Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Preparations (I)

When the first agents arrived, they found the three adventurers hunting a glyptodon, a kind of giant armadillo. At first, it might seem like an easy prey, since it didn't attack. It relied on its tough defense to make its attackers tire and walk away.

That was precisely the problem. It was difficult to defeat it, and the echoes of the combat attracted other beings from the swamp. It was precisely what they had been doing for a long time, attracting them. Nonetheless, now they had lowered the intensity.

In that way, it seemed that they only wanted to attack the huge mana being, and feared it would attract other predators if they attack too hard. They didn't want their guests to be suspicious, so, when the goshawk had warned them, they had finished off the predators attracted by the noise. The mana fluctuations had also been tampered. After that, they had waited for Engenak's agents to arrive, slowly dealing with their prey.

"Are you the Reptiles and felines group?" the agent asked, with some irritation in his voice.

He had only asked in order to start a conversation, since he knew it was them. The fluctuations of the communicator pointed to them. What bothered him was that they were hunting instead of keeping an eye on their target. He feared that they might escape or, worse, discover them.

"Yes, we are. Are you the ones for the reward?" Eldi asked, in the form of a panther-man.

Another of the agents sighed, while thinking that those adventurers weren't capable of being the least bit discreet. If it hadn't been them, they might have had a serious problem talking about rewards. Luckily, the agents didn't have to fear that they would spill the beans when they were done. They weren't planning to let any witnesses survive.

"Yes, we are. Isn't it dangerous to be hunting? They could hear you," the first agent inquired, worried.

"Nah, they can't hear us here. They went to sleep a couple of hours ago. They won't be out for another eight. Those adventurers always do the same, they like to sleep," the male reptilian intervened, who was none other than Gjaki in disguise.

"Are you sure? Can you take us to them?" the agent asked, somewhat anxious.

"Yeah, sure, as soon as we finish with the glypto," Goldmi assured, while laughing inside.

They had decided to make them suffer a little. They wanted to observe them, to see how they behaved when they were made to wait, to decide if they should kill them or just imprison them. Also, there was no rush. So far, only two had arrived, four more were located by the albino bird, and they were sure many more would come.

In fact, Gjaki had bet thirty, while Eldi had stayed for twenty, and Goldmi had ignored them. Winning a dessert wasn't a great incentive for who cooked them.

The two agents couldn't help but frown, their lips twitching. They wanted to kill them right now, though that was something that would have to wait. For now, they needed them.

They had no choice but to wait patiently, to watch how those clumsy adventurers slowly killed the armored being. They whispered irritably among themselves, while informing those who were arriving of the situation. They would have wanted to help the adventurers to finish faster, but it was against the unwritten rules of dungeons.

"At least, it'll be easy..." whispered one of the newcomers, disdaining the pathetic performance of the three adventurers. His hostile intentions were evident in the tone of his voice.

"Follow me, it's this way," Goldmi called them after finishing.

The agents sighed with relief, and followed her. Meanwhile, Eldi and Gjaki approached them with apparent curiosity.

"Are they very dangerous criminals?" Gjaki asked, while looking at Eldi out of the corner of her eye.

"A lot, you have to be careful," one of the agents replied the first thing that came to mind, resigned.

"Really? Will we be enough?" Eldi asked, as he pretended to be scared.

"We'll take care of them. You don't have to do anything else, you've already done enough," another agent settled. The desire to end the conversation was evident in her voice.

"Aren't you too few?" Eldi was surprised, not taking the hint.

"More will arrive soon," the agent assured.

"Really? How many?" Gjaki intervened curiously. That was something they really wanted to know.

"Quite a few, you'll see," she replied coldly. No doubt she was annoyed.

"I see... Panthi, you don't have to worry! They'll take care of the rest!" Gjaki called Goldmi.

All of Engenak's agents felt a chill. They couldn't understand how they could yell like that. What if they heard them?

"Don't make so much noise, they might hear you," one of them censured.

"Don't worry! They're far away!" Gjaki exclaimed happily, while she was silently cursed.

"What will you do if they run away? They could escape with the dungeon pass when you attack," Eldi inquired. He wanted to appear concerned.

"It's under control," his interlocutor assured.

"Really!? How? Will you be waiting for them outside?" Eldi continued trying to pry information from them.

"No need, we'll surround them with a spell to distort space," another replied.

His companions looked at him with disapproval, even reproach. However, who had spoken shrugged, indicating with the gesture that it didn't matter. Anyway, those curious adventurers were going to die soon. Even so, some didn't like that he had spoken too much.

Gjaki and Eldi kept taking turns to try to get as much information out of them as possible, while trying to appear naive and carefree. Until Goldmi turned around and put a finger to her mouth.

"Ssshh. From now on keep quiet," she told them.

"Yes, boss," Gjaki stood almost to attention.

"Of course boss, whatever you say," Eldi also assumed, more naturally, even somewhat mockingly.

It should be said that Gjaki was relying on Frozen Heart, Eldi on Lion's Heart, and Goldmi on Serenity. Although it wasn't their main function, this time they avoided the risk of not being able to hold back the laughter anymore. The faces and attitudes of those enemy agents were quite comical.

They knew they were irritating and exasperating them, which made it easier to get information out of them. Maybe, it could provoke a reaction that betrayed their nature, and for which they were prepared. They weren't many yet.

Goldmi led them up a small ridge, then pointed into the distance. There, behind a tree, a tent could be seen. It was surrounded by a shield that blocked any mana fluctuations. That way, the beings from the swamp wouldn't get close, although it wasn't as effective in preventing other types of visitors.

Outside, sitting, a motionless figure could be seen, presumably keeping watch. It was a Clone created by Goldmi from the plants, which had been dressed, and they had even covered its face.

"There they're. The others are inside. They always take turns to watch," the elf disguised as a panther-woman announced.

Engenak's agent nodded, and scanned the area carefully. Then, one of them stayed with the group, while the others went to explore and survey the terrain. Everything had to be prepared as quickly as possible. Ideally, before they woke up.