Return to Jorgaldur

The lake was wider as they advanced, so that the mainland through which they could pass was getting narrower. Therefore, they all were watching the water. They were prepared to react to any attack. Either to counterattack, or to flee from there.

“There’s something in the water. Something big,” the goshawk warned.

The lynx and the elf suddenly saw a large eruption of water. Before they could make out anything else, two fireballs crashed a short distance from them, each to one side.

Everything had been too fast. They had barely had time to react, and the power of the attack had been terrifying. Their confidence in facing their enemy had been totally shattered. They weren’t even sure if they could get out of there alive. Both sisters could feel the heat that the rock gave off, from the cavity that had been just created by the attack. It gave a rough idea of its power.

However, they had to try. So, the elf rode her sister, who was prepared to Jump out of there. Meanwhile, they were watching the water fall. Soon, three long necks appeared behind a watery curtain.

One of those necks ended midway, as if it had been cut. Each of the other two had a head at their end, which were glaring at their prey. Its enormous body barely peeked out of the water, and the beginning of six more necks could be seen above it, as if they had yet to grow.

However, soon something strange happened. Both heads looked at each other, apparently nervous.

“A level 100 hydra!” the elf silently exclaimed, terrified.

“Why does it have only two heads? Isn’t it an adult yet? Maybe has someone cut them off?” asked the goshawk, who was worried about what she could see below.

“I don’t know, but it’s acting strange,” observed the feline, alert.

The three of them had faced such a monster in game time, alongside Gjaki and Eldi. Even with everyone at their highest level, it hadn’t been easy.

What they didn’t understand was its behavior. In the past, it had simply attacked them.

“Are you a…? Cough, cough… Are you a visitor?” asked one of the heads, visibly nervous.

“Y… Yes,” acknowledged the elf.

She was too scared and in awe to contemplate the possibility of lying. Also, that it could speak had taken them all completely by surprise.

“Name?”

“Gold… mi.”

The two heads looked at each other again, wide-eyed. Then they sighed. One of the heads hid in the water. The other looked up at the sky, as if protesting to the gods. It looked haunted. Even scared.

“You… can go. It hasn’t… hurt, has it? It was just a greeting! You won’t say anything to her, will you? Well, I have to… go. Have a… good day,” the head stuttered, and was also shaking.

“She?” asked Goldmi.

However, in front of the puzzled gaze of her and her sisters, the enormous body had submerged and lost in the depths of the lake.

“What had happened?” asked the lynx, stunned

“You’re so ugly that you’ve scared it,” the goshawk sneered.

“Could it be that it has an allergy to stupid birds?” the lynx replied.

“We’d better go, before it changes its mind,” the elf urged.

At that moment, she didn’t have time to laugh at the conversation of her sisters, who were just as nervous as she, but they tried to downplay it and relax by joking.

The lynx Jumped forward, with the elf on her back. Then, she ran at great speed, while the goshawk followed them. Only when they were a great distance from the lake, did they breathe in relief.

They looked back once more, and continued forward, into a wide tunnel with many forks. There, the beings were of a similar level to the previous ones, so there was no danger to them.

However, after facing a level 100 being, they couldn’t afford lower their guard anymore. They couldn’t know if there were other hidden dangers in those tunnels.

The centipedes were still hell-bent on attacking them, but Roll was easily blocked by spells from about ten levels higher, or by the lynx.

Twister could do a lot of damage to them. Wind Push was able to stop their run. A burst of arrows simply killed them. For its part, the lynx could deal with them on her own. Even their skill to hide underground and ambush them was useless against Life Detection.

As a result, they ended up with a large collection of centipede scales, legs, and meat. It must be said that the meat, well cooked and seasoned, was really delicious. Even Goldmi was no longer so reluctant to taste the meat of insects and other critters, as she was gradually getting used to it.

It was surprising how many recipes she had which were related to centipede meat, whether it was stewed, grilled, fried, like lasagna… Actually, many recipes were adapted. It was changed the cooking time, the temperature or the accompaniments in order to match the properties of each meat, something the elf seemed to deduce naturally.

She hadn’t been able to do it at first, but as she had been controlling the kitchen and the actions of her assistants, she had gradually deepened her knowledge of the profession, and also learned from some of her mistakes.

In fact, given the amount of centipede meat, she had dared to experiment a bit. It had result in some chunks of charred or incredibly tough meat, but surprisingly, some crunchy snacks were also made from that ingredient.

She even dared to cook a centipede jelly, which wasn’t badly received. Nonetheless, the consensus was that it was more suitable for main dish, or for those curious snacks that could be savored at any time.

Therefore, because of the insistence of her sisters, Goldmi was forced to cook many. Every time they stopped to cook, she added a few more, though not always the same.

The lynx liked them mixed with a small extremely spicy fruit. Her two sisters had preferred not to try a second time, after having to drink water for a long time to calm their tongues, while the feline couldn’t stop laughing.

The goshawk preferred half sweet and half bitter ones, which gave a curious contrast that she found delicious. The elf simply preferred other snacks. While she was capable of eating centipede meat, she still didn’t do so without prejudice.