Staring out over the sea, Mason kicked at the sand again. He wished he hadn't promised Sandra that he would wait one day for Jake to return. The sun was only just over its highest point, meaning he had half a day left of waiting.

Grinding his teeth, he clenched his fist and felt a surge of energy in his body, followed by pain. It was as if molten metal was running through his veins. The sea in front of him became red as a haze flowed over his eyes. Shadows began appearing, rushing towards him, and in anger, he lashed out, knocking them back. The more he fought, the angrier he got. How dare they hold him back from his friend! He would go and find Jake.

"MAASOONNN!"

A sharp, familiar scream broke through the fog in his head, and with a shudder, he snapped awake. Looking around in a daze, he found dozens of Kobolds surrounding him, many with bruised scales and bleeding snouts. They were glaring at him, scared and angry, and appeared ready for anything. When they saw he was gazing around in confusion, they relaxed. Behind them, Emma was staring at him in shock and fear. Hunched over a bit, holding his hand against a bleeding gash on his face, Bolyr stepped forward, staying just out of arm's reach.

The Kobold looked like he had been run over by a truck, and not just once.

"Do you understand me now?"

Mason nodded, now even more confused than before.

Seeing that Mason was conscious and responsive, he sighed.

"How is it possible. Two in such a small group awake within days from each other, it is unheard of!" Shaking his head, he looked at Mason, longing in his eyes. Then he clenched his jaw, and his eyes became bright and piercing.

"I have talked with the others, and I know it is sudden, but we need to discuss something. Sandra already knows, so you can take your time to think it over."

Trying to shake the confusion and fear from his mind, Mason focused on the smaller Kobold.

"We would like you to join the Antraci tribe."

Blinking, Mason wondered if he heard him right. Seeing the hopeful look in Bolyrs eyes, he swallowed.

"I will have to think about that. But either way, I won't decide anything until Jake is back.

Bolyr's head dropped a little, and he sighed wearily before nodding. "I understand. Rest a bit. We will talk later."

The Kobold turned around and made a few hand signals. The surrounding Kobolds took a last look at Mason before turning around and disappearing into the jungle behind the beach.

--

A while later, Mason was sitting next to the water's edge, drawing figures in the wet sand.

"Fucking hell! Join them? Just like that..." He cursed, not for the first time.

From behind him, he heard a soft shuffling, and he glared over his shoulder. From the paved path into the jungle, Sandra walked his way. A leather armor now covered her towering and well-muscled frame, the front filled with metal scales. Along her waist was a wide black leather belt. Seeing her all dressed up caused Mason's anger to flare up again, and his scowl deepened.

"Back in control? And don't look at me like that! I haven't joined them or anything. These were a gift from Bolyr." Sniffing, Sandra sat down next to him, staring at the softly lapping waves.

Ignoring his obvious annoyance, she continued. "This entire trip here was a fiasco. Losing Jake and Jayden has made our position weak. Unless either of them makes it back somehow…" Sandra stopped talking.

A loud growl reverberated through the area, and Mason looked at her with a snarl on his face.

"When! When Jake makes it back!" He bit back..

A sad expression crossed Sandra's face before she sighed. "Fine, when. But until he does, it is you and me. Brady and O'Neil are what they call regular Kobolds, and the only reason they are even allowed here is because of us. And Emma is too young. "

Deep down, Mason knew she was right, but he didn't want to admit it. All of what had happened in the last few days had only been bearable because he and Jake were together. Staring at the sea, he tried to distract himself by listening to Sandra.

"So, what did Bolyr tell you?" He asked after a while.

Picking up some sand, Sandra threw it into the waves.

"He said some of the others blame us for what happened to Tergin and Ensir. From what I saw, the entire tribe is only a few hundred members, and they only have a few dozen capable warriors. It must be a great loss."

"How is any of that our fault?" Mason growled.

"Something about, if Bolyr had not brought us, they wouldn't have lost two more of their scouting party."

"Two more?"

"Yes, they went to scout the island with five, but two died soon after arriving. "

Sandra fell silent, and Mason stared at the sky above the water that was slowly turning orange. It would become dark within a few hours.

"So, if they are angry with us, why did they give you all that stuff?" Mason asked, motioning towards her new armor.

Sandra grinned a bit. "Crazy that, but apparently what I was wearing was distracting them, and they were having trouble keeping the youngsters in line."

Looking her over for a moment, Mason grinned weakly. "You must be glad this isn't a game, or you might be wearing nothing but a metal bikini."

