Whipper nervously fiddled with his rolled-up namesake. Spittle splattered across his nervous green face, and he desired nothing more than to put his fingers in his ears.

"This will be your last chance you piece of garbage! If you weren't my nephew, I would have fed you to those crocodiles!" Peltmans shouted, towering over the smaller Goblin.

"First you lose a slave in the middle of the night, then one gets killed, and now you have lost three? THREE! How do you just lose three Kobolds!"

The bare chested Orc's muscles quivered, and he rose a massive hand towards Whipper. His eyes narrowed when the Goblin cowered down.

"I am sorry un- commander, boss! They are in cahoots, all of them. They're trying to make me look ba-" A massive green foot interrupted Whipper, kicking him across the wooden floor. He collided against the wall next to the door. With a groan he pushed himself up and shook his head.

Peltmans strode forward, resisting the urge to throttle the other until he stopped moving. Why did it have to be this ant and not the brother that showed up from the jungle? He needed good help, with those insects and that Fiend moving around behind his back and thinking he didn’t know.

Running footsteps came from outside and he stopped and stepped back from the little idiot. The door slammed open without a knock, and Peltmans cursed. Heins, another Orc, and his second in command rushed inside. With him came muted shouting and screams of fear.

"Boss, we've got trouble! You better come quick!" Heins didn't wait for a reply, but turned around and ran back out.

"Now what... You stay put! I'll deal with you when I get back!"

Peltmans ran outside, and as soon as he placed his feet on solid ground, he felt a tremor. Groups of Goblins ran between the houses, away from the wall and towards the partially finished dock.

Heins was running to the wall, and Peltmans followed him. Before he got there, an earth-shattering roar caused his hackles to rise. Climbing up the wooden palisade, he found the Orc guards clustered together and staring into the distance.

"What the hell is going on?" he roared and pushed the smaller Orc's to the side to get a better view. Nobody responded, and they didn't have to. An enormous monstrosity with three eyes was barreling towards them from the swamp. A small spec, almost like a fly, struggled to keep distance as it flew ahead of it.

"Is that a Dragon?" Peltmans asked.

"No, Boss, it's one of those three-eyed crocodiles!" One of the Orc's said in a drawling voice.

Peltmans cuffed him and pointed at the spec. "I know that you retard! I mean that thing flying in front of it!"

"Boss, let's get out of here! If that monster gets here, we're dead meat!" Heins was staring wide-eyed at the approaching doom.

"Damnit! After all the work, we're supposed to... GRAH!" Peltmans shoved the Orcs down the stairs. Two didn’t react in time and plummeted down. The cracks of broken bones echoed back up, but Peltmans didn’t care.

"Fine! But first, we are going to get rid of those pests. I'll be damned if we get more of those flying lizards roaming about!" Peltmans scrambled down, screaming at the others to follow him.

"Go to the slave huts and slaughter them! And someone, find me that insect!" The Orcs scattered, and within moments Peltmans was alone.

The tremors increased in power, while the roaring got closer.

"Fuck. Those stupid Kobolds... I should have killed them all when I found them!"

"We told you that months ago." A soft, hissing voice came from behind him.

Peltmans swirled around. "Where have you been hiding? You said you would take care of that Dragon, so what the hell is that?" He spat towards the Insectoid. It resembled a giant praying mantis with slightly humanoid arms. Four legs held its slender body up and two transparent wings lay folded on its back.

"If you had listened to us, and attacked the Kobolds on the island this wouldn’t have happened!" The Insectoid unfurled its wings.

Peltmans stalked forward, clenching his fists. "I should have eaten you! What use are you if you can't get rid of those overgrown lizards!"

The Insectoid hopped in the air, hovering two meters above the ground. "Without us, you would have starved!"

"Shut up! Go and stop that flying lizard! Perhaps if that monster grabs the Dragon, it will go back to its stinky cesspit!" Peltmans glared at the Insectoid.

"Only if you agree to our demands!"

Screaming in the air, Peltmans appeared ready to tear the Insectoid apart, but he managed to hold back. "Fine! We will help you with that Kobold camp and get you your stupid hive or nest back! Now go do something!"

With a flutter whine, the Insectoid shot into the air and across the wall.

"Stupid bug," Peltmnas growled, before running towards one of the barracks holding Kobold slaves.

--

Muscle cramping and breathing ragged, Jake knew he couldn't keep his current speed up much longer. The Noshrile hadn't slowed down even a little, and he wondered if he was some kind of delicacy to the thing.

