The Witcher: Elder Blood

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***

The village that had been the target of the vampire servants' attack greeted us with complete silence. We crossed through the portal a couple of minutes away from it, and went straight to check the situation in the village.

Unlike the night before, when I found myself here on my first journey to this world, this time the time was early. The sun had not had time to reach its zenith. It was worth noting that every world had a different time. In ours it was nearing evening as we set off for the portal with the old warlock.

This time I was prepared for a possible meeting with a vampire: I had a hoop on my head, preventing others from influencing my mind; on my neck hung an amulet, translating unknown words, all that was left was to find a 'donor' of language knowledge; in my belt pouch I had a xenovox, in case I needed to split up with Hen; I also had some useful potions, one of them even restored blood.

- Hmmm, the sun is affecting them,' I examined the place where I'd stacked the Ghoul corpses. The bodies were nothing but ashes, even the bones were gone. - Completely burnt.

- You left them here?

- Yes, just half an hour before dawn, - I point my finger at the pile of ashes.

- Since the sun works on them like it does on vampires from our world, I can surprise them in case of an attack. What's over there? - he points to the burned bodies.

There was a small ash heap waiting for us at that very spot. But next to it, about twenty metres away, lay a pile of burnt bodies.

- That's not my job. The vampire must have stolen the inhabitants and burned them, but why?

- You mentioned another vampire's head in her hands when you met her. Maybe the Ghouls were listening to the other one. She decided to remove the evidence; the bodies had been torn up after the attack.

- Perhaps,' I thought back to the night I'd spent in this world. - Then I can see why she decided to laugh when she first saw it.

- Killed the Ghouls for her,' Hela surmised.

- I guess he did.

We looked round the houses and walked the length of the village. We could make a rough estimate that this world was less developed than ours. It was premature to make a final judgement. Development can vary from place to place, we relied only on the terrain around us. It's unlikely that villages a thousand kilometres away will be much different.

- I'll check the terrain. Maybe there's another village nearby,' Hela used the search spell he used every time he visited a new world.

The spell consisted of two different spells: one based on Air magic - it throws the spheres in different directions, and the other using the Fifth Element - it allows you to move your vision to the spheres.

'I'll definitely master it in the future, too useful in my opinion.'

It took Hela five minutes to look around the neighbourhood. The kilometres around at pace appeared to be surveyed from the heights.

- There is a castle to the northwest and there is a village to the south, it's a shorter walk.

- We can go to the village, activate the amulets. Then we can go to the castle.

Hela thought about it and agreed: 'Yes. We need to go to the castle anyway, we can learn more about the world from the local lords than from simple peasants. But it is better to discuss it with interpreters who are active beforehand.

It took a little over an hour to walk to the other village. And we were lucky, we didn't have to go through the awkward explanation of what we wanted to achieve from the peasants. Near the village we met a man, apparently a messenger, as he was coming from the direction of the castle.

We had to do something not quite humane: having deprived the man of consciousness, we used one of the amulets-translators on him, and then the second one copied the received information. The whole action took about ten minutes, longer walking.

At this point the purpose of the journey to the village was fulfilled. We left the unconscious man sitting leaning against a tree and set off along the road towards the castle.

It was about the same distance to the castle as it had been to the village. We walked along the river, the whole road running beside it.

We were surrounded by the familiar sight of the forest on one side and the river and meadows on the other. It was as if the world had stayed the same, no change.

- It doesn't look bad,' I commented on the castle on the horizon.

- A castle without an adjoining town. Could belong to some baron, enough to gather information.

Standing on the bank of the river and protected by walls all around, the red brick castle harmonised with the overall picture. The main fortress stood on hilly terrain, and the heart of the castle was a massive tower. Multiple gates, three levels of defence, the castle was built with the understandable purpose of defence, and was most likely being rebuilt.

- Let's go to the gate and ask for an audience,' Hela set off down the road towards the castle.

