.IX. Contentment.
The sun began to descend from its previous position in the afternoon. Rapidly heading west, ready to hide itself beyond the reddish rocky peaks of the Blue Mountains, as Gerd and the zerrikanian woman were heading towards the camp.
'So, why do you have such thick clothes ?', she asked, looking at the armor Gerd carried on his saddle.
'It's a heavy winter northwest of here...'.
'I almost forgot about your weather being colder this time of the year. You have snow ?'.
'Mhm. There is plenty of it west.'.
'It must be beautiful. I for one haven't saw snow since Walt and I traveled North. That was many years ago. I wish I could see it again.'.
'It's just frozen water, nothing special about it.'.
'The way Walt described to me a day of winter seemed almost magical...'.
'He always liked to dramatize his tales. He was a writer and poet, among other things. Besides that, you were a child.'.
'I guess so...', she replied. 'How did you two meet ?'.
'Quite odd, if I remember it correctly. It was in Skellige, at an Inn, in a clear day of winter. He was young back then. He sat at a table in the middle of the inn, playing cards. He bet his estate and I planned to play him but we ended up talking. I asked about it and he told me the estate was haunted and that he wanted to get rid of it. He was concerned that his wife will find out that he spend a load of coin on the estate and divorce him. I somehow convinced him to not run away and return to his wife.'
'How about the estate, was it truly haunted ?'.
'More of a complicated curse that bound few specters to the manor...'.
'What about his wife ?', she asked, quite fascinated about the venturous past of her teacher.
'The next time I saw him it was in Novigrad. As he said, I had only to ask for him and people would point me in his direction. That was a few years later, he and his wife separated a year before. He told me it was due some issues that developed between them. Issues he couldn't solve, nor did he possessed the tools required.'.
'That must have been some time ago. As he told me he was a widower for some decades, back when I was little.'.
'Your around twenty years old I guess...'
'I am...', she began, but stopped. Showing Gerd, two fingers first, then four more. 'How old are you ?'.
'Huh, quite old I could say...'.
'This much ?' she asked, while showing five fingers.
'Add the same amount once more and you're almost there.'.
'That is...old.', she said, while Gerd responded with a slight smile.
'Where's Tara ?', asked a woman in the zerrikanian tongue. Tattooed from head to toes in strange symbols. 'Biua ! Have you seen Tara ?'.
The woman raised her shoulders, looking for someone to ask as well.
'Why do you need her ?', asked Biua, turning back at her chief.
'Haven't seen her since we brought the mouse in the camp...'.
'Worried ?', questioned Biua, with a ridiculing tone.
'Don't start...'.
'Your no fun today...'.
'I just have no time to play your dumb game. So has anyone seen her-'
'There she is ! But, who's that ?', replied another woman, near Biua. Pointing toward the path that came down from the hill, towards the camp.
'Did she capture him ?'', asked Biua.
'She didn't.', the cheif responded. 'Go tell Maa to tell Tara to bring him to my tent.'.
'Sure.'.
'Tara.', said the woman guarding the entrance to the camp. Tall, bald, but good looking.
'Maa.', replied Tara passing by her.
'Get the stranger to Veya's tent.', continued Maa, while staring at Gerd.
'Got it.', responded Tara, taking Gerd's horse inside the camp.
'No weapons.', continued Maa. Stopping Gerd with her bulked right arm that she raised in front of him. Gerd, as requested, gave her his swords, crossbow and knife, while his mare was taken by two women. He then continued following Tara.
'They are taking her where our horses are. Don't worry.'.
After a short walk through the camp, they arrived at the chief's tent, Tara entered first. Gerd waited outside for a while, until Tara told him to enter.
The inside of the tent was decorated with the chief's weapons and a couple of armor pieces that she wore in battle. Such as a set of leather boots and gauntlets, another ones made of iron or perhaps steel. While next to them was a great bow, made of hard wood and next to it a quiver filled with arrows. Not far from them was a table on which were placed two sabers, with a belt on top of them.
