Loen had been hired to clear out an alghoul infestation, at fifty crowns a head. The village alderman was stupid to agree to that price. Loen suspected the alderman would try to cheat him, but Loen had gotten pretty good at making sure contract holders paid the agreed upon amount.
Loen looked into the cave. He heard the alghoul's scampering around. By his count, there were four. It wouldn't be to hard with the right potions and signs. They might get a scratch or two in, but every job had it's risks.
After downing a swig of cat he drew Deien Càeme, which roughly translated to, Serve Destiny. Loen didn't care if the sword had some pretentious meaning, as long as it cut through bone he was happy. He pulled his hood over his head and headed into the cave.
He patted his hip to make sure his dagger was still there. Most witchers carried two swords, one steel one silver. Loen only carried a silver one. Only carrying one sword meant that common people wouldn't immediately realize he was a witcher. Most of the time people treated him as a normal person. It was only when they looked into his cat-like eyes that people knew what he was.
Loen looked around the expansive cave. Small tunnels lead to other smaller tunnels that eventually led to dead ends. Water dripped from the ceiling landing in puddles from a small pond above the cave. All sorts of mold and mushrooms grew around the puddles.
He picked up the light footfalls quickly running up behind him. Loen whirled around and slashed at a lone alghoul. It's head rolled further into the darkness of the cave. Loen suspected the next attack would contain the three remaining alghoul's.
He walked slowly into the darkness, waiting for any sign of movement, any hint of the next attack. It was a long time until the attack came.
The alghoul's attacked as one from all sides. Loen moved his fingers for Aard. It hit the alghoul attacking from his front and sent it flying into the wall. He ducked as the second flew over his head, and swiped at the the third on his back. The two remaining alghoul's regrouped.
Loen stared at them both. They circled each other for a long while. Loen - who was tired of waiting - drew his dagger and lunged at the alghoul's. The alghoul's did the same.
He threw his dagger at the one on his left. It hit its mark and dropped the alghoul. He made one upward strike and sliced the alghoul in half. The rancid blood stained the walls. Loen wiped a few streaks of blood of his cloak.
Loen let out a deep breath and cleaned the blood off his sword before sheathing it. He grabbed his dagger and started cutting off the heads. After a few minutes he had them tied to a rope and hanging off the side of his horse.
Loen made it back to the village a little past noon. The sun was beating down. Villagers looked upon him with happy looks. They couldn't hide the fear in their eyes. Loen was used to it, all witchers were.
Loen didn't remember the villages name, he rarely did. It was relatively small, but made a fortune from selling a rare fish that spawned near the village.
He steered his black mare to a post riddled with termites just outside the alderman's house and tied it up. He ran his fingers threw the horses silky mane. He untied the heads and knocked on the door. After a minute of continuous knocking the fat alderman opened the door.
"What? What is it?" The alderman scratched his chin. "Oh, it's you."
Loen dropped the heads at his feet. A small river of blood dripped down the steps.
"Two hundred crowns," Loen said without emotion.
The alderman kicked the heads and scratched his head. He looked lost in thought. Contemplating how he was going to screw Loen out of his money.
"It thought they were bigger," the alderman said, breaking the silence. "I think one hundred is a more fair price." He looked down at the heads again. "They look about the size of a small dog. On second thought, fifty would be an even fairer price. I've got a town to run after all." The alderman smiled, flashing his yellow teeth.
Loen smiled and pushed the alderman into his home. He didn't let go as he pushed him farther into the house. He only stopped pushing once the alderman thudded against the wall. Loen had his forearm up to the alderman's neck, slowly apply pressure. Sweat dripped off the alderman's face onto Loen's black leather bracer.
"We agreed to fifty a head."
Loen released some pressure so the alderman could speak. "It's not easy being in charge of a town like this."
Unhappy with the alderman's answer Loen applied more pressure.
"Okay, fifty it is," the alderman hissed out between breaths
Loen smiled and let the alderman go.
"That's what I call enhanced bargaining."
The alderman reached into his pocket and pulled out a fine pouch and threw it to Loen.
"You know all this killing and threatening has made me rather tired. I think I'll stay in the inn a few days." Loen carelessly pointed the tip of his dagger at the alderman. "I can tell the inn keep you're taking care of the expenses, right?"
The alderman looked at the knife and nodded. "Mmm, Hmm."
Loen slammed the door behind him. The alderman rubbed his neck and slid down against the wall. "Fucking witchers."
Brand was a simple farmer with a simple life. All he wanted to do was work the land and provide for his family. And that's exactly what he did. It wasn't all perfect though, his daughter frequently wandered off. Brand was usually okay with this as long as she was home before sunlight. Tonight was different though. It had been two hours since sunrise and Misha hadn't returned.
He found his way to a pond where she liked to draw. She was always pleading with him to let her stay out late to draw pond at night, but the world was a dangerous place. Especially for a young woman. If the wolves or monsters didn't get her then the wandering mercenaries and bandits would.
"Misha!" Brand called. "Misha, me and your mom are worried. If you're hiding please come out, I promise I won't be mad."
Brand waited for a few minutes. Misha never appeared. The bushes and trees shook in the wind. The moonlit pond mirrored the surroundings. Brand now saw why his daughter wanted to draw it. If she wasn't already dead he promised himself he would take her out one night.
Brand left the pond and wandered back towards the village. He decided to check in at the inn. Misha was friends with one of the serving girls there.
The inn was busy with the late night customers drowning their sorrows or celebrating another day survived. Brand waded through the crowd until he reached the counter.
"Brand!" the inn keep shouted with glee. "Haven't seen you in here for a month. Still drinking vodka?"
"Oh, no. I gave up drinking. It cost to much."
The inn keep nodded. "Shame."
"Have you seen Misha in here tonight? She hasn't come home and the pond she frequents is empty."
"I think I saw her head towards the back earlier. Might be in with Shawna. Those two are inseparable"
Brand nodded and gave his thanks. He fought against the crowd as he made his way to the back. He was about to knock on Shawna's door, but then he heard something that made the blood drain from his face.
He burst into the VIP room and saw the witcher naked on top of his beloved Misha.
"Misha?" Brand practically whispered.
Misha looked up and saw her father with a horrified look on his face. Only one thought went through her head.
"Daddy! He's raping me!"
"The witchman's rapping my daughter," Brand yelled back into the inn with the roar of a lion.
Loen had to jump out the window in order to avoid the angry mob. Of course Loen hadn't raped Misha. She had practically pounced on him, and who was he to refuse the company of a beautiful woman. But, when she was caught in the act she would rather condemn an innocent man than face the consequences of dishonoring her family.
Loen managed to grab his sword and armor. Luckily he he kept his gold close at all times so he was only short a few crowns.
Yet another village added to his list of places he could no longer visit. Loen decided to ride through the night. The alderman now had a reason to send the town guard after him. The farmer would most likely gather up some friends and chase him down. As long as he kept riding he would be safe.