Return to Jorgaldur Volume II: the druid archer

No hope

Worried, desperate, anxious, scared, discouraged, and countless other negative adjectives could be used to define Pikshbxgro's mood.

He was a forest spirit, an inherently joyous and jovial being, but, in the situation he found himself in, there wasn't a glimmer of hope. It was true that he had already been in a desperate situation in the past, but he didn't believe in a second miracle. After all, his beloved guardian angel had disappeared from that world years ago.

He knew his death was near, that it was just a matter of time. He was more than willing to disappear, so he didn't become one of those corrupted traitors. And, although he was terrified by it, it wasn't the worst. The worst thing was the situation of the being whom he had been watching for five years.

In the past, he had seen the pregnant unicorn and had approached her, with the innate curiosity of his kin. Since she was a magical being, she had detected his presence, had even looked at him for a moment, and welcomed him with her gaze.

It wasn't at all a problem for her to have the young, cheerful and curious spirit around, quite the contrary. She was nibbling on the last few blades of grass before heading to a safe place to give birth, a place where she would be protected by other unicorns during that moment of extreme vulnerability.

But, as she was enjoying her meal, and looking amused at the spirit that was watching her, and circling her endlessly, a feel of apprehension filled her. She raised her head and felt a powerful energy that was expanding towards them.

It was an energy that shouldn't be in that low-level place. In fact, that energy shouldn't have existed anywhere. It was deeply evil, deeply unnatural.

Quickly, she used her power to raise a dome, capable of protecting the place of that attack, but she couldn't protect the rest of the forest. She could see, horrified, how plants and animals were dying outside her protection. How a dark force enveloped the area. And how, little by little, many of the deceased were transformed into something that should never have existed.

She couldn't teleport away due to the barrier. And she couldn't get rid of it, because the place would be immediately invaded by that dark energy, which seemed to want to swallow her up, to not want to let her go.

She was worried, but the young spirit was terrified. What he was seeing went against everything he was, against his very essence. It was like witnessing a nightmare so terrible that he hadn't even dared to dream.

Soon, other spirits appeared outside, but their nature had changed, they had become completely corrupted. They told him to surrender, to go with them. The young spirit called them traitors, though with more sorrow than anger. The bitterness in his heart at seeing them was immeasurable.

Encouraged by them, corrupted beasts soon arrived, and attacked the barrier day in and day out, so forcing the unicorn to use more of her power.

However, that shouldn't have been a serious problem for a being as powerful as her, capable of even regenerating her mana in that low-level area. The problem was that she had to give birth. The problem was that, to do so, she had to focus all her power on it, leaving her defenseless, unable to maintain the barrier that protected them. And there was no way they would survive the attack of those corrupted beings if that happened.

It seemed clear that they wanted to corrupt the mother or the baby, something that she wouldn't allow. Before that happened, she would destroy all that place, because destruction was better than corruption and what it meant.

In fact, she had the option of saving herself, of leaving that place using her power to break through. But, in order to do so, she had to give up the creature that was waiting in her womb. She needed to reclaim the power she was using to support her son.

In that past, she had hoped that just holding on a little would be enough. She could never have imagined the magnitude that this evil had reached. That, after five years, she would still be trapped.

To survive, the unicorn mother had to make a decision that she couldn't make. She would die rather than give up the unborn child, the child that had been conceiving within her for dozens of years.

The biggest problem was that the time of birth had passed, and that it was taking more and more effort to delay it, to keep her child alive without giving birth. She would soon reach her limit.

Therefore, the young Pikshbxgro was desperate. He could accept his fate, but not that of the wonderful unborn child. That of the wonderful mother who was willing to die with her son.

At first, the spirit believed that other unicorns would come and rescue them. Or perhaps other beings, led by fairies. He couldn't help but think that fairies, the evolution of spirits like him, their mothers, would come to their aid. But no one had come.

Over time, he had reached the conclusion that no one knew he was there, that he was alive. And the same about the unicorn mother.

He had had a brief hope when their attackers had disappeared for a time, only to be replaced by more powerful ones, even though it was absurd to think they would be effective. It was the passage of time what was weakening the unicorn, but perhaps those which were attacking them didn't know it.

Therefore, when some attackers disappeared again, he didn't even allow himself to dream. Not even a forest spirit could have hope in that situation anymore.

And when figures approached, he panicked. He feared that their enemies had found a way through the barrier, or that it had finally weakened.

However, suddenly, he recognized a familiar aura in one of those figures. His eyes widened, unable to believe what they were showing him. His intangible heart was unable to accept anything but despair.

But, as they got closer, the aura became more apparent. He recognized the figure, and even the other one beside her. Unable to control himself, he came out of hiding and floated toward her at full speed, arms spread wide, ethereal tears falling down from his huge green eyes.

"Aunt Omiiiiiii!!!" he yelled, while rushing towards her.