‘What are you getting at, Lord Gyllenstiern?’
‘I'm already there. Lately I have heard that it is difficult to come to an agreement with you witchers. It seems that when somebody asks a witcher to kill a monster, he prefers to meditate on the legitimacy of this act rather than to just take up his sword and kill it. He wishes to consider the boundaries of what is acceptable by wondering whether the killing, in this particular case, does not contradict with his ethical code and if the monster is indeed a monster - as though it were not obvious at first glance. I think that your financial security hinders you: in my time, witchers did not stink of money. The only stench was from the bandages with which they covered their feet. There was never the slightest hint of procrastination: they killed whatever they had been ordered to kill, that's it. It didn't matter whether it was a werewolf, a dragon or a tax collector. Only the effectiveness of the job. What do you think, Geralt?’
‘Do you want to entrust me with a mission, Gyllenstiern?’ replied the witcher roughly. ‘I await your proposal. We shall make a decision then. But if that's not case, there's no point in waffling on like this, is there?’
‘A mission?’ the chancellor sighed. ‘No, I don't have one for you. Today we hunt the dragon and apparently it exceeds your abilities, witcher. I fancy that the Reavers will fulfil this task. I simply wanted to keep you informed. Pay close attention: King Niedamir and I will not tolerate this type of fanciful dichotomy consisting of separating monsters into good and bad. We don't want to hear, and even less to see, how witchers apply this principle. Do not meddle in royal business, Lord, and cease conspiring with Dorregaray.’
‘I'm not in the habit of collaborating with magicians. How did you come to such a hypothesis?’
‘The fancies of Dorregaray,’ replied Gyllenstiern, ‘exceed even those of the witchers. He goes beyond your dualistic dichotomy by considering that all monsters are good!’
‘He exaggerates a bit.’
‘There's no doubt about that. But he defends his views with amazing tenacity. Frankly I wouldn't be surprised if he's up to something. It's odd that he's joined this strange company …’
‘I don't really like Dorregaray; the feeling's mutual.’
‘Don't interrupt me! I must say your presence here seems strange to me: a witcher with more scruples than there are fleas nesting in the coat of a fox; a magician who never stops spouting druidic incongruities regarding the balance of nature; a silent knight, Borch Three-Jackdaws and his escort from Zerricania - where, as everybody knows, they make sacrifices before effigies of dragons. And they all suddenly join our hunt. It's strange, don't you find?’
‘If you say so, yes.’
‘Know then,’ the chancellor went on, ‘that as is so often the case, the most difficult problems always result in the simplest resolution. Do not force me to use to it, witcher.’
‘I don't understand.’
‘You understand. You understand only too well. Thank you for this conversation, Geralt.’
The witcher halted his mount. Gyllenstiern sped up his pace to join the king behind the wagons. Eyck of Denesle, dressed in a jerkin stitched with pale leather still carrying the impression of a breast-plate, passed by at walking pace leading a sleepy horse loaded with armour and carrying a silver shield and a powerful lance. Geralt waved to him, but the knight errant looked away, pursing his lips, before spurring his horse onwards.
‘He doesn't like you very much,’ said Dorregaray, joining Geralt. ‘Don't you think?’
‘Apparently.’
‘He's a rival isn't he? You both lead a similar activity. The difference being that the knight Eyck is an idealist and you a professional. The difference of no importance to the beings whom you slaughter.’
‘Don't compare me to Eyck, Dorregaray. Who knows which of us two would come off worse as a result of your comparison.’
‘As you wish. To tell the truth, to me you are just as loathsome as he is.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Don't mention it.’ The magician patted the neck of his horse, frightened by the shouting of Yarpen and his dwarves. ‘As far as I'm concerned, witcher, to make murder a vocation is disgusting, base and stupid. Our world hangs in the balance. The destruction, the murder of any living being in this world threatens this balance. The absence of equilibrium leads to extinction, and thus the end of the world as we know it.’
