"It's time. He's hatching tonight."

The first thing I heard was whispers. Voices from the outside. I started having dreams of flying and of war. Of soaring winds and raging seas and the roars of dragons filled with purpose and pride.

"Are you sure it's tonight?"
   
"The seer is never wrong, Ivar. You know that. Besides, the seer said he would hatch under two full moons. Calm down, will you? You're about to have a son, our son."

That one there. I knew immediately. Mother. I didn't know her name yet, but I knew all I had to about her at that moment.  The other, though... Although it was obvious, it would still take a minute longer to understand. Father.
   
I felt something rising within me, like my purpose in that moment was about to be fulfilled. I had to get out. Out of the shell, out in the world, out into war. And this was the first step into that journey, and someday that voyage to Pyrrhia, and back home. Our true home. Though I never knew it back then, I know now the gods did. They knew what I would someday do, the conquests I'd lead, how I'd lead my people back to glory and the old ways. But I had to take that first step now, and break out of the shell...

I pushed and strained against that shell. It was time for me to get out, but I had to fight for it. What happened in this moment would someday affect the future of my tribe. Get out. Get out! GET OUT!

"Look, he's coming out!"
   
"Gods, look how strong he is already!"

I broke free. I saw light, but not moonlight. I was surrounded by light, though. Fire maybe? I felt myself lying on something soft and warm. My eyes took a good few minutes to finally adjust to the light. I saw I was lying on something white and fluffy with streaks of gray. I looked up and there I saw two other dragons. Their scales were white with bits of gray all over their snouts, and a few thin black lines around the white. They had white scales only in certain areas, with black scales contrasting it, especially visible near their joints.

One of the dragons wore something like a cloth dress, and she was draped with a dark blue cloak that covered her shoulders and back. She carefully picked me up and cradled me in her arms. She had these piercing blue eyes that would make the sky seem dull, her eye slits as black as obsidian. "Hello there, my little dragonet", she said, her voice gentle. Mother. She was there, right in front of me, holding me in her arms. The second dragon stepped closer to her, holding his arm around one of her shoulders. I shifted my gaze to look at him. His eyes were an odd, deep blue, and it felt as if his gaze pierced right through me, staring into my soul. Father.

Father reached his talon towards me carefully. He gingerly rubbed the black scales along my head, as if he were holding an artifact that would turn to dust if he was too rough with it. It was only then that I noticed their horns: they were curved and spiral, like a ram's. Mother's were a little smaller than Father's, and rounder and more dull at the ends. Father's looked a little bit sharper, and they extended a little bit farther than Mother's. Father wore a dark tunic, and he had a crutch at his side. He had a belt around his waist and a hand axe hung from his waist on his right.

"By the gods, Ivar, look at him! He's beautiful!" Mother was ecstatic. She'd clearly been waiting for this day for a long time. Father laughed and smiled. "The gods have blessed us, Freydis", Father said. He was full of joy and happiness like Mother.

I reached towards Mother, wanting to reach for her smooth face and horns and eyes. Her eyes fascinated me. They glimmered like diamonds in the light. Mother giggled and lifted me up carefully. "Hello, beautiful!", she said. She held me in her arms again. "What should we name him?", asked Father. Mother looked at him, meeting his gaze. She lifted one hand to his cheek. "What about Eivor?" Father smiled. "Naming him after his Father, are we", he asked in a playful manner. "Oh, shush you," Mother replied teasingly.

Father and Mother looked down at me and smiled. Father tried to pet me again, and I snapped my jaws, nearly biting his claw. Father flinched back and chuckled. "Very well, Eivor it is", he said. Mother held me in her arms as she and Father gazed at me. I looked up and saw a hole in the roof of the building we were in, and moonlight poured through from the two full moons. The moonlight reflected in my own eyes, and my white scales shined bright in the light. But before I drifted off to sleep, I saw someone... a gray dragon wearing a dark blue cloak with a hood covering his face, and a staff in his hand....

The first thing I remembered was fire.

I didn't even know what it was. It just seemed friendly to me. It kept me warm. It spread light to push away darkness. It felt like a friend to me.

Then I remember shouting. Then screaming, then running. Or at least being carried by someone running.

I didn't know what was going on. I was never afraid before. I didn't know what fear felt like. Until I saw the other side of fire. The fire that burned down your home and full forests. The fire that spread out of control until it swallowed everything into its burning jaws. The fire that burned you to ash until even that was gone.

The fire that burned down my home. My life. My father. My tribe...

Then I was afraid... And being afraid hurts...