"Scout ahead and find out how the situation is. But be careful!"

Tergin nodded and shot forward, graceful like a dolphin and twice as fast.

They were out of the lake, following the current of the river. The sun was right above, casting shadows from branches to occasionally twirl on the river bed.

Jake swam close to the muddy bottom, the group of energetic Kobolds in his wake. Since his change, he more clearly felt the draw of the water. The heightening of positive emotions and the boost in energy intoxicated him, almost like a drug. Before, he had only felt it when out of the water, but the power of ice had changed that. Well, he guessed it was the power of ice. What else could it be? He wished he could discuss it with Mason.

A rumble echoed through the water, and he cringed as the hunger intensified. He searched around, scanning the water for anything edible. A few small fish swam close to the bottom. He left them alone. They were so small that it wouldn't help him one bit. What he needed was something substantial! Where the hell was all the fish? He knew he had overhunted this area, but to find nothing?

Trying to distract himself, he tried calculating how much longer the trip would be. According to Tergin, it would take almost an hour to get to the coast from the island. That meant they would need to swim for at least half an hour longer. Jake hoped the Antraci were still alive when he got there.

He snapped his head up when something splashed into the water a dozen meters above them. A fist-sized stone quickly sank towards them. Before it got halfway to the bottom, a second splash came, and another stone followed.

What the hell? Jake looked up and saw another stone angle through the air before hitting the water in a white cloud of bubbles.

"Stay here!" With a swipe of his tail, he headed towards the surface. One meter from the shimmering and bobbing surface, he got a view from the river banks. A female Fiend stood in the mud, readying another stone.

That's Tess! Surprised, Jake was about to swim up when he caught himself. Why was she here? This was a bit too coincidental, wasn't it? He frowned, looking around the jungle behind the fiend for anything out of the ordinary. He checked the other side as well but saw nothing. Not at all at ease by this, Jake drew in the mana particles around him.

Another stone splashed close to his head, and Tess her mouth moved as she stared at him.

Ready for anything, Jake rose up and carefully stuck his head out of the water. The sounds of the jungle sprang into focus, rustling leaves, animal screams, and a strong wind that blew water drops on him. He took a quick look around, but still, nothing seemed ready to jump him.

"Jake, I presume? It is good to see you. You have changed a little." Tess stared at him with a half-smile on her lips.

Seeing her grey skin and black eyes, so much like David's, Jake's instincts told him to attack. He forced them down and stared back at her. "Why are you here?"

"Straight to the point I see. That is fine. We don't have time for pleasantries anyway." The smile on Tess her face disappeared, and instead, she looked at him with interest.

"You are being tricked. I have information that says the Insectoids were waiting for you to leave. They are attacking the Kobolds you left behind as we speak."

Jake was stunned. He stared at Tess, trying to find any indication that she was lying. What she said made sense, and if someone else had told him, he might have gone crazy with worry. But looking at her, he only felt distrust.

When Jake didn't respond, a frown appeared on Tess her face.

"Don't you believe me? I have no reason to lie to you! You need to go back and save Emma!"

Jake felt a stab of pain. "Emma is dead. The Goblins killed her," he bit back.

A sad look appeared on Tess her face. "I am sorry to hear that. I liked that little girl. She reminded me of myself when I was younger."

"But you have to listen to me! The Insectoids will-"

"Jake, look out!" Tergin's voice startled Jake. Looking down the river, he saw the Kobolds head stick up out of the water.

The Kobold was pointing at something above him, and he snapped his head up. There was a group of Insectoids silently descending from above, almost on top of him. When he looked up, they shot down, producing a buzz like an attack of giant wasps.

Jake stopped trying to float and dropped down into the water focusing his energy around. For a second, he played with trying his new power and just freeze them, but he didn't know if he could control it without keeling over. Instead, a geyser of water shot up from the spot he had been hitting the flying Insectoids. As if hit by an anti-riot water canon, the Insectoids shot back up. Wings bend backward, and legs snapped. Two dropped down, while the rest fled towards the jungle.

