IV
...
Finding the fiend's lair was easy enough. It was only a matter of finding the broken tree branches and massive dung piles that led to a large cave in a hill. Part of her wished it had been more difficult. Easy things gave Annalise time to think. Time to feel regret. She'd lashed out at Aeonweth. Again. Annalise had promised herself that if she ever met Aeonweth again, she would apologize for the way she just ran out in the middle of the night without even a note. But there she was, screaming at Aeonweth in front of her comrades-in-arms because Annalise couldn't handle the idea that someone was concerned for her. She knew it wasn't fair, but that was the reason Annalise had run out in the first place.
Carreas was one of her first stops she had made on her own. Word of a female witcher running around, looking for work, spreads quickly, and Aeonweth was the first to approach her for work. Annalise tended to avoid sorcerers of all types, but since she was on her last day's worth of coin, she accepted. Turns out, it wasn't a job per se and more a chance for Aeonweth to study her up close and ask very personal questions about how the Trial of Grasses affected her body. After that, they became friends, then on-again-off-again lovers. Things got complicated. Aeonweth started saying things like love and forever. She'd left the last person who'd said those things to her, so she did it again: Broke another soft heart for the sake of her own comfort.
Her mind blanked at the thought of Henri, leaving her only with her surroundings to occupy her thoughts. The cave whose maw opened before her was the textbook example of a juvenile fiend's first nest. The entrance was poorly dug, with evidence of cave-ins that had been cleared out by massive, sharp claws. The stench that wafted out was a repulsive mix of shit, rot, and fiend musk. From that, she could discern that it was a male. She'd caught faint traces of the musk on the wind before she'd arrived, and this confirmed her suspicions. Male fiends excreted it to signal they were ready to mate. She would have to act quickly. The intensity of the smell told her it was somewhere inside that earthen mouth, waiting to tear the foolish intruder to shreds. With a final deep breath to steady her nerves, she downed the contents of her final vial of Cat and entered the stinking hole.
Things went south almost immediately. As soon as she crossed the threshold, a deep, ground-rumbling bellow came from her left. She barely had enough time to leap away from the sickle-claws that threatened to cleave her in twain. When Annalise righted herself, she finally got a good look at the thing. It was mammoth in scale, the size of a peasant dwelling, and heavily muscled. Its fur was unmarred by the scars of older fiends that had engaged in territorial disputes. Its long, horse-like head was haloed by six-pointed antlers and set with three eyes. The other two were nothing remarkable, but the third, which was set in the middle of its forehead, glowed with an evil red light. She looked away from the middle eye before it could foul up her perceptions. As she did, she saw the contents of the cave. It was littered with pieces of bone and the bloated corpses of several horses and elk. The shining black chest-plate of a Nilfgaardian knight shone with the same angry red light of the fiend's eye.
The thing roared again and stomped a forelimb. Thinking quickly, Annalise placed a Yrden trap beneath her and dove out of the way as the fiend charged her. After she hit the ground in a heap, she heard the sound of a tree snapping followed by a pained howl. She dared a glance and saw that the fiend was recoiling in pain, its rear left leg speared with an earthen spike right through its femur, crimson blood running in rivers down its previously pristine brown fur. Dust fell from the ceiling from the force of the beast's pained bellowing. She allowed herself to feel a moment of satisfaction. She'd been fiddling with Yrden for about a month now, trying to find some other use for it than keeping ghosts corporeal.
The fiend was still quite dangerous without the ability to move, so she drew her silver sword and advanced. The fiend hunched over, its bulging back muscles shuddering in pain. Poor thing had probably never been in such pain before. Welcome to the great, wide world, boy, she thought. As she got close to its midsection to end its misery, the fiend turned its great head around and growled low. She didn't have time to look away. The red, glowing eye became all that she could see. What had she come here to do again? Who was she? What is-
At that moment, Annalise was tossed into the air, pain searing across her back. She hit the far wall face-first and fell to the floor. She tried to get herself upright, but the pain in her back caused her to see white spots dancing across her vision and she collapsed back to the ground. Warm blood was beginning to run down her back to her stomach. She fumbled with the vials on her belt. Swallow. Damn it, I need Swallow! I just brewed some the other day! Or was that two weeks ago? Which was it again? Third or fourth to the left? Ah, fuck it. She grabbed the one that was fourth to the left on her belt, unstopped the cork and drank greedily. The easing of the pain on her back told her she'd guessed correctly.
