What followed was a deafening, deep, and melodious laugh that I might have appreciated if not for my burning cheeks. As it winded down into queenly giggles she replied,

"Yes, my child, it is I. Be at ease, for all is as it should be."

At her command, a wave of relaxation passed over me. Like the kiss of an ocean breeze, the comfort of basking in the light of summer while on a bed of grass, a hug you receive before realizing how much you needed it, and a mother's comforting caress upon your head, all bundled together. I could feel her overwhelming love and delight, as well as her patiently waiting for me to collect myself and respond. As I tried to accept my overwhelming situation, I eventually calmed down and considered where to start.

"Sorry." I thought to her.

She snorted, "A dragon need not apologize."

I really liked her voice, and I felt her enjoy that sentiment.

"Understood. I meant no offense by swearing, mother."

"A dragon's word always has power, my youngling. The issue is not that you swore, but that you did so in a state of shock, with uncontrolled intent. Our strongest feelings, when out of control, can manifest as wild magic. Such an occurrence could have harmed you, as you’re still developing, so I reached out to intervene." She paused and I felt her considering whether or not to say more. She snorted again and added, "That, and I find such a bad habit to be beneath us."

It was my turn to laugh lightly. "Alright, I'll do my best to keep a lid on it." She mentally nodded in approval. "By the way, regarding how we're communicating now... this bond..." I felt her light up at that last word, "how much did you see?"

"All of it." She stated matter-of-factly.

"And you're... fine with 'all of it?'"

"Why would I not be?"

"I dunno, my meager past as a human? Earth and everything about it? How I'm not really your son..." I left that last statement hanging with a tone of concern despite the sensation of amusement she’d been emitting.

"Ah, I see." She chuckled. "You've leaped to many conclusions, child of mine. First of all, you are my son."

I felt her motherly love radiate again and knew she meant it without a drop of doubt. I couldn't help but smile inwardly.

"Second, none of what is happening to you is a coincidence, but rather part of a grand design. Third, for whatever faults you believe were yours in humanity, now you are dragonkind. Your soul was forged in purest fire, burning away all impurities. What you were, is not what you are. Finally, while your memories of Earth have given me enough to consider for a decade, it remains that Earth is Earth and this is Angnora. With that said…"

I saw her form shift in my mind, unfurling her wings and staring down at me with great intent.

"Know that I am Gwaelaraumorainë! A millennia-old sovereign of the lands and sky! The wind from my wings changes the very course of history! Your thirty years of otherworldly life would be but a single nap to me! Would my own spawn underestimate the magnanimity of my heart?!" As I found myself blown away in awe, her gaze softened. "So, try not to fret dear one. These inner disturbances you're enduring will pass as your two natures become one."

I considered her words, then replied, "Thanks... mom. I think I understand. But how did a guy like me get reincarnated into this dragon egg anyway? And how is this part of the 'grand design' you mentioned?'"

She sighed somewhat dramatically, "You have not been reincarnated; you've returned home. When I said you were my son it is not only because you are the entity in an egg born of me, but because you always have been. Our story involves a complicated chain of events, even by our species’ standards. Little flame, this world has been enjoying a long era of stillness that is but a mask for approaching calamity. Since long before my own hatching, there have been Gods and dragons at each other's throats over territory, resources, and control. And just as it seemed hostilities were about to boil over into open war your father, Mornathalohóndavirnë, unleashed unprecedented wrath, obliterating the entire continent being fought over. Every faction involved suddenly found themselves having to reassess their plans and we were thus granted this false peace."

I got the awkward sense that her face was flushed over the memory of dear ol' dad's crazy demonstration of dominance. She continued,

"The destruction that day emboldened those of our kind who wanted to punish the divinities for their hubris while also driving the most treacherous of the gods into fear and desperation. A council of dragons was established, and I was chosen to lead a flight with the purpose of slaying your father for what he had done. We were willing to put our lives on the line, all in the hope that his removal would lighten tensions enough to negotiate a truer peace. But, my curiosity got the better of me and I arrived at his territory years earlier than planned so that I could personally question him. He... did not take kindly to being questioned so we fought, argued, and fought some more. This went on for weeks, and thus through fang and claw, we came to understand each other. I learned that he is perhaps the most misunderstood being alive, and far wiser than he presents himself. And as the oldest story in the book goes, we fell in love and eventually conceived you and your siblings."

