Eternal Flame – Chapter 3 – Misgivings

Novigrad was still the same shithole Lambert had in memory. If the sounds and smells in Lan Exeter had been relatively bearable, Novigrad once again showed why the congestion of large crowds in cities was a disgusting affair. Now, at night, the at daytime omnipresent noise had disappeared. But the stench of sewer and filth was still present.

Lambert walked next to Keira, both wrapped in wide coats, their faces covered by hoods. Hardly a soul met them on their way.

Keira had sent them to one of the outskirts of the "free city" via portal. Compared to her usual attire, she had dressed very inconspicuously - a monochrome dress, barely jewelry, hardly any makeup. Although she was still stunningly beautiful, no one would have thought she was a sorceress at first sight. After renting a room for the night for them both in a pleasant inn, they had left together. Keira did not want to waste time meeting with her informant as soon as possible.

And here they were - on the way to the hospital to meet anyone there. Lambert still considered this whole thing an absolutely lousy idea.

For his taste, these madmen of the Eternal Fire were far too numerous in the city. He would not have been surprised if one of those fanatical witch hunters had appeared behind the next corner of the house. His senses were sharpened to the utmost.

So far, however, no one had become aware of them. The few pedestrians who were traveling at this time had not taken any notice of them. Apparently, they seemed like a very ordinary couple returning home late at night.

"How come you could lodge us in such a posh inn?" Lambert asked quietly. "I thought you were pretty broke and could not afford extravaganzas."

Keira turned to him with a smug smile. "I had my sources of income in Lan Exeter, dear. You do not believe how much can be earned with love. Don´t look so staggered, Lambert! It´s not what you think. I deal with tinctures, potions and amulets - to strengthen man's power, for romantic devotion - or even to prevent pregnancy. Satisfied customers like to recommend me ... " She winked at him mischievously.

"Hm ... yesterday's visitor was one of these customers?"

"She was. Even one of my regulars. She was lucky and stocked up herself with potions in time. Without a little ... boost ... it would be much quieter in her bedroom. The lean period during my temporary absence will definitely enliven the business after my return... "

"Seems to me much more lucrative and harmless than sneaking through Novigrad at night to meet with some dodgy acquaintances ..."

"Belgin is not a dodgy acquaintance, but a doctor with heart and soul and has often used the services of one of my colleagues to heal the sick. He still has contacts with the sorcerers who are hiding in the area. And this plague, which broke out here among non-humans, puzzles him. He knows that working with us sorcerers can help him understand this disease and find a way to healing."

"Might be. But why do we have to meet him at night? Can´t we just go to the hospital during the day like other people do? If I put on a pair of tinted glasses, we should not be particularly noticeable ... "

"Dr. Belgin unfortunately only has limited access to the morgue. Therefore, we have to make do with a time when only a few of his colleagues are in the hospital. Unfortunately, most of the other doctors refuse to work with us sorcerers. "

Lambert acknowledged this with a snort. "I say it ... dodgy acquaintance."

"So I am lucky that I´m accompanied by a dodgy witcher to ensure my safety." Keira winked at him. "By the way, we´re already there."

The main entrance of the hospital was illuminated by several lanterns.

Lambert let his eyes wander around - no one should spot them as they entered the building. "Do we take the back door?"

"Of course we do."

Lambert and Keira turned into the alley beside the hospital. The rear entrance was lit only by a small torch. Keira knocked briefly on the wooden door, which was opened only seconds later. Apparently they were already expected.

"Miss Metz. Good that you are here. I was afraid you would not come."

The man in the white coat looked visibly nervous. Typical for these wimpish urbanites. As soon as they did something illegal, they almost began to wet themselves. Lambert noted that the man's pulse rate indicated a high tension. A few beads of sweat had formed on the fleeing forehead. This doctor was obviously a particularly nervous specimen. Lambert twisted his mouth contemptuously.

"I do not want to miss this opportunity to learn more about the disease, Belgin. You told my contact that the epidemic is blatantly similar to Catriona's disease?"

"It is. It seems to be almost the same disease - with the only difference that this pathogen affects only non-humans. Elves, dwarves, gnomes - many of them fell victim to the outbreak here in Novigrad. But not a single human was infected."

"That's fascinating." Keira's eyes sparkled with unconcealed curiosity. "You mentioned that I can look at some of the victims to take samples?"

"Yes, of course. We keep the bodies in a separate part of the morgue. Please follow me…"

The doctor led them down a narrow hallway. The light of his lantern illuminated an unadorned, brick corridor, with occasional doors. In this part of the hospital, no one of the other doctors or employees seemed to work at this time.

But this circumstance didn´t seem to help Dr. Belgin to calm down. The glow of the lantern danced as his hand was slightly shaking.

