Return to Jorgaldur Volume V: Reunion (2)

Bait (III)

The shadows watched as the living retreated. They were unwilling to let them go, but there was nothing they could do to stop it. Their trump card had failed miserably, and their minions were somewhat scattered. Not to mention that they had evaporated a few themselves.

They kept watching them as the living walked away, not realizing that danger was approaching them dangerously fast. The Ray of Corruption had revealed their position, and their enemies were ready to take advantage of it.

Jreneg suddenly felt an aura rapidly approaching it, an aura it hated. It turned towards the aura, ready to attack her with all its might, though that might was now meager.

Under normal conditions, it would barely have stood a chance. Under current conditions, not even that. Its attack had drained its miasma reserves, so it was weaker than ever.

It could direct the miasma towards the presence, but that could do little against her. There wasn't even time to flee.

The miasma was easily crossed, even purified. A small teenager with cherry-red, butterfly-like wings had reached the shadow, and had enveloped it in an aura that seemed to be the miasma's nemesis.

Jreneg squeezed out its remaining power to attack her, to counteract the aura the fairy displayed, but it was of little use. The aura was enveloping it, purifying its body, and freeing its essence from the prison it was in.

"Noooooooo!" it screamed as its existence faded away.

"Lost brother, turn back into mana. Next time you're reborn, I hope you have better luck," the cherry princess wished.

The fairies had come to the depths of the corrupted forest to help with that task. Normally, it would have been difficult for them to get there and stay for long, as the miasma was poisonous to them. They could purify it, but the constant battle against the miasma would weaken them, and threaten to end their existence.

However, it was possible to bring them inside sealed vessels where the miasma couldn't enter. The fairies had come out as soon as they had sensed the shadows, and had attacked after those shadows had exhausted their power.

The fairies didn't usually intervene in mortal affairs so directly, but those shadows had been forest spirits. That is, young fairies who hadn't had the opportunity to mature into their adult form. Therefore, putting an end to those corrupted forms was important to them. You could say it was personal.

They did it with sadness, while contemplating once again what they had become. Although there was also hope. They could be reborn from mana, and not have to suffer as they had.

Therefore, one after another, the shadows were purified. In this way, the losts were left without anyone to lead them, subject only to their instincts.

As for the fairies, they quickly disappeared from the battlefield. They returned to their vessels, and were soon taken back to the forest, from where they would return to their kingdom.

"Father, all the shadows sent to fight the invasion have disappeared," Warkmon announced.

"What!?" Kan Golge was exasperated at the unexpected news.

His son wasn't surprised that he cut off communication. That was an unforeseen setback and a hard blow to his plans. More than half of the shadows had been sent to control the different fronts, and all of them had disappeared. That meant that their control over the losts was deeply affected. Although arrogant, aggressive and not very intelligent, they were very quite useful.

Kan Golge immediately contacted some of his remaining children, the ones he had sent as spies alongside the enemy forces.

They described the events, the strange attack, the blocked Rays of Corruption, and the unexpected appearance of the fairies.

The stories were repeated among all his children, which made it clear that it hadn't been a coincidence. This had been a deliberate plan to eliminate the shadows.

"How long have they been planning this? Have I underestimated them again? Are they a distraction, or were the incursions? Damn it!" he felt deeply irritated and confused. It took him a while to calm down and reconsider his options.

"I can always rebuild everything, little by little. It'll take me millennia, but I've already done it once. In any case, there's still time. Even without the shadows, they'll take decades to get here, to purify everything. The door will open sooner. For now, I just have to wait. Hopefully, they'll bring me the Eternal Flame," he said to himself.

After that, he began to study the situation on a map. It was necessary to reduce losses, and delay his enemies as much as possible. There would be time for the rest.

"Warkmon. Order half of the shadows to go to the front and bring the losts back. They have to leave a few to cover the retreat. The fairies have killed the others, but I don't think they're still there. Anyway, keep an eye on them. If any of them die, have them retreat immediately," he ordered.

"Yes, father."

Warkmon then called the shadows one by one. Most were in pairs, just in case, so he made one out of two go look for the losts. The areas couldn't be left unguarded, so he had to opt for a lesser evil. It was less safe, especially knowing that two had disappeared, but it would have to be enough to leave only one in each area.

He would watch them, just like those that went to the combat zone. There were fewer of them now, so they were easier to control.

"Phase one complete. Time for phase two," Smashy announced.

"What's phase two?" one of the barbarians asked.

"Crush them!" Crushy shouted as he raised his hammer.

"Smash them!" Smashy added, while raising her axe.

Their shouts were echoed by the other barbarians. Even the dwarfs joined in. Now that they had lost their generals, the corrupted beings were easy prey.

They only had to be careful not to draw them all in at once, as the army beyond was still imposing. However, they were little more than practice targets for an organized group, even if they were the barbarians.

They soon changed their shields for offensive weapons, while some mages and archers launched massive attacks to draw out groups of enemies.

The losts had been ordered to remain on standby, but the order wasn't too strict this time. Otherwise, it would have been much easier. Once attacked, they responded by running towards the living.

Being much fewer now that they were pulled than they were directed, and without any kind of coordination, it was easy for the allies. They could even rest when they wanted.