The Witcher: Elder Blood

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***

- Now, now, now, mylsdar. I wish you could do it, we'll all be slaughtered by the time we wait for the witch doctor...

- Wizard, - I corrected the peasant for the second time in five minutes since the meeting.

I pulled the horse I'd borrowed from the town hall stables and rode to the village. Unfortunately, teleportation was not a cure-all, and I would have liked to be able to travel wherever and whenever I wanted, regardless of uncharted territory.

Qualified mages trained at the academy are called sorcerers. Sorcerer or sorceress sounds on a par with magician, and many people don't like it, including me. Peasants in turn do not care what to call, for them, mages, sorcerers, druids and wizards are all equal.

- Oh, I beg your pardon, my lord, of course, wizard, I'm sorry for my stupid head. I'll go and get the howl, - bowing, the peasant went to the house near where we were staying.

The first peasant I met on my arrival in the village volunteered to escort me to the headman. And during our short walk he told me everything about what had happened here, as if I had not had time to learn it from the official in the town who had issued the order.

We stopped at an unremarkable-looking cottage, in the sense that it was almost no different from the others in the village, except that it had an annex with a bathhouse.

The order for the monster was a surprise, it had been a long time since I'd done something like this. And few orders in Wengerberg, it is necessary to go far away from large cities, and I need it? Witches roam everywhere, big cities are no exception, but in winter they are rarely seen here.

Winter is moderate in these parts. It's not snowing much at the moment, it'll be snowdrifts in a month, and they'll be small. In Kaedwen, it's already snowed a good deal, and the temperature has dropped a lot.

Two new faces, besides the familiar peasant, came out of the house. One was older, maybe forty years old, the other looked like him, but much younger.

- Hello, sir, have you agreed to take care of the beast? - asked the older man.

- I agreed, but I can not promise, unlike witches I can not distinguish monsters by conventional signs. And even more to track as they can not be able to, I will find - kill, not found - then without me. Who can show me where it attacked your people?

As I realised, there were two missing. The girl disappeared near the village, disappeared at night when everyone was asleep, so the others didn't notice anything. The other one was a man.

- So she disappeared from the house, sir. I can help with the search,' the younger man volunteered.

- And how can you help? - I ask with undisguised scepticism.

- Don't listen to the fool, the missing woman was his fiancée, so she wants to die for nothing, - the headman looked at his son unhappily. - Her father couldn't stay till you came and went into the forest alone. He came back empty-handed, there was not a soul there. He couldn't find the girl either.

- You'd better take me to him, maybe he'll tell me something. But first tell me why the official told me in town about a beast that killed a couple of peasants. And in fact one, and that one was missing, not that she was killed at all.

The older man averted his eyes awkwardly: 'So it's-oh, why else would she be missing, some monster ate her, and two were written in the note because of her father. We thought she was lost in the forest, but he came back at night.

- You're all right. Take him to the man, we'll sort it out. And feed the horse while I'm gone.

The headman sent his son with me, who didn't want to give up his 'help'. He led me to another house near the forest.

There we were met by a nervous-looking man and a tired-looking woman - the parents of the missing woman. When they learnt of my purpose, they began to tell me more about what had happened.

- Everything was fine in the evening: we went to bed together. But when we woke up in the morning, Alder was gone.

After his wife the man took the floor: - I went to look for her at lunchtime, I had been looking for her all day and evening, but there was no result.

No sign of the monsters. The girl disappeared straight from the house, and at night without any noise. I was beginning to think there was something odd about the whole situation: - Are you sure she's dead at all? Was she all right? Maybe she ran away with someone?

- What are you talking about, sir. We loved Olha, and she and Beledale would have been married in a couple of weeks.

Beledal was the headman's son, and he only nodded at the words of Olha's father. The picture of possible events remained vague.

- Had anyone visited the village lately? A stranger, or maybe he had his eye on her and stole her in the night?

- Um, no, we haven't had any visitors for a long time, - answered the mother of the missing woman.

