Chapter 58

I woke up with a groan, my body still aching from the beating Vesemir had given me the day before. The White Raffords and the Swallow had fixed the damage, but they were very, very energy-intensive and had taken a LOT of food to restore my body's reserves and involved a very awkward dinner.

Ivar knew that something had happened, but not what, and Leo looked guilty enough that I suspected Vesemir had used him to distract Ivar during my beatdown. I'd been a weird mix of mad and acceptance, since I knew I'd made a lot of mistakes, to say nothing of how I was lying to Vesemir about a lot of things (most all stemming from my nature as a SI), and ended up dunking my head in a rain barrel both to completely wash the blood from my face and the temper from my mind.

Afterwards, I asked him why he'd done that. I mean, I knew why he thought I needed a lesson, but was less clear as to why he thought it needed to be driven home through a beating and not a calm lecture by the fire.

Vesemir had flexed his fingers as he looked down at the hands that had so recently broken my body, just before fixing it. "You lost your memory, so you don't remember your training. It was hard training, meant to create hard men, in both body and spirit. You get knocked down, you get back up. You bleed, you keep fighting." His eyes hardened. "You screw up, you get the idiocy knocked out of you. You think that was the first time I've done that to a Witcher trainee? Hell, you think I never had it happen to me? Discipline was harsh at the schools, and for good reason. 'Course, we only went that hard on those who went through the mutations. Normal humans would be crippled or killed."

"But what made you think it was the right approach to me? Do I seem like a person who wouldn't take advice?" I asked.

He sighed. "Dammit, lad, don't you think I tried? Almost from the moment we met, I told you that you were doing things that were stupid. How you shouldn't have offered me all that money at our first meeting. How you should be more careful with the knowledge of the Grasses. That bit with Axii? We train our Witchers to never, never put themselves at the mercy of someone who can mess with your thoughts. But you? You didn't even flinch. Never questioned me. You trusted me, when by all rights you had no reason to do so. And in all those cases, you either didn't notice, or tried to justify yourself, or refused to question me. By the time we got here, I'd given up telling you straight. Only way to get through a wall sometimes is to break it down. And boy, you got one hell of a wall in your head."

Huh, he wasn't wrong there. I just felt so assured around him due to metaknowledge I didn't have any walls up. Which in his mind it would look like straight up foolishness.

I already saw what relying on metaknowledge will do after Flotsam, but I need to take it a step further and not use it to decide how to interact with others just because I did so in a game. Use knowledge yes, but still cautiously interact with them as if I was meeting them for the first time.

He patted me on the shoulder. "Truth be told, I'm not all that surprised. Our training produces men who are headstrong and confident. Overconfident, sometimes. You have to be, to live the life we do, to fight the monsters we confront. Can't be doubting your every decision. At the same time, we try to instill humility in our trainees. Always acknowledge your ignorance in the face of the world. For whatever it's worth, I had no pleasure in giving you that beating, and I hope you are feeling better."

"I guess… and I'll try to listen better so that you don't feel like I need another hard lesson like that. Still, forgive me if I hold it against you for a little bit."

Vesemir grinned at that - a bona fide grin. "Now you're starting to get it!"

Another reminder about how different the local culture was compared to back home that was failing to get through my thick skull. Maybe I did need a few more knocks to the head.

"And I thought encouraging grudges was a dwarf thing." I deadpanned.

Vesemir chuckled. "I can tell you never met Geralt. Man could hold a grudge like nobody's business. But it's not about holding resentment. It's about being cautious. You should be careful around me, Markus. You don't know me. Gods know I've been all sorts of cautious around you."

"Will do… I don't suppose I could see the magic vault now, could I?"

"Tomorrow. You got a meal to eat and healing to sleep off first." Vesemir said and I didn't argue.

---

"Wow, look at all this stuff." I said in a great deal of wonder as I looked around the room where the Wolves kept all their unknown magical items. It wasn't a large vault mind you, roughly the same size as the armory, but it was still covered in stuff.

All of which made my medallions vibrate a great deal just by being close to it.

After Vesemir's 'tough love' lesson he had let me have the rest of the day off to heal up both physically and emotionally. I'd stuffed myself, and promptly gone to bed for almost twelve hours. Come morning though, I was alright and had decided to check out the vault now as my kinda reward for not complaining too much about the beatdown. However Vesemir had been clear in warning me about being cautious about dealing with the magical items in general when he opened the vault.

