Bianca was very happy to see him.

"Henry!"

The two shared a tight embrace in one of the secluded corners outside the tavern. As Henry wrapped his arms around her, he savored the scent of lilies in her hair. The touch of her soft breasts against his chest made him hot under the neck.

"Are you alright? Do you know who I am? Please tell me you haven't forgotten about me from the fall! Please, please, please!"

"Oh I don't know," Henry said slyly, "maybe you can remind me…"

She slapped his chest playfully.

"Oh you rogue! I'll have you know I was worried sick about you. Thank god you're alright. You know that everyone was gossiping about you, saying that you were bewitched by the devil!"

"Bleh, it's just idle village talk. Anyways, have you seen Fritz and Matthew around?"

"Yes, they're in the tavern, drinking like always…but really, tell me, have you really recovered? Do you get headaches? Lightheaded? Feel faint?"

"Oh, enough! You're just like Ma. I'm fine! Henry here is a red-blooded young bull, strong as ever!"

"Stupid as ever, more like…"

"Uh?! What was that? Or would you like me to show you what a healthy stallion I am?"

"Heh heh, maybe…"

"Oh Bianca…come here…"

Tender touches followed suit as the two lovers embraced each other in their privacy. But Bianca, as any virtuous girl would, put an end to it before it went too far.

"Ah, ah…that's enough! I still need to work, you rascal…we'll have more time later tonight, at the dance."

"The dance?"

"Yes, Master Feyfar is hosting a feast tonight, with a dance as well. We'll be serving a pig at the tavern."

Henry smiled slyly and planted a farewell kiss on Bianca's forehead.

"Well, well! Alright then, we'll continue this later tonight…"

A deep red shade washed over the girl's face. She let out a yelp when she felt his touch on her bosom.

"Henry!"

"There he is, the fooking madman!"

Henry was greeted with a punch to his shoulder from Fritz as he sat down at the table. Matthew promptly ordered another tankard of beer for his friend. Now the gang was back together: Matthew, Fritz, Henry and Matthias.

"Oh come off it! Will I get the same shite from you lot as well?"

"Same shite?" exclaimed Fritz, "you bastard nearly knocked my teeth out when I tried to restrain you! Have you no gratitude?"

Henry raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked at his friends.

"It's true," confirmed Matthias, "you really did hit him really hard."

Henry was genuinely surprised by that. After all, Fritz was a big lad with the body of a brawler. While Henry was not by any means skinny himself, it would be quite a feat to be able to knock out Fritz's teeth.

"Who cares!" said Matthew, "You did Fritz a favor by knocking out his bad teeth anyways. Here's the beer now. Drink up. To your health, Henry!"

The four raised their tankards of beer in a toast.

"So, what's been going on in the village while I was locked at home?" asked Henry.

"Bah, nothing much," answered Matthew, "the same usual."

"Well, we are having a feast tonight, courtesy of Master Tobias."

"Oh yeah, I heard about that from Bianca. How come? Is it a celebration for something?"

"Honestly, no clue. But I don't complain as long there's meat and drink. Might even get into a good fight, heh heh."

"Oh Fritz, not like you ever needed an excuse to get into a brawl."

"Hear, hear."

"Aye, the mighty Fritz has never been defeated in a brawl. Let's drink to my fists!"

"Eh, to the Fritz the brute!"

"Have you guys thought of who to invite to the dance?"

"Look now Henry, just because you've got Bianca doesn't mean you need to brag about it infront of us peasants!"

"Nah, I'm just curious."

"Well…I'm going with Johanka?"

Fritz and Matthew were taken back.

"Johanka? What? How did that happen?"

Matthias waved it off dismissively.

"Oh, it's a long story…she somehow got her hand on my set of lucky dice."

The lads' ears perked up when they heard about the dice.

"Lucky dice?" Matthew began, "where did you get your hands on such a thing?"

"Aye. I bought it from a merchant, you know. It always lands on lucky numbers!"

Henry remembered the spare change he saved from bartering with Nemoy. He also remembered that he had his set of dice on him as well.

At first, he was a bit hesitant, but a few more gulps of beer coaxed his mind into it.

"Bring it on, Matthias. Let's see how lucky those dice are!"

And so the two lads played a game of Farkle dice.

Henry lost miserably.

"Ha ha ha!" Fritz howled with laughter, "I can't believe you decided to roll that again! Henry you really did get hit in your head."

"He's right," agreed Matthew, "you should have passed on that round. It was too greedy to roll again."

"Bah, stop it with the excuses. Henry could've rolled a hundred more times and it wouldn't have mattered, not with my lucky dice!"