- So, let's change the approach, - I decide to switch to magic, because this way you can think for a long time, and there will be no result. - I need any object that your Alder has been wearing lately. Clothes, jewellery, any hair tie. Anything, as long as it's recent and permanent. Do you have one?

- Would a hair clip work?

- Yeah, and give me a basin, just fill it with water. Not to the brim, just a little bit, so that the hairpin is submerged in the water.

We should thank our rituals teacher at the academy. Without compulsory lessons in ritual magic, I wouldn't have learnt dozens of different rituals that are rarely useful. Such as now.

The basin was filled with two litres of water. In the centre I placed the hairpin that had been handed to me. I had to remember the practical lessons from the academy.

I touched the water above the hairpin with my fingertip. Then I cast a pulse of energy, reciting a patterned search spell.

The only search spell I'm familiar with, it's used in such a way that it directs the wizard to a previously established magical mark, often placed on objects. There was a ritual for finding a person without a mark.

The imprint of the vital structure on the hairpin interacts with the transferred energy, and begins to form the result: in the centre of the basin begins a weak swirling of water, which stops after half a minute; from the location of the hairpin begin to emit waves in the direction of the forest.

- Ready to hear the good news and the bad news at the same time? - I ask those gathered around me. - Your daughter is alive.

- And the bad news? - After a brief look of joy on everyone's face, the father of the missing girl took the floor.

- I have no idea why your alive daughter is somewhere in the forest, - I move away from the basin. - So, Beledal, you wanted to help? Take the basin, you'll carry it, we'll find out the way by the waves.

- Shall I come with you? - Father volunteered this time.

- Listen, neither you nor the kid, - I nod in the direction of the guy who carefully took the basin with water. - You can't help with a possible monster. But to protect one, in case of anything, will be easier for me. Everyone, come with me,' I say to Beledal. - And point your hand in the direction of the waves if we get out of the way. If we meet someone, stay out of the way, or better run away so as not to get in the way.

We walked through the forest in silence. We walked for no more than half an hour by my estimation, about twenty minutes, maybe. I looked around, trying not to miss any movement, if any, of the unknown monster. Beledal spent most of the time looking at the basin and the faint waves coming from the centre to the edge. A couple of times he nearly collapsed due to his inattention to his surroundings.

First, the magic compass led us to a rivulet. Along the course of the river we went down. On the whole way we could not meet anything strange, usual forest, usual sounds of nature. And only our footsteps diluted the peaceful melody.

But towards the end the picture changed when, driven by the waves in the basin, we reached a hill. It began to increase on our side, and at the river it dropped off.

We climbed it. I did it first and was about to move on when Beledal called me back.

- Look, sir, the waves are pointing back,' he held out a basin to me.

- It's true, we must go back now... why didn't you say so before?

- It just changed, I'm always watching.

I got a hunch because of the change of direction: - The hill, so there must be a cave somewhere. Let's go round the circle, don't look at the basin for now, you'd better watch the surroundings with me.

Back to the bottom of the hill, right at the spot where they had originally climbed.

'It's empty here, clearly would have spotted the entrance to the cave. Do witches track monsters like this every time? It's a pain in the arse, I'd rather have a drow, it'd only take ten minutes.'

We walked slowly round almost the whole hill, in those places where we could climb without any problems at all. Then I decided to ask Beledale about the area: 'Has anyone disappeared from the village before? The witch doctor told me about monsters that sometimes hibernate.

- No, it never happened here. Once, when I was a boy, we killed some bandits nearby, and the Ghouls came running. A passing witch doctor took them out.

- Then I have no idea what's going on here. Well, we'll figure it out, we can't see the entrance... according to the law of genre, the entrance will be somewhere by the river.

- What genre?

- The adventure genre. Come, I'll repeat the search ritual to see if the missing girl's position has changed.

The result was the same, the girl was in the neighbourhood. No wonder the man from the village in his search could not find his daughter, here the entrance would be found in the cave to begin with.

Eventually we walked round the hill and came to the side by the river. But here's the problem, there was no entrance.

- What do we do? We've looked all over, did we miss the entrance?

