[rework] Minglings - chapter 18: You learn something new every...

"I don't bloody care what you think. I am going back to find Jake!"

Standing on a beach of smooth round pebbles and rocks, Mason struggled with the three Kobolds trying to hold him down.

"You can't help him! He is faster than any of us in the water and can breathe it without that plant!" Sandra shouted back, struggling to keep one of his arms pinned down.

Mason roared, his muscles bulging as he resisted the three's attempts to hold him down. All of a sudden, his roaring turned deeper, causing the stones around him to shake, and he lifted both of the Kobolds from the ground, holding them in the air before tossing them away. The final soldier Kobold, who was standing in front of him, pushing against his chest, stepped back, a shocked look on his face.

"Hey now, take it easy. We are just trying to…"

That was as far as he got when Mason kicked him in the chest, hurtling him towards the water. The Kobold made only a single dull sound when he hit the ground before rolling over twice and staying still.

"If you wounded him, I will have your hide!" Sandra snarled as she rushed Mason, an angry snarl on her face.

Before she reached him, Bolyr tackled her from the side, yelling at her. She struggled with him for a moment, roaring in anger before she heard what he was saying.

"Don't try and stop him! He is out of control. Look at his eyes!"

Still getting used to the fact she could understand him, she eased up and looked at Mason. The towering Kobold was standing still, snarling and roaring at the sky.

"Let me go!" she hissed but made no more attempt to act.

Bolyr slowly released his hold on her and turned back, looking at Mason.

"He is awakening his heritage… If you get in his way now, he will rip you apart without knowing what he is doing."

Sandra sniffed, glaring at Mason. Something about his roaring was ticking her off, more than just the fact he had just assaulted one of her soldiers. With a final shake of her head, she turned towards where Jayden was still lying on the ground, unmoving. "Whatever. Let him die down there then," she snapped as she stomped away.

Bolyr shook his head and turned to Ensir, the other native Kobold, who was staring at Mason with a frown. "This is getting ridiculous… I hope the elders arrive soon. They should be able to hear this."

Ensir nodded before looking back at the sea. "Are we just abandoning Tergin down there?"

Bolyr kept his gaze on Mason and shook his head. "We cannot help him. If the spawn of the sea dragon cannot get him out of there, what could we possibly hope to accomplish?"

Without replying, Ensir gazed at the darkening sea while Mason kept roaring.

--

Jake got the idea that waking up was a bad idea. His arm hurt like hell, and his head and back felt like they had been used as battering rams. There was a soft keening noise nearby, and he tried to remember where he was. He faintly remembered having yet another dream in which he was a dragon—something about fighting off rivals trying to encroach on his territory, but it was a hazy mess.

He cracked open his jaw to try and relieve some of the tension and soreness he felt and noticed something stuck between his teeth, keeping it wedged open. Confused, he forced his jaw further to dislodge it, and he heard a soft ripping sound. A wave of blood flooded his mouth. Startled and confused, he coughed and opened his eyes.

He wished he hadn't.

He was lying on the ground, staring at a ripped-off Hydra head a few inches in front of his face. The large bulbous eyes were being eaten by small fish that kept darting in and out to take a bite. One whisked away from him with a tiny bit of dark and slimy flesh between its teeth, and Jake shuddered.

Please tell me that's not what I have in my mouth, he thought as he spat. It took a few times, then a large chunk of bloody meat drifted away in the water, and he almost gagged.

Stifling a groan, he tried to sit up but fell back in agony. His arm felt like it was on fire, which was weird, considering he was underwater. Using his other arm, he managed to push himself up from the seafloor.

Drifting up allowed him a look at his arm, and he almost became nauseous. The maw of a Hydra head was tightly locked around his lower arm; teeth stuck deep inside. They had penetrated his scales while the dead eyes lolled about in the head, staring at nothing in particular.

Jake swallowed back another mouthful of bile, coughing when he almost choked on some pieces of raw meat that got stuck in his throat. Annoyance turned to anger, and he spat the slivers of flesh out while he tried to pry open the jaw of the Hydra, but it was clenched shut, and no matter how much he pulled, it didn't budge. What if it remained like that? Would it get infected?

As his pain and adrenaline snowballed, Jake let out an angry growl and began ripping apart the lower jaw. Bits and pieces of flesh and sinew flew everywhere until he could finally snap open the jawbone, prying it off. As he did, he felt the teeth withdraw from his skin, scraping across the hard scales.

