CHAPTER ONE

The sun was low in the sky; soon, it would set behind the high mountains. But that did not worry the Witcher. Kaer Morhen was less than an hour away now. He would be there before dark. He did not mind riding in the night, for his mutated eyes could see well with little luminosity. But he wanted to arrive before sunset, in case he was the first one to arrive for the winter. The portcullis had to be opened, and that was not the easiest thing to do. It would require him to bypass the fortress, until reaching an accessible breach in one of the thick stone walls. From there, Eskel would need to climb up to the roofs, make his way to the courtyard and then proceed to open the heavy gates. He hoped for a brief moment that someone else was already there, but knew that it was unlikely. Winter was coming in later this year, meaning that the other Witchers could still find contracts. They were in no rush to come home.

Five years ago, Geralt and his friends from all part of the continent had tried to stop the Wild Hunt from pursuing Ciri. She was the one who had managed to stop them when everything seemed lost, but at what price ? Vesemir died trying to protect her, and the Witchers of the Wolf School had to say goodbye to their mentor. After the ceremony, Eskel had told Geralt he intended on leaving soon, and not come back. The morning after, he was gone. The scarred Witcher had packed his stuff, taken his horse, and left without a word. He couldn't do it. Biding farewell to Vesemir was hard enough. He couldn't bear the idea to say goodbye to his brothers. For five years, he had been on the Path, with little to no respite. He took one contract after another. Anything to distract himself. To not think. He was used to solitude anyway. But when winter was coming around, he would always feel alone. It was an unspoken tradition that the Witchers would try their best to come back to Kaer Mohren, in order to spend the winter together. He had avoided going back to the fortress at first, but -after a few solitary winters- the urge was there again. Like an itch he could not scratch away. Eskel missed his family. He needed to see them all. The White Wolf, Ciri... Hell, even Lambert ! If that wasn't saying a lot. So, when the sharp pain of losing a loved one dulled, he decided it was time to come back.

Nearing the fortress, the Witcher slowed down his horse. He took a moment to watch the impressive edifice towering him. The kaer seemed to have been carved out of the mountain side, its walls blending with the steep cliff behind it. From the road leading to it, it was evident that the castle had been built on various levels; the distant part of the keep towering the surrounding grounds and the valley. Most of the grey walls were partialy covered in different forms of vegetation. All kinds of mosses, ivies and weeds were either peeking through the large stones, or crawling on their surface. Many walls were damaged; some only starting to show cracks running through them, others having collapsed decades ago and never had been fixed.

To his surprise, the gate was already open. Somebody was there. His heart jumped a little at the thought of being reunited with his kin. Eskel spurred his black steed through the stone arch and entered the grounds of the Wolf School. Once in the courtyard, he dismounted, leading the horse to the stables. They were strangely empty. Geralt and Lambert would never travel without a horse, which confused him as to who was here. After he was sure Scorpion was all set, he stepped out.

Walking towards the gate leading to the main building, his mutated ears heard the echo of a thud. The Witcher stopped in his tracks, trying to locate where the sound was coming from. The thudding kept on going, at an irregular pace. He decided to check the rest of the courtyard for the source of the noise. Approaching the training area, he could hear the sound clearer. Soon, he also heard a gruff voice.

" Focus ! "

That was Letho of Gulet, no doubt about it. It did not particularly pleased him. Even though he did not hate the man as much as he used to, he was not fond of having him around too a corner, Eskel finaly saw him. The massive Witcher had his back to him, arms crossed and was monitoring someone on the pendulum. The device was used by aspiring Witchers, who wanted to work on their balance and footwork. The user had to avoid the spiky pendulum while it was set on motion,. The tricky part was that they had to walk on evenly spaced wooden poles. The exercise was also dangerous due to the fact that on one side, there was a straight drop.

It was only when Eskel arrived a few feet away that Letho noticed him. If he was surprised to see the scarred Witcher arriving, he showed no signs of it and greeted him.

" Long time no see, Wolf. "

" Yeah... "

What else could he say ? They were not friends. It's not like he was going to open his heart to the bald man and explain why he hadn't been around. Sure, since the Viper had proven useful against the Wild Hunt, Eskel resented him a little less. But he couldn't really say he considered him a friend. He tolerated his presence more, that was all.

All of Letho's attention was directed toward the woman training. Simply dressed with fitting leather pants and a loose linen shirt tucked in, the petite woman was moving along the poles with ease. Her brows were hidden by the rag covering her eyes, but Eskel could see the lines on her forhead; she was frowning.

" Who's that ? " he nodded in her direction.

" Erryn. A friend."

Switching their attention back to the pendulum, they supervised in silence the ongoing training.

" Nobody else here ? " Eskel enquired.

Letho shooked his head, watching closely his friend.

" Geralt should be here soon, with Ciri. Don't think Lambert planned on coming this year. "

This year. Meaning this was a recurring situation. Eskel did not know how to feel about that. Letho coming to Kaer Morhen on a regular basis. And bringing a so-called 'friend' with him on top of it. The location of the Witchers Schools were supposed to be one the best kept secrets. Only second to all the mysteries surrounding their mutations and how they became Witchers.

" Careful. "

Eskel heard Letho's voice tense up. The woman had lost the rhythm. If she could not manage to collect herself, she would get hit by the pendulum.

" Stop talking, you're distracting me ! "

As she talked back, she hesitated, and was now on one foot, trying to regain her balance. She inhaled sharply and stepped forward, only to be greeted by the pendulum.

Eskel heard the air being pushed out of her lungs, and watched as she hit the ground hard. Before he could move, she was on her feet, the wooden sword she was previously holding at her feet.

" You're damn lucky you fell on this side. Could have killed yourself. "

Letho was not pleased with his apprentice. She grinned.

" You wouldn't let that happen, you know it ! Am I done ? "

" For now. " he sighed.

Fiddling with the knot at the back oh her head, she continued.

" You gonna introduce us ? "

" This is Eskel. From the Wolf School. "

She had managed to take off the blinfold, and was still blinking when she stood in front of the Witcher.

" And I'm Erryn. From the Viper School. "