- Don't talk yet, there's something wrong with this place. I feel the effects of magic,' I felt a faint whiff of Chaos energy as we approached the place. - An illusion, most likely. Auta sairina hiswe! - A translucent haze of blue colour emanated from me, disappearing almost immediately.

When the haze disappeared, the picture around me was slightly transformed: there was a small passage into the cave, the size of one adult, so two children can squeeze in at the same time. To the side of the entrance in a heap lay the remains of animals and fish, close to the extinguished fire, slightly buried in the ground.

- So the goat disappeared from your place the same day?

- Yes, I think it was eaten, - the headman's son approached the remains of the animal, visible under the layer of earth.

- So, here's what we'll do, go back, - I point in the direction from which we came earlier. - Wait there, sit quietly, just in case. If anyone slips out of the cave, you tell me, and I'll go inside.

- As you say, Mr Warlock. Only I ask you, if Olha is alive, get her out, - I nod at his request, this was the plan from the very beginning, as soon as we learnt about the living wench.

I take my sword out of its sheath and one potion from my belt pouch that increases regeneration, I'll drink it just in case before entering the cave. Then I put two fingers of my free hand to each eye in turn, saying: - Cened lome cen,' my eyes sting for a few seconds, and my vision changes, allowing me to see in the darkness at close range.

I step inside with full readiness. At first the cave was narrow, I had to move sideways. Moving downwards, there was a noticeable descent. Only after ten metres the cave widened into a long natural corridor.

At the end of the corridor, the way abruptly ended, and there was a candle burning, illuminating a cot, a bag with various things: clothes, cutlery and other everyday utensils. There was a naked girl sleeping on the cot, who was looking shabby at the moment, and only a thin blanket covered her. But what caught my eye was a horned man sitting beside a bag, muttering something to himself as he rummaged through the bag.

'Hooves? Wait, the horns are there, the hairy legs with hooves are there, the tail sticking out from under his clothes is there. And it's a man. An incubus or something?', I didn't know much about succubi and incubi - relics and relatives of demons, sylvan and devils. Roughly speaking, know a base almost indistinguishable from the fictional creatures from my land.

Now it became clear why the girl was alive. The incubus, since it is the male version of a succubus, simply stole her from the village to fuck her and get her life force. They are driven by lust and lust rather than a desire to harm other races, but in this way they gradually drain humans - in the case of constant sexual activity with them.

Most of their kind have been exterminated, but the remainder have learnt to act stealthily, to hide their appearance under illusions, and to live among humans, sometimes fuelled by brief flings that are easy to reproduce thanks to the magical charms of incubi and succubi.

The horned one spotted me in the middle of the path, jerked his head sharply in my direction, opened his eyes wide and stood up, burning me tensely with his gaze.

- Who are you, witch doctor? No, a wizard sent here? Are you sure wizards are scouring the woods for nobles now? - The incubus didn't look frightened, rather knocked out of his rut, obviously not expecting to find his temporary lair - definitely not permanent, he decided to stop here for a while, and that's why he so brazenly stole a girl from the village.

- What does a dead man care what a warlock is looking for in the woods? - I'm putting on a wordless Quen.

When haste isn't important, you can spend more time concentrating to use spells stealthily. But it's unlikely the incubus missed using the spell, tensed too much after my action, or was so affected by the words.

- To a dead man? Do you have to kill me, warlock? I wasn't going to kill the girl, you can have her now. I'll be out of these parts by nightfall, I'll go elsewhere, and you'll get your reward. Why would you kill an innocent creature? What's wrong with my option?

- You see, horny one,' I take a couple of steps forward. - I've heard in my time from witches about creatures, sometimes more human than people. And, if you decided to take an example from the rest of your kin: under the illusion of a human what girl to seduce for a night another, and then disappear without a trace - I would have left you alive, most likely. But it turns out that you - horny, stealing girls from houses under the cover of night. That's no good. Tu naice! - I thrust my free hand forward and used a muscle spasm on him, causing his left leg to jerk and the incubus to fall to one knee.

