The Witcher The Swallow and The Monster

The Swamp of the Unknown

The trudge through the swamp wasn't as bad as (F/N) expected, it was worse, the mud was up to his knees, there were so many bugs that kept trying to gnaw at his flesh, and there were multiple drowners and water hags who kept rising out of the mud trying to kill him. Thankfully, the witcher's medallion helped so he wasn't completely blindsided. The witcher let out a sigh of relief when he finally made it to what looked to be the chapel, which was a poor use of the word, it was merely a poorly carved wooden lady with a necklace made from rotten pastries around her neck.

(F/N) took one of the pastries in his hand and crushed it, when he opened his palm he sighed, maggots were crawling all over his hand, this chapel had been here for awhile. The witcher wiped his hand off, and looked ahead, sure enough there was a 'Trail of Treats', there were more rotten pastries hanging off nearby trees along a path. (F/N) stood up and muttered, "That's interesting," the witcher had stumbled across many witches and sorceresses, witches tended to be more secretive and normal while sorceresses would never pick to live in a swamp they were too high and mighty, something was very off.

As (F/N) followed the trail, he looked around, he could see a couple ghouls watching him in the bushes, but for some reason they were just watching, not getting involved, as if they were scared to touch the trail. Usually, ghouls just attacked, they never hung back in fear. The young witcher started jogging lightly, along the trail, something felt very off, what had Ciri gotten into? What had she done? These 'Ladies of the Wood' were not standard witches that much was obvious, it wasn't until he saw the small huts made as though it were a small village, that (F/N) knew he should have brought Geralt. His medallion started trembling, as he got closer, there was magic here, very ancient, and very powerful. (F/N) kept his guard up, there were probably a swarm of monsters waiting to greet him, but then he heard it, a group of children singing a rhyme, one he had never heard before.

The witcher walked over to the children as they sang, his boots squished against the mud with each step. He hated to admit it, but he was a bit creeped out, as he listened into the children singing, "Dog went in the kitchen, stole a hunk of meat. Cook gave him a lickin', strung him by his feet." (F/N) got closer to the sound, "Cook then bled him empty, stripped his skin off clean. Laughed and said, 'how tasty, best sausage I have seen!" (F/N) walked into view as the children finished up, "Cook's a stupid killer, shouldn't ave ate the pup. Now we'll light a fire, gonna roast him up! One, two, three, the one to fetch the kindling's...thee!"

(F/N) walked up to the children, his voice was soft, and calm, "That's a tad bit different from the rhymes I used to sing as a kid." Instantly the children all looked at him, they really didn't take kindly to a strange looking man wearing a mask, one of the children gave him a slightly scared look, "Don't know you, go away." One of the girls whispered, "He's wearing a mask, he might be a thief."

The witcher folded his arms, and tried to give all the children a reassuring look, "I won't stay long, maybe you could help me, I'm looking for a woman, she's in her twenties, ashen hair, a scar on her face? Once you saw her you'd never forget her."

A boy shook his head, "Ain't no lassies here."

One of the girls looked offended, "What am I?"

The boy rolled his eyes as if the answer was obvious, "You're no lassie. Lassies got tits." (F/N) was about to scold the boy but another kid spoke up, "They do. Heard an ol' man say once, when the army was..." The witcher interrupted, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but the woman I'm looking for is really important, and she's in danger. So anything you can tell me would help."

"How you even know she was here?"

The witcher sighed, he was in no mood to answer dumb questions, but kept his composure, "I heard she got into a fight with the witches in the swamp."