A low growl vibrated through the air, startling everyone. Jake felt his hairs rise and he wanted to jump towards Mason, but someone beat him to it. Before Mason could do or say anything, Sandra stepped forward blocking his way.

"Cool your jets and don't do anything stupid. You are acting like a child. We are in a different world, and things are bound to be different here. And even then, this isn't the moment to go changing this world."

Everyone remained silent as they saw Mason struggling hard to reign in his anger. The indigenous Kobolds were looking at Mason and Sandra's standoff as silent as the rest of them, seeming very interested.

Jake kept his full attention on Bolyr, who was watching without any apparent reaction. But even without any facial expression, Jake had the feeling he was more curious about what was going on than anything else.

After what seemed like forever, Mason backed off, whispering something. Looking at the sky for a moment, he sat down staring at the ground between his feet. Jake had a good idea about what his friend was thinking. Mason had grown up, listening to stories told by his grandmother. She had been forced into slavery when she was young, barely escaping with her life.

One of the three soldiers in Sandra's group moved forward and sat next to Mason. He seemed more distressed than the others, and he began softly talking to Mason. Wondering what that was about, Jake got distracted when Sandra moved next to him.

"Tell him where we are from we don't keep slaves anymore," Sandra said as she looked at Jake.

"You think that's a good idea?"

"We need to explain what just happened, and compared to coming from another world. It shouldn't be too much of a shock. Besides, the alternative is punishing Tess."

Looking at the Fiend, who had been silent ever since they had met the indigenous Kobolds, Jake noticed she didn't seem all that distressed.

Nodding, Jake turned back to Bolyr and started explaining. While he did, Bolyrs face went from confused to annoyed, ending in resigned. Silently, he stared at the dense green foliage for a while, seeming deep in taught.

The rest waited for him to speak again, which took a few minutes.

"Then those from your world will be in for a nasty surprise. I don't know where the rest of your strange tribe has spawned, but if it is anywhere in the civilized world..."

Bolyrs face changed, a look for rage seeming to take away his ability to speak for a moment. It was gone as fast as it came, but Jake felt some bile rise to the back of his throat.

"Then, they will all be hunted down and killed for sport or enslaved. Only on Actricet can Kobolds still roam free." The looming Kobold finished, his voice devoid of any emotion.

Jake translated everything, stumbling on the translation of the name of the continent. While the rest was still processing the information, he turned back to Bolyr. Almost afraid to ask, he knew he had to find out more.

"What is Actriset? And why are they enslaved everywhere else, is their war between the Kobolds and the rest of the world?"

Before Bolyr could answer, Jake continued.

"And what do you mean with, a weird tribe?"

The rugged Kobold let out a weary sigh and sat down, motioning for Jake to do the same. He whispered something Jake thought sounded like 'children!'.

"Before I can answer that, tell me about your tribe. You don't have the same Progenitor, so by what reason are you united?"

Sandra sat down next to Jake as soon as he was done translating. She was the only one because Mason and the soldier were still having a muted conversation, and seemed perfectly fine with ignoring the rest. At the same time, Emma was digging into the soft topsoil, perhaps looking for treasure, and the other two soldiers were alternating between scanning the jungle and keeping an eye on the two archers. Tess sat down close to the tree and seemed intent on hiding in plain sight. But Jake did see she kept looking at Bolyr.

Looking towards Sandra, Jake saw she was very interested. "I am getting the feeling this tribe business is pretty important to him. " He muttered.

Sandra nodded. "Yes, and now we need to find out why."

--

As the light filtering through the branches disappeared, the group of Kobolds was silently sitting around the heart tree. Next to the enormous trunk was a small campfire, gently burning.

Although the Earthlings felt a lot more connected after everything that had happened, in the end, most had moved away to give the others some privacy. In the end, only Sandra, Mason Jake and the Fiend were still sitting together. Emma was also there. Dozing off with her head in Tess's lap. After talking about all the things Bolyr had told them, they had started exchanging stories about what had happened after the merge. None of them knew if Earth still existed and if they could go back to it. When Sandra finally got tired of the what if's, she bid them goodnight moved to the other side of the campfire were the soldiers were chatting softly.

--

Jake fell on his back with his arms outstretched, feeling more tired than he ever had in his entire life.

"Man… I have no idea what we should do now. Everything is all fucked up." Mason said, looking into the fire.

"Do you believe the things he told us?" Jake said softly after scanning the black ceiling of leaves above them to make sure the archers weren't eavesdropping

"I don't know… He could be lying, but why would he?"

"I think he was telling the truth, but he is not telling us everything." Emma murmured, curled like a cat with her tail underneath her head like a pillow.

