rework] Minglings - chapter 30: Hunger

A small group of Kobolds followed a bull-sized dragon through the jungle. It was starting to go dark, and they were moving at a deliberate, careful pace. Rushing would only get them into trouble now.

"Are you sure it is fine?" Sam asked for the second time since they had found she had severely injured her left leg. She was riding on Jake, carefully holding onto the soft frills behind his neck.

"Yes, yes! He is fine. Big and strong and all that!" Mason shot in a hushed tone from his spot beside Jake.

Jake grinned softly, which sounded like a large old motorcycle revving up. It was good to hear Mason's voice again. He arched his long and bendable neck back to stare at his passenger.

"I am fine, Samantha. I can carry Bolyr across the sea, so carrying you across the land is not a problem. Just sit back and rest. Who knows what we can expect later."

Sam just stared at him wide-eyed, then seemed to snap awake. She nodded, and Jake turned back to the front, wondering why she was reacting so much stronger than the others.

A few hours later, Mason had taken point, leading them through a dense part of the jungle. Jake followed close behind, Samantha still on his back. Although she was light, dragging her through the dense undergrowth wasn't the fastest.

Except for them, only Melissa was still there, following close behind him. Sandra had become restless, and she and the others had gone ahead.

I don't understand why she couldn't just wait, Jake thought as he hurried forward. Something about Sandra seemed different, rushed. He had a hard time recognizing the orderly officer from only weeks before. Perhaps she is awakening too?

"We are almost back. Let's be careful. We have no idea what is going on over there," Mason whispered, interrupting Jake's train of thought.

I guess I'll find out soon, Jake thought.

He followed Mason, as curious as he was worried about the Fiend problem. Ahead, Mason almost vanished in the bushes and struggled forward as the undergrowth became thicker. He was getting stuck between purple spiked leaves and gray, metallic branches he had never seen before. He grunted, annoyed, and slashed at one. A soft clang rang out, and the branch swayed a bit.

"These are Terindal bushes, a natural deterrent for many creatures. Only Kobolds and scaled beings can easily penetrate them because those barbs carry a lethal toxin," Mason said, his head peeking out from the side.

Jake gaped at him in astonishment. His friend coughed weakly and grinned. "Tergin has been teaching us about the jungle."

"Mason! You have to see this!" Melissa's soft voice echoed from the front. She had forced her way through faster than the others, nimbly weaving through the branches.

Jake followed Mason, barely able to push to where Melissa was engulfed in leaves. She had pushed open a hole, frowning as she looked through. Jake snaked his head beside hers, taking his first peak at Mason's hideout.

A gnarled, ancient Hometree with a crown almost two hundred feet high towered over a vast area of white sand. A few ramshackle cabins nestled between the six-foot-thick roots, closest to the withered and puckered tree trunk.

As large as the tree was, it wasn't what caught Jake's immediate attention. Nor was it Sandra and the others, as they were being restrained by a group of Kobolds. No, all of this was mere background noise compared to the gray figure standing between the Kobolds.

David!

Jake growled, barely able to hold back a roar as he stared at the lanky gray Fiend speaking to Sandra. The Fiend's nasty smirk was nauseating.

All around, the other Kobolds looked at him in misty-eyed reverence.

Turning to Mason, Jake saw the same look of hatred he knew he would have had if he still had a face capable of it.

"How did that bastard manage to survive?" Mason hissed, not taking his eyes from David.

"You know this Fiend?" Bolyr was sitting next to them, staring at the Fiend in revulsion.

"Yes, I thought we had killed him, but he managed to survive," Jake growled.

He felt something build up inside of him and couldn't stop himself from taking a step forward.

Someone grabbed his hind limb, and he turned with a snarl.

"Wait! Jake, you have to be careful. He has them all enthralled, something only a very special set of Fiends can do. If he is capable of the other things too, we are in dire trouble!"

"What should we do then?" Jake hissed, but he knew the answer almost immediately, and Bolyr confirmed this when he quickly replied. "You need to roar, just as you did before. But you will have to get closer first, so they can all hear it. As you didn't have Dragons in your world, this David probably doesn't know what you can do. Still, you will probably only get a single chance."

"I don't see Willson, Emma, or Tergin!" Mason's soft voice came from the side, and Jake scanned the crowd of Kobolds.

Thinking of what David might have done with Emma, Jake felt a furious anger cloud his mind. Before he could take hold of it, it overwhelmed him, and he rushed out of the bushes, ripping free from Bolyr's grip on his leg.

The soft sand scattered behind him as he rushed across it, and an incredible pressure was building up in his chest cavity.

