The Witcher: Dragonborn
Chapter 4: Cleaning House
…
Vesemir breathed in the fresh mountain air; a brisk light breeze was blowing the mountains bringing with it the scent of fresh snow and wild flowers, but there was also the faint that Vesemir knew was coming from Forktail nests nestled in the crags and slopes of the mountain valley.
Mounted on their horses on either side of the centuries old Witcher was Martin the Dragonborn and Triss Merigold of Maribor. The other Witchers of the Wolf School had volunteered to stay behind, lazy whoresons.
"Nice to have a bit of company for a change," Vesemir commented to Martin and Triss as their horses cantered along the beaten path leading into the mountains. "Culling Forktails is a messy bit of business and not many of the lads ware willing to do it, at least not without payment," he grumbled.
"Well, I'm curious to see what Forktails look like and if they're any way similar to dragons back home," Martin replied.
"Can't imagine any draconids being similar to dragons or your friend Odahviing," Vesemir remarked. "Where is that overgrown firebreather anyway?" he asked.
"He's probably flying high above us, keeping a watchful eye on me," replied Martin as he gave a glance up at the sky. There was a slight smile on Martin's lip as though he had seen something high in the sky. "So, what can you tell me about forktails? Anything I should be concerned about?" he asked.
"Well, forktails aren't like dragons, in the sense that they don't spit fire from their mouths," replied Vesemir and the Witcher then explained some of the differences between forktails and other draconids from actual dragons. Martin listened attentively, asking questions when he needed something explained in greater detail and the best tactics to use against draconids. Vesemir then offered to give the Dovahkiin a tome detailing all the monsters of the world and the methods and tactics needed to kill them.
When told of how silver or dimeritium weapons were best suited for killing monsters such as werewolves, necrophages and the like, Martin commented, "Well, when Geralt and I fought Saker in his bear form, my sword didn't seem to have any problem hurting him."
"What kind of steel is your sword anyway, and how did you come by it?" Triss asked as she gave Blackfyre a glance.
"I don't know," Martin admitted. "I suppose it goes back to when I was found as a baby and taken in by the people who raised me. No-one knew who I belonged to, only that my baby blanket held the symbol of a three-headed dragon and some strange language was stitched on it," he said.
"You're an orphan?" Triss asked her green eyes softening in sympathy.
"Well, I don't know," replied Martin. "My family could've been in trouble and left me in Cyrodil for safety, or they could've abandoned me. I suppose I won't know until I find them and ask them why," he said. "But the people who raised me were good people and when they learnt of my deeds in Skyrim, they were proud," he added.
"But how does your sword fit into this?" Triss asked.
"Well, after the first month of being in Skyrim, a courier showed up at my doorstep and handed me a package. The courier said that the person who sent the package didn't say who they were, just that they were a friend," Martin said. "And when I opened the package and found this sword, there was a note saying that this sword belonged to my family and that its name was Blackfyre and that it was made of Valyrian steel, and that it was my birthright," he explained.
"And I asked every nobleman, smith and archivist I met if there was a family that had a sword named Blackfyre and they turned up with nothing," Martin said in frustration. "I ultimately decided to drop the matter and just use the sword and thus far, it's served me well against every enemy, be they man, mer, beast, monster or dragon I've ever faced," he added.
"Well, then your sword shouldn't have any problem against forktails and monsters then," Vesemir said. "But I'd advise you not to advertise that your sword can kill monsters, beasts, humans and non-humans. No telling who would want a sword like that," he added. Martin nodded his head at that.
After an hour riding along the dirt path up into the mountains, they soon reached the mouth of the caves that riddled the ranges. Vesemir dismounted his horse and said, "We'll go on foot from here. The nests will be all along these caves and plateaus," he said.
"Hold on one minute. Just need to grab something from my saddlebags," Martin said as he reached into the saddlebags of Shadowmere and pulled a sword with a long and curved blade and the hilt made of bone.
"A sword? What about Blackfyre?" Triss asked curious as to why Martin pulled out another sword.
"Just a theory I want to test," replied Martin as he bucked the sword on his left hip. Vesemir looked at the sword in interest; his first thought was that the sword looked similar to an Ofieri or Zerrikanian sabre/scimitar, but the shape of the sword didn't seem to fit. Putting aside that thought, Vesemir drew his Wolven steel sword and Triss readied a fireball in her hands as they entered the caves.
"A little dark in here," Triss muttered then Martin raised a clenched hand before suddenly unclenching it and a small orb of bright white light floated up beside his head, just above him.
"Neat trick," Triss said in delight. "You'll have to teach me some of your magic," she mused.
