Feeling nothing but a sharp, burning pain in her chest, she started to gain her consciousness back. Icy, big raindrops slowly began to fall on her face, cold wind touched her skin like a dead man's hand. She inhaled sharply, feeling like she desperately needed some fresh air. Her head was pounding, her body was weak and felt like it was badly injured. She couldn't remember any event that could have possibly led her to her current state, so she began to think about the happenings of the previous hours. Nothing. Nothing came to her mind...nothing but a black hole. It felt like her memories were ripped out of her mind by force, her mind felt invaded and raped. She started to feel anxious, panic began to raise within her and it started to overcome her fatigue. That was an extraordinary feeling for her, something she'd rarely experienced.

Hadriana slowly opened her eyes and found herself sitting in a saddle, leaning on a rider's chest and feeling his heavy armor painfully digging in her back. They were riding slowly through a thick, almost pitch black forest, she could see it was nighttime. Her hands were tied, she could feel the cold metal of the cuffs on her wrists.

Damn it, she thought, I have no idea, how and why by the seven gates of hell this could happen...Who is he? And where is he taking me?

She carefully tried to take a look at her surroundings, slowly turning her head around. The man who carried her clearly wasn't alone. She was sure he noticed her movements, but he clearly ignored her. His companions were riding next to them with the same speed, avoiding trees and branches, shouting something to each other, but Hadriana couldn't understand what it was. It sounded like some short orders. There were three riders behind them and three in the front.

They look quite intimidating, I admit, she thought, and almost inhuman. They are definitely no common soldiers.

She could hear their deep voices, quick movements and the rattling of their armors and weapons. They wore skeleton shaped, rusty, heavy plate armors, shredded deep red coats,some of them wore furs over their chest pieces, helmets adorned with bullhorns and they all had these dreadful, skeletal masks covering their faces. Together they looked like a demonic cavalcade of wraiths. They were all heavily armed, every single one wielded at least a sword, one of them even had a scythe...an attribute of death. Death, that was most likely to take her, if she didn't act soon... At the head of the procession rode a similarly clad horseman, but his armor looked more ancient and his helmet was adorned with a jagged crown.

This must be their leader, she thought.

On his left side she spotted a rider with an iron staff with a glowing stone attached to the top of it. He rode quite close to the leader and he seemed to be talking to him in a hushed tone.

This one seems to be some kind of a mage, she assumed.

On the other side rode a big, bulky horseman with a claymore hanging on his back and a round helmet covering his head. They seemed all quite tall, taller than all humans or elves she knew, though she couldn't be sure about that observation.

Hadriana could only see the leaders back, his broad shoulders and the back of his head. She felt like she has already seen those riders somewhere in her past, or at least she has heard of them before, but she could not remember any details.

What did I dig myself into this time?

Hadriana Stannard was certainly not a coward, definitely not a scared, downtrodden country girl and not a damsel in distress, she knew that much. She was used to trouble, she was friends with Geralt of Rivia and Yennefer of Vengerberg after all. Along with them, she handled some nasty shit, including working with the Scoia'tael and plotting against some humble nobles. She even worked as a court mage of Toussaint for a couple of months, before Anarietta fired her for poisoning her court master instead of helping the man with diarrhea. Well, accidents are accidents. Hadriana was no healer after all. She knew how to handle bandits or diplomats, but being tied and dragged through a nasty, dark and wet forest by spooky horsemen, being unsure what happens next, wasn't the kind of trouble she knew how to work with. There was also something else. She HATED wet, cold forests.

All she could think of was escaping and harming her captors with some destructive spells if necessary, although she knew they were too many and too strong for her to fight...Obviously.

Well...Bloede pest, she thought. Let's hope I will have some luck.

To her advantage, the rider carrying her still wasn't paying much attention to her, they were still riding through the muddy, wet forest and it was quite dark, so a potential escape was not impossible. Having made her decision, she counted to ten in her mind to calm her nerves and gain some power. If she could run far enough, she would hide among some trees, try to open a portal to a safe place and vanish before they could get her back. Easier said than done...

After calculating her chances, Hadriana waited for the horseman on their left to speed up and leave them slightly behind. Then she took her chance. With all her might she pushed herself off the demonic black horse and rolled on the wet, muddy and cold ground. Her tied hands were quite an obstacle, they made it much harder to stand up and run, but she somehow managed it. The horseman, who was responsible for her, tried to catch a hold of her at first but failed. She was faster and wore no heavy armor, so she managed to jump off the animal and run for her life. He dismounted his horse and started to run in her direction with his sword drawn. Hadriana tried to concentrate, and to cast a spell to open a portal to Kaer Morhen, where she knew her friends were, but nothing happened.