David saw him almost immediately, and a look of shock and fear crossed his face. The emaciated Fiend began backing up, shouting something to the Kobolds. Jake couldn't hear through the dull roaring, and he didn't care because he had flashed across the distance, now only forty feet away. The pressure inside him had built up to such levels that he couldn't keep it inside.

Opening his mouth, he let rip a roar that dwarfed the previous one, and this time he felt the energy drain from him. A sound wave visibly rippled away. It crossed the open area faster than anyone could react, creating small swirls of sand and flying leaves. As one, the Kobolds fell to their knees, grasping their heads while David paled and jumped back, hands to his ears.

Jake vaguely noticed that Sandra and the others ripped free and jumped back. Then he stumbled as a wave of almost insatiable hunger caused the edges of his vision to turn red. The organ deep in his chest was cramping up as if he'd grossly overused it or something else. He let out a deep, pained growl as his consciousness receded to the background.

Food! Hunt!

That which was Jake looked around for prey. It mechanically ignored the Kobolds, gaze searching hungrily for something to kill when the large serpentine eyes found something.

David was fleeing from the scene, his lithe shape bounding towards the jungle, while he kept looking across his shoulder every few steps.

Someone was speaking to him, but Jake didn't even listen. His body coiled up and then exploded forward, surging after his prey.

Food!

--

Mason watched in panic as the small Dragon disappeared into the jungle. He had taken two steps, then stopped as he saw how fast the others were moving.

"Jake!" he roared towards the rustling leaves.

There wasn't a reaction, and he turned around. Bolyr stood next to him and shook his head. "What the hell just happened?"

The blue-armed Kobold shook his head sadly.

"I have no idea, but there are only a few things in this jungle that he has to fear right now. As long as he steers away from the sea, he will be safe."

With a final look, Bolyr walked towards the Kobolds, still struggling to stand. Shouts of confusion and fear began sounding out.

Mason turned back to the jungle, staring at it in dismay. He'd only just found Jake!

Emma! The thought washed away the other worries, and he turned, locating Sandra. He ran towards her, gripping her arm when he reached her. "We need to find Emma and the others!"

Sandra started, then nodded and looked around. Within seconds she had scanned the Kobolds, and Mason could almost see the cogwheels turn in her head. He kept his mouth shut, knowing from experience that she needed to process things without disturbance, or she would snap. It didn't take long for her to pin him with her fierce dark eyes.

"The houses!"

Of course! Mason could almost slap himself. How could he not think of those?

He let go of Sandra and ran towards the rough wooden cabins. Arriving at the closest one, he was about to kick open the doors when he held back. It had taken great effort to make those, and Sandra would bite his head off if he broke one. Grumbling, he yanked it open, looking around the room and cursing when he saw it was empty.

"They are here!" Two cabins further, Sandra's shout caused his rising fear to subside.

As he reached the door, Sandra was already unbinding a thoroughly tied-up Emma, who had some bruises on her face and a glare in her eyes. When she saw Mason, she seemed relieved before the anger came back.

"I warned you, but you didn't listen! How could you not see that vile, nasty thing? You just did as he said and left me all alone!" she shouted, her eyes starting to glisten with tears.

Mason shuddered, rushing to her and taking over the untying from Sandra, who moved towards Willson. The burly Kobold was staring at them evenly, his completely black eyes making it hard to determine at whom he was looking.

"I am so sorry little one. To me, he looked like a normal Kobold, and for some reason, I just couldn't stop doing what he asked of me. Perhaps Bolyr can explain what happened," Mason said, gently untying Emma.

"Bolyr is here? Is he alright?" Tergin's voice came from the back of the cabin. His bruised and battered body was tied to a wooden stake near the back wall.

"He is fine. Jake brought him-"

"Jake is back!? Where is he?"

Emma surged up, struggling to get rid of the last of the ropes binding her. She looked up at him with hopeful eyes, seeming to forget all that had happened.

Mason smiled ruefully. "He is chasing David, and from what I could see, he is going to eat him." Seeing the uncomprehending look on Emma's face, Mason sighed. "Let's go outside, and I will explain before he gets back."

--

Jake gaped at the bloody smear on the ground in horror. He could still feel the sickly sweet taste of blood in his mouth, and he could barely look at the mangled form below the tree.

What was left of David could almost fit in a briefcase now, and he looked like someone that had fallen into a giant shredder.

Jake took a deep, shuddering breath. Trying to stave off the horrifying thoughts, he moved towards a small patch of free dirt under a plant. It took him a few moments to dig a small trench before using his tail to shove in David's remains.

