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Minglings 31: Troubles abound [part 1]
🕑 Added 2020-04-11 12:41:00 +0000 UTC
The sky rose slowly, lighting up over the jungle, as Jake stared at the distant horizon from his perch atop the immense tree. Tir and Ter weren't with him; they were sleeping with Emma in a cabin. Mason and Sandra had disappeared inside another one. He had gone up here, so he didn't have to listen to the sounds the two were making.
More than a day, less than a week, huh? That was as long as Bolyr had said it would probably take before Mason and Sandra turned. Besides that lovely news, Emma had shocked everyone when she told them that she had her first nightmare a day ago. Even Bolyr had been startled. According to him, this had never happened before.
Jake sighed. It wasn't as if there weren't more things different. The native Kobolds only ever had a few people that awoke their bloodlines each year. The Kobolds from Earth seemed all destined for it, which left him in a crappy situation. Mason and Sandra had insisted that they keep searching the jungle for more Kobolds. They would need a large force to free the Kobolds in the Goblin camp.
And the one who had to do that? Him. There were good reasons, of course. Mason and Sandra might change at any moment, and someone had to stay here with the saved Kobolds and Emma. Besides, they needed people gathering food, building shelters, and all that. But all of that didn't change the fact that he suddenly felt forced to roam the jungle every day, saving Kobolds.
I thought that when I found Mason, that it would be about finding a place to stay at! Not create one ourselves. Wearily he placed his head on his front legs to stare at the slowly rising sun.
--
"Get away from me, you stupid overgrown lizard!"
Like always, the grating sound of a Goblin's voice made Jake want to rip him apart. He moved his head closer and contracted his tail more, feeling the Goblin squirm in his grasp.
"Where are your ugly friends keeping the Kobolds?"
"You can hug me all you want, but I ain't telling!"
The tips of Jake's teeth brushed along the ears of the Goblin. It reeked, but he needed the information, even if that meant getting this close to the disgusting green skin. "I will rip off your ears, one at a time and make you eat them. Tell me where Kobolds are, and you get a quick death!"
"Is that the best you can do? Bah! I thought Dragon's were supposed to be big and scary! You’re hardly more than a scaled horse!"
Jake roared at the sky. This Goblin was infuriating! How was he not scared? The other ones had told him what he wanted to know almost immediately! He dropped the Goblin on the leaf-covered ground and jumped on top, grabbing him with the razor-sharp claws on his legs.
"You like big and scary? Fine!" Flapping as hard as he could, Jake rushed up through the canopy. He had gotten used to flying up through branches and trees and managed to dodge most of the sharper tipped ones.
As he flew, he was thinking about what had happened. This Goblin, he was different from the others. Something wasn't as it seemed.
Less than ten minutes later, he saw the swamp area in front of him. The Goblin that had been laughing and cursing him the whole trip became silent. The crocodiles swimming around began looking up, staring at Jake, and some opened their jaws wide.
"Last chance!" Jake roared over the wind, flapping above the middle of the swamp. He kept an eye out for the enormous one, ready to drop the Goblin and flee.
"I can't; Peltmans will find out and feed me to his horrible insect pets!"
Peltmans? Why did that name sound so familiar? Shrugging it off, Jake growled so low his wings shuddered. "And I will feed you to the crocodiles if you don't tell me!"
"Bring me to the other side of the island! If you do, I will tell you!"
Jake frowned, thinking for a second before releasing a claw, causing the group of crocodiles circling below them to go in a frenzy.
"Come on! You will never find them without me!" The Goblin shouted, barely any fear on his face.
This is NOT normal Goblin behavior! Jake grabbed the Goblin again and looked down at his face. "Who, what are you!"
As he stared at the Goblin, he saw a small tremor course through the green face. For a split second, he thought he saw grey skin and black eyes staring at him with pure hate. Without a second thought, he released his claws, and the Goblin silently dropped, its eyes locked with his. A second before he hit the water, a nasty smile came to his face, and then he was gone. The crocodiles surged down after him, and a bloody, bubbly mess ensued.
What the hell is going on? What was that? Uncertain, Jake shook his head, and after a last look at the pink water, he flew back to the spot where he had captured the Goblin.
Half a day later, the sun sinking below the horizon, he finally found the small convoy of Goblins trekking through the jungle. There were twenty of them, more than he had seen before, and they had a group of tied-up Kobolds walking in a line between them.
There must be forty Kobolds! How did they capture that many with so few Goblins? Seeing the shadows in the jungle below begin to deepen, Jake knew the Goblins would probably stop for the night soon. That would give him the perfect opportunity to free the Kobolds. Twenty Goblins would be no problem for him, especially as they couldn't see him.
He kept following the Goblins until they made camp in a thicket between two large trees. Landing in the top of one, Jake crawled along the dark grey bark, noting the small ants that were crawling around. They were the first he had seen in this world. Curious, where did these come from?
Below him, the Goblins tied the Kobolds together with long plants before creating a campfire. They sat around it, laughing and yelling at each other while munching on strips of dried meat and fruit. Jake scowled. It was almost as if they were having a picnic in the park instead of being trapped in a strange world in different bodies in the middle of a deadly jungle.
Idiots.
Creeping down, Jake waited silently, occasionally examining the Kobolds. From what he could see, they were all malnourished, wounded, and tired. None of them seemed ready to fight, which meant he would have to do this himself.
Hours later, the Goblins finally stopped their party, one after the other falling asleep next to the campfire, and Jake snuck forward like a predator. He barely made any noise and was about to pounce on one of the Goblins when he stopped. It was quiet around him, and he didn't hear any of the night cries he was not familiar with. Before, he had accounted it to the Goblin party overwhelming it, but now?
As he looked around, a bad feeling grew inside, and he backed up, sneaking back in the tree. He could wait a little longer, the Goblins only just slept. Roughly thirty minutes later, everything was the same, and he shrugged. He must be imagining things; perhaps this was just a quiet part of the jungle?
Before Jake could move, a shadow soundlessly stepped out of the thicket next to the Goblin camp.
Insectoids... Jake followed the creepy two-legged bug as it quietly moved amongst the sleeping Goblins. It didn't make any move to attack them. When it came closer to the Kobold captives, Jake saw that a few of them were still awake and staring at the Insectoids without blinking, fear etched on their faces.
"There you are!" A soft voice caused Jake to swirl around, staring right in the mandible face of a second Insectoid that was sitting on the tree behind him. All around, Jake heard noises as things climbed around and into the tree he was sitting in.
A shout came from the Goblin camp, and he saw one of the Insectoids kick the Goblins awake while pointing at his tree.
Trying to resist a sudden urge to attack the Insectoids, Jake backed up climbing further into the tree. The Insectoid was following him, and he could hear more of them behind him.
"Where are you going, little Dragon. We just want to have a chat!" An echo from all around followed the mocking, clicking voice, and Jake felt his blood begin to boil. It took all his efforts not to rush back down and fight them.
"Come now! Don't you want to save your friends? If you leave now, we will eat them!"
Jake didn't bother to reply. As if him going back would save the Kobolds? He saw a large branch that stuck out of the jungle roof and rushed towards it. The insectoids couldn't keep up, and when he leaped into the air soaring away, he only heard a many-voiced scream from inside the tree.
"We will kill all Kobolds and then you and feast on your succulent flesh!"
Jake cursed as he flew away. Those vile things were in league with the Goblins? Now what was he supposed to do?
