With the others trapped in their history lesson, Darin walked himself to the cave. As he entered the Hall of Dreamers, he felt a tingle and a shiver down his spine. He hadn’t noticed it before, but if he had entered on a whim, he would have chosen to turn back. But he had a reason to be here, and he was thankful when the sensation went away moments later. Taking a breath he activated the Iron Amulet of Light and waited for it to shine. He felt his magical energy drain away, as the amulet(bandoleer) warmed up slowly. A small circle of light became visible at the center of his chest. Moments later, it burst into full power and illuminated well ahead of him.

Darin paused a moment in surprise. The faint glowing crystals, the carefully carved walls, the assortment of eggs showing swirls of color…it was beautiful. Not being one to waste a precious moment, he grabbed a few screen shots before taking flight. The first time he’d been here, he hadn’t even noticed the carved pillars. They’d been too high up on the rock formations, and too deep in shadow. In the first hour, he applied a methodical search. By the third hour he was making random loops and swirls, focusing only on the floor level. The more he saw of the cavern, the more shocked he became. He’d thought that thousands of eggs were kept here, but he was wrong. He now wondered if the sleepers counted amongst the hundreds of thousands. But one thing was for sure, he wasn’t going to stop and count.

Somewhere about the sixth hour, he’d landed to give his poor wings a break. Flying was freedom, it was joy, it was exciting, and it was starting to hurt. Wings, like any joint of the body seemed to require some rest after a while. So he spent an hour of foot, searching around, in the eerie silence of the Hall. By the eighth hour, he had finally found his shell. He would have cried, if his eyes were capable of it. He made a strong mental note of the location, hopeful the he could create his own markers. Looking up he saw an angled rock face, reaching up into shadow. An egg in a nest partway up seemed out of place. “So that’s what I hit, when I fell.” He muttered. A short flight up the hill led him to a shadow covered ledge with an old nest. Inside, were several other eggs, each as small as his own. But the eggs were not alone. Ancient and dried, black seeds the size of a small melon had been stored with the eggs. He found he was unable to identify them, so he left them be.

Flying back down, he gathered up the shards of his egg shell. It was as pale and gray as stone, nothing had changed. “Identify.” He commanded, while focused on it.

A small, broken egg shell {It’s Yours!}

The memories of your ancestors are woven into the shell. Absorb it to absorb the memories. (Hint: Eat Me!)

Darin groaned. If he’d just read the tutorial and identified his shell yesterday-No, there was no point in dwelling on what if. There was only one thing left to do, he picked up a chunk of the egg shell…and stared at it. “Do I really have to eat this thing?” He asked, though only silence answered him. “Wait, first. Character.”

CHARACTER SHEETNAME:Hatchling*RACE:DragonGENDER:MaleSUB SPECIES:UnknownLEVEL:1PROGRESS:08.00%FREE POINTS:0HEALTH:13 / 13REGEN:HP +0.07, MP +0.30MAGIC:25 / 25STRENGTH:2~FORTITUDE:3~AGILITY:40DEFENSE:10KARMA:5RENOWN:15LOAD:1.0 / 13.75 Stones.SIZE FACTOR:0.25

“So I’ve earned some experience. Wait, how did I loose 5 Karma but gain 5 more Renown?” He asked. “Oh, so Karma is your Good minus your Evil. So I guess they considered that win cruel after all. Oh well, I’ll earn it back.” He told himself. Returning his focus to the egg shell, he gave it a tentative sniff and found it smelled nice. He took a tentative first bite and found it tasted like a cinnamon roll. With a shrug he started shoving the shards into his beak, crushing them and swallowing. A moment later a vibrant golden light surrounded him. Rings of light cascaded down, flowing around him from above. A moment later a system prompt appeared.

Congratulations, you have reached Level 2. As this is a freebie for your race, no free points will be awarded. However, stat points may be awarded based on your subspecies. You may no longer have your level reduced below Level 2. But you will still loose experience and suffer other penalties upon death. Good luck.

Racial Ability Unlocked: Keen Tongue.

You can now tell aspects of things by tasting them. Useful when trying to evolve.

“For best results, don’t taste test poisons…”

“Well that’s, well, something. Too bad I can still loose levels above 2.” He grumbled. “Character.” He requested.

