Without realizing it, she had spent eight months living with Elendnas, in what seemed to be a long honeymoon. It was like a dream that neither of them wanted to wake up from.

She often went out for walks, and hunted down possible threats against the village. Sometimes, she went with Elendnas, sometimes with Klimsal, and always with her sisters. Klimsal proved to be much more fun and kind than she seemed at first. Perhaps, it was a bit difficult for her to open up to strangers, but once one managed to get close to her, she was trustworthy and friendly. Besides, she was an expert hunter.

Goldmi learned a lot from her, both hunting tactics and the common sense of that world. There were many things she was unaware of about the elven society. Her ignorance often surprised Klimsal, Elendnas or Elenksia.

Regarding the rest of the village, they had generally received her well, although there were a couple of elven women who treated her with some rejection. For a long time, they had had Elendnas in their sights, and had tried unsuccessfully to get close to him. So, it was difficult for them to accept that, suddenly, an outsider had come and was already living with him.

However, it didn’t go beyond a harsh demeanor. In fact, the only time they had tried to sabotage Goldmi, the lynx had appeared. She had scared them enough to make them think twice before trying again. Maybe thrice.

For all this, their life was quite peaceful. She had even been able to spend some time to make a few kegs of beer for certain dwarves.

Her sisters went hunting with her, sometimes slept at Elendnas’s house, and were always there at lunchtime. Not once had they been absent. Elendnas’s sister also came often to eat with them, and wasn’t usually alone.

Regarding Maldoa, she used to visit her and spend a few days in the village. What was intriguing Goldmi most was the drelf’s relationship with a bluish-haired elf, but she hadn’t been able to get a single word out of her friend on the matter. Nor had Elenksia managed to get any information from the drelf or that elf himself, either directly or indirectly, although she hadn’t given up.

What she was most worried about was the news from the front against the corrupted beings. Apparently, the generals who had run away from the battlefield had started to return, thus making it more dangerous again.

On the one hand, she wanted to go help, but, on the other, she didn’t want to part with Elendnas. Due to his condition, he couldn’t go with her, as much as he wanted to. While Elendnas had enough power, he couldn’t wield it for long. However, Maldoa had conveyed the message to the higher ups, who preferred that she stayed away from the battlefield for now.

It must be said that they had also risen a couple levels. Although they didn’t hunt much, the area was level 68, and both the goshawk and the lynx brought some prey from time to time. For this reason, although slowly, they had risen to 66. Slowly for them, of course.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

At 65, there was Mana Hole. It is a phantom arrow that, if it breaks the opponent’s defenses, does not cause physical but ethereal damage, by draining the enemy mana. At level 10, it causes losing what it should be recovered in about ten minutes. Therefore, by executing it every so often, it can leave an enemy defenseless, though their defenses and level can decrease the spell’s effectiveness. She had it at 6, as it was only useful against powerful and high-vitality enemies, such as bosses, which was occasional.

Wind Staircase was recovered at 66, which was a spell that Gjaki and the lynx loved. It consists of creating wind steps in which one can stand, so it allows running through the sky if they are created one after another. It is advisable to cancel the previous one, since each one consumes mana while it exists. It was at 10, not so much for its usefulness as for having been playing with it often, along with her companions.

Energy Hole is the equivalent of Mana Hole, but it drains energy, and was also at 6.

Vegetable Spear, at 66, allows creating something similar to spears with plants. While they can’t be moved or pulled off, they can be used as a trap or deterrent. Combined with Fog, she had wreaked havoc on certain types of enemies that liked to charge without restrain.

She had also improved the affinity of various spells and skills, as she had decided to train them, on many occasions with the help of her sisters or her new friends. Thus, Sharp Bubbles, Implosion, Chaotic Rain, Sonic Vibration, Disarm, and Arrow Prison had all reached level 5.

Light Trail, Light Abyss, Doze, Feint to the Foot, Hilt, Smell Link and Swap were now at 6.

Glowing Touch, Sun, Tramontane, Wind Abyss, Wind Trail, Fog, Light Barrier, Light Overload, Wind Blast, Camouflage IV, Block and Recoil, Dual Dance, Hammer and Grate at 7.

Wind Push, Accelerate, Wind Trap, Light Ring, Light Blast, Surprise Dagger, Unsheathe, Fleeting Dagger, Serenity and Slow Arrow at 8.

Twister, Void, Light Trap, Camouflage, Camouflage II, and Auditory Link at 9.

Mana Link and Life Link at 10.

Maldoa showed up at dinner time. Since she had notified her arrival, her portion was ready. While she couldn’t convey words to her friend through plants, they had established a simple code through nearby ones. A reddish-leaved creeper had changed the direction of one of its forks, thus forming the plant an “M” for Maldoa.

She didn’t say anything strange while they were eating, and neither did Elendnas see anything strange about the drelf. However, both Goldmi and her sisters knew from her attitude that there was something more to that visit than enjoying their company and a delicious dinner.

“The moment has come. We need your help,” the drelf announced after dinner.

They had already talked about it in the past. There was a plan in place to inflict a heavy blow in that war. The collaboration of the elf was essential.

Although she didn’t want to be separated from her loved one, Goldmi knew that she had to go, that she couldn’t turn her back on them. In fact, the elf had already promised her participation in the plan, the general idea of which she knew.

She nodded. Elendnas hugged her lovingly, and a kissed on her forehead. Tomorrow, she would be leaving, presumably not for long.