‘Druid theory,’ declared Geralt. ‘I know of it. An old hierophant introduced me to it before, in Rivia. Two days after our conversation, rat-men tore him to shreds. It wasn't evident that any kind imbalance had occurred as a result.’
Dorregaray looked at Geralt indifferently.
‘The world, I repeat, remains in balance. A natural balance. Every species has its enemies, each is a natural enemy for the others. This fact also applies to human beings. The complete destruction of the natural enemies of man - to which you contribute, Geralt, as we can see - threatens our degenerate race.’
‘You know, magician,’ replied the witcher, losing his temper, ‘Perhaps you should visit a mother whose son has been devoured by a basilisk and explain to her that she should be delighted with her misfortune, because it will enable the salvation of the degenerate human race. Wait and see how she answers you.’
‘Good argument, witcher,’ interrupted Yennefer, who had joined them on her big black horse. ‘Dorregaray, be careful about what you say.’
‘I'm not in the habit of keeping my opinions to myself.’
Yennefer slipped between the two. The witcher noticed that she had replaced her golden mesh with a white neckerchief rolled into a headband.
‘Consider suppressing them, Dorregaray,’ she replied. ‘At least in front of Niedamir and the Reavers, who suspect you of wanting to sabotage the hunt. They will continue treating you as an inoffensive maniac as long as you restrict yourself to words. But if you try to do something, they will break your neck before you have time to take a breath.’
The magician smiled contemptuously.
‘Besides,’ continued Yennefer, ‘by uttering such views, you undermine the foundations of our profession and our duty.’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘You can apply your theories to grand creation and vermin, Dorregaray, but not to dragons. Dragons remain the worst natural enemy of man. It's not a matter of the degeneration of humanity, but its survival. In the end, mankind must get rid of his enemies and anything else that threatens it.’
‘Dragons are not the enemies of man,’ interrupted Geralt.
The sorceress looked at him and smiled, only with her lips.
‘On this issue,’ she replied, ‘leave the discussion to us humans. You, witcher, are not made to judge. You are only there to carry out certain tasks.’
‘As a servile and programmed golem?’
‘Your words, not mine,’ she retorted coldly, ‘even if I consider them, it could be said, rather appropriate.’
‘Yennefer,’ said Dorregaray. ‘For a woman of your age and education to talk such nonsense is shocking. Why would dragons appear among the main enemies of man? Why not other living beings with a hundred times more victims than dragons? Why not hirikkhis, giant centipedes, manticores, amphisbaena or griffons? Why not wolves?’
‘Let me tell you. The superiority of man over other breeds and species, the fight for his rightful place in nature, his vital place, will only succeed when man has put an end to his aggressive, nomadic search for food, where he moves about in accordance with the changing of the seasons. Otherwise, it will be impossible for him to multiply quickly enough. Humanity is a child without any real independence. A woman can only give birth safely sheltered by the walls of a city or a fortified town. Fertility, Dorregaray, is what's needed for development, survival and domination. Then we come to dragons: only a dragon can threaten a city or fortified town, no other monster. If dragons are not exterminated, humans will scatter to ensure their security instead of uniting against it. If a dragon breathes fire on a den
sely populated quarter, it's a catastrophe - a terrible massacre with hundreds of victims. That's why every last dragon must be wiped out.’
Dorregaray looked at her with a strange smile on his lips.
‘You know, Yennefer, I'd prefer not be alive when the time comes that your idea of man's domination will come true and the time when the same will take up their rightful place in nature. Fortunately, it will never arrive. You will consume each other, you will poison yourselves, you will succumb to fever and typhus, because it will be filth and lice, not dragons, that will threaten your splendid cities where the women give birth every year, but where only one newborn baby out of ten will succeed in living more than ten days. Yes, Yennefer, of course: breeding, breeding and more breeding. Take care, my dear, go and make some babies, as it's a more natural function with which to occupy yourself rather than wasting time spouting nonsense. Goodbye.’
The magician spurred on his horse and left at a gallop to join the head of the column.
