Author notes:
Hey guys, chapter 1 is here :D
I'll try to have chapter 2 done as soon as possible, but that might take me 2 days, so don't expect too much.
Enjoy!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 1: A Hero or Monster’s Birth?
As I woke up, I found out that I was still surrounded by darkness. But instead of feeling insecure and confused, I, oddly enough, found
myself warm and secure.
I tried feeling around me, and could quickly feel that I was in a sort of egg shaped thing, most likely an egg. (AN: Duh!) But I also found out that I couldn’t move my body as well as I used to, so most likely I was an unborn eggling of some sort. Of course this surprised me, but from what I felt, I was still a humanoid.
Slowly drowsiness started creeping up on me. Well, for now I guess I’ll just go back to sleep.
After I woke up, I felt like I had a bit more strength than before, so I came to the conclusion that I was close to hatching. I tried hitting the top of the egg with my head, but I started feeling tired only after a minute or two, while only managing to leave a tiny crack on it. Then, once again, I fell asleep.
This time, after waking up, I felt that I had even more energy than before, so I started hitting the same spot again. This time I managed to last a few minutes, but the crack only became slightly bigger.
After repeating this cycle of using my energy and sleeping a few times, I finally managed to leave a crack that went all the way through. It only took me a single hit headbutt more, and I managed to open up the egg enough for me to crawl through.
The first thing I saw surprised me a bit. I was in a rundown house, with clear signs of someone living there. There were no doors nor glass in the window frames, so the wind easily circulated the house, but for some odd reason, I didn’t feel cold at all. Taking a look out of the doors and windows, I could see a huge swamp and other rundown houses, so my guess is that it’s a swamp village.
Finally looking down on myself, I got an even bigger shock. I was no longer human, I had dark grey, with a hint of green, scales covering my entire body, except on my inner arms and stomach. I also noticed that I didn’t have a neck, but more like a snakes head coming out of my humanoid body. Yes, my body was still humanoid, but more beast than human, I had 2 arms and legs, but also a tail, double the length of my legs, coming out where a humans tailbone would be.
What also surprised me for a moment was my lack of genitalia, but after putting the fact that I had scales, a tail, and that all my senses felt like if they had been enhanced, I came to the conclusion that I was some sort of Lizardman. After all, this was a different world, so who knows what existed here.
After getting out of the egg, I discovered that, unlike newborn humans, I had strength enough to walk, but only on all four, for now. I also found out, after looking up into the sky through a window, that it was nighttime, but for me it looked like a clouded afternoon. Guess this is the night vision that some lizards and other animals make use of. I also found out that I was male, but it was nothing like a humans, so I won’t elaborate on that.
After a while, two adult Lizardmen, from what I gathered, with them being many times my size, showed up. One looked like a male, being taller and broader than the other, which looked female, due to her slightly curvy and small figure, and no, female Lizardmen don’t have breasts. They were only wearing an old rag to cover their groins.
The male had dark green scales, while the female had light grey scales. Presumably, these two would be my parents, who else would enter a house like they owned it? Well, another hint was their happy expressions when they noticed me crawling around in the room, and the hatched egg near the corner.
Female Lizardman: “Honey, he finally hatched!”
Male Lizardman: “I can see that, and he even got himself out.”
For some reason, I could understand the language they spoke. It wasn’t English, or any other languages I had ever heard of, but I could still make out what they were saying, and I felt like I could even replicate it. How, I don’t know, but it might be a gift from the God.
As I was thinking, the female Lizardman picked me up from the floor. At first I was a bit scared by her, since she had a snake-like head, the same as me.
Female Lizardman: “Hi, little one, I’m Li’Hiet, your mother, and the man over there is Li’Sle.” (AN: Li is the family name, while what comes after the ‘ is their personal name, and when a Lizardman gets married, the female takes the males family name.)
Me: “*Hissing sounds*”
I tried to speak, but it only came out as hisses, looks like I’ll need some time in before being able to speak.
Li’Sle: “Looks like he already understands what we’re saying, usually it takes a newborn a couple of days. Don’t worry, little one, you’ll be able to speak in a months’ time, when your body is more developed.”