- Do you think the local monarch will deign to speak to us right away?

The rector of Ban Arda turned to me with a slight perplexity: 'They will have to agree.

And you can't argue. We can leave this world at any time. Let this world also have its own warlocks. If we sully some prince, and he complains to the wizards, it's no big deal.

The main gate was guarded by a couple of men on the wall. Along the walls one could see the heads of other guards flickering. Above the gate there was a closed building with windows, and it was from them that one of the guards spoke to us.

This time I could understand the local speech thanks to the artefact, so there was no problem. And the man who gave us the knowledge in the artefact, fortunately, had a normal vocabulary, so there shouldn't be any mishaps.

- Who are you and why have you come!? - shouted one of the guards from above.

- We are just travellers who wanted to talk to the ruler of the local lands,' Hela Gedimdeit answered him.

- Ruler, you say? The Grand Master passed away recently. So we are waiting for a replacement.

- I'm sorry to hear that. Did the Grand Master have a deputy? Someone we could discuss the local lands with? My friend and I come from far and wide, and we'd like to learn more about these lands. The trouble will be paid for, of course.

- I'll send my partner to find out. If Master Claudia's counsellor wants to make time for you, we'll let you in,' the guard sent the other man into the castle while he remained guarding the wall.

'Magisters of some sort, is it faith related? Or is that what they call mages here. It doesn't matter, as long as this counsellor can tell me more about the world,' he thought before the messenger left.

***

In a dark room, lit only by two candles, one on a stand on a table and the other inside a lamp at the entrance, a young girl with pale skin sat making notes on parchment.

A white blouse with black lace embroidered on it, and a loose monochrome knee-length skirt gave her a stern look.

The shutters on the windows were tightly closed and the windows themselves were covered with curtains. Everyone in the castle knew that the magistrate's counsellor disliked the sun. 'A nobleman's pet peeve,' many people thought, but for the most part they didn't pay much attention to it.

She wasn't the only one who disliked the sun in the castle. There were two 'wannabes' in opposition to the sun: a personal assistant and librarian in one person, and the manager of the castle, responsible for calculating costs and distribution of supplies.

'What a bad time for everything to fall on my head,' she pondered irritably over recent events. - 'First one of the "sons" decides to betray, then some sorcerer falls on his head, and now we have to wait for the appointment of a new Grand Master.'

It just so happened that the past Grand Master of the Teutonic Order was her 'son' - a vampire turned vampire. And yes, he had become such because of his title.

Having a spiritual and knightly order at her fingertips wasn't a bad decision. Elena liked the convenience of being in the castle. From the ease of eating, to the weapon-savvy people who could help in a fight with the vampire she hated, Menelaus. She was under no illusions, if the vampire found her and attacked with his 'family', there wouldn't be much use for ordinary people, albeit in armour and with weapons. At least, not if they don't gather in a heap, and simply don't let themselves be slaughtered one by one. In that case, the armoured knights would prove useful.

'Especially now... damn it, there are three of us again. How long will it take to turn a worthy candidate? To train? Years. That mage might have been a good fit. He could easily have been trained in our art. What a waste,' she finished writing instructions for one of the vampires in the fortress-one of her "children," of which there were only two left.

There was a knock at the door, jolting the girl out of her unpleasant thoughts.

- 'Come in,' a woman in her thirties in a simple dress and with a neutral expression, beautiful in a way, appeared in the doorway.

Helena liked to collect beautiful things and beautiful people, beauty could have a broad meaning, sometimes consisting in rarity, sometimes in the vampiress' personal preferences.

Her personal assistant and the oldest of her 'children' came to alert the vampiress. Others are forbidden to enter her office without permission.

- Two travellers came with a certain request..... - the assistant closed the door and moved closer to the desk. - They want to ask about the lands around them. They come from far away, they said.

- From far away, without horses?

- On foot, they had no horses with them. They offered to pay for information. They look well dressed.

