The Witcher: My Own Path

For the last four days and nights I have officially acted as I told Foltest. I've spent a lot of time upgrading tools and equipment, talking to people, and I've thrown a party that drew quite a few people. I talked to my father and Captain Ryzz.

Secretly, I continued to lead the Order. I spent a lot of time at night in my own laboratory, studying my own blood and trying to recreate a super soldier serum from it. I researched meteorite rocks and magic runes. Over the last few years I have collected quite a few of these. I have studied them in the context of comparison with sith alchemy. My progress has been unsatisfactory, however, for lack of much basic information on the alchemy of this world, and magic. Until I hire a full legal alchemist and a trained mage, further progress in this field will only be going in circles.

Fortunately, I already have a candidate who could join the Research and Development Sphere, namely Adalbertus Aloiz Kalkstein. However, this will have to wait, there will be time for everything, and when I have enough talented people in each of the Spheres, I will be able to devote more time not only to climbing up the social ladder, but also to all sorts of research and experimentation. Increasing the strength and abilities of my people, as well as my own. Now, however, I have a difficult task ahead of me. As much as I want and need to do it, it doesn't change the fact that I sometimes have doubts and sometimes fits of fear and resignation.

The old manor house, once one of Temeria's most illustrious buildings, now a decaying ruin. The old manor house, built on an island whose bygone splendour can be seen from the walls of Wyzima, was once the centre of the kingdom. Once the seat of past and present King Foltest and his court, it was abandoned to a monster and time after his daughter Addy was turned into a striga. Now the seat of a bloodthirsty monstrosity, it had become not the pride but the curse of Temeria.

I stood on the Causeway, observing this old castle from afar, and beside me stood those closest to me, family, friends, subordinates. We were not alone though, to my surprise, dozens if not hundreds of residents of the Old Wyzma, the Monastery Wyzma and the suburb came to see me off and give me encouragement in the coming, hard battle ahead.

I have always looked after my reputation, from a young age I have done my best to be seen as a role model to those around me. Now I am finally seeing the results of my hard work. The rumours spread over the last few days, by my people have done their job. More and more of the capital's residents were arriving every minute. Tens, hundreds, thousands. Curious people, acquaintances, business partners, opponents, jealous, people living in fear of the monster for many years. They came to see a fool setting out to his own death or a hero returning with a princess. Only time will tell.

"Son do you really have to go?" Dewin, my father, asked me.

"Boy you know you don't have to," added Ryzz.

I smiled at them both and said.

"Look around, gentlemen, and you will find the answers to your questions".

It's true, now, even if I wanted to, I couldn't go back. Not with so many people watching my every move!

There are two ways to get to the old manor house. Either by taking a circuitous route through the marshes or by boat directly to the island. Wading through the marshes didn't make any sense, dozens of drownings, bloedzuiger and a mass of others, besides I had to take all my equipment with me which for one person and his prisoner would be impossible. Going by boat was easy and quick. An extra boat, which I filled with the equipment I needed and the unconscious Ostrit, was attached to the one I would be sailing in.

I went up to my father and hugged him tightly, then to Captain Ryzza and did the same, the last and known to all of those most close to me was Loona. After saying goodbye to her, I looked around at the huge crowd of people gathered.

I put my hand up, and when the whole crowd quietened down, I shouted.

" Thank you, for your support, thank you for giving me encouragement at this important moment for me, please pray for me!"

I then bowed to everyone. The crowd erupted with cheers, encouraging shouts and whistles.

I got into the boat and grabbed the oars. I was sailing to battle a menacing monster, for my own ambitions!

