Jake lay content and full against the trunk of the giant tree. The soft wind blew around his body and caused the leaves to rustle. Inside the coil of his tail lay Emma, curled into a small ball with Tir and Ter in her arms. A few rays of moonlight illuminated them, their blue and green scales shining.

With a contented sigh, Jake turned to Mason, who was sitting on a large root, close to the trunk. His friend was leaning with his head against the trunk, his weary golden face relaxed as he stared at the star-filled sky just above the treeline. As if he sensed Jake watching him, he turned his gaze to his dragon-turned friend.

"How are you? Did you get used to taking a dump and not using toilet paper afterward?" A sly grin, reminding Jake of calmer times, spread across his face.

Jake snorted, a lupine grin on his face, and he tried to come up with a quick retort. His weary mind wasn't up to the task, and he sighed. "Very funny, you just wait until you change into a fat-ass red dragon!"

"Weak, Jake, weak! And it would be a golden dragon!"

The two grinned at each other, but it faded quickly, and Mason grimaced. "What are we going to do now? I don't think things are going to go back to how they were, and even if they did... You're a dragon!"

Jake unfurled a wing, staring at it. He didn't feel any discomfort, or great desire to turn back to a human or even a Kobold, which in itself was probably weird. "Yes, and from what we know, all of you will eventually follow. It's not that bad, you know? I feel stronger than I ever have before!"

Soft footsteps came from the area with the small wooden shacks, and the guys looked over to see Sandra head their way. She had cleaned herself, and the dirt, sweat, and blood were gone, replaced by a clean, sleeveless robe that Jake had not seen before. In the pale moonlight, her muscular bronze shape caused a soft thudding to start in Jake's chest. Longing and desire rushed through him, almost causing him to step forward. Shocked at his own rolling emotions, he quickly averted his gaze, looking at Mason.

The golden Kobold was staring with a smoldering look at Sandra, his eyes roaming across her body before ending on her face. The hell? Jake realized his friend had been acting strange around Sandra ever since he got back, and when he turned to look at the female Kobold, he saw she was staring back at Mason, one of the corners of her reptilian mouth curled up.

She stopped below the dark brown root on which Mason sat. Gazing up for a second, she effortlessly climbed up and sat down next to him, so close that their shoulders touched.

"Err... do you guys want to tell me something?" Jake asked cautiously, his head moving closer to the others, courtesy of his long and slender neck. He had managed to get a grasp on his feelings again and pushed down for later examination.

Mason thumped himself on his chest. "What is there to say? I am irresistible!" A second later, he yelped and rubbed his leg. He glared at Sandra, who had an innocent smile on her face.

"Don't listen to this fool. Tergin said it had something to do with our bloodlines. Apparently, me and the big oaf are rather compatible, and this causes us to be drawn together. Besides..." and she squeezed Mason's leg so hard he winced, "he is probably the only one who won't break on me!"

Mason pouted at her. "Ahh, come on! You said you loved me!"

"I've said no such thing! Now stop playing around; we have more serious things to discuss. Have you told him about what has happened?"

Mason shook his head, "Didn't get around to it yet."

"Of course you haven't... Take this more seriously, will you!" She cast a reprimanding gaze towards Mason before switching to Jake and examining him.

"Are you still having those dangerous episodes where you start attacking things around you?"

Jake shook his head. "No. They stopped the moment I took over this body."

Sandra was about to ask him something, but Mason interrupted her. "Took over? How did that work?"

"I don't know. At one point, I woke up in intense pain, and then I was sort of drawn towards this body, mixing with the simple mind that was already in it. As it happened, I could feel my Kobold form dying. It was pretty horrible."

A soft rustling of leaves was the only immediate response he got, as both of the Kobolds processed what he had just told them. A long minute later, Mason shuddered and stared at him. "You mixed with the other mind?"

Trying to sound convinced, Jake tried to ignore the fear on Mason's face. "Yes! It is actually not as bad as it sounds. It gave me a whole set of memories, and I didn't have to learn how to fly because of it. Besides, now I have all this inherited knowledge, not that I can access it. It just pops up at random moments."