"Take it easy, Doctor," whispered Lambert. "If somebody gets us, you can still pretend we wanted to say goodbye to a deceased relative without anyone seeing us. No one is proud of elven blood in the family here in Novigrad."

Belgin turned half to Lambert, his face a tight mask. "That's true." He held the lantern higher, taking a closer look at Lambert's eyes, which were now illuminated by the light.

"You ... are you a witcher?"

"Always at your service." Lambert now deliberately turned his face to the doctor, giving him a glimpse of the scars that ran through his skin. Their leader seemed to get even more nervous, if that was possible. Dr. Belgin took a shaky breath, then turned back and quickened his pace a little.

Lambert snorted. This fear of these Novigradians of anything strange - it was just ridiculous ...

"It's up here." Belgin opened a heavy door at the end of the corridor and held it for Keira and Lambert. "Please, after you, Miss Metz."

Keira stepped into the almost dark room and looked around. Lambert suddenly had a very bad feeling about it. Carefully, he stepped beside Keira, letting his senses take in the surroundings. The smell of death, decay and strong alcohol seeped into his nose. But he could not make any tell-tale sounds except the heartbeat of Keira and that of the doctor. Still ... something was not right here at all ...

The door closed behind them - too late Lambert realized that Dr. Belgin had not followed them into the room. "I'm sorry," it sounded faintly behind the closed door.

Fucking shit!

Lambert threw off the cloak with a fluid motion and drew his steel sword. He heard another door open at the far end of the long room, followed by a rolling sound of metal on stone. With half an ear he heard Keira begin to intone a spell - when a grenade rolled down the floor and came to rest just inches away from them. Lambert threw his body over Keira´s and at the same time casted the sign Quen. However, when the shell exploded, his shield protected them from the flying splinters - but he could not prevent the air in the room from accumulating with particles of dimeritium. The sign dissolved instantly.

Keira groaned softly. Dimeritium caused sorcerers to experience severe nausea and pain. She slipped powerless to the ground, completely deprived of her magic.

The footsteps of at least three men were approaching. The room was suddenly lit by a torch whose glow was reflected on the armor plates of the invaders. On the breastplates a burning rose was painted - these damned knights of the Eternal Fire!

Lambert lunged at the men who were obviously surprised by his speed. Only gradually did it dawn on them that they were not dealing with an ordinary person. The first two had nothing to oppose to his sword, their fencing skills were far from his.

"A witcher! The whore brought along a witcher ..." The exclamation ended abruptly as Lambert's sword drove into the crook of the man´s neck.

Another assailant - the one with the torch - hurriedly withdrew and disappeared into the doorway on the other side of the room. Presumably reinforcements would arrive soon.

Apparently, these idiots had expected to have an easy job after they had eliminated Keira. These whoresons had probably miscalculated ...

Lambert leaned over Keira and pulled her to her feet.

"We have to get away. Get out of the dimeritium." He put her arm around his shoulders and supported her. Keira groaned with each step.

The door through which they had come was locked - that was to be expected.

Lambert searched the now dark room for further escape routes. There - next to a large shelf! A narrow passage to an adjoining room. Lambert dragged Keira with him.

The smell of dead bodies became stronger here - apparently they had now moved to another part of the morgue. Lambert listened, but could make no suspicious noises. Keira straightened up slightly - the effect of the dimeritium slowly subsided.

"Next," mumbled Lambert, stopping for another door. Unlocked. The courtyard of the hospital opened in front of them. Lambert pulled Keira along the wall with him, intending to stay in the shade of a balcony that offered them some cover, if their escape route had not gone undetected.

A few steps ahead several boxes were piled up to a wall. Lambert deposed Keira behind it. "How do you feel?"

Keira smiled weakly. "I've been better. But the shackles' effect is fading."

"Are you able to cast a spell?"

Keira snorted. "It's too much, Lambert. If anything I can try it in a few minutes. Even then, my strength will only last for a single spell …"

"Crap."

As if on cue, a door opened on the opposite side of the courtyard. Lambert quickly ducked behind the boxes and carefully peered through a crack. Five men stepped out, the links of their chain mail clanking with each step. Two of them ran to the door, through which Lambert and Keira had just stepped outside, apparently unaware that their supposed loot had already left the morgue. However, the remaining three friars scattered in the courtyard and searched the entire area with looks. No chance to escape unnoticed ...

Lambert leaned close to Keira. "We have to gain time until you recover," he whispered to her. "I turn off those three idiots and then try to divert the attention of the others, who are still waiting somewhere, away from you. I run back into the building and make as much noise as possible. With a little luck, these wankers follow me and do not realize that you are not with me. Once you are able to, you open a portal and disappear from here."

"And what will become of you, Lambert?" Keira was anything but enthusiastic about his plan.

