Chapter 32

Eira's POV

She had no idea how long she was wandering around in the dark forest. Only that daybreak never seemed to come around here. It took a Eira a while to figure out she was locked inside her own mind. With her own horrors that the Other was more than happy to show.

Eira could hear the voice of Geralt coming through sometimes. At those moments, she screamed at the top of her lungs. To tell him she was still here. That she couldn't seem to escape.

The Other would laugh loudly when Eira tried to reach for the Witcher. A laugh that was so sharp and harsh on her ears that she more than once crawled away to hide into the shadows of the Oak Trees. Her hands covered her ears and Eira tried to block everything out.

The Other was always close. Always following Eira with every movement she made. Sometimes the Other disappeared out of sight, but she was never away. Always talking, always laughing. Eira feared the Other. The Black Elemental tried to break her, Eira knew this and tried to hold on to her sanity.

"It's easier to just let go," the Other told her at one moment when Eira hid underneath one of the Oak Trees. "Join me in Nilfgaard."

"You're not really here," Eira muttered when the red head showed herself.

The scoff from the other reached Eira's ears and sounded so familiar by now.

"Of course, I'm not. I'm bored, that's why I'm here. And you're the only other Elemental. Took me ages to locate you."

"Nilfgaard?" Eira suddenly spoke when remembering the Other told her the place.

Eira locked eyes with the redhead who stood not far from her and who wore a smirk on her red painted lips.

"Of course Nilfgaard," she scoffed and Eira got up slowly.

"Why Nilfgaard?"

The Other's gaze followed Eira's slow movements. A gesture that told Eira the Other wasn't too sure if Eira was as harmless as she thought.

"Better than travelling around and sing songs," the Other chuckled, but there was a nervous undertone in it and Eira picked up on it.

The black elemental had something she shouldn't and Eira needed to figure out what.

"No," Eira said, her voice firmer this time, hands into fists. "There's something in Nilfgaard."

"Shut up about Nilfgaard. There's nothing," the Other suddenly raised her voice impatiently.

Eira cocked her head a bit to the side, never let her gaze wander away from the Other while she heard hurried whispers in her head. She recognized the voice of Geralt and two other ones, but they were too far away to hear them clearly.

A change in the wind around her caught Eira's attention. It was small, but the wind around her felt warmer than before. It kissed her skin almost lovingly and when Eira let her gaze travel to the ground at her feet, a small flower stood small and proud.

She arched her brow confused. The little dandelion wasn't there before. There weren't any flowers where she was. The flower was perfect and in bloom. The bright, yellow colour looked odd and out of place in this dark forest.

"They think they can save you," the Other chuckled entertained.

Eira's blue gaze met the Other's black orbs and she grit her teeth. She opened her lips to speak when a sudden rush of movement disturbed her. Eira snapped her head back and her mouth fell open out of surprise when she locked eyes with someone she hadn't seen in months.

"Jaskier," she whispered when the bard looked around himself with confusion written on his face.

It wasn't until he heard Eira call his name again, that Jaskier turned his head and faced her.

"Ah, the bard," the Other sung in a high voice and Eira saw her move from the corner of her eyes. "Now you decide to show up huh? Where were you the past months?"

Eira gritted her teeth and turned to face Jaskier who rushed towards her.

"How did you get here?" She asked hesitantly when the bard halted right before her nose.

"Yennefer," he said hurriedly and took her by the shoulders. "We need to find a way to get you out of here."

Eira tore herself lose and saw the shock that crossed Jaskier's features when she took a quick step back.

"How do I know it's you?"

She wasn't sure of anything here. Eira dearly hoped it would be him and couldn't stop her heartbeat from slowing down when those light blue eyes of his locked with hers.

"What?" Jaskier asked with a high voice.

Eira took another step away from him, quickly glancing at the Other who looked amused while she leant against a tree. Her red dress flew slightly up and down due to the breeze. Black eyes filled with joy and watching both Eira and Jaskier.

"Sunflowers," Jaskier suddenly murmured and raised his hands when Eira looked at him again. "The Inn where you woke up next to me, the way you love looking at the stars at night, the fear that you would be alone again."

Eira stared at him, felt butterflies in her stomach once more, but anger prevailed above it all.

"You left," she spat out venomously. "Once I told you, you just left without one word."

Jaskier looked hurt, but took a step towards her anyway.

"I know," he admitted. "I came back. I looked for you. If I knew, I would have came back sooner."

Eira doubted, but every fiber in her body told her it was the bard that she knew so well who stood before her.

"Geralt?"

"He's waiting for you. He never left your side," Jaskier begged. "We need to get out of here, you're dying."

A loud laugh echoed towards them.

"She's not leaving with you," the Other finally moved, slowly and gracefully towards them.

Eira was distracted when Jaskier grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her behind him.

"Who is she?" He asked.

"Black Elemental," Eira whispered and held onto his hand while she leant her head between his shoulders.

She closed her eyes for a few seconds, the safety she felt being with the bard again made her almost cry.

"Get out of the way, bard," the Other hissed, clearly upset that Jaskier had come.

The air shifted around them, sparked and felt too warm suddenly. Eira her eyes snapped open when Jaskier's hand tightened painfully around hers. She felt the dangerous magic that twirled around them and Eira swiftly moved. She let go of Jaskier's hand and strided to the front.

Anger evident in her features and stance when her hand palms opened wide. Eira knew what the Elemental was going to do.

"You're not hurting him," Eira whispered, her tune evenly dangerous as the fire magic that floated around them.

The sudden strength Eira conjured up made the Black Elemental hesitate.

"He's in your head, but if he dies here, he dies real," the Other murmured between her teeth, yet she didn't come closer.

The ice around Eira formed rapidly when the embers around them caught spark and turned into small flames. Jaskier whimpered behind her and tried to pull her back behind him.

"No," Eira said, and raised her hands slowly. "Get out of my head."

"He dies. Maybe not now, but later," the Other spat. "Just like your precious Witcher. The Sorceress. Everyone you ever cared about! And you'll be alone, except for me.

"Get out!" Eira screamed and unleashed all her force on the Black Elemental.

The earth trembled, water moved through new formed trenches with an incredible speed while the ice that escaped out of her hands was as sharp as Geralt's silver sword.

A curse was heard and Eira was only hazily aware that her surroundings seemed to blur away. A gasp from her lips escaped when the power that Eira used was drowning her last strength.

"Eira," the voice of Jaskier came from somewhere behind her, a warm hand that caught her right on time before she would have fell on the ground.

Her eyes closed and the last thing that went through Eira's mind was that she was too tired. Too tired, and the bard's arms that circled around her frame. Her head tilted slightly to rest against his chest before darkness took over. A peaceful darkness. With no voices.

A/N : Yes! I was able to upload another chapter. Warning though that this one is unedited... Hope you enjoy it! Let me know! XoXo - Aysline