It was a sunny day, in the muddy village of Yarrowton, when the Witcher first appeared. He was on his horse trotting along as men and women stopped to stare at him, or more accurately stare him down, hoping that his visit there would be short. The Witcher snorted. How typical. Even when there was work to be had he was still receiving stares of anger and hatred. He ignored them, and continued to trot along the path that ran through the village looking for the ealdorman. He singled out a man with a straight back, and a dry, grey, beard that touched his waist. This would be him. As the Witcher turned his horse towards him he was suddenly stopped in his tracks by two men. Wielding hoes, they looked as if they had just come from working the fields.

"What's your business here, Witcher?" The man on the right spoke first, his hatred evident in his voice.

"We don't need your kind here." The taller and stronger man told the Witcher with a deep voice.

The Witcher seethed inwardly in anger. He had come all this way, just to be yelled at by peasants, who for some reason thought they were above him, even though both physically and mentally he was the stronger? How annoying. But he needed to get payed, so he merley gave them a glare, which proved to be enough to get them out of his way. No backbone at all. He dismounted and lead his horse behind him, as he continued his path towards the ealdorman, who looked on apprehensively, dreading the confrontation.

"You the ealdorman?" The Witcher had spoken for the first time since he had entered the village. His voice wasn't a memorable one, but his face certainly was. It had three, equally long, scars that ran diagonally across it, starting from the left of his forehead, and ending at his right cheek. He also had another scar, that ran down the length of his nose, starting at the center of his forehead. His left temple had a small indent, obviously from a blunt force wound. His throat had one as well, that almost went full circle around it, as if someone had tried to cut his throat and failed.

He wore a studded, black, leather vest on a white shirt, as well as black leather trousers, with steel, studded, knee caps. His gloves were a simple black leather, and fingerless, and his boots were black with heel spikes. He carried two swords, both slung across his back, side by side. One was a thin, lithe blade with a gold-painted metal sheath that demonstrated its value. The other was a larger, almost crude, sword that was wrapped in simple leather.

The ealdorman gathered his senses and quickly responded.

"That's me. I suppose you're here about the contract?"

"Yeah. How much will you pay me for this job?"

The ealdorman gulped. He could only hope for pity from the Witcher as what he had wasn't enough.

"80 crowns."

The Witcher shook his head.

"Too little, way too little. How about you try again?"

"100 crowns."

"I want 150." It was a statement, but much could be read into it. One thing that made itself clear, was that the Witcher wasn't willing to negotiate. But the ealdorman had to try anyways.

"That would cut into our emergency fund!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I must be in the wrong town: Isn't this an emergency?"

The ealdorman clenched his teeth. It was this way or the highway: If he didn't accept this offer he would have to wait until the next Witcher came along, which would be a while. He sighed, looked around, and in a quiet voice, said "fine". The town went into an uproar, and the Witcher quickly reached for his steel sword. The villagers went quiet.

"I need some details. Where and when did this monster attack?"

"I don't know all the details but what I can tell you is this. My wife was out visiting her brother in the nearby town. She went two weeks ago. But she hasn't come back yet. I need you to find her, please!"

The Witcher heard the ealdorman's pleas with an impassive face. This wasn't the first time that he had been begged to save someone. They typically begged due to feeling guilty. That being said, he couldn't deliver any promises.

"Is this the first one to go missing?" He questioned the ealdorman sternly. Everyone in the village glared at him due to his lack of respect. The ealdorman looked away.

"Nay sir. My wife went missing third. Before her it was Fiona, and first it was Thaddeus."

The Witcher stared at him with his cat eyes, and the ealdorman shifted uncomfortably.

"What can you tell me about them?"

"My wife, was just as much a leader as I. She had long brown hair, and the most gentle eyes you'll ever see. She went missing 4 days ago. Fiona was a sweet girl of 16 summers. She had blonde hair and blue was kind to everyone in the village, and cared for every living being. However, she had a boyfriend named Aaron. We just assumed she ran away with him. He wasn't the best of influences on the lass. Thaddeus, on the other hand, was a loner. He had long unkempt hair, and stunk like a pig. He lived alone on the outskirts of the village, and well-"

The ealdorman glanced at the surrounding people.

"-no-one really cared about him. When he went missing we assumed that he had decided to move on to another village to start a new life. "

The Witcher nodded slowly.

"I see. Well, can you point me in the direction your wife would've gone?"

The ealdorman motioned towards the forest bordering the town.

"Although I warned her not to, she probably took the shortcut. I thought it was dangerous, what with wolves, ghouls and nekkers prowling the woods. I want to see the monster's head, so I can tell the townsfolk what to be wary of."

The Witcher first tied his horse up, on a nearby pole. Then he turned towards the assembled villagers and motioned towards his sword.

"If anyone so much as looks at her, they're dead."

He then walked off in the direction of the woods.

Once he arrived he took a moment to smell the air, for the scent of blood. Absolutely nothing. Using his Witcher senses he began to examine the trodden path through the woods. As he walked along the trail, he noticed footprints leading off into the woods. He began to follow them when suddenly he felt something wet splash onto his face. He traced his fingers along his face touching the liquid. A dark red. Blood. He looked to up, only to be greeted by the unseeing eyes of a young girl. She was hanging there from her ankles, naked as the day she was born. Her hair was blonde, and she had blue eyes. He pulled her down, and incinerated her corpse. A thorough job was always required.

"I guess I found the girl. This scene hints at territorial instincts if it's a monster" He thought to himself. Then he closed his eyes and began to follow his nose.

