Chapter 96: Something Waited Underground

Even if Berengar had never left the path of battle, the result would not have changed much.

Of the eight bolts flying toward him, six had been aimed not at his body, but at the space around him, sealing off his movement. Only two were meant to strike flesh.

Berengar’s leather armor was typical witcher gear. Other schools did not wear heavy plate when circling monsters. Flexibility mattered more than protection in that sort of fight. His set followed the Wolf School’s design, with plenty of slots for potions and bombs, things his school used well. But those same slots meant there was no room for even a single plate segment, and most of the vials and bombs that should have filled them had long gone bad or were simply gone.

So when the Quen Sign broke at once, two bolts sank straight into Berengar’s body. The sound was soft. The effect was not. One bolt pinned his sword arm to his belly through the forearm. The other buried itself deep in his right thigh. Blood poured out in black ribbons.

“Fuck!”

Berengar thrashed on the ground like a wounded beast, cursing as he tried to force himself upright.

Only then did dark shapes begin stepping out from the distance around the shed. They had kept well away, using crossbows from beyond the range of Berengar’s witcher senses.

The man in front was short and broad, with two hounds at his heels.

“I knew that witcher wouldn’t let go, so I waited here. But this is interesting.” The stocky man came closer, his voice almost cheerful. “Another witcher mixed up in it. What, do you lone wolves all write each other letters in secret?”

As he spoke, he stepped across Berengar’s wounded leg as if he had not seen it. The shaft bent under his boot, and the head still buried in the flesh twisted cruelly.