Return to Jorgaldur Volume II: the druid archer

Trolls in distress

The little troll girl was crying behind her mother, but she didn't make any noise. She was tremendously scared, something that was palpable despite the monstrous appearance that those beings have. At least, she seemed monstrous to Goldmi, but she couldn't ignore those huge brown eyes that were shedding tears.

The other trolls attacked her mother, but they were cautious. They didn't want to harm the girl, or risk receiving a direct hit from the huge club of the one who was protecting her. Therefore, they wanted to intimidate the mother and make her give up, but they weren't succeeding.

So, their blows weren't as devastating as they could be. Despite that, they were accumulating on the troll mother, as she couldn't defend herself from everyone. It is true that she had also managed to hit some blows, but her enemies had it easier to get away and recover.

The troll mother knew it was a battle she couldn't win, but neither could she go and leave her daughter in the hands of that faction. They would force her to be one of them, to fight a crusade that most of her people considered a thing of the past.

From long ago, who had been her traditional enemies were now simply neighbors. Not that they got along, but they weren't killing each other anymore. In the distant past, both their patriarchs and the orcs' had achieved an enduring peace with dwarfs and elves, by delimiting their domains, and allowing them all to live in peace.

However, some trolls, and also some orcs, had fallen into the temptation that most had rejected, in the promise of a majestic future over the corpses of those who had been their enemies. Where those ideas came from was uncertain, but they had managed to convince them with such promises and lavish gifts.

However, they were few, so they intended to increase their numbers by kidnapping children, who could be molded into soldiers. For that reason, they were attacking them.

Three Ethereal Arrows swiftly crossed the space that separated them from their targets, and pierced into the arms with which the trolls held their clubs. Despite the tough skin of the trolls, thanks to the difference in level, and to Piercing Arrow, they pierced them from side to side.

"Aaaaaargh!!" the trolls yelled.

Two of them dropped their clubs, while the third not only managed to hold it, but threw it towards the place where the arrows had come from. Nonetheless, whoever had shot was no longer there.

The elf had Floated to a high branch before firing. As soon as she saw the troll make the gesture of throwing the club, she used Tarzan to change trees.

She felt a chill after seeing the previous tree was shaking strongly from the impact, which she had barely avoided. Although several levels below, the brute force and instinct of those beings was fearsome. She wasn't quite sure how Cyclone Barrier would have responded, and she didn't want to check it either.

They hoped that the trolls would leave, scared, but they didn't. The others, after recovering from surprise, picked up their weapons with their other hand, and were looking around.

While ignoring the pain, they bit into the Ethereal Arrows, even though it burned them doing so. They ripped them from their arms, thus tearing the wound further, but allowing them to begin to regenerate.

"Smell elf. Elf mind elf business. We kill elf. Girl be we," one of the trolls spat angrily and enraged.

They all looked around. They were searching for their attacker, but not losing sight of their prey.

"If they don't leave, we'll have to finish them off," determined the goshawk, who was already back in the sky.

All three agreed. Their other option was to leave and abandon mother and daughter, but they were unwilling to do so. In the game, they had never done it, and both lynx and goshawk were proud of it. In turn, Goldmi couldn't help but think that, if they were human, she would have no doubt.

So, the elf fired again, to distract the attention of the three trolls. They blocked the arrows with their clubs, or with the branch that the one who had thrown his was using as such.

Suddenly, one of them fell forward, as he was attacked from behind by a burning figure. Flames were their weak point.

The lynx had Jumped on him, and was using Shred to penetrate his thick skin, with her claws infused with Wind Touch. Therefore, the wind was increasing the magnitude of the wounds, while the fire burned the troll in and out.

On her side, the goshawk had Plummeted, arrived just at that moment at the head of another troll, and attacked his eyes with her claws and the wind enveloping her. He was blinded and tortured by intense pain, thus being unable to dodge or block the arrows that were rushing towards him.

The archer was firing arrows three at a time, one at each troll. Against the trolls her sisters were attacking, she used Piercing Arrow, as well as Ethereal or Wind ones, while the third was simply kept busy. In addition, roots had become Tangled in the trolls' legs, thus hindering their movement, or causing them to fall.

The goshawk quickly took flight, after having torn the troll's eyes, since the risk of remaining there was too high. In fact, a few moments later, the palm of a huge hand hit his own face where the bird had been before, thus causing him to lose his balance and fall with a crash.

Meanwhile, the third of the trolls received a terrible blow to the head. The troll mother didn't quite know what was happening, but she wasn't going to miss the opportunity. So, she used all of her strength to attack her distracted enemy, and beat him until he was completely dead, with his head splayed open.

She looked at her other enemies, but none moved. One had several arrows embedded in his skull. Three of them had hit at exactly the same point, and pierced it.

The other was scorched, as the flames had entered inside him, and prevented regeneration.

Mother and daughter looked at the lynx with apprehension, for she was powerful, and they feared that she would turn to them. However, they were even more frightened by a hideously ugly being who Floated down from a tree. She was armed with a bow, and they assumed that she was an elf, since dwarfs were shorter.

They had never seen one, but were horrified by her ugliness, as well as terrified by her arrows. Not only did they tell fearsome stories of them, but they had seen their effectiveness first-hand.