.XV. Common Foe.
'Gerd.', she said softly as her lips touched his left shoulder.
'Hmm ?', he moaned, half asleep.
'I heard you are planning a visit to Skellige come spring ?', Ayanna asked, clutching his left arm between her breasts.
'Really, who told you ?', he answered, opening his closed eyes, looking at the ceiling.
'Does it matter ?', she replied, resting her head on Gerd's shoulder.
'It does not. I don't know...', he responded, turning his head and fixing his eyes onto hers, then sighed. 'I'll probably come looking for you...'.
She smiled, while her eyes looked into Gerd's. She then moved herself on top of the witcher, placing her right palm on his cheek, grabbing his lower lip between hers...
'Wake up, you pale bastard. We've got news !', said Biua, hitting Gerd's tent and instantly waking him, from his most recent good dream.
He got out of the tent with a few moans. Shielding his eyes from the blinding hot sun, which was tirelessly shining on the blue sky above the plateau. As he went yawning, to empty his bladder at the edge of the plateau. Then walked back to camp, where he washed his face with some water he had left from last night in the bucket near his tent. And after, he proceeded towards Biua's tent.
'Ah, you're finally here.', said Biua, as she was waiting for him. 'We got news about Galodo and the Haakland soldier. Some of our scouts tracked them down to a cave formation not far from the plateau.', she continued as they entered the tent.
'No contact ?', asked the witcher, taking a mug and filled it with some water from a bucket placed near the table.
'No, I told them to stay put. We don't want to startle them.', she approached the table, rolling a hand drawn map of the area. 'They're here.', she pointed on the map. 'Now, those caves could have stored within, one of Galodo's stashes.'
'Meaning they won't leave anytime soon. Therefore, they probably have set up some traps, and are awaiting uninvited guests...', continued Gerd, then drank from the mug.
'That's right.', said Biua. 'And, that Haaklander is one tough son of a whore. It took me and Maa a few good hits to put him down.'.
'Any news from the Chief's camp ?'.
'No, but, last time we had any word from them, they were still advancing towards the oasis. We'll meet them there after we finish this.', answered Biua, glancing over the map.
'Is it far ?'.
'Not far, a day or two from here. The oasis of Gawa, is the closest source of water from here. So, rationalize your water, you'll need it.', said Biua. 'You and I will try to infiltrate their camp at the fall of darkness. So, you better brew some of your witcher potions, you'll need them. We might not be as lucky as those two on our way there.'.
'Halt ! We need to inspect your wagon.', said one of the two guards stationed at the entrance located on the southern side of Novigrad, at the Glory Gate.
'But sir. I have only spices, meat and herbs back there...', replied the driver.
'We'll check anyway. Just to be sure.', said the guard, adding a slight smirk at the end.
'Sir, I have a permit for this transport...', said the driver, trying to get off the wagon, and go after the guard.
'Stay where you are halfling. Show me that permit.', spoke the other guard.
'Here...', said the driver, handing the guard the transport's documents and permit.
The guard glanced over the piece of paper the halfling handed to him. 'It is not the right permit. This one is no longer valid.'.
'It was good three days ago-', began the driver, till' he was stopped by the guard's long stare as he was reaching for the handle of his sword, intended as a warning.
'The new regulations require the renewal of such document each month, your document has expired yesterday. Your transport shall be inspected and if it is suspect of certain questionable substances or other objects that do not appear on the documentation you had presented, you shall pay a fine of two hundred and fifty crowns, plus another fine for the expired permit, which is of one hundred and eighty crowns.'.
The driver put his left hand on his head, huffed, and looked at the walls of the city. Then his eyes fixed on a tall individual that was on the other side of the bridge, walking through the gate.
'Gerd !', yelled the driver. 'Here. Gerd !', raising from his stool, waving.
The witcher heard the halfling, and walked straight towards him. The guards didn't seem to be happy about him coming their way. Gerd looked at the guards and as soon as he got near the wagon he addressed the guard that had in his hand the non-human's documents and permit.
'What's the issue here ?', asked the witcher.
'What ?', replied the guard. 'Move along. This doesn't concern you.'.
'I think it does...', Gerd responded. 'As it looks like, you're harassing the driver. Hoping for some easy coin ?'.
'Listen. You pile of horse shite !', the guard began while placing his left hand on his belt, then spat. 'Walk away while you still can ! Before I and my partner have to scatter your entrails all over this bridge !', said the guard, grabbing his sword hilt, attempting to draw it.
Gerd's reaction was a quick and effective head-butt straight in the guards nose bridge, which made him fall on his bottom. The other got out from behind the wagon and as quickly as he saw what happened, Gerd shot him in the shoulder with his crossbow, and fell near the wagon. Propping himself on the back wheel of the carriage.
'Ruvio, get the wagon to Frances.', said the witcher to the halfling.
'Right away.', replied Ruvio, grabbing and shaking the reins.
'I know you're working for Verner.', Gerd began helping the guard with the broken nose stand up. 'If he asks, tell him you got the wrong wagon...'.
'Shit, you are that witcher...From the Skellige Isles.', said the guard with the broken nose.
'Funny. You remembered that only after I struck you ?'.
'Mhm, really amusing...', he replied. 'I recall him mentioning you had some business within the city. Sadly our boss forgot to add it could intertwine with ours at some point.'.
