Chapter 402: The Hidden Truth

The villagers returned to their homes eventually, and peace came back to the fortress. Golden rays shone upon the yard, but they failed to wash away the loneliness Keldar felt.

The grandmaster put his hands behind his back, his eyes fixated on Roy. He was inscrutable, but there was a hint of admonishment in his eyes. "Taking their lives was unnecessary, Roy. That was impetuous of you." Keldar spoke before anyone could ask.

"I showed them mercy. Time and time again." Roy shook his head. He argued, "I let them live, and yet they saw my act of mercy as a sign of weakness. They were insulting our integrity and the innocence of a woman. With the pull of a trigger, I ended their lives without causing any pain. I call that… mercy."

Roy's eyes shone with respect. "But the strength of your Axii was astounding. I never thought it could hypnotize a group of people at the same time. And without eye contact as well. Is that the true power of Roar and Wingflap?"

"Power is not something to be abused, lad. You should not have used them to harm humans."

"I disagree." Roy stared into Keldar's eyes. He argued, "You call them humans, and yet they have crossed the line no human should. What makes them different from a monster, then? And witchers kill monsters."

"Their operation was doomed to fail from the beginning. What they were doing was a fruitless struggle. There was no need to take extreme measures." Keldar shook his head in disappointment. "Apparently, your goals differ from our school's values."

Roy's cheeks twitched. He got brainwashed by his school's values. I might be the knight of a Lady of the Lake, but not even I am that stubborn. It was understandable to not kill innocents, but not when humans were threatening the witchers' very lives. That'd be a waste of power. Power would be nothing but mere decoration if not used.

Roy did not budge a single inch, but he was obviously stiffening up.

Coen took a deep breath. There was hesitation in his eyes, and yet he spoke. He spoke with respect, but a bigger part of it was concern. "Keldar, what happened back there? Why… Why do you not have a shadow?"

***

A gust of cold wind blew from the seas, climbing up the cliff and billowing Keldar's hair, almost blowing him off the ground.

"What happened to your hands and face?" Coen couldn't shake the earlier memory off. He wondered why Keldar's cheeks and hand paled and started to rot while he was chasing down the villagers. Even now, he could still see signs of the rot. "Are you hurt? Or cursed?"

Igsena held Coen's arm tightly. She too saw what happened. At first, she was delighted. Delighted that Keldar settled a nigh unsolvable problem effortlessly. But then that delight was replaced by fear.

"I will tell you in due time," Keldar said slowly. "But now is not that time."

"Excuses. Keldar, even now, you still wish to deceive your own student?" Roy shook his head. "You will never tell him the truth."

Roy was starting to sort out everything he saw over the last couple of days. Keldar and Vesemir were born in the same era. Vesemir was already three hundred years old, but oddly enough, Keldar was more than a hundred years younger than him. A hundred years ago, the avalanche almost killed every single Griffin. Keldar has no shadow, and his body is rotting.

Roy had a vague guess about what the truth really was, but he needed more information. "Look in the mirror, Keldar. I've seen that look before." Roy said, "Letho made that kind of face right before he charged into imminent death."

He turned to Coen. The younger Griffin was tense, his fists balled. And yet Keldar did not speak.

"You wish to face this crisis alone. Keeping it a secret from your own student." Roy stared at Keldar's old, pale face. "But are you sure you can face this all by yourself? I thought you'd be more honest at your age, so why can't you tell us about your woes? Coen can help, and I can chip in too."

Roy genuinely said, "I might be a newbie. My capabilities might be limited for the plans I have in mind, but I do not fight alone. I am not alone." He put an emphasis on the last part.

"I have the backing of eleven witchers and a mage. I disagree with how you conduct yourself, but that doesn't mean I deny your whole outlook on life. I too am a witcher. Say the word, and I will help you," Roy emphasized. "You can even treat this as a request if you don't want me to help for free. Just pay me however much you like."

Keldar was having an internal struggle. Under the sun he stood. A long, long time later, he heaved a sigh, his eyes speaking of resignation and sorrow. "Come in, then."

***

They entered Keldar's abode and sat around the table. A seal covered up the basement's entrance, and light from the sconces shone on Keldar's face. With a hoarse and sorrowful voice, he told a story. A story regarding the great avalanche that befell Kaer Seren. It was a story Coen had told him, but the one Keldar spoke of was a different version.

