Return to Jorgaldur Volume I: the battle mage

Traitors

With two open paths, the pressure on the hard rock had diminished, and was manageable for Gragko. But, on the other side of the battlefield, the general wasn't so happy. It had hoped to cause more confusion, but its plan to attack from the underground was producing less impact than expected. Completely beyond itself, it gave the order to attack savagely.

"Take the wounded away and attack with everything! Shoot them! I want them dead!"

Obeying the general's orders, the corrupted beings army redoubled the offensive, literally passing over those which were wounded in the front, pushing from behind.

The defenders were overwhelmed. The pressure from the rear forced the losts to move forward, to be too reckless, to be easy prey. But, even badly wounded, their bodies were pushed. When they died, others took their place without a moment of rest.

Caranlín clenched her teeth. It was a suicidal tactic, the casualties of their enemies were now much greater, but it was obvious that they didn't care. And it would be impossible for them to escape this avalanche of corrupted beings.

However, something had already begun. Although its incidence so far had been minimal, with the added pressure, it was happening with higher and higher intensity. At first, the few losts which had woken up had been swept away by their own companions. They might not have died alone, but they had been nothing but some drops of water on the sea. Now, they were multiplying.

Dafkra raised her head after hearing a cry of rage and despair. It belonged to one of their kin. Or, rather, to one that had once been one of theirs. With heavy blows, she was sweeping the surrounding space. No one dared to approach her, except for a corrupt giant who rushed towards her.

The two got tangled up in a punching fight, rolling on the floor, not worrying about involving some losts with them. They were hitting each other without stopping, being the one who had woken up the only one that was releasing a powerful shout, continuously.

"She's calling him," Dakgror murmured, with a heavy heart. "He's... He's her son."

Eldi and those who heard it shuddered, bearing in mind once again the horror of that plague, of that curse. They were seeing the mother beating her son with all her power, to wake him up or free him from that hell. The son was beating his mother only by instinct, until he stopped, and his scream was heard all over the battlefield.

"He has woken up!" exclaimed Dafkra.

From afar, two giants who could barely get up could be seen, but who no longer were fighting among themselves. They even hugged. Immediately, they picked up their clubs and, leaning on each other, lashed out at their former allies, killing dozens of them, before their bodies, pierced with multitude holes, couldn't bear anymore and disintegrate.

"Welcome back to the rock," muttered Dafkra and Dakgror, while feeling moved.

A few meters away, several wind spells lashed out here and there against everything around them.

"Some elven brothers have woken up," the solemn voice of a mage was heard.

Meanwhile, two huge scorpions were fighting against each other, dragging their allies and former allies in their fight. Several enormous beings, whose appearance was between that of a wolf and of a bear with horns, also were fighting among themselves. At the same time, smaller losts were attacking those of their size, or those which doubled or tripled them.

An important part of the corrupt forces was in chaos, so the pressure on the defensive perimeter diminished, allowing them to recover positions. Even some worms had been affected, so the giants were bored, waiting while their preys were resolving their differences.

"Damn it... The miasma...," the general cursed.

It immediately ordered its troops to return. A few were killed by Eldi's allies, and a few more by the losts that had woken up. These chased those which were withdrawing, willing to end as many of their former allies as they could, so freeing them from their suffering, and hoping to end their own.

"Kill the traitors!" The general shouted as soon as they reached the area with miasma.

Those so called traitors were fewer but determined, so they offered resistance. Knowing that they were going to die, and wishing to free their own souls from suffering, they attacked without regard, without fear of death, rather wishing to embrace her in order to rest.

From afar, frustrated, the group was watching the development of events. They would have wanted to fight alongside those who had regained their consciousness, even those which were beasts, but they knew it was suicide. The minutes passed. They were recovering their power, and the miasma was covering the area from which it had previously disappeared.

Meanwhile, clenching its teeth in frustration and humiliation of what that battle was working out, the general channeled its power so that the expansion of miasma was faster.

"Caranlín, in a few minutes I can do it again," said Eldi.

She nodded. It was one more card to play to buy time, a card that would only last a few seconds. It probably wouldn't be needed to stop ranged attacks, but it could be useful as a last resort.

She thought that the Unicorn's Blessing was impressive, which allowed the visitor to recover the mana quite faster. She envied him, although it wasn't the only extraordinary thing in him, including the spells that had allowed them to extend hope a bit longer.

Eldi was a little surprised at the attitude of his teammates while they were waiting and regaining strength. He expected to see them maybe decayed, maybe fearful, maybe tense, or maybe just serious, but they were only eating and joking. They may not have much time left, so it was one more reason to live to the fullest.

"What about you?" asked a dwarf to Dafkra.

They were discussing the number of enemies each had killed, aspiring to second place. Although they bragged and exaggerated the numbers, it was clear that the first place was for Disnalor.

"There aren't enough fingers to count them," she replied.

"Ah, then more than ten. Let's say eleven" proposed an elf.

"No, I was saying that there aren't enough fingers between all of us to count them," smiled satisfied the giant.

Everyone laughed at an answer they didn't expect. Not long ago, the giants had learned the art of bragging, but that huge ally had just won them at their own game.

Suddenly, everyone stood up. The enemy had begun to move again.