Return to Jorgaldur

The darkness of the night wasn’t as intense in the grotto as it was on the surface. Although there were no moons or stars, the crystals didn’t completely lose their brilliance, so they lit up dimly. However, it was barely enough to see a few feet away. Beyond that, only shadows could be glimpsed. Not even that if those shadows used Camouflage.

The absence of vegetation was strange, for the light from the crystals should have been enough to make it grow. Besides, unlike the Lost Forest, there was no miasma there to prevent it, or anything like it. The only thing was the presence of the strange mist, and the feeling that there was something terrifying behind it. Luckily, it was far away, and they didn’t intend to approach there. Their target were other shadows that were hiding in the distance.

They were aware that the group of five was on alert, so they moved slowly in the dark. The feline was the guide. She was not only blending into the terrain, but checking for traps.

“Let’s go a bit to the left. There’s something just ahead,” announced the elf.

Once again, they took a detour, so dodging whatever it was they had placed there, be it alarms or traps. It was much easier to avoid them than to disarm them.

They came to the vicinity of a cave, in which they assumed their enemies had taken refuge. They didn’t know for sure, for Hawkeye didn’t let her see in the dark. Although, that was something that perhaps their enemies didn’t know.

Once again, Life Detection gave no new information, but it did Detect Mana. This time, it was an invisible structure that was blocking the entrance to the cave. They had no choice but to disarm it, even if that might alert those they were pursuing.

The lynx perched on a ledge above the cave. She was ready to pounce on any enemy, while her eyes were piercing the darkness. Goldmi decided to take precautions, to create some traps herself in case they appeared, thus several Wind Abysses were set. Likewise, she protected herself with Cyclonic Barrier, undid the Camouflage, and began Decomposing the Mana from the trap.

It wasn’t difficult. It was enough to weaken one edge of the magic structure, so the pressure of the mana that was circulating broke it. Therefore, that structure began to dissipate through there, little by little and silently.

It was when the trap collapsed that a source of light dazzled them.

“They’re dissolving the barrier,” one of the hooded men announced.

“Well, now we’ll see who’s the hunter and who’s the prey,” the hooded woman who seemed to be the boss threatened, with a grim smile. “Get ready.”

The hooded man who had spoken and the one next to him nodded. There were three of them, plus the dryad on the floor. She was drugged and unconscious.

When the spell was finally weakened enough, they launched a single-use item, which caused a powerful burst of light. It was followed by a kind of floating lamp which allowed them to see their enemies. It was much less sophisticated than the one Eldi would use years later, as it just floated in the air, unable to move at will.

Immediately, to take advantage of the surprise effect, they rushed out of the cave. At the same time, the two who were hiding outside advanced towards the light.

All of them had been isolated by a spell that prevented detection, although it also prevented them from seeing what was happening outside, and had depleted their leader’s mana reserves.

Only the connection with the barrier had allowed the hooded man to have contact with the outside world, at least with the barrier and its state. Meanwhile, those outside had been warned by the burst of light, which was capable of weakly penetrating its protection, enough to indicate that the moment had come.

Dazzled, the lynx couldn’t help but wait to regain her vision. Luckily for her, she wasn’t in a position easy to attack, but her sister was.

One of the hooded enemies cast a fire spell that slammed into Cyclonic Barrier. At the same time, three others pounced on the elf. However, They didn’t expect that she had also set traps, and two of them fell into Wind Abysses. Although they weren’t enough to kill them, the traps hurt and retained them.

The other managed to get close to her, but Goldmi had protected herself with five simultaneous Twisters, which were surrounding her. At the same time, she used Life Detection to locate the approximate situation of her enemies.

Blindly, she began shooting arrows in all directions. All of them were infused with Void, as she was trying to cover as much ground as possible. Her intention was to delay them until she regained her vision, so she trusted in the number of arrows, as she couldn’t trust in her aim.

It is true that the elf’s heart was racing, and that she had almost panicked. However, she had managed not to lose control of herself, which was enough to set her defenses and try to fight back.

Meanwhile, the leader cursed and recited a dangerous spell to crush her enemy. However, the sound and the flow of mana were enough for a huge feline to locate and jump on her.

She tore her shoulder and disrupt the spell, though she failed to do more damage. Had she been able to see her clearly, her surprise attack would have been aimed at the neck of her victim, and it might have been lethal.

Meanwhile, those trapped in the Abysses, received several arrows. It wasn’t easy for them to move, so they were easy prey for the elf’s blind attacks. The other two had managed to defend themselves, they had barely being scratched, but the two sisters had achieved something very important. They had managed to gain a few seconds.

With her eyes half open, the lynx pounced at the one closest to her sister, who was trying to weaken one of the Twisters. Her initial prey had escaped into the cave and raised a protection, thus preventing her from immediately following her. Besides, at that moment, the most important thing was to protect her sister.

His clothes were ripped to reveal a human with thick leather armor, which was capable of warding off the feline’s claws, though he couldn’t keep his balance. At the suggestion of her sister, the elf had pushed forward a Twister, so he was being attacked by two fronts, Twister and lynx.

Goldmi extinguished the others Twisters, as they were a high expenditure of mana. She also jumped to the side, to avoid another Fireball, and thus being able to conserve mana, by not having to renew Cyclonic Barrier again. She had spent a lot, and they had to face four adversaries.

It is true that one had taken refuge in the cave, but also that two others had escaped the traps. They were bleeding from numerous cuts, and their cloaks had been shattered, but they were ready and willing to fight. They were furious.