The Witcher: The Black Dragon

Chapter 6

…

Martin headed back to the Kingfisher. Going to the reception desk, he asked the receptionist if Triss was still in the building. The receptionist informed Martin that Triss was waiting in the room they rented for the month. Heading up the stairs and finding the room, Martin entered the room and found Triss waiting for him, sitting at the vanity desk.

Martin coughed to the redhead's attention. "Martin! Find what you were looking for?" the sorceress asked as she stood from her chair.

"I believe so," said Martin as he pulled out his satchel the books and bestiaries on monsters. "I could use your expertise on some of these monsters," he added.

"Well, I'm no Witcher, but I do have some experience with monsters," Triss smiled as she took one tome from Martin's arms. "I also made some enquiries about any available houses that could be bought," she informed Martin.

"Indeed," Martin said as he sat down at a table and opened one of the tomes to begin reading.

"Yes. The house is just a short walk from here," replied Triss. "But it can wait until we get at least one of these tomes looked through," she said.

The next hour was spent reading the tomes on monsters. Triss helped where she could, giving anecdotes and firsthand accounts of various monsters she had encountered in her travels. There was a lot to cover; from the categories of monsters, the normal and special variations and the weaknesses of them.

In most cases, you needed a silver weapon or magic to harm monsters like werewolves, but other monsters such as those within the draconid or ogroid category such as basilisks and nekkers, you could use a regular steel weapon to kill. Triss also explained that not all monsters were dangerous, some you could actually reason with. One example being trolls; while not exceptionally intelligent, trolls could apparently be reasoned with and could be convinced to let you pass without harm. Other monsters such as a succubus didn't intend any actual harm but caused it nevertheless were a unique case when it came to monsters.

Then there were some truly unique monsters such as higher vampires. Martin had asked what higher vampire meant. Triss had done her best to explain the matter, but she did not know much about higher vampires. She said that Geralt had met and befriended a higher vampire by the name of Regis in his travels.

And on the subject of vampires, Martin was surprised to learn that vampires of this world did not possess the traditional weaknesses of vampires in Tamriel. In the case of higher vampires, they were much stronger than the vampires Martin was familiar with and he voiced that thought to Triss.

"Really? So, how are vampires different than the ones here?" the sorceress asked the Dragonborn who said, "Well, vampires back home had a weakness and aversion to the light of the sun and weaker vampires often perished under it. But vampires of this world aren't affected by it. Another difference is that vampires in Tamriel are able to spread their condition via bite, whereas that doesn't appear to be the case here."

"Interesting," Triss mused. "What about the myth of garlic or crucifixes being able to drive vampires? Is there anything like that in your world?" she asked.

"I don't believe so," replied Martin. "One common weakness vampires of my world and this one seem to share is silver. But another difference would be that vampires back home are invariably in a humanoid form, but vampires of this world like these ekimarras and katakans look more akin to overgrown monstrous bats than humanoid," he said.

"What about higher vampires, anything like that in your world?" Triss asked.

Martin had a contemplative look on his face before saying, "The only thing that could come close would be Daughters of Cold Harbor or pure-blood vampires," he said.

"Daughters of Cold Harbor? Who or what are they?" Triss asked looking interested.

"Well, to explain, I would have to tell you about their creator, Molag Bal, one of the Daedric Princes of Oblivion," said Martin.

"You mentioned these Daedric Princes before, what exactly are they?"

Martin then proceeded to give Triss a brief overview of what he knew of the Daedric Princes of Oblivion and his own encounters with them.

"The Daedra could be considered evil or demonic entities, but some aren't wholly evil; one such Daedra would be Meridia who despises the undead and is often set against Molag Bal whose creations are often undead, such as vampires," Martin explained.

"So, in your world, this Molag Bal created vampires," Triss said rather than asked.

Martin nodded and said, "The first vampire created wasn't a willing subject. The vampires I spoke of, Daughters of Cold Harbor and pure-blooded vampires are unique in that they granted, or more accurately cursed with vampirism directly from Molag Bal," he explained.

"How does one become a pure blooded vampire?" Triss asked, a hint of uncertainty creeping into her voice.

"From what a… friend told me, a ritual is performed on a certain night where Molag Bal appears before you and he… well, it isn't pretty to say the least," Martin said reluctantly.

