Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Ambush in the snow (II)

Eldi occasionally threw with Javelin one of his spears, but usually wielded the hammer. It was the most efficient weapon against those balls with hair.

There were already several of them crushed in the snow. After falling near him from the elf's Rough Arrow, they were flattened with a Devastating Blow. Temporarily unable to dodge, the power of the skill and the forcefulness of the hammer meant that a single hit was enough.

Fireballs were also effective, but he wasn't as skilled as the elf in hitting moving enemies. Furthermore, unlike the lynx, who had the Lineage of Flame, it took him a couple of seconds to cast the spell, and those furballs didn't stop bouncing.

Luckily for him, they weren't afraid of him, so they often tried to attack him. Against balls coming at him, Baseball was the most efficient. One after another, his enemies were hit hard, and thrown into the distance or onto the ground. There was also Burning Touch in the weapon.

"Will it be very complicated to learn?" Gjaki asked herself.

The skill had rather occasional use, but it certainly seemed fun.

Of course, Eldi could have acted more conservatively, and protect himself with a Burning Dome. However, then they wouldn't attack him as much, thus increasing the pressure on his allies.

One furball rushed at him when he had just hit another using the hammer as a Baseball bat. In that situation, he didn't have time to position his weapon again. However, instead of hitting him with its dangerous spikes, the furball deviated towards the ground, where it was crushed by a Devastating Blow. While Baseball was the most efficient way to deal with them, Gravity was also very useful.

"A couple of Burning Blasts and more Aura, please," the vampiress asked as she approached him.

He not only renewed her Burning Aura, but with Extend its duration was doubled. It may have cost him three times as much mana, but at this time, it was more important to protect his friend.

He also Canned three Burning Blasts, one more than she had asked for. While doing so, she was protecting them both with Dancing Whip. Those enemies were quite light, which made the skill very convenient.

"Thank you, you're a sweetheart, even if you couldn't handle all of them," she thanked him and mocked at the same time.

"Try not to burn yourself. It's dangerous to play with fire," he counterattacked, while sending a furball several meters away.

"Home run!" the vampiress exclaimed, amused, as if they were really playing a baseball game. Then, she ran away.

She headed straight towards where there was a larger crowd of enemies. They weren't attacking them, but trying to raise the Blizzard again and again. They had met the elf's resistance each time.

The white beings reacted quickly, jumped on their enemy, and were trapped by a blood Cobweb. She could barely hold them for a few moments, so she calculated the exact moment it was going to break to cast one of the Canned Spells. A fiery explosion hit them squarely.

Attentive, Eldi launched a Fireball on the already singed enemies. The lynx arrived a moment later, and she wasn't afraid to get into the fire. That fire did intimidate the remaining enemies, which didn't dare to approach while it was burning.

She saw many together several meters away, so the vampiress threw another canned spell into the air. She feared that if she came closer, they would scatter.

"Goldmi!" she shouted.

A Rough Arrow impacted the mana container, thus triggering it, and also pushing it at high speed. It fell right on top of their enemies as the Burning Blast unleashed.

It was something they had tried unsuccessfully to do in the game, and had been practicing lately, much to the fascination of the twins. In fact, Elendnas had also achieved it, which demonstrated his skill with the bow.

She threw the third one shortly after with force in another direction. Again, it was pushed by a fast arrow to get quickly to the right point to blast.

With the blasts, they had disorganized the enemies which wanted to restart the Blizzard, and eliminated quite a few. This meant that the archer now had more freedom of movement, although it wasn't important anymore.

The surviving furballs fled, as they were unwilling to continue a fight they were losing miserably. The round predators had believed that they could surprise and devour the newcomers, but the result had been very different.

"Oops, the fun is over," Gjaki lamented.

"I hope they don't come back," Eldi wished.

"Shall we have a meal?" Goldmi suggested, which sounded like heavenly music to everyone's ears.

Meanwhile, it was certainly a spectacle to see three different types of fairies dealing with corpses, arrows and spears.

The Valley of White Dragons was the only accessible pass for several kilometers around. Apart from the valley, only the walls of rock and ice that covered several kilometers around that inhospitable land were visible. They had had to walk almost a week to find these walls, and half a day more to find a suitable place to place Exit Gates.

After that, Golmi and Gjaki had returned to their homes. Eldi had gone to the hidden room in his grandson Ted's store, to find out how the preparations were going.

The announcement that Eldi Hnefa was going to claim his legacy and ask for explanations had spread throughout the kingdom. Several nobles claimed to have met him, and the rebels had even made an official announcement.

The other faction had almost panicked, although they appeared calm. In public, they assured that they would receive his benefactor with the honors he deserved, with open arms. Behind closed doors, they were finalizing preparations to get rid of him.

Without a doubt, if something happened to Eldi Hnefa, the people would turn against them, but they were willing to accept the consequences. As long as they held power, they were sure they could control it, once their biggest problem was solved.

Eldi spent a few days jumping from Gate to Gate. He spoke again with several of the nobles, met with his children, and created many weapons and armor.

Finally, he returned to the ice cave where the Exit Gates were located. Goldmi arrived shortly after, and the two waited while having hot chocolate and churros. At least, it was the closest food the elf had managed to recreate. The color wasn't quite the same, but there were no complaints about the flavor or texture.

"Oh, I want too!" Gjaki exclaimed as soon as she arrived.

"You don't have any, since you're late," Goldmi refused.

"But... Don't be like that..." the vampiress pleaded.

"You deserve it for always being late. You must have fallen asleep again," Eldi accused her. It wasn't the first time.

The vampiress stared at them without knowing what to answer, because it was the truth. She felt somewhat guilty, but she had been unable to get off the sheets earlier. Plus, Gjaki loved hot chocolate, and she couldn't stop staring at it helplessly.

"Come on, sit down. Here's your part," the elf made the food appear.

"You spoil her too much," Eldi criticized.

"We spoil her," Goldmi corrected him, laughing. Her companion had suggested keeping the vampiress' part, so it wouldn't get cold.

"Thank you!" Gjaki jumped up and hugged both of them. Not much later, her face was smeared with chocolate.