The Witcher: Elder Blood

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In the first days after moving to a fantasy and cruel world, I didn't think I could get used to living in such a world. To master magic, to fight monsters, sometimes humans, and even more so to take an honourable place in the local branch for the supervision of wizards in particular and magic in general - the Brotherhood of Wizards. But year after year followed year, the local languages were learnt, initially out of necessity, then out of whimsy and boredom. The knowledge of magic expanded, the elements obeyed one after another, from water, mastered at the proper level within the walls of the academy, to fire, which at one point made him walk on the edge. From a vagabond trader and personal apprentice of Rector Ban Arda, to a mage known in certain circles and a member of the Council of Enchanters.

The Council of Magicians was considered the lower house of the Brotherhood, second in power to the Chapter of Magicians, but it still played a significant role in the activities of mages in the Northern Kingdoms, and sometimes beyond.

The main activity of the Council was to oversee experimentation, research, and the expansion of magical knowledge beyond the academies. There were also secondary tasks. I, for example, was given the role of overseeing Pretoria's activities in catching rebels and renegades from the laws laid down by the Brotherhood of Magicians.

It was a minor position that made me better known among the wizards and the upper classes, for I had little or no involvement in the politics of the northern kingdoms.

The common people, not mages, encountered wizards who broke the laws, some witnessed their activities and their capture, and others felt the consequences of their forbidden activities. In such incidents, I had a chance to glimpse.

I mostly had to keep an eye out for such mages, and then send them to the custody of the upper chamber, the Capitol of Warlocks. There was no need to catch warlocks myself, the Praetorians did it themselves, that was their job.

The Pretoria were mostly spellcasters who were not very capable of magic, but who were able to master the initial level within the walls of the academy. Often they left to the search branch until the end of the academy exams, if there were difficulties with the last and most difficult of them. Praetorians could be compared to a weaker version of witches, but with a note on catching mages rather than fighting monsters. And it's worth noting that I didn't have the position of Supreme Praetorian behind me, but I was in frequent contact with Alois Stalden about the job.

I was assigned to them precisely because of the Praetorians' problems with complex magic, and as the face of the Brotherhood in talking to nobles and monarchs if they became involved. If the Praetorians catch a renegade sorcerer, and he has managed to mess with the ritual of summoning all sorts of paranormal entities: demons to instil where, spirits to summon with geniuses, or overdo it with necromancy, at worst, spoilage and curses to put on people or places - with all the good things to deal with in the end to deal with me.

My first assignment was to deal with the Dwimweander of Arethusa, as it was believed from the information I had gathered in advance, who had summoned the demon in the small Redan town of Gelibol. In the end it all came down to a fight with an old renegade warlock, previously thought to be dead, and then having to exorcise the demon from a hapless wench. As it turned out, the summoning ritual was done by him, and Dwimweandr conveniently fell into his lap as a strong vessel - the demon was better at manifesting itself in spellcasters.

I did almost all the work that time, and the Praetorians did all the searching, which led us to a hidden house in the forest. But it was not always so difficult cases, more often I did not need to act in the capture itself, but only to regulate the process of moving to Arethusa and talk to everyone.

To be honest, there were advantages to being a warden of the Praetorians. I could study forbidden types of magic, understandably only to counteract them, as an antidote based on the poison itself. And the position was considered an honourable one by the standards of the Brotherhood, and sometimes it was filled by someone from the Chapter. But sometimes, as in my case, the position was passed on to the OWLs, if there was a suitable wizard there whose time was not stretched by the role of counsellor to some king.

By local standards, I joined the Brotherhood of Wizards rather early.... I was only fifty-one years old when I joined the OWLs, of which I had been a wizard for only twenty-three years, and now I was already over seventy.

'Time goes by too fast. And you can't tell that so many years have passed. I was at the coronation of the new Queen of Cintra, Kalanthe, in the company of Jennyfer and our daughter.... Much has managed to happen over the years.

Thirty years ago, Galantea told the truth about herself, revealed herself to Yennifer and I as the true Queen of the Fields. She didn't do it for nothing, she asked me for a favour. She wanted me to help the elves go there in the future when a suitable place for the fading race to live was found.

The elves needed fertile territory, peace and safety. They needed a place where the elven race could eventually blossom and rise again. To begin their history anew. I have yet to find one.

Snowdrop did not ask me to engage in altruism, no, only to contact the elven leaders in the Blue Mountains territory, and for a decent fee to 'save' them.

When I agreed, she bade us farewell, and in parting, she returned Yennifer the opportunity to bear a child. The enchantress had been dreaming of children since she was twenty-five, if not earlier, and had tried various methods, but they didn't work. In the face of the spirit of nature, as they were able to realise, such difficulties were solved with ease. But not without its pitfalls. Jennyfer managed to give birth to one child, a girl who inherited our best features, who was named Elsa, and afterwards, under the influence of magic, the reproductive system fell into disrepair again. The initial interference caused by the ritual was too strong.