More geysers shot up, but the warned Insectoids managed to dodge them.

Jake slowly sank as a wave of fatigue caused the watery world around him to grow blurry. He needed food! Even if he reached the Antraci in time, he would be almost useless like this. If he used any of his skills, it would kill him or turn him into a raging hunger monster again. A trashing sound reminded him of something, and he looked at the two Insectoids trying hard to stay afloat.

A surge of thoughts and ideas swamped him, and then he gritted his teeth. There wasn't any other way. He rushed up and bit down into the legs of one of the struggling insects. Pulling it under, he waited for a minute until it stopped moving and struggling. The sight of the green insect limbs and scaled torso almost made him vomit. Closing his eyes, he grabbed it with his claws and ripped open the chest area.

A waft of blood engulfed his head, and his eyes shot open as a ravenous hunger threatened to take hold of him. Instinctively he drew in energy and began turning it to ice. No! It took al his force of will to stop himself, and instead, he ripped a piece of flesh from the inside of the insect. He didn't chew but swallowed it whole before ripping away another piece.

It took him only two minutes to change the intact insectoid to a smattering of limbs, slowly dropping to the river floor. Green blood tinged the water, and small pieces of meat, tendons, and chitin floated around him in a wave.

The worst of the hunger was gone, but as soon as he heard the splashing of the second insect, he rushed up. He tried not to think about what he was doing. Instead, he made short work of the other one. When he finally released the second carcass, he found a group of Kobolds swimming in front of him. Tergin was in the middle, and he took a single look at the pieces of insect leg drift by before shivering.

"We need to hurry! The Antraci won't last much longer!" Without looking at Jake, Tergin swam away.

The other Kobolds followed him, leaving Jake to stare after them. Looking at the dead insect parts floating around, he blinked. Had he seriously just eaten an intelligent being? Feeling an onset of revulsion, he shoved it down and shot forward after the others. Without looking at them, he swam passed them until he was beside Tergin.

Next to him, Tergin kept his eyes focused on where they were going. Jake suppressed an onset of anger. So what if he had eaten that insect! Taking a few deep breaths, he felt the anger abate.

"Will I get into trouble for eating those things?" He asked, keeping his gaze forward. When he didn't get a response after a few seconds, he looked at Tergin. The Kobold seemed to be struggling with something.

"Tergin?"

The other sighed. "I don't know. Insectoids are poisonous sometimes, and some Kobolds think eating them makes you unclean. The Antracii believe this..."

"Wait, so it's not because I ate an intelligent being?" Jake shot back in surprise.

"What? No! As long as you don't eat Kobolds, nobody would care, and even that has happened in our history."

They swam forward in silence. Slowly, muted sounds from the front began increasing in volume. They should be ten or more minutes away, but the sound of a battle was already reaching them.

"What did you see when you were scouting?"

"The Goblins blocked the river with trees, and have a small army on top. Insectoids were flying around, harassing any Antraci that surfaced or tried to reach the shore. I couldn't see beyond the blockage, but I could hear the sound of fighting." Tergin said, increasing his swimming speed.

Jake looked behind to make sure the others were keeping up and saw many were struggling.

"Slow down a bit, or we will lose the others."

Tergin cursed in his native language but slowed down.

Ten minutes later, Jake could make out the individual shouts. Focusing, he drew in the blue mana particles, preparing for what was to come.

It still took another five minutes before a shadow appeared ahead of them. Sticking close to the ground to avoid detection, they closed in on a wall of uprooted trees, branches, stone, and mud. The water was blurry here, and the screams of rage and pain coming from the other side of the wall send shivers down Jake's spine.

"Tergin, go up and see how many Goblins are on the wall," Jake whispered. He was too large to do any sneaking around.

Without a sound, Tergin shot up. Within seconds, he came back, a look of despair on his face.

"They outnumber us four to one, but that isn't the worst thing. I saw eight Orcs, all wielding thick spears. If they surround you..." Tergin's voice trailed off, and he looked at Jake. He seemed ready to snap at any moment.