Triss quickly connected the dots and said, "And that's how pure-blooded vampires are created?" she asked looking a little horrified.

"Essentially, yes," said Martin. "Molag Bal is the closest to what could be described as pure evil among the Daedra. Some of the Daedra aren't truly evil like Meridia, but others often demand a terrible price for a blessing that turns out to be more of a curse than anything else," he added.

"Why would people make deals with such beings?" Triss asked.

"Well, the Nine Divines tend not to meddle in the affairs of mortals, which makes many question whether they exist or not and that leads to Daedra worship who have no problems revealing themselves to their followers," replied Martin.

"And what are your beliefs?" Triss asked, now curious to know what Martin believed.

"Well, I certainly do believe in the Nine as I'm a literal product of their intervention," replied Martin. "I have had dealings with the Daedra but I don't necessarily worship them," he then said.

"You had dealings with the Daedra?" Triss asked and Martin nodded in response. "What kind of dealings did you have with them?"

"Well, the first Daedric Prince I encountered was Meridia," Martin said. "I found a strange gem within a chest and I heard Meridia's voice in my head, asking, hell practically demanding me to return the gem to her shrine. So I returned the gem to Meridia's Shrine and I got roped into ridding her temple filled with undead creatures," he explained.

"How did that happen? The undead overrunning her temple I mean," Triss said.

"Well some necromancer broke into the temple and used an artefact of Meridia's to fuel his necromantic powers to resurrect the dead to create an army with the intention of taking over Skyrim and the rest of Tamriel, if I hadn't stopped him," Martin recalled.

"And what was this artefact? It had to be pretty powerful I'm guessing," Triss remarked.

"A sword."

"A sword?" Triss parroted and Martin nodded in response. "Must be a pretty powerful weapon to fuel a necromancer's power," she commented.

"Aye, it was. Exceptionally so," said Martin. "I wielded it for a time, as a reward from Meridia," he added.

"Do you have it here?" Triss asked, looking interested.

"Unfortunately, I do not currently possess the blade on my person," replied Martin casually. "I don't like to weigh myself down with weapons. The sword I have with me is more than good enough for my needs," he said tapping the hilt of Blackfyre with his forefinger.

"Geralt told me that your sword was able to harm monsters," Triss observed. "What kind of metal is it?" she asked.

"I don't really know," Martin admitted. "I received the blade from a courier along with a message that the blade belonged to my family, but I have no idea who my family is," he said.

"So you have said," Triss said gently, feeling sympathy for Martin's potential status as an orphan. "Might I examine your sword?" she asked politely.

Martin pulled the blade free from its scabbard, the dark smoky blade rippling with a thousand folds and gleamed in the light. Offering the sword hilt first to Triss, Martin watched carefully as Triss examined the weapon.

"It's very light, lighter than most swords I've held," Triss remarked as her green eyes looked over the blade, running her fingertips on the flat of the blade. Triss then murmured a spell softly and little sparks of energy fluttered from her fingers onto the sword. "This sword was forged with magic of some kind, but I can't tell what," she stated. "Does it have a name?" she asked looking up at Martin.

"Blackfyre," said Martin.

"Blackfyre," Triss repeated as she gazed back at the sword before offering it back to Martin who took the weapon and sheathed it back in its scabbard. "I might have to do some research on swords and any royal families that could possess such a weapon, but other than that I really don't know what to make of it," she said.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to find out who my family are," Martin said. "I guess you could say it's what keeps me going in life," he added with a sardonic smile.

"Well, I hope you do find out someday," Triss replied with a smile. "So, would you like to go check out that house I told you about?" she suggested.

"May as well," Martin replied.

Leaving the Kingfisher and walking down the street, they came to an old dilapidated house; it was very old, the paintwork on the bricks was cracked and pieces had flaked off showing the brick and mortar beneath. The roof shingles were overgrown with moss and lichen and the windows looked to be in need of repair.

"Looks like it could use some work," Martin commented as he looked at the old house.

"It does," Triss agreed her nose crinkling up slightly. "Do you want to take a look inside?" she asked.

"Aye, let's go have a look," Martin said.

The doorway was aged wood that looked like it had seen termites many times and the knob was very rusty and nearly crumbled to pieces in Martin's grip as he turned it. The door swung slowly open with a noisy creak. The interior of the house was very dusty and dimly lit and cobwebs hung from the ceiling.

