Chapter 74

The Witcher’s health suddenly took a turn for the worse.

What little antidotal effect the elixirs had offered was fading; the Leshen had left wounds still raw, and the recent, brutal fight had sapped most of his strength.

On top of that came Nekker claws and venom, the stacked negatives turning his face an ugly shade; he slumped against the mine wall, exhausted, barely able to rise.

Roy watched, guilt knotting his chest; if he could shoulder more, perhaps the Witcher would not have come to this.

“In my state, I cannot fight for a while,” Letho sighed, a weakness the Witcher had not shown in many years, and that stiffness of face revealed, for the first time, a trace of negative emotion in front of his apprentice.

“Rest then, don’t force it. We’ve driven off a large wave of Nekker, they will need time to recover their vigor; unlikely they’ll press another attack so soon,” Roy soothed, pulling ration-bits and water from his personal space and sharing food with the Witcher amid the littered gore.

He cleaned wounds with strong spirit and fed him a Celandine Potion.

Letho watched the motions in silence, and his heart warmed.

Roy thought himself slow to learn, Letho thought the opposite.

In a few months this country boy had met a handful of monsters and never flinched in close combat; even the Leshen had fallen by his hand.

Luck and tricks had their part, but the record was impressive.

Roy’s growth surprised Letho, older of years and many apprentices past; none from Letho’s early years had matched this kid.

At the thought, the Witcher felt a small, stubborn hope for the Viper School’s revival.

“The Nekker won’t bother us for now, but prep is needed. Go search around, see if you can find Longrube, Comfrey, Aconite, those cave-friendly herbs.”

“Though we lack proper alchemical tools to brew elixirs, decoctions, bombs, we can make crude poisons ... enough for these beasts.”

“What poisons?” Roy regarded the bald Witcher with fresh curiosity, “You never told me you were good with poisons.”

“Our school bears the viper’s name; we know poisons,” Letho dismissed with a wry shake, “though many monsters resist toxins, so the point is small. Spend your effort on alchemy.”