[rework] Minglings - chapter 29: Regrouping

"You're such a cutie!" Sandra purred as she pulled Tir closer to her chest, stroking the small lizard's head.

Mason was staring at her a few steps away, slack-jawed and wide-eyed, Ter squirming and forgotten in his arms.

"Mason, snap out of it! Were you even listening?" Jake hissed as he put his head in front of his friend's, causing the golden-red eyes to blink. Mason sucked in a deep breath before shivering.

What is wrong with him? They have all been acting weird! Jake thought as he frowned.

"Sorry, sorry. I've just never seen her like this," Mason mumbled, casting another covert glance at Sandra. Hearing Jake's low growl, he shook himself again. "Fine, yeah, I was listening, alright! So, after you changed, your personality changed with it, but only a little bit. These small lizards are from the same nest as your new body, and you came across some giant underwater thing. See? I was paying attention!"

Jake worriedly watched his friend before slowly nodding. "Yes, and I said I'm really happy to find you, but don't you think we should go away from here before more Goblins show up?" He pointed at the corpses littered around.

They were still below the tree in the jungle, the other Kobolds standing huddled together behind Sandra, chatting softly. Henry was still staring wide-eyed at Jake while Melissa was excitedly telling him what a rush it was to fly.

Jake was about to call Sandra to snap her out of it when he heard a soft rustle in the vegetation. He swirled around a stunned Mason, jumping between the sound and his friend. Sandra cursed and backed up, protectively holding Tir in her arms.

"Sam, is that you?" Mason's voice sounded hopeful, but the reply wasn't what he was hoping or expecting.

"Don't attack. It's me." A rough, familiar voice was followed by Bolyr's head sticking out of the bushes.

"What is he doing here!" Sandra shouted, stepping next to Mason, still holding Tir.

Jake blinked as he saw them standing together, growling in unison. What happened while I was gone?

"It is safe to come out, Bolyr. They won't attack you." Jake moved between the indigenous Kobold and snorted. "Take it easy. I know you guys have questions, but Bolyr came here to help. Where are the others?"

Mason took a deep breath and turned his burning gaze from Bolyr, who was slowly moving out into the open. "We have a camp hidden deep in the jungle. Wilson and the others are there right now," Mason snapped, and Jake saw he was having difficulty keeping himself in check.

"Calm down. You remember what happened. Bolyr wasn't the reason we had to flee! That was the other one," Jake said.

"How can you be so sure? They were keeping things from us, lying. It wouldn't surprise me if it was all some elaborate plan to have us join their tribe," Mason retorted, sounding out of breath.

What the? His friend's slitted eyes were rolling oddly in their sockets, and Jake realized something was very wrong.

"I think we should kill him while we can before he brings the others," Mason hissed.

"What is going on with you? Snap out of it!" Jake shouted, followed by an unintentional roar so loud his friend's hair blew back.

All Kobolds froze with slack expressions except Bolyr, whose eyes suddenly widened. He rushed next to Jake and began whispering rapidly. "We've got trouble. From their behavior, they have some kind of parasite or are under a spell. A dragon's roar can dispel certain mind-altering effects. If we are lucky, they will wake up in a second, all angry again. If they snap out of it... we have larger troubles."

Wait, if they become angry again its a good thing? Jake thought in disbelief.

Feeling a shock run through his massive body, he worriedly inspected Mason. His friend was shivering and panting.

"What is-"

Mason's head snapped up. A fog that Jake hadn't noticed before cleared from his eyes. "Wha- What the hell is going on? Why are we here?" Seeing Jake, he jumped back. "A bloody Dragon!"

Except for Sandra, the other Kobolds backed up, staring at Jake as if trying to remember something.

"Calm down, Mason, it's me. Jake. Don't you remember? We already went through this," Jake snapped, his worry growing as he saw Bolyr turn pale.

"Jake!? Jake! You're back! How the hell did you turn into a Dragon? Wait, why do I have the feeling I've said this before... Deja Vu..." Mason began rambling, and then he saw Bolyr. "Bolyr? What are you doing here? What the hell is going on?"

Bolyr took a deep breath, then turned to Jake. "We have big problems. Someone had them hexed, a thing I have not seen since the previous war over thirty years ago. Jake... we have an exceptionally nasty Fiend running around, one that can hex even us, Kobolds."

Jake felt a shiver run across his back.

This just keeps getting better and better.

--

"We have to go back for Sam. We cannot let those Goblins take her back!" Mason looked at Sandra, who was thinking quietly. Of all the Kobolds, she seemed to have reverted back to her old self quickest, and she shook her head.

"We can't. We walked into one trap. We cannot run into another. Besides, we need to get back to Willson and the others. If what Bolyr said is true, we need to get return before something bad happens."

Halfway through her reasoning, Mason snorted, but he waited until she finished before shaking his head.

"You can go back. I am going after Sam. We both know what those disgusting monsters will do to her if we don't help her, and I will never sleep well if I don't at least try." He resolutely turned away from her, moving to the edge of the jungle before turning back, and staring at Jake. "Are you coming, or do I have to beg?"

