Return to Jorgaldur Volume II: the druid archer

Sound vs sound

They ran around the swamps, and soon they began to find the irritating insects again. However, it didn't last long. Suddenly, they stopped trying to attack them, and fled in disarray in all directions.

At the same time, the sky, which was already half covered by the treetops, became completely dark, which was accompanied by many high-pitched screeches. There were a huge flock of bats, which were chasing insects throughout the swamps.

Their levels were between 26 and 32, and their wingspan between about twenty centimeters and more than two meters, although at first they couldn't distinguish them.

The smaller ones were only a nuisance if they got close, but the larger ones could capture larger preys, like an elf and a lynx. In addition, they had the air advantage, although it also made them weaker in melee. Unless they could catch their prey by surprise, or overwhelm them with their number.

One of them nosedived towards them, and they dodged by throwing themselves to the ground. It was one of the largest, and had identified them as prey. They had barely dodged by a few centimeters, and indeed a Cyclonic Barrier had suffered a lot, so it had to be renovated.

This was a disturbing situation. Their number and level made them dangerous, and their defenses could hardly withstand the attacks. Two more nosedived toward them, but Naughty Branches got in their way. They dodged them with great skill, but they had lost their descent trajectory, so, soon, they were lost again in the black-winged mob.

With Naughty Branches, Wind Push, Tramontane and Roar, they could keep them at bay. Her arrows were dodged unless they got close enough, although Accelerate helped to increase the effective distance. However, there were too many, and her mana would eventually run out.

She then tried Vegetable Home, but the flying mammals attacked the roots to search for what they were hiding. They rested while they could, but it wasn't enough to even recover the mana invested.

It was then that she remembered how they had dealt with a similar problem in the game.

"They use sound to locate their victims. At night, it'll be even worse," Eldi had explained at the time.

"So, Sonic Vibration could bother them?" Goldmi had suggested.

"That's absurd. The game can't be that detailed," Gjaki had complained.

"Well, the frozen ground worked," Eldi had argued.

"I guess we lose nothing by trying. I hope it doesn't end like the insect repellent," Gjaki had laughed.

"You always have to remember it," the elf had protested, to the laughter of the other two.

Surprisingly, it had worked. It had scared away the bats, so the archer tried again, this time in the real world. Although she wasn't entirely sure if that time had not been real.

She fired at the cloud of aerial predators, and those which were approaching, in all directions. Surprisingly, they were unable to dodge them, since their senses were confused by the arrows' vibration and sound.

Even those which weren't hit were irritated and confused when facing those projectiles that interfered with their radar. Therefore, they ended up moving away from the place that annoyed them, so leaving the corpses of their companions behind.

"Do you also have recipes for bats?" asked the lynx.

"Glutton..." her sister reproached her, as she was looking at the remains that were collected with more aversion than appetite.

In fact, there was more than one recipe, although neither their name nor by the main ingredient made them look delicious. She wondered if she would be able to even try the battered bat wings or the bat-eyed broth.

"Can it really be eaten?" she wondered, as she remembered a scene from a movie she had watched a long time ago, which she had found disgusting.

They soon resumed their journey, and the mosquitoes returned too. Camouflage hadn't been very effective, but Camouflage II had been. It hid their scent and, apparently, avoided the insects' detection. In fact, she could spread the effect to her sister, but the energy usage was quite draining, so they only used it sporadically.

They maintained Cyclonic Barrier, and ran with the help of Light Feet, until again the insects suddenly disappeared. This time, there were no bats in the sky, so they looked around and used Life Detection, in high alert, but couldn't find anything.

Suddenly, Pikshbxgro flew forward. He had been following and observing them with great curiosity, and had even approached a bat to see it up close. However, until now, they hadn't seen him so excited.

"Mothers!" the spirit called.

A little further on, two figures appeared. If Pikshbxgro looked like a five-year-old boy, these looked like a girl in her ten, with wings on their backs butterfly like. Their body was slightly transparent, although less than the spirit's one, and their presence was much more intense.

Goldmi had seen them in the game, which was apparently quite unusual. Almost without realizing it, she greeted them as she had back then.

"Fairy sisters."

"Elf sister, lynx sister, we've been looking for you," one of them waved back.

They were both smiling, and the spirit's displays of affection didn't seem to bother them. They approached Goldmi while she was looking at them confused.

"What do you want from us?"

"We need your help. Please follow us."

Goldmi nodded, so the fairies showed her the way. At first, they seemed to keep walking along the edge of the swamp, but they soon realized that the landscape had been changing. It was as if the jungle divided into two, and they had entered the second one. As if they were leaving their world and entering another.

"Welcome to the Land of Fairies, elf sister and lynx sister. I'm your guide, the princess of the cherries," they were greeted by another fairy. Her appearance was that of a teenager of about fifteen, although much smaller, and had appeared out of nowhere.

Unlike the others, her face was not jovial, but seemed gripped by deep sadness. Although, despite that, her voice and smile were kind.

Her wings and hair were the deep red of a cherry, while her lips were the purple of another variety of the same fruit. In fact, she had a half-bitten piece between her hands, which was the size of her head.

"Nice to meet you, fairy sister," Goldmi greeted.

And also the lynx greeted her, with the respect that the guardians deserve. She turned and waved at them.

"This way."