Blood Of The Damned

Chapter five

"You can not be serious,"

"Oh, I am. That's why your teacher left. You puked on his boots," Tisan smiles as he remembers this certains event from my childhood that I have opportunely forgotten.

"How could I forget this?"

"You were 'round 12 at the time and gymnastics obviously wasn't your strong suit,"

"Well excuse me for not being flexible, I was just a simple village girl,"

"That could climb walls like it was no big deal and yet you couldn't stretch your legs above your head," I chuckled at this, it was true.

"Do you remember the first time I fired a gun?"

"Oh, yes! I could never forget that. You made a hole in the training arena and when you turned around laughing with the gun still in your hand,"

"Everyone started running and dropping to the floor. I remember you ducking so fast I couldn't believe it," I finished for him and we both laughed. 

The horses shook their heads at the loud noise but we were too far gone to care. As it was our last day together we silently decided to make it a good one without tears. None of us mentioned the fact that we'll separate soon. Well, we didn't until we saw a village in front of us. We had arrived in the kingdom of Lyra. Our laughter stopped pretty abruptly as we stood staring at the houses and the people doing their tasks on the streets. Smoke was coming out of some of the houses and everyone was very unaware that me and Lestrade were staring at them from the safety of the forest. He gestured for me to get off Geralt, it was time for our goodbye. I didn't want to say goodbye to him but I had no other choice. I tied Geralt's leash to the nearest tree I could find and I let him and Nela, Lestrade's mare, to graze. Me and Tisan stood there staring at each other and I noticed he was tearing up. He put his arms around me and hugged me so tight I could barely breathe. But I was fine with it, I cherished his bear hugs. I rested my head on his shoulder and hugged him back. He was just a little bit shorter than me, I was extremely tall. We stood like that for a long time, none of us saying anything, just hugging. He pulled away from me first and put his arms on my shoulders instead.

"You can defeat anything that comes your way. You will carry out this mission and come home in one piece. I believe in you, little bird." He looked me straight in the eyes. A few tears fell down his face and that's when I started crying too. And then we were hugging again.

"I am going to miss you so much, Alzbeta," he said softly as he patted my head. His voice was very wobbly and when I pulled away to look at him, his eyes were red and a little puffy. I imagined I looked similar.

"I will be back before you know it, but I will miss you deeply in the meantime," i stated with a surprisingly steady voice. I wanted him to believe I'll be back, there was no point to speak out loud the fact I might be dead by the next full moon. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again he looked a lot more composed. 

"I know, you can accomplish everything you set your mind to," he gently said as he squeezed my hand, "I love you." He kissed my forehead and turned around. I stood still, not being able to move as tears streamed down my face and a few sobs escaped my lips. He got on Nela, looked at me and smiled sadly, then he rode away. That's when I let the sobs fully come out and I held my heart, trying not to fall. For a short time I could let go of the pain, I could cry over the fact I might never see him again. Geralt nudged one of my hands with his nose, he must have sensed my distress. I hugged him and cried in his neck. But the sun was setting and I did not have the luxury to be overcome by grief. I wiped the tears away with my sleeves and climbed upon Geralt. 

"Looks like it's just us, boy, tut tut," I muttered to Geralt and he started galloping. 

We rode for the rest of the day and a few hours of the night. We passed a few villages and a lot of people looked at us, intrigued by our presence. I gathered they don't get many passengers. And me and Geralt might have indeed been a sight to behold. Me in my dark, easy to carry cape, gray, long sleeved shirt and dark trousers that had a special pocket for my dagger. The material was so soft and flowy, it was perfect for riding. My three bags were tied tightly on the sides of Geralt behind my legs. It's not like they could notice all the details though because Geralt was speeding down the not so busy streets. 
But soon he did tire from the ride, so we had to stop. I picked the biggest village we have seen so far and I rented a room above a tavern that was renting. Their services weren't really the best, dust was everywhere and I even saw rats wandering around. But they had a bed and warm supper for me and a barn for Geralt and that was all I needed. After we settled in I went to the bar to order myself a soup, perhaps a glass of ale or two. 

"Hello, I would like a glass of ale and one bowl of soup, if you have it." I spoke with a rather bad tongue in Lyrian. I didn't have a lot of practice with the language, so the words came out rather throatly. But the bartender just nodded and walked over to pour my ale.

The bartender was a one eyed, dark haired man with a few white hairs sticking out. I wondered how he lost his eye and got all the other tiny scars on his face. Probably from the same fight. I had a few visible scars myself, but the most visible was probably the horizontal one on my neck. I had underestimated my opponent and they got the better of me. Nearly cut open my neck, but I took a step back just in time. After that, I stabbed in between her ribs under her arm, straight in the heart. She died in a matter of seconds. She had also underestimated me and got the worse for it. 

"That 'll be 8 silver coins." He said in a gruff voice as he gave me my rather big glass of ale and my supper.

"Thank you." I said as I passed him the coins. I was lucky money value was the same in all kingdoms, otherwise I would have had to steal money from innocents. 

"Where you from, lassie? You don' sound like you're from around." 

"I come from a mountain village." I said hoping he would buy it. If he starts asking more questions I'm not sure how I'll talk my way out of them, when I don't even know many words. I'll probably have to add to his scars. But luckily he appeared satisfied and carried on cleaning glasses. I sighed a breath of relief and headed over to a table. The tavern was nearly empty, it only had two other customers. Two men together that seemed to be drunk out of their minds, giggling and falling off their chairs. I ate my supper and thought of all the things I need to do tomorrow. I'm gonna arrive in the main town, where the King's palace is. My mission will officially start.