Minglings - Book 3 chapter 27: Frog legs

"Chase it to the side," Mason shouted as he flew across the murky water like a ballistic rocket.

Clankrin stood on a toppled-over log the size of a redwood, blowing a stream of fire at a yellow and red snake that was coiled around one of the branches. It was longer than Clankrin and attempted to uncoil itself. Each time the fire struck it, it contracted, unable to move.

Mason gritted his teeth. Why couldn't this fool stick to the plan? He took a quick look to the side.

The others stood a few hundred feet away on a reasonably dry patch of mud. He could see they were getting antsy.

"Clankin!"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Clankrin roared as he burned the snake again. "This thing just won't let go!"

Like you are trying to kill it where you are, Mason thought, barely holding back his anger.

"Stop burning it so it can let go and flee," he roared.

Hisses and splashes came from behind, and Mason couldn't make out Clankrin's reply as a hiss came from far closer than he wanted it. Taking a deep breath, he pulled in the paltry fiery energy that hung in the air, held it, and spread his wings to force himself into a stop that caused his joints to protest painfully.

Spinning around, three brown serpents with pale blue stripes and a few too many eyes snarled at him as they closed in.

Eat this, Mason thought, burping the fire across them.

Two managed to get them to dash back down in the mud, but the third one was flamed frontally. It let out a hissing shriek, flopping down in the mud as it started thrashing and shrieking.

With a quick flap, he shot back up, just in time for the snakes that were longer than his tail to shoot up out of the mud, sailing below him, creepily fanged jaws slamming shut below his legs.

Turning back to Clankrin, he saw that the burly red dragon had finally stopped attacking their prey, which had released and was now rushing away. Clankrin was flying behind it, spraying it with thin gouts of flame, causing the snake to flee.

Finally!

Mason rose higher in the air before flying forward on an intercept course.

It wasn't needed.

Before he was halfway, the snake reached the drier parts of the swamp only to be jumped by Baudron and the others. It was decimated, the head crushed before it could even react, and when Mason reached it, everyone was gathered around.

"I am so hungry," Clankrin roared as he bit off a long tail section and yanked it free.

"Split it fairly," Mason retorted as he grabbed a slightly smaller part.

"What? Why? We did most of the work!" Clankrin mumbled with his mouth full.

That's because you demanded to be the one to attack, Mason thought as he snorted.

"We are all hungry. Share it equally, or we will have to slow our trip through these godawful swaps because someone can't keep up!"

"Fine, fine," Clankrin rumbled.

As Mason gulped down his portion of the meat, he looked at the others. The two female dragons that Clankrin had brought were sitting close together and to the side of Clankrin, as quiet as they had been since they had joined, while Faelina was not too far from him, Siobahn as quiet as the other two. Baudron and Maru sat further away, both chomping down on their own meat and seeming content with the silence.

For dragons, they are all so quiet, Mason thought before sighing as he looked around.

Well, all but Clankrin.

Ever since they had left the mountains and the mental control of whatever was there, his mind had become clearer. No, it might be even clearer than ever before, and as he felt his stomach digest the food at a rapid pace, he grabbed another chunk before backing up. Had eating that shark thing back in the volcano done something? Was it just a coincidence? He didn't know, but what he did know was that he was noticing oddities in the behavior of the others.

It took them less than five minutes to devour the entire snake, and when they finished, Clankrin was looking annoyed.

"Let's see if we can find another," he said. "I really hope we don't have to try and eat one of the brown and blue ones again."

Mason shuddered as he remembered the rancid taste of those. He wasn't sure if it was because there was a difference in elemental affinity or something, but it wouldn't surprise him in the least.

"Sure, but let's just fly away and take anything we come across," he agreed. "I want to get out of this wetness."

He saw Clankin look around in disgust before nodding. "It's hot enough, but the air is too wet, and there's just not enough fire in the area."

Faelina frowned, her scaly mouth opening, then closing again, and she finally just nodded.

None of the others said anything, and they flew back up.

Is it because of Clankrin? Or the change after we left the mountain? Mason wondered.

Hours later, they encountered another of the yellow and red snakes, but like the first, it was surrounded by dozens, if not a hundred, of the others. With no dry soil to lure it to and the thing clamped tight around another tree, they had no choice but to leave it.

The day continued, and they were just ready to search for a tree to sleep in when Baudron shouted.

"Mason! Up ahead, there's dunes!"

Mason looked but saw nothing but the seemingly never-ending swamp.

"How much further?" Clankrin shouted.

"We should get there soon, a bit more," Baudron shouted, sounding excited.

Better just go there, Mason thought. He looked at Clankron, then at Faelina, and they nodded in agreement.

Five minutes later, he saw a pale stretch of something in the distance. It took what he guessed was nearly another hour before they reached it, and by then, he saw a reasonably narrow stretch of dunes before it ended in a green stretch bordering a river. Beyond it was another narrow stretch of jungle before the jungle continued far into the distance.