Looks like this race is one of those fast developing races, seeing as he takes it as if I was already aware of my surroundings.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
My thoughts were again interrupted, but this time by my hunger. I was a newborn, and still haven’t eaten a single thing, after all. Therefore, I tried hissing, hopefully they understand that I’m hungry.
Li’Hiet: “Hungry, little one? Honey, go get him some food.”
My father went out of the house, and returned shortly after with a slab of raw meat. At first, I found the idea of eating raw meat from an unknown creature repulsive, but slowly the hunger got worse and my instincts told me that I would be fine.
Li’Hiet: “Go ahead and eat.”
She told me as she put me down next to where my father laid the slab of meat. I was still not too keen on eating raw meat filled with blood, but my hunger and instincts took over, and before I knew it, I had eaten all the meat.
I forgot to mention that I was born with sharp teeth, made for ripping flesh, and I could see that my parents had those as well. Not enough with that, I also had long sharp claws on both my fingers and toes. A born killer.
After having finished eating, I started feeling drowsy again, guess that my hunger was the only thing keeping me awake. Mother picked me up and I slowly fell asleep. I could hear my parents say something, but I had no idea what they were saying.
The next morning I woke up in a stack of pelts, looks like this will be my bed from now on. I got up, and went exploring the house. It was small, as you would expect. It had the living room next to the entrance, with a few wooden furniture and such. Then it had 3 other rooms, my parents, my room, which was the one my egg was in, and then a small workshop. In the workshop my parents have skinning tools, woodwork tools, etc.
After I was done exploring, I went to my mother, she was in the workshop, skinning some animal I had never seen before. It looked like a mix between a boar and a bear, thick pelt, 4 legs with hooves, big body and 2 huge boar tusks. Curious, I tried to inquire my mother about it with hisses and pointing at it.
Li’Hiet: “Mmh? Are you curious as to what this is, little one?”
To this I hissed and nodded.
Li’Hiet: “This is a Kyurn they live in the area west from here, where the forest begins. Oh, yeah, you don’t know how the landscape is yet, I’ll teach you when you learn to speak.”
She paused working, thought for a bit, before continuing.
Li’Hiet: “Kyurns, as said, live in the nearby forest. They’re a predator animal, also known as beasts. It hunts animals it’s own size, and they can grow as big as 3 meters when they stand on their hind legs. The one I’m skinning here is only a young adult, being 2 meter tall.”
That’s big in my opinion, though. It covers the entire workbench, for crying out loud. Oh well, I guess there does exist bigger beasts out there, maybe even what could be classified monsters, if they exist here. I’ll have to remember to ask about that when I’m able to speak.
I spent the rest of the day next to my mother, watching her work with skinning the Kyurn, drying the meat, and creating weapons and tools out of the bone. From what I’ve gathered, iron and other metals are rare here, since all the weapons and tools I’ve seen so far are made from bones and wood.
Over the next few days, I started becoming able to walk on two legs. It was hard because of my tail, throwing my previous balance off. But after becoming able to walk around, I noticed that I’m much more agile because of my tail. It might shift your center of gravity, but if you use it correctly, you can recover your balance much easier.
I spent my entire first month in the little house, getting bits and pieces of information from my parents, and learning how to control my body. Apparently a newborn doesn’t go out of the before learning to speak and walk, since even if we’re in a village, beasts roam not too far away, and sometimes even enter the village.
I also found out that my father is of the warrior caste, and is a guard of the village, but also patrols the nearby forests to ensure that no dangerous beasts roam near the village. While my mother is of hunter caste, she uses a bow, but if it comes to close quarters, then she shifts it to duel short swords.
You can determine the caste when they turn a year old from their body. If they have a tall, broad, and muscled body, they’re of the warrior. And if you have a small, slender, and compact body, they’re of the hunter caste. There’s also variations, like mages. Yes, there’s magic, or at least that’s what I’ve heard from my parents. They’re usually born with small, slender, and less muscled bodies.
But now almost a month has passed, and my parents tell me that I should be developed enough to speak in a couple days. My body’s also grown, it’s now the size of a small child at the age of 5, instead of a newborn baby. Lizardmen really do grow fast, huh.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author notes:
Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed it!
Please comment any feedback you have, you liked, hated it, didn't really care? Everything helps! :D