"Oh dang, I have siblings!" I exclaimed. "I guess I'll meet them soon enough. Also, call it the human in me but I could have done without the comment on conceiving me from my own mother."

I sensed her rolling her eyes at my inhibitions as she continued.

"Through our union, we chose to seek a new path forward. We consulted The Eldest Wyrm and two trusted specialists in secret to discuss how we might create something new and dangerous: A dragon that could become a God! With their aid, we sang deeply into the Dragonsong like never before and weaved into your essence a divine spark!”

"Holy crap." I thought aloud.

I had often daydreamed about being some grand character in a fantasy world, but now that it was staring me in the face it felt like I’d gotten myself into a huge amount of trouble.

Picking up on my emotions, my mother soothed, "Do not misunderstand little one, we do not intend for you to fight our battles. We only wished for you, our firstborn, to have the strength necessary to free yourself of this world's oldest power struggle."

Her pride as a mother was transmitted, but then came a boiling rage.

"But somehow the Gods caught wind of your existence and thought of you as nothing more than a weapon against them! A group of their most low and vile fiends broke our oldest treaties and attempted to murder you just as I was giving birth!"

Her words were followed by deep unforgettable hatred and images of what I assumed to be the culprits being burnt alive, maimed, torn into pieces, etc. Her murderous fantasies went on for felt like a few unpleasant days and I could tell she only collected herself out of consideration for me.

To be honest, my own vindictive nature was itching badly as well. I may not have been the type to go out of my way to entertain enemies, but the killers of children and babies go straight on my shit list. Not to mention that they messed with both me and my family.

"Ahem." She continued. "We thought ourselves prepared for such a possibility but underestimated their determination. We had to play our most desperate card and send your soul across many realities in search of a mundane plane that fit our needs: A faster flow of time so that your soul could recover before your hatching, and a near absence of magic to protect you from divine intervention. Without mana, the natural laws of Earth made it difficult to track you or directly interfere with your life. However, their mastermind had a final move as well. They cursed your soul during its transit which in turn caused most of the misfortune you experienced on Earth. Their goal was for you to die there before we could bring you back. Your father slew all those who were present on the day of your attack, except one. The main culprit and master of the curse escaped with their identity unrevealed to us... much to our unending ire."

I could feel her fury ramping back up, so I interjected to avoid being stuck in another cycle of nightmarishly graphic scenes, "Christ. Mother, where do I even begin? This is a lot of information to take in all at once. And to be honest, it seems a bit convenient that it was just some black magic messing up my life on Earth. I was pretty convinced that I had a mental illness."

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"You think you were simply depressed?" She huffed. "The curse amplified the conflict between your draconic nature and human vessel into pain, insecurity, and doubt. You were meant to be an unstoppable force but lived in a world constrained by manmade rules and laws. Your large ambitions, the high standards you placed upon yourself, your struggle to tolerate the systems binding you, your fiery temper and love of isolation, all draconic in origin. Even your libido and struggles with monogamy were hints of the truth."

She laughed gently as I shudder at the realization that she knew all my most intimate moments.

"Shamelessness would suit you better than shame, my little flame." She said with a teaching tone.

I considered the suggestion while she continued.

"You'll find that this explains almost all the inner turmoil you experienced. Your vessel grew to be smaller and frailer than average, to exacerbate the feeling of being trapped in yourself. Your instinct toward freedom was twisted until it gnawed at you to be free from life itself. And so on. No God can diminish our souls, but in their machinating cleverness, they tried to use your own nature against you. This is how you came to believe yourself a failure, but I see differently. Through sheer willpower, you resisted a divinity’s, albeit diminished, magic. You fought to balance your incongruities and positively impacted your loved ones more than you knew. You were on your way to accomplishing much on Earth. In fact, it seems that you were so close to outright breaking the curse on your own that it panicked the cretinous deity responsible. They must have spent a great number of resources piercing the natural laws to hit you with that truck."

