Chapter 40

"I get that you have no reason to trust me, and in fact are likely very concerned how I knew about your informant within Flotsam, but you have my word that I wouldn't have called to meet with you unless I had some information you would want. Namely, I have intel that you and your unit can use to remove someone who embodies some of the worst qualities of humankind from the world tonight if you move quickly. Loredo himself, along with a good deal of his corrupt cronies." I offered, trying hard to ignore the nearby shuffling in the bushes on the cliff to Iorveth's and my side alongside the sound of controlled breathing and arrow strings being held taut.

"Ha!" OK, how he managed to fit an entire paragraph's worth of contempt into one syllable I'll never know. "Do you now? Oddly partisan for a Witcher, don't you think? What's in it for you, I wonder?"

"To be totally honest, I hate men like Loredo and I know for a fact that if nothing is done he will harm, kill and do worse to people if not taken down as soon as possible. I'm very much a 'if you can do something right you should' kinda guy. In most places common sense, laws and such hold me back, but here in Flotsam I could potentially make a difference to improve the everyday lives of those that live here by slaying a different kind of monster, though I can't do it alone. So I went to a group I know who have similar interests and hoping to, for at least this occasion, team up. I'm not sure how much you or even the Scoia'tael as a whole know about me, but back in Kovir I'm known somewhat as a bleeding heart." I explained honestly.

Not that Iorveth took my word for it. One lip quirked in a wry smile. "Seems like they messed up your batch if there's a Witcher with an actual heart running around. Well, other than one he cut out, anyway." He theatrically waved at his nose. "Anyone else smell bullshit here, or is that just me?"

"Yeah, I get how it sounds. I really do. Just hear me out though and then you can decide what you want to do from there. I can't force you to trust me but I hope my actions can convince you." Before he could respond back I pushed forward. "There is a cave system to the west of Flotsam, just past these cliffs, that connects to a trapdoor that leads into Loredo's compound-"

"I know of it," he interrupted me. "My men use the nekkers there to dispose of the occasional corpse. How does that help me?"

"Because I just cleared out the nekkers earlier today and Loredo's men have dropped their guard thinking their old smuggler's route is clear and safe again. Assuming you are smart you can use that backdoor to bypass all of Loredo's defenses and go for the man himself, but only if you act fast. Even better if you send a force outside the walls to distract his men so less inside to do security." I told him.

The brow not covered by the bandage on Iorveth's face shot up. "You killed all of the nekkers in there? By yourself?"

"I cheated. I smoked the vast majority out into a preplanned kill area using the main cave entrance as a choke point. Pretty sure a good deal escaped through smaller tunnels into the forest but nekkers likely won't be back for at least a little while." I explained. "The point is that it's clear enough for a strike force to go in undetected since as far as the good Commandant's men know only I am aware of it and I have no reason to share it with anyone."

Iorveth rubbed his chin with one hand, leaning forward and gazing at me with a contemplative expression. "You, a human, are willing to sell out your fellow humans - for what? Gold? I fear there's not much of that to be had here. References? All of the ones I can offer you wouldn't help you much in human society."

"To be fair most other humans don't see me as one and I could care less about the opinions of those that let ignorance, fear and hate guide their actions. And like said, I'm mostly doing this because I believe it is the right thing to do. Witchers might not work for free, but then again I'm not working for anyone. This is my decision." I said with all the conviction I could muster.

Iorveth gave out a genuine bark of laughter. "Ha! Look at what we have here, my fellow Squirrels - a genuine Good Zerrikanian!" He leapt to his feet, and turned towards the woods. "Come on out! Let's meet our new 'friend.'" How did he manage to pronounce the quotation marks?

And-oh. That's a LOT of bows. Approximately twenty-five elves and dwarves stepped out of the woods, about half of them keeping bows and crossbows trained on me. Should I be flattered that Iorveth of all people thought I was worth that many arrows?

"I assume that means you are at least willing to humor me? I can't imagine I got you to trust me as far as you can throw me with just one conversation. What happens now?" I asked, testing the waters.

"Trust, but verify," Iorveth said. A sneaky grin spread over his face. "It's a lovely story you spin - why not have a few of us confirm it? With you as our guide, naturally."

"Deal. Would be best anyhow since I know the cave system at this point. I just hope you have a strong stomach since the place likely still smells like a mix of heavy smoke and death. At least I burned the nekker bodies after I carved them up so there shouldn't be any necrophages around." I commented.

