The Divine Hunter

ow is that the bodies belong to Ignatius’ family, and their skulls were engraved with a sacrifice rune.
That’s all we got.
We might get some new clues after we see the baron, but I got an idea about Mary’s whereabouts.” He paused for a moment.
“There are three possible situations.”

“Tell me.”

“One, she’s in one of the coffins in the wall.
Two, her body isn’t in any coffin here.
As for the third situation… Roy, do you remember how wraiths are born?”

“In special environments.
This family tomb, for example.
It’s the best place for wraiths to live in.” Roy dragged up the memories of the classes he had with Serrit.
“And there’s also the mental state of the person before they die.
Those who become wraiths after their deaths usually have an obsession or unfinished business.
Either that, or they’re tethered by powerful emotions like longing or hatred.”

“And Mary Verrieres died because of difficult labor,” Letho emphasized.

“You’re saying that she became a wraith after she died and killed Kolgrim?”

“Correction.
She did not kill Kolgrim.
Wraiths will never move a human’s body into any coffins.
So…”

“Kolgrim went and hid in the coffin himself,” Roy muttered.
He smacked his head, and a vivid image appeared in his head.
“He was exhausted, and he knew he couldn’t fight the wraith in that state, so he went into the coffin and tried to rest.” Well, Geralt did use the same strategy when he fought the striga back in Vizima.

“But it’s such a shame.
I guess Kolgrim’s wounds were too severe, and he couldn’t make it.
But where did the wraith go?” Roy asked curiously.

Letho had no answer to that.
“I didn’t see any specter dust in this room.
I have a feeling Mary’s wraith won’t die that easily.”

Roy brushed his hand against the coffin’s rough surface.
He stared at the empty space within the coffin, and for some reason, he jumped into it, just like Kolgrim had.

“Are you mad, boy?”

“I just want to see how it feels to be in a coffin.” Roy lay down in the coffin, but he didn’t feel satisfied.
“Letho, close the coffin.”

“Are you mad?” Letho scoffed, but he closed the coffin anyway.

Darkness overwhelmed Roy, and he was locked in a cold, claustrophobic place.
But even so, his sight was enough to see through the dark thanks to his mutation.
He scanned the stone slab above it, then he slowly moved his gaze down.
He suddenly froze up and touched the lower surface of the slab, where the marks were engraved clearly.
“Letho…”

“Scared now, kid? Then get out and don’t waste our time.”

“There’s something in the coffin.
I think it’s a warning Kolgrim left.”

“A message?”

“Kolgrim engraved one word on this slab.
It says… banshee.” Roy pushed the cover aside with difficulty and sat up.
“He was telling us that Mary became a banshee.”

“I see!” Letho held his own hand.
“I was wondering why the wraiths disappeared all of a sudden.
It didn’t make sense considering we had to fight hordes of them earlier, but now it’s clear.
Powerful beasts are usually territorial, and they would chase away any and all threats in their territory.
It’s the same thing for wraiths.
Mary has become a powerful banshee, and her existence scares the other wraiths.”

Banshees and wraiths might both be specters, but the gap between power was huge.
The latter were just evil spirits who moved solely on instinct, but banshees retained part of their human memories.
It was harder for a banshee to manifest, but they had special and powerful abilities granted to them in return.

For example, plague maidens could spread plagues and diseases.
Banshees, on the other hand, possessed the power to knock people out with their wails, revival abilities, and they could even leave the grave to move about.
The sun couldn’t hurt them.

“Mary died in 1259, and it has been two years since then.” Roy went to Letho’s side.
“The banshee Mary turned into must have left this place, but where would she go?”

“Mary was the baron’s mother, right? So what place would hold most of her obsession? Let’s go.
It’s time to see the orchard’s baron himself.”