Sitting on the ground, Black nothing more than a few bones littering the ground, Jake grinned. His knowledge and experience made him a far more dangerous killer than the others on this island. He rose, all his exhaustion gone, and the volcanic bloodthirst slated for now by the hearty meal. He looked at the still form of Red next to him. Time to feed the others. Walking forward, he grabbed it and began flapping his wings, causing a small whirlwind of sand and leaves all around him. With Black's energy and flesh, he had grown another size, and he effortlessly carried Red up to his lair.

Landing on the ledge before the cave, he walked inside. "Ter, Tir, come! I have brought food."

He didn't need to say it twice, as his two smaller siblings rushed forward from the hiding places he had made for them. His other memories told him there were eight siblings once, but only three remained. If he had been here sooner, he could have kept more of them alive, he knew.

"Brother, this meat hot!" Ter had a frown on his snout, while his sister was gingerly chewing a sliver of meat. What now? Curious, Jake ripped a mouthful of meat from the red carcass, and a spicy, pungent taste made him gag a little. Was it because the fire-lizard was another element? He had noticed that the elements didn't seem to play nice together, and he wondered if this could bring harm to the little ones.

"You are right. I am not sure this is good for us. Hide, I will take it away and find something else." Feeling stupid that he hadn't thought of tasting the meat first, Jake grabbed the bleeding carcass and rushed out of the cave. He had a great idea of what to use it for, though.

--

Hovering above the coastline, it took him an hour to find his next target. The last remaining serpent was coiled up on a rock partially submerged in the sea close to the shore. Its green scales gleamed in the light of the setting sun, and Jake wondered if all these monsters were so oblivious to danger. His instincts told him that it was the fact that the serpent thought himself more powerful than anything in the vicinity. Well, it was about to find out how wrong it was. Landing on the sand, out of view of the serpent, Jake dumped the carcass part in the sea before ripping it open some more. Blood flowed into the water, tainting it.

That should do. Dragging it back, making sure to make a clear blood trail, Jake moved behind one of the many black boulders lining the coast. They were large enough for him to hide behind, and as soon as he put the carcass down, he moved a distance away. Guessing the serpent wouldn't see him, he climbed on top of another boulder, giving him a good view of his trap.

Within minutes the serpent showed up, sliding onto the shore and licking the bloody ground with his three forked tongues. It seemed excited and began slithering towards the boulder. Getting ready, Jake lost sight of the serpent when it moved close to the rock, and he narrowed his eyes. Ten seconds later, he realized something was wrong and looked around in a rush, just in time to see a blur rush through the air toward him. Instincts kicked in, and Jake propelled himself into the air, trying to unfurl his wings, but he was too late. A long muscular body wrapped around his torso, locking his wings into place, and bruising the vulnerable things.

Roaring, Jake threw himself off the boulder, feeling the serpent begin strangling him and hearing it hiss behind his head. Fear made his instincts try and take control, but he fought them off and made sure to land on his back on the ground. The knock caused the serpent to be stunned for a second. His hind legs still free, Jake managed to get up, and without a second thought, he rammed his back against the nearest boulder. A pained hiss followed, and he felt something snap in one of his wings, but he didn't stop. Ramming against the boulder, again and again, he finally felt the coils lose, and he struggled free, jumping backward.

The serpent's head was bruised all over, and its tongues hung listlessly from its bleeding mouth. Seeing it twitch a bit, Jake moved forward, feeling pain from his back and locking his jaws around the neck below the snake’s head. Then he began crashing the serpent against the rock face until its skull caved in, and it stopped moving. Seeing it shudder one more time before being still, Jake sat down on the ground. His body shivered, and he knew he needed to feed quickly. Staring at the serpent's corpse, he wanted nothing more than to devour it, but then what would Tir and Ter eat?

Glancing at the bleeding red lizard, he sighed before moving over and taking a big bite. What's the worst thing that can happen? He thought as he swallowed the horrid flesh. A lousy stomach ache, it seemed. Halfway through, he noticed that his body was healing, although not as fast he was used to while feeding. He also noticed that his stomach had a hard time digesting the bad-tasting meat, and it took much longer for every bit to disappear. It was almost entirely dark when he felt the pain in his wings abate, and he could unfurl them again. Knowing he still needed more, he devoured the rest before grabbing the serpent and tenderly flying back to the cave.

They better appreciate the meal...

--

Looking at the others, Sandra slammed her fist into the rock, causing hairline cracks to appear. "How dare they do this! Were they never Human to begin with?"