"It's Lauruna's Vein," Clankrin shouted as he folded his wings and dropped down towards it like a brick.

Some famous river, I guess, Mason thought as he copied the other, barely noticing that he felt not a single bit of angst as he plummeted to the earth.

A dozen feet above the ground, he unfolded his wings. Shooting after Clanrin, who was making a running landing down the final dune bordering the green stretch of jungle.

The others followed soon after, and they stood watching the jungle.

Tiny flickerings of pale golden light hung around. Not as bountiful as Mason had seen in the desert he'd gone through when he first arrived on this continent, but far more than since.

He flexed his stomach muscle and pulled some towards him. As he sensed it pouring into him, he let out a content grunt. It only lasted for a moment as an itch came from a few of the scales on his flank and back. It quickly increased in intensity, and he scratched at it. To the side of him, Baudron began grumbling as he used his tail to scratch his flank, peeling off two scales.

Mason did the same and inspected the tiny dull red scale he removed from his neck. It seemed just like the others, no reason for it to need to go. Well, besides being somewhat dull in coloration.

"So! Let's sleep here, and then we can hunt on the other side while we follow the river to the coast," Clankrin said, sounding happy. He began digging with his clawed hands and created a hollow where he lay down, seeming incredibly content. The two female dragons joined him, curling up against his side.

"Who is going to take the first watch?" Mason asked, deciding to see what was going on with the pale golden energy and his red scales later.

He had been taking most of the first watches since they set out, the others seeming to find the entire concept of putting up a watch stupid. Well, everyone but one.

"I'll do it," Faelina said as she looked around.

"Alright," wake me when the moon is right above us," Mason said as he noticed the others digging a sleeping hole without even offering.

Let's see how they react when we get attacked in the middle of the night, he thought before lying down. He hesitated if he should try pulling some more pale golden energy and see what would happen, then decided against it. He was tired already, and being tired and itchy wasn't his idea of a good town. He'd just wait till it was his turn to sit for the watch.

He fell asleep almost instantly, and when Faelina woke him, he felt like he'd only just closed his eyes. The moon, a bit further than above him, showed Faelina hadn't woken him early.

"Nothing happened," Faelina whispered as she waited for him to climb out of his slight indent.

"Good, let's hope it stays that way," he whispered before motioning to the hole he had dug out.

Faelina smiled, climbed in, and within a minute, he could hear her breathing turn deep.

Mason walked a bit away from the others, near the edge of the hill, to give a better view of the river, and the tracks showed Faelina had done the same.

With the moon bright above, glittering of the river, the sights in front of him reminded him of one of those old movies. Vague, small clouds of energy hovered around not too far away, and with a final look to make sure nothing was moving anywhere, he pulled them towards him.

His focus shifted to his body as the tiny specs of golden light touched his scales and were absorbed by his flesh. Within moments an itch came from multiple places, and he quickly scratched at one near his jaw, peeling off another scale. It was a dull red.

So, I guess I was right, he thought as he tossed the scale, carefully pressing on the spot it had been. A slightly tender, fresh scale was there now, and he was pretty sure it was golden. Still, it would be better to be sure.

It took him a while and a whole lot of itching to find a spot he could easily see, and as he scratched then peeled off the red scale, he saw the bright, still somewhat soft golden scale below.

Right, so I have two types of energy I can see and use, and pulling in one does something with my body, amongst possibly other things, changing my scales.

He nodded as he quickly scanned around. The sandy hills around him were still quiet, and nothing moved near the jungle or the river that lay beyond.

Jake must have the same thing, but then with silver and blue, Mason thought as he scratched a bit more. Now the question is, what to do with this? Should I focus on one or both? And what will happen if all my scales are one color?

As he began thinking, he kept an eye on his surroundings, and time passed quickly. When he finally heard the others wake, the sun was peeking on the horizon, and he had some plans. He headed back to the others.

"Did you sleep well?" Baudron rumbled as he rose and stretched.

"As good as I could," Mason said.

"Nothing happened, right?" the brown dragon asked, as he yawned so wide his jaw let out a soft pop.

"No, but I have a question. Can you see those little bits of energy?" Mason asked as he pointed at a nearby cloud. As he did, he pulled them closer, but not so much that he'd absorb them.

"Yes! I can't recall seeing them before, but they began appearing after we left the swamp," Baudron said, and to Mason's surprise, he saw the cluster of energy rush towards Baudron and vanish inside of him. A moment later, Baudron cursed and began scratching his back.

"Before, what color of lights did you see?" Mason asked.

"Dark brown," Baudron said. "And I can't recall those giving me any itches… so annoying!'

Mason nodded as if he understood, but in reality, he was incredibly confused. So Baudron hadn't been able to see the golden elements before, but now he could?

"I see them, too," Siobahn grunted as she looked at them. "They are pretty, what do they do?"

Okay… what is going on, Mason thought as he frowned.

Baudron didn't seem to care much and laughed. "Those lights? I think I heard one of the sorcerers call them mana-lits! They are what powers magic, although I have no idea how exactly."

