Chapter 43: Carbon
August stayed in the forest for the night, setting up a small camp. Making fire to cook some meat for himself, he heard a faint sound coming from somewhere in the depths of the forest.
Getting a bow in his hands, August made his way towards the sound that was coming from afar. Slowly approaching the source. He walked out of the forest to the forest edge. It was surrounded by trees on one side and a cliff on another.
In the distance, he saw a dark figure that stood high, shielding a moon that was right behind it. It stood on 2 hooves and gave a loud neigh.
(Picture here)
The horse was chased by the Warg. Whose eyes were beaming red, sharp teeth were grinning at the horse while the horse was rearing up.
With a precise aim, August pulled a string on his bow and aimed it right at the head of the Warg. Releasing a string with a howling sound, an arrow made its way at incredible speed making its way towards its goal.
Upon reaching its destination, an arrow pierced Warg's skin, making its way right in the creature's head, with droplets of blood splashing in all. An arrow made its way right inside the beast's brain, shutting him down.
Eyes of the Warg lost light as his legs lost strength. With eyes remaining open, but at the same time hollow, the beast dropped dead without giving out its last howl.
August made his way towards the horse that stayed on the edge of the cliff. His fur was black as night, slightly shining from the moonlight. Muscles like a sculpture stand out from under the skin. Long black as night tail and mane.
August approached the horse, to which the horse remained absolutely silent, without hostile reaction. August run his hand across its head and the horse let August pet her.
"You will be the one to take me anywhere I go, Moon" Silently said August
Using Axii, August commanded the horse to follow him. Like that he brought her to the camp he set.
….
The rest of the journey was without any big accident, only a few wild animals that could pose no threat to a Witcher.
Travelling for a few days, August arrived at his destination, the city that is engraved in the mountain. Capital of the dwarfs and gnomes, a city named carbon.
An enormous mountain that goes right in the sky, plain field all around without a single bit of forest. The top of the mountain was painted white because of the never melting snow.
August walked beside his horse, slowly approaching and entering the gates that were engraved in the mountain. Few small people were guarding the gates, but what was more surprising, it that all around the gates were surrounded by the huge ballistic that served as a defence.
They are creatures known to be never defeated. Humans tried to take this very city, with countless troops,, mages and tactics. But nothing worked. No matter how hard humans tried, the city of Carbon never was defeated. And one of the reasons for such an achievement is gnomes and dwarfs.
Don't mix them up. They are completely different in nature.
Gnomes are known for their exceptional skills with metal. They are the best in the creation of anything that is made of metal. They are extremely clever, therefore there is never a lack of inventors that create something new. They love to have fun and are usually easygoing, but also like to keep secrets.
Dwarfs on the other side are not craftsmen or inventors. Their height is somewhere around human chest height. But because of that, they are very strong warriors. They can endure much more and also they are superior to humans in strength. Like gnomes, they like to have fun. Unlike gnomes, they are much more cheerful and don't try to be secretive.
August's face was covered in the hood, to hide away his appearance, since only a few accepted Witchers freely. Once he was close to the gates, the dwarf guards asked,
"Hey stranger, show us ya face. We won't allow yo to pass without that!"
August took down the hood, revealing his long hair tied in the tail behind. But his eyes almost always were the first thing that attracted the attention of others.
"Ah, you are a Witcher! Haven't seen your kind in a while, ya know," said the dwarf, quite relaxed compared to the guards that were in the human settlement.
"There is not much of our kind left" calmly replied August, asking "Can I pass"
With a snort, the guard replied, "Your truth, humans are always up for destruction on those that they will desperately need later."
"Ya, go ahead, just don't cause too much trouble," said Dwarf, gesturing for August to walk inside.
August made his way inside and walked into the nearby tavern that he could see. Funny enough, the name of the tavern was 'drunk gnome'.
Walking inside, August was overwhelmed by the loud voices of both gnomes and dwarfs that all were drinking.
Without disturbing anyone, August walked towards the bar counter, taking a seat.
A short man with a long beard came closer the August and looked him in the eyes before his eyes widened and he almost shouted attracting everyone's attention.
"Bloody hell, isn't it Red Demon of Ellander!"
The entire tavern went silent. Nobody dared to speak, with every second passing tension increased.
August was already getting a firm grip on his weapon and was ready to fight. Then suddenly the entire tavern was enveloped in a stream of questions that flooded August.
"We have a red demon here! What a surprise! I'm sure he showed hell to those that laid under his blade."
"Witcher! Rare to see someone like you in our places. We rarely need monster slayers."
"Oi Witcher! Tell us some stories of the monsters you slew! Beer is on me!"
One thing August wasn't ready for is that they behaved so differently compared to Elves and Humans that they could be hardly compared. With a sigh, he relaxed and was about to ask about the job he can do when a small but very wide gnome tapped him on the shoulder.
August looked down on him, silently asking what the matter was.
" I want to challenge you!" said Gnome, looking right in August's eyes.
"I don't think it is reasonable of you to challenge me to a fight," said August
Gnome showed a smirk. "Fight? Who said fight?" said a Gnome with a laugh.
"I challenge you to a drinking competition!" said Gnome with a challenging grin.
August didn't know to be happy or to cry, but playing just to get a drink was a useless thing to do.
"What are the stakes?" August asked, figuring out if he could make this gnome forge him a weapon.
"Gold of course, or if you can't afford that, I will happily take your elven 'not stolen' bow," said Gnome pointing at the bow hanging on the back of the Witcher.
August inquired, "What is there for me?"
Gnome, being a bit tipsy, said "Request what you want !"
August thought for a bit before raising the stakes
"I will drink against you and whoever you choose as a second contestant, and raise the stake. I will put my dark horse that is outside of the tavern and a bow, for the 2 swords!"
"That is a bit too much!" argued the gnome.
A dwarf approached the gnome from the back and tapped him on the back.
"Do not score, everything is fine, he has 0 chances against both of us"
Gnome chuckled saying "Bloody Kilrald freaking Dosald, when did you return?!"
The dwarf chuckled "Just recently you rotten snitch, drinking without me?! I'm sure you have you bit of fun, so now let's welcome our dear guest and drink some for my return. So Kuldin, accept the challenge, we will leave this boy without pants in a few minutes!"
"It is not you who will have to pay if we lose! Are you ready to pay in a case when we lose?" shouted Kuldin.
The dwarf started to laugh showing his teeth "Don't worry, I earned quite a fortune this time selling goods" said Kilrald
"You accept?" asked August
Both of them shouted, bumping their fists "HELL YEAH"
…..
August walked out of the tavern dragging drunk Gnome along. Since now this poor creature owns August's two swords. That August was lacking at the moment.
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