiete bowed his head in thanks.

But the lie of the hikers was exposed, while Hanno served the soup.  "But you two are not hikers. A few years ago, a dragon visited our village. It had the same eyes!" Hanno had recognized the dragons by their eyes. But unlike his son, he seemed relaxed. "It was a female dragon, in the form of a woman. She had been driven out of the desert and had been injured. We took care of her wounds. Soon after, she flew on to the swampland."

Fiete smiled. "Was it a white dragon? With almost red eyes?"

Hanno thought for a moment. "I think so, yes. That was... It must have been over fourteen years ago. Leo was still small and didn't know our guest was a dragon."

Tears rolled down Fiete's cheeks. "That was my older sister. Josefine's mother."