"Things have really piled up since we lost our mages, hopefully we can clean it out a bit since having this many magical items in one spot makes me a little nervous." Vesemir said as he unlocked the many, many locks on the heavy door.

I saw various shelves full of mostly small and minor things. Rings, charms, likely enchanted or cursed jewelry, things in general that you could carry on you for one reason or another.

There were a bunch of books as well that ranged from normal looking to the sinister and literally locked up in chains types. I assume they were spellbooks and other sources of forbidden knowledge or something. Since I was unlikely to be able to read most and since I didn't want to have a Necronomicon situation I happily avoided those.

After that were the more weird items like a tall covered mirror, a washtub, an old chair, and in general larger and more out of place items that still nevertheless gave off some kinda magical aura. Which is where I made my first big discovery.

"I got something here. Something that if I'm recognizing this right could be very useful." I called Vesemir over.

"Yeah? What do you think it is then?" he asked curious as I gestured towards the item in question.

"If my guess isn't wrong this here is a magic lamp, not the genie kind thankfully, that not only creates a bright magical glow perfect for illuminating dark spaces but it also allows one to see and hear ghosts in places they haunt. As I assume you know, normal ghosts aren't easy to interact with since they aren't as 'all there' as wraiths and specters are. Useful tool if you want to get the background of a certain location and break said haunting." I explained.

"Quite." Vesemir nodded. "I think I recall this coming from some ancient elven lab, or at least that is what the Witcher who brought it in said… you think we could use this to help deal with the spirits haunting the bastion?" Vesemir got a hopeful look on his face.

"There's a haunted bastion?" I, of course, knew what he was talking about - but Markus wasn't supposed to know. And Vesemir had made it very clear how he handled things he couldn't explain. My ankle throbbed in sympathetic pain.

"Yes," Vesemir responded. "About fifty years back, a mob attacked the castle and killed everyone here. There's a small fort nearby that was used to help train some of the recruits, and it's been haunted by wraiths ever since. The others and I have been there several times to clear it out, but they always come back. Something's binding them to the place, but we haven't had the tools to get to the bottom of it. Until now."

"Ah. Well, in that case, I'm almost certain this could help. Might finally give you the ability to put them to rest." I said with a smile. I imagine Vesemir knew everyone who died there after all and it eats at him that so many are still lingering in the world.

"I guess it was a good thing you are here after all." Vesemir said as he grabbed the lamp.

I took another look around to see if anything else interesting that I could recognize and hopefully find just as useful, walking down further to back of the room and examining things on the shelves and-

I paused as I looked upon a blade sitting on a sword stand on one of the shelves. It was long, with a blade like an elongated kitchen knife and a triangular spur poking out of the back about halfway down the blade. Instead of a crossguard, a stylized handguard that looked like a horn bent back to protect the fingers. The blade itself was sharp along one long side, and down the back to the spur. It was clearly developed as a slashing weapon, although the needle-like point indicated that it could be used for stabbing as well. It was forged from some kind of metal that almost seemed to glow.

Carefully, I brought my hand close to it - and marveled at the sense of warmth that seemed to radiate from the blade. Peering closely at the blade, I could just make out words etched into it.

In Peace, Vigilance.

I choked a bit. "Uh. Vesemir?" I raised my voice. "I think I know what this is."

"Really? That's good to hear. It's a finely made sword, but there is something… off about it you could say. It's not cursed is it?" Vesemir asked as he came over.

"Not cursed at all, but very special. This is Vigilance. A sword made by possibly one of the greatest human blacksmiths of his age. Using ancient dragonbone, a magical balm to protect his hands from the forge fire, a grandmaster flame rune, a dragon egg, and a diamond of the highest quality he made a blade for the leader of an… order of warriors, I suppose you could call them. He used it to smite many great evils before it was boldly stolen by an order of assassins. The blade changed hands many times thereafter, with some master swordsmen pursuing the weapon their entire lives. Some claim that this legendary blade has had a life of its own and that its power is steadily growing. It was thought lost after a time. I guess the legends were true." I finished the tale of a sword I knew well from one of my favorite video game series.

I was still shocked it ended up here of all places! Though after the mudcrab and since historically the Witcherverse seems to be a multiversal hub I really shouldn't be.

Still, to think this specific sword found itself here! I guess the Conjunction of the Spheres was wider-reaching than I thought.

"Hmm, nice story. Blade is certainly magical and well made at least, though I doubt that is the whole truth of the matter. Stories have a way of becoming more grandiose over time, I've found. What was the name of this order of warriors?" he asked me curiously.