I deduced from the Sun's position that it was not yet noon. If the striga didn't surprise me, I'd have almost a full day to completely survey the area, look for safe spots, possible points of defence and attack. A place where I can place some really decent traps, simple but not unreliable, such as bear traps. I have a couple of crossbows so that, combined with thin ropes, I can make decent traps that, when pulled, release the bolts. However, I have to be careful not to kill the monster, but to injure and slow it down as much as possible before I start fighting it. I'm going to place Ostrit at the very top of one of the partially collapsed towers, there are no stairs as they crumbled some time ago, so only by climbing will it be possible to get to him. Of course I won't be climbing up there, I wouldn't be able to do it with the magnate on my back. I will place him by means of power, levitating him there. The poor guy won't be able to get down on his own, because he'll be separated, about ten metres from the ground, and the striga will have quite a bite, climbing over him, over the vertical wall, I have a barrel of oil and grease in the boat. It may be a waste to pour it on the wall, but if the slippery surface slows the creature to get to my bait for another fifteen minutes, that's fine with me.

Everyone may think Ostrit was stunned by me, but the truth is I put him to sleep with one of my dark side power techniques. I'll wake him up right before the show itself. His scream will be heard for miles. The king will be pleased.

Steel doesn't work on the striga, so everything I'm going to throw at it is silver-plated, even the oil on the traps has bits of silver in it. Everything cost me a lot of oren, but I had been preparing for months, so I didn't feel the loss so much.

Before I disguised myself and drew my sword, I checked everything again, every trap, every crossbow, every bolt, collapsed passages and discovered some. I checked the towers with Ostrit and reinforced it with power, I don't want it to crumble as soon as the creature jumps on it.

I made my way to the roof myself, where I changed into my, by far, best armour. Not in terms of appearance, but in terms of sheer armour strength and mobility. I had to prepare something to change into, of course, something more in keeping with the times and the sheer craftsmanship of Temeria's armour. There was an hour left until dusk, maybe a little more. I knelt down in a meditative position and waited for the sound traps I had set at the crypt entrances to warn me of the appearance of danger, so that I would have time to wake Ostrit and draw the monster princess's attention to him.

(Two hours later, old manor house)

The sound of falling stones and metal tools crashing to the floor echoed throughout the ruined royal estate. The striga stood up. I opened my eyes and looked at the former magnate and disgraced ex-knight, sleeping at his best on top of the tower. I reached out my hand towards him and reached for the power, I commanded her to stop muddling his mind and wake him from his unwanted slumber. She did as I commanded. Ostrit opened his eyes and quickly rose from a lying position to a sitting one. The full moon illuminated everything around him, and its glow dispelled even the darkness of the night to such an extent that from a distance I could see the great surprise on his face. He was looking around, trying to encompass and understand the situation with his mind. He was on a high, dilapidated tower, shackled and chained to the wall, surrounded by bear traps covered in a glistening liquid. Thick chains ran down from them attached to the ground. Even if he broke free of the chains, he could not get down, he was trapped.

The loud sound of stupes stomping and claws drawing on the stone floor drew closer and closer to the exit of the court's underworld. The striga princess was coming ready to hunt and devour, I knew it and so did Ostrit. His eyes grew larger and larger and he looked fearfully towards the approaching noises. I cloaked my presence with power, ready to watch the whole spectacle, studying the monster's behaviour, I waited!

It ran outside and stood up to roar to the moon, a melody of terror and murder. Her massive body was swollen from muscle, her bluish skin glistened from the moon's rays. Arms long and strong ending in razor-sharp claws rested on the ground, supporting her entire body. The great head was covered with fiery red hair as if dipped in blood, the shrill maw opened to an unnatural state. And all this was placed on a short neck so short that it was impossible to distinguish where the body ended and the head began. By the time she had finished screaming, she was looking around, sniffing the air, aware that something was different. Many new smells were in the air.

Ostrit sat paralysed with fear, his chubby hands covering his mouth, afraid to even breathe louder lest he lure the creature in. I couldn't let that happen, the beast would run to the marshes, here was our battlefield.

Once again I held out my hand and pointed at the poor bastard.

Kwwwik!!!

He squealed like a pig as I lightly tapped him under the ribs with my power.

Startled by his own outburst of sound, he once again covered his mouth with his hands, but it was too late, the monster had targeted him. The striga whined into space and rushed towards him. There was no longer any point in holding back, Ostrit began to scream along with the beast into the darkness of the night, but out of fear, not a desire to murder and devour.

