"We are together." Those were my words to my brother before we reached the surface for the first time; since we both hatched, we have been together, fighting, surviving, forging alliances and friendships, trusting and getting to know each other, and proving that we are worthy of our lineage.

  Breigon is my kobold brother, there is no doubt about it, and we both have a dream, a dream that seeks to create instead of destroy for our people, that honors those who protected and welcomed us, that honors our great ancestors and their true legacy. Mother, give us the strength to never give up, just as you never gave up. Kirkarrg, I fulfilled and will continue to fulfill my promise to be with my brother; to both of you, thank you for protecting us. Great serpent, I will never forget you, great teacher. To all in our village, we have avenged their deaths; may the great ancestors welcome them. And great ancestor Orgarrl, I swear to create this new heritage and legacy together with my brother; we only observe, I will prove that I am worthy of your lineage. And so together, my brother and I reached the surface.

  ………………………………………………

  What can I say about the surface? Well, first of all, Breigon's explanations and drawings about it, as well as my heritage, fell short, as the surface was incredible; the colors, the smells, the objects, and the living beings, everything was so different. The sky seems endless, just like the mountain ranges above the great caverns. I see the clouds, but not the end of the mountains; the forest has large trees and other abundant plants that make it look impenetrable. The sun and its light blind us, and it's uncomfortable because I want to see more.

  My brother looks equally surprised, but more so, he is happy to be able to see the surface again, and that much of it matches his previous life. I see out of nowhere a creature flying above us; while Breigon tells me it's a bird, it's so different from any creature in the great caverns, it has two colors, which my brother tells me are yellow and light green. I ask him to explain all the colors, creatures, and objects we can see, and he gladly does so, so we sit down to admire everything. Breigon explains to me again with the same patience with which he taught me his heritage, pointing out things and telling me what they are, while I see the desire in his eyes that he loves teaching and wants to learn and know more.

  After my curiosity was satisfied, we explored the surroundings. We had decided to exit through a secondary tunnel away from the main one to avoid encountering humans, although we knew from the offspring of the great spider that they hadn't returned, but we wouldn't let our guard down; there was also the possibility that they had left traps or any other dangerous things.

  As we were exiting the large caverns, we also noticed that the miasma field, as we advanced, was weakening, as expected, and outside it extended, at least where we emerged, several meters into the forest without causing any harm to it. My great ancestor is incredible; this field only affected humans.

  The initial plan is to stay at this point to first get used to the surface before continuing with our journey. "One step at a time" was our motto; we wouldn't do things hastily and, while we trusted in our strength, we wouldn't take risks. My brother could fly and cover a greater distance, but as he told me, “We don't know what other creatures can also fly, it could be very dangerous." Moreover, the journey was to be together, he repeated to me, and we would do it at the speed of our legs; flying for him would only be to help us on the journey, although he wouldn't mind flying through the skies, he told me.

  I tried to convince my brother not to limit himself, to fly and show that the skies once belonged to our great flying ancestors, but he refused, telling me that he preferred to be cautious and, although I understand his point, I wish he would understand mine: we are descendants of the great dragons and we must show it and always feel proud of it!

  It's strange, but I've noticed in these past few months that something in him has changed. He is more cautious and doubts his strength. That's not necessarily a bad thing; it's Breigon being Breigon, he's always been like this, but his mana no longer emits that same pride he once had, and while I understand him more now that I know his essence is or was human, I can't help but wonder. What changed after he awakened his lineage? I would think it should be the other way around; that he would feel prouder of himself. I suppose Breigon is like that, but regardless, I will always be by his side and try to teach him as he has taught me, and even if he doesn't change, nothing will change between us.

  Now then, focusing on the reason why we are on the surface, our only clue to find any village of our people was given to us by the great serpent, and she obtained it from the last human she spoke to. This human mentioned to her that, leaving the caves but not straying far from them and towards where the sun rose, there was a known kobold settlement far away. We knew that this information was from years ago and that perhaps our brothers were no longer there, but it was all we had, and while my heritage told me that other villages must exist, it didn't tell me where to find them.

  Breigon told me to have faith, that somehow, we would find our people and even, as a last resort, ask the first human we encountered. I didn't like that idea, but I understood my brother's point: the important thing is to find our people.

  The days passed and we explored the forest, encountering various creatures, but none were a threat to us, especially with everything my brother had done. Breigon had prepared several things for our journey, many made from what the humans left behind, others were minerals or parts of cave creatures; while I wasn't very much in favor of using these things, I understood their importance.

  The armors would protect us, just as the swords allowed us to cut through the vegetation more easily, and above all, we didn't have to spend our mana. Saving mana as our main weapon for defense and attack is very important when exploring, and we would soon realize that.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  We also carried other mana weapons from the humans, two swords and two spears so that my brother could use them as a last defense, a piece of armor that would serve him as a shield, and a staff to continue investigating it, since he couldn't use it without first knowing the human language; but we also carried other things, most of them my brother's; however, I gladly carried them loaded in what Breigon called "backpacks," which he made with the help of the giant spider and its threads; and so, as time passed, the day came when we set out in search of our village.