"The Grey Wardens." I answered.

"Never heard of them. Could be their actual name was something else a long while ago, and I doubt any human smith could make a blade this fine. Still, you think it's safe?"

"It should be. Vigilance was never described in legends as evil or bringing doom to people. At worst it is described as maybe semi-sentient. Either way, it should be safe to use and would be better than most swords out there." I explained. "May I?" I gestured towards it.

"Go ahead if you are so certain then. Though if you feel anything off, drop it and we can deal with it later." Vesemir nodded cautiously.

I barely restrained myself as I picked up the sword in my hands. I didn't know how to describe it.

It felt warm and powerful in a way that nothing else I ever held did, how merely having it in my hands felt as if it was empowering all parts of my being. If being a Witcher made me a peak human holding this sword somehow made me even more than that! I also felt some kind of connection, as if the sword was telling me as long as I was steadfast and strong it would aid me no matter what. It was without a doubt a legendary blade.

I gently set it down back on the sword rack.

"It's most certainly an amazing sword and would sing in a true master's hands, though as you proved the other day I'm far away from such mastery. Would you or any of the other Wolves want to use it?" I asked him.

Vesemir shrugged. "Eh. I'm an old man, set in my ways. I'm happy with the blades I use. I'm sure Eskel or Lambert wouldn't mind the chance to put it through its paces. You sure you don't want it?"

"I would love it… but I don't want to jump into using it before I learned how to use a sword better. This is a legendary weapon and deserves at least a good wielder. Besides, you did say I shouldn't rely on magic too much to get me through my fights."

He nodded. "Sounds reasonable. When the others get back, we'll figure out who wants it. Maybe if you do well in your training and no one else takes it up you can rethink making use of it since you know it's lore best."

"I'll see what I can do." I said with a nod as I turned away from the sword and walked down the aisle a bit, looking over other various other items that I couldn't even guess the purpose of.

Hmm… An oddly malevolent-feeling chunk of obsidian… some rings… a sphere of black crystal… a longbow… a suit of plate armor… a finely machined tube of metal… what I think is a stuffed monster claw or something…

Oooh! A chest! Wonder what's in there.

I was bending down to open it when Vesemir abruptly grabbed me by my shoulder and yanked me back. "Don't touch that! Gods, I thought I chained that thing up last time I was in here!" Vesemir said with a tone bordering on terror.

As he let go of me I quickly stepped back from the chest that had Vesemir of all people worried.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Don't rightly know to be honest. All I know is it's cursed something awful and that when we came across it it had somehow killed off a whole estate's worth of people in various and terrible ways. Only know that cause the Witcher who brought it in opened it while investigating the incident and was apparently transported somewhere and had to play a series of deadly games to appease the damn thing. According to him he nearly died during the process. He couldn't destroy it so the next best thing was to lock it up in dimeritium chains. Of course, it doesn't seem like anything we do keeps it locked up for long." Vesemir explained. "My bet it's some kinda powerful spirit or specter that possessed the chest itself and preys upon those that opens it."

Well, that was horrifying. "Sorry for almost opening it. I know you warned me about the stuff in here and-" Vesemir cut me off.

"Don't worry about it lad, without the chains it would be hard to tell the chest itself was cursed and it wasn't holding other items." Vesemir comforted me. "As it is, 'Chesty' here can spend-" this time it was me who interrupted.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Hmm? Oh, Chesty? Apparently that's what this thing called itself and-" I didn't hear the rest of it cause I was already fast walking out of the vault.

"Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope!" I said repeatedly as I hailtailed it out of there with a confused Vesemir chasing after me.

Meanwhile Chesty just sat there… menacingly.

---

"A haunted chest, eh? Can't say I'm surprised." Vesemir nodded as I explained the reason for my freak out. "Of course, given what you described I doubt there is an easy way to put the poor girl to rest."

"Which is why we keep it locked up till it gets bored and teleports away. I have no idea why it hung around for so long here." I shuddered at the thought of the murderous spirit being so close to where we sleep.

"Maybe my mage friend can offer their advice. Makes me seem like a poor Witcher if I didn't find some way to solve the problem before it can harm anyone else." Vesemir could only shake his head sadly. "Either way, it's a matter for another time. Let's get some breakfast first and plan out the rest of the day." Vesemir said as we walked down to the main hall to do just that.

Here was hoping that Chesty didn't pull a Brightwood Tower at any point.