And Keldar's version… painted an even darker history.

"A hundred years ago, mages who eyed the secrets hidden within these walls launched an ambush on us, saying they were allies of justice who came to vanquish the evildoers. They sent an avalanche crashing down on us, burying the fortress and all witchers in it."

"But you lived," Coen interjected nervously.

Keldar looked at his student. There was a small smile on his lips, but yet he dashed his student's hopes mercilessly. "No. I, too, perished in that tragedy."

"Impossible. This cannot be true. For forty years I've lived with you, and you're no different from a regular human." Coen shot up in disbelief. He held Keldar's hand and felt the warmth of life coming from him. "You're still alive!"

Igsena held his hand. She didn't want to do this, but she shook her head.

A bitter smile hung on Keldar's lips. "I, too, thought I was alive. I thought I was fortunate enough to survive. That the avalanche failed to bury the lowest room. Through the snow I clawed. Through the cold, dead bodies of my brethren, I clawed. And eventually, I reached the surface."

His voice started to break, and his eyes glossed over. "But the snow was not what I broke out of. What I broke out of… was a grave. Sixty-six gravestones stood around me, and one of them had my name carved on it."

Coen plopped back down like a discouraged little lion, his face blank. Roy kept his silence, but his eyes were as wide as almonds. This did not come as too much of a surprise for him. So that's why he's about a hundred years younger than Vesemir, even though they were born in the same era.

Roy imagined how Keldar must feel when the first thing he saw after he came back out were the graves of him and his fallen brethren. And he could just imagine how despairing it must feel to see his home buried in snow. Which begs the question. Who or what kept Keldar alive for a hundred years?

"I apologize for the lies, Coen." Apologetically, Keldar said, "Erland is a true knight. A knight who upholds the values taught to us. He was the only one who survived the avalanche, given that he was stargazing. Our corpses were retrieved and buried in the mountains. Erland promptly left after that final deed. I do not fault him for his actions. He had faith in humanity. He had faith that his efforts would change how the world viewed witchers. Alas, he failed, and his faith crumbled. And his brethren died along with the death of his faith. Left with nothing to hope for, Erland left the fortress."

Roy heaved a sigh. His opinion on Erland changed a slight bit. He watched his life's work destroyed and his brethren killed in one fell swoop. His faith was crushed, and he was left with nothing to live for.

Keldar stared at the crackling flames in the fireplace, his eyes glinting with reminiscence and gratitude. "Before Erland departed, he left a letter that detailed his life's experience. And his personal notebook titled The Hunt. He buried all the experiences and knowledge he had gained in my grave. And his notebook changed everything."

Softly, Keldar said, "It was a series of coincidental events. I can't explain why it happened, but the notebook underwent a change. This land… the avalanche… the grudge held by the souls of all who perished in the tragedy… Something affected the change."

Keldar looked at the locked door. There was love and hate in his eyes. "It gave the notebook life and magic. Strange magic. And the book… it chose me. It freed me from death."

"Hold it." Roy massaged his temples. "Are you sure you were saved by a book? Sure it wasn't something else?"

Keldar nodded.

Igsena's eyelid twitched. This sounds like a horror story.

Coens shook his head in disbelief. "You mean the same notebook I read revived you? The one where I learned everything I know?"

"To be precise, the book's cover had dhu saov morc written on it. In Elder Speech, it means Book of Shadows," Keldar answered. "A pact was made between us, and a bond was formed. With the powers of this land, it revived me. At first, everything was normal." There was a hint of delight in Keldar's voice.

"And I thought I gained a magical item all for myself. Book of Shadows possesses an incredible ability. It can record all the knowledge in my mind without the need of any ink or quill. Including the knowledge in the books I'm still reading and all my life experiences. The book has an endless supply of pages. For every full page, another blank one takes its place. It's more efficient than any spell mages can come up with. The only reason for its existence is the pursuit of knowledge."

Roy was awed. He smacked the struggling Gryphon and almost whistled. "The item of every scholar's dream."

Keldar nodded. "And dream I did. I loved books more than swords. The Book of Shadows was made for me."

Ah, so that's why the book chose him.

A smile finally cracked Keldar's lips, but that smile lasted for only an instant. It was replaced by a look of depression. "Foolishly, I thought the Book of Shadows was a gift of fate. I spent the first two years of my new life swimming in the ocean of knowledge. But I eventually set out for the wider world in pursuit of Erland. By instinct, I recorded even more knowledge within the pages of the book."

