The Witcher had been on the path for half a year now, and he was looking forward to getting back to his familiar winter seat of Kaer Morhen. However there was some unfinished business to attend to. After an hour ride from town The Witcher finally arrived at his intended location, a small hovel just on the outskirts. Before he had a chance to even doubt himself, he knew this was the place he had been searching for. and he knew the reward the owner had promised would be of poor value.
he slid from his mare, and tied her to the strongest tree around; which was only a sad looking bitch tree, that wouldn't even hold a cat. Thankfully his mare Birna was patient and loyal, she wouldn't be going anywhere. It seemed that Birna knew of his frustration, and gently nudged him. This small act made The Witcher feel only slightly better; He rubbed her nose and walked towards the door, raising his arm with a closed fist he hit the door three times
BAM… BAM…. BAM….
The Witcher had no time for a breath before a small, frail child, no older than six swung open the door; The Witcher found it odd that the boy had no sense of fear within his emerald eyes, only a great sense of wonder- "My father told me a Witcher would come ta visit, why do your eyes look like that? Do you let monsters loose so you can get coin?"
The witcher paid no mind to the child or his questions, instead, he pushed past demanding to speak to the man of the house- However, there was no answer. The Witcher turned to the child "Where are your parent's boy? I urgently need to speak to them."
The young boy went even paler and swiftly looked down, "I-I dunno sir, they d-didn't tell me anything." The Witcher knelt to the boy's eye level, grabbing the boy by the shoulders- "I know you're lying to me boy" The Witcher squeezed his shoulders tighter, and raised his voice "I can tell you are lying to me boy. Now tell me." The Witcher lowered his voice, speaking in almost a growl "Where are your parents?"
They held eye contact for what seemed like minutes, the boy began to tear up and looked slightly towards a tattered staw rug beside the only bed.
The Witcher held onto the boy with his left hand and threw the rug back with his right, revealing a small trap door. He opened it to reveal a man and woman huddling together in fear. The Witcher sneered at them, "You leave your child of six to deal with The Witcher who saved your life? This is the thanks I get for saving your drunken ass from those Nekker?!" The man looked at him with his sunken eyes and greasy hair "Take what you want and leave my home"
The Witcher looked around the room, his golden cat eyes landing on the shaking boy. He turned back towards the father "I will be taking your son, he deserves a chance at a better life."
Suddenly the boy's mother stood up and threw herself at The Witcher's feet " Please sir, please don't take my boy!" tears were now flowing from her eyes into her hair and onto her cheeks "P-PLEASE SIR I BEG YOU. I WILL H-HAVE NOTHING LEFT, I ONLY HAVE M-MY BOY."
The Witcher cared not for her pleas, he kicked her aside and grabbed the boy by his arm; almost pulling it out of its socket.
"NOO!! MAMA, FATHER, HELP ME!!" The boy started to claw and bite at The Witcher's hands, trying with all of his might to get away- sadly though his frail frame was not a match to The Witcher's. The boy's father had left the safety of the hole, making sure his wife did not interfere with this transaction.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING DOBRON?! HE IS TAKING OUR SON" The boy's mother was in full hysterics, clawing at her husband's face and kicking as hard as she could. Watching his mother's reaction only caused the boy to fight harder and scream louder.
The Witcher not wishing to deal with this any longer made the hand gesture for Axii, telling the boy to calm down, and get onto his mare. Just as easily as he said it the boy listened, relaxing his muscles and letting The Witcher place him on his mare.
As he was riding off with the boy seated in front of him, he kept hearing the echoing screams of the boy's mother bouncing off the mountains of the valley- only after an hour of riding did they finally stop following him.
They rode till the sun set behind the mountains, setting up a small camp in an abandoned mill. The Witcher lay the boy down on the sleeping mat and began to work on making a fire.
The boy finally woke once the fire was lit, he was no longer fighting and seemed to accept the fate destiny had laid out for him.
"Why did you steal me from my parents?" The Witcher stopped warming his hands and sighed, he looked up at the boy, his eyes showing warmth
"I did not steal you boy, your father owed me something, he told me to choose my reward and I chose you. A fortnight ago your father was stumbling home from the Tavern and walked right into a Nekker nest. Thankfully I was riding in the area and heard his cries for help. Once I saved him he offered me any reward I wished for, but I could only receive it after a fortnight. I agreed to the terms, but when I arrived at our meeting place he never arrived." The Wither took out a hunk of cheese and handed it to the boy as he continued " I had to find your father by asking around the village, the rest you know. Now we are on the way to Kaer Morhen, The Witcher School of the Wolf. I know this is not what you wished for boy. However, this is the path Destiny wishes you follow."
The boy's face showed no emotion, "Lambert.. My name is Lambert."
The Witcher smiled softly, "And mine is Deglan" he extended his hand "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lambert"
Lambert extended his arm and shook Deglan's large gloved hand, letting a small smile spread across his pale cheeks.
Lambert looked towards the road- "Since this is now my life, what will it be like? Will it just be you and I at this 'Kaer Morhen'?" He looked back at Deglan with eyes filled with excitement and continued "Will I learn to wield a sword? Will I learn about the monsters that roam our land?"
Deglan resumed warming his hands over the fire, "You will learn all of those skills, you will also undergo something called the Trial of the Grasses. There are many boys who are close to your age, they'll take care of you once we get to Kaer Morhen."
"You won't be taking care of me?" There was a sense of hurt in the boy's voice; this confused Deglan, he had just taken this boy from his family yet Lambert had already grown an attachment to him.
Deglan reached for his satchel "I will stay at the keep for the Winter, however, once spring has come I go back out onto the path and help those who need it; like the Witchers before me." He took out a small parcel, inside was a slab of salted beef and a knife. Deglan shaved off a couple of slices, offering most of it to Lambert and only taking a small portion for himself.
"Eat this and get some rest, on the morrow we will be traveling the rest of the way to Kaer Morhen. We'll likely arrive by sundown." Deglan turned away from Lambert and rested his head down onto his satchel. Lambert crawled closer to the fire and curled up in his sleeping sack, letting sleep embrace him quickly.
The sounds of the birds woke Lambert before the sun rose from the mountains, Deglan was already awake and tending to the fire once more. Lambert rose from his bedroll, rolled it back up, and approached Vesemir; he felt slight happiness knowing that he will never be hit by his father and that a warm meal will be coming again soon.
Lambert tapped Deglan on his shoulder, not realizing that The Witcher already knew he had awoken and knew each step he took to reach him. Without turning around Deglan handed Lambert two slices of bread with cheese over his shoulder.
"Eat this quick boy, we leave once you have finished." As Deglan stood he took the bedroll out from under Lambert's arm and began walking towards his mare.
Lambert followed Deglan's every footstep, watching him as if to make sure he won't run away whilst he is not looking.
"What's your mare's name, Deglan?"
"Her name is Birna"
While walking towards Birna Lambert took the final bite of his breakfast,
"A lovely name for an even lovelier horse" he proclaimed whilst scratching her chin. Birna let out a soft snort of approval, resulting in a brief smile appearing on Deglan's lips.
"Come on boy, we have a long way to go." Deglan's lifted lambert onto his mare and jumped on behind him. Squeezing her sides Deglan made Birna begin to trot down the road toward Lambert's new destiny