Jake was the first to snap out of his reverie, and he looked around. It felt like bliss, being able to look around without leaves an arm's distance from his face. He barely registered that his eyes didn't seem to need time to adjust to the sudden light, and he drank in the view of his unblocked surroundings.

A short distance from where he was standing was a river filled with dangerously sharp rocks, some of which stuck an arm's length out of the water, their points shining and wet. Jungle covered the land across the river and trees flanked the muddy banks. Both up and downstream, the sparkling turquoise water seemed to move unimpeded for as far as the eye could see.

Seeing the glistening water, Jake was overwhelmed by thirst, and he walked towards the river. Almost there, he noticed that the water was much brighter than it should be.

Behind him, Mason and Emma also stopped staring at the sky and were now looking around. Mason was scanning the jungle from whence they came, probably trying to see if the black branch monsters were chasing them.

Emma, on the other hand, only had eyes for the water. Walking towards it, she stopped just short of the raging river. A cloud of water vapor slowly enveloped her, causing her scales to shine with a dark luster.

"Emma, be careful!" Jake strode forward, while Mason turned around in a rush.

The little Kobold did not respond, standing frozen on the edge of the glistening wet, muddy banks. When Jake had almost reached her, he noticed eyes looking up at Emma from the water. They had dark triangular pupils that seemed to be glowing with an inner light. A sudden combination of rage, fear, and protectiveness almost drowned out any reason from Jake's mind. Leaping across the remaining distance, separating him from Emma, Jake grabbed the girls shoulder and yanked her away from the river. In his haste, he forgot his new strength and tossed her almost halfway back to the jungle in the path of Mason. Ignoring Emma's startled yelp, he kept his eyes on the indistinct figures that seemed to be coming closer.

Behind him, Emma hit the ground rolling and raised herself on one knee, shaking her head while Mason rushed next to her.

"Are you ok?"

"..uh... I.. I can hear them! They keep whispering. Telling me to jump in the water."

"Who?" Mason asked, but a low growl caused him to turn around with blinding speed. Seeing Jake growl at the river, Mason hesitated not for a moment and with his tail stretched out behind him, he sprinted towards his friend.

He had only crossed half the distance when a guttural, inhuman roar shattered the silence. Startled, Mason almost tripped as he looked at Jake, who was now prowling towards the water, his mouth opened so wide that his lower jaw almost touched his chest. The roar had come from him, and he was watching fixated at something in the water. Coming to a sliding halt, Mason saw a dozen or so shapes swimming up from the depths.

"Jake, backup! Don't get dragged into the water!" Mason shouted, his voice dropping two octaves and sounding decidedly feral.

Standing in front of the water, his feet already wet, Jake barely heard his friend. He felt a surge of intense hate as he stared into the water. Heat rushed from deep inside his body, causing a desire to jump into the water and tear whatever was swimming towards him into pieces. Struggling against the unfamiliar urges felt like wrestling with a giant. Instinctively he knew the surging emotions were somehow there to warn him and keep him safe, but at the same time, he knew he couldn't jump into the water. He stood frozen in place, seeing the shapes get closer, and soon he could make out a reptilian being. Right when he couldn't hold it anymore and was ready to jump into the water, Mason yanked him away.

Jake stumbled and fell on flat on his back, and the weird spell he had been under snapped, leaving him with a mild headache as he lay on the wet, muddy bank of the river.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Mason yelled, keeping his eyes glued to the river.

Jake opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Anger surged again, and he took a deep breath feeling the muscles in his body ease up.

"Incoming!"

A surging motion from the river accompanied his word, and a group of green and black beings jumped out onto the bank of the river. Covered in scales, they had long protruding reptilian snouts and looked like an ugly cross between a Kobold and an alligator. Much more reptilian than he or his friends were, they had leather armor strapped to their torsos and were carrying long spears. Staring straight at Jake, they produced chittering and clicking noises that made Jake's anger surge again. Scrambling up, he stood next to Mason every fiber in his body telling him to attack and leave no survivors.

A hissing sound next to him partially broke through the fog, and looking over he saw Emma standing next to them, her lips curled back showing dangerously sharp canines. A look of utter rage was covering her face while her hands kept opening and clenching.

