Return to Jorgaldur Volume I: the battle mage

Sky-blue baboons

As a precaution, and to train them, he had been giving blessings to his companions along the way, so he didn't need to do it now for most of them. The most important thing was to coordinate properly with them.

"The ring can paralyze them, if we're lucky. I can put up walls. What and where do you want them? I'm putting traps in front of the archers."

"Lightning Walls in front of the warriors," requested the elf on his left.

The archers didn't want their field of vision to be altered. Thus, it was better to try to free the warriors from extra work. Not only would they be free to defend them if the case arose, but if any of the primates decided to cross the Wall and was knocked out, they would be an easy prey.

"GROOOOOWL!!!

The cry of the blue enemies was intimidating. It was a group skill to temporarily increase their strength and intimidate their enemies, although this last part had no effect. Not only were they veterans on the battlefield, but they had all been blessed with Lion's Heart. They immediately attacked, four of the primates being paralyzed by the Lightning Ring, an opportunity that the archers didn't miss.

Two of the remaining primates dared to break through the Lightning Walls. Being much thicker than the Ring, the probability of being stunned is much higher, and one of them suffered it, being immediately struck down by a precise arrow.

Twelve remained, and not all were unscathed. Eldi had fired several Iceballs, damaging and slowing them down. In this way, some would arrive later, so they would have to face less at once, in addition to weakening them.

On the other hand, several of them had arrows stuck in them. Despite their thick skin, the penetrating power and skills used meant that they couldn't escape completely unscathed. In the legs, their jumping speed and power decreased, while in the arms, they affected their attack power. They ignored the ones that stuck in their bodies, although they were decreasing their vitality, and could kill them if they sank deeper.

The first five to arrive attacked the archers directly, as they looked the weakest. However, they failed to reach them. Even before the warriors got in their way, they had fallen into some holes.

The Icicles failed to pierce through their flesh, most of them breaking on impact, but they did rip their skin and briefly restrict their movements, time enough to be attacked from above.

Arrows and swords sank into their bruised bodies, while they were totally powerless after having fallen into the traps, so unable to defend themselves.

Eldi used Abyss, pushing two of his enemies against each other. One of them was pierced through the eye, while the other had been lucky that its face was hidden, although not so much. A spear flew at him, with the force of Javelin, piercing into its leg. It was still alive, but it was a serious wound that also was burning inside it.

Meanwhile, one of the elves was facing the one which had managed to get through the wall. He stopped its thrust with the shield, knocking it out by adding the Shield Strike ability to the animal's own inertia. He immediately followed with the sword, piercing it through the armpit into its shoulder, thus rendering its left arm useless and causing it deep pain. It was one of the primates' weak points, and the elf had taken advantage of it. It didn't take much longer to finish off the weakened enemy.

Galdomor faced another with his claymore. He hit the primate in the arm, causing it pain, although nothing serious. Then he moved to the side, forcing the enraged blue-haired animal to turn on him. He hadn't even used a skill, as his sole intention was to attract its attention, something Deranlín skillfully took advantage of. The two had fought together for a long time, and knew each other perfectly. So, coordinating to kill the primate came naturally.

An elf faced another of the primates with a sword in each hand. Her attacks were continually cutting the animal's skin, had already reached its flesh, and were making it unable to get close to her. When an arrow pierced its raised hand, and it turned to face the enemy that had hit it, it didn't even have time to regret its mistake. An instant of distraction made its weakest point, its eye, to be quickly pierced.

The last one which was more or less unscathed was attacked by all the archers and two warriors, while Eldi finished off the one he had wounded. Two remained, those which had lagged behind due to the wounds received, and which had no opportunity to defend themselves. They had made the mistake of attacking experienced and heavily armed warriors.

"Eldi!" Deranlín called "Use your fairy! I want to see it in action!"

"Do you promise not to use it in your stories?"

"I..." she looked away.

"It's the most efficient. If not, we couldn't handle everything, it would be a waste," Galdomor supported her.

Eldi sighed. It was a losing battle. So his cyber fairy came out in order to skin and butcher the primates, with a speed and precision that dumbfounded the elves. They had heard about it, and were expecting it, but it is one thing to imagine it and another to see it in action. Even carrying the remains with such a small body was unreal.

They divided the material among the six. All were wearing rings or amulets capable of transporting a large amount of material. Not that they were common, but not extraordinary either. In fact, they weren't even theirs, but they had been entrusted in order to transport the equipment to be repaired and the new one, which would be collected on the return trip.

"Let's go. I'm looking forward to a feast of a sky-blue baboon," exclaimed the elf warrior who used two swords.

"She'll always be a glutton," laughed an archer, who happened to be her cousin.

That didn't bother her. They had grown up together, and the elf knew that there was no bad intention in his words. At most, he wanted to prick her a little.

"So, you don't want it? Can I eat your slices?" she provoked him.

"No way!" He exclaimed, imitating Deranlín.

The others laughed, including Deranlín herself, before expectantly continuing their way to the next village. They couldn't always get such exquisite meat. Killing so many animals was rare, and they avoided it whenever possible. However, this time, not only had they been left with no other choice, but their preys were in a part of the forest to which those primates didn't belong.