Chapter Text
“Where did you run off to?” A woman called as she wandered the small footpath back to her home. Her house had been built in the middle of the woods, at the very base of the Dragon Mountains. It was sheltered there, and took at least half a day to walk into town. She hadn’t been allowed to live any closer to the village, due to her children. They shared her black hair, but took after their father with their striking green eyes.
“BOO!” Twin heads called as they popped up from behind a nearby tree. The woman smiled softly at their antics.
“Ah!” She jumped back in surprise from them, throwing her hands up dramatically. “You gave me a fright!” They giggled before ducking back behind the tree, leaving their arms to wave about.
“Look, Ma! We're tree monsters!” One called, causing the other two to giggle.
“Right you are, and a scary one at that!” Their mother agreed as she stepped close enough to lean around the tree to look down at them. They both reached for a hug, and she knelt down to wrap them both in her arms. “You’re getting so big! Soon I won’t be able to carry either of you!”
“We’re not that big yet!” One insisted as they snuggled closer in their mother’s arms.
“Now, it’ll be dark soon.” She said softly as she let them go. “Let’s hurry back to the house.” They both nodded and took off in a flurry. She smiled fondly at them, watching them go. It was hard to believe they were almost six.
“HELP, PLEASE!” The woman begged as she ran into the busy market square of Malleore. She was out of breath, her dress was torn and ragged at the edges, and there were leaves wrapped up in her normally perfect hair. She was crying but everyone just glared at her. Men sidestepped around her panicked grabs, and women backed away in disgust. “Please, anyone…” She whispered as she stood, surrounded by a bubble of empty space.
“What’s wrong?” A soft voice asked from behind. The woman whipped around to see a man standing there. He was dressed in dark blue armor, with two swords hanging from his belt. He was small, for a man, only about her height and build, and had a snarling animal medallion hanging from his neck. Bright blue cat-slitted eyes stared at her from a young and handsome face.
“A witcher?” She asked breathlessly, hardly believing her luck. He nodded and she smiled, just a bit. “Please, my children. They’ve been taken by a monster.”
“Show me where?” He asked, and she agreed, turning to lead him to the start of the footpath through the forest at the edge of town.
“We were on our way to town when something grabbed us from behind. I was thrown to the ground, and by the time I was able to look around again, both of them were gone!” She explained hurriedly. “Please, sir Witcher, you have to save them.” She begged and he nodded.
“What are their names?”” He asked.
“Gaetan and Karolina.”
“Don’t worry.” He soothed for just a moment before he took off, running into the forest.
“Be safe.” She whispered as she watched his back retreat into the darkness before her. She stood there for hours, praying to every god and goddess she could remember, keeping a silent vigil over the path.
It was nearly dark when she spotted movement again. The witcher appeared from the gloom of the forest, his eyes shining brightly from the nearby torchlight. She held her breath as he approached, slightly hunched over.
“Sir witcher?” She asked hesitantly, unable to tell anything in the gloom. He glanced up at her before smiling, readjusting his arms to sit two matching black haired heads higher up on his shoulders. She sighed and collapsed to the ground, her legs no longer able to support her now that her children were back.
“They’ll live.” He said as he knelt down in front of her, carefully maneuvering the child on the right forward until she could reach them. The child groaned softly as they were settled into their mother’s lap, the witcher cradling the other child in his.
“Thank you, sir witcher!” She whispered, tears falling silently from her eyes. “They are my everything.” And the witcher winced at that.
“I’m sorry.” He apologized after a moment. “...Your house is gone.” She glanced up at him, confused.
“What do you mean?” She questioned, and he looked around carefully, intently, before scooting just a bit closer.
“Your children weren’t taken by monsters in the most literal of senses.” He whispered as he leaned in. “It was men, from the village. They set fire to your house and…” He trailed off, looking down. That was when the mother noticed the children’s clothes were covered in soot and ash. Bandages were wrapped expertly around their arms and wrists, and the child she held had a small bandage across their forehead.
“Oh.” She couldn’t say any more. What else was there to say? She knew the villagers were suspicious of her children, but enough to try and burn them alive?
