Return to Jorgaldur Volume III: blood warrior

Child in distress

The boy's reaction surprised the vampiress, who cursed him.

"I just saved you, and you're running away? The hell you will!" she murmured, offended.

Without ever knowing how, the boy was instantly immobilized by Blood Bind. Although the blood ropes weren't very resistant, the difference in level was enormous.

He turned his head to look terrified at the vampiress, who slowly approached. He was surprised that she bent down to pick up the bag with herbs, but he didn't give it much thought. He was too scared.

Vampires from other areas were known to sometimes infiltrate enemy territory. They seized and enslaved whoever they encountered. In fact, his own lord's servants sometimes did it too.

"Don't bite me! I'm too small! I'll be of no use to you! I almost have no blood!" he begged.

Gjaki sighed, between sadness and fury. Surely, if he was so afraid of her, it was because other vampires were capable of it.

"I'm going to untie you. Promise me you won't run away" she told him, with the softest tone she was capable of.

The boy nodded, too scared not to obey. He was staring at her, still trembling and mistrusting her. He feared that she was toying with him, as he had heard they did with their victims. He was sure that at any moment she would attack him, although he could do little to avoid it, as he was unable to move.

Therefore, when the restraints disappeared, he froze, unable to react. He hadn't really expected her to actually untie him, although the boy still believed that she was going to bite him at any moment.

"Sit down. Are you hungry?"

The boy wasn't clear what surprised him more. Perhaps, that he hadn't been attacked yet. Perhaps, those armchairs that had appeared out of nowhere. Perhaps, that they were the most comfortable place he had ever sat on. So, when she brought him an appetizing plate of gratin pasta, his brain was unable to reason.

"Are you going to eat me? Do you give me this so that I get fat and taste better?" he asked, fearful.

Gjaki couldn't help but laugh, at which the boy flinched. He tried to back away in terror when the vampiress' hand came up to his face. He was looking with special fear at the fingernails, because the vampire's were terrible, or so they said.

However, that hand didn't attack him, but reached for his head. It pushed back the hood, and stroked his dark blue hair.

The vampiress could see that the boy's blue skin wasn't only dirty, but had quite a few scratches. Nonetheless, she couldn't tell if he was being mistreated, or if it was due to having to go through the forest to pick herbs.

"I'm not going to eat or bite you. I'm a vampire, but that doesn't mean I'm evil. Look, this is a doll they made of me. My name is Gjaki, and you?"

"Brurol," he replied, with shyness and some suspicion.

Perhaps, it was the tone of voice of his savior. Perhaps, the delicious food. Perhaps, that funny stuffed doll that had a certain resemblance to her. Perhaps, that he was a child who was being treated with affection. Whatever it was, she soon ended up gaining his trust.

For his part, Gjaki didn't expect to get much relevant information from a child, but she got more than expected.

His village wasn't far away, and it was extremely poor. In the past, they had lived by hunting and farming, plus the collection of some herbs. They weren't rich, but they could live reasonably well.

However, the vampire lord of that lands had taken those who could hunt. With this, they had lost a source of food, and many families had been broken. However, the worst was yet to come.

Horned rabbits are herbivores, but can be very aggressive. In the past, they caused occasional crop problems and some damage, but hunters kept them at bay. They were even a source of food. Now that there were almost no hunters, it was impossible to control them.

Thus, they had been unopposed to feed on the crops, which had increased their numbers and worsened the problem. To make matters worse, some predators had been attracted by the abundance of prey, so they were often seen in the old fields that were no longer farmable.

Because of this, the villagers were starving. They had to risk their lives to enter the forest, and collect whatever they could to survive.

"Are there many of those rabbits?" the vampiress asked.

"Hundreds! They're everywhere. If you hunt one, the others attack you. They're very scary," the boy assured.

"Oh. Can you take me there? Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"Of course!"

The boy had gained confidence in his savior, which soon turned into adoration. Although he had seen her kill the snake, it had been too quick and unexpected. However, when they came across a bear, he could see her clearly.

"Stay here. There's a bear with a horn nearby. It has smelled us, and is looking for us. I'll take care of it."

She left him in a Shadow Protection, while she prepared to receive the huge plantigrade. When it tried to attack the vampiress, it was met by some Tentacles. There was also a network of strong threads that were soon encircling it in all directions thanks to the Live Thread, and disrupting its movement. Unfortunately for the animal, one of its prey was actually a lethal hunter.

The boy watched as the dangerous predator, from which he had always hidden in fear, was defeated by the vampiress with amazing ease. She seemed to dance gracefully, while dodging attacks, and counterattacking with extreme precision. It was the most amazing show he had ever witnessed.

He stared wide-eyed at a fairy too, which was quickly and skillfully doing the work that would have taken hours in the village. For the rest of the travel, he stared at the vampiress in admiration. He had been afraid of her before, but now she was his hero.

Finally, they came to a large, flat, open area that looked abandoned.

"Here it's. These're the fields," the boy informed.

As he had already explained, there were so many rabbits that they could be seen with the naked eye. Predators had to be quick to capture prey that were in the outskirts, or they would be exposed to Group Defense.

Gjaki looked at the dangerous scene, and couldn't help but smile. It was something she hadn't expected, an opportunity she couldn't disregard.

"This's perfect for leveling."