"Of course, Ms Merigold, and perhaps you can teach me some of yours?" suggested Martin with a friendly smile and Triss smiled back in response. Vesemir shook his head before he said to them, "If you two are done flirting, can we get on with this?" he said.
Triss blushed red as a tomato and tried to stammer out some sort of response to defend herself, but words failed her, and she decided to stay quiet for the time being. Martin didn't seem bothered by Vesemir's words and looked seemingly focussed on the task at hand.
Vesemir's cat eyes had no problem seeing in the darkness of the cave and he could pick out evidence of forktails living in the caves from bones of previous kills, shed scales and forktail eggs that had hatched in recent months.
"Should've done this months ago," the old Witcher grunted. "Forktails are menace to this valley!" he added.
"Well, we're here now, let's just clear them out and we can get back to Kaer Morhen," Triss said soothingly.
Vesemir then focussed his hearing and he could hear the distant hissing and roaring of forktails from the other side of the caves. "This way," he whispered quietly. "The caves lead out to the other side of the mountain, I can hear the forktails out there," he added.
Martin then drew the strange sword from his hip and there was a distinct crackling sound and small sparks of lightning danced along the silvery steel blade of the sword and strange runes ran along the flat of the blade.
"Stranger and stranger," Vesemir murmured. "What kind of sword is that?" he asked Martin.
"It's called Dragonbane, a specially made and enchanted Akaviri katana that was designed with killing dragons in mind," the Dragonborn said.
"But Forktails aren't dragons," Triss pointed out.
"I know, but I want to see if Dragonbane will have any affected on draconids. Against all others, Dragonbane just shocks people with lightning," replied Martin.
"Well, we'll find out soon enough," Vesemir said as they reached the exit of the caves and soaring a short distance away were some forktails; there was a large adult female, a smaller adult male and three younglings. The female forktail saw the Witcher, the sorceress and the Dragonborn approaching and gave a baleful hissing roar, lashing its barbed bladed tail menacingly. The adult male landed on the plateau and dashed towards the three intruders, its mouth opened displaying its sharp teeth.
"Ugly bastard!" Vesemir growled as he cast the Aard sign, knocking the forktail back before spinning his steel sword in a figure out motion, landing a few hits on the creature. Martin raced towards the female and used his Thu'um.
FUS!
The female was knocked back slightly, and Martin slashed at the monster's face with Dragonbane and was rewarded with a squealing hiss. Triss flung fireballs at the three younglings who flew about in the air, avoiding the magical flames and tried to swoop down onto the sorceress who kept them at bay with her magic.
Vesemir danced out of the male's reach, while flicking his sword at key spots in the monster's body, aiming for the arteries and nerve spots. Then the male forktail rushed Vesemir and slapped his sword out of his hands with one swipe of its tail. Vesemir backpedalled rapidly, his hand raised to cast the Aard sign, when the forktail's tail knocked him flat on his back. The old Witcher grunted slightly as he hit the ground and the male was on him instantly, trying to bite his neck and land a fatal blow. Vesemir dodged each lunge the forktail made before casting the Aard sign into its chest, flinging it into the air.
Martin twisted and turned his body about to avoid each lashing strike the female made with its heavy tail. Swinging his fist, Martin punched the female in the jaw and was rewarded with a crunching sound and the forktail stumbled, hissing angrily as the force behind the Dovahkiin's punch nearly dislocated its jaw and broke a few of its teeth. Martin pressed the advantage and thrust Dragonbane into the female's neck and blood spurted out and splashed onto the ground, staining the earth and Dragonbane with thick oily blood. The female gave a keening scream as the enchantment on Dragonbane hit with the force of a lightning bolt and nearly flash-fried it before it knocked Martin back with a swing of its tail. Martin grunted slightly but grinned; he had hit a major artery as the female was bleeding profusely and wouldn't last much longer in this fight.
Triss had managed to kill two of the younglings, but the third one was smart and fast enough to avoid the fireballs Triss cast. Zipping down and around the sorceress, the forktail knocked Triss onto her front. Triss hit the ground with a yelp and she felt the forktail leap onto her back and rake its claws into her back. Triss gave a scream of pain as the sharp claws of the forktail pierced her clothing and flesh.
Martin heard Triss's cry of pain and he roared in fury and he charged over to the youngling, violently pulled it off Triss and snapped its neck with his bare hands before throwing it to the ground, where the sound of bones crunching was heard. The female saw its youngling dead on the ground before giving a baleful roar of anguish and charged towards Martin. But the female didn't get close as Triss cast a fireball right into its face and nearly made it explode.