Thankfully we arrived at the kitchen with no issue, Leo was already serving up our plates of eggs, sausage, and other breakfast foods while Ivar sat down at the table eating his food and Dogmeat ate from her own plate set on the floor. We got our plates rather quickly and all sat down together, and halfway through Vesemir started talking.

"Alright then, we got a couple of things to do before the snow really starts to fall and even a few things after that if it isn't too thick for a bit. First things first is that we need to take care of that forktail before it gets bold and tries attacking the castle to get at the animals. Markus and I will handle that and deal with some other issues that have been brewing in the valley for awhile now. Leo, you stay here to do your training, basic repairs to the main keep, make sure our supplies are in order, keep an eye on our guest and in general keep an eye on the place. Ivar, if you would be kind enough to go through the library and put the tomes there into something approximating order, that would be very useful."

"Gladly! I didn't want to say anything the other day but your indexing system is near non-existent so I might as well do it myself while making use of your books. While studying the forktail and other monsters of this valley would likely be quite fun I don't wish to get in your way." Ivar said with a respectful nod.

"I'll be sure he doesn't go anywhere he shouldn't and keep an eye open for Eskel, Lambert, and your contact for whenever they arrive." Leo said with a determined look.

"Be sure to sound the horn if anything happens and we'll come running back, alright?" Vesemir reminded him.

"Horn?" I asked curiously.

"An old warhorn I got decades ago. Blow that thing hard and there is nothing in the valley that won't hear it. Security for anyone outside the walls if something here happens." Vesemir explained. "It's an added precaution after the last time this place was attacked."

Right, that made sense.

"Any idea when the others will be here?" I asked as I finished my plate.

"Hard to say, but before the snow comes down hard at least and makes travel near impossible. They can help out with our cleaning efforts later since I assume it will take a few days to deal with most of it." Vesemir said as he finished off his own plate. "Now, let's clean up and head out. Witchers should never be sloppy."

Barring when we are in life and death battles with monsters of course, I don't believe for a second Vesemir hasn't had monster entrails hanging over him more than once in his life.

---

"You're bringing Dogmeat?" Vesemir asked curiously as he prepared his horse. Said hound happily wagged her tail at him.

"It's important for a Witcher hound to have experience with various kinds of monsters, right?" I pointed out.

"True, though be sure you limit her to tracking most of the time. Most hounds are sadly not cut out for dealing with monsters directly." Vesemir said as he bent down to pet her. "Let's make this hunt a lesson then. What is the best way to get a Forktail?" he asked me.

"Oh! I know this one. 'As for forktails, bait them thusly: pound a stake in the soil, bind a goat to it, then hide ye in nearto shrubbery posthaste.' Page 82 of Brother Adalbert's bestiary. Forktails must really love the taste of goat." I said while mentioning the group of them we bought earlier and who were now walking around the courtyard and grazing on the various patches of grass.

"They do, more so with winter so close. Which makes Kaer Morhen a target if we don't deal with this one soon. The walls weren't made to keep out a foe that can fly after all." Vesemir said as he walked over to one of the goats and started tying its lead to his horse.

"The… goat will be alright, won't it?" I asked the quite possibly very silly question.

"If we attack the fortail as it lands and before it can strike at it, yes. It could attempt to just grab it and fly off though, that's what the stake is for. Why do you ask?"

"It's just… the goat didn't ask to be bait so I would rather it not die in the process. Besides, wouldn't it be better to keep a live goat rather than a dead one?"

"It would, but in this job you use the tools you have available to you. Besides, it's just a goat. I value my horse but I won't overly risk my life for it. Worst-case scenario, this one dies so that all of our other goats can live. Seems like a fair trade to me."

"Needs of the many, I know… I do have an idea though to add to the trap." I spoke up with a smile.

"Oh? What might that be?" Vesemir asked curiously.

---

Not an hour later had Vesemir and I hiding behind some very nice shrubbery that I assumed wasn't too expensive while our poor tied-up goat was laying in the middle of a clearing next to the stake.

"Been nearly half an hour, you sure it will come?" I asked in a whisper.

"Be patient. Forktail likely doing a few circling passes beforehand. It'll come though." Vesemir reassured me. "Got your sword oiled up and the right potions taken?"

"Silver sword, draconid oil and Golden Oriole for its poisonous tail," I listed. "I will also be sure to watch out for more than just it's tail since it has plenty of other ways to kill me too."

"Good to see your monster lore is better than your sword play at least." Vesemir smirked a bit at my expense.