Seeing Yennefer's pale and tense face, Geralt instantly felt sorry for the magician. He grasped situation perfectly: Yennefer was sterile, as were most sorceresses, but unlike the others, she suffered as a result and became wild with rage when reminded of it. Dorregaray undoubtedly knew this weakness. He was, however, unaware that Yennefer had a cold-blooded thirst for vengeance.
‘He's going to make trouble,’ she hissed. ‘Oh, yes! Watch out, Geralt. If it comes to that, don't hope that I'll defend you if you don't exhibit some common sense.’
‘Don't worry,’ he replied, smiling. ‘We witchers and servile golems always act reasonably. The limitations within which we can act are clearly and distinctly fixed.’
‘Look at you!’ Yennefer's face turned even paler. ‘You're as upset as a girl who's just had her lack of virtue exposed. You're a witcher, you can't change that. Your duty… ‘
‘Stop going on about my duty, Yen. This argument is starting to make me sick.’
‘Don't speak to me like that, I'm warning you. Your nausea as well as your restricted range of actions are of no interest to me.’
‘You'll witness some of them, however, if you don't cease bating me with grand ethics and talk of the struggle for the good of humanity. Or talk about dragons, dreadful enemies of the human tribe. I know better.’
‘Oh yes?’ The sorceress blinked. ‘What do you know about it, witcher?’
‘I know this.’ Geralt ignored the violent warning of the medallion hanging around his neck. ‘If dragons didn't protect treasure, not even lame dogs would be interested in their fate. Magicians even less so. It's interesting to note that, in every hunt for a dragon, there is the presence of magicians who are strongly linked to the guild of jewellers. Yourself, for example. Later, while the market is saturated with stones, the ones from the dragon's hoard disappear as if by magic and their price remains constantly inflated. Therefore don't talk to me about duty and battles for survival of the species. I know you too well and for too long.’
‘Too long,’ she repeated with a hostile air, grimacing. ‘Unfortunately. But don't think that you know me well, you son of a bitch. Damn it, what a fool I was… Go to hell! I can't look at you anymore,’
She cried out, launching her dark horse into a flat-out gallop towards the head of the convoy. The witcher stopped his mount to let through the wagon of the dwarves who shouted, swore and played on bone flutes. Among them, sprawled out on some bags of oats, Dandelion strummed his lute.
‘Hey!’ cried Yarpen Zigrin from the driver's seat, pointing at Yennefer. ‘What's that black thing on the path? I'm curious, whatever can it be? It resembles a mare!’
‘Undoubtedly!’ replied Dandelion, shouting and pushing back his plum coloured hat. ‘It's a mare riding a gelding! Incredible!’
The beards of Yarpen's boys shook with a chorus of laughter. Yennefer pretended not to hear them.
Geralt stopped his horse to let Niedamir's archers through. Behind them, a little way off, Borch rode slowly and right behind him, bringing up the rear guard, the Zerricanians. Geralt waited for them. He positioned his mare next to Borch's horse. They rode on in silence.
‘Witcher,’ Three Jackdaws said suddenly. ‘I'd like to ask you a question.’
‘Ask away.’
‘Why don't you turn back?’
The witcher looked at him in silence for a while.
‘You really want to know?’
‘Yes,’ replied Three Jackdaws, turning to him.
‘I walk in the column because I'm only a servile golem, only a strand of oakum carried by the wind on the highway. Where should I go? Tell me. For what purpose? In this company there are plenty of people to talk to. Some don't even cut short their conversations when I approach them. Those that don't like me tell me to my face, rather than talking behind my back. I accompany them for the same reason that I went with you in the bargemen's inn. Because it's all the same to me. I'm not expected to be anywhere in particular. There's nothing for me at the end of the road.’
Three Jackdaws cleared his throat.
‘At the end of every path, there is a goal, a purpose. Everybody has one. Even you, in spite of your difference.’
‘It is now my turn to ask you a question.’
