P R O L O G U E
The wind tugs at my hair. It is hard to see anything through the white strands whipping my face, and the edge of the roof burning into my skin is the only hold I can sense. Sweat clings to me. The gasp on my lips dries out my throat and although my upper body is already half on the roof, my muscles are still screaming under the strain.
Sunrise has already bathed the sky in velvety orange and the certainty that it will pass if I don’t get to the top of the roof in time spurs me on one last time.
The rubber of my trainers finds grip on the slates and lifts the rest of my body from the terrace of my room onto the roof. My heart is pounding. Each breath rattles in my parched throat and sweat slowly cools me as I rest my forehead on the slate.
Just a brief pause.
Just a moment longer and I can at least see freedom.
“Where are they?”
My ears twitch. It’s there again.
It’s not the first time I’ve been aware of this whisper. For hours now it has been reappearing, disappearing into the background, and then, all at once, it is present again. A bit like those old televisions that only want to work properly after a few good knocks on the housing.
Still, the snort that escapes me is the only answer I can give. Whatever is going on in my head, right now, it doesn’t matter.
With renewed strength, I push my body upwards. It’s only a little way to the top of the roof. If I can only get one hand up there, the rest is a child’s-
“Where are they?”
My breath catches. The wind suddenly presses harder against the slates, pushing my body down and stealing my breath. Rumbling drowns out every other sound in my ears and the sudden stinging in my eyes, behind my forehead, clenches my teeth. Still, my gaze wanders upwards, a little over the top; and lingers on the body of a dragon, its black form shining in the glow of the rising sun. For a moment, all the fairy tales and all the stories of distant creatures that can hardly be mistaken for Pokémon seem true.
Its serpentine movements, the grace with which it crosses every metre, are everything that occupies the sky. It’s so unusual that I hold my breath. It seems any breeze could destroy this image.
That creature there in the sky is more beautiful than anything I have seen in this place in the last four days – fascinating enough to get my body moving again. Throbbing spreads in my chest as I overcome the last steps to the roof’s apex and settle down with my legs apart – the dragon always in view. Looking at it from a distance isn’t much, but it tells me something that probably no one else can understand: It’s looking for something.
“Not here.”
Again, the voice in my head crashes down on my own thoughts as the dragon stretches its head skyward and lingers briefly in one spot. It’s almost as if I can hear it. But this is nothing more than wishful thinking. Nothing but a dream whose shallow idea makes the corners of my mouth twitch.
Perhaps this dragon, too, is just a far-off daydream from which I’ll wake up in a moment, because the world likes to trample on wishes.
Still, holding on to the sight a little longer can’t be wrong.
But even before I can shout something, even before I can draw attention to myself, my senses stop working. Not a single word comes through. My throat is parched, my fingers tremble even though they are stuck to the slate, and my body no longer moves. The uncertainty has swallowed me.
All that remains is for me to look after the creature. Similar to a goodbye before I have to wake up to prepare for the rest of my escape. Shortly afterwards, the dragon disappears behind the clouds, leaving behind only the languid mood of a new morning.
Sighing, I lower my gaze. My fingers have clung tighter to the slate and although there is no point, I have to say it – hoping it will give me the courage to go through with it.
“I will follow...”
Tonight, I will leave. Tonight, when my seventeenth birthday is finally over, I will leave this godless island and go travelling. Unlike my father, who always seems to run away from something. I will see the world; get to know it and live it.
And then I will conquer it – together with my team.
