Return to Jorgaldur Volume III: blood warrior

Blood Knight (III)

There was an awkward silence between them as the fight continued, though it wasn't as awkward as it might have been if they hadn't been "distracted." Gjaki was focused on the fight, and the reptilians on enduring the pain caused by their blood trickling out of their body through the pores of their skin. Although it was slower now, it was still excruciatingly painful, as if thousands of needles were slowly digging into the skin.

The reptilian vampiress had inflicted many attacks on the knight and suffered only a few. However, she suffered from every blow, while the blood creature was moving as if it had never been hit.

Actually, each wound eroded the cohesion of its aura, but its effect was negligible in battle. Unless they were enough for it to collapse, they were practically harmless.

No doubt, the damage would require more sacrifices for it to regain its level, but that wasn't important now. It had to win. Otherwise, they would be doomed.

At first, the reptilian vampiress seemed to hold up comfortably against her opponent, despite being of a lower level. Her wounds were soon healed, and her spells let her gain the initiative. She had even pierced the stomach of her opponent.

However, Gjaki knew better. At least, she hoped it. In the game, the blood knights' scariest trait was their stamina. They could fight for days without even breaking a sweat. Also, its opponent was relying on her blood power and her mana, and they wouldn't last forever.

After a quarter of an hour, the symptoms of fatigue began to show. As a result, there was a distraction that cost the vampiress a cut to her stomach. Although it was soon healed, her face reflected the desperation of her situation.

She knew the power of what was supposed to be her puppet, its near-invincibility against someone on its level. It could even cause serious problems for someone several levels above it.

Little by little, her spells became less frequent, as she needed to ration her mana. Her injuries were increasing, and her regeneration power began to fail. That power was already not as powerful as Gjaki's, as the vampire blood was diluted in her. Therefore, her blood abilities were less efficient.

Her movements became slower and slower, due to exhaustion and injuries. From her eyes, helplessness, fear and despair were reflected.

"Don't kill me! I'll be your servant! I'll do whatever you order me! I'll make a blood contract!" she begged.

The reptilians looked at Gjaki. They feared she would agree, but she didn't even blink. Once the contract was made, her enemy couldn't betray her, but she could before it was done. If she showed herself, even for a moment, she could die. Furthermore, Gjaki didn't want a slave, nor did she have the slightest intention of sparing her life.

She begged a few more times before losing an arm. It was soon followed by a heavy blow to her stomach. It didn't take long for her to be beheaded.

Gjaki felt the flow of experience. The level difference was so huge that she could have raised many levels, but she hadn't directly killed them. Although the knight was under her command, that had only given her a small percentage of the total, enough to level up to 33.

Gjaki came out of hiding as the ezihuq watched, and were gritting their teeth in pain. They didn't know what to think, but they couldn't help being afraid. Even more so when she controlled that creature whose aura was making them suffer, was killing them little by little. Now that the fight was over, the aura had intensified, and thus the pain.

"Come," the vampiress ordered.

The knight obeyed without delay. Its two meters of bones, aura and blood appeared in front of the vampiress.

"Kneel."

When it did, she put her hand on its head. She could feel her mark and, through it, the essence of that creature, even its trapped soul.

Surely, it would be useful to keep it for the future. It could help her until her level was higher, but she had promised. She remembered it perfectly, even if it had been just for a moment in one of the game's many missions.

The most curious thing about it was that, when she had later searched for information about that mission, she hadn't found anything similar to her personal experience. Gjaki now suspected that it had been real.

"You're a vampire, but you're noble. Okay, I'll help you, but it won't be free," the female knight had accepted back then.

"What do you want in exchange? I can pay you handsomely," the vampiress had offered.

"I want a promise. Do you know what a blood knight is?"

"Yes. Do you want one?" she had been surprised, because that didn't fit the nature of the knight.

"Some time ago, some of my companions were caught and turned into those aberrations. Promise me that, if any fall into your hands, you'll release them."

"Okay," she had accepted, perhaps as if it was another dialogue in the game, perhaps as something more.

"These are the words..."

She looked once more at the knight, while wondering again if that had been real or not. If she had to bet, she would have put her stakes on "yes". With a solemnity whose origin she didn't quite understand, the vampiress began to recite the words that she had learned back then. She still remembered them perfectly.

"The place of the dead is not the world of the living. It is time to go to the other side. As the master of the contract, I release you from your bonds, and I open the gate to where you belong."

She could feel power in every word, in every syllable. It was a power granted by her, but at the same time it seemed to come from a much more distant place.

She felt the mark break, but did nothing to stop it. Its bones collapsed and the aura disappeared. In its stead, they all saw the blurry image of a hawk-man, who for a moment turned and looked at the vampiress. There was gratitude in his eyes, and reverence in his gestures.

He turned, and headed to a place beyond the reach of the living. His blurry body was disappearing, as if it was passing through an invisible gate. In a way, it seemed like a dream, but they could feel in their soul that it was so much more.

In silence, they stared at the place where that previously trapped and tortured soul had disappeared. The question was clear in their eyes, but the answer wasn't something the living should know.