“They won’t be bothering anyone again, but if anyone else knew what they were going to do…” He trailed off and she understood. The rest of the village would probably realize what had happened once the men didn’t return tomorrow. They wouldn’t be safe here, the children, her, or the witcher.
“You’ll be in danger, too, witcher.” She said softly, sure that he would hear her.
“Part of the job.” He said with a grim smile. “I can help you get to Creigiau if you want, or maybe Malleore proper?” He asked, his face open and honest. The woman was struck again by how young this witcher looked.
“I…” She hesitated, looking down at the children. They had shifted in their sleep, cuddled up closer into each adult’s chest but had also reached out and found the other’s hand. “Alright, sir witcher.”
“Please, just call me Aiden.” He responded before standing, careful of the child in his arms. The woman stood slowly as well. “We’ll travel as long as you are able tonight.” She hesitated as he turned.
“I can’t see in the dark.” She said softly, and Aiden grimaced.
“Right. Forgot about that.” He held out a hand to her. “I’ll make sure you don’t fall.” The woman grasped the witcher’s hand tightly, and let him lead her off into the dark forests.
True to his word, Aiden did not let the woman stumble or trip, always warning her with plenty of time to spare as they slowly headed away from the only place she had ever known. They travelled like that until dawn, when the woman collapsed from exhaustion.
She awoke sometime around midday to the sound of her children’s laughter. She had been wrapped up in a thick woolen blanket at some point, and she pushed it off as she sat up. There was a small fire nearby, and both her children were sitting across it from her, holding small skewers with a fish on them.
“Look, Ma!”
“We caught fishies!” Her children proclaimed, holding up the cooked fishes proudly, once they noticed she was sitting up. She glanced around the small campsite, but saw no one else. She tried to not let herself be disappointed. She knew Malleore was directly east of their little village. It shouldn’t be that hard to navigate, should it? She was just about to try and put out the campfire when a voice called from the bushes.
“Alright, kittens! I got the last of ‘em!” And Aiden appeared with a smile as he held up three more fish, already skewered and ready to be cooked. He smiled over at her as he strode confidently up to the fire, plunging the sticks into the ground around the fire with swift movements. “Did you naughty kittens wake your ma?” He asked with an exaggerated scowl.
“No!” They both chimed together and Aiden crossed his arms. They giggled at him.
“You sure?” He asked, eyeing them suspiciously.
“We promise!” They managed through their giggles and he broke back into that easy smile. He looked over at her and nodded her over to join them.
“Alright then, how about you tell your ma all the stuff I’ve showed you this morning while she waits on her fish to cook? I’ll go see what else I can find, yeah?” They nodded and both started babbling over each other to her as Aiden stood and disappeared, trying to tell their version of events first. The woman smiled fondly at her children, so happy that they were still filled with light and life.
They travelled this way, together, for several days. Aiden was sweet to the children, filled with smiles and laughter at them, and could keep watch over them far better than she ever could.
“You’ll need to decide, tonight, what you’d like to do.” Aiden said softly to her as they watched the twins snuggle together on the bedroll one night. “We need to turn south for Creigiau from here. We could reach Malleore tomorrow, though, following the river.”
“I… I can’t go to Malleore. Not with both of them.” She said softly, sadly. Aiden cocked his head to the side.
“What do you mean?” He asked when she didn’t elaborate.
“They’re twins. They… look the same. If they didn’t, it’d be fine, but they do…”
“I still don’t understand?”
“Twins are unnatural.” She spat finally. “They are a plague upon the village.” She parroted with an eye roll. “Superstitious bastards, the whole lot of the north.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize.” Aiden admitted softly, turning away to stare back across the fire.
“I’ve heard tales before that witchers take children.” She stated, her voice cold but her eyes filled with unshed tears.
“We sometimes get children as payments for contracts. We don’t just snatch children away in the night like monsters.” Aiden shot back, eyebrows furrowing just a little in anger.
“Aiden…” She called and got his eyes back on her. “I want you to take one of them with you.”
“You don’t know what you're asking for.” Aiden whispered, wrapping his arms around himself in a sad excuse for a hug. “This is no life for anyone, much less a child who is loved.” He still spoke softly, looking at the twins fondly.
