Jake felt a combination of interest and anger emanating from below, accompanying the deep voice. And impatience, a lot of impatience. Swallowing, he tried to calm himself. "I am Jake." The moment he spoke, he noticed that the other's presence retreated ever so slightly.

"I have just awoken, and am trying to find my friends." Should he explain that he wasn't from this world? He wasn't sure, but he began gently swimming forward as he spoke, not in any particular direction, but mainly to calm his nerves.

"Answer my question, young blood. Where are you from?" The deep voice sounded somewhat amused, but underneath, Jake detected something was boiling.

"...I am from another world or dimension. I don't understand all of it myself."

"That much is obvious. But if you don't know, that means you must be from one of the fractions. Describe your world." The voice seemed to travel with him as he moved through the water.

"My world was called Earth, and... it revolved around our sun?" How was he supposed to describe his world?

"As do most worlds." The voice sounded good-humored now. "Was there magic in your world, and if so, which ones?"

Blinking his doubly lidded eyes, Jake frowned. He didn't think there was, but how sure could he be? "If there was, I have never seen it. There were stories and legends about it.”

"Describe some of these legends to me."

Jake sighed and began wracking his brain. In the end, he retold some of the stories about the ancient gods he remembered. Feeling the mind wait patiently, he continued with everything he remembered about magic, which wasn't a lot. When he got to everything he remembered about Asian myth, the voice rumbled.

"Ahhhh, I see. I know where you are from now. Those wingless dragons were extraordinary and uncommon types of wind and water dragons. Long ago, even to me, they left this world in favor of fake dimensions of their own creation. They brought many beings with them and disappeared from common history. Although long-lived, they were not immortal, and I expect the one who created the worlds you lived on died, causing that dimension to become unstable." As it spoke, the being seemed to become distracted, its tone becoming distant.

Listening quietly, Jake and the two small lizards noticed a tinge of sadness when the voice stopped. Bolstering his nerve, Jake took a deep breath of water. "Could you please tell me something about this world that I am in now? Where am I?"

The voice didn't respond immediately, but Jake felt its presence was still there, so he just waited. He almost thought the other had fallen asleep when the voice finally answered in a sleepy, drowsy tone.

"You are on the mighty world of Pentara, one of the few free worlds still resisting the influence of the unbound chaos. But all this excitement has tired me."

Feeling the presence begin to fade, Jake started to freak out. "Wait, please. I am lost and have no idea where my friends are. How do I find them?"

The presence wavered for a moment before coming back, sounding farther away than before. "I don't know where your friends might be. You are currently on the borders of the largest ocean on Pentera. The closest land is a small string of islands towards the setting sun, while the opposite way leads deeper into the ocean. Don't go there yet, for you are far too young and weak."

The voice began trailing off at the end before falling silent, and Jake felt the presence disappear abruptly. As he began to calm down, he noticed Tir and Ter were still quietly hiding below his wings, shivering continuously. "It's gone, don't worry." He curled in his wings, hugging them closer, and they seemed to calm down a bit but kept quiet.

Jake swam up through the water and stuck his head out, scanning the sky. The sun was almost at its peak, and he sighed. He would have to wait until it began descending to find out where he should go. That meant a long wait. Trying to guess based on the current position, he went back under, swimming slowly in the direction he hoped would be the right one.

--

He had been close. The sun was a red orb, sinking in the water in front of him, making everything seem dyed in blood. He was propelling himself through the water at what he hoped was a speed he could keep up for a long time. A soft rumble from his stomach reminded him of the last meal he had.

"Brother hungry? I look for fish again!" Tir's tired and strained voice came from his back. The pink-eyed lizard was holding on tight, the water pressure a lot harder to resist than the wind when flying. Her brother was silently copying her, both looking around through the empty water.

How can there be no fish anywhere here? This is just ridiculous. Even on earth, there were fish in the middle of the sea! Jake growled to himself for the umpteenth time. He was about to tell Tir and Ter to try and rest when Ter began yelling.

"There! Look, brother, something moves!"

Jake swirled around in the water, causing a host of air bubbles to appear around them, and looked in the direction Ter was pointing. It was back from the direction they had come, and closing in rapidly. Squinting, he noticed multiple long shadows above a single body. Crap!