Some distance from them sat on a chair at another table, next to a bed made from the pelts of different animals, the chief herself. Cleaning the blade of a long sword, of northern origins. A high quality one, rare, probably dwarven made.
'Tara, leave us, I'll talk to you later.', the chief said, while Tara walked out of the tent. 'Witcher. What brings you to my camp ?', said Veya, as she stood up from her chair with the sword in one hand.
'The man you brought, the one you call the mouse. I have a contract on his head.', responded Gerd, while the chief walked towards him.
'Huh. He did fail to mention you.', she said as she stopped in front of him. 'You must've gave him those bruises on his face. Glad you didn't kill him though, but don't worry. You will. As soon as his debt is paid...'.
'You can guarantee that ?'.
'Look at me witcher. Do I look like someone that doesn't keep her word ?', said Veya, with a serious tone. 'After the debt is payed, he's all yours.'.
'What is this debt he has to pay ?',
'You got the contract because his men butchered an entire village. Isn't that right ?'.
'It is.'.
'He grew desperate, after a couple of our people showed up at his door, demanding payment. Thus, he did what he does best. He discovered that a gang had a stash in that village. Desperate as he was, he stumbled into something he didn't expect. During his heist, things went sour, a fight kindled. He lost most of his men, while the rest cut through everyone that stood in his way. Fortunate enough, he managed to get out of the village with the coin needed to pay the rest of his debt.'.
'Tara mentioned he is to be sentenced for some crimes he committed.'.
'That's right.'.
'If so, how can you assure me that I get his head ?'.
'Very simply. If he is to be sentenced to death, I'll make sure his head ends up in a bag that you can take back west. If not, you get to obtain it yourself. Either way, you complete your contract.', she replied extending her right arm toward the witcher. 'Do we have a deal ?'.
'We do.', he replied shaking her hand.
The sun quickly passed the peaks of the Blue Mountains, hiding beyond it as the darkness came from the east, with a crescent moon rising an hour later.
The desert of Korath was known for its strange dwellers under the massive dunes of sand, not a place you would like to spend the night.
Gerd was sitting at a table, beneath a piece of cloth wrapped on it's edges on three slim wooden poles, that was covering the table. From the position Gerd sat, he could spot between the tents, the dunes of the Korath desert.
'What are you looking at ?, asked Tara, who approached and sat on the other side of the table.
Gerd responded by nodding his head towards the dunes that sat only around five hundred meters from the camp. Tara turned on the wooden bench, looking on the same direction the witcher was.
'We are safe here. If that is your concern...'
'I'm not. But, how do you traverse that ?'
'We have routes. We have sent a dozen of scouts out there, to inspect the dunes.'.
'Is it worth the danger for one man, such as Galodo ?'
'There is no danger if we follow the route, only mistakes.'.
'Mistakes ?'.
'The scouts, make most of them, if unable to spot the diggers.'.
'Any recent ones ?'.
'None so far...', she answered, turning back, facing Gerd again. 'Want another drink ?'.
'Why not.', responded Gerd, while Tara grabbed a bottle, that she dug out of the sand.
While the two kept on drinking and chatting, Veya got out of her tent, and walked towards the two.
'What are you two babbling about ? You opened two bottles already and failed to invite me as well ? Tsk, Tsk, that is betrayal...', she said as she sat down at the table on the wooden bench next to Tara, then grabbed the bottle and drank straight from it. 'So, what are you two talking about ?'.
'Diggers, among other things.', answered Tara.
'Diggers. nasty creatures...', replied Veya. Taking another sip from the bottle, moving closer to Tara. 'Why are you here ? Let's retreat...', she continued, kissing Tara's neck, then moved her left hand between her legs.
'Not now...', responded Tara, shoving Veya's hand away from her privates.
'What ? Are you shy because he's watching ? He could join us. What do you say-'.
'You are drunk.'.
'And that's where you draw the line ?'.
'Don't mind her.'.
'Fine. So, witcher. Do you like it here so far ?', resumed Veya, now resting her elbows on the table.
