Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Strange enemy (II)

When the specter left, they continued as before, although now it was even easier. The undead were piled up in the hole and in front of the cave, but they didn't dare to trespass the faint aura that the being had left behind.

Goldmi just needed to be careful not to purify said aura, and invoke the Light Pillars a little further. The lynx, Eldi and Gjaki felt a little bored, since there wasn't much to do.

The feline and the high human transferred mana to the elf, and he also granted his blessings. That way, the archer was more efficient, and they shared the experience.

As for the specter, there was no sign of him all day. He faded into the undead, causing the goshawk to lose sight of him. He didn't appear again. However, the albino bird did detect other presences.

Now that she was warned, and knew what to look for, it was easy to spot places that the undead avoided. They were mostly hidden in caves or similar, but they didn't completely suppress their aura. There were at least six, although it was likely that not all of them had arrived, or that others were hiding better.

At the end of the day, despite the protection of the specter, they preferred to set up several barricades with rocks and light traps. They hoped they could hold them if necessary.

After that, they returned through the vampiress' Gates.

Given the thousands of undead eliminated, and that the undead's level had been rising, both had managed to reach level 96.

Eldi had recovered Tremor, which causes a considerable area to shake, as if it were an earthquake. It can scare and throw enemies off balance, and generally doesn't deal much damage. However, just unbalancing them can have serious consequences, especially when there are a large number of them. He had it at 4, since he hadn't used it much. Although it had been decisive in a certain mission, in normal battles it had rarely been really useful. On that occasion, their enemies were carrying large cauldrons of a certain boiling substance. Thanks to the spell, the liquid had ended up falling on them after losing their balance.

The Impale skill is a powerful spear strike. It consists of piercing an enemy and pinning them to the ground or a wall. If the attack isn't enough to kill them, at least they'll be immobilized. It was quite useful, although that wasn't the reason it was at 10. The real cause was the spectacular scenario of having enemies impaled, even if it was a bit macabre.

As for Goldmi, she had reobtained a spell whose name had always seemed exaggerated to Eldi. Black Hole uses wind magic to create a vacuum that attracts everybody around it. It is very useful for gathering enemies, and massacring them with area attacks. Its use was rather occasional, although Gjaki found it very amusing. She had forced the elf to use it more often than she would have done on her own, so it was at 7.

Lethal Arrow allows the caster to add as much energy as desired to an arrow, thus creating an attack as powerful as the amount added. Of course, the arrow must be able to withstand the tension it accumulates without exploding before the impact. This implies that they must be special arrows that are much more expensive than the rest, and which are irrecoverable after use. It was at 10, although it had cost her a lot of money to level up it.

"Mom, mom, can we go with you tomorrow?" Eldmi asked, as she looked at her expectantly.

"It's dangerous, and it's full of undead. They're very scary," Goldmi wanted to scare her.

"We're big girls now! We're not afraid!" Gjami assured.

The elf looked at her daughters. They seemed really willing to go, but that was something she wasn't going to allow. They could say they weren't afraid, but they were still little girls. Her daughters would undoubtedly be terrified if they saw them, and might even be in danger.

Goldmi looked at Elendnas, asking for help. She wanted to refuse without causing a tantrum, although she didn't really know how. He smiled. For once, he had a solution. His wife had precisely said something before that would be useful.

"I don't think you want to go. I know you're brave and fearless, but there isn't much to see. What's worse, the undead smell terrible," their father wanted to discourage them.

"How bad?" Eldmi asked, not very convinced.

Goldmi smiled back at her husband. He had given her a good excuse. Now, she just had to finish it off.

"Do you remember those flowers that smelled so bad? That big flower, red on the inside and green on the outside?" Goldmi scared them.

"The fart flower? Does it smell that bad?" Gjami recalled, while covering her nose with two fingers. Her sister made the same gesture

It took a supreme effort for their parents not to laugh at the name they had given it and her disgusted expression.

"No, much worse! A hundred times worse!" Goldmi said, exaggerating a little.

"So much!? Yuck! I'm not going!" Eldmi changed her mind.

"Me neither! Wait a moment, mom!" Gjami asked.

She ran up from the table, without giving her parents time to stop her, and was followed by her sister. Both adults looked at each other and shrugged, totally unaware of what their daughters wanted to do.

It didn't take long for them to return, both handing her mother some clothespins.

"That way, it won't smell so bad," one of them offered.

"These're for aunt lynx and aunt goshawk," the other gave her too.

Her mother accepted them, even though she couldn't actually use them. However, her daughters' gesture moved her, and she wasn't the only one. They didn't say anything, but she could sense from their bond that her sisters had become emotional. They loved the girls very much, and the fact that they thought about them was touching.

"They're lovely," the elf whispered a while later, after putting them to bed.

They slept peacefully, both in the same bed, holding hands. They always slept together.

"It's normal. They have taken after you," Elendnas flattered her.

"Fool..." she whispered, slightly embarrassed.

The compliment had taken her by surprise, although that didn't stop her from smiling. She looked with her blue eyes into the elf's blue eyes, who became inexorably lost in them. Almost without realizing it, they lips approached and melted into a long kiss.

"There they're again," Gjami complained very quietly.

"I don't understand what's so good about kisses on the mouth. It's a bit disgusting," Eldmi criticized, to which her sister agreed.

Her parents closed the door slowly, still believing that her daughters were asleep. The truth is that it didn't take long for them to sleep soundly. They had been hiking all day, and were more tired than they wanted to admit.

Both fell asleep right away, while her parents would take much longer. Right now, they were quite busy.