SEASON

OF STORMS
From ghoulies and ghosties
And long legetty beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord deliver us!
Propitiatory prayer known as
"The Cornish Litany",
dated to the 14-15 century
They say that progress illuminates the darkness. But there will
always,always be darkness. And in that darkness there will
always be Evil, in that darkness there will always be angs
and !laws, murder and blood. There will always be things that go
bumpin the night. And we, wit!hers, are the ones
who bump ba!k at them.
Vesemir of Kaer orhen
ANDRZEJ
SAPKOWSKI
SEASON
OF STORMS
T!" #$TC!"%
"hoever ights monsters should see to it that in the
pro!ess he does not be!ome a monster. And i you ga#e
long enough into an abyss, the abyss will ga#e
ba!k into you.
&riedrich 'iet(sche, $enseits von Gut und B%se
& believe ga#ing into the abyss to be a !omplete
waste o time. There's plenty o things in the world more
worthy o being ga#ed
into.
)ande*ion, (al a )entury o *oetry
Chapter One
!e *i+ed on*y to ki**,
!e *ay on the sun-warmed sand,
!e sensed the tremors conducted -y the capi**ary antennae
and setae pressed to the .round,
Thou.h the tremors were sti** distant, $dr fe*t them c*ear*y and
precise*y, he was a-*e to determine not on*y the direction and
speed of the prey, -ut a*so its wei.ht, &or most predators who
hunted in a simi*ar way, the wei.ht of the prey was paramount /
prow*in., attack and and chase meant the *oss of ener.y, which
needed to -e compensated -y the ener.y +a*ue of the food, ost
predators simi*ar to $dr wou*d fore.o attackin. if the prey was too
sma**, 0ut not $dr, $dr did not e1ist to eat and -reed, !e was not
created for that,
!e *i+ed to ki**,
Carefu**y mo+in. his appenda.es, he craw*ed out of the ho*e,
s*ithered throu.h the rotten *o., crossed the fa**en tree in three
*eaps, f*itted throu.h the .*ade *ike a .host, he fe** into the
under.rowth, -*ended into the thicket, !e mo+ed, swift and si*ent,
runnin. and *eapin. as thou.h an enormous .rasshopper,
!e de*+ed into the thicket, pressed the se.mented p*ates of
his a-domen a.ainst the .round, The tremors were -ecomin. more
and more tan.i-*e, The impu*ses from $dr2s whiskerpads and setae
arran.ed themse*+es into a picture, 3 p*an, $dr knew how to reach
his prey now, where cross its path, how to make it run, how to
attack it from -ehind with a *on. *eap, at which hei.ht to strike
and cut with ra(or-sharp mandi-*es, The osci**ations and impu*ses
a*ready hera*ded the 4oy he wou*d fee*, when the prey wou*d
stru..*e -eneath his wei.ht, the euphoria he wou*d sustain tastin.
hot -*ood, The p*easure he wou*d e1perience when the shriek of
pain pierces the air, !e trem-*ed s*i.ht*y, openin. and c*osin. his
pa*ps and pincers,
The +i-rations of the .round were +ery c*ear, they a*so
-ecame +aried, There was more prey, pro-a-*y three, possi-*y
four, Two of them shook the .round in the usua* manner, the third
one2s +i-rations indicated a *ow wei.ht and mass, The fourth one /
if there rea**y was one / caused irre.u*ar, weak and tentati+e
4itters, $dr stopped, e1tended his antennae a-o+e the .rass,
e1amined the mo+ement of the air,
The tremors of the earth fina**y si.na**ed the moment $dr was
waitin. for, The prey separated, 5ne of them, the sma**est, stayed
-ack, 3nd the fourth one, the faint one, disappeared, $t was a fa*se
si.na*, an erroneous echo, $dr i.nored it,
The sma** prey strayed e+en further away from the rest, The
.round trem-*ed stron.er, 3nd c*oser, $dr tautened his hind
appenda.es, -ounded and *eapt,
6
The *itt*e .ir* *et out a shrieked in terror, $nstead of runnin.,
she fro(e, 3nd continued shriekin.,
6
The witcher rushed towards her, .ra--in. his sword as he
*eapt, 3nd sudden*y he rea*ised that somethin. was wron., That
he had -een duped,
The man pu**in. the -rush cart screamed and 7era*t saw him
f*yin. a fathom up, his -*ood .ushin. in wide streaks, !e fe**,
on*y to -e thrusted into the air a.ain, this time in two -*oody
pieces, !e wasn2t screamin. any more, $t was the woman who was
shriekin. now, para*ysed with fear, 4ust *ike her dau.hter,
Thou.h he didn2t -e*ie+e he wou*d make it, the witcher
mana.ed to sa+e her, !e *eapt and pushed with power, throwin.
