Return to Jorgaldur Volume V: Reunion (2)

Ambush (I)

Warkmon was watching the battle through one of the shadows. The enemies, the group of Guardians of the North, were skillfully protecting their position. In principle, they had no chance, but he was worried about what they were doing inside the cave.

He had already seen them escape more than once, and his father feared the same. Suddenly, the vampire glimpsed something luminous, although he couldn't make out exactly what it was. Unexpectedly, the connection with the shadow was cut, so his consciousness returned to his body. He was sitting in the chair in front of his desk.

"What happened?" he wondered "It can't be..."

He tried to connect with the shadow again, and then with its partner, without success. While trying, he noticed how the existence of one of his children vanished. There was no time to react before the same thing happened to two others.

"Dalkja, what's going on!?" he asked one of the survivors.

He got no answer. Although she was alive, she was unable to respond, no matter how much he tried with her or the others. Two more died in the next few moments, and the very vampiress he had wanted to contact died shortly after. Just a little while later, none remained.

He had been left without eyes and ears on the battlefield, and had no idea how that had happened. He had seen nothing suspicious in their enemies, and the only clue was a brief glow that he hadn't been able to distinguish.

It took him a few seconds to react, to come out of his stupor. Although he didn't want to, he knew what he had to do.

"Father, the shadows are dead, and so are my children," he contacted Kan Golge.

"How!? What happened!?" he demanded to know, between surprised and enraged.

"I don't know. The guardians were fighting the losts. I only saw a glow from the shadow I was controlling, and it disappeared. I could no longer link with either of them, and my children died almost at the same time. It was a coordinated and precise attack," the vampire explained.

"Damn it!" his father cursed, before simply disconnecting.

Warkmon was left not knowing what to do, and fearing that his father's fury would reach him. He knew how his father could get when he lost his temper, so he was fearing for his life. Luckily for him, that didn't happen. He could only wait, and continue to watch the other shadows.

"Sister, look," the vampire pointed out.

His sister, who was flying beside him on her wyvern, looked where the other vampire was pointing. There, they could see the side of a mountain devoid of vegetation. The amount of rocks accumulated on the slope was evidence of the avalanche that had taken place hours ago.

"An avalanche? Not one of those creatures is left alive? Well, you know what I mean, dead but moving," she wondered.

"Father said that the two shadows are dead, so they wouldn't have moved from their spot if there were any left," he deduced.

"Unless they were chasing the enemies. There's no trace of them either. Contact father, it's your turn," she assessed, while they were flying over the area.

He wanted to protest, but it was true that it was his turn. No one liked to give him bad news.

"Father, no sign of the enemies or the corrupted. There's been an avalanche, which must have buried them," he explained to him.

"All of them?" Kan Golge was surprised.

"There's no sign of any..." he was explaining, when his sister interrupted.

"There! Survivors! Let's go!" his sister urged.

"Father, we've sighted four survivors! They're injured, two aren't even standing. Between us and the mounts, we'll take care of them. We'll try to take them alive and question them," the vampire informed.

"Survivors? There's something strange. Even if there was an avalanche, it doesn't make sense that there's no losts. At least the flying ones, and those which were further away. It doesn't make any sense..." Kan Golge thought.

He couldn't understand the situation, and even less if there were only a few surviving enemies. Only one possibility occurred to him.

"Wait! It could be a trap!" he warned his children.

"They're coming, they've been seen them," Goldmi warned, as she drew her bow again.

She had several Held arrows ready to be launched in a single devastating attack. Several mages and archers from the guardians were also ready, as well as a certain albino bird.

The vampires quickly descended towards the four guardians who were acting as bait. However, halfway down, they stopped their descent, changing direction.

"Have they noticed?" Gjaki cursed.

"Attack!" Menxolor ordered. If they waited any longer, their enemies would get out of range.

Gjaki uninvoked Shadow Protection. Dozens of mana attacks flashed on their path towards their enemies. They were followed by the arrows that aimed at the wyverns' wings.

The vampires' protective shields and mounts weren't prepared to deal with such a powerful attack. Perhaps, if they were at full speed, there would have been a chance to dodge some. Unfortunately for them, they had slowed down to ascend again.

Still, they were powerful and experienced vampires. In addition, the attacks had to travel a long distance, so they were weakened along the way. They combined their mana to create an additional intertwined protection.

The wyverns and their riders were pushed back by the force of the explosions, which cracked even the new shield. The arrows that followed managed to piercing it. It was weakened by the previous attack, and was designed to protect against magical attacks, not physical ones.

The projectiles stuck in the powerful winged reptiles, both in their bodies and in their wings. It was enough to hinder their movements and drain their vitality, but they could still fly. The wyverns moved their wings to ascend, before their enemies could attack again.

What they didn't know was that someone had been waiting. Goldmi then released all the Held arrows. The physical ones had Piercing Arrow, Accelerate, and Wind Touch. She had invested a great deal of her remaining mana and energy, although there was still enough to be able to direct them with Curved Shot if her enemies changed direction.

All the arrows headed towards one of the winged reptiles, specifically, towards one of its wings. The vampiress riding it tried to repel the fast attack, but her new and improvised mana shield was shattered before it could even form.

Her brother's help, trying to deflect the projectiles, succeeded with a few, but there were too many. The membrane and part of the joints of the Wyvern's wing were destroyed, and it lost control of its flight.