.XXIV. Shards of Truth.
'In the first years, there was not even a mere thing that seemed to indicate as if I had revealed to myself the truth behind the things I once held in such high regard. Hammered, in place by the education my sweet parents gave me, which to their mind was proper and very much needed, as I proven to be quite naughty from an early age.
When I turned twenty, more exactly a few weeks later, I explained it to my older sister. Who at the time was eager to be wedded to an idiot she considered a handsome young man. We both stayed in Lan Exeter as it was the will of 'our' strict father that she completes her studies there, then, she can leave Kovir for good, if she wished so. We were sitting in the kitchen, at the table near a open window, through which I watched the merchants going about their wares in the crowded market, across the Great Canal. While among the chatter coming from the noisy market there were the seagulls and the rowing of the gondolas passing beneath the window.
'What were you thinking ? If I knew you'd do such things I would've never let you stay here with me...', she said as she held a wet piece of cloth with which she cleaned my swollen face. 'You told me and our parents you'd respect their wishes to continue your studies here, and find work in the city. And, look at what you do...', she continued wiping the dried blood off my cheeks and jaw. 'You can't keep getting yourself in trouble. For there'll be a time when, Uncle Wuin won't be there to get you out.'.
I scoffed, watching a gondola passing beneath the window, on which a fair haired young woman, dressed elegantly, surely, some banker's daughter looked back at me with disgust. 'Uncle Wuin...What else would he do ? Besides, fuckin' and drinkin' his ass off-'.
'If he wasn't there, you would be in a prison cell right now.', she replied, as she nudged my head. 'If father gets word of this-'.
'He won't' care. I-', I interrupted before being stopped by my sisters squinting eyes.
'He will.', she replied almost repulsed by my previous words, hitting the table and grabbing my hand. 'He sent you here to make something of yourself. Something respectable, of importance. If he didn't care he would've let you go free. And like the rabid animal you are, by now you would've been in plenty of trouble. So, stop getting into cockfights over nothing, and try for once to be something more than the idiot you are...'.
She stared at me while she squeezed my wrist as I looked at the gondolas passing by the window on the Great Canal. 'Galodo...Promise me.', she said, and as I didn't turn or said anything, she pulled on my wrist. 'Promise me...'.
I looked in her emerald eyes, that were shining, as they were filled with tears and murmured. 'I'll try...'.
'He had an interesting life, didn't he ?', asked Tara, riding alongside Gerd, as he closed and handed back to her Galodo's journal, while Maa eased her pace to let the two catch up.
'You two, keep up.', said Maa. 'It seems we'll stop before the crossing...'.
'So, Gerd. Have you ever been to Lan Exeter ?', Tara asked placing the journal in one of her saddle's pockets.
'Once.'.
'Was it nice ?', asked Maa.
'The city, yes. The people, not so much, at least those that I met. Kovir has been lately dubbed as the richest of the northern kingdoms. As almost eighty percent of the gold comes from the mines within the Dragon Mountains. Naturally, every man and woman in the capitals are rich and spoiled, but to my surprise not greedy. Which, obviously, means they pay the best. I won't deny that I made plenty of coin during my stay there, but I doubt I would attempt to visit Lan Exeter again...'.
The Zerrikanians and the witcher were now almost at the footsteps of the green hills, traveling near the northern banks of the Naa'l. From where one was able to see the snowy peaks of the Fhuil Mountains.
The screeching of the silver coming out of the scabbard, was in an almost perfect resonance with the growls of the beast standing in front of the witcher.
'He sent for my head ?! Didn't hee !?', the beast snarled. 'I'll tearr you to piecess ! Hghrrr ! Thenn I'll do the same to himm !'.
It had been not hard to deduce that the man named Reginald and the beast that stood in front of the witcher were two sides of the same coin.
'No one sent for me.', answered Gerd, holding his sword high with both hands, pointed at the beast as he planned to walk a semi-circle around it. However, when Gerd made his third step, he snapped, slashing half of the tree trunk behind Gerd. The witcher evaded the attack by rolling left, quickly regaining the previous stance and paced his steps.
'Lies !', he screamed launching towards Gerd. 'What other business would a witcher do in these woods ?'.
The witcher jumped back and then rolled left. 'A couple of questions-'.
He growled. 'Questions ?'.
'That's all I want.'.
'Questions about what ?'.
'Your short visit to a shop in Novigrad.'.
The muscles near the neck area of the beast tensed, then relaxed, as he let out a long breath. He then leapt towards Gerd with great speed, who swayed his sword diagonally, which, the monster avoided smoothly, slashing the witcher's chest armor as he grabbed on the chain mail around his shoulders with it's claws and threw him a few meters away from the hut, into the woods.
Bleeding, Gerd, landed on his back and rolled a couple of times, until he stopped near a tree trunk. However, as he raised his head, he saw the werewolf rushing at him. He quickly moved his eyes towards his sword, which was a few steps near the roots of another tree.
He tensed his jaw, as he took a gulp of air. 'Fuck it !'. When Reginald attempted to leap once more, Gerd casted a powerful version of Aard, blowing the beast away as if it weighed nothing, across the woods, through the trunk of an arbor. The witcher then lifted himself up, picked his silver sword from the ground, and walked towards the beast.
It got up growling and sneering then charged towards Gerd.
When the beast tried to slash again, Gerd avoided it with a pirouette and a diagonal cut across the back of the monster. Then he followed and cut the tendons behind the knee of the beast, making it fall to the ground.
The werewolf growled as he tried to get up, but was once again blown into a tree by Gerd's Aard spell. Reginald hit the tree trunk horizontally, and as he fell to the ground Gerd aimed and shot with the crossbow an arrow into the monster's chest, that as he fell it plunged it's front arms and good hind leg into the ground, and jumped towards Gerd. Who threw his crossbow and grabbed the silver sword with both hands and slashed the beast's abdomen so deep it's whole entrails came out.
The werewolf growled as it began to shift back into it's human form.
'Who told you to get the poison !'. Gerd growled, as he cleaned the blood off the silver blade with his forearm. 'I didn't want it to end this way, but as of now, I'm all out of patience...Speak !', he continued making the sign of Axii, as he put his silver sword back in the scabbard.
'A man. The lackey of someone named Arlow...Red haired. Looked clean, neat, unlike the others...Had a sword with the head of an eagle on the pommel.', spoke Reginald, as he held on his insides. 'H-His men kidnapped my daught-'.
'I heard what I needed to know...', interrupted Gerd, placing an arrow in his crossbow. 'To much too late.'. He said, as he shot the arrow in the man's head.
Gerd then walked towards the hut, where he took his ruined chest armor off and tended to his wounds, then he planned to go back to the village of Erde.
Arlow. Surely, Francess might know what to do with this information, and could connect it to some other ends that until now didn't quite fit. Gerd found it less than satisfying that his trip here and some of the complications that followed had been nothing but a waste of energy and time. His jacket had been ruined, and the one that did so, was dead and decided to shift back to it's human form while dying. He had no knowledge if there had been a contract on a werewolf in Brunwich, but, if there is one, he won't be able to claim the reward without proof...
Thus, he lifted himself from the stool he sat on as he cleaned his wounds, that he wrapped with a cloth he found in the hut. He managed to sow some of the torn material on his jacket, then he took his belongings and walked back on the path towards the village.