We had continued with our journey, and it has been almost a month since the river. We used the same strategy: overflights and we continued; we maintained the same course, which was to go parallel to the mountain range.

  During the journey, we encountered three creatures that we considered dangerous, but not invincible: a feline that reminded me of a jaguar, a giant eagle that was the most concerning to us, and a kind of boar, which we managed to hunt with the right strategy. I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to eat something resembling pork, and of course, we checked beforehand to make sure it wasn't an awakened beast, and once we confirmed it, well, we went hunting and eating.

  It wasn't easy to hunt it; that wild boar could also harden its mana, but it was nowhere near similar to the great serpent's ability. Unfortunately, throughout the entire journey, I didn't find anything that could serve as seasoning, so it was just roasted wild boar over the fire, nothing more. For the first time since I was reborn, I wished I didn't remember that part of my previous life, as seeing Garrl enjoy just eating it roasted without anything else made me a bit envious. But, in the end, I would never sacrifice any of my memories of my life as a human; I cherish each and every one of those memories.

  As for the other two creatures, while eating a bird was tempting, the problem was not only its size and speed, which surpassed me, but also that a fight with this bird would be solely mine, due to the great height at which it flew or glided, or we would have to trick it into coming down to a height where Garrl could participate, and that was too much effort and not the goal of our journey. Lastly, the feline always kept its distance from us and its mana was never hostile; moreover, it stopped following us when we possibly left its territory, because after a while we stopped perceiving it.

  We also encountered other creatures, similar to rodents, rabbits, birds, snakes, amphibians, and lizards, but they were not large in size and, although they possessed mana crystals, they did not reach our level, so we did not consider them a threat; moreover, most of them instinctively moved away from us.

  It is curious and would make sense to see that the animals outside the caves are smaller and less dangerous than those that inhabit the great caves. Apparently, the lesser exposure to natural mana plays a decisive role in this, as, except for the crocodile and possibly the eagle, none have a mana level close to that of the already awakened cave creatures. Assume that once again all this is filed away in my folder of future research.

  On the other hand, I also tried to taste and eat other things we found during the journey; we couldn't rely solely on eating meat, although my teeth say otherwise. Luckily, I found a couple of tubers that we decided to roast, and when we tried them, they didn't taste so bad and didn't harm us, although Garrl didn't like them; they didn't taste like meat, he told me. We also found fruits; however, most of them tasted bad, only two were acceptable to our palate, and one of those made me vomit for two days. I don't know if it was because it was poisonous or because I'm more of a carnivore than an omnivore. However, putting that horrible experience aside, finding those tubers and that single fruit gave me hope, since if we want to grow our village, one problem will be food, and we can't rely solely on meat; we need to promote some kind of agriculture, or at least that's what I think.

  And so, we continued our journey, until one day, after my usual flight, Garrl was waiting for me, but with news I would never have expected in such a dense forest.

  - Humans! I found a human, Breigon.

  …………………………………….

  This journey in search of more of our kobold brothers and some village, has had its good and bad things, as Breigon says.

  We haven't found any trace of our kobolds brothers, which was worrying me; however, my brother told me that we were just starting the journey, and a month and a half is a short time to say that we have covered a great distance. He reminded me when the great serpent emphasized that the settlement of our village was far away, and while that doesn't tell us how far it is, it also doesn't tell us that we should give up after just a month and a half. Breigon asked me to be patient and that we should not give up, and in that he was absolutely right: our brothers must be there, they must be! we just have to keep going.

  Apart from that situation, traveling on the surface was incredible, of course, excluding the difficulty of moving through this jungle without getting any part of your body tangled. For their part, the mud on our claws didn't feel good, and the torrential rains accompanied by lightning slowed our progress; however, the immense variety of living beings and their habitats never ceased to amaze me.