"I'll come out of here somehow. The dimeritium is weaker on me. As soon as I can cast signs again, it's a simple thing to escape these idiots."

"Lambert ..." Her eyes showed him she didn't believe a word. Before she could protest, he kissed her – brief, but intense. Then he broke away from her and jumped out of his crouched position behind the cover, his sword raised.

The first one did not have enough time to react at all - Lambert's sword drove him sideways into the unprotected area between neck and shoulder. He fell without making a sound. The witcher already stormed toward the next friar, trying to get as far from Keira's hiding place as possible. To Lamberts slight surprise, this opponent was much more skilled with the sword than his comrades. Prepared for the attack, he parried every one of Lambert's pranks, though he always backed away. Meanwhile, the hitherto uninvolved knight, farthest from Keira's hiding place, stormed toward the two fighters, loudly raising the alarm.

"They're here! Everyone to the yard!"

Sword raised, he attacked Lambert from the side, who was still invading his opponent. The witcher effortlessly deflected the strike but faced two opponents simultaneously. And he had no doubt that soon more would arrive. Very soon. The two who had just entered the morgue had evidently heard the calls of their comrade and were storming into the courtyard.

Shit, he hadn't thought of that. Four opponents at the same time. Lambert tried to use the sign Axii to confuse his two previous opponents, but his efforts were in vain. The dimeritium had apparently not yet completely lost its effect on him.

Lambert backed away to the wall facing Keira's hideout. As long as he could keep his back free, he had a chance - even without his signs.

When, however, through a door not far from him, other knights crowded out into the open, he realized that this would not end up good for him. From the beginning he had had a damned bad feeling, but he just did not want to listen to his intuition.

He had always thought that one day a monster would kill him - a Leshen, perhaps, a Katakan or a Griffin. That his end would come through these lousy fanatics ...

The only thing that counted now was to gain time. Time that allowed Keira to create a portal and disappear from here. At least his death would not be useless ...

With the courage of the one who had nothing left to lose, he fought back attack after attack, thrust after thrust. Again and again his sword penetrated through the coverage of one of his opponents, inflicted bloody wounds. Two knights had already succumbed to his sword, three more seemed badly wounded. But for anyone who fell, more men came into the yard.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lambert could make out that the Knights of the Eternal Fire had apparently brought friends with them. Long coats, strips of leather crossing the face - at least two witch-hunters had joined their brothers in spirit, but were still in the background.

Keep up.

The only thing that mattered was to gain time.

When the familiar sound of an opening portal penetrated Lambert's ears, he was filled with satisfaction. Keira would be safe. At least some consolation, if he himself was goint to die here, in that stinking mess of town, in this crappy courtyard of this hospital.

Keira's spell had not stayed unnoticed by his opponents, and the first ones were about to overcome their amazement and make their way to the source of the noise. Hopefully, Keira would be able to stabilize the portal and step through it before one of these bastards had the idea of detonating another dimeritium bomb.

Why did it take so long? Maybe her powers were not enough to stabilize the portal?

Afterwards he would curse himself for his damned weakness. For this nonsensical inattention that had screwed up everything. But he gave in to the temptation to take one last look at Keira. Wanted to see her escape through the portal. The last thing he saw was not to be the hate-filled grin of a knight of the Eternal Fire or a witch hunter.

At that moment, the prank of one of his opponents came through his cover. The blade went deep into his thigh, bringing him down instantly. A cry escaped him - partly in pain, partly in surprise. Immediately his opponents fell on him, one grabbed him from behind, put an arm around his neck, forced his head backwards at a painful angle. There was an ache in his leg that almost stole his consciousness. One of the witch hunters stepped forward, an inflamed torch in one hand, a bottle in the other. He poured the contents over Lambert's head, shoulders, legs. The smell of strong alcohol penetrated Lambert's nose. The liquid burned in his wound, intensifying the already barely bearable pain again. He tried to stifle the scream that rose within him, but he could not help but hear a clearly audible moan from his throat.

"Witch Metz!" The unpleasant, piercing voice of the witch hunter resounded through the yard, in which now, since the fighting noises were silent, only the opening portal could be heard. "If you don't want your witcher to go up in flames , and the eternal fire to extinguish his corrupted soul, then close the portal and step out."

A sword stroke that cut him to pieces - a claw that tore his throat ... that was how he had wanted to die. To be burned alive by these lunatics was a death Lambert would rather have spared. He fought down the rising panic.

Why did Keira take so long? Lambert tried to turn his head a little, despite the human vise around his neck, to get a glimpse of the portal. It seemed to be big enough now. The light vortex in the center radiated constantly, a sign that the magic passage was stable. What was Keira waiting for? If he was to be roasted here, at least she should not see what happened to him.