He let out a shuddering breath and inspected his arm. There were multiple puncture marks, some of which had pulled open rips revealing bits of white bone and sinew. He looked away, swallowing as he hoped that the fact that there was only a little blood was a good sign.

The soft, keening sound came again. He looked around so fast his body began drifting through the water, but he calmed when he saw it was the hammerhead dragon lying on its side, not too far away. Next to it was the unmoving body of the Hydra, all of its headless necks splayed outward like the fingers of a hand.

The hammerhead shivered as it tried to move closer to the corpse but seemed unable to drag itself the short distance due to its injuries.

Again Jake felt an odd sympathy for the being, but before acting on it, he looked around for any dangers. Blood and bits of meat covered the entire area. Small fish and snakes darted in and out, grabbing pieces before rushing off to hide in the reef as if they had found some great trophy. High in the water, three of the colossal tortoise were snapping up fish that came too close while keeping their distance from each other.

Seeing nothing that would prove immediately dangerous, Jake gingerly swam next to the badly hurt hammerhead dragon.

"You look like shit…" he croaked before cringing at his remark.

The hammerhead dragon raised its head and looked at him with big eyes before gazing longingly at the corpse, trying to drag itself towards it again.

"You want this? Fine, I guess you've earned it," Jake muttered before kicking himself for yapping on. What if he drew unwanted attention?

Although he was still wondering why he felt the need to help, he moved towards the massive Hydra corpse and began dragging it. It weighed a ton, even in the water, and moving it meant digging his feet in the sand and pulling it forward. The fact that he could only use one arm didn't help either.

How come this thing weighs so much, he thought to himself as he tried to recall how weight worked below the sea. Shouldn't this thing be easily moved?

He finally managed to drag it across the few foot, and as soon as the Dragon could reach the corpse, it began tearing off pieces of meat, swallowing them whole.

Curious, Jake wondered why all the surrounding creatures stayed away from the Hydra's main body while seeming anxious to eat all the small morsels. In a moment of astounding stupidity, he tore off a small piece of meat and began chewing it. Realizing what he had done, he almost spat it back out again. Then he realized it tasted like a mix of salmon and beef and that he was very, very hungry. Ravenous, he began ripping off large pieces, devouring them almost as fast as the Dragon.

--

Time passed quickly, and Jake only came back to his senses when the sea started to turn orange from the rising sun. Looking down, he saw the almost unrecognizable corpse of the Hydra. Most of the meat was stripped from the bones, and even the water surrounding it seemed cleared of morsels and remnants.

Jake let out a content sigh as he stretched his weary muscles, flexing his arms. A slight popping sound came from one arm, made him look at it curiously, and his mouth fell open. The deep bite wounds were almost all gone, leaving only some white lines on the dark blue scales, and as he clenched his hand into a fist, there was not even a hint of pain. The plopping sound came again as some remaining cracked scales on top of the healthy skin cracked off, drifting away.

Stunned, he examined himself and could hardly believe what he found. He could find no more visible injuries! The worst lasting damage was done to his jeans which now resembled something the Hulk had used. A soft keening caused him to look to the side. The hammerhead shark was hovering a few feet away, staring at him intently. Some of the sand on the sea bed underneath it was swirling in the air, causing a small tornado. Its blue vertical eyes had tiny silvery specs floating in them as it looked at Jake, letting out another dim keen.

"Now what do you want? Shouldn't you be getting out of here before more of those Hydras show up?" Jake muttered before wondering why he couldn't keep his mouth closed as the sounds echoed away.

"He is thanking you... "

The rough, cracked voice caused Jake's hair to stand on end as he whirled around. Propped up against the wall, nibbling from a small piece of meat, was Tergin. Although his voice still sounded weak, he looked much better than before.

Jake rushed towards the downed Kobold, stopping just short of the wall.

"Tergin, are you alright?"

The Kobold nodded while putting the last of the meat in his mouth. A few chews and a swallow later, he tenderly touched his leg before prodding it a few times.

"It is still weak, but bones are always hard to heal. Even after eating dragon meat," Tergin said somberly. Then, moving slowly, the Kobold managed to hover in an almost upright position.

"We cannot stay here. Something must be distracting the other predators, or they would have shown up already, but it won't last."

