"Jake, are we almost out? A soft, frightened voice asked, deep inside the dark and dense jungle.

Pushing strenuously against the wall of plants surrounding him, Jake sighed and pushed down his concern as much as he could.

"I don't know Emma. We have already backtracked much further than we traveled inside. We should have exited the jungle half an hour ago."

Behind them, Mason, who was softly cursing under his breath, suddenly stopped with a loud yelp.

Jake froze and turned around, his anxiety rising to new heights.

"What's wrong?!"

"He let go of my hand!" Emma cried, squeezing Jakes hand.

Jake turned around and maneuvered around Emma until he stood on the spot Mason should have been. From all sides, branches poked him while leaves folded snugly against his skin. Sticking out his hands to the sides, he began feeling around trying to find Mason, or at the very least the trail he should have left. As time passed and he still didn't feel anything, his heartbeat rose, and he started overstretching, hanging with his full weight against parts of the jungle, in his desperate search for his friend. All of a sudden, his hand pushed through the tight foliage, and he lost his balance. He tumbled forward, branches scratching against the scales on his face, quickly closing the transparent second eyelids to protect his eyes. His first reaction was to let go of Emma so he wouldn't pull her along, but then his protective instincts kicked in and he clenched her hand tightly. He couldn't leave her alone here!

Emma screamed as he dragged her along with him. It lasted only a split second before they fell on a soft cushion of yellow and orange moss and Jake immediately pushed himself upright as fast as he could, looking forward. He almost had a heart attack when a golden and red Kobold face appeared directly in front of him, the long snout almost touching his.

Mason was sitting in front of him, a finger against his lips and eyes open wide.

Blinking, Jake swallowed down some bile before nodding, and he looked around. Behind him, Mason was using a hand to cover Emma's mouth in an attempt to prevent her from screaming. The little Kobold was almost panicking, tears dripping from her eyes. After a second, she recognized Mason and calmed down before raising her hands and pulling Mason's hand away.

Jake was about to ask what was going on when Mason raised a finger in warning. Then he moved to the side, granting Jake his first view of the small clearing they were sitting in. In the middle of a mossy tapestry, a tall, perfectly straight black tree was standing its top disappearing amongst a canopy of leaves. It had no branches that they could see, and all the other trees seemed to stay away from it, creating a perfect circle. Only the yellow and orange moss grew across the clearing, but even it stopped within half a meter off the tree, creating a second circle. Scattered around the tree were blackish branches, anywhere between one and two meters long, as thick as Jakes upper arm.

Looking around carefully, Jake wondered why Mason seemed to be on edge. Nothing was moving… Before he could finish the thought, one of the black branches on the ground shuddered a bit, and a small twig grew from its side. With a smooth motion, it reached out to the soft carpet of moss and with what resembled a little hand ripped away a handful of moss before bringing it back to the main branch. A slit opened up, and the hand stuck the moss inside. The slit closed again, and the small arm merged back into the branch.

Frozen in place, the three Kobolds looked at the thing in horror. After a moment, another branch repeated the process. Jake looked at Mason, getting an uncertain shrug. Glancing at Emma, he noticed she was staring at the behavior of the branches as if spellbound.

Looking back at the solid wall off foliage, Jake wished he was back inside. As careful as he could, he began rising, but as soon as he did Mason gripped his arm, pulling him back. Raising an eyebrow, Jake tilted his head in confusion. His friend grimaced before looking straight up.

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Getting a terrible feeling, Jake looked above his head and froze again. Black branches, similar to those on the ground, hovered at the edge of the clearing. They appeared from between the green and purple leaves like snakes. Inspecting them and then the tree again, he looked at Mason sharing a horrified look. After a moment Mason pointed at the tree and raised a hand. He mimicked how the tree went straight up and how many branches came back down again at the edges, forming something similar to a trap.

Nodding, Jake started rooting through the moss and soil below looking for a stone. His eyes flew open in amazement when he felt something smooth and round, and using two hands, he drew it out. In his hands, he was holding an old and worn yellowed skull. It had three eye sockets and stumps where horns might have sat on the top. From the side came a sharp intake of air, and he saw that Mason was staring at the skull. After a moment he put it down and dug around some more, quickly unearthing bones, both small and large and many more skulls.

Emma started softly crying, made him feel even worse. Uncertain, he picked up a skull, weighing it for a moment before looking at the far side of the clearing. With a flick of his wrist, he threw the skull across the moss-covered clearing.

Three pair of reptilian eyes were following the stone.

Hitting the side of the vegetation, and unable to penetrate it, the skull began falling to the ground. Above it, one of the branches shivered and shot down, striking the skull before it could fall even halfway down. Bone fragments scattered around, some of which knocked into the branches on the ground. Right away, the branches started moving.

The black branches quickly grew legs and arms, before standing on two or more limbs. At the top of each stick, two orange bulbs stared around unblinking. Within moments seven of the black sticks had transformed into scrawny, black entities looking around as if they sought that which had awoken them.

The two friends looked at each other quickly, and Mason pulled Jakes head close to whisper something in his ear. "We have a chance. Those fucking branches that are hovering at the top pause for a moment. The skull couldn't penetrate the jungle, but we should be able to jump right in."

Clenching his fists, Jake thought for a moment, keeping his eyes on the still searching black branches. Then he nodded and motioned towards Emma.

"I will carry her, don't worry," Mason whispered before crawling to the small blue Kobold and whispering something in her ear.

Jake, still keeping an eye on the sticks, noticed one looking over at them for a moment, seeming not to see them all, its body turning away. Then the stick stopped and snapped back, turning it's horrifying orange orbs to Jake. A weird ticking noise started echoing through the clearing, and the other branches turned to them as well.

Mouthing "now," Mason picked up Emma and rushed towards the side of the jungle. Jake followed right behind him, passing him, and at the same time, they threw themselves at the thick wall. For a second Jake felt resistance pushing him back, then a branch blocking him broke and his scaly body disappeared from view just as Mason and Emma did.

--

Unbeknownst to them, the black branches walked to the edge of the clearing, clicking sounds coming from deep inside their wooden bodies. After a moment, a louder banging noise sounded from the central tree, and the black branches leaped forward disappearing inside the jungle.

--

"We've gotta move if those ugly sticks follow us we won't be able to see them coming," Mason hissed, grabbing Jakes hand and pulling him forward. Jake nodded, not realizing that Mason couldn't see him and held Emma's hand. Now in the lead, the bulky shape of Mason began barreling through the jungle, snapping branches left and right and creating a path for the others to follow.

"Make sure you don't stake yourself, you fool!" Jake shouted in a panic.

He got no reply, but Mason slowed down a little.

"They are after us!" A high pitched scream, filled with fright came from Emma, causing both guys to feel a sense of dread.

Mason started picking up speed again with his eyes narrowed to slits. Two very inhuman eyelids covered most of his eyes and stopped even sharp sticks that would have penetrated his eyes otherwise. A tree branch, thick and strong caused him to come to a sudden stop, and he shook his head slightly dazed. In the momentary silence, Jake heard something, and he was about to say so when Mason shouted.

"What the… I smell water!"

Not waiting for a response, Mason began rushing forward again, pulling Jake and Emma with him.

"I hear rushing water!" Jake shouted over the sound of Mason moving through the jungle like a freight train.

Soon Jake too smelled the water, and the sound of it overpowered all the other sounds. With a suddenness that caused all three of them to come to a staggering halt, they exited the jungle. Light, bright and warm caused them to close their eyes for a moment, enjoying the feeling of the sun on their now almost naked scale-covered bodies.