From one moment to the other the sound of the portal disappeared, the light went out. But Keira had not passed. The portal had collapsed.

Keira came out from behind her cover.

Shit, what was she doing? Why? Only a few steps, then she would have been safe. Why didn´t she just disappear through the portal?

She was not allowed to fall into the hands of those fucking witch hunters. They would both end up together in the fire, that was for sure. Damn it …

Lambert tried to push back the despair that accompanied the unspeakable pain in his body.

Keira kept walking toward him and his tormentors, her attitude proud, her eyes hateful. The witch hunter next to Lambert twisted his fleshy lips into a sardonic grin. "Put the shackles on her."

As one of the witch hunters who had hitherto held in the background approached them, carrying heavy handcuffs like a weapon, a look of fear crept on Keira's face for a moment. Only for a moment. With a stoic expression Keira reached out her hands, willingly put on the shackles that robbed her of any magic. The pain, the direct contact with the metal had to cause, she did not show.

"That was easier than expected." The witch hunter next to Lambert visibly enjoyed his power. "What do you mean, witch ... shouldn´t I better give this abomination to the flames? No?" He laughed as Keira's eyes widened in fear. Lambert searched her eyes, but she avoided looking directly at him.

"Is the life of this unnatural mutant really so important to you? Then ask us to spare him."

Keira's gaze rested hatefully on the witch hunter who raised the burning torch threateningly over Lambert's head. That's it. Of course those damned fanatics would kill him now. Keira had surrendered in vain.

Keira's eyes searched for his. Their proud expression collapsed as their eyes met, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. Lambert took a deep breath, trying to brace himself for what would follow. He only wished that she would not have to watch it.

"Please. Please let him live." Keira's voice trembled barely audible.

The witch hunter laughed scornfully. "I like that better, witch." He passed the torch to one of the friars. "Get this quack. He shall botch the leg of this creature. The guy's bleeding like a pig."

Lambert felt a tremor go through his body. He fought against the impending impotence that blood loss and the very real prospect of being burned alive had produced.

"I hope for him that you are cooperative, witch."

One of the knights stepped out of the building into the yard, pulling the still frightened Doctor Belgin at his arm with him. The doctor was led, half stumbling, half running, to Lambert. He dropped to his knees beside his patient, fingering the deep leg wound. He fetched bandages and disinfectants from his bag and started to care for the wound.

Lambert looked at the doctor in disgust. "Thank you, Doctor. How much have these madmen promised you for delivering Keira?"

"I had no choice." Belgin almost whispered. "They threatened to take my daughter. You have to understand ... she's a half-elf. I couldn't …" His voice broke. He took a deep breath, trying to gather himself and concentrate on his work. "I am sorry. Please believe me."

Lambert snorted. Then he inhaled sharply as the liquid, that the doctor had trickled from a bottle into his wound, set his nerve endings on fire.

The doctor reached for needle and thread. "That will hurt a bit ..." But Lambert had already lost consciousness.

When he awoke, he first noticed that the ground was moving beneath him. He was gently shaken. The clopping of hooves came to his ears.

It was dark around him. A few beams of daylight came through the crevices between the wooden boards that surrounded him.

It took him a few moments to get his bearings. His leg hurt. And his arms. His hands were tied above his head with iron to the wall against which his back rested. He sat on the floor, that was moving under him to the rhythm of the spinning wheels.

Keira crouched in one corner of the car, her hands tied in her lap. Now that she was no longer exposed to the eyes of her tormentors, she no longer strove to cover the pain and nausea that was caused by the dimeritium.

"Keira?"

She raised her head. Her painful look immediately sparked his anger at these fanatics.

"Lambert." Her voice was little more than a whisper. "How are you feeling?"

"Holding up. Keira ... Why didn´t you escape? You would be safe now, if only you ..."

"And you would be dead now."

Lambert snorted. "We'll both be soon. You don't seriously believe they're letting us go. We both end up at the stake ... "

"Maybe not. I was able to eavesdrop on the guards. They bring us to Oxenfurt."

"Oxenfurt? I did not know that these insane fanatics are residing there again."

"I did not know, either. But apparently they think I'm still useful to them. As far as I understand, they have specifically searched for me and lured me into the trap. But not alone, because I'm a sorceress. I should help them with anything."

"And what is that supposed to be?"

"I have no idea, Lambert. But as long as I'm of value to them, we'll live."

"That explains why you're still alive. But what do they want with me?"

"They want me to cooperate, Lambert. And due to my reaction in the court yard I delivered them a leverage againt myself."

Thank you for reading my short Lambert spin-off to my main story. Whether and how Lambert and Keira will come out of the predicament they are in - and how it continues after that for both of them - you can read soon from chapter 23 in "The Heart of Alchemy".