Kary was but an egg when he was separated from his mom. For unknown reasons, his village was burnt to the ground by dragons, seemingly over pettiness and unpaid taxes.

Dragons left not shortly after his adoptive mother would appear, a red dragoness appeared by the burning ruins, her calls and roars for survivors unanswered. Until she found a silent kobold holding her egg tight into her talons.

The red dragoness approached her, who yelled in vain for any form of help or intervention from the gods. She tried to reason, but the kobold was too desperated to cooperate, but regardless she raised the fallen ruins from her. The sight was not good.

Her legs were broken and it was a matter of time before the loss of blood would take her. The dragoness snarled, as she extended her talons over the kobold.

"You won't survive. I would take your egg anyways, but I am willing for you to give it to me, for you to go with peace in your mind, I will take care of it… I promise."

The kobold's laborious breathing slowed down, as if in an acceptance of fate, she freed her egg and gave to the dragon. The red dragoness took it and also took her in one of her talons. During the flight, the kobold had long passed away, but she still carried the body, to give a proper cremation for her to rest in peace.

Several years would have passed…

Kary, as named by his adoptive mother Karynthia and dad Akavatos, had an uncommon and difficult youth. He fears his parents' every movements and only often plays with his three siblings, who despite younger, are already larger than him.

Everything in his life makes he not only feel small, but also useless. The period when young dragons begin to learn activities, reading, writing and hunting had started, and Kary was below his siblings at every lesson, especially hunting, the most important of them.

Akavatos was more supportive of Kary than Karynthia, who couldn't help but look weird at him, she was more than disappointed, she was disgusted of his weakness.

"Barely any claws, barely any teeth. Kary can't even read. He is a failure, a weakling who won't survive in this world." Karynthia snarled, as in close doors in their room, argued with Akavatos over Kary.

"How could you say such things about our SON, Karynthia?! You brought him here, he may be slow but we can't give up of him, kobold or dragon, HE IS OUR SON." Akavatos roared back.

As silent as they thought they were, Kary and his siblings heard most discussions. His brothers and sister didn't hate him, but at that point it was clear his mother did, their attempts to help him on their own failed, causing Kary to start believing even more in his mother.

After one barely slept night with his siblings, Kary wake up early, realizing only his father's tail was around them. His mother was gone, what was not common.

He get up and followed through the large entrance of their room, and following a large corridor to the entrance of their lair, there was Karynthia, watching over the morning sun. Kary got the courage to say the impossible, so he moved towards her, until he was right on her side, by the time which she noticed.

"M-Mom… Do you hate me?" Kary let out the words, to the surprise of Karynthia.

She sighed, she didn't want to say yes, but to say no would be a horrible lie, a lie she knew Kary already knows. She kept watching as the sun come out from the mountains.

Kary got angry at her silence, and let out even more than he intended, even more than he would come to immediately regret.

"Why the silence?! Mom! You hate me! I don't understand! I tried and tried, but you are always disappointed! If you hate me so much, then just crush me already! What does it even matter?!"

Kary kicked and yelled in circles as he talked, but Karynthia's eyes grew brightful with an evil shine. She slowly got up and looked at him, her pupils shrunk as she grimed.

"You know Kary, you are right… As the dragon laws say, the weak and useless younglings are to be killed." She stomped into the ground, causing it to shake and Kary to fall.

"M-mom! P-Please no!" Kary started shaking into the ground.

"You failed as my 'son'." She snarled, "Don't worry though, your death will be a merciful and quick one."

"Mom!"

"May the gods have mercy on your soul."

Karynthia's neck grow brighter as she charged her flames, she opened her maw and little sparks begun to come out, but suddenly from the room, Akavatos appeared, running towards them.

"Karynthia NO!" Akavatos ran as the flames come out of her maw. Kary closed his eyes expecting to be swift, but after a few moments, nothing came, he opened his eyes and saw his father's wings surrounding him.

"Karynthia, what are you doing?!"

"Fixing a mistake, Akavatos. This weak vermin has been wasting our time, our good will to take care of him. NOT any longer."

"Our SON, Karynthia… How could you even think of that…"

"You don't understand. I am doing him a favor-"

"A FAVOR?"

"He will get killed out there, Akavatos! What do you want to happen? A monstrous creature to swallow him whole, traumatizing us forever, or a quick and painless death now. I know what I want."

"This won't happen, Karynthia. Its why we are here for, not only him but our own young as well. If Kary will need us forever, I am right here for him, no matter what."

"Well… I am not."

"I won't discuss with you any further Karynthia… I only wish you could think that maybe the monstrous creature you refer might be yourself."

As soon as his life passed in front of his eyes, Kary was taken in by Akavatos' talons and carried back to a room. He could hear as Karynthia flew away from the entrance, be for hunting the breakfast, which he didn't expect to be eating anymore, or just to yell in the sky to let out her anger.