Henry wouldn't help but shake his head in regret. Now he had gambled away his remaining coin from his father. What was he going to do? Was he going to have to lie and say Nemoy did overcharge him?

Matthew soothed Henry's conscience over with another tankard of beer.

"Alright gentlemen, now that we're in the right mood, allow me to share something with you…"

Matthew pulled the gang together secretively as he pulled out a scroll and unrolled into the table. The lads stared at the symbols and realized that it was a map, filled with trees, mountains, and houses. There was even a symbol for a mine entrance.

There was a big X in one of the mine entrances.

"What the hell is this?" muttered Fritz.

"Is this…a treasure map?"

"Indeed Matthais! Unlike these cabbage heads here, it's obvious to anyone that it's a treasure map. And there's a treasure hidden right under that cross."

"Wait, hold up, isn't that town Skalitz? And these mines…"

"Henry you blockhead, of course, it's Skalitz. I bought this from a wandering merchant of some sort, says he sells miracle cures and such. At first I was pretty hesitant, but after I asked some more I've got to say it sounds quite convincing."

"But how did the treasure get buried there?"

"He said it's some girl's dowry or some such, had a love affair with some priest but couldn't marry, had to run away, you know the story. Don't worry, it's not a scam. I cross-examined him and the names of the people are real…I think. Real people from Skalitz."

"But who drew the map?"

"Apparently it happened ten years ago and this map was drawn by the priest before he died to the plague."

Matthew glanced around his friends to gauge their reactions. Fritz's eyes were already glowing with excitement. Henry seemed somewhat convinced, but still hesitant. Matthias was not buying it.

"I don't know," Matthias said slowly, "it sounds too good to be true. Also, that mine shaft's abandoned. I think it got flooded a couple of months ago or something."

"Matthias, you've got to have some faith!" urged Fritz.

Henry rubbed his neck.

"I think I'll have to sit this one out," he murmured, "I promised Ma that I wouldn't wander out of town after my errand."

Fritz and Matthew were outraged.

"Really? Really, Henry? You're going to let your mother order you around like that?" hollered Frtiz.

"I'm not going, but Henry you should. Maybe you might find something."

Henry was still unconvinced.

But Matthew dealt the final blow.

"Come on, Henry…you've lost all your coin to Matthias. What are you going to tell your father? Old Martin will eat you alive, you know. Come with us, we might find something. Maybe not a lot but even a few groschen will make you a richer man. Surely there's no harm…"

Henry felt a heavy weight slowly settling in his stomach. He was at a loss for words.

"But what if I – what if I start…you know, getting confused again? It might be dangerous you know. The mines shafts….if my head starts to get dizzy. I might fall…or something."

A hearty smack landed on his back.

"I swear on my honor, that I, Fritz, will do everything to protect you Henry…so that you don't fall like a girl and dirty your blouse! I swear it by my life!"

There was a roar of laughter from the table at Fritz's words.

"Yeah Henry, be a man! Or shall I tell Bianca that she's being courted by a coward?"

Henry just sighed and shook his head.

"Fine then, I'll come with you lot. Oh, God help me…"

There was a lot of searching and wandering about the woods as the trio consulted their map. But in the end Henry, Matthew and Fritz finally arrived at the mine in question.

Just as Matthias had said, it was abandoned. Apparently, it used to be a productive mine with a silver vein, but last spring it got flooded in one of the lower shafts when they hit upon a water source.

Despite their best efforts, the miners were unable to keep out the water. Digging a well to drain the water was no use. Master Feyfar even tried implementing a water removal system with buckets and ropes, but that was not enough either.

The water just kept coming.

In the end, Sir Radzig decided to abandon the mine. After all, Master Feyfar estimated that the vein was nearly exhausted anyways. And Sir Radzig didn't want to waste any more manpower trying to make it work.

"Are you sure this is it?"

"Yes, I'm sure. We followed all the right landmarks. This must be it."

"Does the map show anything about what's inside the mine?"

"Well…no."

"Then how in the hell are we going to find the treasure? Matthew, you idiot!"

"Shut up Fritz! That's not all. In the story, the trader told me that the girl tried buried her dowry at the deepest point in the mine, but she fell to her death. Now there's a bright light flashing every night. It's the ghost of the dead girl calling for her love…"

"Matthew, for God's sake we don't need fairy tales. Is that all? Deepest point of the mine?"

"Yes…"

"You do know that this mine got flooded, right? The deepest point is surely to be flooded as well…"

"Oh shit."

