Jake stared at the bloody smear on the ground in horror. He could still feel the sickly sweet taste of blood in his mouth, and he could barely look at the mangled form below the tree.

What was left of David could almost fit in a briefcase now, and he looked like someone that had fallen into a giant shredder. Taking a deep breath, Jake looked around, finding a small patch of free dirt under a plant. Moving over, he dug out a small trench before using his tail to drag Davids remains over and dumping them in.

The Fiend's head was still mostly intact, at least compared to the rest of his body, and his one remaining eye seemed to stare at him in horror. Jake averted his gaze and quickly covered the remains with dirt while trying to purge the memory from his mind's eye.

As he did, he failed to see the iris in the eye dilate as the eye swirled inside its socket to look at him. The dirt Jake shoved across it quickly hid it from view.

When Jake finished, he looked around for something to distract him. There were a multitude of weird plants and leaves around him that he had never seen before. They smelled strange and had bright orange colors, different from anything he had seen so far. The leaves were shiny and seemed to have a jagged edge made for slicing through soft tissue. Although the plants piqued his curiosity, the thing that drew his attention away from the previous bloody scene was a deep trail leading further away in the jungle.

Sniffing it, he felt his hunger, barely appeased by the few small bites, flare up again, and this time he let it blank out the memories. Rushing after it, he was nothing more than a dangerous, single-minded predator.

The hunt lasted for around an hour and ended when he was standing across a brown, three-eyed crocodile-like beast; its throat ripped out. He was gorging on the soft intestines and meat around the flanks, feeling his hunger fade, and his energy levels rise back to normal. Although the thing wasn't the same type as he was, it wasn't the opposite either, and he finished it, not even leaving the bones.

Much, much better. Burping, he looked around, finding more trails of similar creatures, and he began tracing them with the intent to bring something back for Tir and Ter.

The trails led him deeper into the jungle, further away from the coast, and thirty minutes later, he came across an open swamp-like area with a few mangrove trees and high reeds. In the murky, shallow waters were dozens of crocodilian monsters, their three eyes the only thing visible above the water.

This will be a great hunting spot! He laughed when he saw a blueish one not too far off, and without a care in the world, he ran forward, jumping into the muck. As soon as his body touched the water, he felt the familiar surge of energy, more muted than in the sea, but still, a welcome relief.

He saw the crocodiles notice him, and some of them began slowly swimming towards him, amongst them the blue one. A hungry, predatory smile on his face, Jake's body slithered towards them.

The incoming crocodiles wavered when they saw him head their way, and some turned around again, quickly disappearing in the murky water. Those that didn't turn back drifted silently in the water, staring at him with hungry eyes.

Unafraid, Jake continued closing in, until ten meters from the blue one, he increased his speed. The crocodile saw him coming, started and then turned, preparing to flee.

Feeling the relish of the hunt, Jake stretched his long neck, grabbed the swishing tail, and drew the beast towards him. It tried to flip over, to escape, but Jake surged forward and bit it behind its neck. Blood flowed into the water. From the corner of his eye, he saw the other crocodiles flee, heading for the edges of the water.

What the- A tremor rocked the moor before he could finish the sentence, and feeling his heart rate spike, he dragged the weakly resisting crocodile back. Behind him, he felt the waters begin to surge. Just when he managed to climb out of the murky muck, dragging the barely moving crocodile with him, a thunderous roar caused his eardrums to pop.

Jake swirled around, the croc dangling from his maw. Behind him, an enormous crocodilian monster was surging up from the middle of the swamp. Above its usual two eyes, it had a row of five smaller ones and a thick long-snouted head covered in a thick greenish hide with scales scattered about at seemingly random spots. It was easily six times Jake's size, and it examined Jake for only a moment before it surged forward, causing a large v in the water behind him.

