The Heart of Alchemy - A Witcher Eskel FanFiction

Chapter 5 - Convergence

They had been on the road for five days now.

At the fall of dusk they reached the town of Rinde, the last bigger settlement, before their path would take them to sparsely populated areas.

The day after that they were to reach the Kestrel mountains.

As soon as they got deeper into the wilderness, they had to reckon with bandits and with an increasing number of monsters lurking off the road, waiting to attack heedless travelers.

In the pontar area they had previously passed many villages, thus they always found an inn to enjoy the comfort of a hot meal and a reasonably comfortable bed - at the expense of the Academy's account.

From next day on they would have to give up this luxury for a while.

For their last night they'd be spending in civilisation, Thalia kept her eyes out for the most well-established tavern the place had to offer, which was crooked and shabby-looking, but would have to suffice.

After the alchemist got them all rooms for the night and let the inn-keeper know that his cook would have to prepare something edible, they brought the horses into the stable and saddled them down.

The two guards grabbed their saddlebags and headed for the main house. Eskel and Thalia looked after the horses. Like every night after a long ride, the witcher groomed his stallion's black coat, checked his hooves, and patted Scorpion's flank.

Thalia also groomed her mare, but had much less practice than the witcher.

At the university they paid servants to care for the horses the scientists needed for their expeditions.

But she didn't want to neglect her mare, after all, it had endured her on it's back for hours the last few days, without any complaint about her inadequate riding skills.

Silently, they walked together to the dining room, with Eskel effortlessly carrying both of their saddlebags on his shoulders.

Thalia was grateful she did not have to bother herself with the luggage.

She had only packed a small bundle of clothes and some other personal belongings, but she had found it hard to decide which of her alchemical tomes would be useful, therefore, the bags were practically bursting.

Eskel brought their belongings upstairs to the sleeping chambers, then went back down into the buzzing taproom.

An olfactory mush of beer, roast meat and sweat permeated the stale air. Many locals and some travelers sat at the tables drinking and gnawing on whatever the inn-keeper brought them.

Olbertz and Jonas lounged at an offside table, eating the last bites of their venison when Eskel and Thalia sat down with them. Their conversation fell silent, giving way to a somewhat oppressive silence in the midst of the chatter of the other guests.

Olbertz finished his beer and looked at the witcher with an unreadable expression. "I'm gonna go hit the hay. Miss van de Wintervoord. Witcher." He nodded to both of them, and stood up. "I'm going, too. Today's been tiring ... .Good night." Jonas hurried upstairs, following Olbertz to the upper floor.

"What's wrong with them? Shouldn't I be the tired one instead of our valiant knights in shining armor?", wondered Thalia with a touch of ridicule. During the last few days she had listened to Olbertz's boasting – only because he never got tired of gloating in front of his colleague. According to himself, he had escaped many a dangerous situation on his numerous expeditions - mostly through his superior intellect or his unbridled courage.

But perhaps also more through his flourishing imagination...

The guests sitting at the next table had watched Eskel since they entered the dining room and were now giving him hostile glances.