Any rebuttal on my end was cut off by a loud screeching roar as we spotted our prey descend from the sky and land on the ground not far from our now panicking goat. I stalked slowly forward and I was near certain I saw it lick its jaws. Closer, closer, closer… Now!

Once it was in range I quickly activated the carved Yrden symbols I had put on the stake and watched as several overlapping magical circles sprung to life around it, ensnaring the forktail within it's slowing field and the secondary zapping trap effect taking place.

Then Vesemir and I burst out of our hiding place and charged towards it, its reaction slowed and unable to defend itself as we got close. Both of our hands made the Sign for Quen, as neither of us wanted to run the risk of being bashed into a pulp by a wayward swing from it.

Vesemir went for the tail, while I, having more magical strength, went to the head to keep its attention. The forktail snapped its jaws at me, but was easily deflected by my shield. It then screeched in agony as Vesemir, having used the time to wind up a mighty blow, took off the creature's tail with a single powerful strike. It lashed back with a rear claw, but Vesemir easily pirouetted away from it.

I took the opportunity to blast it with Aard, staggering the forktail and giving Vesemir the opportunity to stab at its side. It bashed him back with a flap of its wings, but allowed me to slice at its throat.

And so it went, back and forth, Vesemir and I tag-teaming the forktail. Anytime it went for one of us, the other would be ready to blast it with a Sign, or chop at it with our blades. At one point, it tried to fly away, but between the missing tail and both of us shooting it out of the sky with Aard, it barely made it more than a dozen feet before we were atop it once again.

This fight could only have one outcome, and in a few minutes the forktail was splayed out on the grass, worn down from numerous blows and sword strikes. It looked at us hatefully, hissing lowly before Vesemir silenced it with a single precise stab in the back of the skull. With a shudder, it died.

We slayed a mighty kin to dragons with no injury to ourselves in less than a few minutes and thus took care of a potentially dangerous pest. And the best part? The goat was unharmed!

Though I imagine if goat therapy was a thing it would want it.

"Nice trick about putting so many Yrdens on the stake, I honestly never thought about anything like that before." Vesemir complimented while he was wiping his blade clean and I went to untie the goats' legs.

"'Any physical surface', never says that surface has to be just the ground or can't have delayed activation. I have abused that trick a lot. I even put them in tiny wooden discs and throw them at people when needed." I explained as I used Axii to calm the goat down.

"I know I said Signs shouldn't be your main weapon, but I will admit creative usages of it should always be encouraged. It helped get the job done on the beast and likely prevented it from flying off and us having to spend an afternoon tracking it down." Vesemir said as he sheathed his sword. "Anyway, might as well drag this back to Kaer Morhen and get the most out of it, good size if nothing else."

I nodded as I went to retrieve the horses while Vesemir went to work tying up the corpse in such a fashion that we should be able to hammock carry the fortail back between us. I decided to carry Goaty with me since he was still a little weak in the knees.

---

"So what are you gonna do with most of the parts?" I asked as it was nearing sunset and we had finally near finished off butchering the forktail for all it was worth and then some. The spinal fluid was a nice addition, a whole three bottles worth of the stuff.

Leo and Ivar had come to help on our return, the former more for practice and the latter FOR SCIENCE!

Between the four of us the whole forktail was cut apart and packed away for use in something later. A good deal of which I barely understood.

"The hide will catch a good price at market when properly tanned, bones can be ground up for high quality bone meal, certain parts like eyes and liver make excellent alchemical ingredients, the poison from its' tail has various applications, and of course we can smoke and salt lots of the meat to eat later. In fact, we can cook up most of the offal tonight, I think we earned it." Vesemir said with a smile.

"Oh! I hear that forktail is considered a delicacy in some restaurants! Wyvern steaks and eggs fetch a handsome price at many markets." Ivar chimed in.

"Yep," Vesemir agreed, "it's a good way for a Witcher to supplement their income on occasion. Can't just earn a way through monster contracts, after all. Not to mention always a waste not to eat at least some of what you kill most of the time. Barring a few types such as necrophages and the like which are inedible due to their rather toxic biology."

"I'll get the fire going. Eskel and Lambert will be upset they missed this." Leo said with a smile. "They will have to make do with preserved parts."

"We can try and store some of the meat in the colder parts of the larder in case they come soon, but if they complain they can hunt their own." Vesemir declared. "Tomorrow our hunting will sadly won't be as straightforward though."

"Why's that?" Ivar asked curiously.

"Because we are finally clearing out the Bastion." Vesemir said with a hard look.

He was about to literally confront the ghosts of his past.