Return to Jorgaldur Volume V: Reunion (2)

At the lake (III)

"It's our turn!" exclaimed a nymph.

"Make way for the power of water!" another joined in.

"It's time for the real protagonists!" Bolbe joked.

"They're already growing too proud" Melia sighed.

"Yes... They're like plants. You give them a little water, and they grow," her sister and mother of Maldoa nodded. It was supposed to be a dryad joke.

Melia got along very well with Bolbe, and was watching the battlefield very closely, even more than many others. Eldi was there. She felt as scared as she was proud.

"Ha, ha. You're just jealous!" another nymph accused them.

Goldmi had sensed them, but hadn't been able to appreciate the difference. The dryads weren't only connected to each other, but there were other beings they considered their sisters, such as the lymnads, the aquatic nymphs.

Until now, they had been watching, frustrated at not being able to collaborate. Right now, their power was being channeled through the dryads, all the way to the lake they were purifying. The water was their domain.

Maldoa did know, but it had never occurred to her to explain it to the others. For her, it was something so natural that it was impossible for her to think that others couldn't know. She shrugged from her Origin when she realized that her friend had no idea.

"Stop playing and hurry up," Maldoa urged them, worried.

"Always so serious... Where did your daughter come from?" a nymph complained.

"I suppose from my husband. She could look more like me. I remember when She was little..."

"Mom!"

"You can see... Look at her now, so formal..."

"Mom!"

It must be said that, no matter how much they talked and joked, or made fun of Maldoa, they were all exercising their power with the utmost concentration, with all their skill.

It must also be said that they loved to make fun of the half-dryads. They were easier to provoke, more fun, or at least during the first years when they were fully connected. Later, the half-dryads ended up getting used to it, learned to ignore the mischievous dryads or nymphs, or they ended up being like them. Perhaps, a bit of everything.

Sometimes, the drelf tried to fight back, although she wasn't usually very successful. It is also true that, lately, she had found a weak point in some of her sisters.

She was a close friend of Goldmi, so it was easier for her to ask for food. Maldoa had often threatened not to do so, although never seriously. They could all sense it, and they played along, amused.

Kan Golge watched the water purify with concern. He didn't understand how it was happening. He hadn't studied the dryads in depth, but he knew they didn't control water.

Moreover, the appearance of the huge kraken had been totally unexpected. She dominated the water, which rendered the aquatic forces he still controlled useless. She was too powerful, too large to have appeared out of nowhere.

Not to mention that her influence didn't just extend to the water, as she could protect those on the shore too.

Eldi had aimed the catapult again. His last shot had passed less than twenty meters away, and was barely off target. Confident of hitting, he loaded another, this time with purifying power. They had a few.

The projectile didn't exactly hit the target, but it got close enough for an arrow to explode over the vampire. The purifying power attacked him, but the miasma vortex managed to nullify it. The vortex had weakened a little, but the miasma was coming continuously, and reinforced it again.

From that moment on, the next ones didn't fail, but the vortex managed to hold. Each time it happened, it weakened, but it was strengthened shortly after with new miasma. The only thing they were achieving was delaying whatever their enemy was doing.

"Gjaki, we need more firepower. Can you shoot with the other one?" the high human asked.

"There're too many," she denied.

"What's that!?" the elf was surprised. She had turned towards the lake after the goshawk's warning.

The purification of the water had reached the vortex, but it hadn't penetrated it. It had ended up surrounding it and expanding, then rising and covering it. An increasingly thick dome of water was now blocking the miasma, just as the dryads had done before.

Before it closed completely, Kan Golge shot upwards. Although he didn't understand how it was possible, he had been very attentive to his surroundings this time. He didn't want to be caught no matter what.

Suddenly, a tentacle Enlarged and grabbed his leg tightly, thus preventing him from escaping. The miasma was corrupting the tentacle, but despite the pain, the kraken refused to let him go. She was even Enlarging other tentacles.

The vampire gritted his teeth and cut off his own leg. It vanished in the form of black mist, and left the tentacle nothing to grab onto. Immediately, he wanted to rise again, to escape from that lake, while the leg was taking shape again.

A strong blow prevented him from doing so. It hit his entire body, and sent him flying towards the ground. The goshawk had Grown and Collided against him, which had destroyed the small shield of miasma that was forming around their enemy.

However, she had Collided against a very dense miasma, part of which now enveloped her. This miasma was invading her, after having penetrated her thanks to the blow. She could feel the danger it represented, and the pain was intense as the miasma corroded her. The bird could feel how her feathers and skin were falling into corruption.

Therefore, she didn't hesitate. After returning to her natural size, she appeared next to her elf sister thanks to Always With You.

"Sister!" Goldmi worried.

Immediately, she enveloped her in purifying power and applied Basic Healing.

"That's enough, that's enough. I'm fine, I'm fine," the bird stopped the elf before she could continue healing her.

It had been unpleasant and painful, but her sister's magic was just the opposite. She felt much better.

"If you're so fine, I don't know why you came down here," the lynx criticized, although she had been very worried.

"I wanted to see if you knew how to do something other than growl. The answer is no," the goshawk replied. She was moving her wings to make sure they responded appropriately.

In her beak, there was a delicious snack of meat and sugar that she had claimed for her heroism. Goldmi had given it to her despite the lynx's protests.

Finally, the goshawk took flight again. There was still work to do.