"I am Dróttinn, the Chieftain of the Einvaldskonungr tribe," the reddish kobold repeated, as if emphasizing that he was in charge, and not me. Then he stared at me for a moment before continuing. "Judging from your ability to speak so eloquently, as well as your color, you are definitely different from the other hatchlings. While your coloration is rare, it is not exactly unknown. After all, we do have visitors from other tribes quite often."
I immediately figured out that one of my parents had probably been an ambassador or a trader, much like the green-skinned kobold visitor. Had it been my mother, she would probably have laid the egg when she returned to her tribe. That meant that the kobold who came from somewhere else was most likely my father. Then again, that was just an assumption. Dismissing such thoughts, I paid attention to what else he had to say.
"However," the chieftain continued, "you are also quite intelligent, too intelligent in fact. Most high kobolds are smarter than your average kobold, but not to the extreme of being able to speak so well immediately after hatching. It took me half a decade to achieve a similar level of vísindimuna."
Immediately after the chieftain said, "vísindimuna," a memory surfaced. I realized that I had achieved that state of being even before I hatched. Vísindimuna was the state of remembering knowledge, which was basically ancestral or ancestral memories. Instead of getting stuck on the name, I concentrated on what else he had to say.
"I am impressed, but I hope you realize that, considering your coloration, Einvaldskonungr might suspect your loyalty. He might even consider your skill with vísindimuna to be a risk. After all, while I trust you since you were born into our family, our god might not."
I was starting to get the impression that the chieftain wasn't as trusting as he was trying to appear. Something about him was giving me the idea that he was starting to see me as a rival. I didn't have time to think about it though since he continued speaking.
"However, while Einvaldskonungr isn't known for being forgiving, or understanding, he is direct in his ways. I would advise you not to attract too much attention and he will probably not bother wasting his time thinking about you. Fortunately for you, he has recently fallen into liggja, the long slumber. This will give you time to grow and contribute to our family. This will allow you to prove your loyalty."
The chieftain continued, "I am going to trust that you will not betray your brothers and sisters but will instead use your abilities to strengthen our tribe. It usually takes five years for most hatchlings to mature. However, with you, I don't think that it will take that long. I will personally guide you. That means that you will not be attending training with the other hatchlings."
"Now then, the first thing we will do is conduct the Ritual of Kunnasik. During this ritual, you will learn your name as well as your affinities. Normally, we wouldn't conduct this ritual so soon after hatching, but in your case, I think there is no reason not to proceed with the ritual."
I managed to repress the frown that was about to appear on my face. My concern was the reasoning behind delaying the ritual in the first place. Why did most newly hatched kobolds have to wait for five years? Why couldn't they immediately participate in the ritual in the same way that I was about to do so? Since I wasn't likely to get an answer to those questions, I suppressed my curiosity and worry and concentrated on what Dróttinn was saying.
"During the ritual, you will see visions after inhaling the sacred incense. During this time, you will learn more about yourself and your connection with our ancestors. A gift might even be bestowed upon you should you receive enlightenment. Now then, let us proceed. You can snack on this while we are walking," he said as he handed me some type of dried meat that he had taken out of a pouch on his belt along with a few mushrooms.
I gingerly accepted. After hesitating, I nibbled on the meat. Finding it surprisingly good, I blurted out, "Kobold like." I immediately felt embarrassed for having said that. Did that just come out of my mouth? I felt like my IQ had just dropped off a cliff into a deep, dark, bottomless pit. I felt like throwing myself into the first chasm I came across.
This time, I couldn't stop the frown that covered my face. I was now certain that my mind was being affected in some way after becoming a kobold. It was as if I was acting how other kobolds would do so in my situation. Although it hadn't really registered the first time I thought about gnomes, after the next few incidents, I could tell something was wrong.
Even though I had never met a gnome, I instinctually despised them. That sent chills down my spine. I hated the thought that the ancestral memories were, at the very least, affecting how I spoke. My fear was that the ancestral memories might influence me in other ways. For example, despite having doubts about the chieftain, I felt an urge to trust him completely.
For some reason, Dróttinn seemed happy to hear my comment and see my apparent confusion. It was as if it had set him at ease. Perhaps he thought I was trying to take his advice and not act too smart. Well, I had definitely shot that image down. Right then and there, I decided that I had purposely done it just to set him at ease.
Yep, it was an intentional ploy on my part to downplay the first impression I gave him. From now on, that would be my story, and I was going to stick to it. From what I knew of psychology, if someone says something often enough, they would even start to believe it. In fact, many politicians used this principle. They would lie so much that they, and their followers, would actually start to believe their lies.
Before I thought about it too much, I switched mental gears. While I already knew my name, I was curious about what else I would learn. In fact, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to downplay anything that I discovered. Standing out too much might cause trouble.
Silently, I followed him, cursing him in my mind for making a newly hatched kobold walk around so much. "Dang my short legs," I thought, "Here I am, a third his size, newly hatched, and he is making me walk. What a…," I trailed off as I scurried to catch up to the chief.
I was so tempted to drop down on all fours and try to walk like a dog. I meant a dragon. I would never walk like a lowly dog. I was descended from dragons. Still, the temptation was there since it might have been easier to walk like that. In fact, I was pretty sure that I could move even faster if I was on all fours. I resisted the temptation, however, and continued to walk upright while trying to concentrate on not falling over again.
As we were leaving the room, I noticed a series of holes in the walls a foot higher than the chieftain's head. I wondered what they were, but didn't want to ask. As we passed through many corridors, I saw many more of these holes as we headed down deeper into the cavern. I finally figured out what they might be used for when I saw tripwires and deadfalls. It was like one of those temples of doom where various traps were waiting for the unwary.
There was plenty to see as we made our way. I quickly lost track of all the hatching rooms. I did feel a little nervous every time we went over certain bridges that looked like they were trapped to fall apart, though. Even my eyesight couldn't see the bottom of the pit underneath the bridge. Hmm, I was getting the impression that this place had more traps than an anime channel. What other pitfalls did I have to worry about?