A Song of Ice, Fire and the Dead
Chapter 22: Monster Slaying 101
As promised, Yennefer gave them some books and tomes of the world. Some were basic such as the history of the Continent and the various kingdoms of the North. Others were basic herbalist guides to the flora such as which herbs were safe or toxic. One tome detailed the variety of monsters and their weaknesses and how best to fight them.
Saya had already opened the book of monsters and her orange eyes were wide with rapture as she read over the detailed descriptions of monsters and the anatomical sketches of them. Saeko and Aegon read over Saya's shoulder, reading the pages and poring over the sketches.
"Fascinating," Saya mumbled as she read the page on drowners. "How is it the people of this world survives with such monsters lurking around?" she mused out loud.
"Possibly because they had people willing to fight them," Saeko said to her. "These Witchers for example; enhanced monster slayers paid to hunt down and exterminate monsters," she added as she read the sentence aloud.
"How is it Witchers are enhanced? I'm rather curious about that," Aegon said.
"Doesn't say," Saya replied. "Must be pretty secretive," she remarked.
"I'd imagine so," Saeko said in agreement. She picked up another book titled Monstrum and opened it. "Here's a page on Witchers: Stray children taught the ways of foul sorcery, their bodies mutated through blasphemous ritual. Sent to fight monsters, though they cannot distinguish good from evil. The flicker of humanity long extinguished within them."
Saeko looked up at Saya and Aegon and they all shared a look of slight disbelief and disgust. "Quite a grim description of such people," Aegon commented. "Is that all there is?" he asked.
"There's a bit more," Saeko confirmed. "There are five schools a witcher can belong to: the Wolf, the Bear, the Viper, the Cat and the Manticore," she read aloud. "Each school takes stray children and… ploughs them to mutate them," she said before she snapped the book shut with a look of scorn.
"I think the author of this tome is prejudiced against witchers."
"The Eternal Fire priests and their worshippers are." Everyone turned around to see Yennefer enter the room. "The author of that tome was a fervent believer in the Eternal Fire and the most common belief is that Witchers are as bad as the monsters they are hired to kill," she said.
"Are they?" Aegon asked.
"Some are good, some are bad, same as any person I suppose," Yennefer said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Of course, it doesn't help that most Witchers are secretive about their ways," she added nonchalantly. "And the reputation Witchers have for killing innocent people is a well-earned one."
"I see," Aegon said awkwardly. "Well, given how Ciri described the Witchers, they can't be all bad," he added optimistically.
"They aren't, but you get some who give their kind a bad name," Yennefer said. "The Cat School Witchers come to mind as most are willing to hire out as assassins and such," she added.
"I suppose the skillset of Witchers would be well-suited for assassin work," Saeko remarked.
"It is, but Geralt himself would never stoop to killing people for money, no matter how badly he needed it," Yennefer said with a soft smile. "I've always loved that part about him," she added fondly.
"Geralt? Is he the one who took Ciri in?" Saya asked.
"Yes. I take it Ciri told you the story?" Yennefer looked at them.
"She did, or at least gave an abbreviated version of it," Aegon replied.
"A sign of her trust then," Yennefer remarked. "In any case, do you need anything else?" she asked them.
"I don't think we do, but unless you know of where we could find work?" Saeko said.
"Try the notice board in town," Yennefer said. "There's usually some notices about any potential job offers for anyone willing to put in the work."
Yennefer then shooed them all out of the inn telling them that she was a busy woman and needed time alone to work on contacting Triss.
Leaving the inn, Aegon looked around. "Where would a notice board be in this town?" he wondered aloud.
"We could always ask," Saeko said as she stopped a sailor. "Excuse me, where is the notice board?" she asked the man who gave them directions to it.
Finding the notice board near the harbour, the group looked at the notices pinned to it. "Some of these are just random notices," Saya said scornfully.
"Maybe," Aegon said in agreement. "But, we just have to sift through them and – ah, here's a couple of promising ones!" Taking down two of the flyers, Aegon scanned them and read them out loud to Saeko and Saya.
"The local sawmill is overrun, and the foreman is willing to pay anyone brave enough to clear it out; speak to Erik for details," Aegon read the words on the parchment.
"And the other one?" Saeko said.
"The family sword of Jarl Crach was stolen from the armoury a couple of nights ago and he is willing to pay a hefty sum to anyone who can retrieve his sword and punish the thief," Aegon said reading the second flyer aloud.