"What?! Even the truck was their doing?! Gods hit me with a truck?!" I exclaimed. If my eyes were open they'd have popped out of my skull by this point.

"Indeed." She spat as if a disgusting taste still lingered in her mouth. "But this time they had underestimated us. The ripples caused by meddling directly with the causality of a mundane plane led our tracking method right to you. Whatever they planned to do to your soul after your death could not compare to the pull of the Dragonsong. And so here you are, if a bit ahead of schedule." She smiled.

Despite whatever resistance I was supposed to have against negative mental effects, I was stunned. Then my improved faculties made short work of that feeling and picked out a significant detail that she glossed over.

"Mom, you mentioned you sought out a 'new path forward.' If I am not merely a weapon against the Gods, then why turn me into something that is so clearly a threat to them? I get eventually becoming strong enough to rise above the conflict, but what was your exact intention for me?”

And for the first time since our long interaction, I felt her hesitate. I imagined her giant form fidgeting as she carefully answered,

"Well, you see son... your father and I hoped that you would act as the... Judge of this world."

I was totally screwed.

I stretched out an "Okayyyy." as I firmly conjured the image of pressing my hand-claws onto my face and rubbing my temples. "No offense, mom, but that sounds absolutely insane!"

She turned her face away from me and scoffed, "Having seen your memories I knew you would react this way. Do you know how many dragons would be honored for such a role?! The glory, the influence, the prestige?! After all the effort we went through you just had to go and learn something as unbecoming as 'humility' on Earth."

"Glory?! More like burdens, responsibilities, and a hell of a lot of problems coming my way!" I complained. "I find myself in a world of fantasy and wonder and the first thing I'm hit with is like, the largest role possible?! Judge of the world?! I can't even begin to imagine what a hassle that would be!"

"Eggling!" She shouted. "All power is a burden, and all dragons bear theirs with dignity!" It felt like she was going to argue further but she instead exhaled extremely deeply, even considering her lung capacity.

"Perhaps it is better this way." She said softly, musing more to herself than to me. "Maybe even the curse was a blessing in disguise. We sent you away with the expectation that you would dominate whatever world you inhabited and return to us ready for authority. Instead, you have gained the perspective of mortal suffering that we can never know. Our blood still flows powerfully through your veins, and with an unlimited lifespan, igniting your divine spark might as well be an eventuality. Who better to judge all of Angnora's denizens than one who shares something in common with each?"

"I don't wanna," I said firmly, trying to transmit both a faux-imposing and tantrum-like vibe.

She chuckled before cooing, "Son, you are different. You will always be different than what this world is accustomed to. But I love you for who you are and I always will. However, understand that inaction may have as many far-reaching consequences as action. Judging this world will require no court or council for you. Your very existence and every decision you make here on out will serve as your judgment whether you like it or not. To run from this truth would be to run from yourself. Never run away from who you are. Fly wherever your heart takes you. Trust your instincts. I believe in you and I believe that the changes you bring will make this world a better one."

"Now that was a disarmingly sweet and effectively convincing pep talk." I thought to myself before going over everything once more. My past life, my draconic inheritance, our conversation. I did so again, and again, and again. With each run-through, I felt firmer, more consolidated. My mother waited patiently as I continued the process until all uncertainties began to fade away but one.

"I will do my best, but there's one last thing: My family from my past life, my friends, and my lover; I don't want to leave them just grieving my death. Since you sent my soul to Earth there must be a way to reach out to them. For all the strength you see in me, I know it would not have been enough to survive the curse without their support. I made it back here through their help, and all my love for them remains strong as ever. How do I send messages or myself to Earth, as you achieved to do with my soul?”

I received a pang of annoyance from her in response to my question. She responded curtly, "My princeling, your loyalty is noble, but that life is behind you. I'd rather see you focus on what lies ahead."

My heart turned cold as I engaged her in a mental stare-down. I could tell she was hiding some of her feelings from me. Eventually, she relented.