Unfortunately for Elsa, her mother had protected her too much, even after twenty-nine years, she had not given her peace of mind. Jennyfer considered becoming a teacher in Arethusa for a while, to oversee her daughter's education there, but I was able to talk her out of it. I, on the other hand, only took time to educate her at an early age, and helped with her education during her teenage years. Also helped her master the Elder Blood after graduating from Arethusa. Unlike me, Elsa hardly ever travelled the worlds.

- You're in the clouds,' Jennyfer said as she approached me in the corner of the festive hall, having had time to chat with Sabrina, who had also attended the coronation of the Queen of Cintra.

She had changed her style of dress in recent years. Long dresses had been replaced by blouses and corsets with tight-fitting trousers. More black fur has been added to clothing. Colours remained mostly black, the enchantress never changed her love for this colour.

- Don't tell me you're thinking about working again? - She shifted her gaze to the direction I was looking at, then clutched at my arm and hissed softly: - Stop looking at the queen.

- The future queen, the coronation is not yet complete.... - and immediately interrupt a possible argument. - Calm down, I'm just pointing out the peculiarities of her appearance. You know what I'm talking about.

- Ash grey hair and green eyes?

- Yeah, all the women in their lineage inherit those looks. It's funny, it's never happened to my family.

- There's no telling what magic might do in your world. Tell me, where did Elsa get off to? At this rate, she's gonna spend the rest of her life as a lonely hermit. She should meet the nobles of Cintra, you don't have to explain the benefits of such introductions. She might look into the place of Kalanthe's future councillor.

- Ian,' I sigh heavily. - Don't compare our daughter to Sheala, she's not that reclusive. And as for the counsellor, it's up to her.

Sheala de Tanserville, a recluse from Covira, was on the Warlocks' Council with me. She stayed out of politics like me and minded her own business.

In addition to the two of us, the Council consisted of: the prim Radcliffe of Oxenfurt; the wealthy wizard and the second most influential in the Council, Carduin of Lan Exeter; and the first, in terms of leadership and oratory, and at the same time Tissai's favourite, Philippa Eilhart of Tretogor.

Unlike Sheala and I, the other three are mired in the politics of their kingdoms, but I can't judge them, that's the role of warlocks in this world, in addition to mastering magic. Yennifer would have chased the position of court mage too, if she didn't have enough to do without serving kings and queens. She is working on a new alchemy shop in Toussaint with Elsa. And next year Sheala plans to leave the OWLs and her place will most likely go to Jennyfer, not for nothing she was also a personal apprentice to one of the wizards in the Chapter.

At the core of the Brotherhood, positions are inherited by succession, that is, by the spellcasters who sit there. Such succession is linked to the personal skills of the spellcasters and their ability to fulfil their tasks. And Yennifer is quite a good sorceress, one of the best of the last century. In the eyes of the Rector of Arethusa, she is second only to Philippa Eilhart, which pisses my wife off.

We married when Elsa was born, to start a family. Again, trained spellcasters are considered on par with nobles. We moved to Toussaint not so long ago, less than five years. I found a world with mana crystallised on its surface. It was a gem for spellcasters, because mana in crystals has a neutral shade, and it can be safely used in the creation of artefacts and rituals.

Gerhart - as some old warlocks call Hela Gedimdeit - spent a lot of time with me on the expanses of that world, and at the same time he collected enough crystals for his experiments. Then he gave me an estate in Toussaint, which had belonged to him before, but was not used for its intended purpose, which could be considered a reward for a valuable discovery.

The estate was located near the capital of Toussaint, the city of Beauclair. What can one say about a city that can be seen in the distance from the manor, especially when viewed from the hill nearby? A beautiful city, once owned by the elves and later remodelled by humans to suit their liking. The town is about three times smaller than Wengerberg, but it has its own pleasant atmosphere. There was a winery attached to the estate, run by a family of hereditary workers.

A winemaker's house next to the vineyards, a separate house with a large cellar left for storage, and the two-storey estate itself, smaller than the previous house but completely separated for living quarters - that was how our new plot of land looked.

The alchemy shop was located in the capital city of Toussaint. It was bought to replace the house in Wengerberg that had been sold, or rather bought a room and then converted it into a shop.

Jennyfer often grumbles to me about the hot weather, which makes it necessary for her to have a second wardrobe with clothes for hot climates, also in dark colours, but much thinner and less closed.

- You've instilled in her a love of travelling to other worlds, but you've neglected to instill in her the ability to communicate with people, Eren,' Ian grumbled.

- Don't exaggerate. She got bored as quickly as I did, and it's hard to find an interesting world with intelligent life. After all these years, I've only found three: one with vampires, one with radiation, and one with orcs. I've got my pick of the bunch. She'll be thirty soon, so stop watching her every move.

Yennifer crossed her arms and turned away from me, fuming all around at my attitude toward our daughter. There were frequent fights in our lives. There were times when we were apart for a while, though rarely separated for a couple of months, and that was only until Elsa was born.

- Of course, what am I thinking. I'm the only one who cares about our daughter. But if a son were born, you'd teach him how to get into bed with the enchantresses.... - my face twitched at the mention of one of the reasons that might have finally ruined our relationship in the past.

- Are we going to discuss Litta again? - The only time I and Jennyfer had ever broken up for a long time was when I was having an affair with Litta Nade.