A firm hand landed upon my shoulder, one of Iorveth's elves having snuck up behind me when I was focused on him. "My lady Toruviel will be your escort for the walk. I trust you have no 'issues' with non-humans touching you?" Iorveth said sarcastically.

The armored female elf with her dark hair in pigtails hanging in front of her shoulders stepped up in front of me, looking every bit as aggressive and primed for a fight as I would expect of her.

Huh, I was not expecting to run into her at all. "Nice to meet you. The ballads about you tying up the White Wolf and then getting the shit kicked out of you are pretty famous." I said honestly, few were the people who could get the drop on Geralt.

Toruviel chuckled. "Glad you enjoyed them," she said in a light-hearted tone. Then she punched me in the gut.

I doubled over a bit, because she was quite strong, but at least not gasping for breath and on the ground in pain like I likely would if I was pure human. Pretty sure she was holding back and the punch felt more playful somehow anyway.

"Gasp Yup… I deserved that. I'm sorry for my rudeness, my lady." I apologized.

"As well you should," she sniffed. "Commander, we're ready when you are."

Iorveth nodded. Hopping down from the root, he approached me and gave me a considering once-over. "Strange. You seem younger than your brow would suggest." He shrugged. "Lead the way, Master Witcher. Know that if you betray me, you'll be the first to die."

"I get that, and even respect it in a weird way. Let's go then and start some trouble." I said with a nod.

---

"Here it is, I think the large pile of ash and bone just next to it should be a good indicator I killed a lot of nekkers. I also got a sack full of fresh hearts if you want to look at that too." I said as I motioned towards the cave and the large burnt out pile near it.

Considering how close we were to Flotsam, even if we were out of sight for the most part, I recommended a stealthy approach. It helped that it was night and we weren't carrying any torches. I think elves and dwarves have naturally better eyesight than humans.

"Just inside is the cave system I talked about. Fair warning, I can't be sure if Loredo posted any of his people inside yet at this point. If he has… well they can't get in our way. Though I recommend just checking things out rather than kill them outright before any planned attack." I suggested.

Iorveth was taking a moment to look over the burn pile. He let out a low whistle. "I see you've been busy, vatt'ghern. You certainly live up to the title, at least." He narrowed his eyes and peered into the gloom of the cave. Gesturing to two dwarves and an elf, he motioned for them to advance inside. The two dwarves, one hefting an axe and the other a crossbow, crept in. The ax-wielder took the front, while the dwarf with the crossbow covered him over his shoulder. Behind them, the much taller elf padded soundlessly, a compound bow in his hands and a sword on each hip.

The three of us - Iorveth, Toruviel, and I - waited in silence for what felt like an hour, but what couldn't have been longer than ten minutes. Occasionally, Toruviel would survey the woods and make sure there was nobody nearby; Iorveth, for his part, never took his eye off of me. It was rather disconcerting, to be honest. It's like he's trying to stare into my soul… I would not be surprised if soul-gazing was a skill some beings had here. Although that would be awkward for an entire host of reasons.

Before the worrying chain of thought I heard three sets of footsteps coming from the cave. The same three returned not long after, the leading elf I finally recognized as the one that in games wanted to murder a succubus for rejecting him and did murder her lovers, Ele'yas.

I… don't think I can judge him based on the creepy murderous stalker he could become in the future, espeically if it only happened after spending the night with a literal sex demon and that might have been butterflied away at this point. I'll reserve judgement for the moment since I don't know the specifics.

Any further thoughts on the matter were put to the side when Iorveth spoke up. "Report."

"The cave's clear of nekkers alright, he wasn't lying about that. No one was guarding the trapdoor on the inside at least, though I think I heard some feet shuffling through the floorboards. Saw a few footprints in the cave proper - not sure if it's just a guard checking out the Witcher's story, or if Loredo's started running regular patrols through there. Trapdoor's locked, but nothing a quick lockpicking or even a strong hit won't fix." Ele'yas said in a no-nonsense tone.

"Like I said, there is a limited window to make use of this pathway before it becomes too full of security, or the nekkers come back. What do you want to do?" I asked Iorveth who looked like he was thinking hard.

"Give it two days," he finally said. "So far you've been honest, but you wouldn't be the first human to give the elves just enough rope with which to hang themselves. So you'll be our guest until then. I suspect you'll be able to make yourself comfortable there. Don't worry, you'll have company." Iorveth said with a smirk.

"Fine by me… though how would you feel about me having a plus-one? He's cool, I promise."

