It was going better than his last meeting with a kinsman at least. The first step in meeting one was initiating contact, then confirming intelligence, and finally deciding the next course of action.

This one was a little strange. It just seemed to want to touch him for whatever reason. Every hop he took, it responded in kind with a hop of its own.

He came to a rather sad conclusion after his repeated attempts at communication. It was dull brother. A horrifically sad occurrence and an undeniable one at that. Sometimes the spawn would flee at the vibrations of the enhancer and refuse to come out when it was on. This resulted in a less intelligent and slower-growing tadpole.

While it wasn’t common, it did happen. This left their civilization with a problem of what to do with them. A less sophisticated race might throw them off a cliff for their weakness to prevent the drain on resources.

Their civilization took a much more humanitarian stance on the problem. The small and less intelligent members of society were allowed to contribute in their own unique way.

They would be given a beautiful collar attached to a pole and a quaint home to call their own. They would then spend their days eating the small insects and pests that found their way into the greater cities. It was a respected and noble profession from what he had heard.

A small pat on his back took him out of his reminiscing. The frog had followed him for hundreds of hops now. If it refused to leave, then he wasn’t going to argue with it. He finally gained a new companion in his fight against the other god’s warriors.

Soon enough he will lead an unstoppable tide of amphibian kin to rule the world.

With his new companion in tow, he hopped along the forest floor, confident in his strength yet vigil of any dangers. He finally felt just a little bit like a true leader.

The forest around them spoke volumes. The birds above squawked and chirped with their passing, signaling the lack of large predators nearby. The insects that sang in chorus quieted as they passed through the areas they congregated in fear of being their next meal. A fair worry.

The journey lasted for a few hours when they suddenly stopped hearing the avian noises that had dominated the air.

He tensed slightly and slowed his pace ahead.

Not long after, the sound of metal weapons and twanging bows reached his external ear drums. There was a fight up ahead. Not one of beasts, but of the civilized races.

They inched closer to take a look at the battle before them. The two sides clashed viciously with blood and spit flying in all directions. The combat was brutal no matter what way you looked at it.

Large green warriors with tribal tattoos covering their skin clash with the more lithe and agile pale archers. Two crude, hooked blades came swishing forward in an attempt to behead one of the skinny warriors only to be deflected off course by a random arrow fired by another.

It was a scene from one of the stories he heard from the visiting mages. Orcs and elves fighting each other for dominance in the forests they each called home.

Despite the impressive actions of the elven fighters, the larger orcs soon overpowered them with brute strength and sheer numbers. The ten defending elves huddled around the cart and in a last-ditch effort to protect whatever cargo it contained. The attacking force of three dozen orcs swarmed them from all sides, slowly picking them off one by one.

It was truly a horrific blood bath. The elven bodies dropped to the floor leaking blood like a vernal pool overflow. It was slghtly exhilarating if you weren’t the one getting killed from Egosum’s point of view.

His small hidden position on a densely vegetated mound kept him safe from any wandering eyes or curious orcs high from a battle.

The next scene was less entertaining to him. The green creatures tore the dead elves apart, limb from limb. Their large incisors and sharp front teeth tore flesh from bone and crunched those very same bones into pieces.

His stomach ached as he watched the orcs finish their feast. Sure, he might also eat his enemies when they fit his mouth, but he didn’t tear them apart and lick his bloody fingers clean.

‘How undignified. I can see why my kin despise most of the Urkai species. How barbaric.’

At least the elves would be able to live side by side with the amphibian kin in the swamps if they allowed the trees to grow large enough to support them. The largest of the tree frogs might even enjoy the change of scenery. The orc would just raze the land and poison the water with filthy contaminants.

The many orcs finished their meals quickly, leaving nothing to identify their victims, and ransacked the carriage that they had guarded with their life.

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Thin blades and dried meats were taken from various crates in the back along with anything else they could find of value.

A loud cracking noise stole his attention from the items they scavenged for. Out of the back of the carriage, a large green warrior carried out a still living elf with large golden eyes and flowing blonde hair.

“Oh no. My valiant warriors sacrificed themselves for me. Whatever shall I do? I hope these orcs don’t ravish me for days on end.” They espoused their thoughts as all of the orcs followed the largest warrior carrying them.

Greedy looks covered their faces as they followed the elf deeper into the heavily wooded forest.

‘That sounded…. Weird? They didn’t seem too scared. I guess the elders weren’t kidding when they said they were just weird wood humans with a fondness for nature.’

