Chapter 59: Flames

The heavy footsteps left deep footprints in the snow. Letho flicked the snow and pine leaves on his shoulder away and looked up at the sparrows who flew away in fear. “How much longer till we get there?”

The dwarf panted and shuffled to Letho, his face red. “About half an hour. We found the body under the oldest pine tree, and it’s right in front of us.” Kaerwen looked around nervously. “Are you sure it’s enough with just the two of us? Why don’t we get more people?”

“No. That’d mess everything up. Now tell me about the victim.”

“Give me a minute. You’re going really fast. How did that boy keep up with you?” Kaerwen put his hands on his knees and rested for a bit. He wasn’t as harsh when it was only Letho around. In fact, Kaerwen treated him with respect. “The victim went by the name of Adrian. He’s eighty, worked as a miner, and had a son and a daughter back in the mountains.” Kaerwen paused for a moment. “The other victims were miners just like Adrian. They were killed on their way back from work.”

Letho made the bark of the tree beside him rustle. “Good job keeping it under wraps. The people in Svanthor thought the leshen only claimed four humans.”

Kaerwen smiled bitterly. “We have no choice. They won’t work if they know that even the dwarves are getting killed. The mines would sustain heavy losses. We have to hide it, or there will be mass hysteria. But that won’t last at this rate.”

“Bunch of bloodsuckers.” Letho shook his head. “And who told the villagers that phantoms did this?”

“No idea, but honestly, I’d prefer that to this. At least phantoms are easier to handle.”

They crossed the mountain, and the forest’s entrance was starting to disappear behind them. “Letho, are you pitying those villagers?” Letho didn’t answer, and Kaerwen continued. “From what I know, witchers are heavily discriminated against in human society. They see you guys as monsters no matter how many real monsters you kill for them, or how many lives you save. You’re nothing but a lapdog to them.” Kaerwen emphasized the last sentence and quickly looked at Letho, but to his disappointment, Letho showed no change in expression.

“Spit it out. I know you’re trying to tell me something.”

“Very well then.” Kaerwen shrugged, and he hastened. “I think you witchers are like us. We’re deviants from those humans. You’ve been a vagrant for a long time now, taking requests for a living. Haven’t you ever thought about settling down?”

“Settling down where?”

“Mount Carbon’s a good place.” Kaerwen heaved a sigh and told him what he thought, “You’ll find our offer irresistible. Your skills and knowledge alone are great assets.”

“You’re trying to recruit me?” Letho stopped in his tracks and turned around to look Kaerwen in the eyes. “Mahakam and Mount Carbon are too boring for me. I like some excitement in my life. And I have to finish a mission, so I can’t stay for long.” Then Letho continued into the forest.

Kaerwen was furious about being rejected, but he calmed down quickly. “Let’s talk about the situation then. Do you have any idea how to settle it?”

The moment he said that, Letho stopped. He looked back at Kaerwen and put his finger to his lips, and then he crouched like a leopard. They’d walked a mile into the forest, and the pine trees were starting to get denser around them, but it was eerily silent. Not even the chirp of a bird or the howling of the wind could be heard. It was as if they were in a graveyard, and chills ran up their spines.

Kaerwen held his hammer. He had a feeling that the pine trees around them had turned into stiff humans who were staring at them. Kaerwen’s hands were trembling, but his morale was still high.

Letho uncorked a potion with his mouth and gulped everything. The veins on his cheeks blackened and his muscles tensed up, not unlike a beast that was hunting its prey. “Watch my back, and I’ll watch yours,” Letho growled, and he and Kaerwen huddled closer.

Letho traced a triangle in the air, and a faint green light shone around the triangle, much to Kaerwen’s shock. And then a magic circle with a twenty feet radius appeared on the snow-capped ground. A moment later, a light yellow shield surrounded Letho. At the same time, howls pierced the air around them, and countless wolves appeared from between the trees.