A green, grey blur wooshed passed his face, and he felt something nick his left-wing. He flapped mechanically, but his left-wing reacted oddly, and his forward movement turned into a left turn.

His heart skipped a beat, and his gaze snapped to the wing. A long green stinger stood lodged between two of his wing joints, preventing it from normal movement.

With no time, and the Noshrile now so close he expected it to grab him any moment, Jake furled his wings and reached for the stinger. Angling down into a crash, he felt the thin thing between his clawed fingers. It was plunged in deep, and the furled wings made it hard to grip. Less than ten meters above the ground, he finally yanked it out.

Unfurling his wings again, he saw a row of giant, glistening teeth above and below him, banking left as hard as he could the Noshrile's jaws closed behind him, and he felt something scrape along his side.

Ignoring the sudden flash of pain from his ribs he shot up and over the jungle, leaving the logged path behind.

Bending his neck as he turned, he saw the Noshrile overshoot; its head turned towards him. Then it scrambled forward again, its thick paws clawing at the ground and uprooting bushes and saplings.

Shit, what was that?

Jake angled back towards Gobtown, this time looking around for what had attacked him. He almost missed a small blur, moving up from the jungle below him. Rolling on his back, he bit at an Insectoid. It was aiming another stinger at one of his wings.

The mantis moved like lightning, dodging his jaws, and stabbed at his eye. The point slid from the protective lid that covered it and lodged in Jake's eyelid. Then the Insectoid was gone, whirring back to the cover of the jungle.

Shit, just what I needed! Gauging the distance to the town, Jake knew it was going to get tough. It was difficult before, but now that he had to deal with a flying Insectoid just flying up and away seemed alluring.

A branch the size of his tail flew across his head, some of the leaves tickling his back. With a shout, he dropped closer to the jungle and looked behind him. The Noshrile was barrelling through the dense vegetation, ramming through smaller threes and causing them to disintegrate, pieces flying everywhere.

It wasn't as close as before, and Jake feared it would give up soon. Slowing his speed, he angled to the right, until he flew over the logged area. A few seconds later, the Noshrile barged out into the open, leaving a gaping hole of splintered wood behind.

Jake was tired, and he had to pay attention to three things at the same time, making it harder to focus. He didn't see where the Insectoid came from when it jabbed a stinger at his wing. It missed the joint, perforating through a thin piece of his wing's membrane. He grabbed for it with his hind legs but missed. The thing was slippery as an eel.

It was also too late, he thought with a grin. They shot out from between the logged path and into the large open area bordering the town. Rising higher, Jake saw hundreds of Goblins run from the back exits along the beaches to flee.

Something collided with him, crushing his wing against his body. Shocked, he bit at it, almost spearing himself on a stinger shoved at his face. The Insectoid was using its much smaller body, holding his wing while they plummeted down.

A roar from behind showed the Noshrile had reached the open area. Jake knew that if he crashed, he would die, and he struggled with the much smaller assailant easily ripping his wing free. It was quick but far too weak. He snapped at it, anticipating the stinger and dodging around it with his flexible neck. Biting into the shoulder of the Insectoid, he ripped it from his body and flew forward. The Insectoid kept struggling, but he just clenched harder, mangling the flimsy wings. A shadow crossed above him, and he banked left, tossing the Insectoid behind with a quick jerk of his head.

With the sound of two colliding cars, the Noshrile's jaws clamped together, cutting short the Insectoids scream.

Jake crossed the last distance and shot across the wooden palisade. Having reached his destination, he painfully flapped his wings, quickly gaining altitude. He turned in mid-air, staring down at the giant monster splintering the wooden barrier and barreling into town.

I hope the others succeeded and managed to clear out... Jake thought, wondering for a moment how much longer he could stay in the air. Below him, the Noshrile tore through the town. Seeing the cabins and buildings crumble felt good. It wouldn’t bring Emma back, but perhaps if he laid waste to what those Goblins had forced her to build it would make him feel better.

Goblins that had hidden in huts and cabins screamed as they tried to flee, and the Noshrile was distracted. No longer interested in Jake, it snapped them up, swallowing them whole.

Jake hovered for a while, looking at the monster and searching for a sign of the Kobolds. There was none, and he could only hope they got away before the monster hit. With a final look he turned away, flying up as high as he could before turning back to the small island.