  - Hey, Garrl, are you sure you can carry all that? I can help you, even though my wings get in the way of carrying a backpack; I can still carry them in other ways.

  - Calm down, brother, it's good exercise for me; besides, it's better if you don't carry too much weight, in case you have to fly. So, let's start our journey; I can't wait to find more of our kobold brothers.

  - Well, but remember that it will be a long journey, and if you need help carrying anything, don't hesitate to tell me. Yesterday, I flew in the direction where the sun rises and managed to spot a river; I think in a couple of days we'll reach it; we'll resupply there and continue. In the same way, I will fly over and then we continue on foot, does that sound good to you?

  - Sure.

  …………………………………………………..

  We began our journey; it was incredible to see the surface and how much it matched with my previous life. "Thank God," I told myself; I felt a little more secure seeing a habitat I could recognize. Apparently, this world is very similar to where I come from: the vegetation and animals were similar, although with their differences, of course, since I didn't recognize any species. That is to say, I knew it was a bird or a rodent, a plant or a tree, among others, but that it reminded me of a specific species from my previous life, no. But, well, it's not like I'm making a botanical and zoological encyclopedia of this world, at least not for now.

  Our course would be guided solely by what the great serpent told us; and it was simple since we would be traveling along the mountain range parallel to it, and to return, we would only have to retrace our steps, and although I was curious to move in other directions. I knew we could get lost by losing the reference of the mountain ranges; besides, as far as I could see when I was flying, the only thing I saw was a dense forest, in any other direction that wasn't the mountain ranges.

  I suppose that partly explains why humans rarely come here; this area seems to be uninhabited by humans, although I don't know the reasons. However, that increased my hopes of finding a kobold village.

  The only thing that worried me was knowing what the humans would do when they realized the miasma field, because yes, as far as I could perceive, it did extend throughout the mountain range in both directions. It's not that I didn't know when we activated the magic seal, but I hope no human village or city is nearby; because that would give us more time to think about what to do, since, without the risk of being mistaken, we took away from the humans an immense source of resources related to mana minerals.

  I hope that doesn't cause greater conflicts ………………… Who am I kidding? Of course, it will cause conflicts! as if I didn't know human nature, but as long as they don't associate it with us and as long as it protects the great caves, I think we'll be fine, "one step at a time," first our people, then we can analyze the magic seal and its geopolitical implications more calmly.

  ………………………………………….

  Kingdom of Jódecas

  - Your Majesty! I have terrible news from the exploration group.

  - Speak, don't tell me the other kingdoms found out about our incursion. Speak, don't tell me the other kingdoms found out about our incursion.

  - No, but …………..…

  - Speak up already!

  - I'm sorry, Your Majesty. It's just that only 6 soldiers and 12 sorcerers returned; they told us they don't know what happened, but inside the cave and even around it, a miasma field emerged, and the worst part is that it appeared when the main exploration group ventured in search of the possible mana mineral deposit and never came out. They waited for days and even tried to enter, but the field is lethal, quickly wearing out the protection spells and intensifying as one delves deeper into the caves.

  - Are you telling me that a perfectly trained order of over 50 soldiers and sorcerers perished? But …………… they were equipped with our best armor and spells, not to mention the weapons, and they were led by Sir Gerard. They should have waited longer!

  - Your Majesty. The survivors explained to me that the crossbows were destroyed by a large serpentine mana beast they encountered at the entrance; it even killed several soldiers with mana armor. However, they managed to bring it down. Afterwards, Sir Gerard decided to continue with the exploration, and having managed to repair a crossbow, they entered with determination to fulfill their mission for our kingdom. The problem is that the field emerged almost a day after they ventured in, and seeing how lethal it is, there is no way they can get out in time. But there's something worse, and that is, as far as they could see and detect, the field extends through all the caves, and when they say all, they mean all, although they couldn't corroborate it, but if it's true, possibly other kingdoms bordering the mountain range will realize at some point if the field has extended to them.

  - By the great spirits! Are you telling me they suspect the miasma field extends over much of the mountain ranges? That's not natural and impossible to achieve or even to exist; there's no human magic that can accomplish such a feat, they must have made a mistake.

  - But, Your Majesty, with all due respect, the field remained unchanged for days; that alone, along with its size, even if it doesn't cover the entire mountain range, makes it impossible to exist naturally or even artificially. And, what if it is a punishment for incursion? It had been forbidden to all the kingdoms by order of …………..…

  - Shut up! All the border kingdoms, and even the non-border ones, have taken advantage in one way or another to extract minerals from that mountain range, and no one has cared and nothing has ever happened, and we have even been the most affected, because many enter without permission through our borders; we are the ones who have respected this agreement the most and what has it brought us? Nothing! Besides, you know very well the situation we're in, it wasn't the right thing to do, but we had to try.

  - I'm sorry, Your Majesty.

  - ……………… No, it's fine, I partly understand your point; if the suspicions were true and that field extends to other realms, it will only be a matter of time before they link it to someone breaking the prohibition and if they link it to us... ……………….. Gather the council, this is beyond me, and keep what happened a secret; I don't want to cause panic in the kingdom. And that goes for those who survived as well.

  - As you command, Your Majesty.