'Not complaining.'.
'How could you. We give you a safe passage to Zerrikania, food, water and women.'. She then raised from the table, grabbed the bottle and walked towards her tent, 'Have fun...', she continued, taking another sip from the bottle.
'I should go after her. See that she won't do something dumb...', said Tara, as she stood up then followed Veya.
Gerd sighed, 'I'm gonna get some sleep now...', after which he got up from the bench and walked towards a small tent that Veya gave him.
Lots of thoughts went through the witcher's head before going to sleep in his small red colored tent. While his eyes began to close and sleep took him away, outside, the crescent moon was shining on the star filled sky as on the ground, away, among the vile dunes of sand, a sand storm could be noticed taking place few kilometers inside the dead desert of Korath.
The night transcended quickly into a new day, as in the early hours of morning the sound of footsteps all around the witcher tent, horses neighing and women talking and shouting woke up Gerd. Who as soon as he got out of his tiny tent, noticed that half of the camp was taken down and loaded into wooden carts, or put on the back of camels to be carried back to the zerrikanian lands. After he stretched his muscles, the witcher joined Veya and Tara who were helping load a camel with cloth and supplies.
'Look who finally woke up...', said Veya, with a criticizing tone, 'Slept well ?'.
'I slept just fine.', murmured Gerd.
'Come. We got a couple more of these to load and then we're off...', said Tara.
'Right.', continued Veya. 'Come with me, witcher.'.
While the witcher and the two women carried the few remaining supplies to be loaded on the back of a camel. From the desert's direction, two men walked towards what remained of the camp.
'Scouts !', shouted Maa.
The leader of the expedition, Veya, awaited them next to her horse. With one hand on her hip and the other on the handle of her sabers. Watching as the scouts approached the site of the camp, carrying news of the safest route they would have to take through the Korath Desert.
'Chief...', said the man, heavily breathing, same as the other next to him.
'Bàlt, report.', replied Veya.
The man took a deep breath, then began to give the news to his superior.
'We saw several diggers north-east from here but they were moving east last we saw them. We sent a few more scouts, inside the desert to place markers...'.
'But ?', asked Veya, while the man called Bàlt seemed nervous about something.
'The sandstorm from last night moved the eastern dunes...', he paused for a bit looking at Veya, who seemed displeased with the report so far. He took another deep breath after which he continued. 'And we lost contact with those inside that region, but from what we observed a few markers were still up...', then he stopped at the command of Veya who raised her hand.
'Therefore, beyond that we know absolutely nothing...', she began. 'Alright. We are going to use your men further. You two, rest for now. But, before we reach that region we will send you to scout the place.'.
'Understood.', responded the man, while he and his companion went to get some food and water for their dried throats. Caused by the heat that already became a burden this early in the morning.
After an hour or so, the whole camp was loaded and ready to be moved across the desert, back home to Zerrikania. Finally Gerd and Galodo's eyes met, he a prisoner and Gerd some kind of an ally to the zerrikanians. Galodo had heard of a strange man being inside the camp, but he found out just now that the man was the witcher who wants his head in a bag. Lona, was surprised when she saw the witcher, she hoped that the zerrikanian warriors had taken care of him.
The troop began to move east later that morning. A quite long road was ahead of them, as it would take at least a week and few days to reach the end of the Korath Desert, and few more to the border of Zerrikania. However, before reaching that, they had to pass the desert. Famous for its violent sandstorms and the parasites that live in it. Some, unknown to the witcher schools in the west. Few are known actually about this area or the beasts that live in it, as several of them have been imported from their natural habitat, west, used as trophies or put in fighting pits, or bought on the black market by desperate monarchs that were to bored for their own good. For circuses or to be put in large arenas to fight mighty knights and brave, dumb men across the Northern Kingdoms. Those have been put in few of the books at the witcher's schools.
The known Tse Tse flies that lay their eggs in the human body. The larvae, maturing within the host's head, and once they reach adulthood, they leave through the eye sockets. Also the giant spotted arachnomorphs, big enough to trap elephants in their webs and the known venomous basilisks, big, mean and dangerous.