I don't know what I was thinking at the time when I decided to fall for the hints of a sorceress working with us. Jennyfer was very angry with us, and refused to deal with her, and with me, until I came back six months later and apologised to her. Litta wasn't my type.

- I still can't decide. Then did you dislike Skellige's climate and Litta's nastiness, or did you really realise your mistake?

I put my arm round her waist and pull her to me. The moment of Kalanthe's coronation has just arrived: - Would you believe me if I told you the truth of both? And yes, I like your nastiness better.

Yennifer didn't answer me anything, only snorted and leaned on me. At the same moment, there was a new queen in Cintra, going against the local aristocracy and becoming the sole ruler of Cintra, rather than an appendage to an imposed husband as had been planned before her father's death.

At times like this, I was glad that my affair with Galanthea, when I had not yet had the chance to discover her true nature, had remained a secret: 'Jennyfer would have forgiven Snowflower after curing her infertility, but she would hardly have forgiven me a second betrayal.'

And though the affair with Galanthea was one of the stages of the pause in our relationship with Yennifer, it would not have saved her from the anger of the sorceress. I know from my own experience, for I would not have put up with it if she had found someone to replace me. Which made me feel uncomfortable at the time, and eventually I stopped thinking about other flings.

- Let's go find Elsa. This is the most boring thing I've ever seen in my life.

- She wanted to see the castle. Said she'd come on her own. We'll just wait here.

Meanwhile, the aristocracy of Cintra have been taking turns converging on the queen, showing their gratitude. Soon they would start asking questions about a future husband for Kalanthe, but that would have to happen after the coronation. The role of Prince Consort will be of little use, though. It is well known how strong the Queen's ambitions are.

- The Prince of Ebbing is rumoured to be her husband. So she has managed to negotiate with the aristocratic families to end the feud,' Jennyfer shared the gossip with me.

- Really? I thought the discussion was planned for after the coronation.

- There was a civil war about to break out. She had to make concessions. Don't you know that?

I saw a familiar young face in the doorway of one of the corridors and, taking Jennyfer with me, I went to my daughter: 'Ian, I've been wandering around the desert world with Geralt for three days straight, and a couple of times I've fought with people in warped machines, interrupted only by a nap in Caer Morhen. Before that, we had two days of meetings in Garstang. There was plenty to do besides listening to news of Cintra.

I've changed my approach to exploring worlds. Now I go to them in the campaign of one of three witches: Geralt, Lambert and Eskel - depending on who wants to earn money. Vesemir went with me earlier until the others gained experience. Then I spend a few days in a row in research, depending on the interest in the world, and then, having collected all the information received, I take a break for a month, or even two, depending on the employment in the OWLs.

But the need for help is long gone, our trek with Geralt through the apocalyptic world was the last. Now I plan to only take a cursory look around without exploring anything. Sooner or later I'll find a good match for the elves, fuse them there, get enough treasure in payment, and finally settle down.

'As time goes on, more and more people will know of my affiliation with the Elder Blood. Gerhart and perhaps Tissaya, if he told her. It was so easy to join the OWLs. Four witches. Jennyfer, Elsa and Dana Meabdh. And since I agreed to her request, everyone will know in the future. 'What have I got to be afraid of?'

I had plenty of confidence in my defence. Over the years, I'd learnt most of the spells of each Element. I'd gained experience and learnt how to fight spellcasters, and my new job had played a major role in that. And there's not much point in worrying about who I've given up to? Elves? I'm willing to help them. Warlocks? The upper classes know about me, Hela does.

- And yet you're going to open a gambling house in Bockler. I'm only going to see you in bed? Oh, I get it, you're planning on carrying the bed with you.

- Stop exaggerating,' we approached a young girl with her hair in a braid, and wearing a dark dress with fur, similar to Jennyfer's robes.

Elsa had black hair, not as dark a shade as Ian's, but closer to mine. Her facial features were a mixture of both of us, bringing out the best in her. She'd inherited her mother's violet eyes, a consequence of magic's influence on the human gene.

- Fighting again? - she asked with a hint of amusement. - The view of the sea from the castle windows is not bad, do you want me to show you a better spot?

- Not now, Elsa. Come, you'll meet Kalanthe, - Jennyfer let go of my hand and approached her daughter, then added in a half-whisper. - Don't miss the opportunity to step into the counsellor's role, dear. Otherwise you'll have to run a shop in Bockler for the rest of your life.

- And drink wine every day and complain about the heat and my frequent absence. If you've started comparing her future life with your own, then say it all,' I justify our 'bickering. - I don't know much about the current situation in Cintra, so I'm not your counsellor. If you want to be Kalanthe's counsellor, we'll help you, but if you don't want to, don't bend to your mother.

- I'm fine with this place, Father,' Elsa ignored Jennyfer's indignant pose to me, hands on her waist, elbows out and chin up. - Trouble? Suspense? Sounds interesting.

- Well, great, then let's go introduce you, and Eren will go get us some wine glasses in the meantime, right? - She didn't wait for an answer.

'No magic can cure female alcoholism,' I headed to the banquet table with similar thoughts.