"Sounds easy enough," Saeko said with a nod of her head. "Which one should we do first?"
"Perhaps we ought to speak with Erik first to negotiate the terms," Aegon replied. "We ought to know what we're up against and haggle a price," he said.
"Well, you two have fun with that," Saya said to them. "Me and Alice will head back to Kaer Trolde and wait for you all," she added.
"Do you want us to walk you back?" Aegon asked her.
"I would, thank you," Saya said with a small smile.
After dropping Saya and Alice off at Kaer Trolde, Saeko and Aegon then headed back to the harbour town and asked around for Erik. Being directed to the docks, they soon found the foreman of the Sawmill. Erik was a tall rangy looking man with ruddy brown hair and beard, wearing simple leather and furs and he was currently watching the horizon.
"Excuse me, are you Erik the foreman of the sawmill?" Saeko asked the man who looked at her and Aegon before giving his reply.
"Aye, that be me," he said. "What is it ye want?" he asked them.
"We came here about the notice," Aegon said as he handed the flyer to the foreman who nodded in understanding.
"Aye, was hoping for a Witcher to take the contract, but you two look capable enough," Erik said with an approving nod.
"So, what is it that has overrun your sawmill?" Saeko asked.
"Monsters, the fishy looking ones," Erik stated.
"Drowners?" Aegon guessed.
"If that's what they are, then aye, that'd be them," Erik said. "Happened a few nights ago. The ploughing whoresons rose up from the muck and killed some of me workers and we were forced to flee," he explained. "We need that sawmill back if we are to have any wood to build and repair our longships," he added.
"How much are you willing to pay?" Saeko asked. "As you pointed out, we're not Witchers, so it'll be dangerous for us to do it," she said.
Erik and Saeko then began haggling the price and after ten minutes of arguing and bargaining, the sum of 125 gold crowns was agreed upon. Saeko and Erik shook hands to settle the deal.
"Let's go kill some monsters," Saeko said to Aegon who nodded. Being given directions to the sawmill, the two warriors then mounted their horses and rode out of the harbour town and onto the beaten dirt road.
…
After half an hour of riding along the road, Saeko and Aegon soon came within distance of the sawmill. It seemed fairly basic as sawmills went; with a large sawblade set up under a roofed area alongside a river which turned the wheel that made the blade spin. A storage area where lumber was stored was a little ways away from the saw and sure enough, there were monsters roaming about.
They looked hideous; their skin was in shades of blue and green, hunched backs with overly large heads and whited out bulging eyes and sharp needle-like teeth lining their mouths. Their hands webbed and clawed and fins were on the forearms and shin. Saeko also spotted what appeared to be gills on the necks of the creatures.
"Gods! Not winning any beauty contests, are they?" Aegon remarked with a look of disgust on his face.
"Not by a long shot," Saeko agreed. "So, how are we going to do this?" she asked looking at Aegon.
"Judging by the looks of it, there's probably a dozen of those things and from what I read, most monsters are stronger than average humans," Aegon said. "But they also have weaknesses," he added.
"What kind?" Saeko asked.
"We've already established that monsters can be killed with Valyrian steel, so I should have no problem in killing them, but you don't have anything similar," Aegon replied. "But one weakness drowners have is fire," he said and he dug through the saddle bags of his horse and pulled out an unlit torch. "Might not be the best choice of weapon, but you might be able to set a few ablaze with this," he added as he handed the torch to Saeko who nodded.
"Let's do it!"
Taking a moment to light the brand, Aegon then drew his sword and together, he and Saeko headed towards the overrun sawmill. Whistling loudly, Aegon prepared himself for what was to come. The piercing shrill caught the attention of the drowners who hissed and gurgled in fury, the first two came charging towards Aegon who swung his sword hard and fast in a horizontal arc. The supremely sharp Valyrian steel blade sliced through the bellies of the two drowners who fell to the earth twitching and gurgling before going still. Another drowner launched itself at Saeko who easily sidestepped the lunge and thrust her burning torch into the thing's face. The effect was almost immediate as the drowner was set alight and it hissed and shrieked in pain as flames began to spread across its body, eating away at its flesh.
Aegon was moving back as a drowner tried to swipe at him with filthy claws. Ducking under a swipe, Aegon thrust the blade of his sword into the creature's stomach and twisted the blade. The creature screamed in pain as it backhanded Aegon across the face.
"Oof!"
