Chapter 1: Black and Blue (4/4)
After the unfortunate misunderstanding that caused the death of several members of the Blue Stripes, who unfortunately all died either by freezing to death or breaking into pieces. Malak of Cintra and Vernon Roche decided to make their way to the La Valette Castle in order to get some answers. Well, Malak wanted answers, Roche on the other hand wanted revenge for his man.
The Black Wolf decided to teleport both of them to the Castle. Not really informing Roche of his discovery as it would bring too many problems. Though, he was planning on having a little talk with Adda about her sudden relationship with Witchers from the School of the Bear. There's absolutely no possibility of this two Witchers being just friends, they aren't exactly known for being close to one another. Malak was theorizing as Witchers from the School of the Bear were known for being lone wolf, which is ironic considering that the actual Witchers from the School of the Wolf were pretty close to one another. Considering that his grandpa Vesemir his uncles Eskel and Lambert still call him pup, as his nickname in Kaer Morhen is the Wolf Pup of Kaer Morhen.
"Something is not right." Vernon Roche commented.
Malak agreed with Roche, it was late but everything seemed too quiet. Especially in a relatively sized castle as that one. I don't know what exactly is Adda's plan, but I certainly have to be careful. He was starting to feel the effects of the windstorm that he conjured earlier, as he was starting to feel really tired. I will probably collapse if I use anymore magic.
Both of them walked around with a bit of confusion. The immensity of the fortress is simply breathtaking, to the extent that calling it a mere castle is either a gross inaccuracy or a jest. Yet, the immense fortress was completely empty with no one at sight. Greatly emulating the emptiness that Malak found at the Tuzla Castle, though the size difference between the two makes the current situation much more unsettling.
"Where is everybody?" Roche asked. "There should be guards, patrols."
It was indeed very strange. Not only by the lack of guards but also the lack of light. "I have feeling about this." He spoke before drawing his sword which was glowing in a strange dark color.
"What kind of metal is that?" Roche asked as he noticed the glowing blade.
"I don't know, I found it on a strange place." An empty wasteland dominated by a creature so grotesque that it's mere sight would give a demon nightmares. Malak remembers that seeing that creature was the only time that he was truly terrified. Especially due to the fact that the creature's size surpassed the size of the entire Continent. "It's definitely of magical properties, but now is not the time to discuss it."
"You're probably right." Roche replied before drawing his own sword. Probably having the same suspicion as Malak.
Both moved forward beside one another in order to discover what exactly was going on. As they walked however, Malak noticed something. "Look." He told Roche as he pointed forward. What Malak was pointing towards it, was the Monastery, the ancient temple within La Valette Castle, possibly older then the keep itself, connected with the solar by a long stone bridge. It's a large circular building, on two floors.
"There light inside the temple." Roche pointed out. The light particularly stood out as everything else was pretty dark.
"I guess that's where we supposed to go." Malak has to watch out, as the other Witcher could attack them at any moment. "Watch out, the one that killed your men could be around here somewhere." He warned him.
"Let the fucker come then." He replied angrily. "He's going to pay for what he did to my man."
Malak couldn't blame his rage, but he honestly just wanted to get this over and go help his uncle Dandelion "Let's go, be on your guard."
With that, they made their way towards the Monastery to check out. But as they walked through the town, the Black Wolf keep on feeling uneasy as the town was completely empty and devoided of any light. And Malak has no idea on how exactly is that possible. *Is everyone that lives here inside the Monastery?He genuinely wondered. What exactly is Adda even planning? Is she even here?
Roche seemed to share Malak's uneasiness. As he was looking at all sides, apparently, searching for some form of life. "What the hell is going on?" He seemed to be very confused.
Soon enough, both arrived at the entrance of the Monastery. But their uneasiness got worse as they passed through the completely empty town without hearing a single noise.
Unfortunately, the door of the Monastery was closed.