"No-one's lived here for a while, I see," Martin noted as he and Triss began to walk through the hallway. The sounds of rodents scurrying about alerted Martin. "So, any idea why this house is abandoned?" the Dragonborn asked Triss.

"Most people seem to think the place is haunted," said Triss. "But there haven't been any deaths lately, so I don't think it's a spectre of any sort," she added.

"What are some signs of this place being haunted?" Martin asked.

"Well, one consistent thing that people have said is the sound of a child giggling," Triss replied.

"So the ghost of a child playing pranks on people, scaring them off then," Martin said as he ran a hand on the wall of the passage. "Might have to have a look around for this little ghost," he stated as he removed his hand from the wall and wiped his hand on his trousers.

"Well, let's take a look at the rest of the house first before going on a ghost hunt," Triss suggested firmly.

Looking around the house, Martin nodded his head in approval. "With a little work, this place could be very nice," he said as they prepared to enter the basement.

"I imagine it would be," Triss agreed. "It's a very nice house that just needs a little love and care and some new furniture and it'll make a good home," she said with a smile.

Entering the basement, Martin noticed a part of the wall was cracked and near broken through. "Strange. What could've caused this?" he said as he ran a hand on the cracked wall and a brick fell through. "I think there's something behind here," he added as he pushed on the cracked wall and the masonry fell apart revealing a very strange sight.

"I don't believe it!" Triss said in awe. "A portal gateway right here in Novigrad!" she declared.

"Portal gateway? So, this is something special?" Martin asked.

Triss nodded and replied, "These gateways were built by the Aen Seidhe, the elves hundreds maybe thousands of years ago," she explained. "Such a thing would be a valuable find for any archaeologist, mage or scholar," she said as she ran a hand on the ancient elven gateway.

"Is there a way to activate it?" Martin asked as he looked at the ancient device.

"Well, under the right conditions, portals will appear naturally on their own," Triss said. "But such portals will take you anywhere with no destination in mind and you'd have to find another portal to hopefully bring you back to your starting point," she added.

"Hmm, perhaps this device could send me home?" Martin said thoughtfully.

"I thought you were beginning to like this world we call home?" Triss asked in mock hurt.

"Just a thought, Ms Merigold," Martin said placating the redhead. "Besides, as you just said, this portal could take me anywhere, so I might not end up back in Tamriel," he added.

"Well, there's no harm in finding out if it can," Triss said softly looking a little sad.

"Are you alright, Ms Merigold?" Martin asked gently tilting Triss's chin up with a forefinger to look at her.

"I'm fine. Really," Triss said in a tired sort of voice. "And stop calling me Ms Merigold. Call me Triss," she told him.

"I'm simply being respectful of you, Ms Merigold," Martin said genuinely looking a little confused.

Triss gave a scoff. "Well, I think we're past such formalities by now," she said. "But I do appreciate you're being respectful of me," she added with a soft smile. Martin smiled back in response.

"So, shall we find the real estate owner to let him know you're interested in this place?" Triss then asked her mood much brighter.

"On the morrow," replied Martin. "There may be other places we can find, and there's still much of this city I'd like to see," he said.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Triss said as they exited the house and Martin then heard the giggles of a child behind him as they exited the house.

Triss then took Martin on a tour of Novigrad and it was nearing evening as they returned back to the Kingfisher for an evening meal.

"A very interesting city," Martin said as he sat down at a table with Triss sitting beside him. "I think I'm going to like it here," he added.

"I imagine you will, if you can look past some of Novigrad's darker aspects," Triss commented.

"Yes. I can see them clear as day," Martin said dryly as throughout the day he saw the clear divisions between humans and non-humans. He saw the conditions that elves, dwarves and Halflings lived in outside the city walls.

Also, Martin had received many catcalls from the strumpets that worked the street corners and in the upper class district, Martin saw the establishment the Passiflora where he quickly guessed it was one of the more high class brothels of Novigrad. Triss had inordinately stuck close by Martin throughout the day, glaring at the strumpets that made lewd comments on Martin. The Dragonborn himself was not too affected by such things. It was not to say that he was ignorant or innocent of such things, because he enjoyed the pleasures of the flesh as much as any red-blooded male, he just simply didn't let such things control his life.

