Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Assault on the ruins (V)

Goldmi had hidden behind a tree, so they wouldn't see her use Wind Staircase. By using the wind steps, she and her sister climbed onto a fairly high branch, and hid among the leaves.

A little earlier, the elf had created a plant Clone, which she had even put clothes on. She hoped to distract her enemies for at least a few precious moments.

They approached cautiously. They were vigilant against the threat posed by the arrows of their enemy, and the light of the sun. Although not too slowly either, because the vampires didn't want her to escape.

They had seen her disappear behind a huge tree, but they didn't know if she had hidden there, or had strayed further from it.

As they got closer, Goldmi shot upwards a couple of groups of three arrows. She controlled their trajectory with Curved Shot so that each group fell around different enemies. That way, they couldn't know where they came from, where she was hiding.

The mana from each set of three arrows interacted with the other two to create Wind Traps. She knew that it wasn't possible to kill her enemies just with that, but she could cause damage and chaos. In fact, it became even worse than she had anticipated.

The clothes in which most vampires covered themselves were simple. Only a few had combat clothes, and even less of a high level. For this reason, although they were able to defend with more or less success from the cuts, their clothes weren't so lucky.

The sun's glare might not have been at its peak, but it was more than enough to make the vampires scream in pain as it burned their exposed flesh.

They knew that Krovledi wouldn't let them turn back just because of an intense pain that wouldn't kill them, at least not soon. Therefore, they hastened to the shelter of the shadows from the trees, over which their enemy were hiding. There, the power of the hated star was weaker.

The first to arrive under the tree on which Goldmi was hiding discovered the Clone's silhouette, and attacked without delay. Only when his extended nails pierced the vegetable body did he realize it wasn't real.

He wanted to pull his hand out and back away, as he feared it was a trap, but he couldn't. Because of Tangle, and the dense body of plants that made up the Clone, he was unable to remove his hand from it before several arrows hit him. At the same time, a feline locked her jaw on his neck, crushed his bones and ended his life. Immediately, she scrambled back up the trunk, before the rest of their enemies knew what had happened behind the tree.

The next to arrive found the corpse of her partner next to the figure of the Clone. Even before realizing that it wasn't real, she took a step back, for that corpse warned her of the danger that was lurking.

From a distance, she condensed a few Blood Darts, which she hurled at the vegetal figure, and which pierced it. At the same time, two more vampires arrived, each from one side. They didn't hesitate to attack, while the vampiress who had arrived first began to suspect. Her enemy hadn't even flinched at her darts.

As in the previous case, their attacks penetrated the Clone, and they were trapped by it. Although, this time, the arrows weren't shot at them directly but through Billiards. In this way, they bounced off a tree a few meters away, before reaching the vampires and piercing them, thanks to the power of the projectiles and Piercing Arrow. Purifying Touch added more the damage.

"The arrows come from there! This figure is fake!" the vampiress who had attacked with the Blood Darts warned them.

Along with the others, she headed in that direction. She ignored her trapped comrades, whose wounds burned from the inside out.

Goldmi didn't rush to finish them off. For now, the main goal was buying time to make Gjaki's plan a reality, and keeping her position hidden from them helped with that. Besides, her winged sister had informed her that she didn't need to wait long.

Soon, half a dozen vampires had gathered, while about twenty more were arriving.

"They aren't here... Have they moved?" one of them wondered.

"Let me see if they'res up there," another offered, and started Levitating.

He had barely climbed three meters when a strong blow hit him. It, made him lose his concentration, and push him against the trunk. At that moment, an arrow appeared there after having bounced a couple of times with Billiards. Furthermore, a powerful force of wind had inflicted numerous cuts on him in just a few moments.

The albino bird had Plummeted against him, attacked with Collide while engulfed in wind, and Slalomed away before rising up again. She had coordinated perfectly with her elf sister.

"What was that!? Where did it come from!?" one of them shouted.

Everyone was gaping at the scene, which was taken advantage of by the lynx. She jumped on the badly injured vampires who were still trying to break free. In fact, they would have succeeded if some roots hadn't also Tangled them stealthily.

The first was caught by surprise, and had its neck broken, while the second was alert. With his free arm, he tried to oppose his four-legged enemy. However, that left him defenseless against the arrow that entered the back of his neck.

Goldmi had taken advantage of the fact that they could hardly see the projectile from the distance. Besides, they were distracted by the attack of her winged sister.

The arrow entered his neck, threatening to take his life. As if that weren't enough, the lynx used the distraction to attack.

"Aaaaargh!"

The vampire barely had time to scream before some claws dug into his stomach, and some fangs locked on his neck.

The scream alerted the other vampires, who seemed to have forgotten that the archer had a dangerous companion. The feline looked at them for a moment, and turned around. With a Jump, she moved away towards some bushes, and soon after she was out of sight.

"You don't have to run away so scared. They aren't following you," her winged sister informed her, without wasting the opportunity to mock her.

"Who's running away? I'm distracting them while you fly placidly, and just give a blow from time to time," the feline countered.

The elf sighed, while Gjaki patiently watched through a Bat.

"I want sisters like that too," the vampiress said to herself.

The help of intelligent beings and their coordination with Goldmi made her a little envious. She couldn't help but remember that, in the past, she had fought alongside them. Those memories were strangely vivid.