"Fuck, we will need a battering ram to get this open." Roche complained. "And opening with axes will also take too much time." He then looked at Malak. "Can you use your magic?"
"No, I'm already exhausted from that windstorm that I conjured earlier." He explained. "Any more magic and I will collapse."
"Then what?" Roche asked in annoyance.
Malak then took a look at his sword. Maybe it will work again, I still didn't figure out what each color does. There were times where his sword glows in different colors. Each color having a different ability. Though Malak wasn't able to figure out all of them.
He approached the gate in order to see of the sword was going to react in a different way. Malak lifted his sword and swinged downward on the gate. He didn't really had high hopes for what would happen but...
As soon as the blade descended, the entire gate was cut in half and the ground that the sword descended towards it, completely shattered, creating a crater on the temple courtyard that nearly reached the entrance.
"What the fuck!?" That was Roche's instant reaction as he saw the Black Wolf cut through the giant door like a piece of cheese.
So, dark glow means unbelievable cutting power. Malak came to that conclusion as he sees the glow disappear from the blade. And it wasn't glowing that much, it could mean that it wasn't fully charged. He couldn't help but observe that, as there were times that the glow was weak and times when it was strong. Unfortunately, Malak hasn't figure it out what determinates it. "Come on." He told Roche as he moves forward.
The crater was particularly deep, so they were very careful not to fall down. But once they arrive at the middle of the courtyard, they noticed something. "This smell..." Malak spoke up.
"Smell of death." Roche finished what he was going to say.
They looked at one another in worry before rushing towards the entrance. Unfortunately, once they entered the temple, they were greeted by a horrifying sight.
"Holy shit..." That was Vernon Roche's reaction.
"My suspicion was correct, in the worst way possible." It was Malik's reaction. As everyone that lives in the town, was indeed inside the Monastery. They're corpses to be more precise.
The entire Monastery was filled with corpses, there was blood everywhere and by the looks of it, they were all recently killed. The corpses were composed of peasants, guards and even priests. Man, woman and even children.
"Bloody hell, what could have done this?!" Roche asked in a state of shock.
Malak didn't answered, he just walked inside and looked around. No signs of a creature, but there are signs of magic. He noted as he checks the corpses. Most of them were killed by being hit by a blunt weapon, probably a mace or hammer. He could tell as he doesn't see any cuts on the corpses. All of that leads Malak to a conclusion. It was the Witcher from the School of the Bear that massacred these people. It was the only explanation. If Adda has something to do with this, she went too far. Sacrificing the Blue Stripes was one thing, as they were a bunch of idiotic patriots that would gladly die for their future Queen, but this. Malak thought in deep disgust, though he will give the Princess the benefit of the doubt, as he still s bit skeptical about this whole situation.
The Black Wolf was about to inform Roche of the situation, but before he could speak. He heard steps coming from behind him, which caused him to turn around. Once he does, he sees a fully armored Knight charging at him carrying a longsword. The individual attacks Malak, but he quickly blocks the attack with his own sword and delivers a push kick into the Knight's chest, making him stumble back a bit.
Roche noticed the knight and attacked. Both Roche and the Knight started to trade attacks. With Roche clearly being the most skilled of the two, but the Knight also has the advantage of armor. Malak just watched the two engage for a bit as Roche seemed to need a good fight to calm his rage. But after a bit, he decided to intervene as the Knight problem knows what happened there.
Malak put his sword back on his back, before approaching the Knight from behind as he was too busy fighting Roche. From behind, Malak wrapped his left arm around the Knight's neck and his right under his shoulder. And pulled him towards the ground and immobilized him by standing on top of him with his knee pressing towards his head. "I'm just gonna ask this once, what happened here?"
"Go plough yourself, bastard!" The Knight yelled in anger.
"Technically, I am indeed a bastard, so that insult doesn't really affect me." Malak casually replied.
