Trial and Error : The Witcher

“Wolves asleep amidst the trees…” Sang the woman as she walked along the moonlit shores of the lake. “… That’s all a swaying in the breeze”

“But once soul lays anxious, wide awake…” The moonlight shimmered off the lake as she bent down to pick up a doll. “… Fearing all manner of ghouls, hags and wraiths.”

“Nice tune.” A gruff voice said from behind the woman. “Been a while since I heard it last.”

 Sighing the woman turned to face the Witcher. He looked tired, scars adorning his face, courtesy of all the monsters he had hunted. He was dressed in chain-mail, one of his swords drawn. The symbols etched on it glowing faintly.

“Folk have forgotten it.” She said staring at the sword.

The Witcher regarded her carefully. “They’ve got other things on their mind.” He said.

The woman let down her fiery red hair and under the moon light her face shimmered. She seemed to grow younger and soon her face was the epitome of beauty and innocence.

“Things like me.” She said, removing the scarf from around her neck. Seeing her face the Witcher sighed.

“They paid me for you.”

“Times have passed.” The girl smiled innocently, unbuttoning her cloak. “No amount of coin can convince a Witcher to take this contract.” Her voice turned into a sneer.

“Times have changed.” he said pointing his sword at the girl.

As the cloak fell from her shoulders and the bare skin of her arms bathed in the moonlight she turned into the wind and rushed past the Witcher into a barn.

“A wraith...” The Witcher muttered to himself. “I should have asked for twice the amount.”

Shaking his head he reached into his pack and took out the vial of firewater. Knowing full well how close it put him to death, he uncorked it and drank till the vial was drained. As the effect of the potion set on him he crushed the bottle. Screaming into the night air and sending the birds around the barn flying, he fell to the ground.

He clawed at his neck, the pain from the potion threatening to dissolve his skin. He clenched the dirt trying to focus on something, but all he could comprehend was the fire burning in his throat.

Crawling on the ground struggling to get up, he saw a drop of his blood fall from his nose to the ground, leaving it a charred mess. He coughed up more blood as he fell to the ground once more.

Slowly getting on his feet, he drew his silver sword and slowly crept into the barn. He looked into the shadows, his breath making ghostly shapes in the cold night air. Reaching behind him he grabbed silver dust from his pack, and as soon as his eyes spotted movement, he threw it into the shadows.

The vial exploded and the invisible wraith, now covered in silver dust, screamed in rage as it flew at him. He dodged and parried all its strikes but to no avail. The wraith was fast and it was stronger.

It scratched at him with its claws and sunk them deep into his abdomen. Soon the Witcher was bleeding everywhere and the wraith revealing its nightmarish true self as it bathed in his blood.

Grunting he tried to get up but was struck down again, as it turned invisible.

Picking up his sword from the ground and, all tactics forgotten the Witcher flailed it around him like a mad man. But when the wraith appeared behind him, it was too late. Pulling back his chain-mail, it sunk its poisoned teeth deep into his neck and sucked.

Arms flailing the Witcher fell to the ground and looked up at the smiling face of the wraith. But, somehow, after all the pain he was in he started laughing. It didn’t matter that he could feel the poison seeping into his veins.

As he watched with grim satisfaction, the smile on the wraiths face turned into a scream as it clawed at its neck. His blood was burning it from the inside. Pushing himself up with the last bit of his strength, he swung his sword, cutting off its arm.

“Igni” he muttered, pointing his hands at the screaming wraith. His fire spell caught it square on the chest and sent it flying. As the beast scampered wildly, trying to escape, the Witcher struggled as he pulled out his crossbow from his back and fired.

As the bolt struck its mark, puncturing the heart of the wraith, it scampered out the barn and fell dead in the moonlight. Soon the horrendous face of the wraith twisted back into face of the young girl it had consumed. The Witcher, barely able to walk, dropped his sword and cross bow, crept across the barn and laying down on the floor.

“Maybe this is it.” He muttered as darkness overtook him. “Maybe it is finally done.”

But the Witcher had no such luck. As the morning sun rose, he woke up with a start. The poison had worn off. He was not human after all. He sighed sadly at the floor. Would it ever be done? Would his contract ever end?

Wiping the blood from his face, the Witcher looked at the dead wraith. The sun had burned it, leaving a skeleton covered in burnt flesh behind. Slowly he got up and collected his weapons.

As he hacked away at the head of the wraith, tied it to his horse and rode to the city to claim his reward, the rest of the song played in his mind.

“Birds are silent for the night,

 Cows turned in as daylight dies

 But once soul lays anxious wide awake

 For the Witcher, Brave and Bold,

 Paid in coin of gold;

 He’ll chop and slice you,

 Cut and dice you,

Eat you up whole.

Eat. You. Whole.”

Authors note: This is a basic rewrite of something which I wrote around a year back. The prose is not my best, but since this is trial and error, I wanted to see how well I could edit something which I had already written. Or in this case rewrite. While I wont be posting the original on this blog because it is that amateurish, I will say the changes I made to the content. I changed the whole story to a third person perspective, and I also added a lot  more detail. That's about the gist of it. Let me know what you guys think. 

Peace!!