Annalise stumbled to her feet and reached for her silver sword only to find that it wasn't there. She scanned the floor of the nest and found it embedded in one of the bloated elk corpses. It had burst, leaving maggots and intestinal material strewn in a two yard radius around the animal's body. She groaned, half in pain and half from the thought of having to clean rotting elk viscera from her blade again. That encounter with necrophages outside of Novigrad hadn't given her a rosy remembrance of the act.
Annalise looked at the fiend in fury. Not at his eye this time, thank the gods, but at some point at the middle of its back. It tried to free itself from the Yrden trap and bellowed in pain again, the back muscles she was staring at tensing. The thing's petulant screams caused her anger to flare further. She assumed a pose she'd practiced many times before, but decided to experiment a little with the spell's wording; give that bastard a little comeuppance for ensuring she'd be sleeping on her chest these next few days. "Sioc fe aép ei arse!" She said, placing her intent on the spot she was looking at. She tore a hand down, calling lightning to strike him in the spine. It worked a little to well. The sound of thunder reverberated off the stone floor of the cave, nearly deafening her. A large white crack formed in her vision, like some deranged courtier cutting jagged lines in the painting of her sight.
The fiend screamed again, its back arching as every muscle in its body tensed at once. Electricity arced around his massive frame, trying to find ground. When it did, the fiend fell to the ground, spasmed a few more times, and then, blessedly, stayed still. Annalise's knees buckled and she fell on her hands and knees, a warm liquid trickling from her nose. Alright. Maybe slightly less strong wording next time. She thought.
She took some shaky breaths before standing and stumbling to her sword. Annalise was so dazed, she payed no mind to the stench as she tore the sword from the carcass. She had regained most of her bearing by the time she made it to the fiend's corpse, at least, enough to wipe the blood from her nose and give the corpse a strong kick to make sure it was dead. When the fiend made no move to decapitate her, she brought her sword down on the beast's neck three times to fully sever it. She grabbed the head by its horn, sheathed her sword, and trudged up to the entrance of the cave.
Once outside, Annalise put two fingers to her mouth and whistled for Enid. She didn't know where the Scoia'tael had put him, but hopefully he was close enough to hear her. Sure enough, after a few moments of waiting, Enid came trotting from the road. Fools didn't even tie him up, she thought, shaking her head. She put her hand on Enid's snout. "You, sir, have earned yourself an entire orchard of apples," she said. Enid huffed, clearly satisfied with himself. She chuckled and patted him a few more times for good measure before tying the fiend's head to her saddle-horn and mounting. Let's see if I get paid this time.
When she approached the Nilfgaardian camp, the wounds in her back had become a strong, yet less intense, throb. The sentries outside had switched shifts, so thankfully that pig, Jerrit, wasn't among them. "Halt! Present your letter of safe conduct!" said one of them in even worse Common than Jerrit.
Anna brought the fiend's massive head around from the other side of Enid. "I have business with your Lieutenant. Do you know where I could find him?" She said in Nilfgaardian.
They recoiled at the sight of the head and, without another word, took Enid's reins and led her to Lieutenant Eiric. He was in the command tent, studying maps, when she found him. One of the sentries saluted and said, "Sir, this woman with a terrifying head says she has business with you."
The lieutenant looked up, "Ah, Mistress Annalise. I was about to send a search party, but clearly that will not be necessary. I see you have completed the job."
"I have," she said, tossing the fiend's head to the ground at his feet.
Lieutenant Eiric barked a laugh. "So you really are a witcher! How marvelous!" He said in his accented Common.
Annalise narrowed her eyes. "A witcher who needs to see her coin. Hand it over."
The lieutenant continued chuckling. "Yes, yes. Of course." His laughter ceased, "Er, there's one slight problem, however."
Annalise sighed. Here we go. "Let me guess. No letter of safe conduct?"
"Yes, Mistress. I apologize for the inconvenience. When I put in the request with my superiors, I was stonewalled. Whatever business you have in our territory will have to wait." The lieutenant said in an attempt to placate her.
Annalise pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Fine. At least tell me you have my coin."
The lieutenant tossed a jingling bag up to Annalise. She weighed it in her hand. It was heavier than she expected. She raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged. "Figured to toss in a little more of my own coin to compensate. I'm no monster, my lady."
Annalise gave a curt bow, as good as he could give in Enid's saddle. "I appreciate your generosity, sir. I must make my leave." She said. Back up North, apparently. She thought.
She took the reins form the sentry, turned Enid toward the gate, and left without another word.
