Chapter 3: On the road

AN: Hello to all readers. This story is one of the first I ever wrote and pretty much sidelined it for a long time. I'm getting back into writing Witcher fics so I decided to revive this one and bring more attention to it. This chapter is short but the ones in the future will be longer. I also plan to revise the first two chapters of the fic. So enjoy the read and good luck on the path.

The horse trotted along the road in Temerian countryside, its rider staring straight ahead while keeping an eye open for any trouble. One could call him paranoid, but a lifetime of danger had taught him always to stay vigilant. As he rode onward, the witcher came upon a fork in the road. The wooden post in the middle had two signs pointing in each direction, one on the right said Napeys while the one on the left had been crossed over. That left Gaetan with only one real option, he did not have the will nor the energy to find out why the second place had been crossed over on the sign. He pulled on the horse's reins and continued on his journey towards his new location, Napeys.

From what he could remember, Napeys is a small city with a castle resting on a hill overlooking the settlement. The castle was once used as a stronghold of the Order of the White Rose and has reverence among the Order members due to the fact that their founder was from Napeys. The key word here is was, as the Order had ironically been hit by one misfortune after another in recent times. First, they went from strictly an Order of noble-born knights to taking whoever could pay enough, then they took a beating during the wars with Nilfgaard, then Jacques de Aldersberg took over as grandmaster, redubbed the Order of the Flaming Rose, then there was that shit show in Vizima when Aldersberg died. After that, the order had all of its lands in Temeria confiscated by the crown and were sent or rather exiled to Redania. They served Radovid for a time, took another massive beating during the last war with Nilfgaard, and were barely seen or heard since.

Not that Gaetan truly cared about those fanatical fools dressed in shiny armor and preaching about honor and what is good for humanity. They are nothing more than glorified butchers and no one will ever persuade him otherwise. Gaetan does not hide what he is, he never did, nor could he but at least he still had some shred of morality, as small as it may be. The Cat Witchers never were the most noble bunch, not when compared to the Griffins or Wolves. The Griffin witchers were basically knights with witcher abilities and training while the Wolf witchers kept themselves to the tenants of their Order. Cats, on the other hand, were always seen as cast-outs, outsiders, too unstable and unpredictable to be trusted. And that is the truth of things, the last time anyone offered them an olive branch they cut off the hand that offered it. Gaetan wasn't there that day luckily, that fateful day during the Witcher Tournament, when his brothers betrayed and massacred the School of the Wolf. Whatever gods exist must not have liked that or more likely the Kaedweni were just as big of a cunts as the Cat Witchers because the Kaedweni then betrayed and killed the Cat Witchers. He once heard a saying from a traveling merchant, Karma is a bitch, a Gaetan could not agree more. But he is not that far gone, like his fellow Cat witchers, at least he likes to believe so.

As he rode atop his horse, his mind filled with thoughts of what he would find when he reached his destination, he came upon a small village. The village maybe had a dozen houses. As he rode through the village, his sharp eyes scanned the huts and the surroundings. He immediately knew something was not quite right here. It was quiet, too quiet even for a small village. No people were lounging around or working, no children playing, hell, there were not even sounds of dogs barking. There was only the wind.

The thing is, this village did not look to be abandoned, there were still clothes drying outside the houses and there was more clear evidence that people are currently living there. People fearing witchers is nothing new, even if usually most people would stay inside their homes, at least a small mob of men with pitchforks and dogs would meet him. When they did not need his services that is. His yellow eyes took another look around and once more nothing could be seen or heard. Gaetan sighed.

"Not my problem but couldn't hurt to look around. Better watch out for the pitchforks," Gaetan said and dismounted. He brought his horse over to a fence and tied his reins around it. "Stay here."