"Enough of this nonsense!" Roche spoke angrily before approaching the two. He drew his dagger and pointed at the Knight's privates. "Tell us what the fuck happened here, or I'll cut your balls off and hang them on the wall!" Roche threatened him.
"I suggest you answer his question," Malak suggested. "Vernon Roche is a man of his word."
Hearing that, apparently made the Knight at ease. "Vernon Roche?" The Knight asked. "You're here for the Princess, aren't you."
That caused Roche to put the tip of his dagger on his privates. "Princess Adda is here?!"
"Where is she?" Malak asked calmly.
"Get off of me and I'll tell you." The Knight told them.
Malak looked at Roche for approval. He frowned in response but nodded. "Slowly," Roche told the Knight. "Try anything and I'll smash your head in."
The Witcher then removed his knee from the Knight's head, allowing him to stand. Once he was up, he removed his helmet.
"Aryan La Valette." The Knight that attacked them, turned out to be the Baron of House La Valette. "Why are you the only that still alive?" Roche asked suspiciously.
"What are you insinuating?" The Baron asked defensively.
"That whatever passed through here, massacred all of these people." Malak decided to input. "And although you're decent enough with a sword, I highly doubt that you survived because of it." Does he knows something about the Witcher?
Aryan turns around and looks at Malak, and after looking at him in the eyes. He pointed his sword at him.
Roche in response, put his own blade at Aryan's neck. "What did I say!" He yelled at him.
"He's one of them!" Aryan yelled. "One of his friends did this."
He probably means the Witcher that killed Roche's man. Malak concluded. "By one of them, you probably mean a Witcher, am I correct?" He asked calmly.
"Wait, another Witcher?" Roche asked in confusion.
"Yes, when I went to the Tuzla Castle to kill the conspirators, there was a Witcher there waiting for me." Malak explained to Roche . "Apparently, there's another Witcher involved and I'm pretty sure that he was the one that killed your man and massacred these people."
"Am I supposed to believe this?!" Aryan asked him in a hostile tone.
You believe that Adda was going to make you her consort, and that's much, much harder to believe. Malak thought humorlessly. "Believe whatever you desire, Baron." He replied respectfully. Then he looked at the Solar from affar. "Adda is inside the Solar isn't she?" He asked but the Baron didn't answer. "I'll take that as a yes, let's go, Roche."
Roche nodded before putting his blade down and following Malak as he walked towards the bridge that led to the Solar.
"Vernon Roche, have you gone mad!" The Baron yelled at the two. "You're not taking this filthy mutant anywhere around the Princess!" He yelled in rage before grabbing his sword from the ground and charging at them. He tries to swing his sword leftward at Malak.
The Black Wolf in response to this sudden attack, blocks the upcoming blade with the vambraces on his forearms. Once the blade bounced back upon impact, Malak delivered a very powerful right hook into Aryan's jaw. Which knocked him out cold.
"Most Knights have glass jaws." Roche commented comically.
"Only the arrogant ones." Malak added.
"Is there a Knight that isn't arrogant?" Roche was genuinely curious about the answer.
"My father wasn't arrogant." He replied before walking towards the Solar.
"Geralt of Rivia was a Knight?!"
Malak didn't answered his question, he just rushed to cross the bridge that lead to the Solar in hopes of encountering Adda and get some answers once and for all. Which they did relatively quick. Both arrived at the entrance of the Solar and quickly made their way up. Once they arrived at the floor above. They were greeted by a nearly unbelievable sight.
"Just like that, the great swordsman single handily fought the foul monster." There they saw the Princess, sitting down on a chair, reading a book to a little boy and a little girl. Which Malak already knows who they are. What a beautiful sight, a older sister reading a story to her younger siblings. Malak thought. Though, the strangeness of Adda being in such a moment really makes it a little disturbing.
Suddenly, Adda noticed their presence and closed the book. "I'll continue later." She told the children.
"Aahh! I wanna know how it ends." The boy, which Malak assumed to be Boussy La Valette, whined.
