I told Garrl everything, I didn't want to hide anything from him anymore, besides, why should I? I only kept to myself the part about my kobold soul and its sacrifice, not because I didn't want to tell him, but because I don't even understand it myself. If I remember everything, then it was myself, helping myself, no! I'm sure he was the one who should be me if I didn't remember my previous life; thus, I am the one who shouldn't be here.

  The truth is, everything is very confusing, as I remember myself as a kobold; I remember my fears, my joys, I remember when I accepted myself. It's as if I had two lives at the same time, but there's a difference, and that is that they are only memories now. When we were in sync, we shared our memories and feelings, and that was it, the sharing. We knew we were one and at the same time not, but that connection is no longer there. Did we come together or did he just disappear?

  The only thing I know is that he bequeathed me his dreams and joys, as well as his fears and sorrows, and I accept it all, but it remains very confusing. That's why I didn't tell Garrl; I hope to understand better later who I am, a human reborn as a kobold? Or a kobold who was born remembering that they were human? How confusing, really.

  But another topic I did discuss with Garrl was that I asked him to keep the secret about my human soul, as we don't know how other kobolds or creatures would react to me, or even if it would affect our dream, which, although not very clear, consists of helping our people in every way we can, in a utopian way by uniting all the tribes into one nation or village and progressing together. I had many ideas from my previous life, but I know that making changes is never easy; moreover, I must respect their culture and not impose mine.

  Garrl, for his part, does want to make changes and create, as he calls it, a "new legacy," one that is worthy and just for everyone, that honors the great ancestors and is free of hate; it will be a lot of work, and I told Garrl so. But he is determined, he wants to bring about that change, so I will not hesitate to try to help him in any way I can.

  The truth is, I don't know if our lives will be enough, but we must try, we must try to create a new legacy and inheritance. Maybe we can even avoid conflicts with humans, like today's, and why not! work together someday, with those who want to. We already had the great caves in our favor, and I don't mean just the mana mineral they contain, but also the beings that live in them and the ability to have them as allies; that is the main advancement or achievement. As for the mineral, as long as it is worked sustainably, it is possible to use it. I have already found several properties that could be useful, but we have to take it "one step at a time."

  In the end, we kept exchanging information and ideas about what we would do, and without realizing it, we had already arrived at the cave, our home for so many months.

  But we don't have time for nostalgia; our friend dreamed of bequeathing a better home to her future descendants, and we can pass on her dream, as well as her sacrifice, or at least that's what the great ancestor Drazird told me, that we could try with the last offspring of the great serpent.

  She had shown us her nest, which was in our home, and using the ritual of our people along with the little residual mana left from her crystal, we could at least give her offspring the notion of who their mother was. That's why we had come; it was the least we owed her, for all her help, for her last offspring not to forget her.

  The inheritance ritual is incredible once you understand it, the ability to give knowledge to your descendants before they are even born. Just imagine the possibilities. Of course, it has great risks, not only in performing the ritual itself but also in potentially inheriting not-so-good things, or at least that's what Garrl and I agree on, but for now, what matters is seeing if we can inherit his offspring with one of our tablets and the residual mana from our friend's crystal. And this last part is to avoid the rejection of their offspring, so we can do it! The question is: what legacy and inheritance do we want their offspring to have?

  We had to decide what to inherit, since it's not like unlimited knowledge can be inherited; but after discussing it calmly, we decided to give them the same knowledge and teachings that the great serpent gave us. They were theirs after all. We focused on mana hardening, as it would serve them both for defense and attack, and, of course, to inherit who their mother was, the great serpent we met, protector of the great caves, friend of Tammat, the kobold, of the lady spider, and other creatures. They had to understand that it is possible to get along with other creatures.

  Once it was decided that we would inherit, it was once again Garrl's turn to perform the ritual, not only because he had more experience or because he was more skilled in handling mana, but also because we didn't even know if I could perform it due to my human soul, and we wouldn't take that risk.