The Fiend's head was still mostly intact, at least compared to the rest of his body, and his one remaining eye seemed to stare at him in horror. Jake averted his gaze and quickly covered the remains with dirt while trying to purge the memory from his mind's eye.

As he did, he failed to see the pupil in the eye dilate or the eye swirl inside its socket to look at him. The dirt quickly hid it from view.

Finished, he looked around for something to distract himself from the faint, muddled memories.

A multitude of weird plants and leaves surrounded him, and he didn't recognize them. They smelled strange and had bright orange colors, different from those he'd seen elsewhere. The leaves were shiny, with a jagged edge that seemed made for slicing through soft tissue. He was about to inspect them when something else caught his attention, a scent. He raised his head and sniffed up the air. There was a thin scent of prey leading further away into the jungle.

What did I do?

Feeling the memories of David trying to weasel their way back into his mind, he shoved through the foliage sniffing around. The scent became stronger, and with it came a sense of direction. Left, only minutes ago! His hunger, barely appeased by the few small bites, flared up again, and this time he happily let it blank out the memories. He ran along the path a moment later, nothing more than a dangerous, single-minded predator.

An hour later, he was breathing hard as she hovered above the corpse of a brown, three-eyed crocodile thing. In between his raging breaths, he ripped out the soft intestines and meat around the flanks, gobbling it down as the burning hunger finally faded. Slowly his energy levels rose back to normal and, with it, his conscious thought.

It's not dragon blooded, but there's mana in this thing, he thought as he swallowed another bite.

Although the maa wasn't the same type as he had, it was similar enough that he felt his body grow. He continued until there were only a few bones left.

Much, much better, he decided.

The knowledge of what he'd done to David seemed a distant thing, easily ignorable, and though that should probably cause him worry, it didn't. Instead, he led out a content burp and looked around. There were more scent trails of similar creatures, and with a hungry grin, he began tracing them.

I'll bring something back for Tir, Ter, and the others, he thought.

The trails led him deeper into the jungle, further away from the coast, and thirty minutes later, he came across an open swamp-like area with a few mangrove trees and high reeds. In the murky, shallow waters were dozens of the crocodilian monsters, their three eyes the only thing visible above the water.

What a great hunting spot!

As he looked around, he noticed one with bluish skin that caused his hunger to stir again. Water mana! Almost tasting the flesh already, he ran forward, jumping into the muck. As soon as his body touched the water, a familiar surge of energy came. It was more muted than in the sea but still a welcome relief. At the same time something tugged at his mind.

What? he thought as he tried to find the cause. Before he could, he saw that the crocodiles had noticed him. Those nearest began swimming towards him, amongst them the blue one.

Forgetting about the odd feeling, Jake slithered toward them with a hungry, predatory smile.

The incoming crocodiles wavered when they saw him head their way, and to Jake's surprise, a few turned around, diving down and disappearing in the murky water. Those that didn't still stopped and drifted silently in the water, staring at him with hungry, confused eyes.

A soft tug came from his mind as Jake continued closing in, but by then, he was only twenty feet from the blue crocodile thing. He pushed the sensation away and increased his speed. The crocodile saw him coming, started, and turned to flee.

Feeling the relish of the hunt, Jake used the energy in the water to surge forward in a quick burst. He stretched his long neck, grabbed the swishing tail, and drew the beast towards him in a single movement. It tried to flip over, to escape, and though the thing was faster in the water than on the land, so was he!

Jake released the tail, slithered along his prey, and bit into its neck right below the base of its head. Blood flowed into the water as the crocodilian trashed in its death-throes. From the corner of his eye, Jake saw the other crocodiles flee, heading for the edges of the water.

Why are they-

A tremor rocked the moor, and a swell came from the water.

What the... an explosion? Or...

Jake's heart rate spiked, and he dragged the weakly resisting crocodile back to the shore. Behind him, the waters began to surge.

He reached the shore, dragging the barely moving crocodile with him on the muddy shore, when a thunderous roar caused his eardrums to pop.

Jake swirled around, the crocodile forgotten. Behind him, an enormous monster surged up from the middle of the swamp. Green and similar in shape to the smaller crocodiles, it had a row of five smaller eyes instead of one, and across its mottled green hide were patches of haphazardly placed scales.

Easily six times Jake's size, its seven eyes focused on Jake.

Shit!

It surged forward, causing a large v in the water behind him.

Jake spun around, dragging the crocodile deeper into the woods as he searched for a tree to climb. One large enough to hide from that monster.

As he shoved through the undergrowth, the ground began to tremble, and behind him, something barrelled through the bushes. Terrified, he almost dropped the dead crocodile.

