Return to Jorgaldur Volume II: the druid archer

Operation Jump (II)

It isn't easy to detect the movement of a shadow or a corrupted beast, but thousands of the latter approaching the front wasn't something that could go unnoticed.

The logical behavior would have been to wait for them behind the safety of the forest, where there were more resources, and the miasma was repelled. However, in some areas like Goldmi's, it had been decided to be more daring. They had advanced, thus defying the corrupted beings in the middle of the plain.

Goldmi and her group were between them, towards the end. Next to them, invisible, there was Pikshbxgra. Although she didn't like the place, and she hated the miasma, the fairy had a mission there, an important one.

"A presence, over there," the fairy pointed out.

The elf nodded. While she couldn't give the exact position, the fairy could sense the presence of the shadows and their approximate location. That reduced the search range considerably.

Even so, it took them a some time to find it, for it was hiding behind a tree. However, through the eyes of the goshawk, it was only a matter of time.

She could fly freely through the sky, because, under the general's orders, the corrupted beasts were waiting for the moment to attack.

"I need to be closer. About a hundred meters over there," Goldmi reported.

Lingisa nodded, as it was inside what they expected. So, she telepathically ordered the operation commander to move towards that direction, little by little, with caution.

They took a few steps and then stopped. Then some more. And some more. Their intention was to make their enemies believe that they would continue to advance, that they were falling at their provocation. Although, in reality, they were at all times prepared to back off in an orderly fashion if something went wrong.

"There's a fairy," the shadow thought aloud, disdainfully.

Just as fairies could detect the presence of shadows, they could detect that of fairies. Therefore, he was semi-hidden, ready to escape if something strange happened.

He was closely monitoring changes in the fairy's presence, as well as the movements of the enemy army.

"Come on, get a little closer. Do you think there're many of you? You're going to get a surprise! The closer you're, the less survivor there'll be. Haha. That's it. A bit more."

It had ordered a few hundred corrupted beings to appear in front of the dead forest, to try to make them believe that there weren't that many. In the worst case, if it went wrong, it would simply lose those hundreds, and walk away with the other thousands.

It had ordered all its troops to wait until it decided to attack, while it greedily watched the living. The shadow was a little impatient about them stopping each time they advanced a bit, although it was also laughing at the uselessness of their actions.

They had advanced more than a hundred meters when it saw them begin firing, thus hitting some of the more advanced corrupted beasts.

"That's it. Take the hook. Now, come a little closer," he said to himself, his eyes shining.

Obviously, it couldn't see all the arrows. For this reason, one of those which seemed to have deviated went completely unnoticed. No one paid attention to a stray arrow, however strange its trajectory was. It was also not uncommon for wind or mana fluctuations to change the trajectories of projectiles.

The arrow crossed the sky, arrived at an unexpected angle to a certain tree, and was stuck in it. It had just pierced an overconfident shadow, which disappeared without even time to be surprised.

"It's gone," the fairy confirmed.

"General eliminated. There is no more," informed the elf.

Shortly after, the small army advanced, with caution and a little fearful. They weren't quite convinced of the information that the commander had transmitted to them.

Nonetheless, they soon found out that it was real. There were thousands of corrupted beings motionless, as if waiting to be eliminated. They had been ordered to wait, and they continued to do so after the shadow's death. At the end of the day, they would have annihilated all of them with no danger other than the aggression of the trees, or some beast that had just arrived, and that couldn't survive the coordinated attack of so many living beings.

While that was happening, Lingisa had opened a portal, through which only Maldoa, Goldmi, her sisters and the fairy crossed. There, they met three other bodyguards, one of them a man of the same race as Lingisa, a vislzar, who greeted them with curiosity and a respectful bow.

"There's two. Over there and there," reported the fairy.

"It seems that there're two generals," the elf transmitted to them, to the surprise of those who had welcomed her.

Although they had heard what she was capable of, the fact that as soon as she arrived she knew the information impressed them, as well as the fairy's aura.

"How will we do it? Maybe they can tell if something happens to the other, and run away," a draconian worried.

"I'll have to shoot them at the same time," Goldmi replied, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

They looked at her somewhat incredulously, but accompanied the elf disguised as panther-woman to the group advancing on their enemies. They had just received the order to advance.

It was a little more dangerous than the other time, since they had to get closer to have both generals within range. Fortunately, that area was only level 60, approximately.

As the adventurers advanced, they discovered the first general through the goshawk, who immediately went to look for the second. The biggest problem was that, like the previous one, it was hidden behind a tree. If the other was the same, the elf and the goshawk couldn't have them located at the same time, and they couldn't trust that they wouldn't move. Therefore, they had to rely on another plan.

The two draconian bodyguards, along with the lynx, advanced among the adventurers, and took with them a small squad. They had to bring the lynx closer, so that she could locate their enemy. It was an operation as necessary as it was dangerous.

The elf watched her sister go with apprehension, though the feline assured that, in the worst case, she only needed to flee.

The truth was that the elf wasn't totally out of danger either, despite being at the back of the group, and in an area somewhat lower than her level. However, her sister's mission was far more dangerous, and she couldn't help but fear for her.