Sweat dripped across Mason's golden and red scales, but he barely noticed. His eyes were locked on a small patch of leaves that hid the only path through the otherwise dark and sweltering jungle. A soft tick drew his attention, and he quickly looked at Sandra, who was sitting next to him. At her other side was Tergin, blending in much better than them in the dark green and blue leaves of the tree.

Sandra rose two fingers, pointing them towards the jungle. Then she motioned for Mason and Tergin to start their plan. Feeling both anxious and exhilarated at the same time, Mason crawled back along the large branch he was sitting on before precariously climbing down the tall tree. The thick bushes below scratched his scales as he wiggled through them, trying to make as little noise as he could. He began hearing loud shouting and laughing coming from the path, and getting closer.

A short scream of pain caused him to grit his teeth, and he was about to rush forward when a hand gripped his shoulder. Swirling around, he stared at Tergin, who was shaking his head. Mason tried to relax his taut muscles but failed, and in the end, waited for the sign. He didn't have to wait long before a loud roar silenced the incoming group of Goblins.

"She went that away! Go after her!" A high pitched Goblin voice screamed through the shocked silence, and Mason heard a host of feet rush off into the jungle away from him. He shook Tergin's hand off his shoulder and rushed through the bushes, bursting out onto a path hacked out through the jungle. On the dark muddy path were four Goblins, staring away from him while three bruised and battered green-scaled Kobolds lay on the ground beside them. They were tied up, and all had a piece of rope around their neck, attaching them together.

Fuckers... Snarling, Mason sprinted forward, spraying sand and mud around while he heard Tergin follow close behind. Not that he cared, he could take four Goblins. For a week, they had been raiding the Goblins, and he knew he could easily best four or five now. One of the Goblins turned towards him, hearing him approach, but it was too late. He rammed into the much smaller enemy, causing snapping sounds to come from the other as he flew backward, dropping his spear in the process. Ignoring him for now, he kicked one of the other Goblins as it turned, using the long nails on his feet to pierce the soft belly and rip it open.

The Goblin howled in pain, causing the other two to turn, but before they had a chance to do anything but snarl, Tergin barrelled into one, toppling it over and slashing at its throat. Mason stepped forward and hit the last one standing in the gut, before slamming his clasped fists on his back. He heard the spine snap from the force of his blow, and he swirled around. The only Goblin left was the one he had attacked first, and it was running away along the path, limping. Grabbing one of the spears from the ground, Mason hurled it after the Goblin missing him by a lot. Damnit, why can I never do that! Before he could pursue the Goblin, a bronze blur burst from the jungle, grabbed the Goblin, and disappeared again on the other side.

Shaking his head when he heard a pained scream that stopped abruptly, Mason walked towards the tied up Kobolds. They were fearfully staring at him, so he stopped and lowered himself to his haunches. "Are any of you seriously injured?" His deep, soothing voice seemed to calm them, and one of the bound figures shook her head.

"No, just some cuts and bruises. Please untie us? We need to get out before those horrid little monsters come back!"

Examining the smaller Kobold, Mason nodded and moved closer, using his nails to slice apart the sturdy, dried vines. When all three Kobolds were freed, Sandra just walked out of the jungle, wiping blood from her claws on some of the purplish leaves. "Are you ready? The others are probably done chasing my shadow and should be back at any moment. "

Mason nodded, kicking one of the Goblin bodies away and into the jungle. The three Kobolds, all female, were standing close together, examining them.

The one who had spoken before seemed least scared and stared at him. "Who are you?"

"We used to be human, like you guys. Now we are trying to survive in this god-awful jungle. Follow us. We can't stay here. It is too dangerous." Mason beckoned them before moving off into the jungle after Tergin. No matter how they tried, he and Sandra got lost a lot in these parts, and only the native Kobold seemed able to find his way.

