Return to Jorgaldur Volume III: blood warrior

Old grudge

"Aren't you saying anything? If you beg, I can still pity you," Hrako offered.

However, Tili remained silent. If they had come this far, she didn't believe for a moment that they were going to let her go. He frowned a little. He wanted to hear her cry and beg before killing her.

"Do you really want to just die here?" he insisted.

"Gjaki will find you, and she'll kill you. She'll avenge me. She may already be coming," Tili spoke finally.

The goblin's defiant tone infuriated Hrako. He wanted her to humble herself, as he had been humiliated. He had thought a thousand and one ideas, but his victim wasn't cooperating.

"Start burying her. We'll see if she begs or not," he ordered.

Tili covered her face to prevent dirt from getting into her eyes. It got into her clothes or her hair, though it didn't matter. Her real problem was that they wanted to bury her alive.

Not long after, though, when the dirt was up to her ankles, Tilli was looking at it in disbelief.

"Stupid," she thought. "Perhaps, they think I've broken my legs?"

Without saying a word, she began to step on the dirt, to compress it, and leave it under her feet. It may be falling on her, but that didn't mean she had to let herself be buried. If they took long enough to notice it, they would be within her spear range.

The potion was taking effect quickly. She still ached from her ankle, but she could use it. Maybe, if the goblin hadn't stopped her fall with the spear, she would now be being buried. It would have happened too if they were throwing the dirt faster. As it weren't, she had a chance.

"Stop!" Hrako ordered. "Let's see how she's."

A head appeared to check the situation. What they didn't understand on the surface was why he fell into the hole.

"Grekjo! Are you okay!?" One of his companions called him.

Obviously, he wasn't okay. A spear had pierced his head, without giving him time to react. He had peered in too slowly, so by the time his eyes had managed to see inside the tunnel, it was too late to react.

"Too bad he wasn't Hrako," the goblin woman cursed silently.

Her throw had been accurate and lethal. She had even been lucky enough that he had fallen into the hole, so she was able to retrieve the spear. Unfortunately, she was still trapped.

"How dare you! I'll kill you!" Hrako threatened her.

She looked at him with a sneer.

"Isn't that what you were going to do from the beginning? Come, why don't you do it yourself?" she challenged him defiantly.

Neither the goblin nor his other two friends could believe it. They had trapped her, but even so, one of them had died. They were beginning to be afraid of her.

In fact, Tili had leveled up, and gained quite a bit of experience since last time, while Hrako had been too busy with his grudge. Furthermore, the spear was of exceptional quality.

"Dammit... Look for rocks! We'll stone her!"

Tili frowned. Her situation was already desperate enough that they wanted to make it worse. It took them a while to gather a large enough number of stones, after which they carefully peered out. They didn't want a new surprise.

As she didn't see an opportunity, the goblin woman didn't attack. She had been thinking about what to do, and had even tried to climb, but it had been impossible. Perhaps, given enough time, she could create a path with the help of the spear, but she didn't have that time.

"Take this!" Hrako threw a rock at her.

She managed to dodge it, though not by much. Furious, the goblin threw another, and another, and another. However, Tili dodged or parried all of them. She only regretted that she couldn't throw them back with enough force. They weren't like the spear.

"Shit... Help me kill her!" he shouted.

His companions leaned out reluctantly, carefully, and soon joined the attack. Tili could dodge and parry a few, but three at a time was too much for her. Soon, the pain and bruises began to pile up.

Despite that, she made sure that her belly didn't suffer any impact. Although desperate, she did everything possible to protect her future child, without no longer knowing if she could give birth.

Suddenly, they stopped. One of them leaned out.

"She's still alive, but look at her. Ha, ha She's not that brave anymore!" one of them laughed.

"Yes. Ha, ha! Now do you understand that you're nothing? You were stupid. Now, there's no going back," Hrako mocked.

The goblin looked at them out of the corner of her eye, furious, but she could do nothing. Her arms were numb, maybe broken. Her legs were no better, and her head ached from several blows. She was doubled over in a fetal position, while desperately protecting her belly.

Gjaki was tremendously anxious and worried. She could feel that her friend was weakening, but also that she was close. She was running through the forest directly towards her presence, and ignored any other living thing that might cross her path.

It was then that she saw them. They were three goblins, who were crouching in front of a hole.

"Has she fallen there, and they want to get her out?" she wondered.

However, when she got closer, she frowned. The vampiress not only could hear them with Sharpen Senses, but she had recognized one of the voices. Hrako.

"Who're you? What do you want?" one of the goblins asked when he saw her arrive.

He hadn't been to the festival, so he didn't recognize her. The other two turned, surprised at the speedy figure at first. Then, they were terrified. They had recognized her.

"Stop or I'll kill her...!" Hrako wanted to threaten.

He couldn't finish the sentence. Scratch and an incredibly quick movement had been enough to separate his head from his neck.

The other two fell to the ground, as their trembling legs were unable to support them. They received strong and painful blows to the face, which broke their noses, and knocked out some of their teeth They were left completely unconscious. I'm Just Playing kept them from dying, and Blood Bind prevented that they could escape if they woke up.

In fact, the vampiress wanted to kill them, but she might be able to get some information out of them. However, that would be later.

Without thinking twice, she jumped into the hole. She dug her fingernails into the wall to control the speed of her fall, and landed next to her friend.

"Tili!" she called her, scared and enraged by her condition.

"Gjaki..." she was barely able to whisper her friend's name weakly, and closed her eyes right after.

Without thinking twice, the vampiress bit her.