"And you will, but now we have guests." Adda replied while pointing at Malak and Vernon Roche.
The two children looked at them with curious eyes. Adda stood from the chair and approached the two.
"Princess, are you harmed?" Roche instantly asked her.
"Do I look harm?" She sarcastically asked in return. Adda certainly wasn't hurt or anything. "Keep an eye on them, will you." She ordered while pointing at the children. Then she grabbed Malak's arm. "And you, come with me." She then dragged Malak by the arm, away from Vernon Roche and Adda's siblings. They descended the Solar into back to the entrance where Malak and Roche entered.
Once they were there. "Is Aryan dead?" She asked him.
"No, he's just unconscious in the Monastery." Malak explained while pointing at the direction where he left Aryan.
"Good," Adda replied. "I can still put the blame on him."
Malak took a deep breath before asking what he wanted to know. "Adda, what exactly is going on?" He asked. "What happened here?"
"I'm gonna be honest with you, my plan backfired." She told him sounding frustrated.
"That... It was Witcher, wasn't it?" He asked while pointing again at the Monastery.
Adda nodded. "Apparently, the old Baron once helped two Witchers and the Witchers owned him a debt, a debt that Aryan decided to collect." She explained. That bloody hypocrite, he's the one that used their services
"Did you saw them?" Malak had a suspicion about these Witchers.
"They were tall and stocky, one had a bald head and a long and thick beard, while the other had long hair and a clean-shaven face. They looked, very alike." Adda explained.
Twins. It was Malak's conclusion, as it was the best explanation to why would two Witchers from the School of the Bear to work together like that. "You didn't ordered that," He was sure of it. "So, what happened?"
Adda sighed before taking a deep breath to answer his question. "My plan was simple, I was going to fake a kidnapping and trick everyone into thinking that Aryan was the culprit." She explained. "The whole getting taken by the Scoia'tael business, was mainly to gain time due to some... Unexpected interruptions." Malak didn't really wanna know what were those interruptions. "But... Once I revealed to the Witcher that you killed the other one, he snapped and ..." He already know what happened afterwards. "Aryan took me and the children inside the solar and locked us to keep us safe."
Malak already didn't like that, there's no way that locking themselves in a tower would have protected them of the Witcher wanted them dead. Suddenly, Malak sensed a scent. He's still here. "Adda, get back inside and lock the gate." He told her.
Adda just looked him stoically. "We were just bait to attract you, weren't we?" She instantly understood.
Malak nodded in response.
Adda's expression didn't change, she just tenderly touched his chest. "Try not to die, and I'll make sure you're rewarded." She told him while looking at his eyes. "In many different ways." The Princess then gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.
Adda was always strangely fond of Malak, for some reason. Maybe it was because he knows what she's truly like and accepts her just the way she is. Or this fondness is just a form of manipulation. Malak believes on the latter.
But then, the scent got stronger and Malak moved his head to look at the bridge and saw someone standing at the end of it. "Now, go." He tells Adda.
The Princess look at the side and sees the figure, before obeying Malak and entering the Solar again. She locks the gate behind him as well.
Once Adda was inside, Malak started to walk towards the figure. Which did the same and walked towards Malak. Soon enough, both were at the middle of the bridge. As soon as Malak saw him, his theory was confirmed. Him and Bagri were identical to one another, same height, same eyes, same armor. The only difference was the hair and beard as Adda said. Though, this one was carrying a war hammer instead of an axe.
