The Witcher: Rebirth

Chapter 1 ~ Death Dreams

‘A job is a job’ - Kyte thought to himself as he meandered across the bridge leading to the nation of Lyria’s Arch-Duke’s palace. The job today wasn’t one that would require much physical skill. The task involved a simple haunting - Kyte was to expel the entity plaguing the rich noble family’s dwelling. Work was scarce these days even though monster’s were multiplying at alarming rates. This could be attributed to the severe decline in witchers to hunt them ever since the last Witcher school had fallen to a frenzied mob some 50 odd years prior no new witchers had been created. And it had been nearly 20 years since Kyte had laid eyes upon another Witcher himself.

The walk through the neatly trimmed garden seemed just as long as the journey from the bridge through town to Kyte. He also noted the surprising amount of female hand maids tending to the bushes, grass, and weeds by hand. It was merely a half hour till sundown now and these women looked as if they had been working since yesterday. Kyte knocked on the large structure’s decorated oak doors. The palace had to be at least 5 stories in height. The craftsmanship on the exterior of the home was well done, as to be expected of a home belonging to the bourgeoise of Lyria.

Moments later the door opened and the wife of the nobleman who had made the job request appeared only to take a step back. It was clear she did not expect to see the 6’3 muscular male mutant with snow white hair and red irises appearing in her doorway. “Oh…oh uh good, you’re here,” she said.

Kyte was used to this reaction and swiftly marched past her without invitation with his redcoat swaying behind him. “Yes milady, I am Kyte of Cintra. Is the Duke in?” Kyte although aware of her uneasiness spoke candidly and without regard of her feelings. Hate and distrust of Witchers was as old as any monster in this land.

“My husband is away on business…” the nobleman’s wife said and then paused while clutching her chest. “Now don’t go getting any ideas just because there are no men in the house young man.”

Kyte made no reaction to her dubious accusation. He was busy taking stalk of the household interior. The handmaids worked very hard here. Not a speck of dust could be found on any surface, and all the drapes in linens were pressed and cleaned, probably a daily duty for the servants. Kyte walked to a spiraling stairwell that les both up and downstairs, peering down below to where it led. Thanks to the Witcher’s keen vision he could tell from up above, even though dimly lit with just a few candles, it would seem that it was some type of cellar or basement.

Finally, he sighed in late response to the head mistress words. “Milady, I assure you after 150 years that I know how to behave in a household with prestigious company.” Kyte turned to her and placed a hand upon his hip while smirking and then gestured towards the staircase. “Now that we have established seniority and that my mind is not wandering towards the thought of ravaging your bosom can you tell me what resides in the basement of your household?”

The woman seemed insulted and and yet relieved all at once. She folded her arms and pointed her nose at the witcher. “That’s where the girls stay.”

Kyte furrowed an eyebrow. “Can you be more specific?”

“The maids. We keep the help down stairs. They all share a living quarters. Come to think of it, all this strange business started when that whore Hilda came back with a bun in the oven 7 years ago. I suspect she must have done something to earn the scorn of this spirit.”

Kyte frowned then started to descend the spiral stairwell. “You keep your servants in a cellar and insult them like animals, yet wonder why a creature that feeds on negativity would take refuge in your home….”

“I’m sorry Witcher are we paying you to remove a spirit or to judge how I run my household?” the nobleman’s wife said as she followed after Kyte. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairwell Kyte found living conditions polar opposite of the dwellings upstairs. The seemingly dirt flooring had evidence of humans and vermin coexisting in the same space. Furthermore all the young girls that resided in the single candle lit rooms slept on cots that seemed to not have been washed in a decade or so. Additionally it was easy to tell that all the maid servants, when not in full attire, were clearly malnourished.

Kyte could not hide the disgust on his face as he turned back to the mistress. “Oh believe me milady that my only focus is here on coin, for I fear where it would drift should I begin to consider other elements.”

The headmistress spit on the ground at the Witcher’s words. “This is why everyone hates you freaks…”

A silence befell both of them until Kyte broke it by turning away from her. “You mentioned a pregnant servant…”

“Yes, Hilda. She had a young girl named Railyn about 7 years ago. The weird happenings began around that time.”

“Take me to them.” Kyte said.

“Why? Was I right? Did Hilda bring this evil upon us? I knew it. I knew she was —“

“Let us not jump to conclusions milday.” Kyte said as he allowed her to take the lead. “But I suspect this may be a possession, rather than a haunting.”

“What does that mean?” The headmistress said as she walked Kyte towards the back of the cellar where he laid eyes upon a sickly woman being cared for by a very young girl with pink hair. “Is that worse?”

Kyte walked over towards the little girl and her mother and examined them. “I cannot know for certain until I start the exorcism.” Kyte knelt down next to the daughter who was patting her mother’s head with a dirty wet rag. “Hilda, can you hear me?” Kyte said softly to the mother, ignoring the young girl for now.

“HILDA!” Suddenly the nobleman’s wife walked up and kicked the sickly servant in her ribs causing the sickly woman to begin a profuse coughing fit. “You lazy good-for-nothing-swine get up and—-“

“MILADY!” Kyte said as he blocked the next kick from her with his forearm. While resisting the urge to draw his longsword he rose up. “That is quite enough!”

“No! I always knew she would bring ruin upon this house. This whore needs to learn her place,” the woman scowled as she attempted to reach around Kyte to get to the servant. However Kyte stood as a shield between the 2. Hilda’s pink haired daughter, Railyn, wiped hot tears from her cheeks after witnessing her mother get kicked and start to cough up blood.

“Get control of yourself,” Kyte said as he pushed her away with one hand.