Wait? He knew what those things were called? Why didn't he tell me that before? Mason thought as he cocked his head.

Mana-lits?

Why did that sound like a human had made it up? Thinking about what he'd heard, he sighed. That made sense, but it also meant that this wasn't the name the things were called before the first wave of earthlings had come here? Or had they found out what those before had called it?

He looked up to find that the others were examining, and Clankrin snorted.

"Done dreaming? Well, it's good to know! How about we set out and start hunting? I'm hungry!"

Mason's stomach rumbled as if in agreement.

Mason was about to say something when his own stomach rumbled loudly. He couldn't hold back a laugh.

"Let's see if there are things hot enough to eat," he said, grinning at his poor joke.

Only Baudron snorted, the others just looked at him dumbly.

It wasn't that bad, Mason thought as he jumped into the air.

They flew across the jungle and the river for a few hours, searching for anything that looked edible. They could probably have found more if they had gone deeper into the desert beyond, but none of them were willing to risk getting lost. The river was their best way to find where they had to go.

Finally, at the end of the morning, they spotted something that didn't look like it was filled with water or plant mana-lits.

They look like a cross between birds and frogs, Mason thought as he gazed at the nearly a dozen beings lazing about in a patch of mud bordering the river and the jungle.

"Let's fly at them from above and the riverside," he said. "That way, if they flee, they won't head into the water."

There was a round of happy agreements, and even Clankrin seemed willing to let him lead.

Mason shot higher into the air, angled towards the river until he was at the spot he wanted to be. Then he took one look to find the others surrounding him and folded his wings.

They plummeted down like falcons, and as the air roared around him, Mason couldn't help but grin. He was bloody diving down at something with a pack of dragons on his tail!

Forty feet above the ground, he still saw no reactions, and he waited until the last possible moment before unfolding his wings. The pressure was enormous as he angled them until he was shooting forward almost as fast as he had been falling. A startled screech came from one of the frog things, and it reared up, its flat wide beak opening as it let out another screech. Those around him moved to get up, but by then, they were too late.

Mason took a deep breath as he reached their clustered group and let out a burst of fire that engulfed the mud and half of the things. A roaring from behind and more fire showed that Clankrin had been close behind him, then smaller gouts of flame pelted the area setting it ablaze in an inferno of burning chunks of grass and semi-wet wood.

With a quick flap, Mason shot back up then used gravity to slow himself down. When he was nearly falling back again, he folded his wings, made a loop, barrel rolled around, and flew back down to the patch of blistering mud. Baudron stood amidst the charred corpses, smacking two that were still fidgeting, but it was probably not really necessary.

Mason landed beside him, quickly followed by the others, and they all looked around, startled but happy.

"It's dead," Mason said as he walked toward Baudron, who stopped striking one of the frog things with his front claws.

"Are you sure? It keeps twitching," Baudron said hesitantly.

As he stepped back, Mason saw he was right. The frog's legs kept twitching.

His eyes widened, and his heartbeat shot up as he saw the puckered, charred, and bubbled skin slowly knitting back together while the eyes opened up.

"They aren't dead yet!" he roared, jumping atop the nearest twitching thing. "Pull off their heads or something!"

Listening to his own advice, he began slashing at the thick neck of the thing, causing a thick, viscous blood bubble out. The eyes opened, and a gurgle came, but as he sliced again, he saw the skin he'd pierced already start to close at the edges.

"Die," he roared as he slashed with both claws.

His nails sliced open a massive gash before blowing a thin stream of fire inside. As soon as it entered the body, it began shuddering and shaking as the eyes shot open wide.

Mason backed up a second and then noticed the eyes were spinning and turning to him while the wounds began healing again.

Does fire heal them? I bloody hope not!

Without holding back, he jumped atop the thing and began slashing at it with wild abandon. Within moments he felt his draconic side roar in approval, and he continued until he had splayed open the entire head. Even then, the flesh squirmed, as did the thing, and only when he slashed through the mucky gray membrane around the brain did it stop. A dull pop sounded as it splattered apart, and instantly the flesh stopped healing.

Mason took a step back, looking around at the other dragons slashing and biting into the corpses. Clankrin was actively devouring his one while it still lived, while Baudron had turned the head of his one to a squished mess. Faelina had managed to cut hers apart so much that it had stopped squirming, and she was looking around, out of breath and confused.

"Open the head and squish the brain," Mason shouted as he turned to one of the other frog things. Those they had attacked at the start were starting to get back up, and without holding back, he breathed the biggest cone of fire he still had in him. They flopped back down, and he jumped on the nearest.

Knowing what he had to do helped speed things up, but even then, he was weary to the bone when he finally finished with the last one.

"What the hell are these things?" he muttered.

He got no reply besides the sounds of munching and chewing. Looking around, he saw he was the only one not yet eating.

Fine- eat first, ask questions later, he decided as he started on the nearest of the frog things.