Seeing the well-hidden fear of rejection in his friend's eyes, Jake pushed away from the doubts he had. "Beg? Since when do the two of us have to beg for each other's help? Or for anything? Just give me one moment, okay?"

Seeing a relieved nod, he walked to Sandra, staring at her. Sandra's face was even harder than it had been, but there was also something about her that gave him a familiar sensation.

"Can you take Tir and Ter with you? I have the feeling that they are going to be safer with you, and-"

"No! Brother, we stay with you!" Tir shouted, starting to fidget. Ter stayed perfectly still.

"Hush, Tir. I know you want to, but what I am about to do is dangerous, and I might have to run, hide and fight. Remember, in the sea? How hard it was for me to keep you safe? Stay with Sandra!"

Tir continued mumbling, but Sandra nodded. "I can take care of them, but I want you to promise me something. If things get too hairy, grab that fool and fly away. Even Sam would not want him to die in a foolish gambit like this. "

Stunned by her request, Jake could only nod. "I wasn't planning anything else. Take good care of these two troublemakers, alright?" Sandra frowned but nodded, holding out her arms for the two small lizards to climb on.

Tir was scowling at the forest, an adorable thing on her small lizard head, but when he walked off, she howled. "Brother, be careful! Come back safe so we can hunt!"

"Don't worry! There isn't anything as big as me in these jungles. Anything that attacks us, I will just eat!" Jake tossed her a smile, almost believing his own words, before joining Mason. Bolyr was standing there as well, a resolute look on his face. "I am coming too! I have promised to guard you!"

"And how do you expect me to flee with both of you weighing me down if things go wrong?" Jake asked, shaking his head.

Bolyr interrupted him forcefully. "I don't. If something goes wrong, you can leave me behind. But I won't stay behind with the chance of you never returning. No matter what you think, you are the only future my tribe has right now. Just being near you would increase their chances of awakening. I will be damned if I let you go into danger on your own."

Mason stared at Bolyr as if he had never seen him before, but then he snorted. "Got yourself a new friend, Jake? Just let him come! The Goblin camp is a day's travel, and we are much faster than those bastards. Even if they have half an hour's lead on us, the chances are we can catch up, free Sam, kill some Goblins and be back before nightfall!"

Hearing the confidence in Mason's voice, he sighed, craning his long neck to stare at them. "Fine, Bolyr is a better tracker than either of us anyway. Let's go do this then!"

Jake tried to suppress his rising fears, turned, and ran into the jungle, the other two following close behind. Mason was humming an old song from a tv-series he enjoyed, clearly not the least bit worried or pretending hard not to be.

This had better go well! Jake lamented as his tail swished in agitation.

Bolyr led them through the jungle as he effortlessly tracked the Goblin trail as if he'd done so a hundred times before. According to his estimate, they should catch up to their prey within two or three hours.

"They are dragging something with them! Do you see these traces here? Somebody tried to resist and run but was caught and hauled back." Pointing out some smudges and tracks in the mud, Bolyr explained what he said while walking, ducking below branches, and jumping over bushes.

"If you say so..." Mason shrugged as he kept sneaking glances at Jake.

Jake had noticed, and after a few minutes, he sighed. "What is it, Mason?"

Hesitantly the other finally asked what was on his mind. "The change... Did it hurt?"

For a while, the only sounds were the animal screams and the rustling of the leaves.

Jake hadn't thought about the change that much. He tried to remember but soon realized it was a vague memory at best, as were many other things that had happened since coming to this world. "Yes and no. When it began, it hurt, but as the merge continued, it became better. But it is all a hazy blur..."

They continued silently for a while longer when Mason sighed. "Willson is getting close to changing. From what I've been able to determine, to change, you need a lot of compatible energy. Those specs we see floating around? He sees them too and has since we came to the Antraci tribe's island."

"And you?" Jake asked after a second.

Mason sniffed loudly, striking one of the leaves. "There don't seem to be any of those red and golden energy specs just floating around. Most of them come from things we kill."

After another moment of silence, he hesitantly continued, "I don't know if I should be happy or sad about it. No offense, but I don't want to turn into an overgrown lizard. Back on that island, Gria told me that it wouldn't take long because I have already awoken and all that? But I haven't noticed much of a change after we returned to this accursed jungle."

Jake didn't reply, effortlessly moving forward through the jungle as he thought about Mason's words. He'd not really thought about it as much as Mason, maybe because there was less chance for him to avoid it, but he didn't really mind being on all fours. It could be that the change helped make him feel comfortable, but he found little desire for his old body.

After pondering it for another while, he shrugged. "It might be best if one of us stays humanoid as long as possible. For easy communication with new people we find and all?"

"I guess... and who knows where I might wake up?"

A hushed whisper came from Bolyr, who stopped and raised a hand. "There is fighting in front of us!"

Jake and Mason moved beside him, and they both heard distant screams and shouting. It was hard to say if it were Goblins or Kobolds from this far away.

"Follow behind. I will go ahead!" Jake said as his new hunter's instincts demanded him to move. He climbed into the nearest tree and rushed towards the sound. There was a muffled curse behind him, but he knew he was faster on his own.

