Outcast

At the base of a large mountain lives the BloodyFang Clan, a clan of kobolds that are small reptilians descended from dragons. The Bloodyfang Clan has the blood of Selena Bloodyfang flowing through them.

Halfway up the mountain in a well cared for cave lives a noble family of kobolds. Two kobold mates pace nervously as they wait for their egg to hatch.

The father is large for a kobold over 8ft long from nose to tail, thick black scales with stripes of red scales running down his back, small curved horns, and the trademark feature of the clan, bloody red fangs.

The mother... is less impressive with her thin snakelike scales, bald patches, tiny stubs for horns, and dull thin fangs. They both stare at a dull grey egg.

"We can't get our hopes up Nartica, grey eggs never give birth to strong kobolds," says the male.

"I know Gerim, but as long as it isn't a Thinblood we can hide him for a few years, feeding him nothing but the essence and beast blood to increase his bloodline purity," says Nartica. More to herself than her mate as if trying to reassure herself.

"Thinblood? I should hope not! My bloodline can be traced back to the Selena Bloodyfang, she personally gifted my grandfather some of her blood. Even if your dragon core was born crippled and you can't increase your bloodline, my bloodline should be enough to keep our child from being a Thinblood. If not, we can just toss him out and try again " says Gerim coldly.

There is no love between the two mates, their pairing was a political alliance. Gerim comes from an impoverished noble family that still has a strong Dragonic bloodline.

Whereas Nartica is the opposite, she comes from a wealthy family but due to a century of inbreeding, her bloodline has resulted in a genetic predisposition for defective dragon cores and thin dragon bloodlines.

They both jump when they hear a crack and look back at the egg to see it has started to crack open. They see an egg horn slowly stabbing through. Ritual requires no one to help a kobold break out from their egg. It's a test to see if they are strong enough to survive.

Suddenly the egg splits open to reveal a small 15-inch kobold with bald patches on his thin translucent scales.

"THINBLOOD" snarls Gerim. A Thinblood is a kobold that is born with little to no dragon blood flowing through them, they often have defects and rarely live long.

In a clan where bloodlines determine your status, who you can mate with, what jobs are available, and the resources you can receive. Thinbloods are considered slaves and are either sent to the mine to excavate new living quarters, or the pits to fight for entertainment.

"Name him, then take him to the mine, we can't give him the chance to live and bring shame to us," says Nartica. Names in the noble families are sacred, passed down from the family.

"I won't waste a name on him," says Gerim bitterly before picking-up the Thinblood with his teeth and starts crawling towards the nearest mini tube.

He throws him in and sighs. "Guess I have to try again with the pathetic snake of a mate".

The Thinblood slowly opens his eyes shivering and hungry. "Get up snake! I need to inspect you before I can register you" says an a.d.u.l.t kobold with deformed forelimbs and patchy red scales.

Most overseers of the mines barely made the cut themselves of not being a Thinblood and as such, they like to mock them. Calling a kobold "snake" is one of the greatest insults one can give.

"Mmm not bad, no lasting defects, it's really only your scales and size that are bad, both of those can be fixed in time. Open your eyes, you aren't blind are you?" says the overseer who then is shocked when he finally sees the Thinblood's eyes.

They are bright emerald green with gold ringlets and thin vertical slits. "Pure Dragon eyes... wow, I've never seen that before. So at least we know your dragon core is intact. Mmm, what's your name?"

" ...I...ddonnn'tt...haveee one" stutters the Thinblood speaking for the first time. The overseer simply writes down Thinblood 89 and directs the young kobold to start walking.

He trips and falls over every few steps as his weak, thin limbs aren't used having to hold him up.

The overseer starts explaining the rules of the mines. 1, obey all commands of the overseers. 2, in order to be released from the mines a kobold must have 3 pure dragon features. The Thinblood is luckier than most with already having one from the start. 3, fighting is only allowed in the Pits and must have an overseer present to doc.u.ment the victor.

The overseer further explains how their dragon cores work. Each kobold has a round crystal ball inside them which absorbs the energy from everything they consume. The energy transmutes their regular blood into dragons blood thus increasing their bloodline and helping them get closer to becoming the next evolution in the Dragon family.

Kobolds are at the bottom, next are Wyrms which are effectively large Kobolds, usually 20 ft long. Also what kind of dragon blood they have begins to play a more serious part in their appearance, abilities, and how they evolve into the next evolution which is Wyverns.

As you might expect, regular food has a very poor conversion rate for turning into dragons blood. The best way to increase the amount of dragon blood in one's body is the flesh of other dragons. The higher up on the evolution the better.

Followed by essence, which is the magical power used to animate magic artifacts and the bodies of powerful beasts of other bloodlines besides dragons. As the overseer is talking he arrives at small damp cave.

"Food and water are in the corner. You look like a newborn so you don't have to dig for a week. This is your new home so you can do what you want with it. My suggestion is to use this time to strengthen your muscles and coordination. If you fail to meet your deadline for tasks that are given, punishment will be issued.

Also, if you're still hungry, mice and lizards are everywhere down here" he then leaves. The Thinblood looks around his cave before slowly crawling over to his food. It's a tough old piece of meat but he devours it instantly feeling much better.

Curious about his dragon core he tries to see if he can feel it work. Surprised by the sudden feeling of strength surging through him. He suddenly becomes confused and feels an itching sensation on his side. Looking over he sees new clear thin scales growing and covering one of his bald spots.

Unknown to him the reason he received such a reaction is; all of the dragon blood he currently possesses is concentrated in his eyes, as such his body is effectively starved of dragons blood. He also inherited his father's family secret which is, their cores have an odd mutation that converts what they consume into slightly more dragons blood than most cores.

Feeling better, he then goes and gets a drink before following the advice of the overseer and tries to expand his cave by digging with his claws. He immediately spots a problem.

His claws are soft and s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e. Gritting through the pain he's determined to at least dig himself a small sleeping nook. It takes most of the day. Finally finished he crawls in and passes out.