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“Ready?” Geralt cast a sideways glance at me as we headed out of the tavern. I nodded.
Talking to some of the locals the previous night, I had discovered the location of the mage we had following for weeks now. She was supposed to be an incredibly powerful sorceress, only second to Yennefer of Vengerberg. But while Yennefer was really neither good nor bad, this mage was definitely bad, wrecking havoc where ever she traveled though she somehow remained nameless. She was rumored to have taken down a witcher at some point, and though both Geralt and I had our doubts about that one, we still proceeded with extreme caution.
Earlier last night, after discovering her current hiding place, Geralt had insisted I stay behind.
“If she’s really as powerful as they say then you’re going to need all the help you can get!” I had argued.
“Not from you.” He said flatly. “There won’t be much you can do.”
“I could be a distraction. Even just another threat that she has to worry about so you can get in a killing blow, I don’t know!”
“And get yourself killed? No.” His voice rose slightly. “No.” He repeated.
“You really don’t have a say. You act like I don’t have my own two feet to walk on and follow you there.” I snorted. “I’m just as capable as you are.”
“You’re human.”
“And? I’m just as well trained as you are, I may be lacking in the supernatural aspects but I know how to handle myself.”
He growled, a low, rumbling sound that came out of his chest, turning away from me. “You’re not going. That’s final.”
“If I can’t travel with you I’ll just trail behind, then I’ll surely get myself killed.” He was stubborn, but I knew just where to hit to get my way.
“Fine.” He snapped. I smiled smugly, patting his shoulder. “Thanks.”
In the low light of the early morning, we set off in the direction of the rising sun, out into the forest. Her place wasn’t far from the village, according to the townsmen we had spoken to the previous evening.
As we entered the forest, I could still catch a whiff of tension from our argument last night.
Geralt halted. There was a seemingly abandoned cabin.
“I think this is it.” He said lowly. I nodded, agreeing silently. I felt the strong magical energy crackling through the air around us. It only increased as we drew closer.
“Stay behind me.” He muttered.
“What? No, we’re equals in this remember? I didn’t come along for you to fucking protect me. I’m here to fight alongside you.” I hissed under my breath.
He uttered a frustrated grunt but didn’t argue.
I was about to move forward when his large hand gently gripped my shoulder. I turned my head around and his yellow eyes met mine. “Be careful.” He said lowly. I nodded, moving forward again with him by my side.
We made it half a dozen paces forward before we were both knocked onto our asses by a gust of wind. Shrill laughter cut through my eardrums.
“I’m not that easy to sneak up on, you know.” The sorceress appeared seemingly out of nowhere, a shit-eating grin on her face. “You really underestimated me.”
Beside me, Geralt growled before hauling himself up to his feet. I followed suit.
“And you must be the wicked witch of the west.” He said sarcastically, dusting himself off.
He pulled out his sword, swinging it around a couple of times like it was nothing.
Pretending to stumble on my feet, I swiftly pulled out a throwing knife I had concealed in a hidden pocket on my tunic.
Another blast of wind swept through me, stronger this time, and somehow only affecting me and leaving the witcher beside me untouched.
I grunted as I was all but slammed against a nearby tree, my knife slicing into my side. I grunted,, pushing myself back onto my feet. My ribs suddenly ached terribly and I was sure they would be bruised and ugly by tomorrow. I could feel the warmth of my blood spreading below my tunic.
“The trees have eyes!” She giggled.
I quickly scanned the clearing and I suddenly noticed the runes carved into the trunks of the trees around us. “Fuck.” I cursed under my breath.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Geralt quickly glance down at me, taking note of my condition and how I was hunching over.
I attempted to stand up straight before clenching my teeth and deciding that I couldn’t. He could worry about me later, we needed to get rid of this bitch.
No longer worrying about stealth, I abruptly whipped my hand around to yet another of my stashed throwing knives, quickly aiming and tossing it right at her. It spun through the air before coming to a complete halt mid-air and dropping to the ground with a dull thud. She grinned.
I caught movement in my peripherals. I swung my head around in time to see what had previously appeared to me a rotting log rise up out of the ground with an ominous cracking sound. I instinctively started backing away before I heard the rustle of leaves.
In that moment, everything seemed to move in slow motion. I spun around, seeing a powerful shockwave of energy surging towards us. No, straight for Geralt.
“Geralt!” I shouted, but I knew, even with his inhuman reflexes, that he wouldn’t be able to dodge the fast-moving wave.