“What are you doing!? Why do you protect this little wench?” The head mistress hollered at Kyte. “You’re a slayer of monsters, a killer, thats all you are. Why are you pretending to be something you’re not? Just slay the bitch and be done with it.”

Kyte gritted his teeth. “I must exorcise the spirit to slay it and you’re interfering,” Kyte said. And as he spoke Railyn walked towards the head mistress still sniffling and wiping away tears.

“What do you want Railyn? Go empty the bedpans like I told you,” the nobleman’s wife commanded.

“No…” The young girl whispered.

“What was that young lady!?” The woman said while towering over the young girl and stamping her feet. “Are you being disobedient again? When my husband gets home you will be severely disciplined.”

Kyte needed the money from this job but he had already decided by this point should she lay a hand on the young girl he would strike the headmistress dead.

“No,” Railyn said with her hands shaking. “I said you’re the monster!” Railyn extended her hand forward and released a torrent of flames in the headmistress’s direction and set her ablaze.

Kyte stroked his chin as the smell of burnt flesh permeated his nostrils. The other servants ran up the stairs screaming in unison with their owner who flailed about hollering and begging for help. Kyte ignored the burning client and once again knelt over by Railyn. “It all makes sense now,” he said as he gently grabbed the hand Railyn had just used to cast a fire spell. “You’re a sorceress. You’ve been causing all the weird occurrences to happen here haven’t you little one?” Railyn wiped more tears from her eyes and nodded to Kyte’s question. Kyte looked over his shoulder and saw that the brutal kick from the headmistress had caused Railyn’s mother to take her final breath.
Kyte frowned and patted her on the head. What to do with the weeping child now?

“I’ve seen you before,” Railyn said to Kyte as the nobleman’s wife finally collapsed in a charred heap a few feet away.

“You have? Where?” Kyte said a bit bewildered.

“In my dreams. You were in pain, you were a little boy, they hurt you. They gave you things. You died. Then…you came back to life.” Railyn looked to her mom, as if expecting her to also comeback to life.

“What you saw were my trials…”The girl had had premonitions of events that took place over a century ago about Kyte becoming a witcher. Could that mean he was fated to meet her, to be here, at this place and time…but why? “…wait,” Kyte said while biting the tip of his thumb. Kyte tried to calm himself before he spoke to Railyn. “You said you saw them give me things. You saw them kill me and bring me back to life - Do you remember everything you saw them do to me? What they used, what it all looked like, what they called them?”

Railyn nodded. “I dream of it all the time. It makes me sad.”

Kyte stared deeply at Rain and immediately realized his purpose in finding her here. She was the key to stopping the extinction of witchers. Her dreams revealed the process the old dead sorcerers had used to create Kyte and others like him. “Railyn, would you like for me to take you somewhere? Somewhere far away from here where you can be happy,” Kyte said.

Railyn started to tear up again almost immediately. “Yes!” In that moment Kyte had decided to take responsibility for this girl, if not only because she was the link to producing more of his kind, but also because he wanted to see her experience true happiness even if just once. His life had been robbed of the ability to feel such things at young age well before he became a witcher. But if he could turn her life around from this point forward even if just for one fleeting moment, in this world full of despair then maybe, just maybe it would also bring him true joy for the first time in over a century.

Kyte took her hand and lead her up the stairwell and out of the household. However at the front door by the garden they were soon confronted by 7 militia men each with a bow and arrow lead by a single helmeted knight clad in armor. “Stop where you are mutant. You are under arrest for the murder of the head mistress of Duke Lynn-Bow’s estate.”

Kyte paused, sucked his teeth, and took a large step forward while placing his dominant hand upon the handle of his sword. “Railyn stand back and when I tell you turn around and close your eyes.”

Railynn nodded “Please don’t die again,” Railyn said as she took 2 steps backwards into the home.

Kyte smirked and looked back at her. “You’ll be a ripe old woman before you ever need worry about me being slain.” Kyte turned his gaze back to the men who now had their bows poised to fire upon him.

“Last chance mutant! Give up now and you’ll at least live to see trial for yer crimes,” The knight commanded.

“That woman was a monster,” Kyte said as he drew his blade from the sheath strapped around back and raised his other palm towards the group. “Worse than any I’ve seen in the last century.” The bowmen immediately fired upon Kyte the moment his hand drew his weapon. Kyte responded to their attack by just uttering a simple word — “quen.”
The space around Kyte disfigured and repelled the incoming arrows. It was as if the projectiles had collided with a invisible dome shaped wall made of solid rock. Then after the arrows were dispersed Kyte quickly drew his other sword and charged at all 7 men. “Now Railyn!”

Railyn turned around but the screams were unavoidable. The splatter of blood and the clash of metal against metal was unmistakable. Rain even heard a few more arrows take flight. This was followed by a few more desperate yelps, and clashes of blades between assumably Kyte and the knight. The sounds of sword play and sliced flesh echoed through the night sky until finally silence took hold.

“You did a great job Railyn,” Kyte said as his footsteps drew near. Railyn turned around to find him drenched in splattered blood and the bodies of the opposing men all strewn about ground. The knight who had been threatening Kyte was beheaded and his corpse was sat upright with the head itself neatly placed in its lap. “Look away Railyn, I promise life from this point forward will be full of sun filled days,” Kyte said and sheathed his blades. “No more dark cellars. And from now on no one will ever talk to you the way she did ever again.”

Railyn looked away from Kyte sheepishly. “Are you sure its ok to have done all this for me?”

“My dear Railyn, you are my hope and you are special. Don’t ever forget it. With you we will create a new family.”

“What kind of family?” Rain said as she looked back to Kyte, confused at exactly what role she would play in this.

Kyte smirked and extended his hand to her. “One that need not fear monsters or men. A family of Witchers….”