38: Alies? [Part 1]

"You're sure he is ok now?" Darsi asked Melissa as she jogged to keep up with the other.

"He is fine. Listen, it's a good thing! If he is this upset from losing his friend, it means he didn't lose his humanity." And hopefully, neither will we, she thought to herself.

The small, heavyset blue Kobold nodded a few times fervently. "Yes, yes. I understand, but... we were terrified down here, you know? It sounded like the heavens were collapsing down on us!"

Melissa bit back a sharp remark. Darsi had been following her around for an hour now, hounding her about what had happened.

"Perhaps he could-"

"ENOUGH!" Melissa swirled towards the other glaring down at her. "He is fine! Until you go through the change yourself, you don't know anything. Now go bother someone else!"

Darsi stumbled back a few steps, wide-eyed and her mouth still hanging open.

Melissa took a threatening step forward, and Darsi yelped before scrambling away. Melissa followed her until she disappeared into one of the ragtag cabins built between a tangle of roots.

"I think you scared her."

Melissa almost jumped out of her scales. With an audible swallow, she looked up. Jake's barrel sized head was a few meters above her as he hung upside down from a branch. He is growing so fast she thought as she tried to calm her nerves.

"How long-"

"Long enough. Don't worry. I don't blame them. I would be scared too if some lunatic dragon caused a major storm on top of my head."

"Why did you come down? Are you alright?" Melissa examined him quickly, but there wasn't anything wrong with his beautiful sapphire-colored scales, strong muscles, and- she caught herself and cleared her throat.

A low rumbling came from Jake's stomach, and he grinned his draconic grin. "I am fine, just famished, and wondering if you had found anything left to eat."

Melissa shook her head, a sour look on her face. "I think you ate all the fish in the lake; there weren't any left. Bolyr is out hunting now. You will have to hold on until he gets back."

Jake sighed, and the smile faded from his snout. "That'll teach me to think I go crazy. Well, thanks anyway." With a swish from his tail, he clawed his way up, disappearing in the glistening canopy of leaves.

You're welcome.

--

When night fell, Jake was still sitting at the top of the tree. The worst of his hunger was appeased by a large fish Bolyr had brought him, but he would need to go hunting soon.

"Jake, we need to free the other Kobolds and eradicate the Goblins. If we wait much longer, we won't be able to, even if the others come back as Dragons." Bolyr sat on a branch close by, munching on a small piece of meat.

Jake ignored him, staring at the distant clouds that were still partially pink from the setting sun that had vanished behind the horizon. The other had been saying the same thing for days now. He agreed, but before he hadn't dared make a move. Not after the horrible toll that attacking the island had taken. There was also the fear that the Goblins would kill their captive Kobold slaves, and with them, Emma.

Her death still made his chest hurt, and he hoped she managed to get away against all the odds. Bolyr hadn't found any trace of her after all.

"We don't have enough people to fight the Goblins. Even if we manage to win, what use is there if nobody survives in the end?"

As the leaves rustled, both Jake was lost in thought when Bolyr whispered something that shook him wide awake.

"What? Say that again?" Jake's long neck curved towards Bolyr, his head hovering close to the other.

Bolyr sighed, a small smirk on his face. It was something Jake hadn't seen him do before.

"We need to get the rest of my tribe here."

Jake blinked in surprise. "You haven't spoken about them since we got here. Do you even think they would come?"

Bolyr nodded as if there was no doubt in his mind. "They will if you promise they can join the new tribe you are building."

"Join the what now? Why would they do that?"

A soft laugh bubbled up in Bolyr's chest, and when he saw Jake's startled face, he erupted in laughter. It didn't last that long, but when he finished, the blue armed kobolds hunched shoulders strained, and he smiled widely at Jake.

"Because from what I've seen, many of your people will turn into Dragons! And you have a mana-well. With these two things, as long as you are not wiped out by the Goblins, you will grow to become the mightiest tribe I have ever heard about!"

Bolyr's voice rose in pitch as he spoke, the enthusiasm sparkling on his face. He looked younger than Jake had ever seen him, the worries and burdens seeming to melt away. When he was silent, he just stared at Jake with the utmost confidence.

Damnit, I wish Mason and Sandra were here to decide. Jake turned his gaze from the fervent look in the other's eyes. It made him uncomfortable. It was a good idea, and he wasn't worried that some overzealous Antracii tribe elder would try and use them as breeding stock like the last time.

"Bolyr, find Melissa and Tergin and ask them to come to me."

Bolyr blinked a few times rapidly, and slowly it seemed to dawn on him that Jake wasn't just going to agree. Feelings raced across his face, confusing, resignation, and worry until it ended with a look of steely resolve. With a nod, he climbed down the tree.