Vesemir managed to regain his sword and finished off the male forktail. Martin helped Triss up and asked her, "Are you alright, Ms Merigold? Are you hurt?" he asked in worry.
"Ergh, I'm fine, Martin," Triss replied. "Just a scratch. Nothing an ointment and a long hot bath won't fix," she joked.
"We'd better check those wounds just in case," Vesemir said. "We don't want you bleeding out or getting an infection," he added.
"It's nothing, I'm fine," Triss protested.
"I've seen forktail wounds go bad because people won't get them treated," Vesemir snapped. "Just let us look at those scratches," he barked.
Triss felt a little embarrassed as she partially undid her jacket and shirt to allow Martin and Vesemir examine the scratches. Her cheeks were a flaming red as she felt Martin's eyes on her back and she felt an absurd urge to cover herself up. But Triss willed herself to not cover her body and let Vesemir examine her wounds and she watched Martin's facial expressions. To her surprise and consternation, Martin didn't seem to affected; there was a slight raise of the eyebrows, but otherwise there was no reaction.
"You're very lucky these are only superficial, Triss," Vesemir commented as he finished examining the scratched skin. "If these were made by an adult, we'd have to bandage them up," he added.
"Well, that's good, I really don't feel like being bandaged up," Triss joked as she buttoned up her shirt and jacket, still feeling conscious of Martin's eyes on her.
"Well, these forktails won't be bothering anyone for a while," Vesemir then said and he looked at Martin and said, "So, how did that sword of yours perform?" he asked.
"Performed well enough, but the forktails didn't seem affected by the enchantment, they were simply zapped with lightning," replied Martin as he wiped the blade of Dragonbane clean with a rag he pulled from his pocket. "Makes me wonder if it will affect actual dragons of this world?" he wondered out loud.
"Well, cheer up," Triss said to Martin. "It's still a pretty good sword," she added.
"It is," Martin agreed as he sheathed Dragonbane before adding, "Shall we head back to Kaer Morhen?" he suggested.
"Good idea," Vesemir said. "I could murder a pint of ale right now," he added as he tilted his head and the sound of vertebrae popping was heard.
The three then headed back to their horses and rode back to Kaer Morhen where they found the rest of the Wolf School Witchers preparing their horses. "Off so soon, lads?" Vesemir asked them.
"Yeah, sorry we can't stick around," Eskel replied apologetically. "Nothing against present company, but I'm getting cooped up in here," he said.
"Yeah, and my funds are getting a little light," Lambert put in. "I've heard that there's some juicy contracts over in Temeria," he said.
"And I'm riding off to Nilfgaard to meet up with Yen," Geralt said. "She'd want to hear about Martin, it'd be something that'd interest her," he added.
"Are you sure you should tell Yen, Geralt?" Triss asked in concern. "She's in Nilfgaard and there's no amount of people there who'd want to learn about Martin," she said.
"People are gonna find out about Martin either way, and his pet dragon," Geralt replied. "Besides, Yen might have a few answers as to how to get Martin back to his own world," he said.
"I dunno, I kinda like this world," Martin said casually. "There's more going on here than back home," he mused.
"Well, stick around," Triss smiled at Martin. "There's plenty more to see," she said.
Lambert had a sly smile on his face and he made ready to make a comment, but Eskel shot him a look that made the younger Witcher stay silent.
"So, what about you, Martin? Where are you gonna go?" Triss asked.
"Don't know," Martin admitted shrugging his broad shoulders. "It's a big world, need to look at a map before deciding where to go," he said.
"Well, I hear Novigrad is nice this time of year," Triss said casually. "I've been there myself, I could show you around," she offered.
"I'd like that, Ms Merigold," Martin said graciously.
Triss sighed irritably. "Can you stop calling me 'Ms Merigold'?" she complained. "It makes me sound older than I am!" she whined.
"I'm just showing you courtesy, Ms Merigold," Martin replied with a hint of a wicked grin on his bearded lips.
Triss puffed up her cheeks in annoyance that made her look cute and adorable and some of the Witchers had looks of amusement on their faces at how Martin needled the sorceress.
"How far is it to Novigrad?" Martin then asked.
"It's about a month's ride," Vesemir replied. "Three quarters that if you don't stop," he added.
"How about by flight?" Martin asked.
"Well, I think you'd get there in about a couple of days," Vesemir said. "But, I'd advise flying on your dragon to Novigrad, the people there can get jumpy if a dragon shows up in Novigrad," he warned.
"We can get there instantly if we go via portal," Triss said. "We can leave right now, if you'd like," she added.