Gerd was travelling in the back section of the troop, with Tara in front of him and few male warriors behind.
They were getting closer and closer to the dunes, those marked the territory of the giant sand worms, nicknamed by the zerrikanians, the diggers. They looked like centipedes with certain special 'augmentations' as the mature ones have besides the larger size, a white to gray carapace and the younger ones a darker one, almost black. Not many are known to slay one, and those who are, managed to kill only young ones, as their carapaces are softer and the arrows can sometimes penetrate them. While, the adults are like steel plated, impossible to put down even with silver tip arrows. They don't always consume their prey, if humans are to be considered prey. They feed on other creatures that live in that hellish desert. Humans are usually buried in the sand and with time as the dunes move the remains of what was once a body are revealed, later to be consumed by small insects and Tse Tse flies.
Whatever awaited them in that damned place was to be discovered. The minds of all warriors were at their highest point, reacting to the smallest breeze that moved the sand. The tension could be felt in the air, it was not a matter of the kind 'if it happens', more of when. Casualties were expected, death was something that depended on time. When and from where, that was on their mind. Gerd felt it as well, he was ready to grab his sword and cut through anything at the slightest sign of danger.
Hours passed. They were between the big dunes now. A few markers had been collected, as the troop advanced, while other scouts returned. The main issue was the region in which the sandstorm wiped the markers and moved the dunes, there was not one sign of any scouts left alive. Either the diggers entombed them, the storm or another kind of a beast. Few more kilometers were left until the troop will reach the last marker, after that the scouts will do their best to plan another route and place more of them.
While the troop kept advancing among the dunes, on the back side of the group, Tara slowed down a bit, now going alongside Gerd.
'How is she ?', Tara asked moving her hand along the neck of Gerd's mare.
'Not tired yet. She's doing fine so far.', replied Gerd patting his mare's neck.
'Sand is not her favorite. Is it ?', said Tara, smiling.
'She is doing good. But, yes, I think so...'.
'We will stop as soon as we reach the next marker. She'll rest a bit then.'.
'Good.'.
'How are you ?'.
'Good.'.
'I ask because you are not used to this kind of heat. I presume...'
'That's true. I'm not.'.
'You'll get used to it, here...', Tara handed Gerd a piece of white cloth, 'Place it around your shoulders and head. It will shield your skin from the hot sun.'.
'Thanks.', he then wrapped the piece of cloth around his shoulders.
Soon they've reached the next marker, it was now midday. The heat was almost unbearable, the sun was a continuous foe, now shining like a true fireball on the bright blue sky upon the desert. The dunes offered a bit of shade in certain places, but it was hot even there. The sand almost burned through Gerd's boots, it was like a big giant cauldron and the witcher's feet a stew, not a nice feeling, at all.
Gerd gave his mare some water and hay, while he drank and ate as well. Veya had sent two scouts to watch the route some more, observe any changes to the dunes and locate the next marker. While Tara helped Biua and Maa with some errands they received from Veya.
Not long after that, they resumed their journey, scouts came back as the troop moved forward, towards the next marker, which as the scouts said, should be reached in almost two or three hours.
'Nice scars, witcher.', said Biua, approaching from behind.
'None of them were pleasant ones though...'.
'I bet.'.
'Huh.'.
'A digger, south-east !', shouted Maa from behind.
'Shit, it's heading this way !?', yelled a man behind Maa.
'It seems so !', answered Tara, 'Be ready for anything...'.
'Fuck. it's-', began Gerd, as he sensed the vibrations coming from beneath the sand. '-below us !'. The beast propelled out of the sand, grabbing in it's mouth the witcher's horse front legs, taking it with, as the desert crawler was entirely out of the sand, in the air, ready to plunge back inside one of the dunes with Gerd still on the saddle of his mare. He had his left foot stuck into the stirrup. When the monster began to drop back towards the ground, Gerd grabbed his knife, and cut the leather that held the steel stirrup...