Jake stared into the distance, weighing his options. He was still doing that when he heard someone scrape their throat. Looking next to him, he saw Melissa sit there. The dim starlight caused her shape to blend into the darkness. Only her shining eyes were clear as day, almost seeming to glow from within as she stared straight at him.

"You called for me, oh my king?" A curt bow accompanied the thick mocking tone.

How the hell did she do that while clung to the side of a tree? The corners of Jake's mouth curved up. "I did, I need a backrub! Do you mind?"

"Not at all, now hold still!"

Before he had a chance to realize what was going on, Melissa jumped at him. It was a good thing he lay curled around the tree again and wasn't sitting on a branch.

"Hey, are you crazy! Be careful!"

She ignored him and climbed up his shoulder, not being too careful with her sharp nails.

"Hold still, and it'll be over in a minute." She grinned, standing up on his back and reaching for his head. Her legs wrapped around his neck, making it hard to breathe.

When she touched the soft frills on his neck, he almost threw her off.

"Wait. What? No! That tickles!"

A loud barked laugh caused both of them to freeze, before turning to look at a branch a bit further down. Tergin was sitting there, peering at them.

"Jake, would you like me to come back later?"

Melissa grinned, releasing her hold on the thin frills on Jake's neck and lying down. "He doesn't. Now tell us why you had Bolyr summon us."

Jake flexed his long neck, watching her as she used him as a sofa. From her mocking smile, he knew she wasn't about to leave. He wasn't sure he wanted her to. Shaking the sudden thought from his mind, he looked at Tergin.

After everything that had happened, he trusted Tergin more than Bolyr. Although the yellow armed Kobold always seemed to help, he also had a daughter. Jake knew how much family mattered to Kobolds. He thought of Mason and Emma as his family. The feelings that produced seemed more out of proportion than it used to be as a human.

"Bolyr thinks we should get the rest of your tribe. He says they will join us, help us get rid of the Goblins. What do you think about this?"

The scarred Kobold frowned, before looking at the sky. He reminded Jake of a classmate who always did that when trying to do trigonometry in his head.

"They will help, but they won't just join." Tergin shook his head before turning his gaze at Jake. "Many will reason we should join the Antracii. Especially if you go there and ask for help."

We? He let the questions that little word raised rest for now, as his mind began spinning. Of all he knew, Bolyr was right on one point. They couldn't live on this island together with the Goblins. And leaving hadn't worked, so that left getting rid of them. The idea of wiping them all out didn't bother him in the slightest, which in-itself bothered him immensely. Shouldn't he care more about them? His emotions told him he shouldn't, and he sighed.

"Is there a way to get them to help us without us having to become Antracii?"

Tergin thought again and was silent for a lot longer. So long that Melissa began fidgeting. When Tergin started talking, she let out a long sigh of relief.

"Offer them something as recompense for the losses they will have. Either some of the females or the mana-well."

"Not going to happen, and those females have names. Got it?" Melissa hissed as she stood upright and glared at Tergin.

Tergin just stared back at her.

"What Tergin forgets to say is that the current leader of the Antracii is a woman," Jake interjected when he saw the anger rise on Melissa's face.

An uncomfortable silence reigned for a few minutes until Melissa sniffed and sat down.

"Tergin, the Antracii want to leave their island and come here, right? What if I offer to bring them here, and they can share the island with us?"

Tergin shook his head. "If you don't want anything in return, they would owe you. But not enough to help you with attacking the Goblins. There are too many of those horrid creatures, and the Antracii might lose half their number."

Jake tried a few more ideas, but Tergin shot them all down. In the end, he told Tergin to go and find Bolyr.

"Damnit... either we lose something we don't even understand, or those Goblins will run rampant until they slaughter us all!" Jake hissed, moving with care so Melissa wouldn't fall.

"Don't forget our pest problem." Melissa sighed, sounding as tired as he did. "What we need is a big nasty monster to wipe out the Goblins for us, then we can focus on one problem."

A shiver ran through Jake. That's it! "Melissa, you're a genius!"

"No, you're just not that smart." Her smile took the edge of her words, and she continued. "What did you think of?"

"Let me think about it. I need to ask Bolyr something before I can be sure."

He had barely finished when he heard a soft shuffle and rustling of leaves. Bolyr pushed himself through the canopy and climbed the branch as if it were as easy as climbing a stair.

"Jake? Have you decided?"

Ignoring the question, Jake examined the other.

"Tell me, do Hydraci and Goblins get along?"