Iorveth gave me a side-long look. "Trust me - you won't have to worry about that. In fact, he's already waiting for you back at camp. Along with his own 'plus-one'."

Oh shit. I did not think that while I was at the meeting spot Margot would rat Ivar out like that! I mean… it makes sense, but still!

I guess I should be happy they didn't kill him…

"Please tell me you didn't torture him or anything for info. He's my friend and that would really put a damper on this working relationship we got going so far."

"He's fine - for now. Don't worry. The hard part was making him shut up since he seems to think being kidnapped is a grand adventure. Ele'yas, what did you say he was doing on the walk to camp?" Iorveth asked the commando.

"Memorizing oral notes regarding his observations. Impressive considering how he was blindfolded at the time." Ele'yas responded.

Yep, that sounded like Ivar.

---

"Markus! Did you know that there is an incredible arachas specimen that this unit has tamed?!" Ivar asked me excitedly among the various guerillas in their hidden camp, Dogmeat gnawing on a bone at his side.

Iorveth, overhearing Ivar, waggled his hand in a 'so-so' gesture. "'Tamed' is a bit too strong of a word. It's more like we've managed to channel its appetite towards other things while we are walking into camp."

"Perhaps. But the fact that it has learned to recognize you as a source of food for which it does not need to hunt is amazing in its own right! It speaks to an intelligence beyond the innate ability to camouflage itself in the environment and ambush prey! Who knew being kidnapped would open new insights into my research! We should do it more often!" Ivar said with a beaming smile.

Iorveth turned to me and gave me a questioning look. "Yes, he is like this all the time. No, doesn't seem to have any fear for his life when monsters are involved. Yes, I chose to make him my friend. In my defense, he chased after me till I said yes. Don't judge."

"I wouldn't dare." Was I imagining things, or was that a hint of a smile on that dour face? Nah, couldn't be.

"So, other than the arachas, how have you guys been? I can say that Iorveth has been happy enough to have us over for a bit while we collude together. So that is something."

"Well, other than grabbing me off the streets suddenly I must say the stay here so far has not been too terrible. It seems the reputation of the Scoia'tael to be no better than bandits has been exaggerated a great deal." Ivar said.

One of the elves 'accidentally' kicked me in the backside as he walked past. "Oops," he said, utterly unrepentant.

"Oh sure, they do that sometimes, but honestly not much different than back at the university all things considered. At least they're not spilling beer all over me when they do it. One time a rival of mine broke into my room and-" Ivar started to say before I cut him off.

"Good to hear. Also, thanks for grabbing our stuff and the horses too. I should be more concerned about how good you are at disappearing people… but in this case it is useful. I hope Margot has a good cover story for us." I said to Iorveth.

"A fitting one, given your profession. Did you know there was a contract for endregas back at the inn?" Iorveth replied, waving a piece of parchment in my face. "To better facilitate your hunt, you decided to head into the forest for a few days. Everyone knows the biggest endregas live far from Flotsam. And of course, you have the coin to hire a few elven servants to fetch your belongings to spare you having to walk into town for your things."

"Smart, will need to bag a few later if I want back into town for whatever reason, but smart. So, what happens now? We stay here a few days while you plan the assault?"

"Of course, of course," Iorveth said genially. "Just as soon as my informants in Flotsam confirm your story and make sure there's no ambush planned inside Loredo's compound."

"Fair precaution. I just hope your people don't put themselves too much in harm's way in the process."

"Moril is one of the best," Iorveth said confidently. "She'll be in and out before anyone even knows she's there. Nobody notices an elven servant, after all."

Oh… shit. Moril is a Scoia'tael spy?! I mean… I guess that would be a good reason why she specifically was targeted, captured, and subjected to torture in the game. Still…

"Be that as it may, just tell her to be careful. Loredo is a right monster after all, and there are worse fates than death." I warned.

"Why not teach your grandfather how to string a bow?" Iorveth shot back. "Tell me something I don't know."

He's got me there. Iorveth and his people have basically been stuck in hostile territory since the end of the war and with no safe place to retreat beyond what they could carve out in the wilds away from prying eyes. I will leave it up to him since this is his field of expertise.

"Fair point… So, anyone interested in the anatomy of monsters?" I asked, figuring that the next few days were going to be equal parts boring and awkward.

Ivar raised his hand, a happy smile on his face. Thanks buddy, I knew I could count on you.

Interestingly enough, a dwarf and three elves also raised their hands. Well, guess it's time for class.