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The sounds increased, grew louder. He now made out the obscene lyrics of the carousing
songs, learned the name of the moaning woman's lover. From Myhrman's homestead on the
canal came the broken, uncoordinated gibberish of the charlatan who had been put, by
Philippa Eilhart's treatment, into a state of complete and, no doubt, permanent idiocy.
Dawn was approaching. It had finally stopped raining, a wind started up which blew the
clouds away. The sky in the east was clearly paling.
The rats in the lane suddenly grew uneasy, scattered in all directions and hid amongst the
crates and rubbish.
The witcher heard footsteps. Four or five men; he could not as yet say exactly how many. He
looked up but did not see Philippa.
Immediately he changed tactic. If Rience was amongst those approaching he had little chance
of grabbing him. He would first
have to fight his escort and he did not want to do so. Firstly, as he was under the influence of
the elixir, those men would have to die. Secondly, Rience would then have the opportunity to
flee.
The footsteps grew nearer. Geralt emerged from the shadows.
Rience loomed out of the lane. The witcher recognised the sorcerer instantly and instinctively,
although he had never seen him before. The burn, a gift from Yennefer, was masked by the
shadow of his hood.
He was alone. His escort did not reveal themselves, remaining hidden in the little street.
Geralt immediately understood why. Rience knew who was waiting for him by the charlatan's
house. Rience had suspected an ambush, yet he had still come. The witcher realised why. And
that was even before he had heard the quiet grating of swords being drawn from their
scabbards. Fine, he thought. If that's what you want, fine.
'It is a pleasure hunting for you,' said Rience quietly. 'You appear where you're wanted of
your own accord.'
'The same can be said of you,' calmly retorted the witcher. 'You appeared here. I wanted you
here and here you are.'
'You must have pushed Myhrman hard to tell you about the amulet, to show you where it is
hidden. And how to activate it to send out a message. But Myhrman didn't know that the
amulet informs and warns at the same time, and so he could not have told you even if roasted
on red coals. I have distributed a good many of these amulets. I knew that sooner or later you
would come across one of them.'
Four men emerged from around a corner of the little street. They moved slowly, deftly and
noiselessly. They still kept to the areas of darkness and wielded their drawn swords in such a
way as not to be betrayed by a flash of blades. The witcher, obviously, saw them clearly. But
he did not reveal the fact. Fine, murderers, he thought. If that's what you want, that's what
you'll get.
'I waited,' continued Rience without moving from the spot, 'and here you are. I intend to
finally rid the earth of your burden, you foul changling.'
'You intend? You overrate yourself. You are nothing but a tool.
A thug hired by others to deal with their dirty work. Who hired you, stooge?'
'You want to know too much, mutant. You call me a stooge? And do you know what you are?
A heap of dung on the road which has to be removed because someone prefers not to soil their
boots. No, I am not going to disclose who that person is to you, although I could. But I will
tell you something else so you have something to think about on your way to hell. I already
know where to find the little bastard you were looking after. And I know where to find that
witch of yours, Yennefer. My patrons don't care about her but I bear the whore a personal
grudge. As soon as I've finished with you, I'm going after her. I'll see to it that she regrets her
tricks with fire. Oh, yes, she is going to regret them. For a very long time.'
'You shouldn't have said that.' The witcher smiled nastily, feeling the euphoria of battle
aroused by the elixir, reacting with adrenalin. 'Before you said that, you still had a chance to
live. Now you don't.'
A powerful oscillation of his witcher's medallion warned him of a sudden assault. He jumped
aside and, drawing his sword in a flash, deflected and annihilated the violent, paralysing wave
of magical energy directed at him with his rune-covered blade. Rience backed away, raised
his arm to make a move but at the last moment took fright. Not attempting a second spell, he
swiftly retreated down the lane. The witcher could not run after him - the four men who
thought they were concealed in the shadows threw themselves at him. Swords flashed.
They were professionals. All four of them. Experienced, skilled professionals working as a
team. They came at him in pairs, two on the left, two on the right. In pairs - so that one always
covered the other's back. The witcher chose those on the left. On top of the euphoria produced
by the elixir came fury.
The first thug attacked with a feint from dextra only to jump aside and allow the man behind
him to execute a deceptive thrust. Geralt spun in a pirouette, evaded and passed by them and
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