Mason hid further in the green bush, holding his breath as the group of goblins moved past him. They were quiet and alert, spears at the ready, and Mason knew if they found him, he might not be able to kill all six of them. Besides, alerting the rest to his presence would be foolish. The small group disappeared into the dense jungle, but he remained still.

One of the goblins was trailing the others, Sandra had told him, and he waited. A few seconds later, a black-skinned Goblin, probably some evolution, stealthily moved in front of his bush. Looking around for a second, it sniffed as if trying to pick up some scent before stalking away as silently as it came.

Counting to thirty, Mason took a deep, shuddering breath. Damn them! Was there no place safe? Sneaking through the dense jungle, making sure not to leave any traces of his passing, he took a roundabout way back to the coast and their temporary hideout. When he saw the white sands and the treacherous waters through a hole in the jungle, he sighed, and tears tried to form, but he suppressed them. I will find you, Jake!

--

Roaring with laughter, Jake looked at his youngest sibling pounce on the small serpent he had brought. They needed to learn how to take care of themselves because he couldn't stay here much longer. Looking around the new cave, high up the cliff and much less prone to prying eyes, he knew they should be safe here until they grew larger.

Examining the two lithe lizards, he knew they had somehow gained something from being born in the same nest as his other half. They were already bigger and stronger than the others their age that he had found in the forest and, more importantly, intelligent enough to learn words.

"Tir, don't bully your brother. You are stronger now, but you will need each other to survive." His deep voice had a slight lisp in it that still annoyed him.

"Big brother, she mean!" Ter's voice sounded sad as if he attempted to get Jake to help him.

His sister, a dark blue with pink eyes hissed at him, before looking at Jake. He knew she was testing him, again, to see how he would react. She had been doing so repeatedly over the last few days.

Jake was in a good mood, wondering if this is what it felt like to be a parent. "Tir, let him catch it. It is important that he learns."

Sniffing, the small lizard released the serpent's tail, causing it to slither away frantically towards the exit. Ter howled in joy and rushed forward, trying to jump his nimble prey.

Looking at their antics, he felt a sadness bubble up at the prospect of leaving them here to fend for themselves. It began warring with his internal agony of not knowing where Mason was, and they ended in a stalemate. They always did. But he knew that Tir and Ter - he still sniggered at their names - would be safer here than with him as he traveled the vast lands.

Staring at the humanoid skulls at the entrance, he shook his head and picked one up with his taloned claw. From his dreams and the things he thought he knew about Dragons, he had expected his new form to be huge. Staring at the large skull in his hand he realized his new dragon shape was smaller than an average human — that or the skull was from some enormous giant.

"Leave us here? Alone?" Tir's soft voice startled him, and he saw she was staring at the skull in his hand. "Find...Mason?" The name sounded weird coming from her maw.

He lay down on the ground, his long neck stretched out and stared at Tir. "Yes, I need to find him. He could be in danger and need my help."

"We need help," Tir said, and Jake felt his heart bleed. He had merged with the other's mind, but his experiences and memories dwarfed those of the other. Now all that was left of the entity were dreamlike memories and a burning desire to protect the two small lizards — that and the occasional outburst of bloodlust and anger that he had a hard time controlling, he thought, sighing.

"Let me hunt and sleep. Tomorrow I will decide."

The young Tir nodded resolutely, something she had picked up from him and rushed back into the cave, where Ter was still trying to catch the small serpent.

Jake rose and moved his sleek body towards the entrance, staring down at the small woods below. Craning his long neck outside to make sure there was nothing nasty perched on the side of the cliff, all he found were smooth black rock. A feeling of anticipation came as he gazed into the depths, and he lunged forward, propelling his athletic blue body outwards before gravity exerted itself, and he plummeted down. As the air rushed along his scaled face, he wanted to howl in ecstasy. But that would alert others, which he needed to prevent.

Grinning like the old dog of his mother used to do, he unfurled his wings and was propelled forward by his momentum, the wind pressing hard against his leathery wings. In front of him, he saw the coastline, and beyond the dark blue sea. Rolling to the side, he circled, taking in the small, forested island with the single mountain in the middle. The day before, he had scouted the island and found that he was the strongest and largest thing here. But not by a lot. Two serpents that lived near the sea and one black lizard were similar to his size and gaining on him now that he had neglected to hunt for two days.

He knew that if he wanted to find Mason, but also keep Tir and Ter safe, the larger predators on the island needed to die, starting with the three most dangerous. A roar came from the other side of the forest, and he felt his heartbeat rise. From the other's memories, he knew that the black-scaled lizard would hunt at this time of day, and it was the only thing that could and would roar that loudly.