"Sure, might be easier than flying on Odahviing's back, Odahviing can follow the sound of my Voice when I call him," Martin said.
"Have you got everything you need?" Triss asked.
"Have you?"
Triss quickly ran to her room and packed what she needed before shrinking her bags to fit inside her pockets before re-joining Martin in the courtyard of Kaer Morhen. "Have everything?" Martin asked and Triss nodded.
"Well, let's get going," Martin then said.
"What about your horse?" Lambert asked.
"Don't worry, Shadowmere will come when I call him, no matter where I am," Martin replied.
"Huh, kinda like Roach," Geralt muttered.
"You ready?" Triss asked. "First timers tend to vomit out their lunch going through a portal the first time," she warned.
"I'll be fine," said Martin.
"Okay then." Triss then chanted in the Elder tongue and her hands glowed with magic and a portal was opened. "Step on through," Triss said to Martin who stepped through the portal and Triss then followed after him.
…
Outskirts of Novigrad.
Martin stood in a meadow and Triss moved to stand beside. In the distance was the port city of Novigrad.
"A lot nicer than I thought it would be," Martin commented.
"Don't be fooled, Novigrad might be a modern city state unclaimed by any sovereign nation, but it does have its fair share of players wanting to rule the city," Triss warned him. "But, aside from that, it's a place where mages and non-humans can walk around freely," she said. "But who knows how long that will last," she added sombrely.
"Are you alright, Ms Merigold?" Martin asked.
"I'm fine, just the cynical musings of a sorceress who's seen what happens when humans, mages and non-humans clash," replied Triss. "C'mon! Let's head to the city!" she said.
Martin then gave a piercing whistle and Triss could just feel the magic in the sound and then there was a s loud whinny and Shadowmere came trotting up casually. Triss's eyes nearly bugged out of her head as she saw the Steed of Sithis appear from seemingly nowhere.
"What… how?" the redhead stuttered. "He was miles away at Kaer Morhen!" she exclaimed.
"I dunno how he does it, he just does," Martin said shrugging his shoulders as if it were no big thing and he swung himself up into the saddle of Shadowmere before offering his hand to Triss. "M'lady?" he asked.
Triss then thought of a good way to turn the tables. "Ooh, I like a strong man," she purred flirtatiously as she took Martin's hand and he easily lifted her up into the saddle. Triss wrapped her arms around Martin's mid-section and rubbed her cheek against, giving a little moan as she did. It pleased Triss to see a faint blush on Martin's cheeks as she did that; perhaps Martin was not as immune to women as she thought he was. Oh, that was good to know, Triss thought.
Shadowmere then reared on his back legs and gave an ear-splitting neigh stopping Triss's thoughts and Martin then urged Shadowmere into a gallop and they set off towards the Free City of Novigrad.
…
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: There, the fourth chapter of this story and the beginnings of Martin the Dragonborn's adventures in the Witcher world. I know it's been a while since I updated this, but at least I updated after how ever many months ago since I last updated it. I've got some good ideas for this story, some of them have to do with the recent Skyrim Creation Club content as I've got good ideas as to how to the blend the Elder Scrolls universe with the Witcher universe. I may even do a crossover with Fallout as I've got the idea of Martin and Triss ending up in the Fallout universe due to a botched portal; still deciding which of the Fallout games/regions Martin and Triss land in. I am thinking they end up in the Mojave/New Vegas region, but I am considering they end up in the Commonwealth/Fallout 4 region. If I go with the Mojave, I've got some good ideas for the Courier that may just be a link to Martin's past (we all know what Martin's past/origin is, I've all but said it), but the Commonwealth is also looking pretty good.
In other news, I'm working on a Harry Potter/Game of Thrones crossover where instead of Harry Potter ending up in the Game of Thrones/Song of Ice & Fire universe, Aegon VI/Young Griff ends up in the Harry Potter universe and goes to Hogwarts. I'm ironing out some details such as how old Aegon will be at the start and how he will get to the HP world, but we'll see how it goes. I've got some good ideas for that.
And I'm also working on a Red Dead Redemption/Game of Thrones crossover where Aegon VI ends up in the Red Dead universe. It'll be an alternate universe of the Red Dead Redemption world so don't expect to see characters like John Marston or Arthur Morgan in the story, but some characters like those in the stranger missions will feature as I've got good ideas as to how Aegon will react to the Red Dead world and how it will affect and change him.
Anyways, that's about all from me, I'll just leave this here and if you liked what you read, leave a review telling me what you liked or want to see in this story or any other stories I have or plan on. If you don't like it, then feel free to show yourself out.
Be kind to one another,
Angry lil' elf.