The Divine Hunter

of the Sun can do? More specifically, what kind of potion can it create?”

“Omnipotent Antidote,” Roy answered.
He had one Child of the Sun left in his inventory, but he used it back in Brokilon.

“There’s a second one.”

“And… Divine Beauty.”

“Divine Beauty can add a lot of years to someone’s lifespan, and it grants them eternal youth until the day they die.
But obviously, Jennifer did not find any Child of the Sun before she died.
She did not get her hands on Divine Beauty.
So that’s why she’s so deeply obsessed with that.” Letho’s eyes were shining.
“I have an idea, Roy.
Sometimes…” He turned his eyes to the window.
The sun was already climbing up through the sky, raining down its golden light to the lands, draping them with a golden blanket.
“Women can do anything for beauty.
Jennifer must have had some secret she didn’t want anyone to know about, but we have searched the whole bedchamber.
Where could she hide her secret?”

“A mirror, huh?” Roy’s eyes were glinting as well.
“If I were her, I’d bury my secret with the mirror.”

***

“A mirror?” Grant looked at the witchers in disbelief.
He was starting to suspect them of having an ulterior motive.
First, they made the baron look deadly ill, and now they were making an outrageous demand.
“It has been a century since then.
I doubt anyone can find her mirror.” Grant would not go against his master’s orders, but he could not help in this case.
“I’m sorry, witchers.
I do not know where that is.
I think it must have been thrown away a long time ago.”

“Look for it.
It’s important.
It might still be in the fortress,” Letho said, unsure.

“You might have to ask the baron for that,” the butler answered sternly.
“I will inform you once the baron is awake.”

The witchers did not wake Ignatius up.
Letho went to search the branch families’ bedchambers and the basement, while Roy left the fortress.
“We checked Mary’s coffin, so now you have to go back to the tomb and check on the other women.
Ignatius’ grandmother, great-grandmother, and Jennifer’s coffins specifically.
See if their remains are still there.”

The witchers went their separate ways.

***

Ignatius had woken up when the witchers were done, and he reconvened with them on the top floor.
“My great-great-grandmother’s mirror? Oh, I do remember that.” Ignatius took a trip down memory lane.
“Mary told me about it when I was a child.
Jennifer made that  mirror herself, and it has a special meaning attached to it.
It’s kept by the women of the family.
Jennifer gave it to her daughter after she died, and she handed it down to my grandmother, then she handed it to Mary.
It’s a family heirloom.” He asked, “Is something the matter with that mirror?”

Roy nodded.
“Where is it?”

“You have seen it before.” Ignatius suddenly wore a look of sadness on his face.
“It’s in Florian’s room.”

“What?”

“Mary was going to give Florian’s room to her next child after he died.
She had a feeling the child was going to be a girl, and the mirror was prepared for her.
But I never thought the child would die before she was born, and Mary did not make it through the ordeal.”

“Our condolences, baron.
We will lift the curse from you.”

“I hope so.” Ignatius took them to Florian’s room, and they saw the mirror beside the closet.
They checked it before, but nothing was wrong with it.

“Maybe we checked it the wrong way.” Roy went to the mirror.
It was taller than a man and rectangular in shape.
It was as thick as a palm and curved inward slightly.
It had a bronze frame coated in platinum paint, and the mirror was smooth, as if the last two hundred years had not taken a toll on it.

‘Mirror

A magical mirror.
Covered in misfortune.’

***

“The glass and craftsmanship are exquisite.” Roy brushed his hand across the mirror and looked at Ignatius.
“But we can’t see anything just by looking at it.
Can we open it up?”

“If that’s what it takes to lift the curse, then open away.” Ignatius gritted his teeth and nodded.
“Mary is dead, and there are no women in the family now.
There’s no reason to keep it.
Do it.”

The mirror’s glass was only as strong as metal.
Letho put it face down on the floor and knocked on its back with his sword.
Weirdly enough, the mirror was still fine, even after he stopped knocking it.

“Something’s wrong.”

The witchers exchanged a look and cast Quen on themselves, then they cast another sign at the mirror.
An explosion happened in the room, and Aard shattered the mirror into little glass shards that covered the floor.

The witchers looked through the mess and noticed a weird protrusion on the ground.
“What’s this?” Letho wore a pair of steel gloves and brushed the shards away, revealing a dark brown book to everyone.
It was as big as a hand and made of unknown materials.
The book was soft but resilient enough not to break no matter how hard it was pulled.
Not even the glass shards could leave a scratch on it.

The three of them surrounded the book curiously, and Letho read out the almost unintelligible words on the cover. 

“Book of Bones.”

He opened the first page, and a disgusting stench assailed them.
It smelled like a dead corpse that was left to rot and fester for gods knew how long.
Ignatius held his throat and retched, while the witchers scrunched their noses up.
For a moment there, they felt as if the book were a pile of blood and flesh instead of a real book.

They powered through it and read the book.
The first page had a line of words written in bright red ink, and it spoke of a deadly warning.
‘Those who read this book will be cursed.
Their descendants will live lives of misfortune until the day they die.’