It lead him to a cave. He opened his eyes, and proceeded to look around. Splotches of blood decorated the place, like Yuletide decorations. He also saw another body lying in a pool of blood in the middle of the room. Another woman. The ealdorman's wife, most likely. He walked up to the corpse, and turned it over. Yup. He began to examine the body.

"There seems to be an indent in the back of her head" The Witcher thought. "Obviously meant to knock her out. This also means that a human was behind this."

He moved to examine her neck. A long, deep, dark red line was etched into her neck, length wise. Her throat had been slit. The Witcher traced the line across his own neck. The Witcher considered examining her genitalia, and then decided to do so. If he was right, this corpse was the product of a rape-murder. He began to examine her thighs first. There were finger-tip sized bruises leading up to her vaginal area. The Witcher stopped his examination. He had seen all he needed to.

"Another human was very clearly behind the murder of the girl and the ealdorman's wife. If I'm right they've chosen this place as their hideout. I'm going to need some bait to lure out this killer. Otherwise they have no reason to show up. Something else to consider, is the fact that I haven't seen the corpse of the missing male. It was probably him."

So the Witcher journeyed back to Yarrowton, his hypothesis complete. He would need a woman to bring in the head of the rapist.

Once he arrived back at the village, he noticed everyone pointedly looking away from his horse, Gale. Next to her stood the ealdorman. He walked over to the ealdorman at a leisurely pace.

"I've found your "monster"." The Witcher monotoned.

"What was it? A nekker, a ghoul, maybe a pack of wolves? What happened to my wife?" The ealdorman was clearly eager to get the problem out of the way and allay his townspeople.

"Your "monster" was a human. If I were to guess who it was, it would be Thaddeus." The Witcher said.

"So I guess that means my wife is alive? Thaddeus was no monster, after all. I'm sure this was just a kidnapping, right?"

The Witcher almost chuckled. The ealdorman didn't know how wrong he was.

"Your wife was raped and then killed, as was Fiona." The Witcher said, a grimace on his face.

The ealdorman paled. He began to tremble, and the townspeople noticing this began to make their way over. However the Witcher raised a hand, and they stopped in their tracks.

In a sombre tone, the ealdorman asked the question, that the Witcher needed to hear.

"What do you need to bring him in?"

The Witcher smiled. This was always the case, when a human was behind it. Always so angry with the world, willing to do whatever it took to take revenge. He could literally ask for 100 crowns more, and the ealdorman wouldn't blink an eye.

"I need a young girl. I'll use her as bait to lure him out of his hiding spot."

The ealdorman clapped his hands and a young woman came out of a hut. Her hands shook, and she wore a fearful expression. Her eyes were a bright blue, and her hair was a golden blonde. She was beautiful. The Witcher examined her. She would do for the sake of the contract.

"Her name is Kate. She was Fiona's elder sister. She-"

The Witcher interrupted him.

"I don't care.

The ealdorman frowned at him.

"Well then what are you waiting for? Go get that murderer!"

The girl had been silent the whole walk to the forest. Whenever the Witcher turned back to face her, she would flinch away from him. And of course she was behaving like this: Everyone was scared of Withers. For all he knew, she must have been told that Witchers raped innocent girls for fun. He sighed, then turned around to face her.

"So here's the deal. You're going to walk down this path alone while I follow you from the woods. Eventually the rapist will show up, and I'll be able to hear him, smell him, and stop him before he reaches you."

The girl nodded her head, frightened, her face white as a bedsheet. Then she looked at the ground trying to avoid his piercing gaze. The Witcher took the chance and walked into the woods and began to stalk her silently, like a cat after prey. The girl looked up after a couple seconds, and noticed the absence of her companion.

"H-hello? Sir?"

The Witcher smirked in the forest. The noise would lure Thaddeus right into his arms. THe Witcher closed his eyes, sat down and attuned himself to his surroundings. He heard the call of an owl, the buzzing of some bees, and the growl of a pack of wolves. None concerned him. Suddenly he heard a branch break, approximately 30 metres away from him. Only a human could make that noise. So he turned and waited for said human to get closer. A scuffling sound, 20 metres away. A crunch of leaves underneath a foot, 15 metres away. The Witcher drew his sword. 10 metres away. The Witcher opened his eyes. A man, clearly visible, walked towards the girl, slowly, and rather silently for a human.

The Witcher got up silently from his seated stance, and moved silently towards the man. Once in range, he cast the Axii sign, to nullify his chance of fighting back. He then ran towards the stunned man, and examined his face. It wasn't anyone he had seen before. That meant it was the rapist, Thaddeus. He knocked him out with the hilt of his sword. Then he walked out of the forest. The girl noticed him, and let out a squeal at the body he carried on his shoulders. The Witcher rolled his eyes.

"Let's get back to the village. This job's done."

As the Witcher arrived at the village with Thaddeus, he saw the ealdorman waiting for was pacing back and forth, stroking his beard. He seemed to have recovered. The Witcher marched up to him, and threw Thaddeus on the ground.

"Job's done"

The ealdorman frowned, then threw the Witcher a bag of coins. Typical. Now that the dirty work was done, the Witcher was essentially being shown out of the village. No thanks, no gratitude, no "You're welcome back anytime!", because the only time that would ever happen is if he did a job for free. He began to leave.

"And Witcher? Don't ever come back."

The Witcher continued to walk towards his untouched horse. He untied it, hopped on and in a matter of seconds, he was gone.