Sandra's eyes narrowed as she looked back at him. "Good to see your sense of humor is slowly returning."

"Good to see your mood has improved after we removed that brain bug," Mason replied, grinning and patting her on the shoulder before turning to look at the sea. All of a sudden, he was glad Sandra was there with him. If he had been all alone, it would have been horrible.

A little to the left, Emma's blue head came up in the water, quickly followed by two others. It had taken her only one hour to make new friends with the few children her age, and they had been playing around all day. Although not yet able to breathe underwater, they swam like fish and had been teaching her all kinds of Kobold games. Catch the tail seemed to be the current favorite.

"Something is wrong," Sandra hissed all of a sudden, jumping up and rushing along the shore to where Emma was.

Startled, Mason scrambled up and went after her. Before he could stop it, energy surged from a strange muscle deep in his body and flowed into his leg muscles. Already fast before, al of a sudden, he felt like he was floating, and within a few leaps, he overtook Sandra. Continuing onward, he felt an exhilarating thrill as he moved with a speed he had never held possible. Arriving at the waterline, he didn't slow down one bit, crashing into the sea, creating large waves as his legs plowed through the current. Although he felt the resistance, it barely held him back, and foam formed around his shins.

Emma and the two other Kobold children saw him coming and quickly moved towards him.

"Emma, what is wrong!" He bellowed.

"We saw something move in the lower part of the sea, and it's heading our way!"

"Could you see what it was?"

"No, we fled as soon as we saw something move!"

Sandra arrived next to them, her military side kicking in right away.

"How many hostiles?"

"Dunno, but something is moving our way from the depths."

"Emma, take the others and get out of the water. Find the nearest Kobolds and warn them, then find Bolyr and warn him too. Now run!" Sandra commanded, a persuasive authority suffusing her voice.

Without replying, Emma shot through the waste deep water, quickly followed by the other two Kobolds.

"It could be Jake!" Mason said, eyeing the water. He wanted to rush in so bad, but without the oxygen plant, he could only stay down for a few minutes.

"Without knowing what it is, we should stay on dry land. We have the upper hand there. Move back!" Sandra ordered, pulling him towards the beach. An aura surrounded her and infused her words, and Mason began moving automatically.

On the beach, they prepared themselves for anything as they stared at the transparent waters of the sea.

--

"You are sure that this is the right island?" Jake whispered.

Tergin nodded, staring back at him.

"Of course. And remember, don't speak about the Hydra. Just act as if it didn't happen."

Jake nodded before swimming up the slope towards the beach.

As they got closer, he saw two figures on the beach. Tergin pointed at them, showing he too had spotted them.

"It is fine, those are Kobolds," Tergin said, sounding relieved.

Within moments they reached a place where they could stand, and for the first time days, Jake could take a deep breath of air. Before he could enjoy it, he heard someone shout his name.

"JAAAKEEE!"

On the beach, one of the two figures jumped forward, plunging into the sea. The figure crashed through the waves, like an out of control freight train, heading straight towards them. Soon Jake recognized who it was, and he felt a weight lift from his shoulders.

--

Standing waist-deep in the water, Sandra saw the two young men collide and embrace each other. Then they began hitting each other on the back, yelling all kinds of things. Shaking her head, she wondered why she felt so relieved. Next to the two, she saw something move, and she spotted another Kobold swim up. She recognized him as one of the archers, and she saw he was casting covert glances at Jake and Mason. Then a rush came from behind her, followed by a small shape blasting through the water like a tactical missile. Moments later, Emma barrelled into the two, hugging Jake while screaming.

"They are family?" Bolyr's rough voice startled her, and she turned towards him. How did he get there? She hadn't heard him approach at all.

"I don't know, but I think those two think of each other as brothers." She said after a moment, eyeing the other warily.

Nodding, Bolyr, looked at Tergin, who swam towards him. They exchanged a short greeting in a language that Sandra didn't understand before Tergin began rapidly speaking. Sandra guessed he was explaining what had happened, but she wondered why he wasn't using the Dragon tongue.

Looking out into the sea, Sandra knew it would be too much to hope for Jayden to show up. They had lost him in the middle of the mazelike reef shortly after Jake and Tergin had disappeared.

Shaking her head in regret, she turned around and made her way back to the beach, where a large group of Kobolds where gathering. Seeing them stare at Jake and whisper between themselves, she grinned.

"I wonder how Jake is going to like being popular!"