"He isn't, little one, you have that right," Mason said in a sigh, before also lying down on his back. "We need to rest, but at the same time, someone should stand guard. Even if they don't mean us any harm, they might leave in the middle of the night. What if this tree thing isn't as safe as they say it is? We might get eaten." He whispered the last part.

"I will take the first watch then, you were heavily injured, and we haven't had anything to eat for a day now. I will wake you if I can't stay awake anymore. "Jake grunted, struggling into a sitting position.

Soft snoring from Emma showed she had already drifted off and Jake felt a jealous pang.

"Listen, don't fall asleep. If you feel yourself nodding off, wake me. Don't pull that movie crap where I have to wake you up tomorrow morning, and we are alone here. Or worse." Mason gazed at him for a moment, and when Jake nodded solemnly, he closed his eyes. Within moments his breathing eased.

Looking at his sleeping friend and wondering how he could fall asleep that fast, Jake looked around. The soldiers and the Fiend were huddled together, close to the tree and away from the fire.

At the other side of the fire, Sandra was sitting on her knees, looking into the crackling fire. He knew she must have heard every word of his conversation with Mason because he had heard theirs as well.

Taking a peak up in the tree, he saw Bolyr sitting on a branch with his eyes closed. Was the guy meditating? Jake looked intrigued at the unbelievable calm the Kobold was displaying. Looking around for the two archers, who were wandering around, sometimes climbing the tree and sometimes disappearing inside the forest, he wondered if they weren't going to rest.

Eventually, he became tired of watching the silent Kobold, and although he wanted to try it for himself, he didn't want to make a fool of himself yet. He had a nagging feeling that Bolyr was harnessing magic, or ki or some other form of energy, and he wished he could find a reason to ask. Deciding he would try the next day, he rose and began pacing around the clearing, copying the archers. He knew if he didn't, he would fall asleep within minutes. Focusing on the soft sounds coming from the jungle, and delighting in how well his eyes worked in the almost darkness, he prepared for a long night.

--

On an almost infinite seeming plain of grass, shapes were running around in a panic while confused and scared screams filled the air. Most were Goblins, but there were also Kobolds, Fiends, and others that resembled animals and insects. They were trying to flee from a vast horde of armored two-legged humanoids. Yellow and green, with muscular limbs and muscled torso's they resembled Goblins like children did Neanderthals. While waving around clubs and axes, the armored monstrosities were roaring with laughter, killing without discrimination anything in their path.

Seeing one, armed with two large clubs covered in spikes rush his way, Jake screamed in fear, trying to run out of the way. Raising his scaled arms to guard himself, he stumbled when his heel hit a bleeding body. Falling backward, he saw the club rush towards his face, and he screamed louder.

"JAKE WAKE UP, IT'S ME! WAKE UP, STOP IT, WAKE UP!"

Surging up, Jake looked around, sweat oozing from his face. Lights swirled around him, causing everything to be blurry and shiny at the same time as if a sheet of water was in front of his eyes. Feeling something keeping his arms stuck to the sides of his body, he began struggling again, the muscles in his body growing taut.

"No, don't! It's me you bloody fool, Mason! Whatever it is you're doing, stop it before you get us killed!"

Hearing his friends angry and scared voice, Jake stopped resisting, and he looked around. He couldn't see clearly, as everything was blurry and vague.

"W.. what, where?" He started at the sound of his voice. It was broken and rough as if he had been shouting at some concert all evening.

"You are still under the tree, it is morning, and you are currently scaring the shit out of everyone!"

Swallowing, Jake tried nodding, but the world almost turned upside down, making him nauseous.

"Let me go." He finally managed to croak.

"Only if you promise to keep your hands down!"

Nodding again, Jake felt the pressure around his arms slowly fade. Taking a step forward, he wanted to raise his arms to wipe the sweat from his face.

"KEEP THEM DOWN!"

Startled, Jake froze, keeping his hands down. He looked around, and slowly a picture of what was going on formed. All around him was a large sphere of water, and he wasn't sweating, but water continuously dripped from the top of the sphere onto his head. Looking at his hands, Jake saw a stream of bluish liquid surge from them, creating a pool of muddy water below him that fed the sphere. Unsure what was going on, he tried stopping it, but he had no idea how and failed.

Attempting to look through the sphere, he felt a slight headache build, but at the same time, the sphere became solid, less like running water and more like a film of water covering glass. He could now see the group of upset looking Kobolds surrounding him, the two archers pointing their arrows his way.

Bolyr was standing in front of them, a curved blade in his hand. Seeing the sphere change, he smiled and sheathed his weapon. Behind him, the archers hesitated for a moment longer before they too lowered their bows.