His claws helped him effortlessly scale the tree, and he rushed up ten meters before running along a long branch that headed toward where he needed to go. The trees around him were packed so tightly together that their branches intertwined, creating a pathway high above the jungle floor.

Jumping and gliding from tree to tree, he could make out words in the shouting now, and figures were running through the jungle in the distance. Seeing one that was bigger than the others, and green, he rushed towards it.

A single Kobold, bruised and bleeding, was running through the bushes in panic. Her hands were bound together, and she kept bumping into trees and obstacles.

Behind her, Jake saw a bush move, and a Goblin crawled out of it, digging his nails deep into the ground. Blood was oozing from his mouth, and Jake realized he could smell it from where he was standing. Sweet but with a rotten scent to it. Before he could decide what to do, the Goblin's eyes bulged. He let out a strangled yelp, and then he was pulled back into the bushes.

Jake heard screaming, followed by biting and chewing sounds, and he swallowed.

He realized that even in his Dragon shape, he could still get terrified. The female Kobold was about to disappear into the jungle, and he jumped down after her.

She didn't see him coming until he was almost on top of her, but from the sounds coming behind him, he knew he had no time for niceties. He was about to grab her and drag her to where Mason and Bolyr would be when he heard something rustle behind him. Shit! He grabbed the Kobold, who yelped in surprise and rolled to the side in a single move.

A loud thud came from the tree they had been passing. Scrambling back up, Jake stepped above the Kobold to protect her, staring at a hideous insect-like thing. It very distantly resembled a human, but the black bulbous eyes that emotionlessly looked back, unblinking and alien, caused him to forgo any idea of speaking to it. Instead, he felt his instinct kick in, and he growled loud, low, and dangerous.

There was a scared whimpering and muffled crying from below, but he had no time to pay it any mind. He kept his eyes on the Insectoid, ready to move if anything else tried to jump him. A soft shuffle came from behind the Insectoid, and two identical ones stepped out of the forest. One was holding an unmoving Goblin, while the second was chewing on what looked like a green hand.

Both dropped the hand and the body and stepped next to the first. There was a soft buzz, then they opened their mandible-flanked mouths, and a horrible trio of inhuman voices spoke as one. "You have our prey. I have no desire to lose bodies over this! Leave it behind, and there is no need for violence."

The familiar human language coming from the monsters caused Jake's heartbeat to speed up even more. These were Earthlings? Ready for anything, he growled softly. "No. You can eat all the Goblins you want, but this is a Kobold. She will come with me."

A fourth insect stepped out of the bushes, and all four stared at him, slowly spreading out. "I care not what you want. Leave the prey behind. This is your final warning. "

"You must be the freakiest motherfucker I have ever seen!" A deep voice boomed as Mason strode out of the jungle, followed by Bolyr.

The three Insectoids scrambled sideways, and Mason and Bolyr moved to stand beside Jake.

"Sam, are you injured?" Mason asked as he knelt beside the Kobold, keeping his eyes on the Insectoids. With one hand, he felt behind her back and began unwinding the poorly tied cords.

"Mason! I am so glad that you guys came for me! I thought they-"

"Not now, Sam. If you aren't injured, get up and get ready. We might be in for some more fighting." With a final jerk, Mason removed the cords and dragged her from below Jake and to her feet.

Jake let out a content growl. Now that he no longer needed to stay in one place, he prowled a few steps forward. "Leave. Take the Goblins."

The four Insectoids stared at him before slowly returning to a less threatening pose. "Fine. You can take her, but don't let us catch you alone next time." Three of the insectoids turned around while the fourth backed up, keeping his eyes on Jake.

"If I find you are eating Kobolds, I will start hunting you..." Jake said, letting out a warning growl that caused the Insectoids to freeze, turning around slowly to stare at him. "We hunt what we want."

Their response only increased Jake's anger, and a dull rumble came to his growl as if a distant storm approached from over the sea. He took a step forward while the air around him began shimmering. Fog formed around him, and the four insectoids raised their hands as one, seemingly ready to act.

"Jake, this might not be the best time for this!" Mason's whisper slowly penetrated Jake's battle-frenzied state. Shaking his head, he realized he was about to attack the four Insectoids with some sort of skill he had never used before. Taking a deep breath, he relaxed his muscles, and the shimmering vanished.

Bolyr stepped forward, staring at the Insectoids. "Manyminded one, I would advise you to hunt the Goblins. Left unchecked, they will swarm this island within the year, exterminating everything not Goblinoid." He spoke in a weird, clicking, guttural language, and Jake was startled to find he understood the words. He was about to translate when he stopped with his maw half-open.

"A native one? Interesting. We have not yet found any of our kind, but we will," the insectoids said. They examined Bolyr for a moment, then began walking away. Only one stayed behind.

"Very well. I will hunt Goblins, but if we come across anything else, I will still eat it!" Without any sign of emotion, the Insectoid turned and disappeared into the jungle.

"That went well...." Mason whispered, shaking his head.