"Great! What are we going to do now?"

Matthew raised his hands up into the air.

"Okay, okay! You two need to stop yapping like quarreling housewives, alright? Listen, here's what we're going to do. Fritz and I will go get some branches that we can make into a torch, then we'll explore around the cave. Let's do this slowly and carefully, even if it's not treasure we might still find something valuable."

"And me?" asked Henry.

"You just wait here and keep a watch on everything. I don't want you to fall again and hit your head. Come on Fritz, let's get started on that torch."

"I can't believe we didn't bring a torch in the first place…" grumbled Fritz.

"Shut it! No more complaining. Let's go!"

And so Henry was left alone at the entrance of the abandoned mine.

There it is.

Again.

He turned around and scratched his head. Well, what to do now? Although Fritz and Matthew had only been gone for moments, he could already feel the boredom setting in.

Henry stared into the dark tunnel leading into the mine.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt if I took a quick look inside."

The singing.

Henry was surprised by how well he could see in the dark.

His eyes adjusted quickly to his surroundings. Although he had no torches with him, Henry was able to see everything clearly. Was he always like this? Or was it simply due to the two tankards of beer that he drank at the tavern?

It was as if Henry had cat eyes.

Emboldened by his newfound familiarity with the darkness, Henry ventured deeper inside the tunnel.

I can hear it.

But he doesn't.

Henry was also surprised by how well he could hear.

Without having to concentrate, he could hear the sound of water dripping onto the stone from a long way off. The whisper of the wind gently blowing past his neck also came to his ears.

Why is there wind here?

A draft?

The further inside the tunnel he went, Henry felt a heavy weight growing in his chest. There was something tugging at his heart, telling him to stop.

But his curiosity was just too strong.

Henry wanted to know where the tunnel led.

Henry needed to know.

After some more creeping, he started to come upon dead ends. Henry had to backtrack several times to explore the side paths. By this point the light from the entrance had long since disappeared from view. And yet, even in total darkness, Henry could see everything.

Henry kept going.

Soon, the tunnels ended and he came to a long wooden scaffolding stretching out into the darkness. He gingerly tested the wooden planks with his feet, unsure if they were still sturdy. But luckily the wood was still holding strong.

Henry stepped out onto the scaffolding.

As he carefully made his way across the wooden walkway, Henry heard something.

The singing is getting louder.

Henry squinted his eyes and perked up his ears.

What is that sound?

He could hear a noise coming from down below the walkway. It sounded like…water. The water was being disturbed. Something was happening in the water. That must be the flooded shafts of the mine.

It sounded like…splashing.

Something was splashing in the water below.

Henry carefully made his way to the edge of the scaffolding. He cautiously stuck his neck out and stared down the long drop down to the bottom. He squinted his eyes to try and make out what was going on at the bottom.

And yet the more Henry stared down at the abyss, the narrower his vision grew. The darkness slowly closed in around the edges of eyes as he stared on. And yet he did not turn away, because the narrower his vision become the sharper his eyes seemed to grow.

Slowly, Henry started to discern the shapes at the bottom.

Stop staring.

Look up.

The shapes were becoming clearer.

He saw a limb. Two limbs. Yes, there were two limbs moving about. They must be arms. And then there was the body. Yes, it was the shape of a human body. The limbs were attached to a body and they were moving about the water.

There was someone at the bottom.

Matthew's words came back to him.

She fell to the deepest point in the mine and…

A cold shiver crept up Henry's spine as he took a step back and –

Behind you.

Vesemir turned about, but not in time.

He was hit in full force by the gust of wind cutting through the tunnel. The torrent raised up a furious storm of dust and gravel pieces, obscuring his vision.

His right hand instinctively rose up and formed the Quen sign.

Nothing happened.

Of course, he remembered, Henry doesn't know how to manipulate…

The witcher dug his heels in and shielded his eyes with his arm. Vesemir carefully concentrated his vision to distinguish the attacker.

It was not human.

It was simply a fuzzy black mass with a howling screech disguised as the wind.

And it was advancing.

Vesemir slowly shifted his feet under the weight of wind, but he could feel the force of it already faltering. Soon it would subside and –

"Help!"

A cry echoed from down below.

Henry turned around.

No!

Don't get distracted –

In that moment of hesitation, his dug-in heels lost their stance.

Henry lost his footing, stumbling backward under the assault of the wind. A pair of hands – shapeless, formless and lifeless – metalized from the darkness, coming forwards to meet Henry's chest.

They pushed Henry off the scaffolding.

And thus, once more did he fall into the abyss.