The sound of flesh being torn echoed through the desolate wilderness of Cintra. Such horrific noises would have terrified anyone within earshot, but there were few people left alive in this forsaken land. After the Nilfgaardian invasion, the wilderness was deserted, inhabited only by madmen, soldiers, the desperate, and those with dark intentions.
Andries was not desperate, and he was too young to be a soldier. He might have been mistaken for a madman, but the intricate magic circle he was painting on the ground with blood told a different story.
Andries was a young boy, no older than thirteen. He had short wavy raven-black hair and pale skin. His eyes were unsettling, black sclera(sclera is the white of the eye) and red irises that glowed faintly in the dim light. He wore a hooded robe that concealed two daggers and several pouches. Beneath the robe, he dressed in simple peasant clothing. On his back, a bag was secured with a rope tied around his body.
"Mathies! I need more blood." Andries said.
Standing a short distance away, a giant of a man named Mathies nodded. He hardly looked human, with stone-like gray skin, a head devoid of hair and blue eyes. His face had blue crystals, matching the color of his eyes. His clothing was a patchwork of different fabrics, covering most of his body.
Mathies picked up an unconscious Nilfgaardian soldier from a pile and held him aloft with one hand. He grabbed the soldier's head with his free hand then with a powerful yank, he tore the soldier's head off, spilling blood everywhere.
"Thank you!" Andries said cheerfully.
He pointed his open palm toward the body, using his mind power to move the blood where he needed it, which was his hands and the ground. Fresh blood coated his hand. Andries owed his psychic powers and spell-casting abilities to being born a mutant. Unlike most, he was grateful to the one who had mutated him, his mother.
Andries completed the blood circle and the runes surrounding another unconscious Nilfgaardian soldier. The man was bound and surrounded by Crow's eye root and Belladonna berries. Fool's parsley leaves were scattered around the circle but they weren't close to the other herbs.
Andries was performing a ritualistic spell using hemokinesis. Blood, a potent medium, absorbed power, bypassing the need to draw chaos or as some know it as magical energy directly to the caster's body. Rituals, though formulaic and time-consuming, could produce results exceeding the power of typical mage spells.
As Andries finished the circle and runes, he tapped into the elemental planes of air and earth, channeling their power into the soldier at the center. The spell was meant to lure a creature from another world into this half-dead body.
Three of the six runes shimmered and caught fire, the flames levitating toward the soldier. Soon, the soldier was engulfed in red fire.
"Mathies, throw the bodies in." Andries instructed.
Mathies began throwing the intact bodies into the fire. Each time a body was tossed in, the flames tested it before pulling it into the first soldier. Seven bodies in total were consumed, their flesh and armor fusing into a grotesque abomination.
As the ritual progressed, the chaos stored in the blood began to boil. The blood on Andries's hand ignited with red fire, though it did not harm him. His childish voice took on a demonic tone, sounding as if multiple beings were chanting simultaneously.
The fused bodies and armor formed a monstrous entity with two giant arms, two legs, and a humanoid torso. The creature's head was that of the soldier used as the focal point, now with eyes that glowed like flaming red orbs.
"I have been summoned." the creature spoke in two different voices and languages. "Who summoned..."
"Hello!" Andries said cheerfully.
"What is this?!" the creature roared in anger.
"This is a summoning and binding spell." Andries explained. "Well, not binding to me, but that hardly matters right now."
"What? Who summoned me?!" the creature demanded.
"I did." Andries replied with a smile.
"A weak child like you doesn't have enough power to summon me." the creature scoffed. "Bring me the one who summoned me so we can end this."
"Hemokinesis can reduce the need to channel too much chaos." Andries said.
"Listen! This childish ga..." the demon began, stepping toward Andries. The moment it reached the blood circle, it was hit by a powerful force, pushing it back. "What is this?!"
"I said summoning and binding." Andries repeated with a mischievous smile. "I bound you to this circle. I can also torture and banish you as long as you are within it."
"Who are you?!" the demon asked, now more cautious. "You're not a normal human, are you? A normal human child can't be this skilled at magic."
"My mother was a sorceress who wanted a child." Andries explained. "To ensure I was both strong and healthy, she mutated my body while I was still a fetus. Well, I was made in a tube originally but she used her own blood so I am her son"
"No one has ever done that." the demon said.
"You are wrong." Andries replied with a shrug. "Others have done it. My mother personally mutated her own child and hundreds of other fetuses."
"But..." the demon began, but Andries's voice turned demonic again. "Enough questions!"
As Andries spoke, his red eyes glowed brighter. The demon felt as if needles were piercing its brain.
"What is your bidding, summoner?" the demon asked.