Coen's cheeks trembled, and he wanted to ask something.

Keldar interrupted him. "As you can see, Coen, I had the ability to enter and exit the fortress as I pleased for more than eighty years. I could travel to the ends of the world and nothing would happen to my body. However, the Book of Shadows cannot depart the fortress. There exists a bond between it and the land."

"What if you take it with you anyway?" Roy asked.

"Then it shall disappear and return to this place." Keldar paused for a moment. "I lived my life as most witchers did. On one of my journeys, I found myself passing through a Kovir village, and that was where I found you."

Keldar stared at Coen gently. His voice softened a little. "You were only seven when I found you. Skin and bones, I'd say. Afflicted with smallpox and covered in pus. Your poverty-stricken parents abandoned you. I took you back to the fortress and nursed you back to health. I spent years raising you into a fine Griffin."

Coen hissed loudly, tears welling in his eyes.

Roy thought, Keldar saved him. Their bond is comparable to one tied by the Law of Surprise.

"Things remained the same until the eighty-fifth year." Keldar shook his head. "It was then the side effects began to show. It mattered not how much the sun shone, my shadow remained hidden. I lost it. Forever. And I stayed out of the sun for fear of this… phenomenon being noticed. And yet the tortures did not stop there. If I were to leave Kaer Seren, my body would begin to rot. My skin would start to peel, and my flesh would emit a foul stench. The longer I leave this land, the stronger the effects are."

A smirk tugged on Keldar's lips. "That proved to be a great dereliction. Should I ever want to leave the fortress, I have to don a thick cloak that is drenched in palm oil, dust, and grease. All to keep the stench of my rotting flesh in. If word got out, they would think I was a necrophage."

And now there was resignation on Keldar's face. "And yet that was not suffering enough for the book. The corruption began to eat into my mind. If I were to leave this place for more than ten minutes, I would lose all semblance of sanity and return to this fortress like a walking dead."

Roy gasped. At first he thought the Book of Shadows was just a helping partner to Keldar, but now he knew the book was nothing but a slavemaster.

"I see." Coen's face fell. Hoarsely, he said. "For the last decade or so, I've always wondered why you've never left this place or basked under the sun. You would spend your days reading late into the night, either in your house, under the overhang, or beside the table. I see the reason now."

Coen punched the table. He seemed to blame himself for this. Most of the time, Coen would be out hunting. Only during the winter would he return. He ignored all the odd habits Keldar exhibited, waving them away as some regular lifestyle.

"Coen, you silly boy. Accountability is one thing, but being a scapegoat is another. This has nothing to do with you." Keldar patted his shoulder. "This is what I chose. The book yearns for knowledge, as do I. I thought we would be perfect partners in this pursuit of knowledge." A heavy-hearted sigh escaped Keldar's lips, and he took a book out of the shelf. "But after last night's unhappy event, I see now that it was just wishful thinking on my part. That book thinks of me as a mere tool to access more knowledge."

He fell silent and opened the book.

"And tools eventually fail." Roy looked at the tensed-up Coen."

"Exactly. It did not attack Roy for nothing. The book was choosing its next tool." Keldar stared at the young witcher. "You have ambition, lad. And something inside you piqued the book's interest. Not even Vesemir managed to rouse its excitement. It didn't choose my student. Instead, it laid its eyes on you. It wishes to defeat you all so it can take over your body and create another tool for its insatiable longing. But the sun is its enemy, and so night is its battlefield. Its first attack failed, but the book will not stop at one attempt."

Shock flashed within Roy's eyes. The book knows I'm different? And it wishes to enslave me? How laughable.

"But Keldar, how did it manage to command the dead Griffins? Why? It shouldn't have that kind of power."

"Ah, it is all thanks to Roy that I found this. I should have realized this matter sooner. The Book of Shadows details all the life experiences of the Griffins." Flames flared in Keldar's eyes. "Those who perished in the avalanche are imprisoned within the pages of the book. It absorbs their knowledge and memories like a greedy, insatiable glutton for knowledge. And from now on, I declare the Book of Shadows my enemy."

Keldar looked at the sealed basement. There was gratitude in his eyes, but there was also hatred. "I must find a way to vanquish the book and release my suffering brethren from its grasp."

***

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