But there was no quick victory. With a shriek, the incubus threw his arm in my direction, sending a fireball. I was able to dodge it, and a pop from behind me sent heat down my back-a powerful spell in a closed room. Without reciprocating, the incubus grabbed his bag and rushed in my direction, and at the same time the scene around him began to change, and an impenetrable fog began to spread through the cave. Another ball came from the side of the incubus, from which I also moved away, but the creature disappeared from my sight. But the sound didn't disappear, which made me realise a simple thing - the incubus was running for the exit.

'You can't run away, you horny devil,' I ran up to the drooling girl and threw her on my shoulder and used the Short Reinforcement spell.

Leaving the girl here would be a bad idea. The fireballs made the roots catch fire, and the cave was closed, with only one way out, she could suffocate.

The adrenaline rushed through my body, and the next moment I was rushing towards the exit, following the fleeing monster, who was almost through the narrow gap in the cave.

I didn't need to squeeze through. I ran out of the fog illusion - it was faster to run through it than to use the dispel spell.

If I had enough experience to use such a complex spell on willpower, without the aid of crutches, then yes, it would be easier to remove the active illusion.

As he ran through the illusion, he could see light coming from the street and the figure of an incubus climbing out. He decided to throw another fireball into the gap, or worse, a jet of fire, a gift that could be dangerous, but I wasn't going to get hit.

I move outwards with a blink, straight behind the incubus' back. And, with a quick swing of my sword, while still holding the girl on my shoulder, I slash the creature on the back.

- Ar-r-r! - With a roar of pain, the incubus turns round with a pre-prepared fireball, but it goes nowhere - I'm not behind it.

- Beledal, look after her! - I threw the unconscious girl down near the place where I had ordered the headman's son to be.

And without waiting for an answer from him, I go towards the incubus. And he in turn, left by me with a wound on his back by the river, has managed by some miracle to grow wings and acquire long claws on his fingers.

'They can do that too? What are you going to do, fly away?' - Even in such a dangerous form, the incubus decided to escape. He began to gain altitude, ignoring the deep cut on his back. - 'I need to spend more time comprehending the other elements. Water alone isn't enough, even if it's brought to a high level,' he thought to himself as he began to cast the next spell related to water from the river.

- Sora raph nen! - Long water whips rush from the water towards the flying incubus.

When they reach their target, each whip begins to braid parts of the creature's body: legs, arms and wings are trapped in the water. More and more water reaches him through the water whips, surrounding his entire body and forcing him downwards.

I continued to maintain the water spell until the incubus was only a metre above the water surface, then, touching the river beside me, I used the following spell: - Mittanya helca nen!

I had used it on a lake near Caer Morhen. It's useful now, too.

Ice began to form from the water and flowed towards the water sphere with the incubus inside.

- Resistance to fire? How's that for an ice coffin, you horny bastard? - The ice sphere falls down.

There were many large rocks in the water opposite the cave, and the depth itself was not very deep, so the sphere was only half submerged, thus allowing the incubus to be observed.

- Is he dead? Oh-ho, what a surprise,' the headman's son appeared from the bushes with Olha in his arms.

I dragged her out of the cave with one blanket acting as a garment at the moment. The girl was still in the world of dreams. The exhaustion and the effect on her mind by the incubus had rendered her unable to think at the moment. One must let the magic of the incubus wear off, and then just rest would fix things.

- No. It'll suffocate soon, then yes, it'll be dead. I'll let the ice melt and chop his head off.

- Who is this vampire, anyway? - The peasant who witnessed a magical battle, however brief, was impressed.

- I don't need a vampire here,' he must have thought vampire because of the wings and claws. - An incubus is the male version of a succubus. Usually behave in a less... radical. I didn't even know they had wings. Screw the horny one. I'll cut off the head as proof to the city officials and open a portal to the village to get back.

- What about her, is she gonna be all right? - I glanced at the boy.

- Let the girl rest for a couple of days. Feed her properly, her vitality needs to be restored. I'll give you a potion, mix it with water and give it to her when she comes round. So, I think we can defrost, - it's time to finish the order. It's just a shame the fee isn't even close to the effort.