As I took another look at it, I recognized what it was. If I remember correctly, it’s an owlbear. I remember my party getting wiped by one during a campaign of D&D. Those things are not to be trifled with. We ran as fast as we could, but we were no match against that thing in a race.

One of my sisters turned around in a panic, commanding it to stop while holding her arms out in front of her. She had lost it. Guess she couldn’t handle the stress. She closed her eyes, too afraid to look the beast in the eyes as it charged straight for her.

I looked back, watching this play out as I ran away. I wanted to save her, but there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t even stop running, even if I desperately wanted to. When the beast was no more than 10 meters away from her, a small light came out of her hands. A fireball, the size of a tennis ball, shot out of her hand towards the beast.

The beast was hit straight in the eye. It screeched out in pain. Cirauir, my sister, just stood there in shock. She might have held it off, but it was clear she wouldn’t make it. Just as I came to terms with that, Vyth grabbed her and ran back towards us. He fearlessly saved her.

The beast recovered from the pain and continued the chase. Vyth ran as fast as he could, even outrunning some of the others, despite Cirauir weighing him down. He kept repeatedly telling everyone to run faster. One of them came to an halt and slung a rock at it.

The rock hit it right on the forehead, but it merely bounced off. Within seconds, the beast smacked him with a paw. It send him flying. The beast kept its attention on him, leaving the rest of us alone. Just before they disappeared out of sight, I could see the owlbear rip some flesh from his body.

We arrived back home. The teacher brought us back home. We got the rest of the day to recover. Vyth began looking around.

“Where’s Asoirir?”, he asked.

He clearly hadn’t seen what happened. He was too focused on saving Cirauir, to pay attention to anything else.

“He....didn’t make it”, I sheepishly said.

Vyth just stared at me in disbelief. He lowered his head once the shock faded. He gritted his teeth.

“I could’ve saved him! Why didn’t I save him?! Why didn’t I keep an eye on everyone?!”, He blurted out.

“You couldn’t have. You were already carrying Cirauir. You shouldn’t blame yourself”.

“No, it’s my fault”.

Vyth was crying his eyes out. Cirauir was also shedding tears. Everyone was, even me. Still, it must’ve been taken especially badly by Cirauir. She must be blaming herself for being the one getting saved, instead of him.

I didn’t really know what to do. I guess that’s the thing of living a relatively peaceful life before all this. You won’t know what to do in a situation like this. An old, strange kobold walked in our room. I say old, but we was more likely to be in his thirties. Still, that’s plenty old for our kind, I believe.

The kobold went up to Cirauir. He was wearing this orange cape around him. It looked ragged and a bit large. All he needed was a hood or large straw hat, to make him look like the typical lonewolf. He kneeled before her and looked her in the eyes.

“Are you the one who shot out fire?”, he asked.

“Yes….If it wasn’t for me doing that, maybe...Asoirir would...still be…”

“Do not blame yourself, little one! If it wasn’t for you, many more might have fallen with him! You have been given the gift of dragons!”

“W-what do you mean?”

“Dragon blood flows through your veins, allowing you to perform such miracles”

“Do...you mean it?”

“Of course! You are talented, little one! Would you like to become my disciple? I can teach you how to become a great sorcerer, worthy of the dragons!”

Her eye lit up as he said that. It looks like she found her calling in life. Everyone else had stopped crying as well, and looked at them. Mom had told us stories about great dragons and their power. She had also told us about the deity kobolds worship. I never believed in it, after all I was reincarnated. But I guess I’m alone in that.

Still, it showed me a new perspective. In games, kobolds and the like were always seen as the bad guys. They were evil, no question about it. I guess, from their perspective, the other races are evil. They’re the ones killing so many of them.

There had yet been an attack by other races to our nest. Some kobolds have never returned from their hunt or gathering mission. Kobolds, apparently, really like shiny things. So, sometimes they go out to find some. They probably go to a human village. You can guess that those who didn’t return, were killed by that villages’ inhabitants.

It’s only natural for them to see dragons as angles, they’re the ones killing humans, and they look similar to us. A sorcerer, like Cirauir, will no doubt be trained to defend the nest against humans. It should sound horrible to me, but it doesn’t. Somehow, her being trained for that, actually makes me feel better.

The old kobold left with Cirauir, saying their goodbyes. She won’t leave the nest, but she will probably no longer come back here. She’ll be to busy training. Vyth came up to me, his head lowered in sorrow.

“Thanks for saving me earlier. When the boar was getting the better of me”, he said in a depressing tone.

I had never seen him like that. He was always chipper and confident. the complete opposite of me. Yet, he stayed by my side.

“Of course I’d save you. You’re my brother! You can’t take on everything by yourself, so I’ll have your back”

He looked up at me, his mood brightening a bit. I can’t do much, but at least I can do this.

“Thanks…”

It had become night time. Everyone was asleep, except for me. I was stuck thinking about things. For example, mom was sad about Asoirir’s death, but not as much as I expected. She returned to her usual smile not too long after hearing the news.

I guess dying young must be pretty normal for a kobold. I haven’t talked much with anyone outside my direct family, so I can’t compare. I’ve been told not to talk too much with them by mom. I wonder why. I switched the side I was laying on constantly, in an effort to fall asleep. It didn’t help. There was too much on my mind to drift off. As I switched, a rock stabbed me in my back.

Maybe I over exaggerated, but it still hurt! I sat up and plucked it off the ground. It was just a tiny, though jagged, pebble. It hurt me on one of those bulges on my back. I guess they’re getting sensitive, I’ve never had this happen before. For fuck sake! Why did I have to be stuck with such a handicap! Now they’re getting more than just a bit in the way!

I laid back down, closing my eyes. No help. I still couldn’t fall asleep. I wondered, if Cirauir could perform magic because of her bloodline, could I do it as well? I had to find out! It would be so awesome if I could!

I finally fell asleep, thinking about casting powerful spells. The next morning didn’t feel all too much different for me. Though, I could feel a dreadful aura looming over the rest. I mostly kept to myself, just like back in my human days. The only one I often talked with was Vyth and mom. The same could not be said about the rest. Still, I did miss him a bit. The room felt just a bit more empty, now that I thought about it.