Dragon Reincarnated (Working title)

A Shocking Start to a New Life

I nibbled on my pie- it was really good by the way- as Lottie started scampering around her cottage. I had no clue what it was she was doing, but she was doing it with more vigor than a typical woman her age could muster. Most of the time she was in the room I assumed was a kitchen.

After about ten minutes she stood before me and let out a breath of air. "There, all set!" She said happily. Though I still could not tell you what it  was she had been doing. "You came to you decision much faster than the last soul I was in charge of. but it is all good to go now."

"Sorry. Did you need my help?"

"Oh, no. All good here, Deary. In fact, all you need to do is sit there, nice and still, and you will have started your new life before you know it."

Alright then. I did what I was told, and sat still, my empty cup and plate at my side, hands on my knees, and watched Lottie's every move. She made sure of her footing, raised her thin hands, and closed her eyes. She didn't chant or anything, but I got the feeling that she was performing some kind of magic.

Sure enough, after about a minute, I began to feel warm and tingly. After another minute, my eyes began to flutter closed, the warmth and numbness over taking me.

"Good luck on your journey, Max. In a moment you will be on another world and I hope it is everything you wish for and more!"

Her words seemed to echo as my consciousness faded out once again.

My first experience in this new world was one of darkness. But it wasn't, exactly an unpleasant darkness. It didn't take me too long to realized that the confined, dark, and viscus space I found myself in was likely an egg. After all, dragons hatched from eggs, right?

There had been a small moment of panic, but then instinct over rode human logic and I realized that there was nothing to fear. This was all normal. I was a baby dragon and I was currently resting and accumulating power from withing the hard shell I was born in.

Lottie said that dragons had a type of genetic memory, and that did seem to be the case. I couldn't explain how, but I knew without a doubt that this was all as it should be, and that there was no need to rush my hatching. I knew it was perfectly normal to be aware while still in my egg.

And when my time of consciousness appeared to be short, my mind drifting to sleep more often than awake, I knew that that was also normal. After all, I was still a baby, even if I was considered viable to hatch. 

Dragons, though hatched from eggs, are viable from the moment their eggs hit the fire heated coals that their nests are constructed from. But, rather than hatch immediately, it is better to wait. Not only is it best to wait for a time where the conditions are more favorable, and all the stars are aligned, as it were. This made it all the more likely that the baby dragons survive. After all, female dragons are rare, and notoriously picky about mates. 

I supposed it only made sense that a creature so powerful and long lived had reproduction issues. Other wise the world would be over run with dragons, leaving the ecosystem in tatters. It wasn't like dragons had many natural predators to keep the numbers in check, after all.

And, even though it was possible to hatch now, there was one very big reason not too: Mother's memories. The influx of mana that we- myself and the other eggs I could sense- were storing, on top of the little Mother was sending our way, was to prepare us for her final gift before we made our own way in the world. That gift were her memories.

Memories that she- and the dragon dams who came before her- accumulated over their life times. Memories of prime hunting grounds, places to avoid, dangerous monsters... all sorts of important things. Really it is mostly like the ultimate family photo album and history book ever made. It is a legacy that each dragon dam passed on to the next generation.