Oh shit! Turning, Jake carried the crocodile deeper into the woods looking around for a tree to climb. When he finally found one that suited his purpose, the ground trembled, and he heard something barrel through the bushes behind him. Fearful, he almost dropped the now dead crocodile but kept it when he knew he might not find another one soon. Instead, he struggled up the tree, dragging the cumbersome thing with him. Twenty meters up, the monstrous seven-eyed crocodile crashed through the bushes beneath the tree, staring up at him. It had two extra limbs, and standing on the hind four, it gripped the tree with its massive claws.

Come on! Really? Jake held on tight just when the monster shook the tree, and he felt the enormous tree sway. Luckily his own sharp claws were stuck in deep, and after three attempts, the monster stopped and began climbing up.

Shaking the dizzies he felt from being shaken around, Jake rushed the last ten meters and climbed between the top branches, finally seeing the darkening sky. Not waiting, he jumped forward, spreading his enormous silvery-blue wings and began flapping as hard as he could. He needed to gain as much altitude as fast as he could.

He was perhaps ten meters above the tree when a large gaping mouth rushed out, snapping at his tail and missing it by a finger length. Jake kept increasing his altitude until the monster withdrew, and he could finally sigh a breath of relief.

Almost thirty minutes later, Jake saw the enormous tree with the white patch of sand. A few specs were moving around close to the tree, and even from this distance, he thought he recognized Mason.

--

"Are you sure he will be fine?" Mason was having a major sense of deja vu as he stood next to Bolyr. Both of them were staring at the forest for a while now, hoping to see Jake come back. The sky was darkening fast, as the sun sank behind the tree line of the jungle.

Bolyr replied in his guttural voice, seeming certain of himself. "Jake will be fine. Even if there is something stronger than him in the jungle, he can fly."

"Mason? What is that thing up there?" Emma's soft, sleepy voice came from behind. She kept sneaking out to stand with them, waiting for Jake.

The two adult Kobolds turned and followed her pointing finger. A strange shape was flying their way. It took a moment for them to recognize Jake, carrying something huge in his mouth, almost half his size.

"Brother bring food! Yey!" Tir's happy voice chirped up from between Emma's arms. A few hours back, when the little girl had seen them, she was immediately smitten by the two small lizards, who seemed to agree with her sentiment and had not left her side since.

A few meters from them, Jake dropped the carcass to the ground and folded his wings to drop the last distance. He landed with a thud in front of the dead crocodile monster and startled yells and screams came from the cabins. He didn't care. His wings were sore, and he was so hungry that he saw a red haze around the edges of his vision. The sound of incoming footsteps barely registered, and he jumped on top of the crocodile, tearing a large chunk of meat from its belly.

The others stopped with a gasp, staring at Jake as he tore into the carcass, slivers of meat and blood flying around. Before anybody could say anything about it, Bolyr cursed.

"He is starving. We need to get him more food!"

Mason sniffed, staring at the blood and meat with a hungry look in his eyes. "Starving? What are you talking about, he has a crocodile the size of a small car over there!"

Without a word, Bolyr grabbed Mason and dragged him towards the forest. Only when Mason ripped himself free, staring at him did he say something. "It won't matter! He needs a lot more food, now come help me hunt!"

Backing up from the others, Mason stared at Sandra, who was looking back at him. Take care of him! He mouthed, and when she nodded, he turned around, following Bolyr into the jungle.

The two small lizards. Tir and Ter were running around, eating the small slivers of flesh, ligament, and bone scattered on the white sand. The rest of the party stared aghast at Jake as he swallowed an entire crocodile hind limb.

Mellisa was the first to head back to the shacks. "I think I'm gonna be sick." She muttered, before disappearing inside and closing the door.

The rest of the group dispersed until only Sandra, Willson, and Emma were left, staring at Jake and the rapidly disappearing carcass.

Emma pulled Sandra's hand and stared up at her with big, scared eyes. "Do you think he will be alright?" A snap from behind her caused her voice to tremble.

"Sure, he will be. He is a dragon, remember?" When the little girl nodded happily and looked back to Jake, Sandra frowned, a worried look on her face.