The Witcher: Through the Worlds
Chapter 80: An Icy Encounter
Narrator: After long grueling years alone to find their way back to one another, back to their family, Dominik and Ciri both finally reunited together after 8 long years on the Isle of Mists. Dominik set out with Geralt to find Ciri after she returned to the continent, and finally, after eight years the young wolf was reunited with his swallow, the love of his life, and the both of them finally could possibly have that life they always wanted together. The two along with Geralt, Yennefer and their friends faced many trials, including when the Wild Hunt attacked Kaer Morhen. After Dominik was almost killed fighting Eredin, the King of the Hunt, Ciri and the rest finally decided that their time hiding away and running was over, they had to strike back against the Hunt. After grueling weeks of recovery, planning, and heart-breaking revelations, the plan was finally in place. Dominik, Ciri and Geralt, along with Yennefer and all their friends and allies sailed to the Skellige Isles, where soon, the final battle versus the Hunt, the battle for their futures would come. Avallac'h, the mysterious elven sage who had been advising them so far had plans in place, however, Dominik, wary of the elf's intentions, began laying plans of his own, for he knew that he would have to face the King of the Hunt, so he and Ciri both began to find more ways to prepare themselves for the final fight.
Trigger Warning: This chapter contains sexual scenes and situations
Dominik was beginning to hate his dreams. It had used to be a lovely escape over the years, a way for him to remember back to the better times, when he was with Ciri as a child, with Bella as a child. Nowadays however, they normally brought him noting but a headache in the morning, and multitude of new questions or emotions, and that night was no different.
And if he could get sick in a dream he probably would have, because he saw Bella again. He remembered the night he fought her, that he had told her, the girl in the dream he had on Skellige was her, and that she had sent it to her to see if he would recognize her. He hadn't then, but he did now.
His sister was only eighteen, she couldn't have been much older or younger. Two years, for two whole years his sister suffered with the Hunt, being tortured and turned into what she was now. But it couldn't be her, she couldn't be gone, his sister wasn't gone he knew she wasn't. He marveled seeing her then, seeing her in his dream. She was grown, a woman, his little sister was a woman now, and he hadn't been there for any of it.
Bella was laying in her bed, and Dominik almost felt the need to close his eyes again, because she wore nothing but a bra, as she tossed and turned under the blankets. Her brown hair was spraying out around the bed, as she rolled it got tangled up in someone else's hair, blonde hair, but that person he couldn't see for their head was underneath the blanket, their bare back turned to him. He could tell she was having a nightmare, a dream of their past, of the fires in Cintra, just like he always used to have.
"GAHHHHHHH NOOOO!" She screamed, her eyes finally shooting open as she shot up from her bed.
Her emerald eyes, the eyes that were so much like his own, like their mothers shot wide open. She looked around for a moment, until Dominik saw the person who had been sleeping next to her shoot their heads up as well. It was another girl, who had to be the same age as she was. The girl had long curly blonde hair, large brown eyes, she was extremely pretty, and she looked over at Bella with wide eyes, reaching over and holding a hand onto her back.
"Bella! What is it? Are you alright?" She said, her other hand gripping onto his sister's wrist.
Bella shakily sighed a moment, her eyes red, tears building up as she looked over to the other girl, slowly nodding.
"Y…Yeah…. Yeah it… it was just…" She trailed off, before the girl reached over holding a hand to her face, gently turning her head to meet her eyes.
"Another nightmare? The same as the other nights?" She said.
Bella slowly nodded, shakily sighing again. "Yeah… the same… corpses… fires… someone yelling my name then… then nothing."
The girl in Bella's bed scooted closer, wrapping both arms around her neck. "It's alright… they're just dreams, whatever it was, whatever happened, it's in the past…"
"Thanks Ken…" Bella said, shaking in her bed, as she held onto the girl's arms.
The girl with his sister, Ken Bella had called her smiled, pulling her head back, and then she kissed her. Dominik's heart nearly dropped to his stomach. Not because of the revelation his sister had been attracted other women, not because she was having the same nightmares of Cintra that he had been having, but just not knowing who was there and what the circumstance was, no, none of that was what made his stomach drop then.
It dropped because he realized that he had missed so much. His sister's first romance, her growing up into the woman she was. He had missed it all, all those moments that he had wanted to be there to experience of her growing up, he had missed. He missed his sister growing up, growing into a young woman, all because he hadn't gone back for her. So many people, Ciri, Geralt, Yen, all his friends, they had been telling him how he couldn't have done anything to help Bella in Cintra. Elise had called it 'survivors' guilt', and he thought the term was perfect.
Because he did feel guilty, if he could have traded places with his sister, he would have. And he would have given anything to meet this Ken, to be there for all of the milestones his sister had achieved growing up.
He looked around the smaller room that Bella had in the house she was in. It was about as big as the room he and Ciri had in the Chameleon. A small tables with stacks of old clothes, books, books which he recognized as old fairy tales and stories from the continent. He could tell by the girl Ken's accent she was Skelligan, so he was safe in assuming he was seeing Bella during her time growing up in Skellige, the man Eivor taking her in. He made a mental note to ask Crach about the man when he saw him.
In the corner of the room, near a small bookshelf, he saw the sword. He and Bella's grandfather's sword, the lion on the pommel still sparkling to that day. The sword was a dwarven sahil, one of the most beautiful blades Dominik had ever seen. He always wondered why his father was okay with his grandfather passing it to his mother, but his father had always laughed it off, saying how their mother was just as talented and worthy a warrior as he was.
