"You sure bro?" Mason asked, looking at Jake who was gripping his head in his hands.

Nodding, Jake swallowed back the bile in his throat. The memory of the pain he had felt moments before almost causing him to throw up.

When the weird Kobold had started speaking, and it became apparent Sandra didn't understand what he was saying, he had hoped the alien language would make sense to him, as that of the Hydraci had. But listening to the many foreign languages, he had quickly lost hope because all of it sounded like gibberish. But when the Kobold growled his last sentence, something had changed.

As the first word of the guttural and rough language filled the air, Jake had felt a splitting headache. It progressively became worse with every following word until he thought he would either vomit or faint. Just when he was sure he couldn't take it anymore, something had clicked, and the rough words started making sense.

When the Kobold finished, it had taken a moment for him to realize and then he had explained what had happened to a worried Mason. Hesitating for only a moment, they had decided to head over to Sandra before the Kobold would drop his hand, causing all hell to break loose.

A soft shake from Mason awoke Jake from his reverie, and he quickly focused his attention on the Kobold.

Seeing the dangerous look on the others face, Jake used his hand to indicate he should continue speaking. The look changed into one of confusion and then into one of anger, and the heavy set Kobold seemed at the point of blowing a fuse. Then one of the archer Kobolds behind him shouted something.

Glancing over his shoulder to listen, the yellow Kobold then seemed even more confused before looking back at Jake. After a moment, realization seemed to strike, and his blue reptilian eyes widened and began glistening. He looked deep into Jake's eyes as if searching for something. Appearing to have found what he was looking for, he then started talking in a long, steady pace.

"He is repeating something over and over..." Mason said, only to be hushed by Jake.

Listening, at first Jake only understood one or two words, but as his headache began increasing, so did his knowledge of the language, and soon he began understanding what was being said. Something about blood, heritage, and honor.

Constantly looking around, Sandra quickly noticed that the archers seemed less anxious for some reason.

After almost a hundred times, Jake finally raised his hands, a pained smile on his face. The Kobold looked back, completing one's more the sentence he had spoken tens of times before stopping.

--

"Hey, buddy are you ok? What happened, can you understand him?" Mason asked, and Jake realized his friend had been worriedly whispering to him for a while now.

Jake nodded. "Yes, I will explain everything later, oke? Let me try something before that guy gets restless again." Then he turned back to the Kobold who was watching him with unhidden interest.

Concentrating, Jake found unfamiliar but understandable words jumbled around in his mind. Deciding what to say, it took him a while to find the ones he needed, but when he did, he looked at the Kobold. With more effort than made him comfortable, he managed to croak out a small sentence, the weird syllables moving unfamiliar across his tongue.

"Do you understand me?"

The Kobolds eyes began shining and one of the corners of its mouth curved up. "Yes."

The word sounded rough and harsh in Jake's ears, but he could understand without any trouble. Replying, however, took some effort. Fiddling around in his mind for a bit, Jake managed to form another sentence.

"What does, 'Good luck awakening your heritage' mean?"

The Kobold seemed surprised and was quiet before shaking his head.

"How did you come to this island?"

Realizing his question wasn't answered, it took a moment for the words to compute, but then Jake looked up in surprise.

"Island? We can't be on an island..."

When he heard a surprised mutter from Mason and saw the Kobold look at him in confusion, Jake knew he had used the wrong language. Realizing he had no idea who the other side was or what they wanted, or if they were even friendly, he decided to play dumb. If they ended up being friendlies, he would explain later.

"I don't know. We fled into that jungle and ended up here." He said, noticing finding the words became easier already.

"Fled from where?"

Scrunching his eyebrows, Jake wondered why it was starting to sound like an interrogation.

"From where we live. It is very far away, and I don't know how we ended up here." Jake said, trying to project as much sincerity as he could.

The Kobold nodded as if it was a completely normal thing, and he didn't seem surprised one bit. "What is your country called, and what are you called?"

Wondering how to answer without getting into trouble, an idea formed in Jakes mind, and a small grin tried to wriggle its way on his face. Forcing it down, he decided to sound sure of himself.

"I am Jake, and we are from a country called Earth."

The Kobold seemed surprised for a moment when he heard the untranslated words, but then he nodded.

"Good, Jiakeh. You have a strong name. I am Bolyr."

The Kobold fell silent, and it took a moment before Jake understood he was supposed to say something back. Wondering if he should make a compliment, he realized he had no idea what would count as one. Except for saying someone had a strong name. Getting a little stressed out, he took a deep breath before blurting out the first thing that came to him.

" Thank you, Bolyr. You seem very strong too."

Cringing inward, Jake tried to keep a straight face as he looked at the other party hoping for a positive response.

Bolyr just looked at him, and as it lasted, Jake began feeling more and more uncomfortable.

"What the hell did you say to him?" Sandra hissed as the tension began to rise.

Before Jake could answer, a burst of soft laughter came from the jungle and looking over Jake saw that the one-eyed Kobold had a hand in front of his mouth, while the other one had his eyes closed and bulging muscles were lining on his chin.

Feeling the color drain from his face, Jake looked back at Bolyr who was eyeing him while shaking his head.

"You are not from around here."

"He is just bad at giving out compliments" A soft voice echoed out from behind, shocking everybody.

Walked forward, Emma hid partially behind Mason while looking at Jake. "I don't know why, but I understand what you two are saying."

"Incredible…" Bolyr's voice sounded rougher than before, and his eyes were opened so wide they seemed almost round. The two archers had fallen silent as well, looking at the small Kobold stunned.

"Is she your child?"

Jake shook his head in shock when he saw Bolyr looking at him.

"No." He wasn't sure he had said the right thing when he saw a smile on Bolyrs face.

"But she is family." He quickly added, which caused the Kobold's eyes to light up even more.

"Very well. I don't feel any hostility against you so you must still be unbound and as you are not from around here. You can come with us. We will head back to our camp so we can eat and talk in a safe environment."

Glancing at Emma for another moment, he turned around and began moving towards the jungle waving with his hand for them to follow. The other two Kobolds lowered their bow.

Unsure what to do, Jake quickly explained to the others what had happened.

"Can we trust them?" Mason whispered, looking at Jake.

"How in the blazes do you think I would know that? But I do know to stay here, without any food seems like a terrible idea. What if those… Antraci, come back?"

"The what?" Sandra asked as she stepped forward.

"Some weird Kobold like monsters that attacked us from the river moments before you guys showed up. Anyway, let's hurry before they leave us behind."

Jake, Emma, and Mason began following Bolyr, but after a few steps, Mason turned around when he noticed Sandra and the others weren't moving.

"You guys better come too, unless you have a better idea?" Then he began walking towards the Jungle again.

Sandra shook her head before looking around to find the others were looking at her, waiting to see what she would decide. Gritting her teeth, she cursed.

"Fine. Move out, keep an eye out for anything suspicious."

---

As they moved away, nobody noticed bubbles floating up in the water of the river, nor the long shadow that swam away along the bottom.