"I need to go to the palace of Cintra." Andries explained. "The Nilfgaardians have created an opportunity for me to get there. They are looking for something, so the castle is somewhat vacant. I need a distraction to sneak inside. Also, fuck Nilfgaardian's in general, they brainwash their mages to be something like slaves."
"You want me to kill them to create chaos." the demon said.
"Exactly!" Andries replied. "But I don't want you to mindlessly kill. Attack small groups and leave at least one survivor. That will keep the soldiers on edge, allowing us to slip into the castle."
"I can do that." the demon said, sounding pleased with the task.
"Good. I also want immunity from your attacks for me and my companion." Andries demanded.
"Who do you want to be spared?" the demon asked.
"Me, Andries and the big guy here, Mathies." Andries said.
"You have one day." the demon agreed. "If you attack me, you are prey. If your time is up, you will be prey."
"Deal." Andries said.
"Now release me." the demon demanded.
Andries didn't say anything. He walked to the circle and, with a simple hand motion and incantation, cast a spell under the ring of the circle.
"The circle will break soon." Andries said, walking toward Mathies. "That spell will give us time to get away from you. Even I know better than to trust a demon. The circle was never permanent, it would have lost its power soon."
"If you trick me again, you will be prey." the demon warned.
Andries and Mathies gathered their bags and walked away from the ritual site. After walking for a while, they paused to listen. They felt a massive shift in chaos and heard a powerful war cry.
"All right, it's done." Andries said. "That's one part of the plan. Now let's go and hunt more soldiers. We need human meat."
"Headache?" Mathies asked, looking concerned.
"No, I'm fine." Andries replied. "We need to feed the ghouls again and set more corpse traps for both the ghouls and the soldiers."
"Starve. Ghouls." Mathies said.
"Exactly." Andries said happily. "Just remember, Mathies, don't crush the armor too much. We need it to wrap the human meat for the ghouls."
"Soldiers, food." Mathies said, smiling.
"They are food, my friend." Andries said. "Not only for the ghouls and Griffins, but we might also trick some trolls with it ."
"How?" Mathies asked.
"They like human meat." Andries explained. "We can bring them some and tell them how they can get more."
"What, now?" Mathies asked.
"Use your mind powers to find more soldiers." Andries said.
Mathies nodded, knelt, and dug his fingers into the ground. His eyes turned completely white as he scanned the area. Moments later, his eyes returned to normal.
"Did you find anything?" Andries asked.
"Soldiers." Mathies said, pointing in a seemingly random direction.
"How many?" Andries asked.
Mathies looked at his fingers for a moment, then answered, "Twelve."
"I knew teaching you numbers was a good idea." Andries said. "This means I'll have to teach you more things."
"Learning?" Mathies looked very happy.
"Yes, buddy, learning." Andries said. "Now let's go and hunt these soldiers. I hope they have their rations with them, I'm getting a little hungry."
The two headed north of Erlenwald Forest, avoiding the river that separated the wood area from the forest, where the dryads lived. They pulled their hoods over their heads, concealing their features.
As they approached the soldiers, Andries started to hear voices. He understood enough Nilfgaardian to recognize their language and comprehend snippets of their conversation. They were searching for a girl with ash-blonde hair.
Andries and Mathies continued until they heard the soldiers notice their approach. Andries raised his hand to show he was unarmed, and Mathies followed suit. They stepped into a clearing where twelve soldiers awaited them. Five crossbowmen in light armor, six swordsmen with heavier armor, and a knight in full armor on horseback. The soldiers wore helmets that left their faces exposed
"You talking ash hair?" Andries spoke in broken Nilfgaardian.
The knight ordered his soldiers to keep an eye on the big one and dismounted. The crossbowmen aimed their crossbows at Mathies.
"Can you understand me?" the knight asked in the Northern language.
"Yes, that is better." Andries said, keeping his head down. "I can speak Nilfgaardian but not as well as the Northern language. Mathies here has a hard time talking in general, but he can understand Northern language better."
"Hello." Mathies waved, deepening his voice to sound very dumb. That seemed to work as the crossbowmen relaxed a little.
"You said something about ash hair." the knight said. "What did you exactly see?"
Andries used his mind to read the surface thoughts of the knight. This knight was so angry he intended to kill Andries and Mathies if their information proved useless. He was also thinking about a girl a little younger than Andries, with almost white hair and emerald green eyes. Andries didn't get much but learned the girl was noble-born and many in the Nilfgaardian army were searching for her.
"She was a pretty girl with weird green eyes." Andries said. "She looked strange, clothed like a nobody but acted like a noble-born."
"Where is she?" The knight grabbed Andries by the shoulders.
"She was going north." Andries said. "She was probably heading for the river or maybe she wants to be a dryad of Brokilon Forest."
"When was that?" the knight asked.
"Did you hear that scary shout?" Andries asked.
