"You will all listen to Tergin, do as he-"

A loud shouting from the edge of the lake interrupted Jake. The two hours weren't yet over yet, were they?

He turned to Tergin. "Alright, hide on the bottom and wait. If the water becomes quiet again, I'll be out of energy. You need to kill as many as you can before they get to land. We have the advantage in the water."

The blue-green Kobold nodded, and he signaled before turning to the water. There were still over a hundred Kobolds that could breathe underwater that had stayed, and they followed him.

Jake waited until they disappeared into the water. He took a last look at the yellow and green Kobolds who were rushing to make weapons from branches and sticks. Hoping it would be enough, he turned and jumped into the water. As he swam, he drew in as many energy particles as he could.

The Orc stood on the edge of the lake. One of his feet planted on Melissa's chest, crushing her into the dark mud. The Insectoid was there, Tir held in one hand her limp body dangling down. Jake felt a stab of pain, and he started preparing.

"So, some of you were smart enough to leave! The rest is staying behind as a snack?" The Orc seemed content about something, and Jake held back. Something was different, the Orc was less angry- too sure of himself. Thinking for a second, he forced a sad look and shook his head.

"The rest will leave if you hand over the captured Kobolds and the lizard."

The Orc sniggered, and Jake saw him glance at the sky quickly. What the... Cursing himself, Jake looked up. Dozens of insects were flying high above them, heading towards the island. Two per, they carried Goblins like bombs.

"Too late! It's a shame those insects didn't come sooner, or we could have prevented all of you from getting away!" The Orc grinned, raised his foot and stomped on Melissa's chest.

Ribs cracked audibly, and Jake roared. The energy he gathered infused him, and he used it. The water close to the bank receded, revealing a mud-covered slope with water plants and a single small fish. The Orc's mouth fell open as he looked, Melissa squirming under his foot.

The water swelled back until it gathered twenty meters away into an enormous wave. Jake stood ankle-deep in the mud and roared as he jumped into the air. The wave surged forward, and more water was flowing from the other side of the lake to increase its height.

"Shit!" The Orc cursed and turned away, running towards a nearby tree. The Insectoid was close behind him, Tir still dangling from his three-fingered hand. Jake shot towards it. He crossed the ten meters like a blue lightning bolt and slammed into the Insectoid. Gripping the ugly green head, he crushed it and picked up Tir. Her body was limp, but he could detect a minuscule movement as her chest went up and down.

Jake turned and saw the wave of water engulf Melissa. Cradling Tir, he turned his back to the wave just when it hit him like a truck. He was barreled forward, dragged by the water, and knocked against two trees. It took precious seconds before he managed to get his bearings in the torrential water.

The mud and vegetation made it hard to see through the water, but he saw a dim shape float in the water and swam towards it. It was Melissa, and he grabbed her around the waist heading towards the lake. Swimming against this current was hard, even for him. The water still rushed out of the lake, but he couldn't stop it, or the Goblins would jump him. They sat in the tree's ogling the muddy stream of water below.

It took only a few seconds, but with the desire to get Tir and Melissa above water, it felt like ages until he finally rushed into the lake. He stopped feeding the wave with energy and felt a rush of fatigue hit him. Ignoring it, he surfaced and raised his two friends above water.

"Melissa, Tir! Can you hear me? Wake up!" The two were limp, not responding. He wasn't sure if they were breathing.

Screams and roars startled him awake. The Insectoids had dropped the Goblins on one side of the island, and together they rushed the Kobolds. Seeing them clash, Jake surged forward.

Many of the Kobolds were tired, malnourished, and they only wielded clubs. The Goblins, smaller though they may be, held spears and knew how to work together. They were rested and angry, and before Jake got halfway, he saw the first Kobolds fall.

He headed towards the place where the most Kobolds were, and moments later, he surged out across the bank and into some bushes. Although some Kobolds were panicking, more seemed to give in to their new inborn instincts and roared and fought with claws and teeth.

Seeing Bert, standing behind the others and roaring orders nobody listened to, Jake moved towards him.