CHARACTER SHEETNAME:Whelp*RACE:DragonGENDER:MaleSUB SPECIES:PrimalLEVEL:2PROGRESS:04.00%FREE POINTS:0 Stat, 0 EvolutionHEALTH:13 / 16REGEN:HP +0.07, MP +0.45MAGIC:25 / 55STRENGTH:2~FORTITUDE:3~AGILITY:60DEFENSE:10KARMA:5RENOWN:25LOAD:1.0 / 13.75 Stones.SIZE FACTOR:0.25

Darin was going to study it in more depth, when the rest of the shell fragments melted into a soft blue glow. Like a mist, it rose up and wrapped itself around his body. His vision blurred and he dropped to the ground. He’d lost complete control of his character and was getting worried when the message appeared.

Congratulations, you have absorbed your ancestral memories. Your sub-race is “Primal - The first children of the Mother.” You have gained an additional +15% racial fire resistance. Evolutionary stomach has been unlocked, think before you eat. Your mental stats have been adjusted according to your race, improving your magical essence. You’ve gained 5 points to your base Agility. You have not grown noticeably larger. You have gained 10 points of neutral fame, increasing your Renown.

Please remain calm, while your ancestral memories are played out. Your body will be kept safe until control is restored.

He wanted to ask if he had a choice. But after the hardships caused by skipping his tutorial, he shut up and mentally settled in for the show.

* * * * *

When the blue mist faded away, he saw before him a giant forest. Ancient trees, carefully spaced apart, each reaching hundreds of feet towards the sky. The air was fresh clear, it carried with it scents of dirt, and rain, and life. The soft breeze whispered with the fluttering of millions of leaves. I can't move? I’m just reliving someone’s memories then, he mused. The light was a bit dim, with a thick cover of clouds shielding the sky. In the distance he could hear singing, the joyous singing of dragons. His ancestor gave one last look to the mouth of the cave and took flight.

His wings cut through the wind, as if he was born of it. The slightest ripple in the air currents could be turned into a graceful loop or roll. When his ancestor finally selected a tree to land on, he arced in and landed near the trunk. From here, he saw the blue undersides of the vibrant green leaves. He felt the sturdy bark between his feet, it was a healthy ashen gray. It was similar to his host's color he realized. Leaning forward, he placed the top of his beak against the tree. From that gentle contact, he felt it, a warmth spread across his body. Each tree, spoke for the forest. The tree was happy, thus all of their trees were happy. A glance to the side showed that the berries were blooming again. Each berry was a brilliant orange color, perhaps a foot across, though a smaller seed was at it’s core. Soon, soon there would be good harvest.

The wind brought him an important song, his breath quickened and he took flight. As his host wove between the trees, he saw many game animals down below. The forest floor was not brown with dirt, it was green with grasses and full of life. Every thing here was alive, no not just alive, it was all thriving. There was a sense or warmth, of pride in that. In several minutes of flight, Darin saw no other type tree. Nor was there any place where the trees grew too close and harmed one another. At times his ancestor would loop around a tree, a brief check upon it’s health. This forest was not just a home, it was maintained, it was a garden.

At times his host would pass other dragons and call out a greeting. They where all similar in size, even if the elders had grown larger. But the coloration of the others threw Darin off. A few were vibrant colors, like silver, gold, emerald and sapphire. Others wore the colors of the woods, the orange of the berries, the green of the leaves, the gray of the bark or even the white of fresh bones. It was a chaotic mix of so many colors, yet they never seemed to care. It felt strange, given that most of the modern dragons were born in somewhat common hues.

Following the song, he eventually reached a clearing at the edge of the forest. Several of his kin were burning back the plant growth, leaving a layer of ash to cover the ground. In the center lay a mound of animals parts, fallen branches, old bones and other other assorted bits of nature. One by one the dragons gathered around the mound, save one. Holding a dried berry like a precious egg, one stood aside and sang. As their words filled the air, their kin set flame to the mounds. Under slow melodic verses, they turned it all to ash.

“We children of the Mother, the forest we do keep.

Clearing all that threatens, our offerings piled deep.

Flames to purify them, and burn away the ill.

When only ash remains, the deep earth will we till.

And deepest in the center, we plant the sacred seed.

So that our descendants, the forest too may feed.”

The seed holder kept repeating the song, verse after verse while the others worked. When finally they where done, they took up the song in his place. With great care, the seed was buried deep in the mound of ashen earth. The warmth of the soil, served as a catalyst for it’s growth.

The vision blurred, and the dream jumped ahead…

- - - - - -

Author’s Note: Sorry to not keep the entire set of memories in one chapter. There is a fair bit more that I need it to cover. I don’t have it in me to finish it all tonight. The chapter itself is longer than usual, but I am still trying to stick to a daily writing schedule. In truth, I want writing to become a permanent part of my future, not a short term hobby. Ergo, a daily part of life. Thank you all for taking the time to read, offer feedback and review. Advertisement Previous

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