"To think my own child would send such chilling emotions my way before even being hatched... I suppose life's unfairness applies even to dragons," She growled. "You are my firstborn and yet you still cling to your... surrogate mother?"

Ah, jealousy. I felt, my heart lighten a bit with empathy and teased back, "Well, I was her son too. And since you saw my past life you know full well that I also gave my Earthly parents a tough time. A dragon's level of youthly rebelliousness I suppose?" I added a mental wink for good measure.

She brightened, "Well at least you inherited my sense of humor and not your father's. I suppose you must find these feelings unbecoming of me, but you do not know what it's like to finally have children after so many years alone. Despite my instincts to mate I always resisted for lack of a worthy partner, until I met your father."

"Ugh, I didn't need that insight." She rolled her eyes again and continued.

"And then I almost lost you forever, only to instead be forced to send you far, far out of my reach. Your still developing empty body was left behind in your egg, a constant reminder of how we failed to fully protect you. You may instinctually know us to have an independent nature, but consider my experiences, that I act as a nurturer of life for this world, and add a first-time mother's instincts and then try to understand my position. I cannot bring myself to believe it to be in your best interests to enter this world still pining for your past. You must live in the present if you are to succeed in the future." She lamented.

"I comprehend your reasoning, but how am I to live in the present if I cannot make peace with my past? How can I simply let go when I know a better method of addressing the loose ends must exist? That would be unbecoming of my principles, my way of living. With or without your blessing I must pursue this. I must. But I do wish for your support."

She considered my response for an hour, as dragons surely took their time, before responding, "Fine. But only if you make two promises. The first is that you will not leave this continent until you reach adulthood. I would have you come into your own and know your strength before rushing off on this quest of yours. With your potential, unwavering resolve, and magic, all things are possible, but it may take you centuries to become strong and knowledgeable enough to send a message to another reality, far longer if you truly hope to physically return. You will require the help of beings that will outclass you until reach a great enough age, thus, you will need patience and sufficient leverage before you try to move them to your cause. The other promise is to do your best to appreciate this world as your own. This is your birthplace and you must honor that. If you agree to these conditions, I will give you my blessing and point you in the right direction where I can."

I was touched by the amount of thought she put into this, having me promise things for my own benefit despite it being toward a goal she'd rather I discard. I made my resolve and promised, "You have my word. I will grow up on this land, not venturing overseas until I come of age. And I will give Angnora my open heart and mind. I will come to know this place as my home."

"Then our pact is made, little flame. Now is there anything else on your mind before I attend to my other responsibilities?" She asked.

"Hmm. I'd like to know how you did that thing earlier where you hid your emotions from me. This mother-son link is cool but to be honest it feels a bit invasive." I confessed.

She mentally tsked, "I swear, youths and their need for privacy. You only need to focus your mind on the desire to wall off your heart and it will be"

I instantly conjured up wall after wall in mind. Hundreds. Then I let out a "Phew." I still felt the link of telepathy but I was no longer transmitting any feelings or thoughts I wanted to keep to myself.

"Well, I never!" She pouted. "You know, this link will only last until you're hatched. It is normally a means for mothers to make sure their eggs are doing well. Ours is enhanced by both my affinity for life, my age, and your slightly more developed mind from your human life. I thought we could enjoy this while it lasted. After you hatch it’ll be back to talking normally, unless you choose to learn mind magic. And even then, it won't have the same intimacy."

I internally shuddered but kept that hidden "So glad I can do that now." I thought to only myself before carefully replying, "You told me not to apologize, so I won't. I do empathize, but this is just way more comfortable for me. Mom, thank you for helping me get through... all of this. I'm grateful beyond words. I still have a lot to think over on my own so I suppose all that's left is to say is that I greatly look forward to seeing you in person."

"Very well.” She frowned, “I suppose I still have your brother and sister, sweetly innocent in their primal emotions." With a sigh, she added, "I will see you very soon my son, in about a year I'll return for your hatching. Rest well."

"Oh, it’s a brother and sister combo. Well isn't that great- A year? A YEAR?!

MOOOM! PLEASE DON'T GOOO!”