Eskel watched the black-haired youth walking toward him, his expression as impassive as ever.
But a trace of joy colored his gruff voice.
"Arwen."
He looked him up and down, sparing with his words. "You've grown taller."
Arwen shrugged. Over two years, he had grown from a short boy of five foot three to nearly five foot eleven.
As for Eskel, his face did not yet bear the prominent scar he had in The Witcher.
He had brown hair, and his features bore some resemblance to Geralt's, but his build was much larger.
"Snort..."
Heavy snorting came from behind Eskel.
Arwen looked toward the sound.
It was a dark brown stallion, blowing hot breath through its nostrils and stamping its hooves. The thorns in the bushes made it very uncomfortable.
"Scorpion."
Eskel tugged the reins, indicating that this was the stallion's name.
Arwen stepped forward and rubbed Scorpion's mane. The horse licked his lips contentedly.
"Let's go. Back to Kaer Morhen."
The two walked side by side along the riverbank.
Eskel looked over the ravaged ground and used the tip of his boot to turn the shaggy-haired head faceup.
Rotten teeth stained with foul blood filled its hideous, withered face.
The clean cut across its neck made Eskel's catlike pupils narrow.
"A water hag."
He turned toward Arwen, surprise in his voice.
"You killed it?"
Arwen murmured an affirmative.
"How old are you now?"
"Sixteen. My birthday's on May Day."
Eskel raised an eyebrow. "I couldn't have done that at your age."
Arwen pressed his foot into the muddy ground beneath him.
"Winter comes right after the autumn equinox. Snow already covers the Blue Mountains halfway down their slopes, and the White Stone River has entered its low-water season."
"Doesn't The Book of Monsters say water hags are drowners' wives?"
"If a large stretch of the riverbed hadn't dried up, I wouldn't have dared come here."
Eskel glanced over the drowner corpses around them and twisted his lips.
"Folklore also says water hags are nymphs who fell in love with humans, then became corrupted after being abandoned."
"That's all folk superstition. You and I should both know they're products of the Conjunction of the Spheres."
Arwen nodded earnestly.
The Conjunction of the Spheres.
Simply put, worlds from different dimensions had collided on this continent fifteen hundred years ago.
That had brought gnomes, dwarves, elves, humans...
It had also brought monsters such as drowners, ghouls, and dragons.
As for nymphs, they were water fairies, said to be spirits born from nature.
Uh...
Arwen glanced at the water hag's ugly face and shook his head.
No matter how he looked at it, it bore no resemblance whatsoever to a nymph.
Eskel crouched and drew a steel dagger from the sheath beside his right thigh.
He reached out and pried the water hag's mouth open, releasing a rotten stench.
Neither reacted. Eskel used the tip of his blade to pry out one of the water hag's fangs and placed it in his palm.
He signaled Arwen with a glance, and Arwen immediately opened his belt pouch and put the tooth inside.
"Water hag teeth are useful. Can't let them go to waste."
"Master Vesemir taught us that its canine teeth, combined with strong liquor and berbercane fruit, can be brewed into [Water Hag Decoction]. Drinking it raises adrenaline and briefly boosts your strength."
Eskel's tone was approving.
"The old man's as wise as ever. How is he doing?"
Arwen fastened his pouch. "Fantastic. Yesterday at noon, he ate an entire roast leg of lamb, then snored loud enough to shake the heavens."
"Heh... What about Geralt?"
"He left the mountains around the spring equinox last year."
Eskel fell silent for a while. As someone who had grown up with Geralt, he had been looking forward to seeing him again.
After cleaning up, they tied five drowner heads beside Scorpion's saddle.
The two men and the horse followed the Killer Trail up the mountain. The temperature plummeted, and cold wind kept pouring through their collars, rustling the hawthorn bushes and nettles around them.
They passed through a gap in a granite rock wall, and the view suddenly opened up.
An enormous castle stood amid the ruins.
The two crossed the drawbridge and passed through the dilapidated arcade.
Kaer Morhen's front courtyard.
Vesemir was checking a series of large sheet-metal chests. Five straight-backed figures had already gathered beside him.
"Clop, clop, clop..."
Scorpion's horseshoes clattered against the flagstones.
They all turned, their eerie catlike eyes gleaming in the dim light.
Vesemir stood and strode over, giving the brown-haired witcher a bear hug.
"Eskel, welcome home."
Eskel hugged him back firmly.
"I came back as soon as I received your message."
"I'm glad to see you're still so full of life."
"Hahaha..."
Arwen untied the drowner heads from the saddle and walked toward the apprentices.
Paul flexed his wrists in his silver-studded gloves.
"Only five drowners this time, Arwen?"
Aiken and the others looked over as well.
Over the past two years, they had reined in their boyish natures and grown considerably steadier.
Arwen placed the drowner heads in a vat of preserving salt beside the stables.
Many more were arrayed beside him, all his handiwork from the past two years.
It could be said that Kaer Morhen might lack this or that, but it would never lack air-dried drowner brains.
"Are you all ready?"
"Yeah. We were just waiting for you to get back."
Aiken raised his head, revealing his eerie green catlike eyes.
Arwen took a deep breath and wiped his palms.
The autumn equinox. Two years of training remained vivid in his mind.
The Trial of the Mountains. The day had finally come.
After exchanging a few pleasantries with Eskel, Vesemir immediately turned to the matter at hand.
"Everyone, come here."
Arwen and Aiken stepped firmly forward to stand before Vesemir.
Vesemir studied them. There was excitement on the apprentices' faces, and uncertainty, but no fear.
That pleased him greatly and made him proud.
"I won't waste any more words. Whether you can become witchers depends on what you do next."
"Remember, start from the White Stone River and reach the Circle of Elements at the summit of Troll before midnight tomorrow."
"Now, sort out your equipment. One silver sword each. Arwen, just use the one you already have."
Vesemir turned the sheet-metal chests before him to face the apprentices.
"One bottle of necrophage oil, one bottle of [Swallow], one bottle of [Cat], and dry rations."
Arwen and the others moved swiftly, quickly replenishing their supplies from the chests.
Vesemir said, "And check each other's leather armor. Fasten all your straps. Don't let your trousers fall down while you're running from drowners."
They chuckled, but their hands still instinctively began checking.
"Are you ready?"
"Ready!"
The apprentices' ringing voices echoed over Kaer Morhen.
Vesemir's expression was solemn. His gaze passed carefully over the faces of the five before him, as though he wanted to etch their features into the depths of his soul.
After a moment's contemplation, he softly uttered two words.
"Set out."