"Before we get started, allow me to apologize for killing your brother." Malak deeply apologized to the fellow Witcher with a bow. "I must admit, your brother was very strong and I probably wouldn't have won our fight if I didn't have the element of surprise." Bagri's brother didn't answer, he just kept on staring at him with a murderous gaze. "I'll be honest, Witchers from the other schools always fascinated me." The Black Wolf then reached to one of the pouches on his utility belt, slowly and pulled out a small bottle filled with a portion. "Unfortunately, I was only able to visit one of the Witcher Schools, besides the one that I was trained in." For some reason, Bagri's brother hasn't attacked him yet. Malak didn't know if it was because he was interested in what he was saying or, because he was honorable enough to wait for his opponent. "This other school, was the School of the Manticore." He still remembered the day he took refuge in the School alongside Ciri. "The School wasn't exactly very impressive in terms of combat,armor or even methods. But they did have something that made them standout." Malak pointed at potion. "They were exceptional alchemists. You wouldn't believe what type of potions, they were able to create." He then opened the small bottle, and sniffed the horrible smell that came out of it. "Like this one." The Black Wolf then stared at the Bear Witcher. "Although, I would love to fight, I'm way too tired from spells that I used early." He explained. "So, I'll have to cut this short."
With that, the Black Wolf drank the potion down and prepared himself for what it was about to come. "Aaaaahhhhhh." The Bear Witcher got into a fighting stance as Malak started to grunt in pain. But, to the shock of Bagri's brother. The handsome young man started to transform right in front of him. It was so quickly that he seemed exceptionally surprised.
Standing in the bridge alongside the Bear Witcher, wasn't the handsome young man from before. But a creature that resembled a werewolf, but with a much more bestial apparence. "And this is just one of the capabilities of the recipes that I found there." The Black Wolf spoke in a near demonic voice. "It was pleasure." That was the last words that he spoke, before charging at the fellow Witcher.
Thanks everyone who follows my story. Your support means the world to me.
As always, Questions and Answers:
As ever glad to get a new chapter
Seeing Malak's clash with the squirrels was good
I imagine Malak is going to have to give a short version of what his rifle is a lot haha also hope he's the only person we see carrying around a gun in this
You know I was wondering since Malak was running around with the Blue Stripes where Ves was but thanks for clarifying that she's not there because she's recovering from a foot injury
Very much enjoyed seeing how effortless casting powerful Wind spells are for him
Okay I love how even if this also seems to be part of Asda's plan Malak isn't pissed at her he just finds it more amusing than anything else
Also wait a minute don't tell me Malak refers to every lady in the Lodge as Aunt haha I mean he can't call everyone his parents are remotely connected to aunt or uncle can he I mean I don't think even Ciri sees any of Geralts or Yen's friends as aunts or uncles
Still Malak interacting with more of the Lodge members and taking a part in its meetings even if he's not a member due to not being a woman and all is something I'm really looking forward to in this
Looking forward to seeing what Malak gets up to at La Valette castle
Also considering that the Bear Witcher Malak fought in the beginning is very much dead is this new Bear Witcher that guys actual brother or just a unusual case of two Bear Witchers being best friends
After all it's made quite clear Bear school Witcher's don't give a single fuck about any other Bear Witcher especially not enough to avenge them hell a point is made if two Witcher's from that school meet on the path they are more likely to kill each other than anything else but I guess two bears being friends could be the exception
Hm well also eager to see when Saskia and Malak meet I do hope they got on from the start... also that yes she falls for him even if he's not a dwarf haha
Fair enough on Malak's age I'll still just think of him as a bit older than Ciri then
Yeah from that short preview Malak definitely isn't a fan of Emhyr but love that he's still going to call him Duny as a dig
He will become friends with the squirrels later.
There's only two existing versions if the Bullet thrower, the first one is basically a machine gun but it's so inaccurate that it's useless. The second is Malak's.
They will meet later don't worry.
That will be explained later, but the only one that he calls aunt out if affection is Triss.
Malak inherited his mother's ambition (to a degree.)
Hope you enjoyed.
Your theory was correct.
Him and Saskia will be close, which is a shame for Iorveth.
I imagine Malak being around 25 or 26, but due to the lack of actual dates I can't confirm it.
There's only a few people that Malak hates, and Emhyr is one of them.