Return to Jorgaldur Volume V: Reunion (2)

Against an army (I)

"You, go for the elf. That one there. You, the one with black hair. That one. The rest, focus your attacks on her. A few of you take care of that bug," Kan Golge pointed out, ordering the shadows.

He could command the losts, but there were many of them. It was better to distribute the work among the shadows. He stood watching, ready to attack as soon as there was an opportunity. Hatred consumed him, but he still had his calculating mind.

Several spikes shot out towards Goldmi, while the twenty losts closest to her pounced on her. Except for three, their level wasn't very worrying, but all at once they could be dangerous.

The elf left a Vegetable Trap on the ground, and hurried up a Wind Staircase. As she did so, she was shooting at those ranged. It was easier to finish off the lower level ones closer, but others would take their place. If they didn't attack more at once it was because there wasn't room for all of them. Therefore, in the short term, there was little point in dealing with them. The ranged ones were more dangerous precisely because they could attack many at once.

Goldmi's quick movements allowed her to avoid most of the attacks. Only a few with a wide area of effect reached her, but Cyclonic Barrier was enough to protect her. Not only were there not many of these area attacks, but their power was distributed. Therefore, only a small part of it reached her.

She kept shooting while moving between the Wind Steps. She was focusing on the ranged ones, although she had to wait for them to start attacking her to identify them. They were the most dangerous right now, since the others stayed on the ground, several meters below. They were looking at her threateningly.

"Oops, this one jumps," she dodged a three-horned kangaroo by jumping to the side, into the void.

A new step appeared under her feet, and allowed her to stay in the air. She ignored the lost, which ended up landing on the ground, which was already covered in vegetation. It wanted to jump again, but branches, stems and roots Tangled around it.

The kangaroo tried to free itself, but it was increasingly trapped. The power of the dryads continued to circulate among the plants, which made them more resistant and flexible, as well as caused them to continue growing. After less than a minute, all signs of the kangaroo had been reduced to a lump covered in vegetation.

It was by no means the only one. Those which wanted to attack her had arrived under her position, and fallen into the Vegetable Trap. Some were directly Tangled. In these circumstances in which she could control all the vegetation from the air, the trap was somewhat redundant. Not to mention that her power over nature had multiplied thanks to the collaboration of the dryads.

In part, the dryads were using her as their eyes. It was enough for her to express her will for them to amplify the result.

This time, she didn't dodge a particularly dangerous projectile. Instead, she used Reprisal to throw it back at its owner. It was some kind of strange dinosaur, with sharp spikes on its back that it could throw. Now, one had returned to its original position, but upside down. It had stuck deep.

"From behind. The red one is mine," the goshawk warned her.

She turned around to discover two flying losts approaching her. One was a dark blue color, and launched several of its sharp feathers at her.

The elf let herself drop, while shooting an arrow at it with Accelerate and Light Overload. It reached the wing in an instant, which was pierced thanks to the difference in level and Piercing Arrow. Immediately, it exploded with purifying power, which destroyed the wing of the lost. It fell among its allies, its fate uncertain.

As for the dark red one, which in the past had been a much more vivid color, it was thrown to the side after a tremendous Collide with the goshawk. The angle at which the albino bird had attacked sent it directly between the plants. They buried it under their stems.

Goldmi Hovered to stop her fall, summoned a new Wind Step and bent her knees to land on it. Now, she was barely three meters from the ground, so she had to be careful. Some enemies could try to reach her. However, she was above the narrow and long garden that had formed in the middle of the corrupted land.

What she didn't expect was that the kangaroo that had been held by the plants escaped. The elf had noticed a strange sign from them, but she didn't know very well what it meant.

The kangaroo immediately jumped, as she prepared to dodge or block it. However, it didn't do so towards her, but forward, on a lost with a high neck. It landed on the head, and jumped on it. The neck of the lost gave way, and some vertebrae broke after the sudden attack.

"It's awakened... So that was what they were telling me," she understood.

Out of the corner of her eye, she looked at another of the buried lumps. She had received a similar signal, and could see how the surrounding plants loosened and separated, thus allowing it to free itself. It was similar to a giant armadillo, with its armored body. The awakened pounced towards the nearby losts and crashed face to face with a kind of moose.

It must be said that the losts immediately considered the awakeneds their enemies. The latter had charged against them, so it didn't take long for them to be annihilated, since the numerical difference was insurmountable. However, they sold their lives dearly, distracted the enemy, and achieved their main objective. They wanted to die, to free themselves from the hell to which they had been subjected all these years.

While she returned another projectile with Reprisal, and went back up the steps, she discovered a shadow that was observing Gjaki from its hiding place. A Light Arrow quickly reached the shadow, before it could hide.

At the same time, a Rough Arrow hit the leg of the corrupted antelope that had been sent by the spirit. Her friend could probably handle it, but it wouldn't hurt to lend a hand.

Another Light Arrow entered the mouth of a strange giant insect that wanted to launch a sonic attack against Eldi. The combination with Light Overload made it explode as soon as it entered, which interrupted the attack and caused serious damage. It couldn't execute that type of attack again, and it wasn't clear if it could move.

It was then that she saw Pikshbxgra come out of the hole, from the dryads' root, and she wasn't alone. The elf could see quite a few points of light coming out with her, fairies too.

She recognized some of them, like the princess of the cherries, who winked at her. After that, the fairy shot off in a specific direction, like the rest of the fairies. They had work to do.

She then looked back at Kan Golge for a moment, with distrust. He was still there, not quite getting close.