"We need to get out of here, find a safe spot, and come up with a new course of action," Sandra commanded.

"Listen up, you two, until we are out of the woods you do as I say. I have far more experience with these things." Sandra gave Jake and Mason a piercing stare, and the guys nodded quickly.

Before she could continue, Mason pointed at Emma, raising an eyebrow. Blinking twice at the interruption, Sandra nodded. She rose and moved to the door, speaking across her shoulder. "Jake, pick her up and carry her."

Turning to the soldiers, the commanding presence around her thickened as she began barking orders. "Willson, you are with me on point. O'Reilly, instruct Mason and cover the back and flanks. Jake stays in the middle with Emma."

A scratching noise came from the door, followed by a whispering voice, and everyone froze. Willson raised three fingers in the air before pointing at the door. Sandra nodded and stepped next to the door, Willson opposite her. The door slowly opened, the glinting tip of a spear pushing against it. Outside, a Kobold, framed by torchlight, looked inside. Seeing Jake with Emma in his arms and Mason taking a step back upon seeing his spear, a grin surfaced on his face, and he stepped inside.

As soon as he moved past the threshold, Sandra grabbed him around the wrist and neck and drew him aside. Struggling to get free, the Kobold seemed like a child fighting against an adult. From outside came a shout, and two more Kobolds rushed inside the increasingly crowded room. Willson let the first enter, but jumped the second, putting an arm around his neck before the Kobold knew what was going on. Flexing his bulging biceps, Willson attempted to snap the Kobold’s neck, but quickly found it wasn't that easy. Growling, the two fell on the ground, as the Kobold tried to free himself.

In the middle of the room, Mason saw the second Kobold rush forward, its spear aimed at his legs, and he jumped aside, headlong into the wall. Staggering back up, blinking his eyes, he saw O'Reilly dodging the spear. The soldier grabbed at the spear and began struggling to pull it from the attacker's grasp. Staying low and close to the wall, Mason moved around until he was behind the spear wielder. Looking at O'Reilly, who had seen him and nodded quickly, he jumped forward, knocking into the Kobold. Before the other could move, Mason hugged him close to his chest, pinning the other's arms.

A dull sound came, followed by a groan, and the Kobold went slack. Dropping it, he saw O'Reilly rush forward with the spear, knocking the one struggling with Willson on the head, rendering him unconscious.

"Let's go and hide!" Sandra hissed while picking up one of the spears.

"What about Tergin?"

"We can't. Moving him might open the wounds causing him to bleed out." Sandra shook her head.

"Leaving him here will guarantee his death! With us, he stands a chance," Jake shot back.

Groaning, Mason rushed to the bed and picked up the bleeding Kobold. "Let's go!" He hissed, moving to the door.

Sandra's eyes narrowed, but she said nothing. Instead, she turned around and rushed out of the cabin.

Mason grinned at Jake before following the soldiers. Jake was the last to leave the room, and as he stepped outside, he wondered how they were going to escape.

--

Running through the jungle, Jake tried to follow after Mason, blinking away the blood streaming from a gash in his forehead. Yelling and fighting came from the village far behind him.

"Keep going! We need to find a safe place!" Sandra rushed past him. She and Willson had been covering their tracks as best they could. As Jake listened to the sound of their pursuers fade away in another direction, he guessed that they knew what they were doing.

"Give me a bloody hand here!" Mason groaned in a tired voice.

He was carrying two unmoving shapes across his shoulders. One was Tergin, the other O'Reilly. The soldier had been caught off guard and knocked out cold. Sandra rushed forward, taking O'Reilly's unmoving form from Mason and slinging it across her shoulder as if he was a sack of grain.

Screams of rage came from far behind them, and Jake wondered who it was. In front of him, Willson's muscular shape became visible partially hidden between the plants. He signaled them to follow him in the jungle. After a few hundred meters, they suddenly burst out of a treeline and onto a beach. Startled, Jake swirled his head around and saw that they were in a small lagune, a tower rockface blocking one side, and the dense jungle the other.