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Their fur was grey, their eyes green. Mist swirled around their snouts, and they crouched, howling as they inched closer to the duo.

“Great Mahakam, what is going on? We’ve never had such bad luck in our previous investigations.”

“Because it perceives us as a threat.” Letho unsheathed his steel sword instead of his short swords. The sword that was covered in oil gleamed menacingly above the snow ground. Letho held it around his waist, his muscles taut. He pointed the blade at the wolves, looking like someone who was going to toil on the field. The wolves howled, and Letho taunted, “Come at me. I’m sure your master will be pleased.”

Infuriated, the wolf pack pounced on him, but they stepped right into the trap of Yrden, and a green light shone. The wolves who were caught had their movements slowed. They froze in midair and lost a bit of their agility.

Kaerwen slammed the wolf who’d leapt at him down, drenching the ground with blood, and the wolf became pulp. “Fuck yeah!” Kaerwen roared, and he lunged forward, his hammer swinging through the air, sending the beasts who pounced at him flying back.

Letho fought differently. He crouched, his steel sword beside his waist. He put his left foot forward, and his right foot back. He was poised to fight, and at the first chance of attack, he would dart ahead. When a wolf pounced at him, he sliced upward, burying the blade in the wolf’s body. And then he slashed downward before taking another step, slicing a second wolf in half, spilling its innards.

He moved his wrist, dislodging the flesh that was stuck to his sword, and then he stepped back into his magical circle, resuming his stance. His plan was to take out the wolves with nothing but stabs and slashes. Every time Letho made an attack, another beast would fall, as if they were taken away by the reaper. They didn’t even manage to get close, and corpses were already piling up. The blood splashed on Letho’s face made him look more feral.

It didn’t take long for them to kill five wolves, but compared to the hundreds of beasts around them, it was nothing. Their brethrens’ deaths enraged the remaining beasts, and their attacks became quicker, almost overwhelming the duo.

“Shit. Not even the wine cellar has this many rats.” Kaerwen’s hair billowed, and he swung his hammer again, sending another one flying. He heaved a sigh and made a hasty step backward, but one of the wolves noticed the opening, and then it tried to chomp down on the dwarf’s left leg. But before it could, Letho stabbed it.

“Still keeping up, chap?”

“I’m fine. Worry about yourself.” Kaerwen gripped his hammer with trembling hands, and he smashed another wolf to a pulp.

Letho scanned the battlefield. Alright, there are around twenty or thirty of them here. They’d managed to whittle it down to the number he wanted, and he tossed the canister on his belt into the pack.

Then, the bomb exploded twenty feet away from them, and the sound of explosions roared through the forest, the flames engulfing dozens of wolves. The air around them was filled with howls and the scent of burning flesh, while the ground was soaked with blood. More than half the wolves around them had been killed by the explosion alone, and charred corpses fell onto the snow. Some managed to survive, but they scurried back to their pack, their fur still burning.

“Holy Mahakam, that was a perfect bombing!” Kaerwen praised, forgetting all about his nerves, but it wasn’t the end of it.

Letho turned around and drew an Aard sign in the air, sending the wolves that were pouncing toward him flying back, creating a space between them and the wolves. Then he tossed another bomb, but instead of exploding instantly, the canister smashed into pieces, and white smoke quickly enveloped thirty beasts.

He pulled Kaerwen closer to him before embedding his sword into the ground and quickly making a sign, and then he pushed it outward. A moment later, flames spread out in a cone, igniting the smoke. The gas that covered the beasts started exploding, causing a chain reaction, and then howls and rumbles traveled across the pine forest.

A few moments later, the howls got quieter, as most of the wolves had been killed. The remaining survivors ran away with their tails between their legs. Half the wolves were dead, while some were on the verge of death. Only one was standing tall amidst the carnage. When he was sure they were safe, Letho stopped maintaining Quen, and his shield broke into pieces.

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