Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

The Valley of the Dead (I)

They advanced slowly towards the place indicated by the albino bird. Even though they were only on the outskirts of the Valley of the Dead, the density of enemies had risen considerably. They could barely take a few steps without encountering a skeleton, a zombie, a wraith, or some other type of undead.

Purifying Touch was very efficient against them. It gave the wounds caused by weapons a purifying effect, which was very harmful to those beings. The rest of the light spells were also especially effective against those kinds of enemies, especially the Light Abysses that the elf was leaving behind. The beings that fell into them were disintegrated by the purifying effect.

The most worrying thing was that the level of the undead was rising. Not only had they entered the valley, but the undead seemed to go out to look for them, attracted by their aura. They didn't know if it was hatred towards life, or a strange desire for what they no longer had.

The lynx's claws were also blessed with Purifying Touch, although she used them rather rarely. They weren't very effective against skeletons, and she deeply disliked zombies. She couldn't stand their putrid smell.

The feline fought them if she had no other choice, but she preferred to attack skeletons or ghosts. The latter were immune to physical attacks, but her fire aura was effective against them.

The goshawk took care of the flying beings that were coming towards her. They were mostly incorporeal beings, which she had to confront with her wind aura and the Purifying Touch in her claws. She also received help from her sister if there were many of them, in the form of Light Arrows. However, they were considerably slower than her, so she was easily dominating the airspace.

There were also some corporeal birds turned into zombies or skeletons, although very few of them had retained or reacquired the ability to fly. They were more gloomy than the incorporeal beings, although they were also easier to confront.

The first winged skeleton she faced crumbled after a Collide that knocked the bones out of it, thus causing it to lose the ability to fly.

Some kind of winged zombies were even more ridiculous. They were comically slow, both in their speed and maneuverability. One of them was sent against a skeletal one after a Collide, but she mostly just ignored them. When her sister had a moment, an arrow with Purifying Touch on one wing was enough to make them fall.

Goldmi left a couple of Light Walls, behind which she put some Light Abysses in case any of the undead crossed them. Before them, Eldi had created a moat in front of the caves, with Mole's Power.

Meanwhile, a pair of Bats were exploring the caves. They wanted to clear them of possible enemies, and see if they could set a gate there.

They advanced by the light of a floating lamp, for not everyone was like Gjaki. She had suggested that they train night vision, although it was unclear if it was a skill that could be acquired with training. For her, it was innate.

"A skeleton. Is it completely dead?" Gjaki asked herself, while approaching and hitting it with the handle of a dagger.

It was lying on the ground, inert, and it wasn't the only one. As the Bats had explored, they had come across more and more, though none of them moved.

Some were simply on the ground. Others against the wall. There were some with a weapon piercing what had previously been their flesh. Even some metal armor was sometimes visible. The leather ones had rotted many hundreds of years ago.

It showed no signs of life or non-life. They didn't know whether to leave it there, bury it or pulverize it.

"Hey!" the vampiress exclaimed.

Suddenly, a skeletal hand had closed on her ankle. The aura of death began to rise between its bones, and the empty sockets of its eyes began to glow eerily.

The vampiress tried to push her leg away from it, but the grip was strong. Before she could take more serious measures, a huge hammer with a slight glow slammed into the skeleton. With Devastating Blow, Eldi broke some of the bones and freed the vampiress.

"This isn't funny," she complained. "Goldmi, a dagger, please."

While she was no longer trapped, the skeletal hand had separated from the rest of the body, and was still clinging to her ankle. The elf created a dagger with Light Blade, while trying not to laugh. Although undoubtedly creepy, it was also quite funny.

The dagger didn't cut the bone, but it dispelled the aura of death. It purified it, and turned the bones into just bones. When that happened, they no longer had the strength to continue holding on, and they fell from the vampiress to turn into dust.

As she dealt with the hand, the sounds of dozens of skeletons waking up caught their attention. Like the first, the rest of the skeletons in the tunnel were beginning to rise. The noise of their bones clashing was truly creepy.

Their levels were between 80 and 90, so they were lower than theirs. The worst news was that they were wielding the weapons they had possessed in life, or with which they had been killed. It made them dangerous.

As if that weren't enough, skeletal hands began to emerge from the walls and floor of the cave. There were also some with rotten flesh, that is, zombies. The undead came from the front and behind. They were surrounding them.

Eldi hit a skeleton that was trying to get out with the hammer, but unlike the previous one, he hardly hurt it. The piece of wall it was coming out of wasn't rock, so he had only managed to sink it a little deeper.

"Oh, well, that makes it more annoying," he complained.

Goldmi created a Light Wall behind them, which force the undead to cross if they wanted to reach their victims. Unexpectedly, a dagger flew towards her through it. It was corroded by the passage of time, but it was no less dangerous for that.

She barely had time to react, as she didn't see it until it crossed the Wall. Luckily, Eldi's blessing Projectiles against me? blocked it.

"This's been dangerous. I didn't expect them to be able to launch them," she sighed in relief. "Eldi, can you put an Earthen one?"

"Of course," he assured.

So he did it. Just behind the Light Wall, he created an Earthen Wall. It was enough to stop any projectile, and hold the enemies under the purifying light of the previous Wall.

With the rear guard protected, it was time to take care of the rest of the enemies.