When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a gray, cloudy sky through the jagged remnants of what looked to be a roof.
Air swelled in my lungs. I expected the sharp pain of noodles stuck in my throat.
Instead, the breath was released with ease.
Confused and anxious, I raised my hand to my face. That's when I saw a tiny palm with stubby little fingers. This wasn't my hand.
Panic took hold of me as I tried to scream, but all that escaped was a whine.
"Gah… Wah…"
My mouth closed as fast as I had opened it. Was I an infant? I tried to sit up, to stand, to do anything. But all that came from my actions was me squirming in some sort of crib.
"Stop with your nonsense, boy." A voice boomed in the back of my mind, I froze. "I know not how, but you've taken control of this vessel. It's an unfortunate predicament."
I blinked rapidly.
Was this a god speaking to me? Am I being judged?
There was a heavy sigh. "No, I am not god, but if you do not listen to me we will meet our demise."
What are you talking about, my demise, aren't I already dead?
"Pointless question. All you need to know is that hunters are coming. And if you do not act as a human infant, we will be killed."
I tried to process the voice echoing in my head. It was powerful, low, and ancient.
Hunters? Killed? I'm gonna be killed for what?
The voice let out a heavy and impatient sigh.
A gust of wind swept overhead.
It carried the scent of smoke, iron, and something completely foreign. A heavy shadow fell over the roof. When I looked up, I saw them.
Dragons.
A dozen of them. They passed overhead and landed with a force that shook the earth.
"Boy, act as an infant, wail like the pathetic creature you are. Make the sounds of distress quickly!"
I didn't need much convincing. The terror of death. The confusion of reincarnation, the voice in my head. And the overwhelming aura of the creatures landing outside was enough to shatter whatever composure I had.
My mouth opened as I screamed.
"WAAAHHHH!" *breath* "WAAAHHHH!"
"Adequate," the voice grumbled. "Do not cease until I command it. Mask yourself with instinct. Be the animal you are."
I didn't know what this guy was talking about. I was crying because I was genuinely terrified of my situation. Whether I was seven minutes old or seventeen years old.
I always seemed to be at the mercy of something stronger.
I must've been crying for maybe five or ten minutes when the sounds of footsteps began to approach. Heavy with the sound of clicking metal.
A shadow loomed over me as the steps stopped beside my crib. Through my tear-filled eyes, I saw a man clad in black armor with a white capelet draped over his shoulder.
"Another infant." His voice was devoid of any emotion, muffled by his helmet. "Alive."
A second set of footsteps crunched through the debris, followed by the clatter of a sword. "Has it gone mad?"
Though I couldn't see the man's eyes behind his T-shaped visor. I could feel his gaze intensify. "No, but this child has a mark of Ouro. I can't tell the exact element though."
"How could I have been so foolish? A mistake of my haste." The voice roared with a panic that vibrated through my mind. "Focus boy, I must divert my Ouro to change the mark."
I didn't know what Ouro was, but I did feel a slight tingle in my chest. Like someone pressed a needle against it.
The man reached down and brushed his gloved finger against my upper right chest. He whipped away a smudge of ash and leaned close.
I held my breath, the terror overwhelmed my urge to cry.
"Well?" The second dragoon asked, stepping closer. "What's wrong with the mark?"
The man sighed. "Nothing. I couldn't tell before, but now I see it's the mark of the tides. Though his Ouro density is immense for a child. He could become a dragoon…"
The voice in my head scoffed. "Even when forced to disguise myself as a water lizard, I am still the strongest. Hahahah."
The second dragoon laughed. "Always looking to recruit, huh sergeant?" He turned his attention to the ruined village outside. "Though I suppose taking him would be better than leaving him to the local garrison."
The man reached underneath me, his touch was cold and rough. My body tensed as I watched him with wide eyes.
"Relax your body, you fool." The voice in my head hissed. "This is our salvation from this predicament. I will not let you squander it."
My body went limp as he effortlessly raised me from my crib. He sat me so that my chest rested against his forearm and his hand supported my ass.
The cold steel of his gauntlet sent a shiver down my spine.
"He's quiet now." The other dragoon said as he finally came into view. He was dressed in the same armor as the sergeant. Except for the caplet. "I wonder if it's because you're holding him like a satchel?"
The sergeant sighed. "The child is fine, that is all that matters. Now let's regroup with the others."
The world bounced rhythmically as the sergeant walked. I was slumped against the man's arm like a sack of potatoes, loosely gripping his elbow.
My eyes watched as the outside world came into view. It was filled with mud. Ash. Bodies and blood. The smell of copper and soot was thick in the air.
Buildings burned and crumpled. More people dressed like the woman holding me could be seen walking the bloodied streets with children in their arms. Infants and young toddlers.
I wasn't the most squeamish person. I had years of experience watching questionable shit. But even I felt sick after a dragoon lifted the body of a dead woman from the rubble.
In her arms was a child, also dead.
"You shouldn't watch if you cannot stomach it. This is the price of survival, boy." I wasn't entirely sure, but it sounded like the voice in my head was trying to defend itself. "Do you feel sorrow when you crush the hill of ants?"
I don't know, I answered. But if I could see the results of my actions this closely I wouldn't try to justify it.
A beast the size of a bus stood in the center of the ruined village. It took the shape of a dragon made entirely of water. It shimmered like the surface of a lake, a crystal blue color.
Sat atop the dragon was a woman draped in a long white cape and a helmet adorned with feathers.
"Captain." The man called as he raised me, "I have another child."
The woman glanced down with an unreadable expression. "So? Put him with the others."
The dragoon shook his head.
"With all due respect, I think you should listen, Ma'am. Even without a gauge, I can tell this child's Ouro density is high. I believe it would be a waste to carelessly send him away with the other children."
The woman tilted her head. "Very well." Her water dragon then opened its jaws to reveal a clone of the woman made entirely of water.
The clone approached the sergeant and extended its hands. "Hand it here."
The sergeant nodded and raised me by the ass. He set me in the clone's hand. I tensed in anticipation of the cold water.
But when I sat in the clone's hands they were warm. And the water tension was firm. It was like a gel cushion.
The clone returned to the maw of the beast. It stretched its arms to push me through a hole that had opened in the top of the dragon.
Once I was through the hole a hand made of water embraced me. Then like I was on a roller coaster, it pulled me down the neck of the beast and into the hands of the captain.
"Boy, those of the same affinity can more easily assess the essence of another. Whatever you do, do not react negatively to her touch." The voice commanded in my mind.