Traveling back took almost an hour, and when they finally exited one of the densest areas of the jungle, Mason was even more cranky than usual. Stepping along the white sand towards the enormous tree, he took a quick glance around. Tergin had found this place after a few days of scouting. It was nestled against a rocky outcrop almost twenty meters high, and all trails naturally bend around it. Unless you risked moving straight through the dense undergrowth, you would never find it. Only a single enormous Hometree, ancient and gnarled, stood on the white sand. According to Tergin, it was so old that its power would scare away any wildlife.

"Mason, you're back!" A high-pitched yell rippled through the area, causing Mason to look up. He smiled as he saw Emma nimbly run towards him. Spreading his arms, he caught the small Kobold girl, hugging her tightly. Since Jake, he felt that she was the only thing keeping him sane.

"You found more Kobolds!" Emma crawled across his chest, on top of his shoulder before sitting there like a small bird. She was curiously examining the three Kobolds that were looking around.

"Yes, why don't you go and say hi? They are scared, and we freed them from a small Goblin patrol.” Giving him a brisk nod, Emma leaped off his shoulder, causing him to cringe when he felt her nails dig in his scaly flesh. Seeing Willson stare at him with his almost black eyes, Mason moved towards him. Willson was standing below a small roof made of long branches and lined with large white leaves. The walls were half-finished, but when all was ready, it would be their first house. Hopefully, many would follow.

"How did it go?" Willson’s heavy voice startled Mason. Had this guy changed again? Scanning him, he saw that his arms did look a bit thicker, the muscles even more defined than before. "As planned. We killed four, scattered the others, and finally found some more Kobolds. Three girls by the looks of it."

"It's a start, I guess. If we want to create a place strong enough to oppose that bastard, we will need hundreds. Remember, next time you stay here to babysit!" Willson smiled and pounded Mason's shoulder with his massive hand, causing Mason to widen his stance so as not to be pushed aside.

"Damnit, Willson! What are you eating when I am not here?" Punching the other on the chest softly, Mason laughed and shook his head. In reality, he had a good idea of what was going on. The heavyset and muscular Kobold had awoken, something Tergin had said might be happening. "I am going to rest a bit, let me know if you need a hand with those three, okay?"

The other laughed as he walked away. "No worries, you take your beauty sleep! You need it!"

Moving towards the other side of the enormous tree, large enough to dwarf the redwoods he had seen long ago, Mason sighed as he wondered what Jake would be doing right now.

--

"Brother, a bird!" Tir's joyful scream broke Jake from the tedious job of swimming for days on end. Feeling a surge of hope, he looked up, following her pointed claw. High above him, he saw a small speck flying almost in the same direction as they were swimming, and his stomach growled. He drew in a breath of air, trying to stifle the hunger he felt that nearly made him surge out of the water and chase whatever it was and devour it.

"Good job, Tir! Bird's only live close to land, so if we follow it, we will finally find a place to hunt!" Feeling Ter roll over and stretch himself, Jake automatically stretched out a wing so the little tike wouldn't slide from his back again. He couldn't wait to see sand and trees, or underwater fauna for that matter! The sea was great and all, but this far out, it was so deep he didn't dare bring the little ones to the seabed.

It was now two days ago that they had fed on the Hydra, and since then, they had seen no living creature. Seeing the bird become smaller, and realizing it would soon disappear, Jake felt like cursing. "Tir, Ter hold on. We are going to fly before we lose the bird!"

The two small lizards quickly held on to his frills and shouted they were ready. Swimming forward as fast as possible, Jake surged up and out of the water spreading his wings and flapping them, quickly gaining altitude. Within a minute, he felt the pangs of hunger worsen, but he also saw he was gaining on the bird quickly. When he was at the same altitude as the bird, he slowed down as much as he could.

Ten minutes later, he saw a small speck appear in the direction the bird was heading, and he almost hollered in joy. Finally! He would be able to hunt and eat! And maybe he would be able to find Mason and Emma! Ignoring the bird, Jake began flying towards the distant land.