Turning as fast as he could, Jake began swimming at his fastest speed forward. "Tir, is it coming closer?"

The small lizards were having a hard time holding on, but, Ter managed somehow to take a look without falling off. "No, we faster. It slowly becoming small."

That is weird... Jake felt himself grow calm rapidly, and a predatory grin spread across his face. "Ter, I am going to slow down. Tell me when the thing is coming closer again."

Slowing down in small steps, only when Jake was going at half of his full speed did Ter speak up. "He coming closer, slowly. Brother, go fast again, so we flee?"

A soft growl came from Jake as he let out the dragon’s version of a snort. "No. We need food, and that thing is so slow. Plus, I can't flee for much longer. It will become our food! You two will need to hold on tight. I can't leave you here to fight, but that thing has more than one head."

"Don't worry! We help bite him!" Tir and Ter tried to look dangerous, showing their small rows of razor-sharp teeth.

Swirling through the water in a tight arch, Jake saw the small shape far behind them and cannoned towards it as fast as he could. Halfway there, the Hydra understood he was heading towards it and began slowing down. By the time Jake could make out its three heads, the Hydra was turning around to much glee of the two small lizards.

"He afraid! Brother, attack!" Ter was howling loudly, and Jake grinned, a rush of bloodlust blurring his mind. It took him less than five minutes to overtake the fleeing Hydra, which seemed to detect him at the last moment. Two of its heads tried biting behind, but Jake effortlessly dodged them and realized he was larger than his prey. Snarling, he bit the incoming head, gripping it tightly behind the jaw.

"The other head!" Tir's squeal saved him from his own cockiness, and he barely managed to dodge the razor-sharp teeth. Backing up, he saw the three pairs of red eyes stare at him. They were hanging a few meters under the surface, the water now so dark it was becoming harder to see.

Jake noticed his mind was blurry with bloodlust and hunger, making it hard to think. Breathing the cold water through his mouth and blowing a stream of air bubbles through his nose, he tried to calm himself. This was no time to lose his head. The Hydra began moving his way; the middle head raised high while the two to the sides tried to flank him.

"Brother, perhaps we flee?" Ter's soft voice seemed scared as it looked at the looming predator. His voice drew the Hydra's attention, and one of the heads lunged at him.

Jake barrel rolled and dove forward and under the Hydra that attacked him with the two remaining heads. Jake ignored them and used his long claws to grab the Hydra's body and draw it close. Using his teeth, he ripped at the shoulder area where the heads were attached on the deceivingly thin neck. He felt two sets of teeth bite in his wing and the front of his chest, but he ignored it and began swimming again, holding the Hydra close. He was grinding his teeth, trying to bite through the leathery skin and the muscles underneath.

As he swam, he began shaking his head, as he had seen sharks and alligators do. He was hoping he could break one of the necks, and he wasn't wrong. The left-most neck made a weird motion before Jake heard a sharp snap. Then it stopped moving. Strengthened in his decision, Jake began increasing his efforts, using the last of his now seriously flagging strength. A few seconds later, he felt his teeth shear through something, and the Hydra fell behind.

Seeing it try to swim away, Jake shot up and barreled into it from the top, ripping at its single remaining head. He used his claws to blind it while holding the body down with his hind legs, and far faster than he had expected, the Hydra stopped resisting. Snuffing the desire to roar in victory, Jake began taking in huge gulps of water, feeling the gills inside his neck work overtime.

"Brother, we eat fast?" Tir was still on his back, and he finally remembered that they had been screaming during the battle. Now they were shivering uncontrollably while drinking in the bloody water.

"Yes, but we need to hurry. If we stay here, we might attract stronger predators." Not waiting for a second, the two rushed forward and began gnawing at one of the heads bobbing listlessly in the water. Jake felt his stomach growl, and he began gorging himself. The body seemed to disappear faster than he had thought possible, and he stopped himself when he saw he was outeating the other two. Leaving them both with a part of a neck, he made them eat it on his neck as he began swimming again. He felt the bulge in his stomach shrink rapidly, and taking a quick look down, he saw that it was going from a pregnant lady to an obese man within seconds.

Let's hope this is enough to reach dry land, he thought, trying to ignore the succulent meat the two small lizards were still gorging themselves on.