I do not own Witcher or any of the characters.
Ambush
Renfri narrowed her eyes as more than a dozen men, all looking little more than common thugs, approached.
"It's not him!" the leader of the thugs warned, gesturing for a thug to his side, who held a crossbow, to kill them.
Before he could, however, Eldin opened his hand and immediately formed the Aard Sign, sending the small stone in his palm streaking across the distance with the speed of an arrow and into the would-be archer's eye, killing him instantly. The leader staggered away as Eldin, Renfri, and Aralyn all drew their blades, Eldin drawing the one he'd won in the tourney, deciding to test it out now that it was enchanted and there was no threat of monsters.
"We didn't come to fight, but if you provoke us, you die," Eldin warned.
"What do you want?" the thug demanded.
"You wanted wine, and here it is," Eldin said. "Free of charge. We just want to know who the buyer is, or how to contact them."
The thug scoffed. "They would kill me!"
"Right now, you should be worried what we'll do," Renfri warned. "See...we really want this information, and we don't necessarily care what we have to do, or remove, to get it."
The thug's eyes widened, then narrowed dangerously. "Kill them all!"
A second thug raised a crossbow, but as he did, Eldin held his free hand over his head and Damien stood from where he was hidden behind several barrels on a scaffold above them and to the left. Damien's shot was faster and struck the bowman in the head. A moment later, just as Eldin and his companions were reaching the thugs, the extra guards they'd brought for the ambush charged, halberds and swords in-hand. However, they'd only barely taken three steps when Eldin and his companions ripped into the thugs. Aralyn's first strike severed three thugs perfectly. Renfri's new swords cleaved through armor as easily as Eldin's steel and silver sword did, so every stroke of her blade killed a thug. Eldin's blade, on the other hand, was less useful than he had hoped. It would cut through armor, but only with sufficient force behind it, and while he didn't mind the blade being broad, the guard around the hilt got in the way, forcing him to try to use the sword as a rapier or cutlass, despite the blade being too unwieldy for the style. Still, he managed to cut down thugs rapidly, and since most of them weren't wearing armor, the lack of ability to cut through it like paper wasn't an issue. Finally, as the guards arrived to clean up the second half of the thugs, Eldin picked up a crossbow and fired after the one thug wise enough to attempt to flee, catching him through the knee. He tossed the crossbow aside, grimacing.
"So uncivilized," Eldin complained, Renfri snorting.
"Traditionalist," Aralyn accused.
Eldin shrugged. "I don't like weapons that make it easy to kill without skill. I believe that if you're going to kill someone, you should have to work for it. It makes it mean less when you can kill someone with the flip of a switch."
Aralyn shrugged, slashing the last of the thugs across the torso and bifurcating him. Eldin walked over to the thug he'd shot, kicking his sword and crossbow away from him, then used the thug's shirt to clean the blood from his blade before sheathing it.
"So listen, buddy," Eldin said. "You're gonna tell us what we want to know."
"Ah, so you captured one," Damien said, walking over. "Well fought, Witcher, rather, all three of you. I was wrong about you."
"You had no reason to trust us," Eldin said, prodding the prisoner's wounded knee and making him scream in pain. "Water under the bridge." He looked off to the side as Anna stepped into view on a raised scaffold off to the side. "Why am I not surprised. Welcome, Your Grace. We were just about to have this fine gentleman explain who the buyer is and where we can find him."
"The master's eye fattens the calf," Anna said. "Bring the prisoner to me."
Eldin nodded and he and Damien lifted the prisoner by the arms, pulling him up a hill that wrapped around the scaffold before dropping him near the edge, well within range to be shoved off.
"Damien, do the honors," Anna said.
"Who sent you?" Damien demanded.
"His name is Dog," the thug said. "They say he plowed your mother!"
Eldin snorted in amusement as Damien stomped on the man's wounded knee, breaking the bones and making the man shriek in pain.
"Once again, who sent you?" Damien demanded.