“It is a better life than what I can give.” She replied after a moment’s thought. Her voice flared in anger, but she kept her voice low enough to not wake the sleeping children. “If I show up in Malleore with twins, I’ll just be cast out again. We didn’t live in the forest just because I wanted to, Aiden.” Aiden looked back at her with a complicated emotion on his face.
“Humans are stupid.” He said, finally.
“Agreed.”
“I’ll offer them the choice in the morning. I might find an orphanage on the way back south.” He said it like it could be a threat, but she could see through that ruse easily.
“But you won’t. You would be a good big brother to them.” She said softly before she pulled Aiden’s blanket around her shoulders more firmly as she stood. “Goodnight, Aiden.” She laid down next to her two sleeping children, heart both heavy and light.
She awoke the next morning the same as she had every morning since they were saved by the witcher, to the sound of her children giggling. She sat up to see them both standing on Aiden’s shoulders. She smiled softly, seeing them together for what probably would be the last time.
“Good morning, Ma!” They greeted as soon as they noticed her.
“Good morning.” She returned as they clambered back down to the ground and ran over to her. They both hugged her fiercely, and she returned it. “Have you been behaving for Aiden this morning?” She asked, trying to be stern and failing.
“Yes!”
“Of course, Ma!” They chimed, and she hugged them tighter to her chest.
“Aiden says we’re near Malleore!” The child on her right spoke up.
“We can make it there today!” The child on her left added.
“I’ll be heading south from here.” Aiden spoke up softly, eyes locking with the mother’s in a calculated move.
“Back to your school, right?”
“Yeah, kitten.” The woman looked down at her two children and glanced between them carefully.
“Gaetan,” She spoke softly, catching the child on her right’s eyes. He looked up at her, tilting his head in question. “Aiden can take you with him, if you’d like to go.” He looked confused at that, upset. Aiden stood and came over to kneel in front of them.
“Gaetan, I can take you back to my school.” He said softly, patient. “We’ll train you to fight monsters, like the ones I saved you from. You’ll be stronger and faster, so you won’t have to be scared anymore.” Blessed Melitele, the witcher was as young as he looked. He couldn’t have been more than twenty. He hadn’t yet seen how cruel the world could be to his kind. He believed the words he spoke. Noble monster hunters, no matter what form that monster took.
“But what about Ma and Karolina?” He asked, looking between the two adults.
“I’ll take her to Malleore, like I said.” She said gently. She wanted to promise that he could come see them, someday, but she knew better. She’d heard the rumors, that almost none of the children taken by witchers ever survived. And even then, they’re taken so young that they don’t remember any family they might have had. There was no guarantee that she and Karolina would survive either.
“Those men, in the woods.” Karolina spoke up softly, brows furrowed in concentration. “They said we was bad luck. That we cause problems.”
“That isn’t true, dearest.” The woman said vehemently, squeezing them slightly at that. “You are both the lights of my life, and if… If I knew I could protect you both, I would.” She spoke softly, voice wavering but not breaking.
“Witchers protect people, right Aiden?” Gaetan asked, looking up at the witcher in question, voice fierce and determined.
“Right, kitten.”
“I want to protect Ma and Karolina.” He said. “I want to go with you.” Aiden just nodded once and stood, going to pack away the bedroll and strike the camp, to give them space for their goodbyes.
“I’ll always love you, Gaetan.” She whispered in his ear as she held him close.
“Love you, Ma.” He whispered back.
“Good luck, Gaetan!” Karolina called as she stood next to their mother, waving. Gaetan nodded, waving back from atop Aiden’s shoulders. Their mother waved at them slowly, with a soft sad smile. This was for the best, for all three of them, though it tore her heart to shreds. And not for the first or last time, she thought about Aiden’s words from the night before.
“Humans are stupid.”
“Alright, little brother. Let’s get you to the Caravan.” Aiden said as he turned south with a nod to the woman. She looked down at Karolina as the little girl squeezed her hand.
“It’ll be okay, Ma. Gaetan’s strong.”
“I know, dearest. I know.”