Jerome was lying in his bed. At the moment, he was staying in a two-story house in Novigrad's slums. His room was stark, but it was clean. And his eyes were on the dimly-lit skies outside. It took five big buckets of hot water and a lot of shaving to wash off his stubborn grime and perk him up.
He could pass for a regular human now, but his gaunt visage and wild eyes told everyone he was a seasoned monster hunter. A man filled with sorrow.
For the first time in forever, Jerome changed into clean clothes. No longer was his bed made of cold haystacks and flea-ridden, tattered bedsheets. He spent many nights lamenting the machinations of fate.
All his life, he abided by the knight’s code. Since he left Kaer Seren at fifteen years of age, Jerome traveled the lands alone. He killed many monsters for the people of the continent, and some he did for free. Mostly, he took reduced payment. Drastically reduced payment. He never did anything evil, yet he was the one who took all of fate's punishment. He was tortured, his home was destroyed, and his friends and family were taken away from him.
And then he asked himself, Is this what kindness gets in return? He started questioning if his past acts of kindness were right. His faith in the creed started to waver. Jerome even started questioning if good or evil had meaning. The conflict between his doubts and faith tortured him even until this day, but in the two months he spent with Coen, he knew there was one thing he must do.
He must find Erland and seek the answers he wanted.
"Don't look for me." That was what Erland told him.
"Sorry, Erland." Jerome sighed, tears streaming down his cheeks. "But sometimes, answers are more important than survival."
***
The orphanage was draped in a blanket of mist. A sliver of dawn had broken through the darkest night, and five witchers trekked down a quiet street in Novigrad. They made their way to the southwestern area of the business district. The area ruled by Gawain.
"So, Coen, did Igsena kick your butt last night?" Lambert pressed down on his hairline, as if it would stop receding if he did so. "You smelled like trash last night. If I were her, I'd have broken up with you."
"Roy told her about it, and I didn't break my three-month promise." Coen had changed into a beautiful jacket, and a bag was thrown over his shoulder, swaying with every step he took. "And Igsena's a gentle soul. She understands what I had to do."
"Then cherish her," Letho said. "Don't be like Dandelion."
"What happened to him?"
"Heard Priscilla wouldn't talk to him for a week."
Everyone stayed silent, then they turned their attention to the row of houses before them. The houses stood in a line, their roofs pointing to the skies like mountains.
"Are you sure that lady can divine Erland's whereabouts?" Jerome—who was in grey armor—asked nervously.
"Fifty-fifty chance." Roy looked at Coen's bag. "Book of Shadows is written by Erland. He brought it along on his adventures for a hundred years. That things shares a bond with him. Even if it doesn't work, we still have you. You're his Unexpected Child. You too share a deep bond with him. Probably why he contacted you. The Book of Shadows and you are the two things that can help him out. It's like a lighthouse on the sea. It makes the search a lot easier."
Jerome calmed down a little.
Roy had a third plan in mind. A plan he hadn't told anyone. Empathic probe. Jerome became Erland's student thanks to the Law of Surprise. There's a bond between them. I can use this as a backup plan.
***
Corinne was doing the split on the second floor's balcony, a yoga mat spread underneath her. And she bent to the sides, her clothes tugging on her curves. Her curves made a beautiful S shape, something that was sure to attract most men's eyes. Sweat hung on her face, and her cheeks were as red as blooming roses.
She then bent her body to the left, her ribs almost sticking to her thigh, her fingertips touching her toes. And then she looked down and saw the witchers who appeared before the alleyway in front of her door. Her first reaction was to gasp in shock, but then she shook her head. Things are different now. I don't have to live in hiding anymore, even if I'm an oneiromancer.
***
"Good morning, Corinne. It's been six months, but you're more beautiful than ever."
The oneiromancer came to the first floor, where the witchers were. She had changed into a low-cut orange dress with some flowers embroidered on its sleeves and hem. It showed most of her skin, and her grey hair tumbled down her shoulders.
Just like a sorceress, she wore clothes that showed off her body, but the magic on her felt a lot weaker. Lambert kept giving Roy weird looks, but the young witcher ignored him.
"I can see you've become stronger, Roy." She extended her hand for the young witcher to kiss, then Corinne served some tea and looked at her guests gently.
"How's life? Is work going well?" Roy sipped some tea.
"Thanks to you, Gawain has been nice to me. Nobody harasses me anymore." Corinne took the seat across the witchers and crossed her legs. Then she gave the witchers a smile of gratitude. "The business district is home to the wealthy. Work's easy, and I make even more money than before. Life's pretty good."
"Good to hear." Roy smiled. It was delightful to hear that someone's life turned for the better because of him. Doubly so when said person was a beautiful and gifted woman like Corinne. "If you run into any trouble, you know where to find us."