Bloody hellfire...These cuffs are just simple iron with a chain, not dimetrium...seems like I am completely drained from any magical power I possessed...Either I have used it up somehow, maybe in a fight, or someone did it to me on purpose...she thought.

Hadriana had no better idea than to turn around and run, but after a few meters she stumbled upon something lying on the ground and fell straight into a puddle, making her clothes wet and dirty, and managing to rip her shirt. The rider following her finally reached her, grasped her hair and yanked her up, painfully forcing her to stand up. The others stopped in their tracks and three of them, including their crowned commander, moved in their direction, realizing what she was about to do. By the moment the others approached them, the rider holding her spoke to her for the first time.

„That was such a stupid idea...I've expected more wisdom from a sorceress such as yourself. You are not able to flee or to fight us, you belong to us now, d'hoine" he said in the Elder Speech, with a strange accent she didn't recognize.

Elves, she thought. Hadriana had some elven blood flowing in her veins, her father was an Aen Seidhe, so she knew the Elder Speech quite well.

„I am not entirely human, but you behave like a bloede d'hoine, brutally mishandling and kidnapping a helpless woman... son of a whore!" she hissed, desperately trying to push him away and to break free from his iron grip.

„Stop fighting, bitch!" he shouted, slapping her across her face with his rusty, heavy gauntlet, causing the soft skin on her pale cheek to bleed.

She screamed in pain and started to hope that he was not about to slay her like a pathetic little rat in his anger.

„Helpless women don't blow up little groups of skilled soldiers with magic like you did a couple of hours ago. Now shut the fuck up and be a good girl or I swear, I will ignore my orders and slice your throat right now"- he added through his clenched teeth.

She could feel her anger build up, her eyes tear up, and a strange mix of fury and panic started to overcome her. She couldn't remember fighting or blowing anything up, what the bloody fuck was he talking about? She was capable of some strong fire spells, but she would never be able to burn so many soldiers without losing her entire mana and stamina. Was this the reason for her weak state now? Or maybe there was someone helping her...maybe even a mage?

„Enough of this, Nithral!"- shouted the leader, moving closer to where she stood.

He seemed to stare directly at her face, but she wasn't able to see his eyes because of his demonic mask. She started to breathe rapidly. Oh, how she hoped it was all just a bad dream, she wanted to wake up in her bed in her house and forget this dreadful nightmare and the elven riders.

„Yes, my king, I apologize"- said her tormentor and loosened his grip in her hair a little, giving her the opportunity to move her head slightly to take a better look at the commander and his subordinates.

He was just as tall as the others, but there was something about him that made him look more confident, even arrogant. He kept staring at her, causing her to feel uncomfortable under his stare, almost naked. Even without seeing his eyes she felt his intense gaze on herself.

So apparently this is their king, not just a commanding rider. They are clearly no Scoia'tael and judging from the way they act, it would be foolish to start a fight without a weapon, in such a weak state... What are they up to?

Suddenly, the King moved even closer to her and spoke to her without taking his mask off, which made his voice sound deep and terrifying.

„ Well, well, well, look who's awake...it seems as though you wanted to leave us...too soon for my taste, my sweet. Where did you want to go in such a... bad shape?"- he mocked her.

The way he laughed after saying this made her shiver. Then he grasped her chin, not too forcefully, but firmly enough to force her to look into the empty eye sockets of his skeletal mask, and spoke again.

„From now on, you will be cared of by my second in command, Imlerith. Should you try anything foolish, you will be severely punished even before we reach our destination...and that would be a pity... having to hurt such a fine being. You have no chance to escape your destiny, you have no other option than to obey the Dearg Ruadhri*, to obey me".

After saying that, he approached his horse and ordered the huge elf with the round helmet, Imlerith, to take care of Hadriana. Her pride was deeply hurt, he treated her like a common prisoner and not like a sorceress she was. Imlerith grasped her upper arm, dragged her to his horse, picked her up and unceremoniously flipped her into the saddle.

„Where are we going?!" she screamed in terror.

Imlerith chose to ignore her question. Instead of answering, he said:

" Be glad King Eredin didn't order us to kill you after what you did to his soldiers earlier. He will decide later what to do with you...in Tir Na Lia.".

Soon the cavalcade left the thick woods and quickly gained speed, galloping through wide fields, only the wind chasing them.

*Red Riders