The invisible force blew leaves out of its path as it headed straight for him. I had no time to think twice, nor would I have. I threw myself at him, catching him off guard and crashing into him, effectively shoving him out of the way of the blast.
Leaving me right in the path of destruction.
That strike had been meant for a witcher. Not an ordinary human.
I suddenly felt a wall of pain crash into me as I was sent tumbling to the ground across the clearing. I cried out.
It felt like every single bone in my body was shattered. Broken. Every muscle was torn apart and painfully stitched back together again. I drew in a ragged breath as I faintly heard the creaking of the tree-creature, much nearer this time. My vision was blurry and all I could see was a shape moving towards me. I weakly pushed myself back with my hands, whimpering.
My sight grew dark around the edges as I curled into myself; a weak attempt at protecting my battered abdomen. With great effort, I sucked in another wet breath, my eyes starting to flutter shut.
Everything became dark and silent.
I briefly woke to a floating sensation, all my senses muted. I forced my eyes open for a split second to see a dark figure, and beyond that, the forest canopy, before they drifted shut and I faded out once again.
I awoke, blinking my eyes open. The lights were dim, I saw a faint yellow glow off to my right.
Everything that happened rushed back to me in an instant. I panicked, pushing myself onto my forearms and up off of the bed I had been laying on. My eyes darted around, desperately trying to recognize my surroundings to no avail. My breath quickened as fear gripped me, coming in painful gasps.
I stumbled off of the mattress, leaning heavily against a nearby wall as my ribs screamed in protest and my legs threatened to fail me. I didn’t make it very far before a coughing fit overtook me and I doubled over, dropping to my hands and knees. I hastily brought one hand up to hug my ribs as white-hot agony rolled through me. I tasted blood on my tongue.
I faintly heard footsteps and I tried to force my coughing to a stop, huddling against the wall as I attempted to quiet my desperate gasps for air.
My attempt was futile, however, as another cough ripped through my raw throat, followed by another, and another.
An arm wrapped around my chest, supporting me. I tried to scrambled away, only to press myself against the wall instead. I was cornered. I faintly heard them saying something but I could not make it out. Attempting to look at them was no use either, my vision was uselessly blurred, barely able to make out shapes and shadows in the low light.
As the coughing subsided, my arm gave out and I had no choice but to lay limply in the unknown person’s arms, desperately gasping for precious air.
“Shhhh.” He murmured. “It’s okay. You’re okay.” I immediately recognized him. Geralt.
I curled further into his arms with a strangled sob, a mixture of pain and relief, my chest still heaving.
After a few moments, I regained the ability to breathe and see almost normally. I struggled to sit up. His arms tightened around me. “Stay down.” He rumbled. I tensed, feeling him gently shift his arms underneath me picking me up with ease before laying me down on the mattress and situating the downy pillows. The entire time my teeth were clenched in agony. “I’m sorry.” He said softly, a tone I had never heard from him before.
Grinding my teeth, I forced myself into a sitting position as he sat on the bedside. He gave me a concerned glance before it all melted away, replaced with anger. “What the fuck were you thinking?” He growled. “You almost died.”
“I-” He cut me off.
“You’ve done this far too many times and this time you almost got yourself killed.” His voice grew dangerously low. He was furious.
“What?” I managed to rasp out.
“You always try to be the hero.” He ground out. “Always jumping out in front of me and trying to save me? Are you suicidal?”
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled. “I just-”
“You’re human. I can heal far quicker than you. I can recover from injuries that you cannot.” He let out a frustrated sigh. His anger was dying out and was replaced with..concern?
His hair was loose, he ran his hand through it before uttering a “fuck” and turning away from me.
“How long was I out?” I asked timidly.
“..two days.” His yellow eyes turned back to me. “I’m serious. You almost died. I had to give you one of my potions.”
“A potion? I thought they couldn’t be used for humans?”
“Shouldn’t.” He corrected me, carefully taking my hand in his and rubbing his thumb across my knuckles. “In certain amounts they are not deadly.”
He eyed my weary gaze. “What was I supposed to do? Your only other option was death.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Just remember that you’re human.” His voice was softer now, but stern. He didn’t say it in a belittling way. It was a simple reminder.
“I know.” I murmured. “Just wanted to protect you.” Drowsiness was starting to set in.
Geralt saw this, pushing himself back onto the bed and leaning against the wall, he gently pulled me against his chest. I winced. “Sorry.” He mumbled.
“’s okay.” My eyes started to drift shut.
I felt him press his lips to my hair.
“Rest, little fox.”