The Heart of Winter || The Witcher

Chapter Four

Warmth and comfort enveloped Geralt as his consciousness returned. He was laid out on a straw mattress with a fluffy down pillow under his head. For a moment, Geralt couldn't remember where he was and thought he was at some inn after a long night of drinking. Then his eyes lazily flicked open and next to his bed stood Endir, the sight of whom sent all of Geralt's memories rampaging back.

He made to jump up, to throttle the man who had caused so much pain and anguish. But Geralt's body didn't obey, didn't so much as move an inch. Panic flared within Geralt. Was he paralyzed? What was Endir planning to do with him?

But Endir, noticing that Geralt was awake, simply bade him sit up and then seated himself on a stump acting as a stool across from the bed. The strangest sensation crept over Geralt as his body sat up against his will and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, his eyes focused on Endir. The blankets fell back with the motion, exposing Geralt's bare chest, and a chill crawled over his pale skin, though the tent was still moderately warm due to the small fire crackling in a stand off to the side.

"I'm glad you're finally awake," Endir started conversationally. "You've been asleep for over a day now. Though, from what I could tell, you needed the rest."

Geralt had been bandaged while he was asleep. His ribs were bound and various other cuts had been cleaned and taken care of, though they were still painful. He could feel the bandages in place, but he couldn't inspect them, couldn't do anything, and Geralt raged against his own docility. He felt like a caged animal, and thrashed and threw himself against the bars.

Not even a muscle twitched. Geralt couldn't bring himself to speak either, though it didn't seem as if Endir expected him to answer.

Leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees, Endir met Geralt's eyes. "I respect you, Geralt. As such, I feel I owe you an explanation. Call it a courtesy. I know it's not really necessary, considering," Endir gestured to Geralt's still form and then gave a half chuckle. "You know, Nelan thinks I've taken too much of a liking to you. I think he's wary of you after what happened the other night. I, on the other hand, know just how useful you are going to be to our mission. Though, admittedly, I've never met a witcher before and I find myself fascinated by what you can do. You've had quite the exciting life—monsters and women and plots. I've seen into many men's lives and yours is by far the most interesting. With your skill and abilities, we may just win this war against the White Frost."

At first, Geralt seethed against Endir's intrusion into his memories, but then dread chilled him to the bone at the thought that Endir would have seen Ciri as well. It soon became apparent, however, that Endir either hadn't seen Ciri, or hadn't marked her significance. If he had, he surely wouldn't be acting as calmly as he was now, not if he had discovered the identity of the only one supposedly capable of stopping the White Frost.

Sensing that he was digressing, Endir brought his monologue back around to the original point. "Look, I know you oppose me and that may never change. But you are here now. You may not agree with me, but at least you can understand the reasons for my actions."

Geralt scoffed internally. Not likely, he thought.

"I wasn't always this way, you know." Demonstratively, Endir displayed his lack of hands. "My father was a hunter. He and my mother and my younger sister and I all lived happily in our remote cottage up in the mountains far to the east. We grew up mostly isolated from the world; my mother had her little garden and my father brought us game to use for meat, pelts, and tools." A sad smile stretched across Endir's face. "I would play with my sister while our parents were busy and then we would all gather around the fire at night to tell stories."

The smile faded and a deep sadness welled in Endir's eyes. "Then, when I was maybe eight, a particularly harsh winter had us snowed in for weeks. We were trapped in our house, the doors and windows frozen shut with snow banked up almost to the roof. It was late in the winter and our stores were already running thin. But we couldn't go out to find food and could only get water by melting whatever snow blew down our chimney.