The Witcher: Darkness Falls

The sky above the Alba River was covered with dark clouds, and a drizzle of rain had been falling. A breeze blew, and the air was mixed with the smell of mud and rotten grass roots.

Leon, biologist Stein, and half-elf Ganmir stood by the boat, looking at the abnormal water surface in front of them.

"Look here, Mr. Witcher, and Half-elf Knight, look at this magnificent water surface. Can you guess how many creatures live underwater?" Stein asked, pointing to a large area of ​​turbid water in front of him.

Leon put his hands on the fence and looked out.

The turbid water was very wide, far beyond the scope of the river channel. On the other side, he could even see large trees with their trunks submerged, leaving only the tops.

There are some small boats passing on the water.

"What's going on? Why is the water so wide at the bend here?" Leon did not answer Stan's question. Instead, he was puzzled by the phenomenon in front of him. "Is it a flood?"

Stein smiled and said, "This is nothing strange. It is now late August, and the storm season has arrived in Nilfgaard, or in the entire coastal area.

This was originally a big bend, with slow currents. Go over there, see? It's where my finger is pointing."

Lyon looked in the direction of his finger. The water over there was even more turbid, and in front of it was the place where he saw the trees just now.

Stein put his hand down, leaned on the fence and said slowly: "Over there is the Nilfgaard Swamp area, which was originally connected by only a small river.

Every year, rain from storm seasons causes the swamps to swell, flooding the land and connecting the swamps to these rivers.

Do you see that turbid area? That's behind the river bank. The water there is turbid but not deep. If the boat approaches, it will run aground due to insufficient draft. An experienced captain will stay away from turbid waters.

Leon and Gammiel both looked over there. No wonder the water started to become turbid over there. It must have flowed over here a few days ago.

Gammill said, "How long will the storm last?"

"One month, it's been like this every year," said Stein.

"That's not certain. It's like a flood, washing out all the creatures in the swamp." Ganmier shook his head and said, "If it's just in the river, there shouldn't be too many. There aren't even large carnivorous fish in this river!"

Leon didn't say anything. He couldn't answer Stan's question. He was not concerned about biodiversity.

He could only listen quietly to Stein and Gammill's conversation.

Gammill had lived in the forest for a period of time and was familiar with the forests and swamps, especially the strange species in them.

Ganmier said: “There are many monsters lurking in the swamp, and some of them cannot be discovered by ordinary people unless they actively attack.

Now, the heavy rain has brought them out. Maybe there are monsters in the river, waiting for prey.

Just as we look at the food on our plate, they look at the people on the boat in the same way."

Ganmier pointed at the boat in the distance, his eyes full of calmness.

"Monster?" Stan chuckled and said, "My Lord Half-elf, I'm afraid you will be disappointed. There are no monsters in the Nilfgaard Swamp.

In order to build giant sea ships and conquer the northern countries, the Nilfgaardian army frantically searched for huge and strong wood.

Those monsters have either been cleared out or driven into the mountains."

Gammill stressed: "There are endless monsters to kill, and the demon hunter next to you has the final say."

Leon took a deep breath, feeling the moisture in the air, and then he slowly said: “There are basically no ferocious monsters in crowded places, and some have already hidden deep in the forest swamps.

That is to say, many of the species you mentioned became extinct, but they only became extinct before your eyes.”

He paused, and suddenly asked, "By the way, were there people living in those places before?"

He raised his hand and pointed in the distance, where there were some small boats that seemed to be fishing for something.

"No, didn't I just say that that is a swamp area and few people live there?" said Stan.

"So what are these people doing?" Leon asked.

“We fish for bullhead fish, which is actually a type of catfish with a big head, a flat body and delicious meat.

But this kind of fish lives at the bottom of the river, so it is usually difficult to catch them. At this time, the rainstorm washed out the insects in the swamp, and the fishermen came here specifically to wait for them to swim up. "The captain of the boat stepped forward and said, "Gentlemen, and Mr. Demon Hunter, the rain is getting heavier, why don't you go back to the cabin!"

"Wait a moment, Mr. Demon Hunter, Mr. Half-Elf and I are discussing whether there are monsters in this river." Stein said perfunctorily.

When the boat captain heard this, he immediately laughed and said, "Monster? I've been sailing on this river for more than ten years and have never heard of any monsters."

Ganmier said, "As I just said, the Nilfgaard Empire cut down trees to build ships, and perhaps by then they had driven the monsters in the swamp deeper into the water.

But there has been no one living here for two hundred years. If I were a monster, I would definitely swim out slowly."

"But everything is safe now, isn't it?" said the captain.

The rain began to fall heavily. Before it was like cow hair, but now it was a bit like beans, hitting the boat with a crackling sound and splashing even on the water surface.

Stan put his hands over his head and complained, "Ha, I'm afraid we'll have to spend the rest of the journey in the rain, it's really uncomfortable.

Let's go back to the cabin. I have some wine and salted fish in my room. Would you like to come and sit with me?"

"With great pleasure." The captain answered first.

Everyone prepared to turn around and go back to the cabin.

"what!!!"

However, as soon as they turned around, screams were heard in the distance.

Lyon and Gammiel turned around hurriedly and saw that one of the fishing boats that were fishing for bighead carp in the rain was shaking violently.

"What's going on? Is there a water leak?" Stan leaned forward and asked.

"It doesn't look like it. Based on my years of experience, a water leak wouldn't cause the ship to shake like this. It's possible that someone just had an orgasm." The captain said with a teasing look.

"This movement is not like that of a human..." said Ganmier.

Leon and Gammiel frowned. One of them was a demon hunter and the other was a half-elf. Their eyesight was better than that of ordinary people, so they could see more clearly.

In the distance, a small fishing boat was shaking violently, and the adjacent fishing boats were beginning to move away quickly in all directions.

A dark shadow quickly passed by the boat.

"What is that?" Gammill frowned and asked, "Leon, did you see it?"

Leon nodded calmly and said, "Someone was dragged into the water."

"Where?!" Stan wiped the rain off his face and looked outside.

The boat over there stopped shaking and there was no other movement.

But both Lyon and Gammill saw that something had just fallen from the boat, and it raised a black tail before going down.

"The ecology should have recovered after 200 years. There are delicious bighead carps, and even more delicious are the boatmen who catch the bighead carps!" Ganmier murmured.

"Get out of here! Order your sailors to row faster!" Lyon said directly to the captain.

"Okay!" The captain was still a little confused, but his intuition told him that something was wrong.

"Leon, did you hear that?" The half-elf's ears moved.

"The sound of waves! I heard the sound of waves." It was not Leon who answered him, but Stein, "Why is there such a sound of waves here?"

He didn't understand, but soon he understood.

bang——

A muffled sound came from under the ship, and the entire merchant ship shook violently.