"Jaaaayyke"

A growl from his side showed that Mason wasn't doing any better, and a small voice deep inside his mind was screaming for Jake to snap out of it. But before he could do anything, a sudden movement caused him to look up and dodge to the side. Spears flew through the air on the spot he had been standing. Next, to him, Mason and Emma crashed into the ground at the same time. Dull thuds came from behind as the spears hit the ground, but Jake had no time to look at them because the creatures were madly rushing their way. They were moving on hands and feet with their tales stretched out behind them, reminding Jake vaguely of lizards.

“GRAAAHHHHH”

Roaring like ten lions, Mason rushed forward, meeting the first of the creatures in mid-air, and like the excellent rugby player he used to be, he knocked the ugly creature to the ground. Releasing the last scraps of sanity, Jake rushed forward, jumping at the first creature he saw. To his side, Emma had managed to use her smaller stature to her advantage. She was sitting on the back of one of the creatures, clawing at it's exposed scales, while the beast was trying to shake her off.

A reddish haze covered everything in Jake's sight, and he felt his conscious self ripple for a moment. As it did, something moved deep in his mind, and the weird clicking and hissing sounds began to make sense, a click became 'kill' followed by another noise that sounded like 'female.' Within moments he understood every word the creatures were shouting as they tried to overtake their larger prey.

"Kill them! Mighty we are if we do! Show power of the Hydraci!"

With one hand clenched around a soft, unscaled throat, Jake ignored the words as best he could and swept his other taloned hand across the face of the self-proclaimed Hydraci he was holding, blinding it. He was only just in time because before he could react, he was tackled by three of them and pushed to the ground. Kicks and blows started raining down on him, causing him to cover his head with his arms. Then a sharp, searing pain came from his shoulder as a curved dagger removed a stretch of his scales and the flesh beneath causing him to howl. When he sat up to retaliate, two of the Hydraci grabbed his arms, holding him as the third readied himself for the killing blow.

A high pitched scream, filled with fear and anger, caused both Jake and the Hydraci to look to the side. Wide-eyed, Emma was staring at Mason who was being strangled by one Hydraci while four others were sitting on him, holding him in place. Rampaging as he was, the creature's only barely managed to hold him down.

"Honor to the many-headed ones! Kill the weak ones and much honor to us!"

Screaming again, and with bulging muscles far too large for such a small child, Emma rushed towards the Hydraci strangling Mason. Barely dodging a blow coming her way she lunged forward, biting the slightly larger creature in its neck. A spray of greenish blood covered her face while the Hydraci tried to rip her off.

Roaring, Jake used his anger to fuel his strength and some part of him, a small and detached part, felt a mysterious power surge from a place deep inside him. With a sudden movement, Jake ripped a hand free, and before the creature in front of him could slice his throat, he rolled to the side. Crashing into the last one still holding him, Jake bit into its leg. There was only a moment of resistance before his razor-sharp teeth pierced through the scales. A high pitched screeching sound, like metal on metal, was followed by a salty and revolting fluid filled his mouth. Thick, like syrup, it was cold and slightly metallic and caused him to gag. The creature began howling and hitting him on the head. Ripping his mouth free, Jake rolled across the floor, tripping the Hydraci and causing it to fall to the ground between him and the other two. Jumping up behind the fallen monster, Jake placed both his hands around the angular and elongated skull. With a sharp twist followed by a dull snap, the creature sagged into a small heap. Roaring, blood still dripping from his mouth, Jake rushed towards the two remaining Hydraci.

"They are too strong! Flee? Flee!" One of the two screamed as he backed up.

To the side, Emma had managed to disrupt the hold on Mason. The muscular red and golden Kobold was now strangling two of the creatures at the same time. A single spear had managed to hit him in the lower back just below his shoulder blade. Two unmoving shapes showed the price the Hydraci had to pay for wounding him, however.

As the two creatures, locked down by his arms, became motionless, the remaining Hydraci began backing up.

"Pay! You will pay when the elders come! Our island, not yours!"

Mason surged forward, and as if they were tennis balls, tossed the two corpses he was holding towards the howling monsters. Screeching in fear and panic, they jumped out of the way before scrambling towards the river. With one more curse directed at 'Mason's manhood, they dove into the water disappearing into the dark depths.