Mason agreed with her wholeheartedly, and he wished for nothing more than to rush into the jungle and rip apart all of the Goblins he could find.

"As we have changed, so did they. Perhaps it is time we stop thinking of them as Humans and see them as the monsters they are?" Willson was staring out across the sea, keeping an eye on Emma and O'Reilly. They were hunting for food again, and even with sea being as dangerous as it was, it was still safer than the jungle.

Sandra cursed hatefully. "You are right. Only monsters would commit genocide while laughing," she growled before turning to Tergin, who was silently sitting beside them. "Describe what you saw again, leave nothing out. Perhaps we can find a way to free them."

Tergin's eyelid twitched, and he nodded. "A few hours along the coast are the beginnings of a large Goblin town with a wooden fortification surrounding it. Everything is still under construction, but from what I know, Goblins never work this hard. I think there is a highly evolved one forcing them, or like you aren't entirely like other Kobolds, they aren't the same as the Goblins I know. They have around four hundred Goblins across the camp, but I don't know how many are scavenging for food in the jungle. They keep coming and going."

Tergin fell silent for a while, seeming to deliberate his words before continuing. "At the side of the town is a fenced-off area with wooden caches. Inside are wounded Kobolds. During the evening I was there, they removed two from captivity and let loose in the woods. A group of Goblins went after them, to hunt them down and..." the Kobold snarled before shaking his head as if to clear an image from his mind. "They ate them, roasted their limbs over a fire while singing and dancing like maniacs."

The other three Kobolds were silent for a while until Sandra waved her hand. "Tell the rest."

Tergin seemed tired, but he nodded and continued. "I scouted around the camp for a day and found that all of those bloody female Goblins are pregnant, meaning they will have another litter within the month, and a clutch of full-grown Goblins within the year. Without any large threats, they will swarm this island within ten years, creating a small Goblin kingdom. After that, they will find the other islands and take those over, killing everyone they encounter."

"And their leader?" Sandra stared at the other, a smoldering look in her eyes.

"Large, and no longer a Goblin or Hob but an Orc. As far as I can see, he is the only one so far, but he has a dozen female goblins running around his throne. I was unlucky enough to witness him... procreating with a few of them while the other Goblins looked and cheered." Tergin blinked before examining the three earthlings. "Is that normal in your world?"

Mason snorted, before laughing, while Sandra just sniffed dismissively.

"Not normally. Usually, it only happens if people are paid for it by others." Willson stated, keeping his cool, as he had most of the time since they arrived back at the island.

"I have heard of that. It happens in larger cities if the stories are true. No coin was paid for this, trust me on that, but I would pay to remove the image from my mind."

"Have you seen where they found the Kobolds?" Mason asked, no longer laughing, but squinting a bit as he looked at Tergin.

"They send armed patrols deep into the jungle, and I saw one come back with a captive."

Everyone was silent, thinking about the Antraci tribe member's words when Sandra again broke the silence.

"We can't fight that many Goblins without more forces. If they can find Kobolds in this jungle to capture, we can find them first to save them and, at the same time, bolster our numbers." Staring at Mason, it was obvious she wanted something from him.

Staring silently back, Mason finally stood and turned around. "I need to think." He walked off towards the coastline and a few flat black boulders.

"There he goes again, pining for his friend when he knows it's a lost cause." Sandra hissed, grabbing a handful of sand and flinging it into the jungle.

"Don't be so harsh on the boy, San... Sarge. " Willson said softly. "He is only twenty or so and has never had any hardships. He will learn."

"Pff... fuck it, fuck him, and fuck you. And stop calling me Sarge. You can barely stomach the word anymore, and there isn't any military left anyway. Now go see if the others have caught anything, we need provisions if we are to track into this infernal jungle."

"Yes, Sandra," Willson said with a grin on his face, before walking off, not seeming very upset.

"And you. Why didn't Mason and I have any dreams after the first one? That punk, Jake, had like a hundred and was this close to changing into a bloody dragon." Seeming to have lost her temper, Sandra glared at Tergin, who just shrugged before getting up.

"I don't know, perhaps because there isn't enough of your natural element around. Willson seems to be changing, though, and I don't know how or why. But when did he learn to understand the olden tongue?" Then the scarred, limping Kobold turned around and walked towards where Mason was sitting.

"Shit..." Sandra watched him walk away, and a sad look crossed her face. "They didn't bloody prepare me for this. You didn't prepare me for this, gramps, damnit."