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Yennefer couldn't breathe. The air around her felt poisonous; and it very well could have been, considering the circumstances.
She had not been in Toussaint, previously. As much as she loved to lounge with Geralt at Corvo Bianco, having nothing but the flowers in the garden to worry about, she still had occasional things to do in Novigrad and Oxenfurt. On this particular week, she had been carrying out her business in the Oxenfurt markets, with not a worry in the world. She would be returning to Toussaint soon, she would be returning to her love. She smiled at the thought of it.
As she browsed the many wares of the markets she considered purchasing something for the witcher. The merchants she passed all tried vigorously to sell her various trinkets, claiming they were the best in the land and "Your lover will surely be at a loss for words!" They were probably right about that.
She decided against it.
As she picked up the last of her things, she sighed in content as she prepared to return to Corvo Bianco. Briefly running her hands through her hair in a show of confidence, she walked straight and proud towards Oxenfurt's outskirts to privately summon a portal to her home.
She was certainly surprised at who greeted her when she arrived, for it wasn't Geralt, but instead...
"...Regis?"
The vampire spun around, interrupting his seemingly frantic search around the house.
"Oh, thank the gods," he breathed out heavily. Yennefer's heart sped up involuntarily. She was not sure what to expect.
"What? Thank them for what?" She asked, slowly and cautiously setting her bag of goods down on the floor. She wasn't fond of the desperate and panicked look on Regis's face. A multitude of questions and possibilities were floating around in her head - what was Regis doing here? What was he looking for? Was he looking for something, or someone? And why?
"Geralt," he began. Yennefer's blood immediately went cold. "He's in trouble. A... a monster. Vampires. I'm sorry, I..." Regis was uncharacteristically scattered, grasping his hair with one hand as he continued to look around the room from where he was standing, his pupils blown wide. "There's venom, and he's been hurt. Badly. You must have a megascope of some sort."
"What the hell are you talking about?" She tried to steady her voice but it was loud nonetheless. She took a step towards the frantic vampire in front of her. The news was so sudden and unexpected that she couldn't help but lose her composure for a moment. She took a deep and steadying breath. The moment he mentioned a megascope, however, she began to run towards it without question, nearly tripping over her bag as she went. She had set it up in the guest room shortly after she first arrived at Corvo Bianco.
It felt so long ago now.
Regis followed close behind her, watching as she prepared the megascope. She was already attempting to contact someone.
"Where is he?" She snapped, her voice shaking despite her best efforts. She didn't bother waiting for Regis to elaborate on her previous question.
"He is in a cave, south of Dun Tynne," he breathed, evidently rattled by the situation. "I shall take you there."
"You just left him there?" She shouted, eyes full of venom and concern. He winced.
"I had to find you," he explained, meeting Yennefer's intense gaze. Yennefer noticed that his eyes were almost completely filled in with black. "I could not move him safely, he could hardly speak. I have secured the cave as much as possible, I am certain he will be safe from others for now. I have also attempted to stop the spread of the venom. But we must hurry, I do not know how long my efforts will last."
The megascope suddenly flared. Both Yennefer and Regis stiffened in uneasy anticipation as they waited for the ability to communicate.
"Triss," Yennefer began as soon as the red-headed sorceress appeared in front of her. Triss smiled.
"Yen? What's this-"
"I can't explain right now," Yennefer interrupted her quickly. Triss frowned immediately, eyes flickering to the vampire who was standing, disheveled, behind the raven-haired sorceress. "There is a cave south of Dun Tynne. Geralt is there, injured. Find it, we need you. Bring everything."
"I'm coming," Triss was quick to act, asking no more questions and setting off to pack her things. It seemed she could grasp the gravity of the situation. As soon as Yennefer was certain Triss understood, she and Regis set off in a panicked sprint, Yennefer grabbing her horse and pushing it to its fastest gallop as Regis misted in front of her.
The moment she set eyes on the witcher the wind had been knocked out of her.
Yennefer had seen countless bodies in her many years of life. She had seen mutilated corpses, tortured expressions frozen in fear, poisoned veins bulging in someone's skin, flesh ripped away mercilessly in all sorts of places. But they were never Geralt. Her Geralt.
But this time, it was Geralt. Yennefer couldn't stand it.
His body was broken in every place it could possibly be. There was a bloody mess where his left eye should have been. His entire body was covered in a thick coat of blood, emerging from wounds that were steadily flowing with the red substance; he was an intensely dirty, muddy, and bloody mess. Even if he could be healed, it was highly unlikely that he would ever return to his normal self. Yennefer could hardly breathe at the sight of it.