"I will go back to cover our tracks and fabricate fake leading any pursuers the other way," Willson whispered to Sandra, waiting until she nodded before he ran back into the jungle.

Jake put Emma down. She was looking at him with wide-open eyes. "Are we going to die?" Her soft, high-pitched voice cracked a bit.

"Not yet," Jake said, forcing a smile. Then he turned around, examining his surroundings. There were no hiding spots anywhere! His mind wandered, and his eyes landed on where the sea slammed against the towering cliff. As he looked at it, an idea began to take shape, and all of a sudden, he was wide awake again. Perhaps? He ran to the shore and jumped over the waves into the water.

Diving down, he could immediately feel his fatigue wash away. His eyesight sharpened, and he felt the fuzziness leave his mind. Looking around, he saw a host of fish dart between the plants that covered the seafloor. Surging through the water, he arrived at the cliff and quickly found what he was looking for - shadowy caves and deep cracks. He rushed along the openings, taking fast peaks inside until he found a deceptively small gap that had three long tunnels. Following one that went almost straight up, he surfaced inside a cave. From the ceiling, moonlight filtered through cracks creating a beautiful, safe scene. Jake smiled before diving down again and quickly swimming back to shore.

"Where the hell did you go?" Sandra growled, when Jake walked out of the sea, water dripping everywhere. She kept an eye on the jungle, and Jake noticed that Willson wasn't back.

Ignoring her hostility, Jake pointed at the stonewall. "There are underwater caves in that wall that have air in them. I can bring you there one at a time and then wait here for Willson."

Sandra took a quick look before staring back at the jungle. A thoughtful look crossed her face, and then she nodded. "Fine, but next time alert me when you are going scouting. What if we had to flee before you came back?"

Blinking, Jake felt the color rise to his scaly face. He hadn't thought of that. "Sorry, it won't happen again."

He got no response, and he sighed before picking up Tergin and looking at Emma. "Follow me. We are going exploring!"

"Ok," she nodded, a grin on her face as she stared at the sea.

It took only a few minutes to bring Tergin's motionless body to the cave but longer to explain to Emma that she had to wait there and protect the Kobold. When he finally arrived back at the beach, he saw Mason waiting partially in the water, carrying O'Reilly.

"Ready?" Looking at his friend, Jake saw Mason was clenching his teeth but nodded.

"Let's get this over with," Mason grunted, walking further into the sea.

"I will stay and wait for Willson," Sandra stated, as she kept her eyes glued to the forest.

Nodding, Jake followed Mason, and they both swam above water to the cliff before struggling to stay up near the rockface. The water wasn't rough, but even now, the waves colliding against the rock and surging back made it difficult to swim.

"It is fifteen meters down and the backup through a tunnel," Jake said, taking over Mason's burden. He realized he should have done that much sooner, but his friend said nothing about it.

"Sounds great! Why the hell didn't I get bloody underwater breathing?"

"Because this way, at least you shut up somewhere." Grinning, Jake dove and waited underwater. He noticed O'Reilly and Tergin were still breathing, but where O’Reilly seemed ok, Tering looked weak.

Mason put his head underwater, and Jake began swimming towards the entrance. It took him a few seconds to get his bearings, but Mason was so slow he found the correct cave before he arrived. When his friend finally got there, he signaled he was still ok, and they swam into the tunnel. Half a minute later, they surfaced, and Mason took a few deep breaths.

"Damn, I could outswim any Olympic swimmer now! I must have held my breath for four minutes or more."

Jake grinned, paddling towards a small ridge where Emma sat, looking relieved to see them. O'Reilly and Tergin were lying beside her, leaving no more room for anybody else.

"You will have to stay in the water, while I get the others!" Jake said, scanning the walls of the cave again. "Emma, can you see if there are more dry places or any entrances?"

The lithe little Kobold nodded vigorously before diving into the water, giving Mason space to sit down.

"Jake, be careful and get back here fast!"

Nodding, Jake dove under and rushed back through the tunnels towards the beach.