After waiting for a few minutes for the orcs to gain distance from the wrecked carriage, Egosum and his follower approached it. It laid on its side from the rowdy warriors damaging it beyond use.

The bright side of this was they now had easy access to the leftover spoils. He found a few untouched chests with strange symbols on them, presumably elven writing as it was not one of his linguistic strong points.

The picture below them seemed to depict a light blue plant with water droplets falling from them. Intrigued, he pried the shut crate open with his two front arms. The wood creaked as he put more and more force behind them, flinging the top off once it reached the point of failure.

‘I really am much stronger than I was. I kinda hate that Dirt was right about it, but I guess I will let him have this one. ‘

The smell that left the crate was pleasantly pungent. It was not dissimilar to the orange plant, frog bulbitis.

His companion smelt the scent wafting out of the it and jumped inside to devour what it contained. Egosum climbed in himself and partook in the small feast before them.

The picture was surprisingly accurate as a description. It was a strangely leafless stem with small branches ending in teardrop shaped clear fruits.

They cooled his stomach and filled his qi as his dao tried forcing its way out. Rustling noises drew his attention from his introspection.

He looked over at the frog before him and thought about what they would need to do to continue growing.

‘These plants feel even more potent to my development than that flaked food back home ever did. Maybe with this, I could even open up my dull brother's mind and teach him at least the basics of Hoppity.’

He broke out of his thoughts as the frog before him devoured the last fruit. If he was going to be sticking around, he deserved a name.

“What would you like to be called?” He opened the question up to his dull friend

The dead eyes that stair back at him did very little to answer his question.

“I see…. Well maybe you would like something along the lines of Quintillion or Precotus?” The lack of response from the creature before him spoke volumes.

“Alright. Then how about….. Coyotl?” The name dated back to their much older ancestors that found themselves trapped in the dark corners of the world.

“Ribbit.” The frog responded for the first time since they had met up. That was a good sign.

“So Coyotl it is. Fantastic!” His company finally had a name to go by. It felt strange to have a companion that he could actually call out to and have some comradery with regardless of whether they could respond or not.

A weird noise caught them off guard sending them into high alert. They both slowly turned to the source of the noise and saw it came from a small, sealed crate. Egosum slowly walked up to it, on the lookout for any possible hidden dangers.

Another bout of nearly silent noises poured from the crate. He pressed his head against the wall and listened intently for whatever was behind it.

“Waah wah.” Hushed moans of leaked from the small box. He determined it was safe enough to open and lifted the wooden top just like the first. Iron nails slowly pulled themselves from the wood that held it in place.

It finally popped off and went rattling to the floor.

The same wines escaped it now in full volume.

“Waaah! Wah wah!” He flinched back as the loud cries impacted his ears.

“Oh Quetulopus, please be quiet.” He spoke in a hush and begged in his kindest elvish tone in the hope that the baby would understand them. As if by a miracle, it immediately silenced itself.

“Thank you small one.” He pulled himself up from the side and stared at it. ”Hmmm, this really looks like it's not my problem.”

The child cradled in velvety cushions sat quietly staring at him, reaching up with its small grubby hands.

“Yeah, I don’t think so.” He jumped down to the ground where his dull companion sat staring at him. “What?”

Coyotl stared at him with his nearly dead eyes, unmoving.

“How are we supposed to do anything about that? We are different species and literally quadrupedal animals. We would be so far out of our depth of skill trying to lug it around, it's not even funny.”

Despite the sound reasoning, Coyotl did not break his judging stare.

“Wow, this is the first thing you want to do and it's a literal impossible task.” Egosum said, the mirth in his voice was barely hidden. An opinionated dull brother was better than most of what he could ask for.

“Okay. I have an idea.” He moved the crate lid back on top and closed it up to keep the baby elf safe. Coyotl continued staring at him, as if disappointed by his decision. “Hold on. We are gonna come back for it, don't worry. We just aren’t in any position to carry it to safety or take care of it, goddesses forbid”

He used his strong back legs to push the smaller crate out from the overturned carriage and into the dense underbrush of the vegetation nearby.

He hopped back to the place of the fight and searched the ground, looking for any signs of where the carriage came from originally. The forest dirt was nowhere near as dense as the village walkways, making them perfect for leaving tracks in.

The deep wheel impressions from where the carriage had traveled made for a perfect trail to trace it back from where it came.

Egosum and Coyotl hoped ahead with a new goal in mind. Hours of travel later, with plenty of random jump scares, the pair finally caught a glimpse of the first sign of elves.