  With the little mana from the crystal, we only had one chance; however, at least I would help by giving my mana to Garrl, since we hadn't recovered yet, but we also didn't have time to do so, as the crystal was gradually losing our friend's mana. But by combining our manas, we could activate the ritual, and Garrl would channel the mana of the great serpent along with its heritage to its offspring, and that's what we did.

  It was exhausting and took time, but we managed to perform the ritual; only time will tell if we did it right, as our friend's mana left with our last effort. "Goodbye and truly thank you for everything" was the last thing I could say, before we were left with her empty crystal, but with immense gratitude towards it and the obligation to honor her memory. But now we had to rest, and we both knew it, as exhaustion hit us immediately, and in the very place where we had cooked our friend, we fell asleep, knowing that our adventure was just beginning.

  …………………………………………………..

  I open my eyes and I already know where I am, but now I know that it's just me and the great Drazird. He is just there, a dragon whose form reminds me of European-type dragons, as large as no terrestrial or winged creature I can remember, with great wings and a long neck, strong scales and claws, large fangs and a great antler. Anyone would feel terrified just by seeing it, but I know from my kobold memories that I should not fear it in the slightest, so I approach it with the hope of finding some answers.

  - I know you want to know, but I'm afraid I don't have all the answers, and some are not yet the right time to tell you, but I'll try to help you understand.

  - First, and as I told you the first time, I don't know how it's possible for you to be here; about your world, as far as I know, it isn't this one, so yes, your essence seems to be from another world, a strange world if you ask me.

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  - About why I am with you, it's because technically we are related, my lineage, though small, is in you and that brought me to you.

  - I have a mission, and it is to see if the kobolds are worthy of our lineage after so much time, and the reason is complicated, but yes, it was during the war with the humans that a group of us did what we had to do, and that was already hundreds of years ago, according to how I understand you measure time.

  - I admit it was dangerous and it didn't end well for many of us or for the kobolds; as far as I understand, and of course we wanted them to understand our hatred towards humans, but it wasn't just about inheriting that, at least not in part. It seems that at first it did work, as the seal clearly shows, but at some point, it was lost. It's not like we had time to test the spell and verify that it was safe; we knew the risks, ………………., Orgarrl, old friend, none of it was your fault, but you still sacrificed yourself just like the others, and now I swear to finish our legacy, we will not be forgotten…………..

  - Sorry, I was just remembering an old friend. What was I saying? Ah, yes, that war. The truth is, I don't want to talk about it, what good would it do after so much time? We simply lost due to our arrogance and pride, and for leading humans to despair, but, in the end, my point is that you don't need that past to create your future. In that sense, Orgarrl is right that you must be different from us. I will support you in whatever I can and observe; that will be all for now.

  - If it happened so long ago, it means that you…………..

  - Yes, I am already dead or at least my body is; what you see is my essence contained by a seal, but eventually, I will be lost just like Orgarrl. You don't have to worry about me; I made that decision knowing what will eventually happen to me.

  - I'm sorry, if there were something I could do.........

  - As I mentioned, don't worry, it's something inevitable, but it won't happen overnight. Orgarrl endured for years before he started to lose himself, and now I know that I shouldn't focus on feelings of hate or resentment. Besides, he was alone until he met Tammat and Garrl; I have you, even though our first interactions weren't entirely good, here we are, right?

  - But........................

  - You have already done more than enough …………… Listen, our goals align; we both want to help Garrl and his people. As long as you help me with that, it's more than enough, and sorry for hating you at first. I never had good impressions or interactions with humans. Maybe you are different because you are from another world, but beyond that, thank you for choosing to protect our legacy over your principles.

  - Don't mention it, I will protect and help Garrl and the kobolds as much as I can. Now I partly understand why Garrl is the way he is, and how his heritage comes from two paths, that of his people and that of his great ancestors. Feeling them was overwhelming, but it's not just hatred as Garrl said, it's hope for a better future and that aligns with my principles. Of course, we did it today, I still feel it wasn't right and I believe we can and have the obligation to do better and avoid, as much as possible, a path of more blood and hatred. I can be very idealistic, but I have to try.

  - You are curious and different, as always; maybe it is indeed destiny that brought you here. I will watch you and hope that you prove yourself worthy of our lineage, as you have done so far.