'And we didn't know the halfling was working for Rourterggest.', continued the other with a moan, kneeled down in the middle of the road.
Gerd walked towards the one he shot. He didn't bleed much, the arrow had no special tip, it was quite dull actually. Made of one piece, this arrow was mostly used by Gerd when fighting humans that he didn't need to actually kill, but injure. So, when he got near the guard, Gerd pulled the arrow out.
'Fuck ! Couldn't you warn me first ?!'.
'What for ? It wasn't deep inside anyway...', replied Gerd, taking the arrow and cleaning it with a piece of cloth, then placed it back in his crossbow. 'Come on, get up.', he continued, helping the man stand. 'I hope we won't meet again.'. They nodded and walked back to the barracks, or to their boss.
Gerd, walked to the stables not far from the bridge, to get his mare.
After he finished his talk with Keira, he went to visit the herbalist Frances Rourterggest, who was not only a mere herbalist but an informant for Zedt Verner, a vicious underworld boss, and leader of the gang that owned the south-western side of Novigrad. His control of this particular area gained him access to everything that entered or left the port. Knowledge meant power. And with informants in other gangs within the city of Novigrad he had knowledge of any kind of deal that went through the streets. Rarely something missed his eyes, and by rare it means that it hasn't, not even once.
Anyhow, Frances told Gerd he might need some help with a transport, that could be stopped at one of the southern gates. He knew the two guards stationed there were two dimwits, and may hold Ruvio's wagon.
After which he asked Gerd for that small favor.
Day slowly passed into dusk, while the short withering moments left of daylight where slowly passing beyond of what was left to see of the Blue Mountains. Gerd and Biua, with two zerrikanian women in tow, made their way down from the top of the plateau towards the cave formations not far from the camp.
The descent from the top of the plateau was quick and by the time the sun disappeared beyond the whimpering shape that was left of the Blue Mountains, Gerd, Biua and the two women were already close to the caves.
Gerd was following a few tracks he saw since a couple of miles back from the plateau. He believed them to be of certain arachnomorphs, commonly known as spotted spiders.
'Don't concern yourself with the tracks, witcher. Their hunting ground is a mile north from here. It is very unlikely for us to meet one. By the looks of it, this is a young one that got a bit too far from their territory, that means it'll be an easy kill.', said Biua, checking the walls of the canyon.
Their position of luck suddenly changed when they reached the front of the cave formations. As expected there had been traps laid in the sand by the mercenary and the haakland soldier. And they have already caught the spotted spider, who's tracks had been noticed by Gerd previously. It caught itself in several bear traps laid in front of the cave entrance, and one of the two slayed the monster with a bolt released from a mobile ballista, that they had installed inside the cave. The bolt pierced through the beast's abdomen and stopped in the canyon wall east of the caves.
'Someone is sitting near the ballista.', whispered the witcher.
'I don't see anything...', replied Biua. 'But, you see better then any of us do in the dark, so...'.
'That ballista is mobile. It would probably take both of them to move it. And since the conditions in a cave are not quite ideal for one of those. It would take them a while to do it. I could try to make a run towards the cave, by the time they see me It'll be too late.'.
'What about the traps they placed in front of the entrance ?'. responded Biua.
'I can find my way between the bear traps, by following the spider's tracks. I can try to clear a path for you as well.'.
Biua nodded.
Without his heavy armor, Gerd was as he put it 'light as a feather'. After all his fast reflexes were pretty quick with all the heaviness of the Ursine Armor, without it, he was even quicker, faster and more agile. He advanced crouched and ready to roll back or in any other direction had there been the need to do so.
He was sure that they didn't have the time to properly hide the traps deep enough in the sand. And there was a small chance that under the sand might be something else besides the bear traps. Like pits with spikes, but that one seemed exaggerated in the current situation, he thought, and he was probably right.
As he thought the bear traps had been covered with little sand, and most of them had been set off by the spider. When he reached the place where the dead spider was resting, he had only a few more steps left until the cave's entrance.
He looked back where the zerrikanian women were, then, he looked for any slight bump or any kind of metal piercing out of the sand. He saw nothing of the sort, if he did, he wasn't sure what to believe. So, he took some steps back and leapt forward, and used his momentum to leap again. In doing so he alerted the Haakland soldier, who stood near the ballista.
He was clueless, regarding what was the creature that passed by the entrance. He knew it went to his right. And that was all he figured out.
Gerd stopped next to the wall of the canyon, near the entrance to the grotto. Drawing his steel sword, he slowly walked along the wall towards the entrance to the cavern. Beyond the edge of the wall was the haaklander with a saber in hand.
But was of no effect whatsoever against the witcher's Aard sign, which propelled the soldier into the wall with immense power, Gerd then bolted further inside the cave. He was welcomed by Galodo, who appeared from the right side of the cavern, swinging a sword horizontally to which Gerd responded with a block and a roll, that if he had tried to turn into a pirouette would've cut clean through the mercenary's neck. Which would've got him in a lot of trouble with the zerrikanians, so he resumed to a strong punch to Galodo's head, making him loose balance and sent him few steps back and stopped when he hit the wall behind.
'Don't try anything...', grunted the witcher. His eyes glittering in the darkness of the cave.
The mercenary lifted his arms and did as the witcher advised.