Something Wild (Child of the Winter Moon Book 1)

4: The Path

"Hey, Juray!" Eskel called. "Got some more love letters." He waved a couple of letters above Juray's head. Her first year on the Path had been profitable and she wintered at Kaer Morhen.

"Give me those!" She snatched them from Eskel's hand. "Probably from Angelo. You'd think I was related to him the way he acts."

"Heard he used to do the same thing to James."

"He found out I was his surprise child and a Witcher now and is starting to send Contracts my way." She broke Angelo's seal and read the congratulatory message he'd sent for her first year on the Path. The second letter was only sealed with wax, no insignia to tell her who it came from. She broke the wax seal and opened the letter.

I'm not sure you remember me, but you saved me from a bruxa several months ago. You called yourself the White Demon and I didn't understand the reactions of my parents and the village elder at the name. I also heard you tell my parents to tell me the truth about my sister. But they refused to mention her for a good while, despite my pestering them about. See, I knew I had an older sister from the other villagers but my folks would only tell me that she died when she was a child.

I finally learned the truth.

My parents hated my sister, swore to me that she was cursed because of the moon of her birth, convinced that the bruxa was a punishment for that curse. They finally admitted to giving her to a Witcher. I also asked around to discover what the significance of the name you gave. Most refused to speak of it, but I finally discovered the truth about my sister. I'm convinced that you are the sister that left with the Witcher all those years ago. If I am wrong, I apologize, but I need to get this off my chest. I will forever be grateful that you put aside any anger you had with how our parents treated you and abandoning you to the Witchers to save us from the bruxa. I am alive because of you and no amount of moon curses will convince me that you are evil. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Your brother,

Finn

Juray folded the letter, taken by surprise.

"You okay?" Eskel asked.

"It's from my brother."

"Wait, you remember your family? I thought the Grasses erased that."

"It didn't with me."

"And Lambert," Geralt added, setting mugs in front of Juray and Eskel. "He still remembers, too."

"Oh joy. Something I have in common with him."

"What's this about moon curses?" Eskel asked.

Juray snatched the letter out of his hand. "Who said you could read my letters?"

Eskel raised his hands in surrender as Geralt gave a chuckle.

Juray then raised a strand of her hair. "They thought I was cursed because of this."

"Geralt must be cursed too then."

"Hey, this wasn't because I was born with it," Geralt argued, motioning to his own white locks.

"Apparently, in my village, being born under the first full moon of winter made you cursed. But I've noticed something out in the field. I keep sensing monsters and magic before my medallion does."

"That's helpful."

"What if this isn't a moon curse, but some sort of blessing. That I was literally born to become a Witcher."

"I won't argue that," Eskel commented.

"It's a sound theory," Geralt added. "Maybe we can talk to Vesemir about his. He's one of the oldest Witchers still alive. Maybe he knows about this or where we could find answers for you."

Juray smiled. "This is why the two of you are my brothers."

~~~

"Juray, could I speak with you?" Vesemir asked as she prepared to head out onto her Path.

"Sure."

"I know Angelo has started passing contracts your way like he did with James."

"Angelo is under the impression that James was my father. Which he technically was."

"I know. But there was a reason he would only work with James and I think you should know that reason." Juray wasn't surprised that Vesemir knew the reason. "When James was a child, a Witcher saved his father and when given any boon he wanted. Yet he enacted the law of surprise, demanding the first thing to greet him. His eldest son was the first to greet him, young James. So he came here, went through Witcher training."

"What does this story have to do with Angelo?"

"Angelo's grandfather was James' younger brother. Most of the boys lose their memories of their lives before coming to Kaer Morhen during the Grasses. James was no exception. But apparently his family kept tabs on him and when Angelo inherited the lands, he made sure to pass along any Contract to James. Now he's passing them on to you because he's under the impression you're his cousin. James referred to you as his daughter and Angelo picked up on that. That's why he insisted that you have the coin he earned on the Contract that killed him."

"Makes sense, actually."

"Just be prepared to clear out Drowners on a regular basis."

Juray chuckled and nodded. "I'm sure I'll be an expert at them in no time."

"Good luck on the Path, Juray."

"And to you."

Juray embraced her life as a Witcher, the name she'd given her village sticking and making a name for herself as The White Demon. The name she stopped fighting and embraced, namely because of her fighting style. Over the years, Juray learned more about her so-called curse, a fluke of birth that made her more sensitive to magic and the monsters that inhabited the Continent and seeming to enhance her Witcher abilities. But her and Geralt's stories went their separate ways for many years, intersecting time and again, before her friend and brother was killed during a pogram, only to reappear years later with amnesia. But that tale is for another time...

Our tale begins seventy-four years after Juray earned her right to call herself a Witcher. And it all began with a sorceress, a prophecy, and the dreaded Wild Hunt.