Return to Jorgaldur Volume V: Reunion (2)

In the underground city (III)

After quickly climbing a couple of steps, Gjaki wrapped herself in Darkness and went down again. That way, she ended up standing on the other side of the door. Shortly after, the vampires walked past her and upstairs.

"Eldi and Goldmi will take care of them," she said to herself while moving toward the door.

She came out still shrouded in Darkness. Gjaki wanted to know what was going on. She didn't want to risk having whoever was there flee while she was eliminating the vampires herself. Therefore, they had been left to her companions.

"Only toads?"

There were about fifteen of those batrachians there. It wasn't difficult for her to confront them, but it was tricky to prevent them from escaping. Therefore, she, stealthily, placed the strong adamantine threads around them.

The toads didn't perceive the threat. They were distracted by the noises of fighting coming from the stairs, although these didn't last long. They felt uneasy. Their instinct was telling them that it was better to flee from there. Although, their instinct also told them that it was dangerous to do so. They had seen some of their kind torn in two for not obeying their current masters. The same ones who had ordered them to stay there.

They didn't even realize that one of them had died until, a few seconds later, it ended up falling to the ground. The vampiress' lightning attack on its Weak Point had caused instant death.

By then, Gjaki had already moved twice with Shadow Melt, and killed two more toads. Trapping those three victims with the threads was a little more difficult, due to their position and the terrain. Therefore, she had decided to eliminate them directly.

Immediately, with Live Thread and Lethal Net, the other amphibians were trapped inside the threads, unable to move, one on top of the other. Nonetheless, a couple of Licks tried to reach her. The tongues encountered Projectiles against me?, which not only stopped them, but also allowed her to spill a few drops of a certain liquid on them.

Shortly after, the tongues returned to their owners, and drowsiness took hold. It wasn't that the vampiress needed to do something like that, but she had wanted to try it ever since she had seen them use their tongues. Gjaki had watched something like that in some cartoons.

With a proud expression on her face, she stared at them, while some footsteps could be heard behind her.

"Are you playing again...?" he accused her.

"Did you finish up there?" she asked, as she ignored his accusation.

"They're unconscious. Do you want to take a look?"

"I'm going," she accepted, and turned to the lynx. "Tell Goldmi to come down, she would have to disarm some traps. Let those who want to gain some experience also come."

Thus, Goldmi spent a while disarming them with Decompose Energy and Decompose Mana. They were low-level traps, and were designed to be activated on contact or manually, without the need for any effort to hide them. So, it was easy for her, although it required some time. There were a few stacked up, ready to cause a huge explosion when their prey fell.

As for Gjaki, she decided to take advantage of the fact that they were sleeping to enter the Dream World.

"No Please! My daughter hasn't done anything!" the father pleaded.

"Maybe not, but her blood sure is delicious. I don't think yours is bad either, right Likla?" the vampire threatened with a twisted smile.

"Aaaaaarghh!" the man shouted. A pair of fangs were piercing his neck.

"Dad!" the girl shouted.

"Heh, heh. Don't worry, you're next," the vampire laughed, while his partner was drinking the blood of her father.

"Leave the food for later, you have work in the underground city," they were interrupted by a voice that they couldn't help but obey. That voice hid as best it could its displeasure and anger.

Suddenly, the scenario changed completely. The vampire was in a stone building. There were half a dozen others drawing magic circles here and there. He approached a wall, and began to draw a circle with the brush that appeared in his hand.

"Are you sure you're doing it right? Let me make sure you know what you're doing. What's the purpose of the circle?" the same voice as before asked.

"Reinforce the wall," he answered without stopping drawing.

"That's evident. But you're not doing it right. Don't you remember what the reinforcement is for?" the voice continued.

"We have to make the building a fortress," the vampire replied.

"You keep forgetting the final objective. Why we want a fortress. That's why you didn't do it right."

"A fortress for a new base. It would be hidden and with many connections. It's a good place. With the circle, I'll reinforce the wall. To make a fortress. To serve as a base. It would be hidden..." the vampire continued. He seemed to have entered some kind of loop. Manipulating dreams can have strange effects.

"Do you forget who the base is for?" the voice continued guiding him.

"For us. For father."

"Don't you remember who your father is?"

"Of course! Father is... Aaaarrrghh!!"

Gjaki fell backwards. A bit of blood appeared on her lips, which she licked with her tongue, as Self-Regeneration came into action. It wasn't a serious injury, but she had never imagined receiving harm.

"Gjaki! Are you fine!?" Goldmi approached, worried.

"Yes, it's nothing. I knew that I could be hurt if something happened in the dream, but this's the first time," she was surprised.

"Something isn't right, he's dying. Basic Healing isn't enough. What happened?" Eldi asked after examining the vampire.

"The other vampires, those in the dungeon, had their dreams sealed. This not. I guess they didn't expect him to be captured, but there was still some kind of protection. When I wanted to find out who his father was, the protection triggered and kicked me out of the dream. Let me check," Gjaki approached.

She bit the vampire, and felt a strange aura. It wasn't the first time she had perceived it when biting some vampires, like in the dungeon of the City of Light. Along with the silhouette that had appeared before she was kicked out of the dream, she was sure that he was the same enemy.

The vampire's damage was severe. His heart was damaged, as well as his lungs and liver. The worst thing was that there was a force that wanted to end his life. She only managed to eliminate said force with Blood Injection and Sacrifice. Only by using her own blood could she counteract it, which confirmed that her enemy was an ancestral vampire too. Luckily, there was only a trace, so the consumption was low. With Regeneration, she finished stabilizing him.

"His brain is damaged, it's impossible to cure him. He should stay alive for at least a day. This way, we won't alert our enemies, but we need to hurry," the vampiress informed.

Without a doubt, that father didn't want any information about him to be leaked.