Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Anthill (I)

Gjaki and Eldi were each on one side of the archer, while the lynx covered her back. The goshawk helped from above, by landing on some ants, and destroying their antennae or eyes.

Goldmi led the way, and was killing the ants with her arrows. The insects were one level below, and were just ahead, so it was easy to shoot them down. Perhaps, those who had the most work were three little beings who were in charge of collecting the corpses. They worked surprisingly well as a team, and obeyed the subconscious commands of their masters.

Alerted, the ants tried to block their path, but there weren't enough of them, and the group was advancing fast. Perhaps, if many of them weren't inspecting certain caves in which the group had been the day before, it would have been more difficult for them to advance.

It is also true that it would have been even easier if the elf had asked the forces of nature for help. However, she now knew that those skills caused stress in the plants, so she preferred not to do it if it wasn't necessary.

In fact, after using them, she used to stay in the place for a while. Her mana and her aura slowly restored the plants that had helped her. Although it is also true that the dryads had assured her not to worry, that they could take care of it. She just had to send them some delicious snacks from time to time.

"We've arrived," Gjaki announced.

The entrance to the anthill was a huge mound from which its inhabitants continually came out, looking for the intruders. An ant's head came out just at that moment, and both eyes were pierced by arrows. At the same time, an albino bird tore at one of the antennae. Several more arrows pierced through its head, which caused it to finally fall the way it had come. It dragged a couple of its kin in its fall.

They climbed the mound, which Goldmi had already cleared of ants. As they did, the vampiress slid under one of the approaching ants, severed its legs on one side, and got out to avoid being crushed.

Eldi Propelled another backwards. He didn't care about killing them, he just had to push them over and over again. In addition, if they were wounded, they hindered those which came from behind.

The lynx Jumped on the insect and attacked its neck. As it was unbalanced by the impact, it was barely able to resist.

They stayed around Goldmi for a while, while she cleaned the entrance tunnel to the anthill. She riddled the ants that wanted to climb towards the exit.

"Clean, more or less. Some are appearing below," she informed her companions.

"I'm going!" the vampiress exclaimed, who actually already knew. One of her Bats was watching the entrance.

Without hesitation, she jumped through the hole and dropped, thus picking up speed until it was time to use Glide. After considerably slowing her fall speed, she deactivated the skill, and propelled herself with both feet on the wall.

The vampiress spun in the air as she reached the other end and repeated the movement. This time, instead of the wall, she was met by a newly arrived ant, which received a strong kick between both eyes. Furthermore, due to Surprise Dagger it had also been stabbed.

The ant was slightly pushed back, but that didn't help it escape. Gjaki had sprung forward on impact and climbed onto her back. The insect was soon eliminated. The dagger wounds were even more devastating thanks to Burning Touch.

She turned to face the next, but a swift lynx beat her to it. The feline had hopped down from side to side of the vertical tunnel. When she had reached the bottom, she had Jumped right on her prey. It was caught by surprise, so she managed to close her jaws on it with ease. After that, she turned and looked at the vampiress, as if smug for getting ahead of her.

Goldmi smiled as she plopped down. Her sister was just showing off, and the goshawk was criticizing her. Although reluctant, the white bird was following the elf, for she didn't want to be left alone outside. Although the winged sister didn't like enclosed spaces, she preferred to be with her sisters.

The elf Hovered to settle gently on the hard packed sandy ground, as Eldi went down last. He had placed a Burning Dome over the entrance to the anthill, thus preventing the ants from reaching it for a while. They could follow them, but they would be scorched.

He relied on Climbing to climb down the rope, which was attached to the spear that was stuck into the wall. Gjaki had suggested that he could drop into the void and use Impregnable, but he preferred to keep that skill in case it was needed. At least, that was the reason he had convinced himself, but he didn't want either to check if the skill actually worked on falls like in-game. There, it was considered an exploit. Maybe, he would try another time and with less distance.

Eldi could rely on Helicopter too, but he wasn't quite sure if it could be used it in the relatively narrow tunnel. Besides, he had barely tested it.

He landed and went to the front. Although the mage warrior wasn't really a tank, he was the sturdiest of the team. Gjaki was right behind, while the lynx was close to her sister. She was watching the rear, or if she had to help up front. They had set traps, but they couldn't only rely on them.

The tunnel was illuminated by a pair of floating lamps, which followed the orders of their owners. Gjaki didn't need them, but her two companions did.

The goshawk was on the elf's shoulder, somewhat uncomfortable because of the place where they were. However, at the slightest opportunity, she wouldn't hesitate to help.

For a while, the advance was easy and unfruitful. The ants one level lower didn't give them much experience, but they didn't need to squeeze their mana either. It was when they saw two ants bigger than the rest that they understood that they had to start getting serious.

The group had already found some of those soldier ants, whose level was usually between one and two higher than the rest, although there were some three level higher. That is, two more than the current level of Goldmi and Eldi.

"That must be the right tunnel," Gjaki pointed out.

She had seen them come out of one of the adjacent tunnels through her winged scouts. Their goal was to destroy that anthill, with the queen. The place where the most powerful ants came from seemed a good clue, although they couldn't be sure. At the very least, they would have more powerful opponents to level up.