He could see right away that Mason wasn't relieved at all, and he wondered how far his friend's change was along. "Have you had any dreams yet?"

Mason flinched, looking away, but Sandra just nodded. "He has, and so have I. But the one who is furthest along is Willson. We don't know how or what type of energy he is absorbing to go this fast, but he has been going crazy for a few weeks now."

"Are you sure it is safe to leave him alone? He could hurt somebody!" As he spoke, Jake saw Sandra shake her head.

'Don't worry. He is never alone. Either me, Tergin or Mason, are with him. Right now, Tergin and Bolyr are watching over him as he sleeps."

But Jake wasn't listening, something, a memory was trying to get his attention, and he zoned out, trying to find it. Something from when he changed? Or a memory he inherited from the Dragon? No... something simpler, something... directions!

"Shit!" Surging forward, he uncoiled his tail too fast, causing Emma and his small siblings to scatter across the sand with soft cries as he ran towards the cabins. He started scanning the sky as he did, trying to remember where the sun had set, and looking at the stars in that direction. He heard Mason and Sandra rush after him, as he frantically searched for Willson's cabin.

"The left one!" Mason barked, appearing to have figured out where he was heading. Leavin the other two in the dust, Jake rushed towards the leftmost cabin. Three Kobolds were sleeping on the ground close to it, and they scrambled up and out of the way, yelling and gasping. Jake ignored them and barged into the cabin that was too small for him to fit.

There were three beds inside, with one end against the sidewall, and Willson was lying on the middle one. He was struggling and grunting, Tergin and Bolyr holding him down.

"Bolyr, I need to speak with him, wake him up!"

"We can't! We have tried, but he has been like this for the last five minutes. I was about to get you!"

Jake tried to force his way through the door but stopped when he felt the small building shudder. "Drag him outside, fast!" he roared at Bolyr as he backed up.

As he backed up, Mason and Sandra stood behind him, both looking at him in wonder. Around them a dozen or so Kobolds were panicking, asking what was going on.

"Mason, get everyone to back off. Now!" Jake's snarl was so loud that even without Mason, everyone dashed back in fright, but he ignored them, keeping his eye on the sky. After a second, he saw a set of three greenish stars in line with a single big white one at the tip like a staff with a crystal. They were roughly in the direction of the sunset, and he began memorizing the nearest stars trying to estimate their distance.

Tergin and Bolyr dragged Willson's heavily muscled, mostly green frame through the door. Jake noticed the blue scales were darkening fast. Moving closer, he pressed his snout against Willson's chest and closed his eyes. He had no idea what he was doing but was completely trusting the instincts that were guiding him.

At first, it was dark with his eyes closed, but then he felt a wave of something around him, energy! But it was not the familiar soothing water energy that he knew; this was more vibrant and alive, moving in erratic patterns around Willson. Slowly he became aware of a struggle going on in the heavily muscled Kobold, and he felt the echoes of a familiar pain resonate with him. He is changing!

Jake focused his attention on the small ball of consciousness inside the chaotic mass of energy, trying to connect to it. He still had no idea what he was doing, but he noticed the other became aware of him. It felt as if a mental hand was reaching out to him, and Jake grasped it. Immediately his surroundings changed, and he was hovering in a torrential storm of green energy. Willson's familiar shape was hovering in front of a surging whirlpool, struggling against the current and shouting at him.

Jake couldn't hear him, and he tried yelling back. "Can you hear me!" After a few tries, he saw Willson nod his head, but he saw there was barely suppressed panic in his pupil-less black eyes. He couldn't hear the reply and didn't know how long he had, so he began mentally shouting.

"If you wake up with siblings, protect them! And if you wake up on an island, head towards the rising sun! At night, look for a line of greenish stars with a big white one at the tip. They resemble some mage staff! I saw a group of small stars left of it, perhaps twenty centimeters away! This island is part of a chain!" He hoped Willson had gotten all that because he seemed to be losing his struggle, his astral body dragged closer towards the maelstrom of energy.

Just before the struggling Kobold was dragged inside, Jake remembered something and yelled again. "Be sure to learn how to hunt in the deep sea before-" Willson got sucked away, and Jake's mind was expelled from wherever it had been.