I'm getting cooked.

I'm in a liquid of some sort, one that was rapidly rising in heat. I reach out and feel my shell. A shell that is rapidly softening in what I can only assume is a cauldron.

I use what are now claws and push against that which keeps me from fresh air.

The moment I push enough my eyes are burned by both light and scalding water, which elicits a loud cry from me. I push up out of the water and hear shuffling, the metallic shing of swords being drawn and people shouting.

Suddenly in the air, with all my senses burned and numb, I realise I may well be killed the moment I was reborn.

More shouting, then eventually I feel something else. A cool sensation that makes me lean towards it. The cold felt amazing on the scales of my new body.

I slowly regain my ability to sense things, my sense of touch coming after my sense of hearing. With it, lets me realise I am standing on some sort of cloth. No, I am wrapped in one, it's comfortable, and doesn't obstruct my... oh, I don't have wings. I wonder if that comes later or if I need to do something for it.

A new sense comes back, my sense of taste. I taste the air, slightly salty. Is there an ocean nearby? Or a saltwater lake? The shouting stopped at some point, now replaced by the soothing words of someone speaking. The pitch of their voice is low so I think they're a male? I still can't see which is grating on my nerves. Do I even have nerves? Is there some equivalent for what I am now? Are they still nerves? Something to get back to.

My smell comes back and is immediately assaulted by a stench so foul I cannot recoil enough. I cover where I think my nostrils are and tighten my already closed eyelids.

I hear a raise in the speed of the person who was talking to me, are they panicking? I try to open my eyes a sliver only to be closing them instantly as the stinging sensation hits me.

I let out a small whine, annoyed at my circumstances.

----------------------------------------

I, Tyr Eva, can't believe my eyes. We almost cooked a dragon. A DRAGON. It has no wings but the similarity wasn't small. The longer appendages, the diamond shaped scales and the snout. We have yet to see the eyes but it is a newborn, probably not used to the light. We cannot ignore this.

The first Dragon seen in 10,702 Years if our archeologist is to be believed. The sighting before this had been three Eras ago. During the Spirit War. Only the Seven were alive from back then.

Even now as I comfort it in the cloth we'd wrapped it in, my ice magic flowing into it. Trying to alleviate the burns from the pot's boiling water. I desperately pray to all the gods I can think of in a low whisper.

"Oh Kri'Los, Myr'Los and Rod'Los please let this little one be okay. Oh Edi'Mel and Chi'Mel please bless this child with good recovery."

"Tyr. Calm down. If you don't gather your wit you might channel too much Ice."

I instantly slip into my meditation, slowing my heartbeat and calming myself. I found I had put a bit too much and pull at the magic, allowing it to lax into a slight relaxing chill instead of the cold it was falling into.

I look over to the man who spoke, Vaa-Kar. One of the elves in our group, one of the tallest in fact.

"Thank you. I likely wouldn't have noticed that."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"No worries. Just keep as calm as you can. We already have people screaming like mandrakes in the summer."

A chuckle leaks from me, it was true. The moment we saw what came out of the egg, the one who found it screamed, then fainted. Ena-Til I believe her name was. She is on a separate cloth and someone is tending to her now I believe. The one who had suggested we boil it is still running around like a headless cockatrice... only less terrifying.

I feel the presumed Dragon stir and look over... only to be stunned.

If there was doubt before, no longer was there any.

It, the Dragon, had opened its eyes. They were vertical like any other reptile's eyes but these are no reptile's eyes.

The eyes looked like they have been carved from an Ocean Gem, a blue that shifted in hue every second, brimming with mana as the gaze of the being shifted from place to place. Curiosity flowing out of it in waves.

----------------------------------------

My sight has come back and the foul stench is gone. My senses given the relief they need to look into the world around me.

And I could confidently say no sight on Earth was as beautiful as this.

Everywhere I look has streams of color overlaying them in a way that allowed me to see the colors separately somehow. It's beautiful. It's unlike the dull grey of an office or 'shiny' colors of a sports car.

No. To compare the two would be an insult. These colors were vibrant. Radiant. Full of life.

I let myself get lost in the sights before turning to look at myself. I had royal blue scales with some lighter ones mixed in. Whether there is a name for those ones, I don't know. A slightly lighter royal blue?

Teala would know.

I shake my head, no depressing stuff for now.

My gaze shifts to my bone white claws. A black that seems to reflect rather than absorb light coats my lower front legs. Similar to gloves but, well, they aren't. I then move my tail to my right, looking back in the same direction. It was as I expected a Dragon tail to look like. Thicker at the base and slowly thinning to a point. I tap it. Note to self, a very sharp point.

I give a quick glance to the rest of me, checking if there's something else I missed. Then I notice it. Not something physical but there's some kind of... liveliness? Joy? It's a bubbly feeling near my chest. As if it noticed me, it begins to build. It feels like, an urge?

A need.

To declare myself.

To announce that, I have been born.

I open my mouth and attempt to roar.

And a chirp leaves my mouth.

I suddenly become aware there are a BUNCH of humanoids around me.

I grab the cloth and hide my head and the laughter begins. It doesn't feel directed at me, how do I know that? Weird. Some kind of emotional sense? No, that'd be too convenient right?

The cloth is moved from my face and I take that as a cue to really look at these beings.

There are hundreds of them. Pots and tents are set up around, some kind of expedition or refugees even? The variety here is astounding.

There are what I can only label as Elves, with their point ears and seemingly flawless skin but they also have another set of arms, a subspecies or are they the most common? There are what look like humans with rounded ears, four limbs and what looks like a human face with eyes, mouth, nose. One is much taller but they also have only one eye so I'm going to safely bet they are a Cyclops. I can't see another like them so they might be rare?

There are many more but I stop my examining as someone approaches me, he looks human but has some kind of rocky skin? It covers his rather bulky forearms and wide shoulders. Lines of red flow through the rock gauntlets and pauldrons. I watch as it recedes, revealing that the arms are of the same ash-gray skin of their face. A face that consists of sharp features like angled eyes and a single line that I hope is a mouth and not something else. A narrow but large nose dots their face as well.

He crouches to be on my level of height and reaches out his hand, in a handshake position. Vertically, I note. Not like one would when saying 'paw' to a pet. But more like when you hold out a hand to an individual you respect or value.

I tilt my head and before I reach out my hand to shake it I see in the background, two people are looking at me pointedly and shaking hands as if trying to show me how.

I let out the first chuckle of this life and accept the hand of the being in front of me. Time to take a risk.

A smile bloomed upon the man's face.

One cheer sounds, then as if a lid was removed, multiple cheers erupt.

I tilt my head once more, confused by what's happening.

The man lets go of my claw and walks forward, towards a tent, before looking back at me. I begin walking, finding it to be an easy task despite the difference in limbs, gait and everything else. I follow him as he moves the side of the tent's opening to let me in. I see an area with a haphazard set up of what look like... building blocks? Paper? Oh. They're going to teach me how to write and read.

This'll be fun.