  We also encountered other opponents with whom we could prove that we are worthy of our lineage, but my brother stopped me dead in my tracks with that, not because he didn't want to keep proving that we are worthy of our lineage, but because these creatures, unlike the crocodile, did not underestimate us or see us as prey, and we would not become the bullies of the forest, hitting whatever we pleased, Breigon emphasized to me; only for food, defense, or because they underestimated us. Those were the conditions my brother imposed on me, and that last one, I had to be the one to set it.

  But, despite my gesture of discontent, I understood that we should respect other living beings, just as we did in the caves. It's better to create alliances than to create enemies. I hope that crocodile doesn't misunderstand us, but he was the one who started the conflict by belittling us and considering us his prey.

  Another thing that happened during that trip was when my brother, once again, started with his strange ideas, but I must admit they make some sense; he wanted us both to eat plants, specifically some roots he explained to me were called tubers and some things that hung from certain trees or plants, called fruits. My senses and instincts told me that wasn't food, but my brother's explanation ended up convincing me: if it was for the good of our people, then fine, sometimes sacrifices have to be made.

  Fortunately, the roasted tubers, although not as tasty as the meat, didn't taste bad and didn't upset our stomachs; however, the fruits were another story: most didn't taste good, only one did, and it wasn't even that great. While another one made Breigon sick, at that moment I had to oppose my brother's idea, which, although it was good, was also dangerous given our condition. Luckily, he didn't argue much with me and agreed not to keep testing more plants; he was still happy with the ones he found that were edible for us, and after storing some seeds and plants, he was satisfied.

  And so, this journey was, a journey of hope and exploration; however, one day something happened that I didn't think would happen to us so soon.

  That day we arrived at the point Breigon had decided we should reach, and it was because there was a small entrance to the caves, or at least that's what he saw while flying over; our plan was to explore that entrance just in case our kobold brothers saw it as a potential home. However, upon arriving at it and after resting, my brother decided to first fly ahead, just in case, before exploring the entrance. I told him I would go ahead and wait for him in front of it, and that's what we did. What none of us expected, and least of all me, was to find a dying human near the entrance, leaning against a tree.

  I didn't know what to do, whether to wait for Breigon or what, but out of nowhere, I started to approach the human. He, upon seeing me, was terrified; I could smell him along with his stinky human odor; however, he was very weak, it showed in his body, and after a couple of attempts to get up, he gave up. When I was in front of him, the human looked me in the eyes, lowered his head, and closed his eyes, while saying things I didn't understand and didn't care about.

  I knew he was hoping I would kill him, and I had no shortage of desire to do so. I remembered all the pain they had caused us, I remembered the pain of my great ancestors, and a rage surged within me, and instinctively I sharpened my claws with mana and brought them close to the human.

  I was going to kill him! It was what he deserved, however, just as I was about to do it, I stopped, because I knew Breigon wouldn't approve of this, and for a moment I thought: "What if this human is like Breigon, and has a more open mind?" "And what if he is like the good humans that the great serpent told us about?" My brother doesn't want me to be a human killer just out of hatred; I don't want this path for myself, nor for our people. This is not the legacy I want to pass on to future generations.

  And although part of my inheritance given by the ritual demanded the death of the human, the other inheritance taught by my brother told me to give him a chance, even though he didn't deserve it. And in the end, the latter won, because I dissipated my mana and withdrew my claw from the human while taking a deep breath, and I decided to wait for my brother. I begged my great ancestors for forgiveness for ignoring their legacy, but I knew that even the great Orgarrl had asked me not to follow this inheritance, so maybe the great ancestors would forgive me, I thought. At that moment, I spotted my brother and ran to the place we had agreed to meet, and upon arriving, I shouted at him.

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  - Humans! I found a human, Breigon.

  ……………………………………………..

  Those words from Garrl made me have mixed feelings and thoughts: was it better to flee and avoid conflict or to fight or try to talk, even though we know nothing of their language? What should we do? But my brother quickly explained the situation of the human to me, and then I had no doubt that we should try to help him, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it might be our only opportunity to obtain some kind of information and, why not, be the first step towards trying to get along with them and prevent what happened inside the great caverns from happening again.