Corinned grinned toothily. She stood up and bowed deeply at the witchers, revealing her deep cleavage in the process. Coen looked away. Roy, Letho, and Jerome were unfazed, but Lambert looked like he could stick his eyes in her chest.
"You must be here for my services. Speak away." Corinne pulled her hair back and offered, "It's on the house."
"Services, eh?" Lambert muttered.
"I'll cut to the chase. We need you to find the whereabouts of a certain man," Roy said. "We have here his diary, something he has kept by his side for decades. And we also have his Unexpected Child."
"Do you know what an Unexpected Child means, Corinne?" Lambert's eyes shone. He volunteered, "I can explain if you want to."
Corinne smiled and shook her head. "The Law of Surprise isn't exclusive to witchers. Zatret Voruta the legendary hero and Mad Dei are also Unexpected Children. Oneiromancers observe the flow of fate as well, and the Law of Surprise is something I have also learned. The strength of a bond forged by Destiny is enough for me to divine."
She took the Book of Shadows. One touch and she knew this was no mere diary. "Even so, there is no guarantee of finding your quarry. I promise I'll try my best. Now, let me prepare."
***
About an hour later, everyone entered the bedroom with Corinne. All the windows were shut, keeping out all rays of light. The only source of light came from the flickering flames of candles standing atop wooden sticks.
Jerome was lying on a soft couch, the Book of Shadows in his hands. Everyone else leaned on the door, their arms crossed. All of them watched silently.
Corinne stood behind Jerome, massaging his temples gently. Scented smoke wafted from the censer on the left, making Jerome drowsy.
"Deep breaths. Now relax." Corinne stared at Jerome's sleepy eyes and blew one candle out, dimming the room even more. "I shall guide you, but we must build a connection. There will be some questions, and you must answer them. Honestly."
Jerome took a deep breath and shoved away the uneasy feeling from this divination. It took him about five minutes to let his perpetual guard down.
"Alright. Now tell me about one memory you have about Erland. The most complete and vivid memory you have of him. If you can tell me about the time he invoked the Law of Surprise and took you away, that'd be the best."
Jerome looked into the distance, memories flooding his mind. "In 1087, Erland saved the life of my father—Tomas Moreau—in a forest. It was then he invoked the Law of Surprise, demanding something he already had but didn't know about. That something was me. I was still in my mother's—Lydia's—belly. In 1093, I met Erland for the first time. I was six. It was then Lydia told me I would be living my life with him."
The recount took about fifteen minutes. Jerome closed his eyes, getting lost in his memories.
"Control your emotions. Do not wallow in the sadness of that memory." Corinne tapped Jerome's forehead calmly. "Now lie down and relax. Hold my hand. Tell me more about Erland. What do you think happened to him? Why did he go missing? Where do you think he is right now?"
Corinne lit the censer on her right, and white smoke that smelled like grass filled the air, covering the room in a veil of smoke.
The smoke hid Jerome's face, and all the witchers could see was him muttering something. The smoke clouds roiled and shifted, and Jerome's voice got quieter and quieter, until it was… gone.
"Now try to connect with this book."
Jerome closed his eyes and breathed. Rhythmic breathing.
Corinne stood up and observed Jerome to confirm that he was asleep. She then took a half-finished sweater from her dressing table and started knitting. Flames shone upon her, painting her shadow upon the walls. Corinne was knitting a sweater, but that gigantic shadow on the wall resembled a goddess weaving the web of destiny.
The smoke twirled and engulfed the shadows on the wall.
***
Half an hour later, Jerome awoke from that bizarre dream. He opened his eyes, but his pupils were dilated. Unfocused. Corinne snapped her fingers, and clarity returned to Jerome's mind.
"So, how was it, mate? Did you have fun?" Lambert looked at Jerome and shot a passionate look at the sexy oneiromancer. Carefully, she placed the almost finished sweater into the box behind her. A sigh escaped her lips, and she plopped down on the other sofa in her room. Exhaustion filled her eyes, and sweat covered her forehead.
"Not the time for jokes, you dolt!" Letho shot Lambert a withering glare and turned his attention to Corinne. "Take a break, lady."
"I am."
"I think I saw something," Jerome blurted. "But I'm not sure what it was. What they were. They were two unrelated things."
"Tell us," Roy said. "Five heads are better than one."
"A… A majestic and ancient castle, hidden in the quietest area of a mountain range. Nestled within the icy rocks of the mountains and hidden under steep, snowy cliffs. Half of the structure was covered in snow."
"You just described Kaer Seren." Roy looked at Coen, and the Griffin narrowed his eyes.
"I'm sure it wasn't Kaer Seren." Jerome pushed himself up, a frown creasing his forehead. There was a thought racing through his head. "But they share some similarities. It felt… It felt like a witcher training center." He raised his voice, "That's it! I dreamt of the castle's insides. Stark, simple lobbies, Trial apparatuses, operating theaters, test tube racks… I saw those when I was younger, but they were ancient. One touch, and poof. Dust clouds everywhere. Feels like they haven't been used in decades."