the -*oodstained woman off the road, into the wood, into the ferns,
!e immediate*y understood that this was a*so a trick, 3 ruse, 3
.rey, f*at, mu*ti-*e..ed and incredi-*y fast shape was a*ready
mo+in. away from the cart and the first +ictim, $t was pushin.
towards the second one, Towards the sti** shriekin. *itt*e .ir*,
7era*t rushed in pursuit,
!ad she continued to stay sti**, he wou*dn2t ha+e made it,
Thankfu**y, the .ir* demonstrated enou.h c*arity of mind to run,
The .rey monster wou*d ha+e cau.ht up to her 8uick*y and
effort*ess*y / it wou*d ha+e cau.ht up, ki**ed her and returned to
ki** the woman as we**, 3nd it wou*d ha+e -een *ike that, had there
not -een a witcher there,
!e cau.ht up to the monster, *eapt, pinnin. one of its hind
appenda.es with his hee*, !ad he not re-ounded immediate*y, he
wou*d ha+e *ost a *e. / the .rey monster twisted with un-e*ie+a-*e
a.i*ity, and its sick*e-*ike pincers snapped, missin. narrow*y,
0efore the witcher cou*d re.ain his -a*ance, the monster -ounded
off the .round and attacked, 7era*t defended himse*f with an
instincti+e, wide and rather chaotic sword swin., pushin. the
monster away, !e didn2t mana.e to hurt it, -ut he re.ained the
upper hand,
!e spran., s*ashin. from the ear, smashin. the carapace on
the f*at cepha*othora1, 0efore the stunned monster re.ained its
senses, he s*ashed once more, takin. out its *eft mandi-*e, The
monster pounced on him, f*ai*in. its *e.s, tryin. to .ore him *ike
an aurochs with its remainin. mani-*e, The witcher s*ashed off
that one as we**, #ith a 8uick re+erse s*ash, he cut off one of the
pa*ps, 3nd s*ammed a.ain at the cepha*othora1,
6
$t fina**y dawned on $dr that he was in dan.er, That he had to
run, run far away, disappear, ensconce himse*f, .o into hidin., !e
*i+ed on*y to ki**, To ki**, he needed to re.enerate, !e needet to
run,,, %un,,,
6
The witcher wou*d not a**ow him to run, !e cau.ht up to
him, stomped the -ack se.ment of the thora1 to the .round,
s*ashed with impetus from o+erhead, This time, the carapace .a+e
in, a +iscuous .reen ichor .ushin. and f*owin. from the crack,
The monster sti** stru..*ed, its appenda.es f*ai*in. wi*d*y at the
.round,
7era*t s*ashed with his sword, this time comp*ete*y
separatin. the f*at front*et from the rest,
!e -reathed hea+i*y,
Thunder rum-*ed in the distance, The -reakin. wind and a
8uick*y darkenin. sky hera*ded a comin. storm,
6
3t first si.ht, 3*-ert 9mu*ka, the new*y appointed district
administrator, -rou.ht to 7era*t2s mind a -u*- of ruta-a.a / round,
unwashed, crude and .enera**y rather uninterestin., $n other
words, he was no different from most other district-*e+e* officia*s
7era*t had to dea* with, / 2Tis true then / said the administrator, -
:ou .ot pro-*ems, you .et yourse*f a witcher
- ;onas, my predecessor / he continued after a short pause,
not ha+in. recei+ed any reaction from 7era*t / spoke +ery hi.h*y
of you, To think $ had him for a -ra..art, 'e+er 8uite -e*ie+e him,
mind you, $ know how thin.s .et turned into fairy ta*es,
"specia**y amon. superstitious fo*k, it2s mirac*e here, wonder
there, or some other witcher of fa-u*ous power, 3nd now it turns
out to -e the truth, wou*d you ha+e it, 9ee those woods there, past
the stream, *otsa peop*e -een .oin. missin. there, 3nd since it2s
the shorter path, they2d sti** used it, the numsku**s,,, To their own