Aegon stumbled back, rubbing his now sore jaw and spat out some blood and phlegm. Now annoyed, Aegon pressed his own offensive on the creature that struck him, carving deep lines into its body with his sword before slashing off its head in one stroke.
Saeko used her agility to avoid a pair of drowners attacking her. As one drowners latched onto her arm, Saeko grabbed the offending limb and flipped the creature over her shoulder onto its back then spinning around to avoid a lunge from the other drowner. Smacking her torch into the monster's face, Saeko felt thrills of pleasure race up her spine as the creature hissed and shrieked in pain as the burning brand scorched its face. Then the monsters lashed out with its claws and knocked the burning brand out of Saeko's grasp. Saeko leapt back and drew her katana and went into a gedan-no-kamae stance.
The tip of the katana was pointed at Saeko's right knee as she placed her right foot behind her and her left foot forward. The drowner hissed angrily before it leapt at Saeko who moved fluidly, swinging her sword upwards. The drowner screamed in pain as the sharp Tamahagane steel blade of Saeko's sword carved a deep furrow into its flesh. Saeko looked at her opponent; although her sword was not made of silver or even Valyrian steel, it still wounded the creature which felt good to Saeko.
Aegon then stepped in and finished off the beast. "You alright?" he quickly asked Saeko who nodded back in response. The two warriors then looked at the remaining six drowners who were creeping towards them.
"Ready for this?" Aegon asked Saeko who smiled and said, "Sounds like it'll be blast!" Grinning at Saeko's response, Aegon charged towards the remaining drowners as did Saeko.
…
Ten minutes later, Aegon and Saeko set the last drowner corpse onto the pile they had made after killing all the drowners in the area. Using some oil from the nearby workshed, they doused the pile in oil before Aegon set it alight with some flint and tinder. The acrid stench of flesh and rot burning rose into the air with smoke which made Saeko's eyes sting and nose burn.
"I call that a job well done," Aegon said as he watched the pile of drowner corpses burn. "These things put up quite a fight," he added in thought.
"But we did it," Saeko said as she stood beside Aegon and looked at him with a smile on her lips.
"Aye. We did," Aegon said with a nod of his head before he asked, "Would you call this a good first date?" A joking smile was on Aegon's lips as he looked at Saeko.
"I would've preferred dinner and a movie, but I guess this is as close we'll get to the movies around here," Saeko said with a chuckle. "And when you say first date, does this mean we're going steady now?" she asked.
"Going steady?" Aegon echoed in confusion.
"Are we in a relationship," Saeko clarified.
"Oh. I… don't know to be honest," Aegon admitted. "I mean, if we were ever to make it to my world, I would have to set you aside to free myself for marriage," he said with a forlorn face.
"But you don't want to," Saeko said rather than asked.
"No, I wouldn't want to set you aside, and neither would I make you a mistress. I refuse to dishonour you like that," Aegon said firmly.
"Well, you've already dishonoured me," Saeko said sternly.
"I have?" Aegon said with a look of alarm on his face.
Saeko smiled and replied, "Indeed. You were the one to take my maidenhood. I would think such things are reserved for after marriage in your world, are they not?"
"Yes. Yes, they are," Aegon admitted with an expression of shame on his face.
"Good thing we're not on your world then," Saeko then said with a smile.
Aegon smiled back and said, "Good thing." He then looked more serious and asked, "So, what now? What of us?"
"Well, I don't really know. I've never had a relationship before," Saeko said with a thoughtful look on her face. "Before I thought I was unworthy of love," she added sadly. "But then I met you." She looked at Aegon with love and adoration in her eyes.
"I don't know if what I feel for you is actual love, but I… feel happy with you," the samurai then said. "So why don't we see where this goes?" she suggested.
"I'd like that very much," Aegon replied with a soft smile. "You make me feel happy too," he said.
"Good." Saeko then pressed a kiss to Aegon's lips holding there for a moment before pulling away and saying, "C'mon, let's get out of here. Time to collect our reward, don't you think?"
Aegon nodded as they left the sawmill and mounted their horses and headed back to Kaer Trolde harbour to collect their reward.
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: There! The twenty-second chapter of this story is done and dusted. I apologise for it being so short, but we at least got to see some action in this and the beginning of Saeko and Aegon's official 'relationship' which both are very new at so there'll be some ups and downs, not to mention Saya's own crush on Aegon.
Apart from that, I haven't got too much more to say, so I'll leave this here and see you all in the next one.
Be kind to one another.
Angry lil' elf.