Part 1 – Rescue
Ciri didn't know how she kept getting into these kind of situations, running through the woods of Bald Mountain being chased by bandits who killed her traveling part.
She was dodging arrows left and right, she had lost her ranged weapon some time ago, but had still managed to pick off two before they got too close, and she had to run.
Maybe being the Princess of Cintra was a cursed position, maybe her adoptive father being Geralt of Rivia had something to do with it, either way it was starting to get annoying.
She didn't make it far through the forest though, she looked back for one second, and when she looked back, she stopped suddenly when she came to the cliff, "Fuck," Ciri exclaimed as she turned back toward the bandits who started marching toward her with their weapons drawn.
Ciri drew Gveir, and prepared to face them.
One of them came running at Ciri who deflected the incoming swing, came in high, and drew a line of blood across the man's neck with the sword.
The second came in with an over-hand chop, Ciri dodged the blow, sliced the man across the stomach, and kicked him over the edge of the cliff.
A third came at her with a stab, Ciri moved out of the way, slashed the man across the back, the back of the knee, and then across the back of the neck.
Two came at Ciri with their blades spinning wildly, Ciri ducked underneath the swings, slashed the first across the chest, took out the second's legs, then grabbed the first's blade, drove it through the second's chest, and then finished of the other.
They all came at Ciri quickly, she was dodging and deflecting blows left and right, but as she looked back someone clubbed her in the face with a large lump of wood with rivets nailed into it.
Ciri awoke some time later, she tried to reach down to see what was running down her nose, but something stopped her, she looked up, and her hands were bound above her head.
She had been stripped of her armor, and jewelry, these bandits obviously thought she had something worth trading.
"Think she's worth anything," one of the guards outside her cell asked.
"You don't know who she is," the other asked, "She's the future Empress of Nilgaard. She's worth a hell of a lot more than we'd make off her things. That why Butch has decided to ransom her instead of sell her into slavery."
Ciri made a mental note that once she was free this 'Butch' would be on her hit list.
"Shame," the first guard said, "She's a pretty bounty. Much prettier than that fat blonde haired bitch we picked up last week."
"She was alright," the second said, "Much more attractive than the brown haired one."
"Oh," the first guard said, "Right… right," he then shuttered, "Remember how she flirted with everyone?"
"Don't remind me," the second said, "I still have nightmares."
There was a small ringing, "Dinner's ready." the first guard said.
A single guard came into her cell carrying a plate of food and a glass, "Food for you, your majesty," he said as he set it down, and held out a piece of bread.
"Where am I?" Ciri asked.
"Shut up and just eat," the man said as he shoved the piece of bread into Ciri's mouth, and forced her to swallow it.
"Bastard." Ciri said.
"You're lucky my boss said you're to be left unspoiled," the man said as he held up the cup which contained stagnate wine, the very smell of it made Ciri's stomach turn.
"Do you have anything more spoiled?" Ciri asked.
"Yea, you." The man said.
Ciri spat in his face, and in return the man poured the wine over her head, "There's your drink your majesty," he said as he stood up, "The second your ransom arrives you're free, and once we have the bounty, we're going to live like kings."
Outside the gates of the castle, a coachman about six foot one, slightly overweight wearing a leather hood, a brown jacket, black pants, and mid-shin high boots pulled up outside the gate of the castle with a large wagon covered in a thick tarp.
The guard that moved up to the wagon was holding a crossbow, "State your business." he said.
"I'm here to deliver the ransom," he said as he pointed toward the back of the wagon, "It's back there."
The guard walked up the back of the wagon, and as he pulled up the tarp, a heavily cloaked man grabbed him, and stabbed him through the heart with a Mahakaman Rune Dagger.
As his buddy saw that, he opened his mouth to raise the alarm only for the coachman to pull out a Skellige crossbow, and unloaded an iron-tipped bolt into the man's throat.
The man grabbed the arrow stuck in his throat, and fell back against the castle wall.
The two guards on the wall saw that, and as they were about to raise their voices in alert, two men came out of the shadows, covered their mouths with their hands, and sheathed their swords through their enemies' backs.
