Return to Jorgaldur Volume III: blood warrior

Recapture (IV)

"What now? Are you going to flee? Are you going to attack? Are you going to keep staring?" Gjaki provoked them, while she was walking slowly around them.

She reached a torch and, by placing her fingers on it, extinguished the flame as if she were playing, as if it weren't important. It seemed like magic, although she actually pulled water out of the inventory stealthy.

Thus, little by little, she extinguished almost all the torches, thus transforming the environment in a gloomier one. It didn't seem to mean anything, since both she and the goblins could see in the dark. What they didn't know was that, without torchlight, Darkness and Tentacles were more effective. Of course, they didn't even know of the existence of such spells.

That was precisely what the vampire wanted to achieve, in addition to take the opportunity to provoke and separate them. However, they were too scared to even move.

In the distance, four goblins were waiting for the opportunity to help the vampire, and several dozen were waiting at the entrance of the cave. Unfortunately, they couldn't get close without risking the hostages.

She kept circling them, getting closer and closer, and appearing to be more sure of herself than she really was. The vampire was feeling nervous, but also excited. In fact, she was tempted to jump between the three, but she knew it would be too risky.

The goblins stepped back, to keep her from getting any closer, without deciding to attack or flee. It was then that a Bat fell on them. They lost sight of their enemy for an instant, but that was enough.

"Where is that thing?" exclaimed the chief.

Gjaki was moving slowly, protected by Darkness. She had sent it to attack when she had reached a blind spot in the light of the remaining torches. It was a place where her shadow could hardly be distinguished. Furthermore, she had summoned two more Bats to distract them.

Those hiding in the distance gasped. From there, they were unable to perceive that moving shadow.

"Has it become one of these?" the second in command asked, while pointing at the dark flying beings.

"Kill them all! Don't let them get near!" the chief exclaimed.

Though they tried, Gjaki was controlling them to fly over her enemies, to get close, but not too close. Except for one, which was pierced by a spear, practically disappearing.

Before they could wonder what was going on, the weakest of them, at level 14, was killed in just a moment. Distracted by the Bats, they hadn't paid attention to the approaching shadow, and too late they had discovered the figure of the vampire.

"... And they said they don't have any use in combat..." she praised the Bats.

Although she disliked biting such a dirty neck, she knew the image of her sucking his blood would be shocking. So much so that, instead of attacking her, they took a couple of steps back.

She threw the corpse at the chief, who, almost panicking, pierced it with his spear. Meanwhile, she used the whip to Grab the second-in-command's mace, and pulled hard, thus catching him by surprise and disarming him.

Immediately, and while the chief was trying to free the spear, she attacked the newly disarmed one. He took out a knife to try to defend himself, which was dodged by Slippery Dagger, with which she approached him at the same time.

She had put away the whip, retrieved the second dagger, and unsummoned one of the remaining Bats. That second dagger appeared in her leg through Surprise Dagger, thus wounding him in the ankle. It also distracted him enough to, by Scratch, be also pierced by her nails.

The goblin took two steps back. As he was wounded in the shoulder and leg, he was battered and with reduced mobility. Nonetheless, the vampire couldn't finish him off, as a spear was threatening to pierce her.

As if she had eyes in her back, she dodged the attack by jumping to the side, turned on the ground, and launched herself forward. Her trajectory was parallel to the spear, so it was now difficult for it to reach her. At most, it could hit her sideways, something that might annoy but hardly hurt her.

However, the leader of the invaders didn't come up with that possibility. He was used to invading villages, to fighting a few defenders who they outnumbered. Only occasionally he fought in a one-on-one, against whoever disputed his command, or when he himself had disputed it. Nonetheless, none of his adversaries had ever fought like the vampire, nor did they instill so much fear in him.

Furthermore, she actually had eyes on her back, hanging on the ceiling, face down. It required concentration, but the Bat was very useful. She was surprised at how easy it was for her, since it didn't work exactly like that in the game. In front of the computer screen, she didn't need to have her back watched.

The goblin chief dropped his spear to pull a slightly rusty sword from his belt, but Gjaki's leg reached first. This time, she had changed her strategy, by Hardening her foot and slamming into her enemy's, who fell abruptly forward.

She rolled to the side, thus keeping him from falling on her. Immediately, she put her hands and feet on the ground, bent her knees, and pushed herself forward. Meanwhile, the goblin chief was still trying to understand what had happened, and had just reached the ground.

She dropped the daggers and used both hands to wield a level 10 hammer. Perhaps, the weapon's level was too low when facing her enemy's protection, but the blow to the back was enough to thwart his first attempt to get up. Besides, it was quite painful.

She laid the hammer on her enemy, and used the momentum of the blow to reach his neck, elongate her nails with Scratch, and pierce through. He tried to turn over, but he had no strength left to prevent his death.

Gjaki then looked beyond, where the last of the invaders was beaten and pierced by four goblins. Their levels were lower, but their opponent was already injured. He could barely move or use his dominant arm, plus there were four of them. They finished him off without needing the help of the vampire, who simply stayed resting, thus leaving the rescue of the goblins to their kin.

The prisoners were staring at her without knowing whether to be terrified or grateful. They had heard her words, that they were her food, but she seemed to have no intention of attacking them. Besides, four of their kin had been fighting alongside her. They didn't know what to think.

Gjaki, who didn't have much confidence in her social skills, preferred to leave the explanations to the other goblins.