She immediately ran to him and cradled him in her lap. The smell of the cave was almost unbearable and if she hadn't already been in tears at the sight of the witcher, the stench alone would have done it. Geralt's eyes were closed. She desperately touched his cheek, wiping her thumb across his dirtied face, leaving a messy stripe through the blood that was gathered there. He was cold. Too cold. Her heart was pounding in her ears, a deafening sound, and she couldn't remember the last time she felt so terrified.
"Geralt." Her voice was cracking. She willed herself to control it. "Geralt, I'm here."
At the sound of her voice, his eye opened slowly. It was unfocused and searching for something to look at, and when he finally met her gaze, he did not break it. He stared intently at Yennefer, whose tears were threatening to fall. She was struggling to hold back, her breathing uneven and laboured as she attempted to steady herself.
"I'm going to heal you," she assured him. Though she wasn't sure it was him she was assuring. "I'm going to heal you, and you'll be fine. You will be fine. Regis is here, and Triss is coming. We'll go back home tonight, I promise. Can you hear me? Geralt?"
He did not respond, but he didn't look away. He continued to stare at her, his gaze surprisingly intense for his condition. The golden eyes of the witcher had always been piercing, and the eye that survived the apparent massacre had not changed in that regard. Yennefer swallowed thickly as a tense feeling of uneasiness coursed through her body. She felt immense pressure to simply not fuck this up. She began to focus, muttering spells and incantations under her breath.
She felt the magic flow through her entire body, starting at the tips of her toes, traveling to the tips of her fingers and leaving a tingling sensation in her head. This was not her specialty. She shuddered as she focused the healing energy into her beloved, pouring as much as she possibly could into his broken body. His pupil began to shift in size, but there were no other reactions to her efforts. That did not stop her from continuing to try. Nothing would.
"Heal, damn you!" She choked out. Strands of hair were sticking to her cheeks, messy and unkempt. She quickly brushed them aside in a weak effort to gather more focus. "Listen to me. Geralt, I don't know if you can hear me, but you have to try and listen. Listen to me, please. Don't fall asleep, okay?"
He did not respond. He only stared, his eyelid drooping ever so slightly. Tears were now flowing down Yennefer's face, her body covered in Geralt's blood. She could practically feel the blood flowing through her veins, pounding in her eardrums, trying desperately to get the witchers attention. She tried to listen for Geralt's heartbeat. It was slow, even for a witcher.
Yennefer had never felt so powerless.
She thought back to the djinn, to their first meeting in Rinde. She knew what her wish would be now, at this very moment, had she the chance to secure one again. She would give anything to have the witcher come home with her.
She hardly registered the sound of footsteps sprinting into the cave, or the faint sounds of Regis acknowledging someone's presence. When Triss entered the dreary cave, a large satchel slung over her shoulder, she gasped at the sight in front of her.
"Gods," she breathed. "He..." She glanced at the corpses of three large, unidentifiable monsters scattered in the cave. She covered her mouth with her hand, the other mercilessly gripping the strap of her satchel, knuckles white. "What... what happened?"
"I apologize," Regis began, looking up from his work. He had been rapidly and desperately preparing potions and concoctions, keeping a close eye on Yennefer and Geralt as he did so. "but there is no time to explain. Have you brought something?"
Triss swallowed uneasily before digging in her bag. From it, she pulled out healing amulets. "I... I don't know if these will help. I didn't know..."
"Try," Yennefer's voice was shaking as she entered the conversation, but filled to the brim with an aggressive sense of control. It was a tone that one could not argue with. "Try it. Anything."
And with that, Triss knelt beside Geralt and Yennefer and tried.
Regis approached soon after with his concoctions, gently opening Geralt's mouth and massaging the contents down his throat to the best of his ability. Despite his best efforts, Geralt did not respond to him and only stared at Yennefer, who had been freely crying by then. She stared back, his gaze being the one thing grounding her - if he was staring, that meant he was alive. The intense healing magic was beginning to drain her of her energy. But she continued. Her body was shaking as she gripped the witcher hard, as if he would slip away from her immediately should she release him.
There was nothing more they could do. Regis was trying in vain to wipe the blood away, but it would not stop flowing. He was hesitant to try heavy and intense potions that would possibly do more harm than good. He had attempted stitching, but he was afraid the venom had already spread to uncontrollable levels. Triss's amulets seemed to help Geralt's focus, however he did not become any more responsive to their calls. He was focused only on Yennefer.
Geralt's eye began to close. Yennefer gripped him hard.
"Geralt!" She was shouting desperately. "Geralt, damn you, don't. Do not do this to me! Don't close your eyes." Her tears were falling onto Geralt's bloody chest. "Please, Geralt. Do you hear me? Geralt!"
