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Rience scowled at him.
'And where is this witcher now?' he asked. 'This hired monster murderer, this poetic butcher
who likes to discuss destiny?'
'I told you, the last time I saw him '
'I know what you said,' Rience interrupted. 'I listened carefully to what you said. And now
you're going to listen carefully to me. Answer my questions precisely. The question is: if no
one has seen Geralt, or Gerald, the Witcher for over a year, where is he hiding? Where does
he usually hide?'
'I don't know where it is,' the troubadour said quickly. 'I'm not lying. I really don't know '
'Too quick, Dandilion, too quick.' Rience smiled ominously. 'Too eager. You are cunning but
not careful enough. You don't know where it is, you say. But I warrant you know what it is.'
1 )andilion clenched his teeth with anger and despair.
'Well?' Rience made a sign to the reeking man. 'Where is the witcher hiding? What is the
place called?'
The poet remained silent. The rope tightened, twisting his hands painfully, and his feet left the
ground. Dandilion let out a howl, brief and broken because Rience's wizardly ring
immediately gagged him.
'Higher, higher.' Rience rested his hands on his hips. 'You know, Dandilion, I could use magic
to sound out your mind, but it's exhausting. Besides, I like seeing people's eyes pop out of
their sockets from pain. And you're going to tell me anyway.'
Dandilion knew he would. The rope secured to his ankles grew taut, the bucket of lime
scraped along the ground.
'Sir,' said the first ruffian suddenly, covering the lantern with his cloak and peering through
the gap in the pigsty door, 'someone's coming. A lass, I think.'
'You know what to do,' Rience hissed. 'Put the lantern out.'
The reeking man released the rope and Dandilion tumbled inertly to the ground, falling in
such a way that he could see the man with the lantern standing at the door and the reeking
man, a long knife in his hand, lying in wait on the other side. Light broke in from the bawdy-
house through gaps in the planks, and the poet heard the singing and hubbub.
The door to the pigsty creaked open revealing a short figure wrapped in a cloak and wearing a
round, tightly fitting cap. After a moment's hesitation, the woman crossed the threshold. The
reeking man threw himself at her, slashing forcefully with his knife, and tumbled to his knees
as the knife met with no resistance, passing through the figure's throat as though through a
cloud of smoke. Because the figure really was a cloud of smoke - one which was already
starting to disperse. But before it completely vanished another figure burst into the pigsty,
indistinct, dark and nimble as a weasel. Dandilion saw it throw a cloak at the lantern man,
jump over the reeking one, saw something glisten in its hand, and heard the reeking man
wheeze and choke savagely. The lantern man disentangled himself from the cloak, jumped,
took a swing with his knife. A fiery lightning bolt shot from the dark figure with a hiss,
slapped over the tough's face and chest with a crack and spread over him like flaming oil. The
ruffian screamed piercingly and the grim reek of burning meat filled the pigsty.
Then Rience attacked. The spell he cast illuminated the darkness with a bluish flash in which
Dandilion saw a slender woman wearing man's clothes gesticulating strangely with both
hands. He only glimpsed her for a second before the blue glow disappeared with a bang and a
blinding flash. Rience fell back with a roar of fury and collapsed onto the wooden pigsty
walls, breaking them with a crash. The woman dressed in man's clothing leapt after him, a
stiletto flashing in her hand. The pigsty filled with brightness again - this time golden -
beaming from a bright oval which suddenly appeared in the air. Dandilion saw Rience spring
up from the dusty floor, leap into the oval and immediately disappear. The oval dimmed but,
before it went out entirely, the woman ran up to it shouting incomprehensively, stretching out
her hand. Something crackled and rustled and the dying oval boiled with roaring flames for a
moment. A muffled sound, as if coming from a great distance, reached Dandilion's ears - a
sound very much like a scream of pain. The oval went out completely and darkness engulfed
the pigsty again. The poet felt the power which gagged him disappear.
'Help!' he howled. 'Help!'
'Stop yelling, Dandilion,' said the woman, kneeling next to him and slicing through the knots
with Rience's stiletto.
'Yennefer? Is that you?'
'Surely you're not going to say you don't remember how I look. And I'm sure my voice is not
unfamiliar to your musical ear. Can you get up? They didn't break any bones, did they?'
Dandilion stood with difficulty, groaned and stretched his aching shoulders.
'What's with them?' He indicated the bodies lying on the ground.
'We'll check.' The enchantress snicked the stiletto shut. 'One of them should still be alive. I've
a few questions for him.'
'This one,' the troubadour stood over the reeking man, 'probably still lives.' [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]