After tossing the bodies over the castle wall, two heavily cloaked men who had jumped out of the cart ran over, and caught the bodies just before they hit the ground.
The two men on the wall jumped down into the courtyard, and started looking for Ciri's cell.
As the approached her cell, they heard Ciri struggling against the chains, the small flash of ashen grey hair told them it was her.
The first pulled off his glove, whispered something in an ancient language, and tapped each of the bars which melted away.
The first slapped the second on the shoulder who lowered himself into the hole, and then let go to slide down into the cell.
As Ciri continued struggling, she heard a sound as if someone had dropped down from the ceiling onto the floor, "Whose there?" She asked.
A hooded man stepped out of the shadows wearing an Undvik armor chest plate, black leggings, Undvik boots, and black leather gloves walked up to her.
"No time to explain," he said in a heavy, dark voice, he then held his hand closed to his covered mouth, and exhaled, creating a small light, he then pinched it between his thumb and forefinger creating a small point, "Look away."
The man held the light over the lock that held Ciri's wrists in place, after a few seconds, the lock fell off, and Ciri was free, "Thanks," Ciri said as she tried to stand up on her own, before the man held out a hand.
Ciri accepted his hand, and was pulled to her feet, the glove was warm, and his hand was firm.
They heard the guards approaching, and the figure pulled them both against the wall, one of them looked in, and saw she was gone, "What the fuck," he asked, "She's gone!"
The two entered, and as they did, the man drew a very elaborate sword.
The guard on the left heard a whooshing of the wind before everything went dark.
The second guard turned toward his partner to see him fall to the ground with a bloody-line running down his neck.
He turned around in time to see a hooded man, and feel a sharp pain in his chest, he looked down to see the man had sheathed his sword through his chest up to the hilt.
"What are you," he asked as he coughed blood, and fell to the ground as the man pushed him off his blade.
The man simply waved his hand over his sword, and what appeared to be a gust of steaming wind wiped the blade clean.
As he sheathed his sword, he took the first guard's steel sword from his hand, and tossed it to Ciri, "Let's move." He said.
Ciri followed the man down the hall to a small corner where he knelt down to listen to a conversation around the hall, "The bitch's in the cell around the corner," one of them said, "They say if she tries to escape she's as good as dead. I'd rather kill her now after what she did to our friends."
The man pulled off his ring which had a red dragon eye-like diamond, and placed it on the ground, he whispered some kind of ancient language, and the ring gently glowed red, "Three of them," he said, "Two swords and a club," the man picked up the ring, gently blew on the ring which ceased to glow, slid it back on his finger, reached into his satchel, and pulled a small handful of silver balls about the size of a cherry tomato, "Time to go to work fellas."
"What are these?" Ciri asked.
"Watch," the man said as he placed them on the floor in the outline of a diamond, cupped a hand over his top lip, and blew on them, if you looked at the balls closely, you could see the metal rippling.
The balls started rolling, and slowly rolled into the first bandit's foot, "Hey check it out," he said as he knelt down, and picked them up, "Solid silver."
"How many Orens you think we can get from them?" Another asked.
"None," the man said as he snapped, and there was a large sound of a snap, and everything went silent.
He peered around the corner to see the four men standing around had severe burns all over their bodies like some kind of explosion.
The man signaled Ciri around the corner toward the armory.
"What was that?" Ciri asked.
"An ancient magic technique," the man said as they entered the armory, "Here's your gear."
Ciri grabbed her armor, and strapped it to herself, "Can I at least know your name?" Ciri asked.
"Anton." He said.
"Anton…?" Ciri asked.
"Anton's all I got by," Anton said, "I don't use my full name because of the shame it brings, your majesty."
"You know about me?" Ciri asked.
"Yes," Anton said, "The gray hair color was a dead giveaway."
"What about you," Ciri asked as she picked up Gveir, and strapped it to her back, "What about your name would shame you…" Anton held up a finger, "What?"
Anton drew his sword, and walked over to another door, and signaled Ciri to get into cover.
As she ducked behind a small wall, three guards walked in.
The three walked over to the desk, and as they noticed that several things were missing, the first turned around to see Anton come in with an overhand chop.
