Return to Jorgaldur Volume V: Reunion (2)

Chased (II)

"Advance!" the shadow ordered.

The Walls had fallen, but others had risen a little further ahead. It was frustrating, but the siege on its enemies had narrowed. It hoped there were no more behind the new defenses.

This fortification was certainly powerful, able to resist the corrosion of the miasma far better than any other mana barrier it had ever seen. The shadow couldn't imagine that it had been designed precisely for that. However, the virtually infinite amount of miasma had ended up overwhelming the multi-elemental spell.

"Son of fairies!" the corrupted spirit cursed.

Before reaching the next Wall, the corrupted forces had been surprised by explosions of light. There weren't many experts of that type of magic among these Guardians of the North, but they had brought with them a few explosive devices.

The result was the annihilation of the corrupted beings in the front, those that Kraro considered the most suitable to attack the barrier. In addition, they had purified the dense miasma that had been pushed there.

"You may have gained a few seconds, but it won't save you!" it growled between its teeth.

Immediately, it ordered its subordinates to attack, while bringing others more suitable to hit the Wall, and gathering more miasma. The shadow did all this while grumbling, and promising to torture those souls for all eternity.

"The first barrier has fallen," a guardian announced with obvious eyes full of concern.

"Great! They've eaten the mines!" another celebrated a little later.

"They won't take long to attack the second. How much longer?" Menxolor asked.

"It's advancing. I'm not sure. Luckily, ten minutes. An hour in the worst case," Maxlir, the son of the Magic Locksmith, answered.

He knew a lot about his mother's profession, as he had been learning it for years with her. In fact, he wasn't bad at it. The problem was that he could only see and feel the superficial fluctuations of mana. What was behind it was only within reach of the person carrying out the opening, so he couldn't exactly assess the progress.

"It'll hold for ten minutes, probably twice as long. An hour is impossible," Menxolor urged.

"Let me know when it's close to falling," the guardian asked, worried.

For several minutes, he continued to observe with interest and concern his mother's meticulous work. It seemed to be progressing too slowly, she wasn't going to make it.

He turned to check the state of the mana barriers. The Elemental Walls were being reinforced, but they didn't have much time left. He met Menxolor's gaze, who shook his head.

"Three more minutes," he moved his lips, without saying a word.

He nodded, while a huge wyvern was falling over his head. The dragon subspecies was struck down by many spells, further draining the mana reserves of his companions. It disappeared from the sky, just before hitting the fragile mana shields protecting them from above.

He sighed, there was no time left.

"Mom, you have to force it," he said reluctantly in her ear.

She didn't answer, but the mana fluctuations intensified. It wasn't long before a small explosion was heard, followed by the sound of ancient mechanisms. An invisible rock door opened before their eyes, while she writhed in pain.

That place dated back to a very distant era, and it wasn't even known how it was built. Perhaps, if certain mole-beings had been there, they could have given them some clues.

"Mom!" the guardian exclaimed, while bending down to hold her.

"I... I'm fine. I just need some rest. I did it, I opened it..." she smiled.

However, the paleness of her face and the weakness of her voice indicated otherwise. Forcing the magic lock was a risky procedure, since it could fail, rendering it useless. In addition, the explosion of the mana was almost guaranteed, as it fluctuated chaotically. However, it was the fastest method.

"Come in! Quickly! Empty all the mana into reinforcing the defenses, those who still can!" Menxolor ordered.

So they did. They didn't have much mana left, but it would allow them to gain a few more seconds. Menxolor himself grabbed the Locksmith from one side, while her son did the same from the other. They brought her into the shelter, almost dragging her. The others hurried to follow them.

"Close the door! Pull the lever!" Maxlir shouted, as he was a little far away.

The second last to enter pulled it with all his strength, quickly helped by the last one. The lever was stuck. Everyone looked at them anxiously, and those closest rushed to help.

The Walls were about to crumble. If they didn't manage to close it, they would die. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the lever began to give way, and the door began to close. Although, they panicked when the lever broke. One of them ended with half the lever in her hands.

"Shit!"

"Help me push the door!"

"All together! Push!"

The door began to close, although the speed didn't increase no matter how much they pushed. Surprised, they began to let go of it, until they realized that it was closing by itself. The lever had activated the mechanism, it was no longer necessary to do anything else.

Unfortunately, it had activated the mechanism at the slowest speed. It seemed like it would never close, and the defenses would fall at any moment.

"If you have any mana left, and you have barriers, fogs or whatever, cast them! Every second is precious!" Menxolor exhorted.

"It's finally falling... Heh, heh. They 're mine now..." Kraro congratulated himself. "You, back! You, advance!"

It didn't want its most valuable losts to explode again. Therefore, it sent the weakest ones first for any traps.

Kraro lost sight of them in a strange fog. Also, they acted confused, unable to advance. Nonetheless, there were no explosions or attacks.

"Damn it! Advance! Attack!" it ordered, furious.

The result was somewhat chaotic, with some of the corrupted beings even killing each other. When the sum of the miasma, the exhaustion of the mana and the action of the losts finally managed to dissipate that kind of mist, and break the mana barriers, there was nothing there. Even the engraving had disappeared.

"Where're they?" the shadow stared in stupefaction. It didn't understand how they could have disappeared.

"Attack EVERYTHING! Hit the rock! You, search the ground!" it shouted.

Soon, many losts broke their fists, horns and even heads by hitting against the hard stone. As for the corrupted underground beings, they explored the depths, but couldn't break through the underground rocks. Somehow, the living had vanished.