Not yet! he thought as he held onto it. Who knew when he'd find another?

He struggled up the nearest giant tree, dragging the cumbersome thing with him. Twenty meters up, the monstrous seven-eyed crocodile crashed through the bushes beneath the tree, glaring up at him. It had two extra limbs, and standing on the hind four, it gripped the tree with its massive claws.

Come on! Really? Jake barely managed to dig his claws into the wood when the monster tugged.

The enormous tree swayed sideways, and Jake's eyes widened. He almost spat out the blue crocodile again. No!

The tree shook for ten seconds before the monster roared, stopped, and began climbing up.

Dizzy from being swayed around, Jake crawled towards and through the top branches, finally reaching the salvation of the darkening sky. Without hesitation, he jumped forward, spread his silvery-blue wings, and started flapping as hard as he could, struggling with the weight of the crocodile.

Twenty above the tree, a large gaping mouth rushed out of the leaves, snapping at his tail and missing it by a finger length. J

Up, up!

He shot up another few feet, out of reach of the monster whose massive upper body stuck out through the leaves.

Way too close, he thought as he continued up. Far below, he saw the monster glare at him for a few moments, then retreat.

Weary from the stress, Jake continued up and in the direction of the coast until he saw the enormous tree with the white patch of sand far below. A few specs were moving around close to the tree, and even from this distance, he thought he recognized Mason.

--

"Are you sure he will be fine?" Mason asked, having a major sense of deja vu as he stood next to Bolyr. Both of them had been staring at the forest for a while now, hoping to see Jake return. The sky was darkening fast as the sun sank behind the trees.

"Jake will be fine. Even if there is something stronger than him in the jungle, he can fly," Bolyr replied in his guttural voice, sounding confident.

"Mason? What is that thing up there?" Emma's soft, sleepy voice came from behind. She kept sneaking out of the cabin to wait for Jake.

"You need to sleep Emma," Mason said as he turned.

Emma stood behind him, carrying Tir and Ter. A few hours back, when the little girl had seen them, she was immediately smitten by the two small lizards, who seemed to agree with her sentiment and had not left her side since.

It took his tired mind a few moments to realize she was looking straight up. Then his scales began itching. A strange shape was flying their way.

He was about to shout a warning when Bolyr sighed happily.

"Jake."

Mason closed his mouth with a snap as he realized Bolyr was right. It was Jake, and he was carrying something huge in his mouth, almost half his size.

"Brother bring food! Yey!" Tir's happy voice chirped up from between Emma's arms.

--

Finally back, Jake thought as he dropped the carcass to the ground and folded his wings, dropping the last distance. He landed in front of the dead crocodile monster as startled yells and screams came from the cabins.

He didn't care. His wings were sore, and he was so hungry that he saw a red haze around the edges of his vision. The sound of incoming footsteps barely registered, and he jumped on top of the crocodile, tearing a large chunk of meat from its belly.

He heard a surprised gasp as he tore into the carcass, slivers of meat and blood flying around. Before anybody could say anything about it, Bolyr cursed.

"He is starving. We need to get him more food!"

Jake didn't bother to respond. It sounded about right. He ignored the others as he continued eating.

--

"Starving? What are you talking about? He has a crocodile the size of a small car over there!" Mason said as he looked at the blood and meat with hunger.

Without a word, Bolyr grabbed Mason and dragged him towards the forest. Only when Mason ripped himself free, staring at him, did he turned, eyes wide in fear.

"We have to hurry! That won't be enough! He needs a lot more food to clear his mind, or he might regress!"

"Regress?" Mason muttered in surprise. Bolyr nodded, then turned towards the jungle. "Come!"

Mason looked around, noticed Sandra, and licked his suddenly dry lips. He pointed at Jake and mouthed, 'take care of him'. Sandra nodded, and he turned around, running after Bolyr.

As the group of Kobolds stared aghast at Jake as he swallowed an entire crocodile hind limb, Tir and Ter were running around, eating the small slivers of flesh, ligament, and bone scattered on the white sand.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Mellisa muttered before moving back to a cabin and going inside.

The rest of the Kobolds followed her until only Sandra, Willson, and Emma were left, staring at Jake and the rapidly disappearing carcass.

Emma pulled Sandra's hand and stared at her with big, scared eyes. "Do you think he will be alright?" The snap of a breaking bone caused her voice to tremble.

"Sure, he will be. He is a dragon, remember?"

When the little girl nodded happily and looked back to Jake, Sandra frowned, a worried look on her face.

I'm more worried about the rest of us if he doesn't get enough food.