- She could use the extra gold. Not her, but their steward. - 'The new Master will bring his men with him. More waste, and sending away brainwashed people will be another waste.'

Elena, currently hiding under the name Claudia, lowered her gaze to the papers. Written on them in strictly neat handwriting was an order to notify her of the castle's resources.

- An old man in an expensive furred robe and a red hat. A younger man in a leather doublet with flecks of coloured leather, and a sword on his belt in an expensive scabbard.

- Strange where they came from. They have neither cart nor horses.

- That's right.

- Well, bring them to me. Maybe we can get something out of them. want to pay for information? Pfft, I'll get every penny I can out of them.

Elena didn't tell her 'children' about the wizard she met in the village. And for nothing, otherwise her assistant could have warned in advance about his arrival thanks to the same clothes and external signs. The vampiress was able to get a good look at the wizard.

***

When the second guard returned, we were informed that we could talk to this counsellor of the dead magister. We were joined by two other guards who led us towards the tower in the centre of the castle.

Outside the castle walls it was hard to tell, but inside there were a lot of people present. Everyone was going about their business. Stables, kitchen, warehouses, barracks and many rooms were present within the castle.

At the entrance to the castle we were stopped and checked for weapons. The sword, by the way, was not taken away, but they informed us of a quick reprisal in case I decided to bare it.

After that we were led up to the third floor. And then a new face was added to our procession - a middle-aged woman who introduced herself as Verena.

- Mistress is waiting for you in her office,' she said, leading the way with the guards behind her.

To myself I noted the darkness of the corridors on the third floor. All the windows appeared to be closed, lit only by candlelight. Suspicion flickered on the edge of my consciousness. Even though the guards had warned us in advance in confidence about Councillor Claudia's quirks, I didn't like the thoughts that came to me.

'Well, no, it can't be vampires running this place. How subtle do you have to be among humans to settle down like that? But she didn't give me a weak kick in the head back then..... If you gradually instil normal vampire behaviour, people won't notice.'

- Please, come in,' Verena announced our arrival and opened the door. The guards stayed close on either side of the room's entrance, but not right next to the door, about three metres away.

The room appeared as dark as the entire floor corridor. Few furnishings, but it was safe to say it was made with quality. The counsellor sat at an elongated rectangular table.

Contrary to my expectations, imagining an older woman in the place of the Master's counsellor, there was quite a young girl, no more than twenty-five in appearance. And only a pale, and very familiar face made me swear out the word that a young witch with white hair used to comment on most unpleasant moments: - Bastard. Thought so. Crawling into a vampire's lair.

- Something wrong, Eren? Let me guess, the vampire girl? - Hela turned to me as the vampire and I glared at each other. She was silent and unemotional at this one, which contrasted with the hint of irritation on my face.

- I have met with socialised vampires, my dislike of the sun and your story about a vampire in the local area warned me in advance, - the charmer turned towards the vampire and continued: - Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Hela Gedimdeit, and my apprentice is Eren Yeager. I take it we all don't want any trouble, so let's turn a blind eye to your... peculiarity.

- Your apprentice acted uncultured the last time we met,' Claudia lifted her chin.

- What are you talking about? You tried to drink my blood.

- In retaliation for influencing my mind, boy. You dare ignore my tirade and then you want to chase me away? You have a lot of nerve.

- I am far from a boy, bloodsucker,' Claudia's tone grew colder, her hands digging into the armrests of the chair.

- In my eyes, you're a little kid with a lot to teach. If you hadn't run away that night, you'd be learning our art under my tutelage right now.

- Bites on the neck don't suit me.

- Oh, how cliché. I can leave them on my arm,' she stood up and stared at me with squinted eyes, her hands resting on the table.

- Gentlemen, calm down. Mistress Claudia, you should know that my apprentice and I do not actually speak your language. Our conversation is facilitated by our artefacts. We came from far away, and we only wanted to learn more about the local lands,' Hela interjected, drawing the vampire's attention to the amulets.

