Chapter 16

A pale slash of light tore the horizon.

Dawn had come.

“Mm...” Roy stretched and opened his eyes. He felt utterly relaxed, as if he had soaked in a warm spring all night. In the two months since he crossed over, this was the first time he had slept this well.

The morning chill blew through, and yesterday’s exhaustion evaporated; he felt clear-headed and fresh.

“Right, what happened to me last night ... Axii Sign, damn it, you can’t use Signs on your own people.” Roy’s face went pale. He patted himself all over, checked his clothes, felt for any oddness—everything was intact. He exhaled.

“Good thing the big bald fellow isn’t into anything weird.”

“Awake, brat...”

Letho’s low, unfussy voice had hardly finished when Roy’s vision blurred and a glistening, golden roast leg swung through the air in front of him like a promise.

“Ouch ... hot!” he yelped, fumbling until he caught the meat. He blew at it, then glared up. “What did you do to me last night?”

“Look at your thigh,” Letho answered.

“Huh. It’s ... healed.” The raw, rubbed strip on the inside of Roy’s thigh that should have taken days to scab over was crusted with a hard brown scab now. Ugly to look at and stiff to the touch, but not painful.

“Last night I used an Axii sign to put you under, gave you a bit of herb,” Letho said.

“Master Letho, you can’t just do that without telling me. Still ... who knew Axii could help sleep?” Roy’s complaints were half genuine, half amazed.

“Wait, you didn’t give me a potion, did you?” Witchers’ potions could devastate an ordinary body; Roy checked his attributes in a hurry.

Everything was fine. In fact his Stamina had increased by 0.1, up to 4.3, as if one night had replaced a month of hard training. Whatever Letho had done or fed him, it had helped.

“You would not want potion benefits at this stage,” Letho said. “The Trial of the Grasses is still a long way off. Potions would likely kill you. I gave you a mild herb mix suitable for humans. Long term use can slightly improve constitution.”

Roy’s eyes brightened. An unexpected boon. He abandoned further protest and devoured half the roast leg, clicking his tongue in appreciation. “Nice cooking. Tender, flavorsome, good chew. Master, what beast is this?”