Tergin turned towards the hammerhead Dragon and made a deep bow from his waist. "Thank you, fledgling. If you survive the coming months, you are always welcome at our humble island."

There was an intelligent twinkle in the hammerhead's eyes, which Tergin seemed to take as acceptance. He began swimming forward, beckoning Jake with his hand.

"Come, we need to leave quickly."

Jake looked at the Dragon one last time before nodding at it as a greeting. To his surprise, the Dragon's head lowered, then it disappeared into the reef with a quick wave of its tail. A soft shout from Tergin made Jake turn around, and he propelled himself forward, catching up within a moment. As he did, he noticed that his movements felt even more normal and supple than before.

"When we arrive at the outpost… don't tell anybody about this," Tergin said as he kept swimming forward, already moving more fluently than before.

"What? Why?"

Tergin turned his head, his yellow eyes half open and a severe look on his snouted face. "Because eating Dragon meat, even that of a just-hatched Hydra, is considered a crime. If they find out what we did, they will exile you and gut me before feeding my remains to the fish."

Jake felt the exhilarating rush he had felt ever since waking up disappear in a flash. There was no doubt from Tergin's tone that he was dead serious.

"Just hatched? How large do these things get? And why do they kill you but exile me?" Jake finally whispered.

He didn't get an immediate reply and wondered if Tergin had even heard him when the Kobold sighed and chuckled.

"You know so little… I wonder about the world you come from. An adult Hydra is so powerful that if it swam through this shallow part of the sea, it would destroy the entire reef you see here. That one hatched less than two moons ago at most. It was powerful though, already having five heads- almost unheard of."

Jake swallowed, wondering what would happen if mommy Hydra found out her young was killed and eaten.

"Will its mother come to avenge it?"

Tergin stopped moving and gawked at him. "Mo..ther?" His voice broke twice before he managed to croak out.

Jake wondered what was wrong, but Tergin was already swimming away, mumbling something. Jake couldn't understand what he was saying, but from the disgruntled and snarky tone, he reckoned that might be for the best. He followed Tergin, who started talking as soon as Jake caught up.

"Dragons don't have mothers. So you have nothing to worry about. And as for the reason why my tribe won't kill you? It is because you are an Awoken, and killing you if you aren't out of control is sacrilege. Any Dragon who would find out, no matter its color, would wipe out our tribe, that what remains of it anyway..."

Tergin sighed at the end as his attention seemed to drift off, and Jake heard the pain in the other's voice. A quick look showed that Tergin's yaw was slack as he vacantly stared off in the distance.

Jake held back his many questions, and the pair swam through the colorful coral reef in silence as he left Tergin to his painful memories.

After traveling for a few hours, they made their way through a dense red cluster of rocks that bordered a vast sandy region. It was shaped like an elongated circle, with nothing growing in it. The only thing marring the pristine bed of pale yellow sand was a cluster of spiral seashells almost one meter tall. The black and shiny objects lay assembled in a tight cluster, roughly in the center.

Jake slowly floated at the edge, an ominous feeling getting stronger by the minute.

"Why do I get the feeling we should swim around?" He said, keeping his gaze fixated on the shells. It was the first thing either had said in hours.

Tergin didn't reply but just sniffed, which Jake thought sounded hilarious underwater, and nodded. Then he gestured along the right side of the area before swimming forward, dodging around the large rocks and squeezing through the gaps between the reef.

Jake took one more look at the black shells, then followed him. As he swam along a purplish reef adorned with tiny yellow flowers, he noticed there was no way deeper into the reef, almost as if the reef had grown tightly around the open area.

That's not ominous at all, he thought.

When they had circled halfway around, an intense feeling of being watched crept up on Jake. Spinning between a stone and the reef, he turned his head towards the shells. A cluster of perfect white orbs, raised on purple tentacles, slowly followed him. The tentacles were sticking out of the black shells, which had opened in the middle, showing rows and rows of tiny teeth.

"Tergin… what are those?" Jake whispered.

Tergin took a quick look and froze.

"I don't know, but they don't seem very fast. Let's hurry and get through here."

Jake nodded, wondering how the Kobold couldn't know, and picked up speed keeping an eye on the still unmoving shapes.

"Dodge!" Tergin yelled all of a sudden.

