I open my eyes and see Garrl in front of me.

  - Brother, sorry for waking you up, but come see the river, I think it's important.

  - Give me a moment, I just need to clear my thoughts.

  How bad, it's the only thing I can think if those dreams, I have are real and the voice didn't lie to me, which I don't believe. Not only will it not help us, but it is constantly watching me! This is uncomfortable and above all unfair, why? Why do I remember being human? For feeling uncomfortable even in this body. I didn't ask for any of this! But before I continue down that line of thought, I look back at Garrl; he looks worried and anxious. Did he say he wanted to show me something at the river? …………………………………………. What am I doing? You know what? To hell with it, if my life now is to be a kobold, then I'll be a kobold, but I won't forget who I am or my former humanity; I'll help my brother Garrl and somehow, we'll get through this together. It feels a bit strange to think of Garrl as my brother, but that's technically what we are, right? Damn! I need to stop overthinking things.

  - Come on, Garrl, show me what's in the river, brother.

  To my surprise, as we got closer, what we could see in the distance, I think it was a toad or a frog; it's hard to tell. I know it's big. Well, compared to us, almost anything seems big. In that, Garrl speaks to me.

  - Brother, I think we can hunt it, I don't know how, but I know our village used to hunt them, would something from your heritage help us?

  - Hunt him?

  Honestly, in my previous life with modern times, humans stopped hunting out of necessity, and what you needed was just a click away; everything was raised or produced on farms or ranches, and thinking about it. You don't know what you have until you lose it; but I must focus on our situation, how do we hunt it? Our only weapon is the fang dagger; it's not the best, but it's what we have. Our claws and fangs are also there, but I don't think they would do much damage; anyway, on my part, I don't know how it would be to use them. Mental note: I need to learn to properly use my body and understand its capabilities and limits.

  - Garrl, what do you know about that amphibian? Whatever it is, it will be useful for us to come up with a plan.

  - Well, brother, what I inherited is that they can be hunted, but by adults, since some young ones, mainly strays, are devoured by the bigger ones; they are not poisonous and their skin is soft unlike ours.

  - So, if we get closer, it will see us as potential prey. You know what? I think I have an idea.

  Never in my life have I hunted or killed something out of necessity, and I don't like having to do it, but we can't afford to miss this opportunity. We must eat properly, especially since we are young; a toad wasn't on my menu, but it is on a kobold's diet. I suppose its way of hunting is to wait hidden in the water for something to come close and then catch it. We were lucky when we arrived, it wasn't nearby, or maybe it did see us and is looking for us; beyond that, we have to hunt it.

  I begin by approaching the river, hopefully pretending to be injured, and end up falling, apparently unconscious. The idea is simple: if this toad has hunted kobold spawn, it won't miss the opportunity of an injured spawn and will have to leave the river.

  I'm waiting for Garrl's signal to confirm that he is approaching, and of course, I'm scared, but I think I can run faster than a toad. Garrl would distract it with rocks if necessary, and besides, we would both run towards the nearest wall, where I don't think the toad could reach us; finally, we took the dagger, although Garrl didn't want to at first because, according to his heritage, the fang it is made from belonged to one of our ancestors and is only for ritual use. But then again, it's the fang of a dragon! And what a fang it is. I know we are not big, but I can't remember, unless it was some dinosaur, a fang of that size. But well, in the end, I convinced Garrl that if we want to honor our ancestors, we must first survive, so we took it.

  Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

  I was lost in my thoughts when suddenly Garrl gave the signal. I start to crawl when I hear something coming out of the water. We must get it away from the river. I stand up and see it: a toad that, while larger than any I remember from my previous life, isn't exactly giant, but is indeed large enough against us, and combined with a surprise attack, where it seeks to drown its prey, we would have a hunting method similar to that of a crocodile; but now it has lost its surprise and is out of the water. At that, I shout at the toad.

  - Come on, follow me, do you want an easy prey or not?

  I throw him the last insect we had as bait and it works, because not only does he eat it, but he also starts following me with greater interest and I lead him to a nearby rock.

  - Yes, focus on my damn frog, now, Garrl!

  Without further ado, Garrl jumps from the rocky elevation where he was hiding and plunges the dagger into the back of the toad, while he begins to attack it with his claws and fangs on one of its limbs; I do the same, although I don't think I do it with the same efficiency as Garrl.

  The poor toad was confused, making various sounds and trying to move, but there were two of us, and Garrl had already torn off the first limb. While I was attacking it on the side, the truth is that he did most of the work, because by the time I realized, the toad was already on the ground, gasping its last breaths.

  Valla Garrl knows how to defend himself and knows how to attack. I explained to him before coming here that, as soon as he could, he should attack one of the toad's limbs to prevent it from escaping, and he did it without hesitation and efficiently; I suppose his kobold instincts are more present than mine. In that moment, I see the frog and the only thing I can think and say to it is that I'm sorry, I couldn't come up with a less painful way to catch you.

  - Yes! brother, it worked! The great ancestors will be proud of us; Oh no! The ancestors! The dagger! Come on, get out of there, comeeee onnnnn, brother, don't just stand there and help me get it out; I think it's stuck.

  - Haha, I'm coming, Garrl.

  ……………………………………………………………………………………..

  In the end, Breigon's plan worked. I didn't think it was right to make ourselves seem weak, as it is not worthy of our great ancestors, let alone to use the dagger, but it worked; the toad didn't stand a chance and now we have plenty of food. I'm starving, I never told my brother to avoid worrying him, but now, thanks to the great ancestors, we have enough food!

  Before eating, Breigon told me that we had to cut it into smaller pieces to take it to the cliff where we were, and that it was best to do it here before other predators arrived, so we did. I asked him if he didn't see a problem with us eating because I was starving, and he asked me if eating raw meat wouldn't affect us. "Of course not," I replied; I'm still surprised by some of the questions my brother asks me. How do you plan this hunt, without a hunter's heritage? But you don't know what we can or can't eat; but, in the end, together we achieved this great hunt and that's all that matters.

  In the end, I managed to fill my stomach like never before since I hatched. We brought up several pieces of meat and washed the blood off. Breigon didn't want to eat until he finished all the work; although in the end he did eat, he did it as he always does, with small pieces and making gasping sounds as if he were wishing for or missing something. I suppose he liked the food cooked with fire. I liked it too, but we can't make fire like Kirkarrg; none of us inherited how to do magic, and food is food; the important thing is that we can grow. In that, my brother speaks to me.

  - Garrl, sleep, I'll keep watch and don't worry, I'll wake you up if something happens; I've already rested, you should do the same.

  - Are you sure, brother?

  - Of course, I don't want to, nor do I think I can sleep; I have some things on my mind, but you really need it. Besides, I need my kobold brother to be fully recovered, so don't worry.

  - Well, but brother, don't forget to thank the ancestors who watch over us; we owe them.....................

  I can't even finish the sentence; he must be exhausted. Sleep well, Garrl.

  ……………………………………………………………………………………………

  These kobolds are different from the ones their village abandons, I will keep watching them, but first I need to know why they are here. I will have to talk to the village elder, if they were expelled, although that would be strange, but there are still humans in the caves and I prefer not to have to move. I wonder how the kobolds in their village are taking it that these humans are around here.