"Yes." the knight said.
"It was a little before that." Andries said.
The knight translated what he heard to the others. Hearing the good news, the swordsmen sheathed their swords, and the crossbowmen lowered their crossbows.
"Thank you." the knight said, dropping a couple of coins in front of Andries.
"How generous." Andries said with a smile. "Mathies, give the good knight a hug as a thank you."
"No, that isn't…" The knight couldn't finish as Mathies gave him a gentle hug.
The others tensed up when Mathies grabbed their leader, relaxing again when they saw Mathies was gentle. A couple of the guards even chuckled at their commander. The knight was very close to starting an attack on Mathies.
"That is enough, Mathies. You can now break his bones." Andries said, channeling energy from the earth.
Mathies suddenly picked the knight up and squeezed as hard as he could. The sound of bones popping was heard by everyone. The knight couldn't scream as all the air was squeezed out of him, and his back was broken in seconds.
Mathies rushed forward while still squeezing the knight. He remembered he didn't need these people alive, so instead of using the knight as a club, he threw him toward the crossbowmen and attacked the swordsmen.
The knight hit the crossbowmen, dropping them to the ground. A couple of crossbowmen tried to shoot but lost their footing and completely missed.
Mathies was on the soldiers in a blink of an eye, moving faster than seemed possible. Before they could unsheathe their swords, Mathies punched one soldier on the top of the head. The soldier's helmet and skull were crushed, blood pouring from his eyes. This soldier died instantly.
Mathies grabbed the fallen soldier, lifted him, and rushed the next. The soldier drew his sword and defended his face with his shield. Mathies stepped to the right, punching the soldier in the face. The soldier's head spun to an unnatural angle, dropping him to the ground.
The crossbowmen were slowly standing up. Andries placed his hands on the ground and muttered an incantation. The dirt climbed up his wrists like a liquid, then hardened. He stood, pointing his hands toward the crossbowmen. With another incantation, the dirt around his hands shot toward the crossbowmen as hundreds of tiny earth spikes.
The spikes aimed for the face and eyes, shredding the faces of two crossbowmen. The others, mostly hit in the armor, were less damaged.
Andries took out his daggers and rushed forward. Though not as fast as Mathies, he was fast enough to reach a soldier, jumped up and slash his throat. Andries tried to grab the man's crossbow but stopped, realizing it had already been fired.
Cursing, Andries turned away and used his psionic power. He levitated the daggers, shooting them at the remaining crossbowmen. One was hit in the neck, the other dodged. A sharp pain in Andries's head signaled the limit of his psionic powers for the day.
The last crossbowman aimed at Andries and shot. Andries jumped out of the way with unnatural speed, dodging the bolt.
He grabbed a large stone with both hands, rushing forward. The soldier tried to reload, but Andries slammed the stone into the soldier's knee, breaking it. The soldier screamed and dropped, giving Andries time to bash his face with the stone.
Mathies had an easier time. His enemies were terrified of him. He was a massive man who had killed two friends with one punch each and was holding another like a shield.
Mathies swung his "shield" at the soldiers, who jumped back to dodge, leaving their guards open. Mathies rushed the rightmost soldier, punching him in the chest and breaking ribs. The soldier was still alive, so Mathies grabbed him and threw him at the others.
Two soldiers were hit and fell. Mathies rushed the standing soldier, hitting him with his "shield." Though the soldier defended with his shield, Mathies was too strong and the soldier dropped to the ground. Mathies stomped on the heads of the fallen soldiers, crushing them. The last soldier stood in time to take an uppercut, ripping his head off. Mathies then returned to the soldier he had punched in the chest and ripped his head off.
With everyone dead, Andries had time to think about the pain in his head. He rushed to the crossbowmen, found one of his daggers, and messily opened the corpse's skull.
He ravenously ate the soldier's brain, emptying the skull in seconds. His head started to feel better. Mathies walked over, using a cloth to clean Andries's face.
"Messy eater." Mathies said as he cleaned Andries.
Andries knew they would get bloody again soon, but he liked it when someone acted like they cared, so he let Mathies continue.
Andries and Mathies ensured everyone was dead and got to work. They stripped the soldiers of anything useful, food, gold, a couple of daggers, and crossbows. They skinned the soldiers, ripping out the edible pieces. They placed the meat in the armor, tying it so the armor held the meat.
They left the meat packs in a ghoul-infested area. Ghouls preferred fresh meat, and the packs in black and gold armor were safe and tasty. Sometimes, these meat packs were still moving, perfect for ambushes.
Soon, Andries could enter the castle of Cintra. He hoped to find something from the late princess of Cintra, Princess Pavetta. His mother had told him she was a source. Her room was kept as it was when she died, which might help him find another source and eat their brain, curing his psionic problem.