Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Assault on the ruins (III)

Disguised as Goldki, and while Disguising her level, Gjaki helped her newly recovered elf friend through the magical shields. She then hid in the shadows, while Goldmi advanced, and the albino goshawk watched the situation from the sky.

It didn't take long for a group of five vampires to intercept them. Their levels ranged from ten less than the elf to five more. The most worrying thing was that this time they were prepared.

They attacked in formation, by keeping two mages behind and three warriors in front. The elf took a couple of steps back after creating a Light Abyss. Immediately, she began to shoot her arrows at the warriors.

However, mana shields protected them in their advance. Besides, these shields were continually fueled by one of the mages. Meanwhile, the vampiress mage was preparing a powerful offensive spell.

The lynx Jumped on one of the vampire warriors. Although the magical protection prevented her from hurting him, it was unable to nullify her momentum, so he fell over of his partner.

The third followed her advance towards her enemy. She was ready to prevent her enemy from continuing to shoot those dangerous arrows that were draining the mana of the mage who was protecting them.

"Still not ready? It's time to launch the attack!" the mage in charge of protection exclaimed, turning to his companion.

However, what he saw wasn't her gathering mana, or preparing to cast the spell, but her corpse. None of them knew of Gjaki's existence. She had gotten behind her and executed Backstab, alongside Weak Point, while gagging her victim with her other hand. The unsuspecting mage died instantly.

For a couple of seconds, he stared in shock at the lifeless body of the deceased vampiress, even taking a step back. Perhaps, those two seconds weren't very long, but they were more than enough for Gjaki to appear behind the mage.

A Thousand Cuts wasn't a skill she used regularly, but it was well suited to quickly get rid of the mana shield that was protecting him. With the shield broken, and recovered from his moment of stupor, he attempted a rapid fire attack, one of the few offensive spells he possessed.

The magic barely required time to activate, so it could be used in melee. Despite this, the mana flow and hand movements were too obvious to someone like Gjaki, who also had the agility to dodge the attack. Anyway, if she had received it fully, it wouldn't have inflicted her much harm either.

At the same time she was dodging, the silver-haired vampiress wielded a whip, which Grabbed the wizard's leg. She pulled it, thus causing the vampire to fall before he could attempt a second attack. It rendered him helpless, as a pair of daggers pierced his jugular and heart.

Meanwhile, the vampiress who was rushing towards Goldmi triggered a Light Abyss, so she was enveloped by the purifying light. A Wind Abyss placed in the same place made it difficult for her to escape from it, as well as cut her and her clothes. True, she was inside the ruins, so she wasn't wearing fully covering clothes, but ripping them made her even more vulnerable to the purifying trap.

Goldmi walked over to her sister, who was holding the other two back. Thanks to Steel Skin, her natural defense, and her agility, the lynx hadn't taken much damage when facing the two dangerous vampires. Nonetheless, she was at a disadvantage against two beings that could Self-Regenerate.

A Light Pillar engulfed the feline and the vampires, though it didn't have much of an effect on the former. Although the light blinded her, her sister had warned her beforehand.

For their part, the vampires were surprised by the blinding light, whose purifying ability also made them suffer terribly. As if that weren't enough, the magical power of the pillar opened a hole in the ceiling. In that place, it was nothing more than some precarious wooden boards placed to block out the sunlight.

The lynx couldn't see them, but she could hear their screams. Furthermore, since they were both enemies, she could attack indiscriminately, thus Shredding and burning them. While she couldn't accurately hit their weak points, her continuous attacks, the sun that was now coming through the hole, and the damage from the Light Pillar proved deadly to the vampires.

Goldmi didn't dare to attack, as she feared to harm her sister. The feline's movements in that chaotic melee were too fast for her to be sure not to. Luckily, she seemed to have the upper hand.

Therefore, the elf decided to approach the Abysses, from which a badly wounded vampiress was about to escape. She was cursing her mage companions for not helping her, not knowing that they had already died.

Just as she was about to escape, a Wind Push pushed her back inside the traps, and a pair of Twisters joined the Abysses. The archer didn't shoot. Within strong currents, arrows were deflected too easily.

Gjaki was hidden in Darkness, ready to strike again at any moment, but she preferred not to. The less she showed up, the less likely they would know she was there. Krovledi might come out if her opponent was Goldmi, many levels below her. However, if she knew of her presence, Gjaki doubt she would show.

So, when a vampire appeared in the distance, and turned back, cowering, she simply sent a Bat to follow him.

She could see that he was going into a room, but her scout couldn't follow him any further. He hadn't only closed the door, but another barrier protected the place.

"What's there in that room?" she wondered.

She wanted to go to find out, but couldn't do it yet. The vampires Goldmi was fighting were all but defeated, but a couple more came in from outside. No doubt, the noise had alerted them, and unlike the previous one, they attacked directly.

Unfortunately for the newcomers, Gjaki had had time to lay several threads. She cast Live Thread to made them rise. With Lethal Thread, she sharpened them. After that, several arrows immediately hit the trapped vampires.

She dropped them lifeless, as she slaughtered one who was hesitant. He had been watching from a distance, and totally unaware of who was approaching from the shadows. He was taken totally by surprise.

"There's something there, a vampire has entered," Gjaki informed her friend.

Goldmi nodded, as she recovered mana through Mana Link. The goshawk couldn't help them while they were inside, but she could give them her mana and energy. She also informed them if any vampire entered, and from where.

The archer approached the room, with Life Detection unable to find anything. The spell had been clearly blocked.

With Detect Mana, she was able to perceive the barrier. Rather than brute force open a path like they had done before, she relied on Decompose Mana this time to disable it. They didn't want to risk damaging whatever lay beyond. It could be Elendnas.

Now, all that remained was to enter.