doom, #ou*dn2t heed warnin.s, These days, you -est not *oiter
2round the woods, onsters and maneaters e+erywhere, $n
Temeria, the Tukay foothi*s, that there was scary what2d happened,
fifteen peop*e ki**ed -y some forest wraith, 3 +i**a.e ca**ed !orns,
Pro-a-*y heard a-out it, 'o< 3nyway, he**, $2m te**in. the truth,
!eard e+en the sorcerers in+esti.ated there, in !orns, 0ut enou.h
stories, #e here in 3n.e.is are here-y safe, Thanks to you,
- !e took a casket out of the *ocker, !e spread a sheet of
paper on the desk, dipped his 8ui** in the inkwe**,
:ou promised to ki** the -o.eyman / he said, without rasin. his
head, - Turns out, you2re true to your word, =nusua*, for a drifter,,,
"+en sa+ed those two, The woman and the .ir*, They thank you at
a**< )rop at your feet<
They didn2t, the witcher c*enched his teeth, They2re sti**
ha+en2t fu**y reco+ered, 3nd $ wi** -e .one -efore they do, 0efore
they rea*ise $ used them as -ait, assumin. in my arro.ance that $
wou*d defend a** three of them, $ wi** -e .one -efore that .ir*
rea*ises it2s my fau*t she2s -en made a ha*f-orphan,
!e fe*t -ad, $t was pro-a-*y the e*i1irs, Pro-a-*y,
That monstrum / the administrator sprink*ed the paper with sand,
then whisked it off to the f*oor / rea* eyesore, !ad a *ook at the
carcass when they -rou.ht it in,,, #hat was it<
7era*t wasn2t sure a-out that, -ut he was not a-out to admit it,
- 3n arachnomorph,
Pish> Ca** it what you want, damn thin., That the sword you s*iced
it up with< That -*ade< ind if $ ha+e a *ook<
- :es, $ wou*d,
- !a, pro-a-*y enchanted then,,, ust -e worth a pretty
penny,,, Temptin. thin.,,, 5h we**, enou.h chit-chat, we ha+en2t
.ot a** day, The dea* is done, time for the payment, 0ut first with
the forma*ities, 9i.n the receipt, $ mean, make a cross or some sort
of si.n,
The witcher took the receipt .i+en to him, he turned around
toward the *i.ht,
- Look at him / the administrator shook his head, frownin. -
you say what, he can read<
7era*t p*aced the paper on the ta-*e, pushed it towards the
officia*,
- 3 sma** error / he said ca*m*y and 8uiet*y / has crept into
the document, #e sett*ed on fifty crowns, The receipt reads ei.hty,
3*-ert 9mu*ka c*asped his hands, rested his chin on them,
That2s no error / he *owered his +oice as we**, - %ather, it2s proof
of .ratitude, :ou ki**ed a monstrous monster, certain*y wasn2t easy,
that,,, The sum won2t come as a surpri(e to no one,
- $ don2t understand,
- 0o**ocks, )on2t p*ay innocent, :ou2re te**in. me that ;onas,
when he was in char.e, ne+er .a+e you this kind of receipt< $2d -et
my head that,,,
- That what< - 7era*t interrupted, - That he inf*ated -i**s< 3nd
that he shared ha*f of what he pur*oined from the roya* treasury
with me<
- !a*f< - The administrator scow*ed, - Let2s not .et carried
away here, witcher, 7ot a hi.h opinion of yourse*f, eh< :ou2** .et
a third, Ten crowns, That2s sti** a su-stantia* -onus for you, 3nd $
deser+e more, e+en 4ust due to my position, 9tate officia*s need to
-e wea*thy, The more aff*uent an officia*, the hi.her the presti.e
of the state, 0ut what wou*d you know a-out that, anyway, $2m
tired of this con+ersation, 3re you si.nin. this or not<
The rain pounded a.ainst the roof, it was pourin. outside,
0ut there was no thunder any more, the storm had passed,