Return to Jorgaldur Volume II: the druid archer

Gjaki method

They had said goodbye to the dwarf and bull warriors, and to the reptilian mage. It hadn't been a long time, but she had liked them from the beginning, so she would miss them. But not the drelf, for she was accompanying them.

They expected it to be a short, uneventful trip to the next area. However, shortly after leaving, they encountered their first setback.

"There's someone a little further. They're five. It's the prince's group," announced the drelf.

She could detect any presence through her strong connection to nature, a skill that was useless in the corrupted area. In addition, it wasn't easy to interpret, as there were thousands of presences. There was too noise to take them all into account.

Nonetheless, those presences were and acted in a clearly different way, in addition to the fact that Maldoa had been watching them since long before they left. She didn't trust them, the ones who should now be fighting the losts instead of being there. Therefore, she had been able to isolate their presence easily.

Goldmi sighed. They could try to mislead him, but he would surely follow her to the next post, as it was easy to guess where they were headed to. She had believed that ignoring him would be enough, but it was evident that she had to face the problem, even if she didn't know very well how to do it. So, she decided to try the Gjaki method.

"It'll be better to make things clear once and for all," she said firmly.

Her friend didn't miss that she was much less convinced than what she pretended. It was also impossible to fool her sister. Even so, they didn't hesitate to support the elf.

They walked straight to where he was waiting them, with their defenses ready, just in case.

"At least, they aren't hidden. That would have been a bit sinister," the elf thought to herself.

Those men were on the side of the road, if that barely visible trail could be called a road. The prince stood up as soon as he saw them appear, and showed a wide smile.

"Dear Goldmi, we were waiting for you," he greeted her. "What's this...!?"

He had approached her, and wanted to put a friendly hand on her shoulder, but Cyclone Barrier had prevented it. It was obviously a protection she hadn't just activated, but it had still bothered him.

"Prince Krusledón, what is the reason for this?" asked the elf, very serious, as she was looking at him and his escort.

Her serious face was half fake, half real. She wanted to appear impassive, to get away from her usual personality. However, the fact that he had wanted to put his hand on her when they had no relation had really bothered her. So much familiarity had irritated her, especially when it came from someone with a certain resemblance to her ex, and when there was no reason for that.

"I just want to accompany you. That way, we can get to know each other better," the prince collected himself and smiled again.

"Prince Krusledón, I have no interest in getting to know you better, or that you accompany us. This's a goodbye. I wish you the best," Goldmi rejected him and walked on past them.

She might seem cold, but inside she was shaking. For her, being as direct as Gjaki was part comforting and part scary. She didn't quite understand where her former companion got her courage. Although not all thought the same.

"You've done well. You should've done it from the beginning, so he wouldn't have bothered us more," the lynx assessed.

Meanwhile, the prince was looking at them in shock as they passed in front of him, seemingly uncaring. Despite it, they were all very alert. While the prince didn't even reach level 30, his companions were above 40, one of them above 50.

"How dare you!? Don't you know who I am !?" the prince finally reacted, enraged.

But none of the three answered him. They kept walking. They hoped to get away from there as soon as possible.

"Don't let them go just like that! How dare you disrespect me!?" he yelled.

What he didn't expect was that, before his companions could react, several roots were Entangling him.

"Don't make it difficult for us. I don't want to be your enemy, but if you give me no choice, those roots won't only hold you down. I warn you, don't try to follow us, the jungle is our ally, you won't be able to protect your prince," threatened the elf.

Maldoa and even the lynx looked at her in surprise. They didn't expect her to go to that extreme. Although surprised, the feline was proud of her sister.

They left while the prince's bodyguards were releasing him from the bonds, and convincing him not to follow them. Their level was much higher than the elf's, but they feared that they couldn't protect the prince. Besides, they didn't know the real power of the drelf. If they had known it, they wouldn't have even considered it. While they wouldn't have had the absolute assurance of being defeated, facing a higher-level drelf in the jungle was almost suicide, even if she were outnumbered.

They also didn't know that it was just a hoax, that Goldmi didn't have the skills to kill him with just the plants, at least not yet. And much less did they know what was going through her mind.

"How could I have done that? Doing like Gjaki is terrifying!" she told herself. She was overwhelmed, although she thought that her old friend may have even gone further.

The truth was that it seemed that they had got rid of the problem, at least for now. They didn't know what the prince would do when he were freed. Therefore, they hastened their pace. The farther the better.

"You've been amazing!" the drelf praised her.

"It has been horrible," Goldmi lamented. "I don't think I can do it again."

"Ha, ha, ha," Maldoa laughed.

"Next time, I'll take care of it," the lynx offered, although the elf immediately refused. Her sister's solutions would be much more radical.

It was also true that she was aware that, had she not done so, she wouldn't have been able to solve the problem. She would have had to accept the prince's company, or let her friend or sister sort it out for her.

The first option wasn't only annoying, but it could even get worse. The second one would have made her feel useless, unable to solve anything by herself, always having to depend on others for any matter.

Therefore, although terrified, although she was still trembling, she felt proud of herself, even somewhat elated at having been able to face it.

Suddenly, all those thoughts vanished. They were replaced by a familiar sensation, a sensation the drelf could also feel, differently but clearly.

But while Maldoa might be relatively puzzled, that was nothing compared to seeing the fairy she had perceived flying towards her friend and hugging her. It was even more baffling when Goldmi, although also somewhat surprised, received her with open arms.

"Aunt Omiiiii!"