  - Thank you and I'll try ........ I wanted to ask you something else, if it's not too much trouble, it's about my kobold soul, he ..……..…

  - I'm afraid so.

  - But I have his memories, I remember when I talked to you and even when I talked to myself, it's confusing, are we one now? Or are they just his memories?

  - Tell me, do those memories bother you or that we are now one essence?

  - What? No! Not at all, it's just that ……………….. It should have been me; this was her life, I already lived mine.

  - You can't blame yourself, and you know it, only he could awaken his draconian blood, and even knowing the cost, he trusted you, that you wouldn't give up; he gave you his legacy, his hopes, and dreams. You inherited yourself, Breigon, that's what happened. Your mana was too little to activate the ritual, that's why he used his own essence to achieve it.

  - I know, I remember, I just hoped that maybe…………………. they were more than just that, memories.

  - Tell me something. What do you feel when you remember that you had to sacrifice yourself for your inheritance? What do those memories tell you?

  - What was right, what I did well, every kobold knows that the benefit of all is above that of one.

  - Well, does that go against how you lived as a human?

  - No.

  - So, tell me, who are you? a human who was reborn as a kobold? Or a kobold who remembers being human? Or maybe you are just Breigon, a kobold with strange ideas, but with the desire to make changes for the good of your people along with your brother Garrl.

  - I.................. I prefer that last one.

  - I know it has been difficult for you, Breigon; I don't have all the answers, but I promised I would be by your side, and here I will be, but you also have Garrl, and who knows who else you will meet. Live and cherish your memories as you always have, and create new ones, both for yourself and for him.

  Drazird is right, it hurts to know that my kobold self-sacrificed himself, but he did it so that I could help Garrl and his people; if I want to honor his sacrifice, I can't stay here depressed.

  - Thank you, great ancestor Drazird.

  - Fine. But if you need any other help, I'll be here, but remember ………….…

  - I must always prove myself worthy of my lineage, I know; and thanks again for everything.

  ……………………………………

  Upon waking. The first thing I think is that, although I didn't get all the answers, for now, I don't need them to know what direction I want to take in this life; just knowing that I'm not alone is enough for me. In that moment, I realize that Garrl is not here, but I can hear him training in the distance; truly, the blood of a warrior runs through his veins.

  But instead of going to find Garrl, I take advantage of the moment alone to examine my new body. I've been doing it since we were coming here, but between telling Garrl about my previous life and our goal of inheriting the offspring of the great serpent, I hadn't focused much on examining myself.

  And yes, it's the same basic structure of a kobold, only now I'm bigger. I know that now I exceed a meter in height; my scales are stronger and more pronounced. I touch my antler and feel that it is not just a smooth horn like I had before, but it has other extensions. It reminds me of Drazird's antlers and also the ones Garrl has now; it's interesting, although it makes sense that we resemble our ancestors more.

  I keep examining, and while I find one thing or another, what obviously stands out are my wings. I appreciate the memories of my kobold self, even if it was for a short time; it helps me know how to move them, although it still feels strange to have extra limbs attached to my back, when I thought having a tail felt strange, haha, ……………… but well, I try to move them in every possible way to know what I can or can't do; I fold them and extend them.

  As I try to get used to the movement of my wings, I realize the new possibilities and limitations this will bring me. Of course, being able to fly would be incredible and advantageous in certain scenarios, but for hand-to-hand combat, as well as my movements on the ground, I must adjust them. This in case I retract or extend them; I don't even want to think about what would happen if I dodge a sword attack and don't consider that my wings are behind me.

  Lying on my back will also be a problem; although the bones that connect my wings to this part of my body seem to be in a horizontal position to it, it doesn't mean that putting all my weight on them feels good. Well, I guess I'll just have to get used to it and train, even though I'm alone right now ………………… At that moment, Garrl shouts at me.

  - Brother, come train with me! We must be prepared! We don't know if there are still humans outside the caves wanting to come in!

  It's true, how foolish I am and how easily I forget, I've never been alone! Right, me, kobold?