Gaetan walked over towards the nearest hut, all the while continuing to survey his surroundings. He spotted a bucket of water placed halfway between the house and the well. There was also a pile of half-cut wood and an ex discarded her it. Opening the door, he entered the humble dwelling. It was nothing special, a large table with two benches, several cupboards, a chest for storage, a bed, and other small items one would find at anyone's home. There was nothing out of the ordinary. The witcher went over to the hearth which had a kettle placed over it. The fire had burned out but the ashes were still warm. After examining several more houses, all in the same state of unoccupancy, he concluded that whatever happened must have happened recently, a few hours before he arrived at most. The witcher was about to return to his horse when a noise caught his attention. A normal person might not even hear it but his witcher's senses were far greater, his physiology being boosted by all the mutagens he was forced to intake during his training as a witcher.

He walked behind the house he currently was in. There was nothing out of the ordinary there, just a tall pile of hay, a small well, and a vegetable garden. Gaetan started walking towards the well, passing the hay when suddenly he stopped. With swiftness few could rival, hes hand shot up, plunged inside the haystack, grabbed something, and pulled out. He was met with frightened screaming and kicking of a small child, no older man seven or either. An understandable reaction but one that annoyed the witcher.

"Quiet down!" Gaetan barked and the child ceased its desperate attempt of freeing himself. The boy's frightened eyes were focused on the witcher. When their eyes met the child became truly terrified. He felt something wet hitting his boots, looking down he found out that the boy had pissed himself out of fear. "Fucking great," he said annoyed.

"D-D-Don't...eat me," the boy said through desperate sobs.

"Why the hell would I eat you, boy?" Gaetan asked.

"Y-Youz a monster," the child responded.

Gaetan let out a heavy sigh. Being called a monster, an abomination, pretty much any name in the book is nothing new to the witcher, but for someone to think him a monster that's about to eat them sure is a new experience. "I'm not going to eat you, nor am I a monster."

"W-What are you?" the child asked.

"I'm a witcher, I kill monsters," Gaetan answered. "Now listen to me carefully, I'm going to let you go and you are going to answer a few questions for me. Understand?" the child gave a small frightened nod and Gaetan gently placed the boy back on the ground. "First things first, where is everyone and why are you hiding?"

"Everyone…left," the boy said, looking at the bald-headed witcher. A nasty scar ran over the left side of his face, making the man even more frightening to the child.

"Left for where?" Gaetan asked, his tone cold, serious.

"The forest," the boy answered.

"Why?" Gaetan continued.

"I-I don't know," the child responded, he was still crying but his sobs were under control.

"And why are you alone?" Gaetan asked, crossing his arms, and giving the boy a stern gaze.

"Everyone left without me," The boy said. So far the witcher was getting little value out of the kid. It was frustrating but he should not have expected much.

"Do you know what happened?" Gaetan asked.

"I-I went to pick flowers for my ma, when…I came back everyone was standing. I went to Ma but she ignored me. Same with Pa. Same with everyone. Then they all started walking into the woods. I called for them but no one answered," the boy said.

"And you didn't follow?"

"Ma said if anything strange or bad happens to find a place to hide, that's what I did," the boy answered, not looking at the witcher anymore but at the ground.

"And you are sure they were not responding to anything?" the witcher asked, wanting to make sure. The boy nodded in confirmation. Gaetan rested his chin in his right hand, a thoughtful look crossing his features. "So all of a sudden everyone in the village stops what they are doing, freezes in place, and then they suddenly start moving again, all in the same direction. This sounds like magic, but what kind? Hypnosis? Possession?"

Gaetan, in all of his years as a witcher had never come across phenomena such as this. He had seen a person possessed by a spirit, a person being controlled with a hypnosis spell by a mage but never did he hear about a whole village being controlled, nor did he read about it during his studies. The witcher looked at the boy.

"Anything weird happened recently? Anything that got the people's interest?" Gaetan asked.

"I don't know. I heard my uncle talk about a hole in the ground or something. Old Ed also said something about a walking tree but he always talks about strange stuff," the boy answered. The witcher hummed.

"In which direction did they all leave?" Gaetan asked, the boy pointing towards the north. "Go find a new place to hide and wait for me to return. Got it?" The boy nodded. The witcher first went back to his horse and grabbed several items from the saddlebags before heading in the direction he was pointed towards.