Return to Jorgaldur Volume II: the druid archer

Trapped

Goldmi was about to shoot a wolfpine when eight corrupted level 9 birds appeared behind the mountain, rushing in her direction. She immediately stepped back, ready to jump to a nearby ledge, as she changed the bow's aim and fired at one of them.

Before the arrow reached its destination, she placed three others and shot them, using Three better than one as she prepared to jump.

The first arrow barely grazed one of the large birds, some similar to a hawk, others to a vulture, another to a mix between an eagle and a darkened hummingbird, and one similar to a pterodactyl.

The latter had the largest and most vulnerable wings, and all the attacks were directed at this one. The movement to avoid the first arrow made it difficult for it to avoid the following ones, which were also spaced to cover as much room as possible.

Despite being level 9, they ripped its wing, its weakest and most delicate part, which could do little against the projectiles improved with Piercing Arrow. Although they weren't enough to kill it, they were enough to make it lose control, and make it spin on itself, so it ended up crashing to the ground, and disappeared after the crash.

Elf and lynx decided to retreat at the sudden appearance of those attackers, but, to their surprise, the remaining birds swooped toward the cave entrance, landing there and preventing them from entering.

They attacked those corrupted birds without hesitation. Despite being two levels higher, they were clumsy fighting on the ground, where they had lost their greatest advantage. However, the objective assigned to them wasn't to beat the two living, but to buy some time.

Dozens of corrupted beasts between 8 and 10 were rushing towards the place that the birds were defending, while hundreds more were surrounding the area. The elf had riddled a kind of hawk, while the lynx had pounced on them, had broken the neck of something similar to a vulture, and had suffered some injuries in the process. But there were still five left and reinforcements were approaching. And, not only that, but ten other birds had appeared and were rushing towards them, or towards the entrance.

Suddenly, their relatively calm leveling had become a critical situation. It soon became evident that they couldn't break the blockade before the rest of the beasts arrived.

The lynx jumped away from the entrance, and the elf jumped on her, by casting Float at the last moment. She grabbed onto the feline's neck, healing her at the same time, while her sister leapt quickly, which helped them evade the birds' attacks, and run towards those which were besieging them.

There was a thickness of five beasts, surrounding the entire area, and the pair went to those which were next to the mountain, since it was where they believed that they were more likely to escape from that desperate situation. Although it seemed more like suicide than a real possibility.

Goldmi got up, turned around and shot an Ethereal Arrow at the corrupted bird that was diving towards them. As it was at level 9, so the arrow could only scrape at its abdomen, but managed to deviate it a bit, which caused the bird to fail in its attack, and forced it to return to the sky.

"Hold on tight!" she got her sister's thought.

She put away the bow and gripped on the feline's neck, who abruptly deviated from her path, thus dodging an ant that had advanced and was trying to attack them.

On the sides and behind, the siege was narrowing, while those in the front were getting closer. Several projectiles were fired by some lizards, as they used as such the spikes that grew on their backs.

The feline managed to dodge several of them, but not all. One lightly brushed her side, but was unable to get through the protection of her fur and skin, while others were repelled by the Cyclonic Barrier.

Then, she arrived in front of the first beast in the barrier, an imposing blackish ox with red eyes, whose horns had forked after being corrupted, forming a sinister and dangerous bone structure.

Without stopping, she leapt toward the wall, propelling herself onto the nearly vertical rock to overcome the first obstacle.

"Distract the one with the three horns!" she requested anxiously to her sister.

The elf stood up as she could and wielded the bow again, aiming for a triceratops not too big for those of its kind, since it wasn't even two meters tall. Combining Three better than one and Piercing Arrow, three arrows went to the eyes and neck of the animal, which managed to close its eyelids, and tried to turn the neck.

However, it wasn't fast enough, and, being level 8, the eyelids weren't tough enough to completely stop the arrows, so all three hit their targets. They weren't enough to end its life immediately, but they were enough to make it lose sight of its target, allowing the lynx to land on its back.

"At the ant! The one closest to the wall!" the feline ordered next.

At that moment it was she who had to find the way, so it was she who was giving orders, something that was natural to both of them. There were no hierarchies between them, they were sisters.

She propelled herself on the triceratops, leaving the mark of her claws on the beast, which was finished off by its own companions. They were trying to attack the feline, but she had been too fast, and the attacks had hit the one that shouldn't. It disappeared almost immediately, becoming experience for both of them.

She reached the rock wall again, propelled herself over it, and leapt toward the ant, while being preceded by two bursts of three arrows. They nailed in the insect, diverting its attention enough. However, it also caused it to move to the side, so they were unable to comfortably land on it.

The lynx slipped on the back of the huge ant, leaving behind the deep cuts that the claws had made when trying to hold on. Their situation was extremely precarious, as several corrupted beasts were pouncing towards them, as if they had forgotten the order to capture them alive. If they fell, they were doomed.

The jaw of a strange and enormous feline, with two long fangs, threatened to break their flesh and bones, but, at the last moment, the lynx managed to stop the fall, support the hind legs on the ant and propel herself. She jumped on the level 9 feline that was intending to tear their bodies apart.

However, its collision with the ant caused it to tremble, making it difficult to keep her balance on the corrupted feline. Besides, all attacks were now directed at it, since the living were now on its back.