Paring Things Down

Chapter 493

Roy waved his arm over the empty workstation before him, and five herbs appeared. "See if you can recognize these herbs."

Letho, Kiyan, and the sorcerers picked one herb each and tried to find out what kind of herbs these were. They observed them closely and smelled them, and five minutes later, they froze.

"And I thought I knew every single type of herb out there." Kalkstein held the blue herb tightly. "But not even I recognize this, which means…"

"That's deathbell, and it's poisonous, so be careful." Roy looked at the rest of the herbs. "Nirnroot, blisterwort, bleeding crown, and bloodthorn vine. They're all Whiterun's herbs."

"I need to research this." Kalkstein was starting to spasm like he had an episode of fits, and an almost manic grin cracked out on his face. "This is something from another world, and its properties must be vastly different. This means new combinations. New potions. We can create something truly unique to this land!"

Letho and Kiyan were starting to breathe heavily too. Anyone who loved alchemy or plants would be greatly interested in new herbs. Remembering something, a sweet smile curled Kiyan's lips. "Evelyn will be interested in this."

"Slow down, people," Roy said. "That's not just it. I have more to spill."

"You have more of these?" Kalkstein was shocked.

Triss, however, was thinking about something else, and she looked at Lytta with a bit of envy. "So you knew he came back from another world?"

"Of course." Lytta nodded, her hair dancing on her shoulders, and a smug smile curled her lips. "He told me everything last night, or I wouldn't have let him come."

Triss took a deep breath and stared down, holding her talisman sadly.

***

"Fine, we buy that story," Coen said. "But how'd you manage to get into another world?"

"It happened in Cintra's castle, didn't it?" Felix's eyes glinted. "Triss remembered a few men attacking you. They were the ones who sent you to… Tamriel?"

Roy looked at Triss. She looks fine. And he nodded. Noticing the look from him, Triss smiled. "For some reason, they only erased my memories instead of killing me." There was bitterness behind that smile.

Roy fell into silence for a while, then he said, "No need to remember it anymore. I'll fill in the gaps. Triss and I were searching for Ciri in the castle when four men came to stop us. And…" Roy was starting to hesitate, like he didn't want to talk about that memory.

Coral quickly held his hand, comforting him.

"And they're incredibly famous people," Roy said grimly, like he was angry. "And I'm sure you've heard of them. All of you. I was worried they might attack the orphanage, so I called a meeting here. They still do not know I have returned. I was fortunate enough to enlist the help of a powerful sorcerer in Skyrim. Thanks to his spatial magic, I managed to come home."

That was a lie. Roy came back home all by himself, but the Worldgate was something related to the Elder Blood, and that was a complex matter he didn't want to tell anyone just yet.

***

"It's not like you to hesitate, kid." Letho patted Roy's shoulder and encouraged, "You killed the projection of an evil god in Vizima and faced off the legendary devil in La Valette's land. You shouldn't be so wary."

Auckes frowned and complained, "You promised you'd never keep secrets from us. You promised you'd never face any danger alone, so what's with the holdup? You want to break that promise?"

"No, I'm just trying to figure out how to explain this." Roy took a deep breath and looked at the witchers who were filled with anticipation. "The people who attacked me were Erland, Ivar Evil-Eye, Elgar, and Arnaghad."

An eerie silence fell upon them. The witchers' smiles froze, and they clenched their fists. They couldn't speak, as if they were grabbed by their throats. The only sound was the beating of their hearts.

A long time later, suspicion flared in Serrit's eyes, and he staread at Roy, hoping the young witcher would show a hint of nervousness. "Ivar? But that's impossible." Yet there was only determination in his eyes.

"Elgar… That's a familiar name, though one I haven't heard in years." Vesemir closed his eyes, and a conflicted look rose on his face. There was shock, but also relief. "The diagram we found in Kaer Morhen was derived from the gear he left us. I have met Arnaghad once a few hundred years ago. He's the founder of the Bear School. A burly man with eyes devoid of any emotion."

"Ivar Evil-Eye defected from the Bear School and founded the Viper School in Gorthur Gvaed." There was respect in Letho's eyes. "A few decades ago, he told Kolgrim to search for the school's diagrams and promptly disappeared. Berengar said he was sighted in Aedirn once."

"After Kaer Seren's destruction under that avalanche, Erland left Liber Tenebrarum at the ruins, and then he started roaming this world alone," Coen said. "He met with Jerome during the battle of Marnadal once."

"All the first generation witchers have gone missing, as far as I know," Serrit said. "They're incredible fighters, no doubt about that. After all, they had gone through a Trial far deadlier and more painful than the one we went through. But why'd they gather in one place? And how can Ivar and Arnaghad get along? They're enemies. And if he's alive, why didn't they come back to us?"

