Return to Jorgaldur Volume II: the druid archer

Dungeon, penultimate floor

While watching her in her dream, the feline looked at her sister more deeply than she had done until now. She now understood a little more why they had connected so quickly. In a way, they had had similar experiences.

But even in those circumstances, the lynx didn't forget the food. Lately, they had been exploring the dungeon at lunchtime, and she had had to settle for quickly devouring stored food, but that morning they had stayed in the rest area. So, when she woke up, the elf had no choice but to cook some food, or to have it been cooked by some fairies.

They didn't leave in the afternoon either. They stayed talking. Goldmi told her sister about her homeworld. Even about her particular hell when she had been married.

She could feel the anger in her sister at every word, something that somehow made her feel more protected, more loved, because she knew that the reason for that anger was that she had been hurt.

It helped to let off steam, to lighten the weight of her soul. Not even with psychologists or her friends had she been so honest. In fact, she hadn't even been with herself.

So much so, that she was surprised by her own feelings, by how they were emerging one after another as the sounds left her mouth. She became aware of them, of how they had been eating away at her, inside. And, somehow, she was putting distance with them. She was starting to look at them from outside, from a distance, to analyze them, and even to understand her own attitude on some occasions.

The process to overcome it would be slow, but she felt that, this time, she had begun to do so. So, when she settled into her sister's soft embrace that night, she felt strangely refreshed.

Those discs weren't solid, they were like ethereal beings, like ghosts. Therefore, the arrows pierced them, and they couldn't be completely effective. And therefore, the spell that she hadn't thought to try until now, was extremely good against them.

The Light Arrow pierced the disk, while purifying it in its path, dissipating its mana and breaking its structure. Coupled with the fact that these beings were one level below, and that their brightness made them easy to distinguish in the darkness of the tunnel, they ended up being extremely easy, although they couldn't always finish them fast enough.

The problem was with the feline, who, after the initial surprise, had found it extremely fun to dodge those mana discs, no matter how much she called it training.

The elf simply shrugged and let her do it, unable to deny her sister the fun, and while wishing to have a camera to record it on.

But, despite being delayed sometimes more than necessary, her advance was very efficient. Even groups of three weren't a problem, something that helped Goldmi regain some self-confidence.

In fact, when she imagined her former husband's face on the discs, at the suggestion of her sister, they were annihilated in an instant, by arrows shot three by three.

"Maybe better that you don't imagine it anymore. If not, I won't be able to 'train'," the lynx regretted her suggestion.

Her sister smiled, both at the complaint and at the sense of relief. To be able to shoot at the imagined picture of the person who had made her suffer, to unleash her rage against the person who had taken away her self-esteem, had been liberating.

"Okay, okay, I'll leave one for you to play... I mean... train," she made fun of the feline, who pretended not to have heard it.

Although she refused to acknowledge it, they both knew she was playing, having fun by dodging her enemies, and not caring that more than once her sister had to heal some burns.

Goldmi also tried to fight those beings at melee, but soon had to admit that they were too fast. She could defeat them, but she needed to consume a large amount of energy to dodge and block them, and she had a hard time hitting them.

Blazing Dagger was perhaps the most effective, and she was convinced to dominate them if she could use the forces of nature, but there were no plants there that allowed her to entangle her enemies.

Unsheathe was very effective if she reached them, but that was precisely the problem, with that and the other skills. And the burns were painful. She managed to hit with Multi Sword Thrust, but only a few of the multiple impacts, so she was wasting a lot of energy.

In the end, and just to train, she did it once in a while, and only when she had enough energy. Despite the pain, she knew she needed to improve to survive in the future. In fact, she felt that she needed it not only for that, but to feel at peace with herself, to feel that she was capable of overcoming herself, of overcoming pain, and not only the physical one.

At the end of the day, they had finished off over a hundred discs, were approaching the next level, and had explored a significant portion of the tunnels.

They had also eaten a soup tastier than the feline would have expected. And, somehow, she had managed to convince her sister to bake her a cake.

Well, in fact, many cupcakes. It wasn't the same, but they weren't bad at all, so she didn't even leave a single crumb. Then, the lynx took the initiative to lie down on her sister.

She received her with open arms, somewhat confused, since she had felt something strange through their bond. But she didn't ask her, she just waited for her to speak, while stroking her gently like a kitten. A kitten slightly larger than usual, and with an unusual appetite.

"You know, I've always wondered how you were as a kitten. Surely, you was a gluttonous cutie."

The lynx looked at her, but what was in that look surprised the elf, as well as the solemnity she felt in her sister.

Since their last conversation, the feline had wanted to talk to her, to tell her something, and this was a good time. Or, at least, as good as it could be.