Jake pushed himself to the sea bottom with a quick wave of his hands just as milky white beams of light flashed over him. They hit the side of a coral reef, which instantly began glowing white. A moment later, two fish floated out of the holes, belly up and with wide-open eyes. They were twitching slightly, seemingly alive, but appeared unable to move.

"Again!"

Hearing Tergin's second shout, Jake cursed and shot forward like a cannonball. He flashed through the gaps and over and along the spaces, making sure not to get anywhere close to the sand, surprising himself with his insane reflexes. Before he realized it, he had crossed a large part of the remaining distance and left Tergin far behind. As he sped towards the far edge of the circle, he saw a gap large enough to leave through, and he turned around.

Behind him, Tergin was desperately trying to dodge the milky beams shot from the glowing eyeballs.

"Hurry, there's a way out-" Jake shouted, just as three beams of light intersected, and a small explosion of light surrounded Tergin. Jake blinked, blinded and only seeing multicolored spots and stripes twirling around. Blinking as fast as he could, his vision finally cleared, and he saw Tergin drifting motionless in the water.

"Fuck… not again."

In the center of the sand, most of the shells had closed and were now slowly moving towards the incapacitated Kobold. Only three remained behind and open.

Jake clenched his teeth, then swam forward as fast as he could, causing a blurry line to appear in the water behind him. He reached Tergin right as two beams shot at him. Flinging himself down below them, he grabbed Tergin's motionless form before dodging to the side. Several light beams almost hit him but were blocked by the motionless Tergin.

He might have felt sorry for the other if he had more time. Now, he just focused on making a sharp turn before rushing along the side of the open spot. If there had been any holes large enough for them to hide in, he would have taken the chance, no matter what might be in them. But there weren't, and he looked back at the small passage at the other side of the sandy spot.

A weird sensation, as if the energy in the water was screaming at him to move up, almost surprised him so much he ignored the warning. Then he bolted straight up, barely dodging another explosion caused by three intersecting light beams. His speed caused him to overshoot, and he got his first unobstructed view over the reef since finding Tergin. Startled, he saw they were almost at the edge and would soon arrive at a long stretch of white sand that slowly rose until it ended above the water.

Before he could look for the fastest route, a high-pitched scream came from above him. He moved and looked at the same time, seeing one of the enormous turtles swim towards him, surprisingly fast for its bulk. Seeing the tentacles stretch forward, he panicked and spurted back toward the reef, aiming for a small crevice home to a school of colorful fish. Just when he arrived, he felt a soft tug on one of his feet, followed by a sharp pain. Ignoring it, he hid below an outcrop in the reef, scattering the fish and causing some to shoot straight up.

With his back pressed against the wall, he looked at the opening, but nothing followed after him. A small bit of pink water rose up in the water, distracting him. Looking down, he saw his left foot was missing a few scales, and a small piece of his flesh was gone. Blood was welling up from the wound.

A soft groan came from next to him, and Tergin began to shake as if he was having a spasm. It lasted for a minute, then the Kobold moved into an upright position blinking his eyes and opening his mouth a few times.

"What," he croaked, shaking his head in confusion as he looked around.

"You got hit by one of those beams, and I dragged you away from there," Jake whispered. "Be quiet. There was one of those turtle things after us."

Tergin blinked, mouthing a ward before he cocked his head and sniffed.

"Blood… Where you injured?"

Jake nodded and raised his foot for Tergin to see.

"We need to get out of here fast and close that wound. The last time you bled, the presence of that fledgling kept other predators away. Now we need to get away before they find us. Wait here for a moment."

Tergin swam out into the reef, leaving Jake to wonder what he was doing. It took only a moment before Tergin returned, carrying a long flat green leaf. Unceremoniously grabbing Jake's foot, he bound the leaf around it, and to Jake's shock, the plant tightened around the wound.

"What…?"

"These plants live on blood, but they don't harm anything. Instead, they will help seal the wound quickly. Just leave it on and remove it before we leave the reef."

Trying to ignore the plant on his foot, Jake followed Tergin into the reef and pointed to where he remembered seeing the exit. "The reef ends over there, and I think there's land the same way."

"Good, that means we are close to Antraci island. Did you see the route?"

Jake shook his head before pointing towards a small path through the reef. "No, but I am pretty sure we need to go that way."

Tergin nodded, took another look at Jake's foot, and then waved forward.

"Let's go."