"Simple." Letho slammed his hand on the table, looking around confidently. "When he showed up at Marnadal and met up with Jerome, we guessed that someone or something was controlling him, and we posited that the other grandmasters from every other school might be under control too. And now the kid's testament proves that our guess is right."

Everyone froze. They could see a big puzzle being assembled piece by piece, and a grand answer was starting to show up, prompting them to chase after it.

***

"But what's their reason for doing this?" Kiyan couldn't understand. "They showed up on the battlefield in Marnadal and attacked Roy in the castle of Cintra? What kind of entity could be powerful enough to control them?"

"Letho got one thing wrong." Roy shook his head and added, "The grandmasters were never under something's control, and they confessed that. They willingly joined a secret organization, and the reason they showed up at the battlefield was because of the souls of the dead. And they attacked me because they thought I inadvertently took a divine artifact away."

Roy was reminded of what they call the shard of the Most High. He didn't care where it came from, but it belonged to him and was bound to his soul. No one could take it from him.

"They worked together and leapt into warzones just to collect souls for some organization?" Auckes blurted, then he curled up a little. It felt like a gust of wind just blew down his neck, and he muttered, "Sounds evil, but that doesn't seem like something Ivar would do. What's his end goal?"

"No idea," Roy said. "They thought I was in the way of their goal, so they did something to kick me into another world." Roy had been in the middle of reviving, so he didn't see exactly how the grandmasters sent him away.

There was a hint of pity rising in everyone's eyes. Exile was worse than death in some cases, and they thought Roy must've gone through something bad.

"A spell of exile?" Triss frowned. "Sounds like goetia, and the brotherhood has forbidden that."

"Perhaps they used some tool to do that," Coen said. "We found a bottle in a fortress in Amell that used to house a djinn. If djinns can predict wars, they can exile people too, can't they?"

***

"They told you that much?" Felix cocked his eyebrow. "If I were them, I'd have killed you right away."

"Ivar was polite at first. He wanted to negotiate." Roy heaved a sigh. "So was Elgar and Erland. They held themselves back."

Letho, Auckes, and Serrit heaved a sigh of relief. If Ivar, the celebrated witcher who swore to chase the Wild Hunt away and bring peace to the world, became a monster that slaughtered innocents, it would be a hard reality to face.

"But Arnaghad went for the kill right away." Roy could still remember how it felt to have his body sliced open, and how death descended on him. He didn't care what Arnaghad was, and he would make him pay for that.

"I've heard rumors about the Bears being cold-blooded, heartless bastards." Lambert shook his head. "I am not surprised Arnaghad did that, but don't you worry. We'll avenge you. The grandmasters are nothing but relics of the past. They should've been buried in the annals of history. Now that he's attacked you, we have reason to cut him down."

"He's right." Auckes said. "He's our enemy."

Coen said, "Are you sure that's the right decision to make right away? You want to antagonize the grandmasters and the organization they work with?"

And the witchers fell silent.

"We should try to get in touch with them," Aiden suggested, his scar glinting for a bit. "We'll pretend we don't know Roy and see what they're up to. Find out if they'll become a threat to us and the orphanage."

"First, you'll have to track them down, and then?" Felix shook his head and scoffed. "Make them realize what they did was wrong and apologize to Roy? You think that's going to happen? The moment they attacked Roy, they became our enemies," he said coldly, but Roy thought it was sweet. "They will not escape us."

"We need to come up with a plan to deal with them." Roy looked at the sorcerers and added, "And they have a powerful sorcerer with them. His name is Idarran. Anyone know him? Who is he? I remember him using a double cross to summon mutated insects."

Idarran was the one who interrupted the casting of the portal, plunging Roy and Triss into imminent danger.

Coral mused over the question. Something clicked for Triss, and she went red with excitement. "Idarran of Ulivo! I've read about him. He's an expert in crossbreeding, mutation, and genetics. He has created numerous terrifying creatures, including cross breeds of insects and amphibians and gigantified monsters."

"Remember this, people?" Coen whipped out a dark-gold dog tag. "We killed a mutated insect in Haern Caduch and found this buried in its flesh."

Triss took the dog tag and observed it closely. "He likes to leave dog tags within the creatures he creates."

"So you mean this guy gathered the grandmasters?" Eskel asked.

Roy thought back to the time he met Idarran. He's a dark guy. "He's not that impressive from what I've seen. And he has this despicable feeling about him. Doesn't look that lovable either. I don't think he'd be able to convince the grandmasters to join him."

"He's not famous at all. It would more closely resemble infamy. The creatures he's created still exist in all corners of the world, terrorizing innocents, but he is also known as the student of a certain sorcerer." Triss paused for a moment, and she said with respect, "Creator of the double cross, Alzur."

Alzur? The look on the witchers' faces changed, like something important was mentioned.

Coral suddenly tightened her grip on Roy's arm, and she turned red with excitement.

"And Alzur also bears another name. He and his mentor, Cosimo Malaspina, are the creators of witchers."