At that moment the vampiress noticed the oddity of a slight echo coming from the amulet, and realised that the sound from us was distorted. That was apparently enough for her to calm down and sit back down.

- Call me Elena, since you're not hunters and you're here to talk.

This was not the kind of vampire encounter - the assistant accompanying us was definitely another one - I'd expected in this world. No, of course, thanks to the books at the academy and the stories of witches, I knew about the various vampires living on the Continent, but here the incident with the carved-out village gave certain colours. On the Continent, the higher vampires either lived in seclusion or lived among humans without attracting attention. It must be the same here.

And immediately, the differences in the conversation came up. Local vampires turn people into their own kind, while on the Continent they act as a separate race.

The vampiress decided to share her knowledge only in exchange for information about us. As she put it, 'I haven't met a mage with such skills in hundreds of years.'

There were also mages in their world, but, as it turned out, using their gift on a completely different principle.

- From another world? How is that possible, are you kidding me!? - Hen decided to spill more information about us in exchange for the realities of this world after all.

Helen, if her words are to be believed, is none other than Helen of Troy, which caused me a moment of surprise, clearly noticed by her. And such a long life has allowed her to know everything about the local realities.

- How do you think Eren escaped from you? The same way we came to this world. We're not interested in your vampire business, just information about your world. How things work here.

Belief's involvement with magic immediately scared Hela away from the local mages. So he went straight to asking about life in this world.

It came out surprisingly ordinary, with a note about vampires. That is, so usual that I mentioned in conversation with them the similarity of the world to mine, only in the past. And about my past world, the warlock had long ago known far more than could be learnt from the locals.

- You mean to tell me, warlock, that the world where your mortal body came from... - she hinted at my joining the vampire fraternity more than once in our conversation. - ...mirrors our own?

- Take the vampires out of your world, and then you get mine,' I nod in affirmation. - That's why I know Helen of Troy. of my world.

- So be it, I'll believe you. What will you do next? Are you going to wander around here, looking for something? I can give you a couple of rooms, but you'll have to pay or-- - another innuendo ended the conversation.

- No, I've learnt enough,' Hela looked at me. - This world would be interesting to me in your age. We can leave now.

I opened the portal back under the vampire's wary gaze, and before I followed the older warlock out, I said, 'Then we had a misunderstanding. But I am only glad that my preparation for the battle with vampires was in vain,' he nodded and left the world with vampires forever.

On the other side of the portal was the hallway to the rector's office. Waiting for me, he asked me to follow him into the office. Then, when we were inside the cosy room filled with books and parchments, the rector gave his verdict: 'At the moment, other worlds are more disappointing. If you ever find an interesting world in the future, let me know,' he went to one of the closed cupboards. Inside, behind a hidden recess, was a safe. The Rector opened it and took out a thin book. - Here are the most complex spells for each element, including a spell for vampires that mimics the effects of the sun and burns the vampire in seconds,' Hela handed the book to me. - Take more time to learn the elements, master them properly, and then expand your spell list with these.

- Ahem, it's going to be a long process.

- Very long. There's no rush, Eren. Mind your own business, explore worlds with witches as you intend to do in the future, study magic. Perhaps there will come a time in the future when you will find a world that truly interests me.

- You haven't really explained what you're interested in. Scientifically advanced?

- I'd like to see things created without a drop of magic, but whose capabilities are as good as magic. But not only that, the interest is wide-ranging. I've lived too long, seen a lot in this world, almost everything, if not everything, and life goes on. Sometimes I want to feel like the same guy who started learning magic from the elves. Back then, everything seemed interesting and exciting. Well, you're still young, you've got a long way to go. You can go now, Eren, I won't keep you any longer.

- Goodbye, teacher,' I went home thinking: 'I really should spend more time on my own development. I'll take a break until the end of winter, and then I can explore worlds with Vesemir.... once a month will do.'