Return to Jorgaldur Volume III: blood warrior

I'm back

"Are you sure this's going to work?" Jiknha asked nervously. She was twisting a braid the visitor's assistant had fashioned out of her orange hair.

During the days that they had been preparing it, she had been doubtful, but had never been as insecure as she was now. They were in front of the mansion, the place where she had grown up, the one that had been taken from her by her deceased uncle.

Her feelings had come abruptly at the sight of it, overwhelming her. Now that it was her time to act, her legs, her hands, her whole body trembled.

"No," the silver-haired vampiress replied. "But you already knew that. If you want to leave after all, I'll find another countess."

Although Gjaki was also worried, she couldn't help but look at the redheaded vampiress with amusement. Jiknha hadn't missed an opportunity to taunt her, or Kilthana and Solodkro. She knew how to make them blush, embarrass them, and she had had a lot of fun doing so.

Therefore, now that Gjaki had the chance to get even, she couldn't let it go.

"Spiteful," Jiknha accused her.

"You reap what you sow," Gjaki replied, while sticking out her tongue.

That exchange caused both of them to burst out laughing, thus releasing some tension. The redheaded vampiress took a deep breath, and looked at her savior, whom she now also considered a friend.

"Thanks. Let's start."

She stepped forward, followed by Gjaki, who was disguised as an assistant. That way, if something unexpected happened, she had leeway. Maybe, it was just an excuse, as she loved dressing up.

They approached the mansion, directly towards the main entrance. Their opponents would see them there, and that was precisely what they had planned. The would-be countess cleared her throat, took a breath, and let her voice get carried through a strange device that Gjaki had called a loudspeaker.

"I am countess Jiknha, I have come to claim my mansion. Surrender, or my army will attack, and none will make it out alive. I would prefer not to have to damage MY mansion, but I will if you leave me no choice," she threatened.

Each one of the mansion's inhabitants heard those words, and more than one recognized the voice. Some, who had lived under the Pokmu yoke, were glad to hear her. Others had been complicit in the downfall of her parents, so she was their enemy.

A vampiress with the appearance of a middle-aged woman appeared on the balcony. In reality, she was several hundred years old, and had been one of the late count's closest associates.

"Your army? What army? You better go back the way you've come. Don't make me come out and spank you," she taunted.

Jiknha was about to fall for the provocation, but a strong pinch prevented it. She could barely contain a cry of pain, and turned to look at her friend with accusing eyes, a tear about to fall.

"Go on," her friend urged.

She turned back around, while making a mental note that she had to get even when got the chance. After regaining her composure, Jiknha looked at her enemy and pointed back.

"THAT ARMY!!"

The first to come out were a few mercenaries they had brought with them. After these, the trees began to bend, even breaking some, to let out the first giants.

From the balcony and windows, the inhabitants of the mansion contemplated in amazement and terrified the appearance of that unexpected army. There were giants of various kinds, demihumans, humans, draconians, and many other races, as well as various types of beasts. There were hundreds of them, and it was evident that they hadn't all made it out of the forest yet.

"You have ten minutes to go out and surrender. After that, we will attack. You can also run away during those ten minutes, not one more, so hurry up to make a decision," Jiknha urged them.

Actually, she didn't want to let them go, she had revenge pending. However, it was a concession they had to make to avoid them being entrenched with nothing to lose. Giving only the option of surrendering to those who would surely be executed would force them to do so.

The first ones didn't take long in coming out. They hastened to escape in the opposite direction of the army, for they had no time to lose. Among them, there was the one who had appeared on the balcony, now much less arrogant. Jiknha looked at her with resentment.

Gjaki sent a Bat to follow her. At least, that one wouldn't escape easily.

Actually, it wasn't just that they didn't want to destroy the mansion, but it was difficult to bring an army there. Not only there was the mana expenditure of the Gates, but they couldn't leave the other counties unprotected.

They knew that several neighbors were lurking, although one of them would probably be too scared to attack for a while. They had given him the supposed antidote, and had made him assume certain conditions. However, they didn't know very well what the rest intended to do, so they needed to be prepared.

Therefore, only a few mercenaries had been brought along. They had moved and broken some trees, in a job that was as unusual as it was entertaining. Thanks to that, Gjaki's Illusionary Army was even more realistic.

They had been practicing for several days, and even improving the illusions to make them more impressive. The inclusion of giants with huge clubs had certainly been the most frightening, not counting the dragons. However, these ran the risk of not being very credible, so they had been discarded

After the first vampires stampeded, many more followed, terrified. Meanwhile, a once arrogant vampiress was caught by a Blood Clone, with none of her former allies doing anything to help her. They cared too much about their own lives.

The rest of the vampires filed out the door, and knelt before the new countess, some with tears in their eyes. Pokmu's time hadn't been easy for many of them, who longed for the days of Jiknha's parents.

However, they hadn't had the opportunity or the strength to oppose, rebel or flee, so they had simply continued to perform their role as servants. Luckily, the previous count was usually too busy with his experiments, although some of the former servants had been victims of them.

There was also the abuse of Pokmu's collaborators, who hadn't made life easy for them. However, there were none left, for all of them had fled.

The countess approached them, while looking at them with nostalgia, and tears in her eyes that she tried to contain.

"Get up, there's a lot to do," she said solemnly.

She, however, couldn't help but smile an instant later, and was unable to hold back her tears anymore.

"Welcome home, my lady," she was greeted by a minor vampire who looked like someone in her sixties.

"I'm back," was all she was able to articulate.