"If what you saw was a witcher fortress, then we've narrowed it down to a few choices. Kaer Seren and Kaer Morhen are out for obvious reasons." Roy looked at Letho. "Any chance it might be Gorthur Gvaed?"
"No snow in Gorthur Gvaed," Letho answered.
"Any other clue?" Roy asked nervously. "Did you see Erland?"
Jerome shook his head. "I became Erland. Saw things from his perspective. Watched how his past unfolded. The castle aside, he had also gone to somewhere high a few miles away." A look of shock filled Jerome's eyes. "And it was filled with countless soldiers. Thousands and thousands of tents scattered everywhere. Black flags with a silver sun in the middle billowing in the wind."
"Wait, I know that flag!" The look on the witchers' faces changed.
"Yes, Nilfgaard's flag," Jerome said. "I'm sure that's the emblem of the south."
And now they had a dilemma.
"From what I know, Nilfgaard's army is in Amell, and more soldiers are on their way." Roy was conflicted. He never expected the war to be involved in this search. "So the castle you told us might possibly be in Amell. And what you saw probably happened very recently. Past couple years, maybe three."
The Griffins started breathing heavily, their cheeks turning rosy with excitement. So if we make our way to Amell, we might have a chance of finding Erland.
"Does Amell even have a witcher fortress?" Lambert shot Roy a teasing look, but he requested, "Any tips, seer?"
And the witchers turned their attention to Roy. He looked at them for a moment. "There's a fortress there that goes by the name of Haern Caduch. Used to be a base for the Bear School, but the Bears don't really have any attachments or desire to kill, and for some reason, they left the fortress and never came back. Eventually, the fortress became deserted."
"So why did Erland stay in an abandoned fortress?" Coen looked at everyone curiously. "Jerome said that Erland is under the control of some entity."
"And he has never contacted you nor shown his face for a hundred years. That's proof enough that he's under someone’s control." Roy said, "So the question is, why did the entity make Erland stay in an abandoned fortress?"
The Griffins looked at each other, dazed.
Wariness and hatred creeped up onto Letho's face. "Before we came, I… had a suspect. Of who or what the entity might be. It's the Vipers' nemesis—Wild Hunt. They invaded Gorthur Gvaed several times, abducting our apprentices and turning them into their puppets. Their phantom knights. The turned will don their damned armor and ride skeletal horses across the skies, appearing during the nights when war is waged. The Wild Hunt spreads calamity and misfortune. I thought they got to Erland as well. Enslaved him, but the Wild Hunt moves in a pack. So he couldn't have appeared in the castle alone."
A momentary silence took the group.
Coen took a deep breath. "This is our only lead. If we want to seek Erland and find out what's controlling him, we have to travel to Amell. Start our investigation there. Roy, Lambert, Letho, thank you for your assistance. From now on, it's the Griffins' battle." He held everyone's shoulders thankfully. "No matter how our search ends up, we'll join the brotherhood."
Jerome shot up and nodded at everyone, but he moved too much and almost flipped the chair over. It was natural. He could practically feel Erland just inches within his reach. I've lived a long life. Time to meet my destiny.
"Hey, why the ominous tone?" Lambert thumped the Griffin's chest. "You're one of us now. We're going to that fortress together. The brotherhood won't let any member face any danger alone. Just saying, but if you do this alone, even if you manage to find Erland, all you'll achieve is getting yourself under that entity's control."
The Griffins fell silent. They did need assistance, but dragging the brotherhood into their school's affair wasn't what they would like to do.
"That settles it." Letho slammed his hand onto the sofa. He announced, "We were going to find the Bears and their Trial formula anyway, so this is a trip we'd have to make eventually." Letho's eyes glinted, and he enunciated, "And your grandmaster isn't the only one missing. Viper's Ivar has been missing for more than twenty years. And the Wolf's Elgar is missing as well. I need to find out if this entity is behind their disappearance."
Letho's words sank in, and the witchers finally saw a bigger picture. Every school's grandmaster is missing? Could they all be under that monster's control?
***
We need to make preparations. Decoctions, potions, bombs, portal items. Just in case anything bad happens," Roy said. "We're going back to the orphanage and calling a meeting."
"A second," Lambert interrupted. He turned his attention to Corinne, who had been taking a break and listening in to the conversation. "My lovely lady, can you lend me a hand? I am searching for a certain person as well."
"And who might that be?" Corinne clasped her hands and placed them before her belly. She sat up straighter and narrowed her eyes, for Lambert's passion was burning a little too bright.
Lambert grinned. "Someone very important. My girlfriend in the future."
Huh.
"Hah, no need to trouble the lady. I can tell you the answer." Letho sneered and cracked his knuckles. "You're gonna stay single your entire life."
***
***