"Y...Your nan's lover!" the thug tried again. "They call him-" He screamed as Damien stepped on his knee, putting weight on it for longer this time, in place of stomping.
"I kind of wanted to know what they call him," Renfri whispered to Eldin.
"Either 'The Hound' or 'Big John'," Eldin whispered back, Renfri snorting into her hand.
"Enough, Damien," Anna finally said. "If he doesn't wish to speak, he needn't. I can think of several other ways he can be helpful. I'm sure the Witcher will need bait to lure the Beast of Beauclair."
"Oh, most definitely," Eldin nodded. "But we'll need better bait than this for him. This one, though, could definitely get us that bait." He knelt in front of the captive, examining him as he spoke his threat. "I'm thinking giant centipedes. Ever heard of them? They're truly fascinating. They only eat rotten meat, so when they catch live prey, they bite and sting it, injecting a toxin that causes nerve decay in their skins, rotting the skin while the prey's still alive. I've heard the screams of those unfortunate to suffer this fate can be heard from miles. And then, of course, they drag you down into their nest and lay eggs inside of you while they eat you, that way, if you're really lucky, you get to feel all those thousands of babies eating their way out of you before you finally expire."
"Okay!" the thug snapped. "Fuckin' 'ell! I'll talk, damnit!"
"Thought so," Eldin nodded. "So, where were you going to deliver the barrels?"
"I don't know," the thug said. "Only the boss, Hornitz, knew, but you friend over there shot him. The last one went to the port, but I don't know where this one was headed."
"Alright," Eldin nodded. "Who hired you?"
"They call him the Cintrian," the thug said. "I've never seen him, but he mustered all of the men for this caper."
"I see," Eldin nodded. "How do we find him?"
"I don't know," the thug said.
Eldin nodded. "Captain, it would seem I'm going to need some rope after all."
"As you wish," Damien nodded, turning away.
"No! Wait! Please! I don't know! I swear!"
Eldin regarded the thug, who was near tears with fear, for a moment before nodding. Anna sighed silently. "Captain, have your men take him to the dungeon. He'll await trial there. We ride for town. Gather your men and seek out this Cintrian. Someone else must have seen him, must know of him."
"Yes, Your Grace!" Damien bowed. "I shall report to you at the palace as soon as I learn anything."
"I shan't return to the palace," Anna said. "Our mission has not yet ended. The Witchers and I shall await you at the guard house by the port."
Damien and Eldin nodded. Damien took his leave, and Eldin and the others led Anna down to the horses, all of them mounting up, Renfri again riding behind Anna, holding her securely against herself. Then, together, they all rode away from the blood-drenched ambush site, heading for the rendezvous point. Hours later, they were still waiting. Anna had begun to pace, but the other three lounged around the guard post comfortably.
"Damien is late," Anna finally said. "I fear something may have happened to him."
"Relax," Eldin reassured her. "This is Toussaint. I'm sure more than one single Cintrian has come here. This place is a paradise. But even if there was only one of them, only knowing that they are Cintrian, and very few people being able to pick out a foreign accent as Cintrian specifically, this search was always going to take a long time."
"But this Cintrian picked out the targets for the vampire!" Anna argued. "One must be exceptionally confident to blackmail such a monster!"
"I don't think it was this Cintrian," Eldin said. "I think the Cintrian is a middleman. Even if he is the one who passes along the targets to the vampire, it would be foolish for the person who kidnapped the love of the vampire's life to meet him in person. They'd be begging to die. If they were as smart as we assume, they'd have sent a messenger so that their identity remains a secret."
"That...makes sense," Anna nodded, finally sitting down in the only available seat, beside Renfri. "I just wish Damien would hurry."
"He'll be right along," Renfri assured her, setting her hand on Anna's. "If you keep worrying too much, it's going to put lines on your beautiful face."
Anna sighed, opening her mouth to respond, only to stop as the door opened and Damien finally arrived.
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