Return to Jorgaldur Volume V: Reunion (2)

Trapped

"What've you done to him!?" Gjaki demanded through gritted teeth. She could barely speak.

"Shouldn't you worry more about yourself?" Kan Golge mocked. "Don't worry, he won't die from that, at most, he'll faint. I've only made every drop of his blood cause him pain, it's not something anyone can resist. Ha, ha! Since I'll have a good heart, yours, I'll free him from his Agony, forever. Ha, ha ha!"

"I won't let you!" she threatened.

"What can you do? Do you think my children didn't want to free themselves? They were more experienced than you, hundreds of years older, and they didn't even have a chance. It took me sixty years to develop this special ability against ancestral vampires. I have to burn my blood, but it's foolproof. I'm going to enjoy watching you agonize while I rip out your heart and drain your blood. You're going to pay for what you've done to me!" he threatened, as he brought his hand close to the heart of the blood warrior.

Grim nails of miasma extended to pierce the paralyzed vampiress. No matter how hard she tried to control her power, it was impossible to free herself. Kan Golge's blood acted as powerful shackles, which prevented her from channeling it.

Nonetheless, he frowned when he noticed the armor she was wearing. It was more resistant than he had imagined, so he channeled more miasma to corrode it as quickly as possible. Although she was still defenseless, maintaining the skill had a high cost.

Despite its high quality, the armor began to lose consistency, to give in to the advance of the miasma. He only needed a few more seconds to break the defense and reach her heart, but long nails dug deep into his arm.

Due to Blood Disruption, the spell was canceled, in addition to disturbing what was left of his blood. Gjaki had also added the curses Bleed, Stand Still!, Weakness, and Numbness, though she didn't know how effective they would be.

With Scratch and Steel Claws, the vampiress had increased the length and hardness of her nails. In her other hand, a dagger appeared and stabbed into one of the eyes of the incredulous Khan Golge. She had caught him by surprise, and there was no miasma protection between them. It had to be that way in order to extract her heart.

She followed with a Head-butt, and a roundhouse kick that broke his nose

"How!?" the vampire refused to accept it as he was thrown back.

His arm had disappeared after the attack, and was reforming. With the other, he pulled the dagger out of his eye, which was bleeding. However, he didn't seem to feel pain.

The vampiress looked at him defiantly, now wielding two daggers.

"Did you really think such a pathetic ability could hold me back? You're surprisingly naive," she provoked him.

She had been surprised by how helpless he had made her, though not by the skill existence. Ljila, Kan Golge's daughter, had warned her, though that wasn't the only thing she had done.

The only other ancestral vampiress she knew had given her own blood, along with a method to counter the Blood Shackles. She had spent decades studying it, designing a countermeasure, in preparation for a presumed confrontation.

There was no time for Gjaki to learn it and adapt it to her own blood, since Ljila had created it with herself in mind only. Therefore, she had opted for the most practical solution. She had given her blood to Gjaki, so the blood warrior could cast the counter through it, even though it would weaken Ljila for a time.

The vampiress was clearly bluffing now, for she hadn't been completely confident. Fortunately, it had worked.

Kan Golge stared at her in disbelief as a powerful attack struck his back. It destroyed the layer of miasma and hit his body.

The attack came from Eldi, which completely disconcerted the vampire, and even started to freak him out. His enemy shouldn't be able to move due to the Blood Shackles, and that human should be Agonizing in pain, if he hadn't fainted. Yet, there he was, standing, attacking.

The truth was that Agony was still active, but the blood ability didn't prevent him from moving, it only caused him unbearable pain. That was precisely what This Is Nothing countered, a skill that allowed him to ignore pain.

He and Gjaki had exchanged glances, so he had been waiting on the ground for her to attack. At the right time, he had gathered all his mana into an Elemental Beam, a spell that combined the four elements he was akin to. It was undoubtedly his most powerful ranged attack, though he had used up all his mana for it.

Kan Golge squeezed out his miasma to counter the attack, which had destroyed the lower half of his body, and was threatening to continue with the rest. At the same time, he had to defend himself from the vampiress, who lunged at him.

The vampire crossed his arms in front of him, while gathering some of his miasma in front of them, and was preparing to counterattack. He was as furious as he was confused and scared.

To his surprise, Gjaki didn't attack, but instead jumped back at the last moment. For an instant, he didn't understand why, until hundreds of arrows rained down on him.

Goldmi, Synchronized with the lynx, had been dodging and weakening the structure, but she had also moved closer to the perimeter of the spell, and away from the plants.

It was risky, as it made it difficult for her to dodge the attacks coming from that direction. However, she hadn't gotten so close that it was impossible.

Finally, she had cast Black Hole. The spell had drawn in everything around it, including the miasma that made up the spell. At least, the portion that was close to her.

It had created a hole large enough for her to escape, and Kan Golge was too distracted to take care of it.

She had then gone to another area of plants, and had asked for a Mana Loan again. She had invested almost all of it in Holding an innumerable amount of arrows, while waiting for the signal from her friend's Bat. A great deal of energy had also been invested.

As soon as the signal had been given, all kinds of arrows had been fired. There were some with Light Traps, some with Light Overload, some with Piercing Arrow, Sharpen, Harden, some with Accelerate to get them there quicker, even some Slow Arrow. In between, there were also some Rough Arrows to push him and throw him off balance.

Finally, she had fired a Lethal Arrow with all her energy, after an Energy Loan. She hoped it would be enough.

The elf stared, ready to direct them if necessary with the mana she had reserved. She had dropped to the ground, exhausted, and had been gently picked up by the plants. She had invested all her power in those attacks.