Capítulo 186: 187. Sadia and the Child of Miracles.
"Chamomile?"
Sadia muttered to herself. She walked to the spot where the Great Wraith had disappeared and crouched down. There was a pile of black ash there. Just looking at it brought an unpleasant feeling. Without needing identification, Allen could tell this was the lingering resentment left behind after the spirit was killed.
Sadia crouched down, staring blankly at Hode's last remains, and suddenly said:
"Do you find it strange?"
"What?" Allen was taken aback.
Sadia didn't turn around: "I'm Enid's mother, yet here I am mourning for a human man."
Allen stayed silent.
What could he say to something like this?
He was merely an outsider in this melodramatic family drama. Besides, this sort of thing happening among elves wasn't surprising. After all, the origins of the Elder Blood stem from the elven sage Lara Dorren, who eloped with the human mage Cregennan of Lod.
Wait a second!
When did Lara Dorren die?
Has she already passed away by now?
Allen's silence didn't affect Sadia. She continued her monologue: "During Aelirenn's Uprising, I quarreled with Francesca's father."
"As an Aen Saevherne, he saw the uprising's inevitable defeat in his crystal ball."
"As the leader of the Aen Seidhe, he refused to send his people to join the uprising…"
"But what's the difference between slowly being eaten away by humans and dying?"
"Besides…"
"How could he know that Aelirenn's failure wasn't because he withheld his support or because his hesitation caused other Aen Seidhe leaders to waver?"
"So, I broke ties with Francesca's father."
"I joined Aelirenn's resistance, while he led his supporters away from Shaerrawedd."
"And then…"
"Aelirenn… lost."
Sadia's tone was casual. But Allen could hear the thick scent of blood in her words.
"I too, in that war, was crippled by my best friend among humans…"
Sadia glanced at Allen.
"Vera of Toussaint. She destroyed my ability to cast magic."
"Since then, I've had to rely on magical tools to escape the repeated hunts of the Kaedwen army."
Allen's heart tightened. He remembered the sorceress had mentioned this to him back in Kaer Morhen. Vera had an elven friend. But what she had said back then was that she had killed that friend. Noticing the change in Allen's breathing, Sadia chuckled and shook her head: "Don't be nervous, I don't hate her…"
"Or rather, back then I hated her so much I wanted to drink her blood, eat her flesh…"
"But after all these years, looking back…"
"We were just on different sides, that's all."
"She was human, and I was Aen Seidhe."
"Due to circumstances, due to the hatred between our races, we could only be enemies, and would always be enemies, nothing more."
"She could have killed me, but in the end, she only crippled my ability to cast magic and left me half-dead."
'Only crippled your magic? Only left you half-dead…'
Allen thought to himself, finding the phrasing a bit off.
Sadia seemed to have guessed Allen's thoughts and explained: "Vera did the best she could."
"At the time, I was blinded by the sight of my people dying one after another, the rivers of blood, and I was determined to kill her at any cost."
"And though Vera's strikes seemed ruthless, she held back at critical moments."
Taking a deep breath, Sadia closed her eyes, as if recalling that battle.
"In the end…"
"She even hid me and took me all the way to the Temple of Melitele in Ellander to heal."
"Even though I was much older than her, in front of Vera, I felt more like the younger one."
There was a hint of nostalgia and sadness in Sadia's eyes as she sighed.
"Come to think of it, the pearl on you is something I gave to her."
Instinctively, Allen touched the pearl, still dormant within him. It had been four or five hours. The connection to the pearl in his mind remained calm, showing no signs of awakening. But the longer it slept, the greater its transformation would be, and Allen's anticipation of its power only grew.
"And then?" Allen asked.
Sadia continued reminiscing: "After that, I spent a long time in Melitele's temple."
"Even though she's a human goddess, Melitele's priestesses weren't affected by the widespread hatred of Aen Seidhe in the northern kingdoms at that time."
"They not only healed my injuries but also taught me medicine and herbology when I was lost and had nowhere to go."
"Do you find that strange?"