  Upon arriving at the place where Garrl found him, the human was there, a poor boy, completely malnourished and barely able to move, and above all terrified of us. His smell was terrible and his gaze pleaded for someone to end his suffering; as I approached, he began to weakly say many things I didn't understand, while with his little strength he tried to move. I tried to talk to him, but that only scared him more. Of course, I would be just as terrified if two creatures resembling small dinosaurs with large claws and fangs approached me, but we have to help him. I then told Garrl to pass me some of the boar meat we had roasted and some water, but then he said to me.

  - Are we really going to help him? And if we just leave him, brother, not killing him is enough mercy from us; it's more than they deserve.

  That response left me stunned, not just because of the words, but because of how Garrl said it. I knew he still hated humans, and I can't blame him, but I thought that this time together since I told him I was human had changed his opinion a bit, but I guess not. I guess that, despite him knowing I was reborn, Garrl doesn't see me as a human; he has even told me himself: to Garrl, I am a kobold, with strange behaviors, but a kobold, in the end.

  And although I sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, appreciate that acceptance, my soul remains human and I cannot ignore another human being in need, it is not right, for God's sake! It's not! It's not what my parents or my previous life taught me, so I told Garrl.

  - Garrl, brother, we must show compassion, we must show the humans that we are not the monsters they think we are. I know that humans have only brought you pain, but if we want to create a legacy for our people, we cannot simply ignore humans, because they will always be there. We must try to create a path of peace with them. I know I'm asking a lot of you and I know your heritage tells you otherwise, but imagine if it were the other way around, if it were a kobold found by humans. Wouldn't you want them to help him?

  - If it were as you say, humans would mercilessly kill that kobold, just as they did with our village and the great ancestors, but I think I understand your point, brother: we are proud descendants of the great dragons, and we must be better than them. I'll pass you the meat and water now.

  Garrl's final response was not exactly what I wanted to hear; seeing compassion, piety, and help towards another species as an obligation and a feeling of superiority, instead of something that comes from the desire to do it, didn't sit well, but I understand that kobolds think differently.

  I can't impose my human way of thinking just because; besides, I know he thinks this way now partly due to the resentment he has towards humans, since within the caves he did show the ability to get along with other species; otherwise, we would have never achieved what we did. Although yes, kobolds are very proud; I myself used to have that feeling before. I suppose I must be patient and see how I can help Garrl and in turn break that senseless chain of hatred. I hope to achieve it, but now we must help this human.

  While we were looking for water and food, the human remained just as scared and kept repeating the same thing; I suppose they must be praying because this human must be expecting the worst. I tried to give him the water and food while trying to explain what they were, but he kept rejecting everything in fear. That's when I thought of trying to speak to him in my previous language; maybe he would feel more comfortable than listening to growls, whistles, and clicks, and I tried it.

  - Listen to me, I don't know your name; mine is Breigon and the one behind is my brother Garrl.

  I started pointing to myself and Garrl, while repeating our names, hoping he would understand that we didn't want to harm him, and out of nowhere, I heard him say.

  - Jul …………… Jul ………………. jul.

  - So, your name is Jul? Somewhat strange name, and no intention of wanting to offend you. Haha. Let me introduce myself again: I am Breigon, he is Garrl, and you are Jul. Listen, Jul, we don't want to harm you, we just want to help you. This is water, look, and just to be sure, it's boiled; you can drink it.

  After showing him that it was water and that I was drinking it myself, he finally accepted to drink it, and although it was difficult for him, Jul managed to drink something. We did the same with the food. I tried to do my best for Jul that day, but she was very weak, and by the end of the day, she died.

  However, before he died, he gave us a great gift, "hope." I had tried to draw a picture in the dirt, trying to show a kobold village while I explained to him what we were looking for. In the end, I don't know if he understood, but with effort, he pointed in the same direction we had been moving, while repeating "kul, kul, kul" and pointing at me, and then pointed again in the same direction, kul.