The second turned around to see Anton swing at him, he deflected the swing, and as he swung back at Anton, Anton deflected the swing, and came in low which clipped the man's leg, and another swing got him across the back of the neck.
The third had made it across the room, and had a crossbow at the ready, he aimed and fired at Anton right before Ciri picked up a large sickle, and threw it as hard as she could at the bandit.
Anton simply held up his sword which cut the arrow in half.
The sickle struck the man in the side of the head, the blade itself was embedded two inches into the man's skull, and the momentum of the strike sent the man falling to the ground like a tree.
"Not bad," Anton said as he walked over to the dead bandit, and examined the wound, "Not bad at all."
"I was trained by a Witcher," Ciri said as she sheathed her sword, "You seemed to be better trained than even me. But you're not a Witcher."
"No," Anton said as he held up his fist to show his ring, "I'm newer. You want to finish off the man that kidnapped you? If so we need to finish this conversation elsewhere."
Ciri followed Anton into the next room where they found two of the bandits waiting for them.
"The prisoner," the first said, "Go warn Butch," the man drew two swords, and turned toward them, "I'll take care of these two."
Anton and Ciri circled the man who went after Anton first, his sword blocked the first blade with ease, the second however came in low, Anton jumped over the blade, and kicked the man aside.
Ciri came in low, but the man stepped over her blade, and swung high.
The first blow was blocked, the other was dodged with relative ease.
Anton and Ciri both came in with their blades, the man flipped out of the way, and spun his blades around like he was dancing.
Ciri went back at the man with a low swing, the bandit blocked the swing, and came in high with his other blade.
Before it could make contact, Anton came in, blocking the swing, and then took the opportunity to throw the man back.
It was at this point that Ciri got a perfect look at the sword, the pommel of the sword was in the shape of a diamond, the grip was leather wrapped around a piece of hardwood, the cross guard went around a sphere about the size of a softball made from what appeared to be glass with a glowing blue lightning bolt inside, and the blade itself was very pristine, so shiny you could comb your hair in it.
Ciri didn't have time to marvel, she came in swiftly, and swung as hard as she could, her silver sword cleaved right through the bandit's swords.
As he stumbled backwards, Ciri planted him into the wall, and drove the sword into his heart.
"Amazing," Anton said, "Very quick dispatch, it shows discipline."
"Comes down to training," Ciri said, "I'm sure you're just as disciplined."
"Maybe," Anton said, "Now let's get this guy, and get the fuck out of here."
Anton and Ciri climbed the steps to a heavy door, as they pushed, they found the door locked from the inside.
"Have any spells?" Ciri asked.
"One," Anton said as he took a few steps back, and Ciri followed, he pulled one of the silver balls out of his satchel, bounced it on the ground, and then hurled it at the door.
The ball smacked into the door, splintering the door to pieces, and causing the two bandits inside, one of them being this 'Butch' everyone talked about.
As Anton and Ciri entered, Butch and his lackey grabbed their weapons.
Butch was the leader of the bandits, he had to be six foot five, easily, compared to his lackey, he was a giant, he wore a heavy chainmail vest with black leggings, heavy steel boots, and a helmet made of bones.
Anton was six foot three, but seeing this tall lumbering figure, he refused to back down.
The lackey charged at the two of them with a fury, Ciri deflected the blade, and came in high, Gveir sliced deep into the man's back.
He stumbled forward, Anton sword went through the man's shirt like it was made of paper.
"I knew it was only a matter of time before someone let this bitch out," Butch said as he tossed his desk aside, and picked up his two-handed steel axe, "Now I can repay you for spoiling my fun!"
As he charged, Anton and Ciri dove underneath his swing, and prepared to strike.
Butch turned back around, as Ciri came in with a low swing, Butch blocked the blow with the handle of his axe, he then ducked as Anton came in with a high swing, bunted Anton across the face with his elbow, and in one move sent Ciri flying across the room.
As the two recovered, Butch came in with a fast swing, Anton dove over the blade as Ciri rolled underneath it, they both turned around, and swung, only to have their swings blocked by Butch's axe handle.
Butch then shoved them both back, and came back at them with a strong uppercut.