Flapping his wings to keep altitude, he kept his gaze locked on the woods where he saw a few trees shake. There! Folding in his leathery wings, Jake plummeted to the grey and green forest. Just above the treeline, he straightened out, stopping as fast as he could and landing in the peak of a giant tree. Grabbing onto the dark black bark, he began creeping down, headfirst and ready for anything.

Hanging upside down on one of the lower, thick branches, he stilled. He didn't have to wait long. The thicket below began shaking, and a black-scaled head, resembling that of an alligator, peaked out, red eyes thoroughly examining its surroundings. When nothing seemed amiss, the rest of the body came into view.

Damnit! How did he grow that much? Jake felt the previous confidence falter as he looked at the long-legged, black alligator monster. It moved close to the ground, but Jake knew it was capable of climbing, and fast too. This changed things. He had planned to grab it, fly up and drop it — one of his, the other’s he corrected himself, favorite ways of ending a fight. Seeing the muscled, heavyset body, he knew that was out of the question. It had grown a lot since last time, and he knew there was only one way that it grown this fast. It had eaten one of the sea serpents.

Steeling himself, Jake began climbing down. It just meant it was an even fight now, he told himself. Sneaking after the other, he knew he still had other options. He needed a good, open ground, though, preferably with little trees. That way, he could flee if things went sideways. Sneaking through the thick vegetation, he stopped every time his prey did. Half an hour later, his chance arrived. A smaller serpent, half the size of his target, made too much noise and attracted the black lizard's attention.

The red lizard was sitting inside a hole below an enormous tree, gorging on snake eggs. Black, a mass of muscle and blinking teeth, rushed from the bush and jumped it. Sensing something amiss, Red rushed out and attempted to flee. It almost made it to the forest when the other barreled into him, knocking him over. Rolling to his feet, smoke came from the mouth of the red one, and he growled.

Jake climbed into the nearest tree and got ready. The red one posed no trouble to him, but if Black wasn't careful, he could get some burns. Jake heard Black growl angrily, and out of the blue, his draconic rage began building up like steam in a kettle. A red haze started forming, causing him to almost rush out to and join in the snarling and slashing. With incredible effort, he repressed it, but it lingered in the back of his mind, always ready to force him to action. Damnit! He would need to practice controlling this, or he would get himself killed.

A loud roaring and an increase in the surrounding temperature made him look up, and he was just in time to see Black leap aside, out of the way of a roaring fire that erupted from Red's maw. It collided with a tree, leaving a circular scorch mark on the trunk. A strange feeling of superiority bubbled up. That fire would hardly harm him! He had fought those fire-breathing lizards before. Shivering, Jake resisted the foreign entity's influence. These feelings weren't his! Breathing in deeply, he forced the lingering thing back into the confines of his mind.

Feeling his mood stabilize again, Jake stared at the two fighting lizards. Black would win, that much was obvious, but what he was waiting for was the right time to strike. It didn't take that long. Black rushed forward. From the sidelines, it was a blatant attempt at baiting Red to attack. He was going to dodge to the side and rush the other before he could react. Trusting his memories and instincts, Jake kept his wings tucked close and ran forward on all four. It wasn't as elegant as he would have liked, but it got the job done. Before the black one could jump to the side, he latched on to him, holding him in place.

Black howled in pain, so loud it caused the hidden birds all around to scatter, flying away in droves. Jake kept his eyes closed, the only thing that might be hurt by the burning flames surrounding him. He felt the water on his scales evaporate, only to be replenished immediately, in a speedy cycle. From his stomach, he felt the constant drain on his energy supply. Black was resisting his hold, but weakening rapidly. The attack seemed to last for a few minutes, but in reality, it took only three seconds for Red to lose his breath.

Not giving Black any chance to recuperate, Jake used his hind legs and tail to keep him in place, straddling his chest and ripping out his unprotected throat. He tasted the hot blood, and immediately the surging anger and bloodlust sprang back. Ignoring it as best he could, he placed his nails on his kill and glared at Red, who was breathing heavily and seemed exhausted from the attack. Narrowing his eyes, Jake realized the opportunity and jumped forward. Red saw him coming and turned to flee, but he was too slow. Had he been at full strength, Jake would never have caught him, but as it was, Jake barreled into him, knocking him over and slapping the poor defense attempt away.

Red got time for a single soft keen before Jake bit his throat, barely noticing how little it bothered him.