I was.... amazed at how my silly plan to cover the walls of the tower with grease and oil had been successful. The beast tried for almost an hour to get to the poor man, I was even more amazed at how this man had steam in his lungs and a strong throat to scream the whole time. Eventually the beast came to its senses and began to drive its claws into the wall, slowly but methodically climbing. When it reached the top, new strength entered Ostrit, such a shrill scream I had never heard, I have a feeling it will haunt me for the rest of my life. The beast threw itself at him, ready to feast, but one of its paws stepped on the trap, the jaws of the snare clamped down on it with as much force as its maw on the magnate. They both screamed in pain. They thrashed and thrashed in agony until they both fell from the tower. The magnate broke his neck, dying instantly, while the striga didn't know what to do, eat or try to free herself. I watched the whole descent from my seat, Ostrit as well as the snare had done their job, it was just a shame that her three sisters were still resting peacefully in the tower. I delved into the power and directed it towards the three snares still lying on top. As I held them with power, I directed them at the striga, catching each of her limbs in turn with them. She roared and squealed, tore and bit, willowed and scratched. I couldn't let her get away with it. I got up from my hitherto safe shelter and moved towards her, jumped off the roof and sprinted towards her. I stretched out both hands and began to shower her with power lightning. I had no mercy, I couldn't let her break free. I still had some time until dawn and the strategy I was now taking allowed me to keep her occupied for a while. When I recognised that I was beginning to tire, I would go to some of the safe places, regenerating my strength while she tried to break free of her chains.

When I had been razing her with lightning bolts for some time, beginning to tire, and the beast was wounded enough to be unable to move, I pulled silver stakes from a space pocket and drove them full force into her legs, inflicting unimaginable pain and severely restricting her movements. After this I retreated to the roof, still watching her from the top.

It took her a good half hour to somehow recover, another hour to free her paws. All that was left was the chain on her legs and the silver pegs. During this time I managed to regenerate my strength. Once again I went down and repeated what I had done before, which was to raze the monster with lightning bolts, then I began to think something was wrong here. I prepared myself for a fight that was going to last for hours, a fierce battle. However, it turned out that I had overestimated my enemy by a considerable margin. The striga is powerful in the physical sense, also fast and agile, but it has not an ounce of intelligence, moving instinctively, charging at its prey. Is it because it was created from an infant or perhaps because it has never had an opponent that would challenge it? I had a plan, I had traps, but there's no point in going any further. I will immobilise her long enough to have time to go to her crypt, then collapse the entrance and wait for her there. There are two hours until dawn, maybe a little more. She won't have time to make a passage to hide in that time. If all goes well, and it should, I will soon remove the curse from her.

I did as I said. I amplified the last pulse of power lightning even more to stun her for as long as possible, then moved towards the crypt she had come out of. Before I entered, I looked back, checking to see what condition she was in. She was slowly recovering. I entered the crypt and then reached for the power, in one swift movement of my hand I pulled the air down, pulling the stone vault down to the floor with a loud bang. I took the torch out of my inventory and then lit it. I knelt down and began to meditate. I waited.

The sound of falling stones snapped me out of my meditation; my torch had long since gone out. I didn't need it anyway, as the sun's rays were breaking through the rubble. I got up and began clearing the passage. Twenty minutes later, I emerged from the crypt and found her, a little girl, lying by the rubble, naked. Apparently the striga had managed to free herself from the chains and silver pegs, but she had not managed to make the passage into the crypt before the curse left her.

Now all that was left was to change my outfit, pore over a few wounds and go home in triumph. I pulled off my armour, three massive scars adorned my chest, I was going to reopen them. I added a few smaller cuts, a few bruises, rolled on the ground, getting dirt everywhere, spread Ostrit's blood over my own body and I was ready. I picked Adda up and wrapped her carefully in her cloak, then set off towards the boat.

The hero returns, tormented, wounded, but as a victor!