  The truth is, I don't know if with the little information Jul gave us, we'll be able to find what we're looking for, but at least it matches the information the great serpent gave us, and I also know I shouldn't get my hopes up. Maybe he understood something else; given how weak he was, there's a possibility he was just rambling, but I prefer to believe that he tried to return the favor.

  That night I asked Garrl to help me bury him; however, we couldn't dig much, we didn't have the right equipment and our claws weren't made for that, so in the end, we ended up placing stones on top of him and, when we finished, I tried to say a prayer. I didn't know which god to pray to, so I just asked that his soul find peace.

  And at the end of the day, as we were going to rest, Garrl and I didn't talk much. That was after we finished the burial, and we just went to sleep. I knew Garrl was restless and something was bothering him the whole time we took care of Jul, and I can imagine what it is, but the truth is, we were both exhausted, not physically, but mentally, so I hoped to talk to him in the morning. Garrl offered to take the first watch shift, and I gladly accepted, and thus passed that day when we had a chance encounter with the human named Jul, and soon I would find out what possibly happened to him.

  ………………………………………………………

  Kingdom of Jódecas, the king's castle.

  King Erick had received the terrible news from Merlan. Apparently, the impossible-to-exist miasma field not only existed, but it covered the entire mountain range as far as the eye could see, making the possibility of it spreading across much of the mountain ranges very likely. Erick didn't care if it covered all the major mountain ranges, but that other kingdoms, especially the neighboring ones, noticed, and more so because it seemed like it was his kingdom's fault that this thing appeared. For now, Merlan informed him that he would investigate everything he could and would inform him as soon as he knew something.

  The situation was critical for his kingdom, no matter how you looked at it; however, if other kingdoms found out, it might not be so bad, as long as it wasn't known that they were possibly the culprits. The fact that the entire mountain range becomes inaccessible to humans would buy some time and it would be seen as something that affected all of humanity, as if they had attacked us all. The shock and the fact that they were also affected could buy some time, but the debt they had would not disappear, nor would the dangers of an invasion. Moreover, once the shock had passed, war would be almost inevitable.

  But they still had time; there was no hint yet from the other border kingdoms about what was happening in the mountain ranges, and he suspected it was because their entrances were very complicated and their access points not very useful. As for his own kingdom, it was known that they protected these caves, so claiming ignorance when the news spread would be credible, as long as no one knew about these last three expeditions. He had to get his hands dirty and hide everything; he didn't want to, but what option did he have? He ordered threats, paid bribes, and even imprisoned two councilors who had tried to flee to other kingdoms a week ago.

  For their part, to the families of the more than 50 men who possibly died in the second expedition, he had to lie, claiming they died in battles or invented missions, but with high honors, to appease the cries of those families, as there was no more money; a small and indiscreet compensation was all he could give them. He felt like the worst human being and unworthy of being king, but he kept telling himself: what else could he do? It was his fault, it was his idea to undertake those two expeditions, and he regretted it. He never believed that something like this would happen to his kingdom, the only one who truly sought to uphold the agreement made more than 300 years ago.

  And although corruption led to illegal extraction, they still fought against it as his poor father could. Erick, as king, only wanted what was necessary from the mountains to lift his kingdom and continue fulfilling the pact. It wasn't fair, it wasn't. Others did similar or worse things on several occasions, but they, after two occasions and so many years of trying to fulfill the agreement, are punished. It wasn't fair!

  …………………………..

  What King Erick did not know was that his efforts to find a solution to their situation were not well received by several of his councilors who spoke against him; one in particular, who was just the son of one of the arrested councilors, was plotting in the shadows. Once again, King Erick had made a mistake: in his desperation to find answers, he had separated from his two most trusted men, remaining alone in his castle, without his general commander and without his great royal sorcerer. And soon he would realize that terrible mistake.