Return to Jorgaldur Volume V: Reunion (2)

Dangerous journey (I)

Menxilya's group moved quickly after leaving the dryad, with the guidance of the albino bird from the sky. They quickly finished off any losts they found along the way, to waste as little time as possible.

As usual, the goshawk indicated to her sister where the enemy density was lowest. The Bats inspected the ground, ahead of the three visitors, the lynx, the kraken, the fairy, the drelf and the guardian of the north.

"My sister says there's a cave up ahead. To the right, at two o'clock. It must be there," the elf informed. She was using imaginary clock hands as a reference to indicate the direction, which had been inspired by a war movie.

"I'm sending my bugs to investigate," the vampiress nodded.

A few minutes later, they were entering the cave, which was completely empty. There didn't seem to be anything inside. However, they knew what they were looking for, and how to search for it. It didn't take long for them to find and unearth the entrance to the underground world.

Following the mole-beings' instructions, Eldi opened the hatch. It was the first time it had been opened in perhaps over a thousand years.

"It's incredible. It's not stuck or rusted, it works perfectly," the high human marveled while studying the mechanism.

"Don't waste time," Gjaki urged.

"Just a moment," he asked.

"It's always just a moment," she complained.

"Are they always like this?" Maldoa asked.

"Always," Goldmi confirmed with a smile, as the girl watched with curiosity.

It didn't take long for them to enter, and to close the hatch. Magically, it was buried again, invisible to the untrained eye. Immediately, Eldi took charge of opening the next hatch, and the next, and the next, until they finally reached a huge tunnel.

Goldmi Hovered down with the girl in her arms. Gjaki Glided to get down. Eldi relied on Weightlessness for this. Maldoa created a Parachute by extending branches and leaves from her half-dryad body. The lynx jumped down the Wind Staircase her sister created. The goshawk simply watched them use their skills to get down, thinking they were making it too complicated. She had enough with her wings.

After landing, they looked towards the blocked side of the tunnel. The landslide of soil and rock stretched for miles. Beyond that, there was Lyavmol, the mole-city that had fallen victim to the corruption. They couldn't help but think about what they had found there, the horror that had been caused by corruption.

They turned around and began their journey down the forgotten tunnel. It was supposed to take them to an ancient, abandoned city. Long ago, they had traded with the mole-beings, until their internal problems had caused the trade route to close. The city would eventually be abandoned, after having lost the reason for its existence.

Corruption had reached there as well, but it was clear that the shadows hadn't. They found losts, which stayed just as when they had been corrupted. Dust accumulated on them, and some had even been buried by landslides.

They came out as soon as the living were detected, but they were no match for them. It wasn't even a problem when large numbers of corrupted ants began to appear, whose level didn't reach 50. They only served as target practice, while a certain drelf was looking the other way. She had tried again, but she was too bad at it.

"It's pretty flat in this area. We could try the car," Gjaki suggested, without hiding his enthusiasm.

"Car?" the drelf didn't understand the word.

"This," Eldi showed.

He took out of his inventory a kind of cart. There was a steering wheel, which Maldoa thought was a strange decoration. The wheels were in fact similar to those of any cart, but they were attached to strange metal objects.

"Get in and hold on tight. The last tests went well, but Gjaki has taken the wheel," Goldmi warned.

"What do you mean by that!?" the vampiress protested.

"I should've put seat belts" the high human lamented.

"It's soft," the purple girl sat.

The seats were really soft, as well as resistant. Gjaki had made sure of that. In fact, that prototype was the work of her and Eldi, with the help of some members of the mansion. Certain twins and other children had helped with the decorations, and had been amazed at the artifact.

It had been inspired by the twins, in a way. It had all started when Eldi had mentioned something about a car.

"What's a car?" Eldmi had asked.

"Like a cart, but it goes by itself," the vampiress had explained.

"How does it go by itself?" Gjami had been interested.

"It doesn't exactly go by itself. It has a driver, but no animals to pull it. The wheels move by magic," her mother had described it.

She had preferred to use magic instead of trying to explain about gasoline or electricity. It was easier for the girls to understand.

"I've never seen one," Eldmi had wondered.

"Can we see them?" Gjami had asked.

"Sure, Uncle Eldi and Aunt Gjaki will make one," the elf had joked.

"Well, that would be interesting. Although I don't know where we can get the gasoline from," the vampiress had showed some interest. She had omitted the difficulty of making an engine out of nothing.

"Maybe, it could be done with mana, it'd be much simpler. The gears wouldn't be too difficult, I have a recipe that uses something similar..." Eldi had muttered. He had realized his terrible mistake too late.

"Really? We have to make it! Don't we, my dear nieces?" the vampiress had added the twins to her cause.

""Yessssss!!!"" they had both exclaimed.

Therefore, days later, the project to make something like a car had begun. To make it simpler, the first prototype, the one he had just brought out, had been created from a cart, and heavily reinforced. It had also been rebuilt several times due to problems with brakes or driving, among others.

Luckily, they were high level, and had many spells and defensive skills. A few accidents hadn't been a problem for them, although it had been a troublesome for their creation.

"Can you hold her," Goldmi asked Maldoa.

"Of course," she agreed.

From her fingers, some vines emerged and wrapped around the girl to secure her. Meanwhile, Gjaki was about to add mana to the artifact.

"Are you sure you want to do it? I remind you that you don't have a license," Eldi tried to dissuade her.

"I was too young to get one, and they don't give out licenses here. Don't worry, everything is under control," the vampiress assured, as she pressed the accelerator.

There was no gear shift, let alone a clutch. It was a prototype with only accelerator and brakes, and some inscriptions to absorb shocks. Eldi and Goldmi were supplying them with mana.

"""¡¡¡¡Aaaaaaaahhhh!!!!""" were the first cries of many heard on that journey.