Anton and Ciri moved out of the way of the blade, and as they did, Anton made a swift move, and got Butch across the front of his mask.
The mask shattered, and blood exploded from his face, but it only angered him.
He charged once again, pinning Anton against the wall, and as he tried to choke him, Ciri took the opportunity to slice him across the back of the leg, dropping him to one knee.
Butch let go of Anton as soon as he kicked his lost sword into his hand, and he sliced Butch across the area between his bicep and forearm.
As he let go, Anton stabbed Butch in the arm, causing him to lose his axe, he looked up, and spoke, "What are you waiting for you big fuck," he asked, "I'm right here. Kill me!"
"Your life is not mine to take." Anton said.
Ciri grabbed Butch around the neck, and whispered, "Who's the bitch now?"
In one swing, Ciri lopped Butch's right arm completely off, and embedded Gveir two inches into the center of Butch's skull.
As she withdrew her sword, Anton searched Butch's second desk, finding a small map, "Jackpot," he said as he rolled up the map, and put it in his satchel.
"What'd you find," Ciri asked as Anton walked passed her.
"What we were looking for," Anton said, "The Ambush points for the bandits along the main road, now let's get out of here."
Ciri followed Anton outside where several of Anton's team members had just finished dispatching the last of the guards.
"You've got her," the one that opened the gate to Ciri's cell said as he jogged up to Anton, "The map?"
Anton patted his satchel, and ushered toward the gate, "Right here Delran," he said, "Now let's get out of here!"
The men ran up to the cart where the coachman was waiting, Anton ushered toward the tarp, Delran pulled up the tarp, and ushered Ciri inside, "Your majesty." He said.
Ciri jumped into the back of the wagon as the rest of the group jumped into small pockets hidden inside the cart.
Anton pulled up the tarp and said, "You might want to hold on, it's going to be a very long and bumpy ride."
Ciri then noticed something hanging from around Anton's neck as they took off, it looked like a dragon scale, but she didn't have time to ask as Anton shut the tarp, and slid inside a small compartment below her.
Ciri laid back as the coachman set off, and Ciri could have sworn that they were off-road the entire trip.
She still had several questions going through her head, "Who were these men," "What was that thing hanging from around Anton's neck," "What was with that sword Anton was carrying," "Where the others carrying similar swords," so many questions, but no answers, yet.
After what seemed like two days of traveling, the coachman pulled the carriage to a stop, "Alright," he said as he stepped out, and pounded on the sides of the carriage, "We're here."
As the men stepped out, Anton lifted the tarp, and held out his hand to Ciri.
"Such a gentlemen," she said as she accepted the hand, and climbed out of the carriage.
Anton walked up to the coachman, "Well done my friend," he said as he shook the coachman's hand, reached into his satchel, and produced a leather bag of coins, "There's a little extra in there for that crossbow moment."
"Thank you," the coachman said, "Good luck."
Anton and the men led Ciri to a small clearing where Anton whistled, and a single man came ridding through the tree line holding Kelpie and enough horses for Anton, and the three others.
Ciri approached Kelpie, and stroked her mare across the crest of her forehead, "Good girl, good girl." She said.
"She's a very loyal horse," Anton said as he took the reins of a gorgeous white horse, "When we found her, she took us straight to where you were captured."
"She's a good horse," Ciri said as she mounted Kelpie.
"The road's four miles that way," Anton said as he pointed off into the distance.
"I have questions." Ciri said.
"We don't have time for questions," Anton said, "We have business."
"You saved me," Ciri said, "I want to return the favor."
"Where we're going is dangerous for outsiders." Anton said.
"You're stuck with me big guy," Ciri said, "Or do I have to recount my story of how you saved me to everyone I see?"
It was then that Delran reached for his sword, but Anton waved his hand for him to put it away, "It's obvious you're not going to take no for an answer," Anton said, "But you fall behind, you're on your own, and you don't speak to anyone about what you see."
"Deal." Ciri said.
"Alright," Anton said, "Let's go boys, we're a little ways away from home, and we have to make it before dawn."
With a clap of his heels into the side of his horse, the horses set off, and Ciri followed behind the group.
Guess what happens next…