"Shut up! Help them, or I will rip your head off!' Jake screamed into his face. The Kobold staggered back before he saw the unmoving body of Melissa and the small lizard. With no regard for Jake, he jumped forward and began inspecting them. Checking pulse and placing his ear on Melissa's chest, he suddenly seemed transformed, and Jake almost forgot what was going on around him.

"They are breathing, just unconscious. The lizard might have some internal injuries, but I can't be sure. Melissa has superficial wounds, broken bones, but will be fine." Bert looked up and saw Jake gape at him. He blinked twice before looking back at the unmoving bodies.

"Go, they will be fine with me! I'll explain later, but now you need to help the rest!"

Knowing the other was right, Jake turned around to examine the state of the battle. To his surprise, the Kobolds were giving as good as they got. Although outnumbered and tired, many seemed to have gone into a frenzy. Screaming and raging, they jumped the smaller Goblins, biting and clawing like maniacs. Especially those with yellow scales seemed unrestrained, and he realized that if no more Goblins came, they might win!

There was a group of Kobolds cut off from the rest, surrounded by Goblins ready to spear them. With a roar, Jake sprinted along the mud-covered edge of the water. The Goblins saw him moments too late, and like a bulldozer, he barreled through them. Resilient like roaches, the Goblins crawled and scrambled back up, but the Kobolds didn't give them a chance. Grabbing the dropped spears, they stabbed the Goblins while Jake trampled around.

In a rage, he toppled Goblins with his tail, crushed their skulls, and bit their heads off. After a while, he saw no more Goblins nearby, and the Kobolds ran back to the rest. Shaking his head to clear it from the tired haze threatening to swamp him, he knew he forgot something. The water!

He turned around and saw hundreds of Goblins swim towards them. Some disappeared underwater with screams, and he knew that must be Tergin and the others. But for everyone they killed, ten jumped into the water and began swimming.

Jake ran along the muddy bank and jumped into the water. The crystal clear liquid invigorated him, but he knew it didn't remove the fatigue. Not entirely. Blue particles of energy swirled towards him, slow at first, but soon so fast he couldn't see the individual ones.

For what he wanted to do, he needed more! Soon he felt bloated, and he felt something resist as if he couldn't hold anymore. Can't hold anymore, he thought as the energy bubbled inside him ready to be used.

Jake felt his precarious hold on the energy. He closed his eyes and focused on the water around him. As he spread senses that he barely knew he had, a mental image of the lake formed. He felt Goblins disturb the water surface and Kobolds rocket around dragging them under. He even felt the water rush into the lungs of the Goblins.

The energy blotted out his conscious thought and driven purely by the instinct of a natural-born predator he began moving the energy. If he were still capable of, he would have gasped at what he did. He had planned to create a massive whirlpool, but the Dragon instincts had none of it. Instead, somewhere in his mind, connections were made, forcing a change in his body and in the water around him. The energy slowed down, and some of the specs sparkled with a silverish light. The movement of the water grew sluggish, and a ripple moved from Jake.

As soon as the edge reached the surface, waves froze over growing solid and shiny. Drops fell on it like hail, but Jake didn't notice. Channeling the immense amount of energy, the water around him turned to ice and encapsulated him.

Within moments Jake was a hazy dragon shape inside a column of ice that stretched from the bottom of the lake to the frozen surface. Moans sounded everywhere. Goblins partially stuck in the frozen water struggled weakly, and in vain. The small plumes of air they breathed out soon stopped, and mere minutes after it started, a thick layer of ice covered the entire lake.

The fighting Goblins on the island stared in shock at their dead kin. Slowly they backed up, away from the fighting. Then one turned, running across the ice and like a dam that had breached the others followed. Without their help, the Insectoids had no chance. Before they got the chance to flee, Kobolds jumped them, dragging them to the ground.

Tergin floated in front of the column, worry etched on his face. The Kobolds with him hovered behind him, afraid to ask what they should do now. There was no way out of the lake, the solid layer of frost only growing thicker. Many of the Kobolds shivered from the cold, small cubes of eyes drifting up from the frozen lakebed.

After long, silent minutes, one of the Kobolds swam towards Tergin.

"What is going on? How do we get out?"

Tergin just looked at him and shook his head. "If he doesn't wake up, he will die. And he will drag us with him."

With looks of trepidation, the Kobolds stared at the column of ice.