Akavatos passed by his young at the entrance of the cave, "Go play around kids, I need to talk with Kary, alone."

His siblings quickly moved out of the room, but barely could play anything without paying attention to what was happening.

Akavatos gently put Kary on the ground, and stood still, thinking for a moment. Kary had little courage to say anything again, and stood there just looking at his dad, but he not to wait for long.

"Kary…" Akavatos said, as a small tear came from his eye. He rested his body into the ground in front of Kary, and placed his head just in front of him. "I… Am sorry, Kary…"

"Father…"

"I was a terrible father, Kary… I argued for you, but never paid attention to you. I was not unlike your mother and I am afraid if it wasn't her, it could have been me… And she wouldn't have stopped me." He continued.

"As for our pride… We were not ready to care of you, for your needs, for our emotions, for even hearing your voice. I am sorry, my son. I… I don't even know how to fix this…"

"Father!"

Akavatos stopped talking, realizing he was if anything continuing what he was preaching against doing.

"Yes, Kary?"

"Why does mother hates me so much? I… I don't understand…"

"Ah Kary… Your mother does not hate you, she doesn't do the best work to avoid looking that way, but she does not hate you. She… She cares about you, it was why your training and teaching was intensive for us, but… We… We never considered the fact that you were not a dragon, just that your performance was horrible at everything…"

"H-How was I ever a dragon?"

"Kary, we don't know how to take care of a kobold… For we you were just a… Wingless dragon, and really really small… Look, I… We, we just didn't know what to do, your claws, teeth, stature, was so insignificant, but we thought if you tried hard enough, you would succeed… In our ways…"

"Father… Do you hate me?"

Akavatos' heart was crushed and wounded, as if a large icicle passed through it.

"No… Kary… I wished I paid attention to you, I wished I… I took better care of you. I was there whenever you were in danger, but… I never considered the greatest danger to you were us."

Kary got up, but stayed in silence.

"Kary… Can I… Can WE try again? I could take you up to a kobold village nearby, and you, you stay there and learn what you have to, maybe even live in there, safe and sound, you, you could come and visit us whenever you feel like it, I would be waiting for you, and I am sure your siblings would too."

"But father… I don't know anyone anywhere else… How would I-"

"Yes, yes. They could use and abuse of you just as much. Ugh… You have to stay here… But with your mom on rage, this won't be the last time it happens. I… I wish there was another way… Come up here."

Akavatos' tail sneaked around Kary and brought him close to his snout, he was less than scared, for he saw a dragon's maw today which would torment him for the rest of his life, unsure long it would even last anymore.

"No more hate, ok Kary? I don't hate you. But, are you scared of me?"

Akavatos already knew the answer, but for the first time, he wanted to hear it from Kary, his side of the story. Kary merely nodded.

"You know son… When your mother brought your egg here, she had a peculiar wish, she wanted your previous mother had survived, so she could take proper care of you, while we would just act as the defense of you both. It never happened and so now we are here, in this situation."

"S-She had?"

"Yes…! I am not lying my son, your mother wants the best for you. She is disappointed you can't defend yourself, because she wanted you to be free to come and go one day. She went too far today, Kary, and as far as I know, kobolds would treat this as a matter of life, but you WON'T. Ok? You are one of us, you are a dragon! If in anything but your brave little heart."

"I… I… Am a dragon?"

Kary's voice for once in his life sounded excited, and Akavatos wanted to bring all of it from him. "Yes Kary! You are. We trained you wrongly, for you need a special training for your dragon self!" "B-But I am a kobold dad… I could never be-"

"Shh… Shh… Look my son, all of your lessons so far, forget it. As I said, I wish this was easier, but now I am here for you, all your trauma with your mom so far, it happened, but we can do better now, we have to, I have to, for I want a great future for you, one you don't have to live under our shadow for the rest of your days…"

Kary nodded, unsure what to think of all of this, his day barely started and it was more chaotic than ever.

"This will be our first moment together my son, but I am determined to make things right. Soon you will become so great at your dragon-kobold ways, you will make your mother swallow her own fire down her gullet again for ever doubting you."

"Her own fire?!"

"Figuratively of course haha, but she tried to kill you, she went too far, but we will make ourselves even better, Kary… Do you promise me, that you will be strong with me?"

"I… I promise dad! If for anything, make mom eat her own fire!"

Akavatos smiled for a moment, "That's what I want to hear, young kobold. Now, what do you want to do?"

Kary jumped up and down, excited from hearing his father for the first time asking what he actually wanted to do.

"Play!"

"So lets go, son!"

Akavatos and Kary walked out of the cave. Akavatos sighed as he saw his young fail to hide the fact that they were listening to the entire conversation, but then he smiled as he heard them amazed about the idea of making their mom eat fire.

Could he ever make up for his wife nearly killing his son? He was not sure, there was no forgiving after all, but he was determined to make her regret it forever, she would apologize her whole life to Kary, and until she treated him with respect, his son would never give up.