CHAPTER TWO :
" You don't seem that surprised to see a female Witcher. "
The three of them were now in the kitchen, Eskel sitting down at the large wooden table at the center of the room, a cup of wine in his hand. He watched as the two Vipers put the final touches on the meal they had prepped earlier in the day. Letho was stirring the content of a large iron pot, coils of steam rising up and disappearing before they reached the ceiling. The small room was soon filled with the scent of various spices, some Eskel could not identify. Erryn was traveling around him, grabbing the crockery they needed.
" Heard rumours of an ashen-haired Witcheress here and there..." Eskel enquired, " Did Ciri really become one ? "
" Yeah ! " She smiled at him " And a pretty good one at that ! The first year, she mostly stuck with Geralt on the Path, but since then, she's been on her own and doing great. "
The Wolf nodded, pleased to hear that the girl raised by the Witchers was still alive and well. He stayed silent for a bit, staring at the bottom of his cup...
The rustling of the Vipers' leather armors roused him from his thoughts. They were soon all eating in silence, only interrupted by the sounds of cutlery scrapping against wooden bowls. Damn, that was good. Potatoes, carots and tender meat were floating in the clear broth; and the spices smelled earlier gave a particular relish to the whole thing.
" So, Letho... How long have you been hiding her ? "
Eskel surprised himself with the accusing tone peeping in the question.
" After the Wild Hunt. If that's what you're really asking. "
The Witcher had said that in a detached tone.
The Wolf turned to her, his eyebrows raised
" You went through the mutations as an adult ? "
" Mh-mm. So did Ciri, you know... "
" True. I hadn't think about that. "
He stayed quiet for a moment, wondering how that must have been like. The transformation was a painful thing that killed many, and Witchers rarely talked about it.
" How ? I thought no Schools were producing Witchers anymore. "
Letho answered this time.
" I did it. On my own. "
Baffled by this sudden revelation, Eskel looked at the man again, in hope of an explanation.
" What do you know about the School of the Viper ? "
" Not much. Didn't the School just... closed ? "
Letho nodded, and kept going.
" To put it simply, the Vipers were split in two groups: those who believed that in order to survive, we had to expand our line of work; and those who wanted to stick to killing monsters, and monsters only. "
Eskel had no doubt which category the Kingslayer belonged to.
" Things started to esclate, and fights amongst the members of the School were a reccuring thing. As expected, one day, things went too far; and there was a murder. A fratricide... "
After a pause to digest what the bald Witcher had just said and its implications, Eskel spoke
" Not sure I understand the connection with this story and how you turned a grown woman into a monsterslayer. "
Suddenly, he wondered if the now Witcheress had a say in the decision.
" Before the Vipers took the decision to all go their separate way and abandon the School altogether, I hid somewhere safe what was left of the Grasses. "
The Wolf felt his heart beating fast
" You what ? " His voice was harsh. " You thought it was a good idea to let the Grasses who-knows-where, unsupervised ? Anybody could have found them, do you know what would've - "
Letho cut him short,
" But nobody did. Years later, when I met Erryn and put her through the Trial, they were still there. And you have no choice but to believe me when I say that they are gone. No more Grasses. "
Eskel stared at his plate, at loss for words. The knots in in his stomach had ruined his appetite. This was too much. Someone had gone through the trials, not that long ago. That thought alone was chilling. Witchers had been threatened with extinction for the last half-century, their number constantly decreasing. Letho had stolen from his very home the dangerous Grasses, intending to-
" Why ? " The Wolf had snapped from his thoughts " Why did you steal the Grasses ? You told me you met Erryn later, so you didn't take them with the intention of making her go through the trials. So, why ? "
The bald Witcher gauged him. After a long silence, he finaly answered.
" I wasn't in favor of dissolving the School. So, when discussion began between the two groups, and a consensus was in the talks, I stole them." the man paused again " Figured I could revive the School, once things would calm down. Never had the opportunity to do it. "
" Seems to me you did. You made yourself a Witcheress. "
" No. " Erryn shook her head. " The School was detroyed. As for the Viper Witchers... We believe we are the last ones. "
She had said that looking at Letho, who was starring the distance.
" Oh. "
What more could he say ? He still wasn't sure he believed the bald man's story. Sure, he could understand wanting to save your kind, but by betraying them ? Stealing their most precious good, keeping the secret to perpetuate their line of Witchers to himself ? And what about putting everyone at risk ? Leaving the Grasses where they could be found at all time, and fall into the wrong hands was pure madness. The secrets to the Witchers' mutations were secret for a good reason. Eskel was left with an unanswered question: if the opportunity to save the School of the Wolf arose, would he take it, no matter the price ?
The Witcher was still asking himself those questions when laying in bed, and sleep evaded him for a couple of hours before he passed out of exhaustion.