Return to Jorgaldur Volume II: the druid archer

Exposed

Quilxia and Fhilmo accompanied Goldmi through the forest, while teaching her some of its secrets. Among them, a small lake with a stream flowing into it. Its water fell on the lake from a higher altitude, thus creating a multitude of modest waterfalls.

The half-elf's brother was a pleasant and cheerful teenager in his forties. He was also quite shy. His sister kept teasing him, by mentioning a certain red-haired half-elf girl that he had a crush on.

"Quilx, stop it," he pissed off, embarrassed.

"Is there anyone that your sister likes?" the elf asked curiously.

"She has several suitors, but she ignores them all," Fhilmo lamented, as he would like to be able to tease her sister too.

"They're all annoying. Instead of looking at my tits and ass, they could learn to hunt," the half-elf growled.

"She's always like this, don't take her seriously," her brother sighed.

"Of course you'd say that. You're always gawking when staring at the tits of the apple of your eye," Quilxia mocked.

"Quilx!" he protested, to the laughter of his sister.

It was then that the lynx appeared. The two brothers jumped to their feet, alert, ready to attack at any moment, and somewhat intimidated. That lynx looked strong.

"Stop! She won't do anything to you. She's my sister," the elf interposed.

The two siblings looked at them, puzzled, as Arwen ran towards the lynx. After seeing her hurt, she had worried about her and forgotten about everything else.

"Are you okay? Does something hurt?" she asked her through their link, while she was applying Basic Healing.

"I'm good. Just a little tired," she replied, and lied down.

It was when Goldmi turned to her companions that she realized she had made a serious mistake.

"Who are you really?" Quilxia asked her, very serious.

She wasn't holding any weapon, but she was tense.

"I..."

"In the reward, it was written that she was accompanied by a lynx. Although your appearance doesn't match, it's too much of a coincidence. The hole?" deduced the half-elf.

Her brother looked from one to the other. He was behind his sister, somewhat scared.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to lie to you, but I couldn't reveal my identity. What are you going to do?" the elf was saddened.

After seeing that her recent friend didn't have any hostile attitude, the half-elf breathed in relief. She feared that the elf might become aggressive when her identity was discovered, but Arwen was just down. Quilixia smiled. She had liked meeting her, and her attitude only reinforced that feeling.

"Nothing. Though, as punishment for lying to me, you're going to tell me what happened. Did the prince do something to you?" she worried.

"He wanted to," the elf replied and forced a smile.

She then removed her disguise, thus showing her true face, her golden hair, her blue eyes.

"Wow! You're much prettier like that!" Fhilmo exclaimed, impressed. Immediately, he received an elbow from his sister.

"Just shut up. You better not say a word about this to anyone. Not even mom and dad. Not even your redhead sweetie," her sister looked at him very seriously.

He nodded, solemn, out of conviction and fear. Fhilmo knew her sister. She wouldn't forgive him if he broke his word.

Goldmi explained the story to them. That she was a visitor, and how she had escaped her pursuers. Perhaps, they would have doubted the story in other circumstances, but neither making a kitchen appear nor having a lynx as a sister was exactly common.

They were also stupefied to see the albino bird come down to devour a large portion of roasted snake. They couldn't stop laughing at the sight of the bird and the lynx swallowing a lot of jelly, which not only entered their mouths, but also reached their whiskers and feathers.

Although they were more surprised to be able to get a rare aquatic herb.

"The pond is much deeper than it looks like. Bright herbs grow at the bottom, but it's almost impossible to get them. No one around here has skills to breathe that long," the hunter had explained.

"It's a pity. Mom would get better, she'd recover faster," her brother had lamented.

The elf had looked at them somewhat surprised, for she would never have thought that those spells were so rare.

They had suffered an epidemic a few months ago. It hadn't been lethal, but many were still weak. That plant was the main ingredient in a potion that could ostensibly improve their condition.

"I can go. I can also put the spell on you," Goldmi had proposed.

Somewhat incredulously, the hunter woman had volunteered. She was curious, and she didn't want to miss out on a new experience.

Her brother had been waiting for her, nervous. Later, he had gotten angry with her, after knowing that she had delayed deep down for no reason. She had been marveling of the view inside a Bubble, while he had been worried about her. Besides, she had just ignored him, though she was a bit touched inside.

For this, they were very grateful to her. Even more than for the delicious food, or for the tender muffins they would bring home, or maybe to a certain red-haired half-elf girl.

"Are you sure you can cross? You can stay with us for a while," Quilxia offered.

"Don't worry, I know another path," the elf assured.

On her map, the location of a pass that was known to the players appeared, although the path to there wasn't visible. So, she intended to cross under the mountains through that place, as she knew that there would be no problems with her level.

In other circumstances, she might have stayed a few days, but she feared that the news of the hole might alert some bounty hunters.

"Good luck. Will you ever come back?" the half-elf asked.

"I'll try... Wait... Is there some isolated place that nobody and nothing comes close to?"

The two brothers were surprised at the question. They argued for a while, until, finally, they took her to some caves, which were difficult to access, and without any interest. There, the elf created an Exit Gate, inside a corner of one of the caves, which they even covered.

"Can you really come back by crossing that drawing?" Fhilmo asked, marveling.

"Not for now. In the future I should. When I get the spell back, I'll be able to travel through it.

"We'll be waiting for you," the half-elf woman hugged her.

The elf hugged her back. She was moved. Although Goldmi hadn't known them for more than a day, she was already beginning to miss them.

They tried to refuse, overwhelmed, but she gave them swords at level 55 and 35 anyway. They were only the normal ones, the ones that were sold at the game's merchants, but for them those swords were of great quality.

The siblings looked at her silhouette disappear in the forest, without knowing if they would see her again. In fact, if it weren't for the plants, food, and weapons, they might have thought it had just been a dream.

Goldmi looked back and sighed. There were more and more people in this world that she had said goodbye to, and wanted to see again. Then, she looked at her sister.

"Are you going to tell us what you've been doing?".

She wouldn't have insisted if the lynx hadn't been excessively mysterious. Although she looked reluctant, the feline was looking forward to sharing it with her sisters. She needed to tell them everything.