Sadia looked at Allen. After hesitating for a few seconds, Allen nodded. He thought it was hard to judge the moral lines in wars between races. It was already unusual for someone connected to Vera to heal Sadia's wounds.
Sheltering a leader of an enemy race and teaching her skills?
That was more than a little strange.
Sadia saw the answer on Allen's face: "At the time, I thought the same."
"But the temple's elderly high priestess said: 'The goddess is the protector of all innocent sufferers.'"
"I asked, 'I participated in the war and killed many humans, does that count as an innocent sufferer?'"
"The high priestess asked in return, 'Why wouldn't it?'"
"Isn't Shaerrawedd your home as elves?"
"If bandits break in, isn't it only right to take up arms to defend your home?"
"I was surprised back then, so I asked: 'Even if those bandits are humans, and I am Aen Seidhe?'"
"Child, whether or not someone is a bandit isn't determined by race, but by actions."
"That woman, who was more than a decade younger than me, looked at me with such pity, as if I really was her child…"
Hearing this, Allen felt a slight stir in his heart. But Sadia's story was clearly not over, so like any good listener, he asked: "And then?"
"And then… I had to rely on the few magical tools Vera had left me to perform some small illusion tricks. I disguised myself as a normal human and diligently studied herbology and medicine at Melitele's temple."
"Until…"
"I don't even remember if it was ten or twenty years later…"
"The old high priestess passed away, and the new priestess found out my identity and expelled me."
Sadia took a deep breath, gently gathering the remnants of resentment in front of her, piece by piece.
"I don't hold a grudge against that new priestess. Though she drove me away, she didn't reveal my identity to anyone else."
"You have to understand…"
"Even though the Kaedwen king who led the invasion had long been dead…"
"The bounty on Aelirenn's resistance fighters was still posted high on the gates of every northern human city, never taken down."
"And I am the first on all the bounty lists."
"If she had reported me, she could have gained both wealth and fame, and she could have accepted it with a clear conscience."
"After all..."
"I'm just a member of an enemy race."
"So when I left, I bore no resentment or dissatisfaction..."
"I was just a bit regretful, a bit sad..."
"The sins and virtues of the short-lived races are so fleeting."
Sadia sighed, then took out a common glass potion bottle from her waist pouch. She gathered all the remnants of resentment into the bottle and handed it to Allen.
"Hmm?"
Allen instinctively took the bottle, looking at Sadia in confusion.
"Though even I don't know what kind of material this is, it's your spoils of war. Keep it well."
"But this is what's left of Hode in this world..."
"No!" Sadia interrupted him. "He wouldn't leave me something as ominous as this."
"What Hode left behind in this world is here."
Sadia gently tapped her forehead.
Allen remained silent. The remnants of resentment were indeed ominous, and Sadia was right. So Allen obediently put the glass bottle filled with the remnants of resentment into his potion pouch at his waist. Seeing Allen accept it, Sadia smiled and nodded, then continued: "After leaving the Temple of Melitele in Ellander, I was still without a place to go."
"But with the disguise of illusions, excellent medical skills and knowledge of herbalism, and the reputation of the Temple of Melitele..."
"I was respected in every town in the North."
"Isn't it ironic?"
"That I, an Aen Seidhe who opposed humanity, was respected in the human lands."
Sadia glanced at Allen. But she found the witcher shaking his head.
"Haven't you used the herbalism and medical skills you learned from the Temple of Melitele to heal humans?"
Sadia was taken aback for a moment, then laughed heartily.
"Hahaha~"
"Of course, I have. I can't even remember how many human lives I've saved."
Then, suddenly, she stopped laughing.
"When I saw the smiles of the patients who had been healed, and heard their thanks in villages and towns..."
"Sometimes, I would forget that I was still a 'noble' Aen Seidhe."
"I was merely Asha to them, Sister Asha, Doctor Asha, or even..."
"Grandma Asha..."
"If only I were truly that Asha," Sadia sighed with a hint of melancholy, "but unfortunately, I am Aen Seidhe, an immortal Aen Seidhe."