‘Go for it.’
‘Do you see a goal at the end of your path?’
‘I see one.’
‘Lucky.’
‘It's not a question of luck, Geralt. It's all a matter of what you believe and to what you devote yourself. Nobody can know this better than… What witcher?’
‘Nobody stops talking about their ambitions today,’ murmured Geralt. ‘The ambition of Niedamir consists of conquering Malleore. That of Eyck of Denesle to protect the humans from dragons. Dorregaray feels called to accomplish a diametrically opposite purpose. Yennefer cannot fulfil her ambition owing to the changes to which her body has been subjected, and it upsets her. By the devil, only the Reavers and the dwarves seem not to need ambition. They simply want to make a packet. Perhaps that's why they appeal to me. ‘
‘No, Geralt of Rivia, it is not they who appeal to you. I'm neither blind nor deaf. You didn't take out your purse to the soft music of their name. It seems to me that…’
‘It's in vain,’ the witcher said without anger.
‘I'm sorry.’
‘No need to apologise.’
They stopped their mounts to avoid a collision with the archers of Caingorn who had stopped at the head of the column.
‘What's happened?’ Geralt stood up in his stirrups. ‘Why have we stopped?’
‘I don't know,’ replied Borch, looking around.
Vea uttered something, looking strangely worried.
‘I'm going to the front,’ declared the witcher. ‘I'll find out.’
‘Wait.’
‘Why?’
Three Jackdaws remained silent, staring at the ground.
‘Why?’ repeated Geralt.
‘On second thought, go,’ Borch said finally. ‘I think perhaps it will be better to.’
‘Why will it be better?’
‘Go.’
The bridge linking up both edges of precipice seemed solid. It had been constructed with imposing logs of pine resting on a square pillar against which the current broke with crash in long rivulets of foam.
‘Hey, Ripper!’ shouted Boholt, approaching the wagon. ‘Why have you stopped?’
‘I'm not sure about this bridge.’
‘Why are we going this way?’ Gyllenstiern asked, going up to them. ‘I'm not keen on crossing this bridge with the wagons. Hey! Shoemaker! Why go this way? The track goes on farther westward!’
The heroic poisoner of Holopole went up to him and took off his sheepskin hat. He cut a comical air in his frockcoat covered with an old-fashioned breast-plate dating from at least the time of King Sambuk.
‘This way is shorter, noble lord,’ he replied not to the chancellor but directly to Niedamir, whose face still expressed deathly boredom.
‘How's that?�
�� demanded Gyllenstiern, his face contorted.
Niedamir did not deign to look at the shoemaker.
‘Well,’ explained Kozojed, indicating the three jagged summits dominating the area. ‘Over there are Chiava, Big Kestrel and Steed's Tooth. The track leads towards the ruins of an ancient fortified town, winds around Chiava to the north, and carries on beyond the source of the river. By taking the bridge, we can shorten the way. We can follow the ravine up to a body of water located between the mountains. If we find no trace of the dragon there, we can head eastward to examine the adjacent gulches. Even farther eastward, there are flat mountain pastures, then a path leading directly to Caingorn, towards your domains, lord.’
‘How did this knowledge of mountains come to you, Kozojed?’ Boholt asked. ‘While planing down clogs?’
‘No, lord. I was a shepherd in my youth.’
‘The bridge will hold?’ Boholt got up from his seat and looked down at the foaming river. ‘The chasm is forty fathoms deep.’
‘It will hold, my lord.’
‘How do you explain the presence of such a bridge in this wild land?’
‘The trolls,’ explained Kozojed, ‘constructed this bridge in ancient times to set up a toll. Whoever wanted to cross had to pay a hefty sum. But there were rarely any takers, so the trolls packed up and left. The bridge remained.’
‘I repeat,’ Gyllenstiern interrupted angrily, ‘that we've wagons filled with equipment and food just in case we get stuck in the wilderness. Isn't it better to stay on the track?’
The Sword of Destiny Page 5
