Return to Jorgaldur Volume V: Reunion (2)

Fight at the foot of the mountain (II)

The losts charged at the mana shields. Surely, so many corrupted beings could easily destroy the defenses of so few enemies. However, the Guardians of the North knew what they were up against.

Instead of being a wall to crash into, the shields began as a small slope at ground level, which gradually curved upwards, and then backwards. In this way, the losts didn't crash into them, but ran over them, until they ended up doing so vertically. Some even ran on the roof formed by the shields for a few moments.

This made them stumble, slip, or fall backwards on those behind them. Chaos was guaranteed, and for a few seconds, it worked perfectly.

"Stop!" one of the shadows ordered.

That's what the losts did. Some even stayed on the ground on their backs, or on top of their companions. It was somewhat comical.

Some spells cast by the guardians fell on them, in a curved trajectory that surpassed the shields above. Given the density of enemies, they caused havoc, although it was far from being decisive. There were too many enemies, and not enough mana to finish them all.

"Back, slowly," the other shadow ordered.

"You, shoot!" the first one intervened after a few seconds.

A burst of miasma attacks hit the shields, and quickly corroded them on all sides. The shields didn't last long.

Immediately, they ordered the corrupted beings to advance. Although it wasn't long before they encountered another mana barrier. It was stronger, thicker and vertical. Since the enemies hadn't picked up speed, it could withstand the first onslaught. If they had collided with the force with which they had come before, both the first losts and the shield would have ended up shattered.

The corrupted beings had to attack the mana walls in melee. It was possible to order the ranged ones again, but that would require removing the first ones, or sacrificing them. The shadows were in no hurry. Their prey was trapped.

"Father, they're Guardians of the North. They're doing something in a cave. I fear there is another one of those shelters," Warkmon reported, once his children had informed him.

"Shit! Order full attack! If there's a chance, let your children intervene as well. We must prevent them from escaping!" Kan Golge ordered.

"Yes, father."

The ancestral vampire cursed his enemies once more. Again, it seemed that they were going to slip through his fingers. It had happened several times already.

At least, he knew that they weren't the ones responsible for the deaths of the shadows. It had never coincided with the presence of the Guardians of the North, at least not that group. They had identified several of them, so they knew that those were the only group they had seen.

He wanted to capture them alive, if possible. They may have or know where the Eternal Flame was, which was his most coveted target. Unfortunately, they had proven extremely elusive.

Even Cahldor, the traitor among the Guardians, didn't know of the shortcuts by which they had escaped. He did know of the existence of the Gates, but not their exact location. That information was only given to the explorers, and only as much as it was necessary. Not even the members of the Council knew of it, unless they had been explorers before.

Menxolor's group had many scouts, so they had managed to gather the location of many of them. Instead, the knowledge of the ancient passages had been more of a coincidence, or fate, as some believed.

Whatever the case, he could only wait. His children would still take a while to arrive, and he didn't even know if they could do anything. Their level was high, but there were only two of them. He could send more, but they would take too long to arrive, and would leave other areas unprotected. Unfortunately for him, the number of troops he had at his disposal wasn't what it had been months ago.

On his father's orders, the vampires approached their enemies, as they were waiting for the opportunity to act. In any case, they couldn't get too close, as it was full of losts. Although those wouldn't attack them deliberately, it was easy to be hit by a spell or casual blow if they got too close to them.

They were concentrated on assessing the situation, and preparing ranged attacks in case they had the chance. The ten of them were focused on their enemies, and on not letting any lost carelessly run over them. Even though they were ahead of them, some were still coming from behind due to the call of the shadows.

Also, those shadows had been left without the protection of the vampires. They only had their corrupted bodyguards, but they were too excited about attacking the living to take precautions. The generals had to see the enemies and their troops directly to lead them, so they were in plain sight.

Goldmi didn't waste the opportunity. Each of the corrupted spirits was pierced by three Light Arrows. Although more than one had never been needed, she didn't want to take risks.

As soon as the arrows were fired, warned by her sister, the lynx came out of Darkness, where she was hidden with Gjaki and Maldoa. She wrapped herself in fire, fell on two vampires, knocked them down and Chewed the neck of one. After hearing the crack, she turned to the other.

Gjaki exposed her Bloodline, which paralyzed the others. At the same time, some Apparitions showed up and terrified the vampires. Some of them were in the form of Kan Golge. The spell brought out their deepest fears, and for some of them, it was their father's father.

Immediately, she lunged at those on the left. One was kneed in the stomach. As she doubled over in pain, the one on her side was pierced by two daggers, one in the neck and one in the heart.

The third was Bitten, and her blood altered by Disrupt. In addition, she was pierced with Spearhead, and Gjaki's hand even reached her heart, which was brutally extracted. It was an attack that contrasted with the vampire's usual attitude with her friends, as she had no compassion for her enemies.

Maldoa took care of those on the right. Her hands extended in the form of roots, wrapped around their necks and immobilized their hands. In their state of shock and attacked from behind, they were unable to defend themselves.

The roots even reached into their mouths, and through them, she launched Lightballs. Vampires are vulnerable to the purifying power of the spell, and even more so if it is from within. The drelf may not have had much control over those spheres without seeing them and from her roots, but they were in their throats. It was only necessary to gather the purifying power. If they were unstable and exploded, so much the better.

One of the vampires had survived the attacks, or rather, they hadn't had them time yet to deal with her. However, before she could recover from the impact of Bloodline, several arrows with Sharpen, Accelerate, Piercing Arrow and Purifying Touch pierced her.

The levels of the ten vampires were low, they had been taken by surprise, and they had been subjected to the intimidation of Bloodline. The vampires hadn't had the opportunity to defend themselves or to contact their father. They had fallen right into the trap.