Return to Jorgaldur Volume II: the druid archer

Waiting for birth (I)

Unlike the invasion of the past, the miasma entered the previously protected area slowly. There was neither the strength nor the will behind it, no one bothered to push it, so it was just expanding little by little.

Pikshbxgro felt terribly frightened without the barrier's protection, and was watching as the miasma was entering, a miasma that was more terrible to him than the corrupted beasts. In fact, there was little or nothing those beasts could do to him, but that miasma could.

He stayed close to the unicorn, although there was little he could do to help her, other than be by her side, supporting her. Partly, as a witness to an extraordinary event. Partly, because he didn't dare to walk away.

Goldmi had perched on the top of the tallest tree, ready to attack from there, while her sister stood in the center of that space, close to the unicorn. The lynx had the mission to protect the future mother, and to support when necessary, where the archer would point.

The barrier's power was absorbed and sent into the unicorn's body, in addition to much of her own power. The little one who was to be born had waited a long time, and exhausted much of his power, so he needed extra help.

Unicorns are beings of flesh and magic, so they need both to be born as any animal and as a magical being. And among all those types of beings, they are one of the most extraordinary. Therefore, a great accumulation of mana is necessary for a new unicorn to be born, so it takes many years in the womb of its mother to prepare for it.

However, once reached the point of maximum power, delaying the birth is difficult and dangerous, both for the foal and the mother. And that was what had happened for about five years. That was the reason why birth was now more delicate and difficult than it would have been if it had followed its natural course.

Thus, next to the spirit, the unicorn mother was lying on the grass, and enveloped in a soft glow, an effect of the large amount of mana that was circulating through her, and that was necessary to protect her and to help with the birth.

Goldmi would have liked to witness that birth, but couldn't afford to be distracted. She was using Hawkeye to scan every corner, to look for enemies that she couldn't tell if they would arrive or not.

It was a disturbing situation, as a deathly silence surrounded them, in addition to the gloomy forest that had been corrupted in the past. Nothing moved, except for a slight breeze that carried the unpleasant scent of miasma. So the minutes and hours passed.

She had been on the tree for nearly three hours, but she hadn't stopped watching. And the unicorn hadn't given birth either, which was quite disturbing. Under normal circumstances, the foal should already have been born.

The glow around her had intensified, and fluctuations in mana were noticeable even from the elf's position, fluctuations that had caused nearby trees to bloom for the first time in five years.

"Something is coming. From the east," Goldmi announced.

The lynx got up and moved a little closer to that direction, to prepare for the one that might come. A few minutes later, when the shadows she had seen had become clearer, her sister shared through Visual Link the information she was capturing with Hawkeye.

They were about twenty corrupted beasts, whose appearance foretold that they must be far more powerful than those encountered so far, although she couldn't appreciate their power from that distance.

But long before they arrived, a winged figure appeared in the sky, diving towards the unicorn.

As soon as it was within her reach, the archer fired. She aimed for the space that the figure would soon reach. And, as on other occasions, she tried various types of arrows, and did so three at a time.

With its eyes fixed on its target, a kind of eagle, barely feathered and with a wingspan of three meters, didn't even pay attention to the arrows until they had sunk into it. All were more or less effective, especially with Purifying Touch.

The first wave wasn't enough to kill it, but the two that followed managed to damage its wings enough so that it couldn't maintain its flight and trajectory. It died and disappeared when it hit the ground, while the lynx was lurking in case it was necessary.

However, this was only the first. As the terrestrial forces were approaching, more of the air forces appeared. The first had been level 26, so they feared that there might be more powerful ones.

Soon, another one also dived to the unicorn, was also ignoring the archer and her arrows, and fell even more easily. It was only level 23.

Then came two, levels 20 and 24. One at level 22. Three between levels 21 and 25. And then five between levels 21 and 25.

Against the former, she had tried to reserve her mana and energy, but when five arrived together, she had no choice but to use all her resources. Piercing Arrows, several Three better than one, Purifying Touches, Hawkeye, Ethereal or Wind Arrows, and even Void to disrupt their trajectory and buy time. The last one, at level 25, had been shot barely ten meters from the unicorn.

Fortunately, although not yet completely eliminated, the air force didn't appear to be too numerous. Only a kind of cormorant almost four meters in size and level 29 gave her real problems. She was able to knock it down, but it didn't die on impact with the ground.

"Mine!" claimed the lynx.

Wounded and on the ground, it was no match for her, despite the two levels of difference.

The real problem lay in those which were to come, since their number was already several dozen. In fact, it would have been worse if the corrupted flying beings hadn't advanced, and waited to attack together, but they lacked the intellect.

Still, it was of little use to worry. What they had to do was protect the unicorn no matter what.