As Martin made his order to a waitress for a plate of roasted leg of boar and a tankard of mead, a timid voice made itself known behind him.

"Excuse me," said the timid voice. Turning around, Martin saw it was the elven woman he had rescued from being accosted earlier today.

"Oh, Ms Elsa. Good evening. What can I do for you?" Martin said to the elf woman.

"You know her?" Triss asked Martin who nodded and explained that he had rescued the elf woman from being accosted by some lowlife hoods. Triss gazed at Elsa with calculating eyes, trying to determine what the elf woman wanted.

"I wanted to thank you for saving me earlier today," Elsa then said to Martin who fluttered one hand and said to her. "It was nothing, Ms Elsa. I just did what any good person would do."

"There aren't many good people left in the world," Elsa said softly as she looked at Martin with sky blue eyes. "But I still wish to thank you for saving my life," she added sincerely.

"You needn't thank me," Martin said to her firmly. "If there's one thing I don't like in any way, it's bullies and bigots," he added coldly.

Elsa smiled showing two rows of even white teeth. "May I join you?" she asked.

"Of course," Martin replied and Elsa took a seat on the other side of him.

As they began to eat their meal, Triss asked Elsa some polite questions on who she was and what she did for a living. "So, what is it you do for a living, Ms Elsa?" the redhead asked the blonde elf.

"I am, was an artist's model," Elsa admitted as she ate a spoonful of soup.

"A model? Why live here and not say, in Toussaint?" Triss asked. "There'd be more work and opportunity for you there," she pointed out.

"There would be," Elsa agreed. "But due to some differences of opinion with the local populace, I was not welcome there," she said bitterly.

"Bullies and bigots?" Martin asked and Elsa nodded sombrely. Martin gave a grunt of annoyance before saying, "I've seen and dealt with such bigotry back home, but here it seems much worse," he said.

"It's nothing," Elsa said calmly. "I managed to find some work as a schoolteacher and I can keep my elven heritage a secret from most," she added.

"Not from those thugs earlier," Martin reminded her. Elsa nodded, conceding the argument.

"Do you have anywhere you can stay?" Martin then asked the elf who nodded in reply and said, "I do. I'm living with some fellow non-humans outside the city walls."

"I've seen that place during my tour here today," Martin said archly. "While not as bad as some places I've seen back home, it's not exactly paradise. And I imagine the winters in such conditions would be harsh," he added.

"They are at times. But, no-one's starves at any rate," replied Elsa.

"Why would your people live in such conditions?" Martin then asked seriously.

"Most non-humans can't afford any of the houses in the city," replied Elsa. "Some elves like Eibear Hattori have a trade that makes them useful to the city so they can afford to buy a house within the walls, but otherwise, most non-humans have to live outside the city walls," she said.

"Am I correct in guessing that this Church of Eternal Fire is the main reason non-humans aren't allowed to live in the city walls?" Martin asked.

Elsa had a downcast look at this sentence and Martin's brow furrowed. "Same as back home with the Stormcloaks," he muttered darkly.

"Stormcloaks? Who were they?" Triss asked.

"A bunch of bullies and bigots who were at first justified when the worship of Talos was banned due to the White Cold Concordant, but they crossed more than a few lines when they began ostracising and discriminating Elves," replied Martin. "They planned to drive out all elves and Imperials out of Skyrim and make it a Nord only land," he said. "Obviously, I could not condone that, so I sided with the Imperial Legion in fighting them," he added.

"But wouldn't siding with the Imperial Legion mean banning worship of Talos?" Triss asked in confusion.

"Admittedly, yes," Martin said. "But from what General Tullius told me, the Emperor only signed the treaty banning Talos worship was to buy his exhausted troops time to recover and rebuild their strength," he explained. "You can't keep fighting if you're exhausted or have no army left," he then added sagely.

"I suppose so," Triss murmured nodding her head as she sipped the last of her wine.

"Well, thank you for the meal, Mr Stormcown," Elsa said to Martin standing from her seat. "If there's anything I can do to help you in return, please let me know," she added.

"I'll think about it," Martin said with a genuine smile.

