The Path: A witcher's tale

Chapter 17

On my way northwest from Aedirn to Kaer Morhen, I decided to stop by a little roadside tavern to get a quick drink of something strong. I walk in and the first thing I notice is two swords that are hanging above the mantle, one silver and one steel each with the insignia of the School of the Bear. The innkeep, built like a mountain and bearded like a dwarf with a sliver medallion around his neck, greeted me with respect as I walked up to the counter and said "Beautiful swords you got there, how'd you get them?" The man replied with a Skelliger's accent and said "Got 'em a while back, in the Amell mountains, but that's from a past that I'd rather forget, what'll you have?" "Gimme a bottle of something strong," I said as I looked him the eyes and then said "witcher." "Aye, ye got me, name's Jondar, case you're wondering, I was youth from clan Tuirseach and I was taken to the witcher keep Amell mountains by the School of the Bear. I walked the Path for a few decades and decided there was no point, so I hung up my swords and took to serving alcohol to anyone looking to drink," he said as he handed me a bottle of vodka. I looked at him and asked if he ever planned to continue his life on the Path, he said that he'd rather take to tending drinks, but he asked if I could fulfill one last request for him.
He asked me to, the next time I travel to Skellige, go to An Skellig and plant his swords and medallion on a hill to mark his grave as a witcher, he said that life was behind him. I agreed to his request and left the tavern with his swords and medallion, which I stored on Wasp.
I finished the trek to Kaer Morhen and was in for a few shocks. First and foremost, old Eskel wasn't there this year, he left a note saying he was wintering with Geralt and his other close friend, Lambert in Toussaint. The second surprise was that when I entered the keep, something ran at me and hit me like I walked into a wall, but it embraced me, rather than hurt me. I opened my eyes and it was Karadine, who used her School of the Cat agility to run up to me and kiss me. I looked at her with wide, astonished eyes as she looked at me and said, "Damn, I've waited so long to do that." She led me one of the more private areas of the keep because she wanted to catch up on what happened over the course of the last year.
She had me close my eyes, for she wanted to show me something, another surprise. I was pulled onto a nearby bed and we "made up for lost time." I returned to that same table Marçin, Ajax, Karadine, and I would drink around. As I got there, Ajax and Marçin were already getting drunk, Karadine was exhausted and was done for the night, so it was just us witchers, just like old times.
Ajax looked at me and said, "I was beginning to think that you were gonna skip drinking with us, you've got a lot to tell us, firstly, what was the delay?" I responded with only a few words, "Let's just say that I'm glad that witchers are sterile." We laughed and drank as we spoke about our kills over the course of the year and played a game. One person would say "I've never" and say something they haven't done, if you've done it, you would have to drink a round, and if you haven't, you would skip a round.
Marçin was first, he said "I've never slept with a contract issuer." Ajax had drank a round and said "What can I say, this woman gave me an offer I couldn't refuse, coin and pleasure." Ajax then said, "I've never been duped by a foglet." This time, I drank a round and said that this damn foglet tricked me into thinking that one kid had lost his way in a swamp. Then it was my turn, "I've never jumped out of the window of a brothel." This time, I got both of them and they just gave the reply, "I had some extra coin and couldn't get caught." We suggested to stop, because if we kept going, we might end up hating each other.
Then Marçin stood up and proposed a toast, "To old friends, may none of us ever die at the hands of a filthy beast and may we prosper!" He then looked at me and said, "And may the new happy couple prosper as well!" I told him to sit his ass down, as I laughed and drank. Winter, as always, had this certain kind of celebration, to remembering the previous year and looking forward to the next one. We rejoiced time and time again throughout the winter until spring, when I would resume my travels with Karadine and pay homage to a certain weary bear.