Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Plans, victories and failures

The vampire looked up from the documents. After so many years, he hadn't been able to find someone like Krovledi, not even any of his other children were comparable.

He had found her, chosen her, converted her, and nurtured her growth with great care. She was very important to him, which is why he had even provided her with a valuable artifact that allowed her to flee in case of extreme danger. Despite this, she had died.

She needed only a little more to become the ideal sacrifice that would help him recover his power. He had led her to believe that she could transform into an ancestral vampiress, and break out of his hold, even oppose him. Little did she know that all the clues that she had painstakingly collected had been planted by her father.

Time and again, however, some visitors had thwarted Krovledi's plans, and thus Khan Golge's.

Investigations had concluded that three visitors were to blame for her death, although he didn't know how, or if they had acted alone. He only knew that the vampiress had provoked them, killed a companion, and they had gotten their revenge.

He suspected that one of them had some way to prevent her from escaping, but it didn't matter anymore.

"How do I hate those visitors," he murmured.

In fact, long ago, he had recruited one, who had been placed under the command of his deceased daughter. However, that visitor had been defeated by another one, the same who had eliminated one of his children, and become the Blood Queen. It was something that annoyed him a lot.

The Blood Kingdom had been his in the past, and he still considered it his property. Until a few dozen years ago, he had dominated it from the shadows through his children, by turning them against each other. Now, some had died, and others had been forced to flee.

If he knew that Gjaki was also involved in Krovledi's death, he would have put all his efforts into ending that threat. However, by now, the vampire didn't consider her as such, just a nuisance to get rid of if the opportunity arose.

His main goal after hundreds of years was still to regain his power. Unfortunately, so far, none of his plans had come to fruition.

He had successfully subdued the Guardians of the North, had even corrupted his lands, and had spread said corruption. Nonetheless, he had failed in his main objective, to get the Heart of the Eternal Flame.

He suspected that it was in the sealed city of the guardians. He hadn't imagined that they had that ace up their sleeve, and neither had his pawn warned him. He had been tempted to kill him just for it.

All efforts to enter had been in vain for close to a hundred years, despite being in the place surrounded by corruption. He wondered if they would ever make it.

His other plan, with Krovledi, had also failed. Although none of them had been as hard a blow as the failure of his most ambitious project. He had made use of an ancient evil that he intended to absorb. His goal was to weaken him in a war against the guardians, against Jorgaldur's forces. Once achieved, he intended to seize the power of that ancient evil, while weakening his enemies.

However, the guardians had opted for a strategy as unexpected as it was effective. They had invited beings from another world, who were possessors of a peculiar power capable of facing the forces of that evil. They were the visitors. He hated them.

"Menxilya? Is something wrong?" her father called her.

That snapped her out of her stupor. She had been looking out into the woods, in fact, far beyond. She turned with a smile.

"No. Three fates have come together in one. It's coming," she clarified.

He looked at her and nodded. He had to tell it to the others, though there was no rush. At the moment, he felt the urge to hug his daughter.

Since the arrival of that visitor, they had regained hope, but also fear. Now that the prophecy had been partially fulfilled, It meant that they could finally have the means to fight. What they didn't know was if they could win.

The temptation to stay where they were, in the safety of the elven village, and carry on with their lives, was great. However, despite the time that had passed, they couldn't forget those they had left behind. Nor the humiliation of leaving their home and being hunted for years.

Not one of them had been tempted, quite the contrary. Since that visit, they had unsheathed their weapons again, sharpened them, polished their armor and practiced their spells. Soon, they would need to use them. The final battle was drawing near.

"So, she has finally accepted," Ricardo congratulated.

"Not only that. She says that she knows three more visitors who might be interested," Elsa assured.

"Can we trust her?" he hesitated.

"No. We'll have to watch her. Maybe, kill her when it's all over. What's certain is that she won't hesitate to kill Eldi Hnefa. She's already killed another visitor before," the countess assured.

"What does she want in exchange?" Ricardo asked.

"Slaves. She wants us to send her ten a month. It's easy to guess why," Elsa explained with some disgust.

"It's grim, but it's better than losing another artifact. Besides, that way, we'll keep in touch with her. It's always better than having her as an enemy," he reasoned.

"As long as she gets out of here alive," she threatened with a sinister smile on her lips.

He nodded, while making another mental note to be ever vigilant. Elsa could be extremely dangerous. He had to do whatever needed to never become her enemy.

"So, dad has met his friends..." Liodon rejoiced.

"That's what mom said. We have to go to see her. You know how she feels," Lidia asked.

"Sure. But first, we should finish this," her brother pointed out.

She looked and nodded. Her face became serious and focused. Their guests had arrived.

A detachment of over a hundred Saint Soldiers gradually appeared on the road. They were until now hidden behind a steep slope. They were escorting a cart in which there were several prisoners, in full view, chained.

These prisoners were supposed to be heretics. They should be taken to the church lands to convert them, to save them, but the truth was different. They were slaves without any type of rights, and kidnapped from their homes with the excuse of heresy. Their relatives may have even been killed.

Until now, the church had acted with total impunity, increasingly daring and corrupt. They had strong ties to nobility and royalty, and they supported each other in their tyranny. The church could never have expected that such a powerful detachment would simply disappear without a trace, as well as its cargo.

They were powerful soldiers, but the ambush had been carefully prepared. Even in the church, there were rebels, people who couldn't stand what it had become. Thanks to their information and help, the saint soldiers, who were loyal to the corrupt hierarchy, didn't stand a chance. They were attacked from the outside and from the inside.