Then the shrill scream of a woman broke through the atmosphere of the Kingfisher. Everyone looked around to see where the sound had come from. Martin was already out the door with Triss flailing behind him. Just over in the next alleyway, the corpse of a woman, her wrists and throat slit to the bone and crimson lifefluids pooling all around lay on the cobblestones of the alleyway.

Martin gazed at the cooling corpse, looking at the look of fear and shock on the dead woman's face. It spoke of sheer terror, the eyes dull and glassy looking. Triss came up behind Martin and gasped in shock when she saw the corpse of the woman. "Gods above!" the redhead exclaimed in shock, her hands clasping her cheeks.

Some other townsfolk came running and already there were mutterings.

"Gods be good! Another 'un!" muttered one person.

"The Butcher's struck again!" exclaimed another person.

Then some Temple guard came marching up to the scene. The sergeant looked at Martin and spoke accusingly, "Alright. Did you do this?" he demanded.

"Of course not!" Martin growled out angrily. "I was at the Kingfisher when I heard a woman scream and I found her corpse here! Ask anyone!" he said.

The sergeant grimaced before barking orders at his men. "Alright, men! Keep everyone back! Don't want people mucking up any evidence!" he shouted.

The crowd muttered fearfully as the Temple guard ushered them back. Martin then chose to speak to the sergeant. "I overheard someone say this woman was another one and that a Butcher has been doing this. What can you tell me?" the Dragonborn asked.

"That don't concern you, friend!" the sergeant grumbled. "This is a matter for the temple guard of Novigrad. Not some would-be heroes," he said coldly. Triss then stepped in.

"Excuse me, Sergeant! But I think my friend and I would like to know what's going on here," the sorceress said sternly.

"Ah, Ms Merigold, is it?" the sergeant asked and Triss nodded in response. The sergeant sighed heavily. "Ah, I'm gonna be doing latrine duty for this, but, what the hell? In the past few weeks there's been some murders in Novigrad, most of them women, non-humans and strumpets. All cut up and words carved into 'em," he said.

"What kind of words?" Triss asked.

"Well, it ain't dark magic if that's what yer wondering," said the sergeant. "Just real derogatory words, words not fit to call women, no matter if they're strumpets or non-humans," he added.

"So, someone who hates women? Strumpets and non-humans in particular?" Martin asked.

"Looks like," said the sergeant. "We've asked anyone for any information about these murders but no-one seems keen on saying anything! Making my job right difficult!" he complained.

"Well, thank you for that, Sergeant. I appreciate it," Martin said gratefully as he then left the scene.

Triss followed after Martin and spoke to him. "I didn't realise there had been murders in Novigrad recently," she said in surprise. "Those poor souls!" she added mournfully.

"Well, there won't be any more murders after tonight," Martin declared angrily. "I'm gonna find whoever did this and bring them to justice!" he swore.

"Have you any experience in solving murders?" Triss asked him. Martin just gave the redhead a sidelong look and a slight curl of his lips. "Why am I not surprised?" the sorceress said half-jokingly. "Well, if you're serious about this, then I best help you in this endeavour," she added.

"Thank you, Ms Merigold. The more the merrier," Martin said. Deciding to head back to the Kingfisher to get some sleep, Martin and Triss then began to make plans to catch the murderer, the so-called Butcher.

…

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: There! After a long wait, I've updated this and set up the story for something of a murder mystery which is something new for me as I've never written anything that's murder or mystery related before. At least, nothing that comes to mind. A friend actually suggested the idea of a Jack-the-Ripper style story arc for this story set in Novigrad and it seems appropriate somehow, but I won't get too much into it.

In other news, I've been looking over my Red Dead Redemption/Game of Thrones crossover and while it's okay, the lack of reviews is somewhat discouraging and I understand that not everyone has time to leave reviews, lengthy ones, but I am seriously considering rewriting that story and either setting it in the Red Dead Online world or the Red Dead Redemption 2 storyline or even the Red Dead Redemption 1 storyline. I'd be using Aegon as the main character, but depending on which route I go, he'll be interacting with canon RDR characters. I'll set up a poll if I should rewrite that story or if I should keep going as is. Some feedback would be appreciated.

But I don't wanna get on my soapbox, so I'll just leave this here. Let me know what you think of this chapter and I'll see you all in the next one!

Be kind to one another,

Angry lil' elf.