Ephraim patted his daughter on the shoulder to assure her that everything would be fine.
“Well, then, my darling. You heard what Emily told you. Crux only takes orders from you. So tell him to fly out. And the rest of you, get that stuff back in the house.“
The workers took everything. Crux had trouble giving it away. He hissed and put his claw hand over it to protect it.
“Crux, that's enough of that. Give it to me, boy. It's not yours.“
Larissa went over and scratched her dragon under his neck, which reassured him.
“Would you like to fly out, my friend? And show me where your place is?"
“I'll go with you, if you don't mind?"
She ruffled her lips so that this moment would come, she knew, yet it hurt in her heart. In the afternoon I met her and the dragon in the forest. She was obviously nervous.
"Don't be afraid, my child. It's not that bad. When he's settled down, you can always come back and see him. But now let him go.“
The dragon towered over the girl, he was already a colossus. I can't imagine what this would be like in a few months. She approached him, looked deep into his eyes and laid her hand on his cheek.
"Crux, I want you to fly out of from here. Your time has come. You're too big to live with us any longer. So go show us where your new place is.“
Immediately he stretched his wings, pushed himself off the ground and flew towards the sun. He was so tall, his shadow covered the sun. Up in the air, he drew wide circles, spat fire here and there. It was a dream to watch this magical creature do it. I hadn't seen any of them for so long that I had to ask myself if this was real at all. From the ground we had everything in view. Although we had to follow his flight, it didn‘t drive him too far away from the castle. In a valley next to a mountain, about half an hour away from our villages, he went down. We had trouble finding him again, because he was extremely fast. The fact that we had to fight our way through all the trees and bushes didn't make things any easier. Crux had stopped in front of a big mountain, covered with the most beautiful and greenest fir trees. There was an entrance on the south side. We went in. The mountain had to be hollow inside; a long passage led into it. In fact, the mountain was hollow inside. The sight we saw there almost took away our breath. A gigantic cave extended under the hilltop, many turnings pointed to further places. A lake gathered in the middle of the cave; its source probably came from the small river that flowed past the mountain. Here the dragon could have a good time, here he could grow and prosper. He wouldn't be short of space. Crux flew excitedly towards us, apparently he wanted to show us something. He led us through one of the large corridors, which was so huge that Crux would easily fit through it if he had grown to full size. The end of the passage was open and led to the west side of the mountain on a plateau. From there one looked far down into the valley, game grazed down on the wild meadows, the perfect source of food. Crux had found his new home and Larissa was cheerful. This place went from there under the name Dragon’s mountain into the history books. Meanwhile, we left more years behind. The seasons shrouded the land in their typical dresses and Crux grew to become the greatest dragon Earth has ever seen. After a year, he spoke our language and trusted me. I continued to teach my student witchcraft. She grew up to be a beautiful young woman who captivated everyone with her grace. Skin like porcelain, long, dark hair, a strong yet slender silhouette with feminine curves and these unmistakable sapphire blue eyes. And then the day came. The day she turned sixteen, and I knew what that meant.
The damned sixteenth year
. . . from here Larissa tells the story from her perspective.
As often as I could I spent time with my dragon. Sometimes, when it was already late and I had forgotten the time again, I even stayed with him in his cave at night. I used to light a fire and fall asleep on his warm belly. At the court, of course, they were worried about where I was in the beginning. After some time this became quieter regarding. When Crux was big enough, I climbed on his back and he rose with me into the air. To fly over the roofs of this world with my friend was indescribably beautiful. Past lakes whose waters glistened like diamonds in the sun, over great mountains whose peaks rose mighty against the kingdom of heaven. On Crux's back I felt no fear; I enjoyed this freedom when I looked hundreds of meters down and the world at my feet was so tiny. But very often we stayed near the Dragon‘s mountain, caught our food and sat together. Then we talked about God and the world. His language was impeccable. He had a deep, dark, almost booming voice. When he laughed, it was like the whole earth was vibrating. I shared almost everything with Crux. When I was worried, I told him, when I had a bad dream, I told him. I always kept him informed of what was going on in the clans. I especially liked hunting with him. Despite his size, he managed, again and again, to approach his prey unnoticed and to kill it. He either burned it, devoured it in one piece or impaled it on his curved horns. If I couldn't be with him once, it wasn't the end of the world for him. Most of the time he slept then and dragons can sleep long and deep. My other time I spent at the farm or in the forest with my circle of friends. Well, it was just my brother Tim, my cousins Frederick and Sebastian and my dearest friend Sven. I had grown up with them and shared a deep connection with them. They never felt jealous of me, although sometimes I was spoiled more than they were. Not with Crux, either. They had great respect for me for raising the dragon. After Crux had settled in the Dragon’s mountain, I showed them his new fortress. They were astonished at the sight and more and more often they came there and made friends with the dragon and he with them. Then we flew out together on his back. Emily also came to visit Crux very often. She always brought him a dragon cake, which she baked herself. It was enriched with good herbs that strengthened Crux after a long day; he liked it very much. Seeing my dragon get on well with the most important people in my life filled my heart with pride. I had done everything right, nobody had anything to fear from him.
In the evening I often sat with the boys in one of the living rooms of our castle. We played cards, drank wine or blood and told each other stories. My father used to invite Stephan and his family to dinner with us several times; my uncle Michael, my aunt Margot and my cousins ate with us almost every evening. From time to time others joined in, such as Emily and to my great regret Claus as well. I couldn't stand him. He was wrong and deceitful, only my father had always been too blind to see it. After we had eaten, I felt an incredible heat inside of me, which worried me very much, because vampires never got hot. Despite everything, I got involved in a game of chess with my brother. Tim was just starting to checkmate when my head started booming and I noticed things that seemed impossible. My senses, it seemed to me at least, had suddenly been sharpened many times over. My head was still grumbling violently, I heard the flies crawling on the walls in the kitchen and could that be possible? Yes, I even heard the very clear snoring of my dragon in his cave.
"Check and mate, sister, you've lost“, Tim looked up and became perplexed at my sight, "Um, tell me, are you all right? You look strange.“
To cover up the situation would take more questions off my shoulders, at least until I knew what was happening here.
"I think I caught something at dinner that wasn't so fresh. If you'll excuse me, I'll go to bed.“
Sven had also noticed that something was wrong. He stared at me with Argus‘s eyes. He stopped me at the stairs in the great lobby.
"Lis, are you all right?"
"I don't feel so good, I'm going to get some sleep, hopefully tomorrow morning everything will be better.“
"I may be wrong, but there was a great heat coming out of you. I’m surprised that nobody else has noticed it. Maybe you should contact Emily sometime.“
"Maybe. Good night.“
I turned my back on him and walked straight into my room. The night was hell. After hours of turning back and forth, I finally fell asleep. I was dreaming of confusing things and I felt so hot, like I was in a fever. But I knew it couldn't be. We vampires never got sick. In my dream the moon suddenly appeared in its full splendour. A full moon. The balcony door was wide open, had I left it open? But it