The Path: A witcher's tale

Chapter 28

    There we all sat, Pawel, Karadine, and I, around a modest table in the house, with the glow of various candles flooding the room. Pawel recounted to us his experiences on the Path in the past year, which ranged from him nearly being crushed by a shaelmaar near the Mahakaman mountain range, to that of a Bruxa, whose claw marks had marred his face. "Dangerous bitches, those Bruxae are; if you don't have a moon dust bomb handy, say goodbye to this world," I said in the manner befitting that of an old witcher. With a mischievous glimmer in his eye, Pawel hinted that he had matters to discuss with me in private. I asked Karadine to get some more wine from the cellar, as we were running out and then Pawel began to speak.
     "All right, old man, why did you take me from those bandits? Why not leave me at the mercy of the road and surrounding wilderness?"
     "Well, to be honest, I didn't have the heart to leave you like that, and Karadine did want a child, but she was robbed of that right long ago, so this was her chance of being as close as possible to motherhood. Now, I could tell you that we taught you the witcher's ways and the dance of combat so you could defend yourself and possibly make a living off it, as either a witcher or a mercenary, but the truth is that we didn't know what else to do, at least I didn't. Unlike Karadine and I you have the privilege of being able to stray off the Path and sire children, and adopt a new way of life."
     "Damn, you've given me something to think about, and now Karadine's coming back, hush, this conversation stays between us."
     "Agreed," I said, in a voice as solemn as the grave. "Alright the two of you, forgive me if I'm being rather blunt, but I'm curious, why didn't you subject me to the Changes and Trials? Why don't I have the same range of capabilities as a witcher would?" Pawel asked in a very casual manner, heavily contrasting what he wished to discuss. Karadine spoke up first, "If you had seen what we've seen and experienced what we've experienced, you would understand, that's all I'm willing to say." I elaborated on Karadine's words, "The Changes and Trials do wreak havoc on one's body, you essentially destroyed and rebuilt in a manner that very few manage to survive. This is always painful and usually does result in a very agonizing death. Nobody, not even other witchers wishes to inflict this torment to anyone. We did not want to see you laid on the same table I was laid on, writhe in agony, and cry out in pain, we did not want to see you close your eyes and never open them again." "In that case, I'm sorry I asked, I... I didn't know," He said in an ashamed manner, "I'll leave at daybreak, farewell." We exchanged farewells and Karadine and I went off to bed. I held her close as she began to whisper, "Andrezej?"
"Hm?"
"Do their screams ever keep you up at night?"
"I don't understand what you mean."
"You know, the screams of your group when you underwent the Trial of the Grasses."
"In that case, yeah, they do haunt me from time to time. I remember my group, there were 10 of us and I knew all of them, most of them were unwanted children. Sons of knights and peasant women, or of nobles and whores. In my group, the survivors were Marçin, Ajax, and I, everyone else died with there faces frozen in silent cries of pain, with glassy eyes staring into the darkness. That sight is etched into my memory."
"My group was all girls, about 7 of us, from a variety of places, one was dark skinned, from Zerrikania, another had supposedly escaped from Duén Canell, the dryad nursery. Out of all of us, I was the only survivor, a girl from Lyria who was the daughter of an arbalest, nothing special about me."
"You're wrong there, you're superhumanly special to me."
"Andrzej?"
"Yes?"
"What do you remember about your parents before you were taken?"
"I don't remember much actually, I think my father was wizard from Cidaris and my mother was a sheildmaiden from Skellige. Their names however, I don't remember. That witcher who took me, may he rest in peace, didn't tell me much about them."
"Maybe one day we can visit your mother, near Kaer Muire?"
"Maybe one day, but as of right now, I think I have to travel alone and hunt monsters on my own, at least for a while, we can meet back here next year, near Midinváerne."
"That would be great, but I just want to stay in your embrace a bit longer," Karadine said to me, as I held her close to me throughout the night.