"Every few years, around five to ten, I had to leave the towns where I had settled in and made friends."
"I left amid the reluctance and pleas of the humans, heading for the next temporary residence."
"At that time, I deliberately forgot my identity within the Aen Seidhe race..." Sadia looked down. "As a follower of Melitele, I even unconsciously forgot my responsibilities as a mother."
Allen instinctively glanced at the direction of the wooden hut.
"At that time, I thought my life would continue like that, until..." Sadia paused. "Until I felt the call of destiny, leading me to Kaedwen."
"The call of destiny?"
Allen asked in confusion.
Sadia nodded.
"It's a feeling that's hard to describe, like a flash of inspiration, or a sudden impulse."
"If I remember correctly, you witchers experience this call of destiny before using the Law of Surprise. However..."
Sadia glanced at Allen, smiling kindly: "However, you're still young. You probably haven't experienced it yet, but you'll understand in time."
Allen remained silent, feeling slightly overwhelmed by the reminder of his age. Francesca was already older than him by two lifetimes combined, let alone comparing with Sadia. So he remained silent, listening as Sadia continued: "Answering the call of destiny, I returned to Shaerrawedd."
For the first time, Sadia's voice trembled slightly: "But by then... the rose palace of Shaerrawedd, the home of the Aen Seidhe, had... already turned into ruins..."
"I... I followed the guidance of destiny to the center of Shaerrawedd..."
"And from the white rose bush beloved by Aelirenn, I took a gemstone..."
A gemstone?
For some reason, Allen's mind suddenly recalled the black "Elemental Ring" in the abandoned castle of Viscount Hudson.
Could this gemstone have something to do with that strange Elemental Ring?
"So is that why Henselt deployed a large army to hunt you down everywhere? For this gemstone?"
Allen asked curiously. It seemed like the most reasonable explanation. A gemstone found by destiny must be extraordinary, and it made sense for a monarch to desire it.
"No!"
Sadia shook her head.
Not for the gemstone?
Then why did Henselt pursue Sadia relentlessly?
"I only found out later."
"The sorcerers of Ban Ard wanted the gemstone, but as for Henselt..."
"He simply wanted to kill me... and Hode!"
"Huh?" Allen was shocked. "Why?"
"Because of a prophecy."
"A prophecy?"
Allen instinctively asked.
For some reason, Sadia had been open about everything with the witcher, answering all his questions without reservation. So his inquiry came naturally. However, in the next moment, after hearing the prophecy that Sadia chanted, the witcher's expression suddenly changed.
Under the bright moonlight, the illusion-clad elf chanted: "Know this, the time of swords and axes draws near, it is the era of the White Wolf and the winds of winter.
The world will die in frost and be reborn under a new sun.
Ess'tuathesse! It is inevitable! Look for the signs!
To know the signs...
First, the Filius Miraculi—the Child of Miracles—will be born in a land of bitter cold.
Death and rebirth, brought by a non-human, in blood and fire..."
Isn't this... Isn't this the same prophecy of the Child of Miracles that Vera once told him about?
What does this have to do with Sadia being persecuted by the King of Kaedwen?
Allen struggled to control his emotions, shocked. Thankfully, at this moment, Sadia's gaze wasn't on Allen's face. But what shocked Allen even more was that Sadia had not finished reciting the prophecy.
"Then.
When the Aen Seidhe—the blood of the elves—floods the land, you shall all wail, for the destroyer of nations will come.
Your lands will be trampled and divided.
Your cities will burn, and your people will flee.
Bats, owls, and crows will haunt your homes, and serpents and insects will nest in them..."
After finishing the prophecy, Sadia's blue eyes, strikingly similar to Francesca's, stared deeply at the witcher: "Allen!"
"Henselt... no, it's not just Henselt!"
"The reason they want to kill us is because of the prophecy about the Child of Miracles!"
....…
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188. Gate of Ard Gaeth.
189. Witcher Master Allen.
190. Spatial Skills.
191. Still Want to Participate in the Apprentice Duel Tournament?
192. Northern Wind! Northern Wind!
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