She did not notice the soft yet frantic steps of someone else entering the cave until they were close beside her. She felt the presence, a tug at her heart, a subconscious comfort. Yennefer involuntarily let out a sob as her body became overwhelmed. The woman who had entered collapsed beside Yennefer, grasping at the cold stone of the cave floor in an attempt to ground herself. Yennefer briefly wondered who had sent for her, or if she had simply dreamed this, but her thoughts were interrupted by anguish.
"Yennefer," Ciri's voice was soft, shaking, afraid, and unbearable to hear. "Geralt..?" She reached out and touched his face, gasping at the coldness of it. She quickly retracted her hand, her breathing suddenly shallow. "No. No, no, no. This isn't..."
"Ciri..."
"This isn't happening," She continued, not listening to Triss, who's voice was tight and strained and quiet. "This is all a dream, right? This is a dream."
Nobody replied.
Ciri wrapped her arms around Geralt. Her grip was tight and unbending. She sobbed a heart-wrenching cry, able to feel as the life slipped away from him. Her body was bloody and her clothes were stained. She was trembling as she buried her face in his neck. "He can't be..."
"Ciri," Yennefer choked out. She was trying to gain composure for Ciri's sake but she was less than successful, her own voice wavering as her tears fell. "Ciri, come here."
Ciri leaned heavily into Yennefer as she sobbed, holding onto Geralt as if the act alone could bring him back. She was shaking violently and uncontrollably. Yennefer softly pressed her lips against the top Ciri's head, her tears dampening her daughter's ashen hair.
"My bag," Yennefer barked out weakly, yet sternly. "Yellow flask. Bring it to me! Regis!"
Regis was faltering. His hands were shaking as he set down the potions he had been preparing. He knew now that they were for naught. He could hear and feel the witchers heartbeat, even from a distance.
"Yennefer," Regis's voice was soft, quiet, barely audible. The tone of his voice sent dread throughout Yennefer's body. She did not want him to continue his sentence.
"Yellow flask!" She repeated, her voice loud and demanding. She felt Ciri flinch against her. Regis did not move towards her bag, but instead knelt down beside her and Ciri.
"Yennefer," he repeated again. She could feel the unfamiliar strain in his voice. "My dear, I am sorry..."
"No," Yennefer sobbed involuntarily, despite her best efforts. "No, no..."
Her thoughts suddenly, against her will, drifted to that of Dandelion, Zoltan, all of their friends left in Novigrad and Skellige. She suddenly felt excruciatingly weak. She couldn't bear the thought of relaying the news. Her heart was in her throat, her stomach in knots. She felt as though she would vomit, still processing what was happening.
"I was too late," Ciri's voice was muffled in Yennefer's blood-stained clothes, the words interrupting the sorceresses intrusive thoughts. It was a voice full of anguish, a tone that broke the hearts of anyone who heard it. "I couldn't... I didn't get to... I didn't say anything..."
The cave was silent, the only sounds being the sobs that echoed on the walls.
Regis silently sent a pained, sympathetic look towards Triss, who was kneeling beside the broken witcher, gripping at his ruined clothes. Despite knowing it was inevitable, she never expected the witcher could actually die. She could not believe nor comprehend what she was seeing, and it was evident in her mannerisms. She was in denial, but tears were flowing down her cheeks regardless, her amulets still placed against Geralt's chest.
Regis placed a comforting hand on the shoulders of Yennefer and Ciri. As soon as he did so, Ciri wrapped an arm around Regis in a grip that would normally be painfully and unbearably tight, pulling Regis into a hug shared between him, Ciri, and Yennefer. It didn't seem like Yennefer realised that she was now hugging into Regis as well, but she didn't seem to care.
She didn't seem to care about anything.
Regis silently reciprocated the hug, rubbing comforting circles into their backs as he stared at the disfigured body of Geralt of Rivia that was lying in front of him.
He can remember exactly one other time he had felt such an intense feeling of loss. He had hoped he would never have to feel it again, at least not so soon. He silently, yet violently, cursed the cruel and wretched gods for bestowing upon him such unimaginable bad luck. The feeling was akin to the icy terror he was subjected to during the time of his own death. He simply wanted to collapse - to sleep, and to never wake up again. But he kept his composure, for now, as best he could, simply for those he was surrounded by.
He would not be able to for long.
"Rest easy, my friend," he whispered softly. He could not muster anything louder, steadier. "I'm sorry that I could do nothing. I am... I am sorry for everything."
Yennefer tightened her grip around them, glancing towards Triss who had, at some point, joined their hug. She did not mind.
Her heart was lead, her voice thick as tar when she spoke.
"I love you, my Geralt. And I will love no one else."