And from what he had seen, and fought of Bella himself, his sister now was certainly more then worthy to have such a sword. The sword had been passed to through the ranks of guard captains for years, it was a heirloom for their family, one that Dominik always thought he would get to inherit when he was young. Now he had the sword Ciri had repaired for him, and of course Fate, but he assumed the sword had to be lost now, he hadn't seen Bella using in during the times he fought her.
Ken finished kissing Bella, gently pulling back from her, and his heart flipped seeing the cheeky smile on his sister's face. He recognized the look she had, because it was the same goofy smile he got whenever he saw or kissed Ciri.
"Have you still been trying to convince your father to take you to Kaer Trolde? To see the druids, to see if they can do anything?" Ken said, as her and Bella both went to get out of the bed.
Bella sighed and nodded. "I have… unsuccessfully at that. He keeps saying I have to forget about the past, that the future is what's worth worrying about."
"You know he's right in a way," Ken said, walking over to the dresser on one side of Bella's room, a long-sleeved dress neatly folded on it.
Dominik shielded his eyes for a moment as Bella got out of the bed, seeing his sister in nothing but her bra and knickers wasn't something he particularly wanted during that dream; however he kept his eyes open to see how much Bella had truly grown. She was about as tall as Ciri was, slender and defined, and just like Ciri as well, Dominik saw multiple scars running along her body. The most prominent he saw was the arrow wound, a hole that was in her right shoulder. After that, he noticed a bald spot long red scar, running just as the base of her head, coming out under her hair as she moved it.
He shuddered, remembering how she had slammed her head on the ground after Cahir shot her, which was what more than likely caused her memory loss.
Bella walked over towards the table, where Dominik saw clothes folded. "I know… but wouldn't you want to know where you came from if you were in my situation?"
"I would yes," Ken, who was also in nothing, but her bra and knickers said. "But you know it's just because he's worried if you get your memory back, you'll want to leave."
He watched as Bella pulled a pair of tight black trousers with studs from her table. She finally pulled them over her legs, which made it easier for him to look at her. Bella turned back to Ken with a white long-sleeved tunic in her hands as the girl had pulled the brown long-sleeved dress over her head.
"Well of course I'll want to leave, but not permanently," Bella said, pulling the tunic over her head, before tying her long brown hair into a ponytail. "I… need to know where I came from Ken, I need to know how I ended up here, how I teleported. I'd come back of course but… I want to know, to see where I used to be."
Ken smiled, slowly walking over towards Bella as his sister finished tying up her hair. Before Bella could go and dress further, she smiled at Ken, as the blonde girl reached out to hold her hands.
"I know you need too…" Ken said, meeting Bella's eyes and gently holding her hand to the side of her face, smiling as their eyes met. "You… will take me with you though right? If you were too leave I… don't know what I would do, you… you know that my father wants me to marry Aldo's son but… but I-."
"Of course I'd take you with me," Bella said, cutting the girl off as Ken's smile had started to fade. "And well as for your father and Aldo's boy… I won't let Bjorn lay his hands on you."
Ken scoffed a smile as she met Bella's eyes. "You… did give him quite the thrashing when he tried to get your sword the other week."
Bella chuckled and nodded, looking deep into Ken's eyes. "I did… but you're more important than any sword. We'll figure something out… I promise."
"I love you," Ken shoot out, her eyes widening as she didn't seem to realize what she had just said, before she shakily sighed and looked into his sister's eyes. "I… I'm sorry Bella I… I didn't mean-."
Bella cut the girl off by kissing her again, and he saw that even down to the look Bella got, the red face, the goofy smile, that his sister truly had grown up to be like him. They were both hopeless romantics, it was something they had both gotten from watching their mother and father he was sure.
Ken's eyes widened as Bella kissed her for a moment before she kissed back. After a moment of staying locked like that, Bella gently pulled her head back, a giddy smile on her face as she goofily laughed.
"Ha… Ken I… I love you too," Bella said, taking a step back, and playing with her ponytail as she kept her eyes locked with the girl. "And… not matter what happens with my memories… where they take me… that won't change."
Ken seemed like she could cry but tossed her arms around Bella's neck to hug her. Bella did the same, wrapping her arms around girl's waist a look of complete contempt as she hugged the girl back. He couldn't help but smile, seeing his sister in such happiness. However, the smile didn't last long, because he knew where his sister was now, and he knew the fate that befell the village she had found a home in.
And now, when he remembered how she had screamed at Ciri and he, that she lost everything twice because of them, he knew what she meant. For Bella, first it was Cintra, and then, after that, it was her new home on Skellige.
Bella and Ken pulled back from one another, and Ken planted a quick kiss on Bella's lips with a smile. Just like he did when Ciri kissed him unexpectantly like that, Bella goofily laughed as he face got beat red, making Ken giggle before she smiled.
"I'm glad…" Ken said, holding Bella's cheek again for a moment, before she bit her lip and looked over at the corner of the room. "I… actually think I may have a way to help with your memories, well… not get them back, but maybe give us a clue where you came from! And well… I can't believe I haven't thought of it all these years."
Bella's eyes widened as she watched Ken walk towards the corner of the room. "You do? What is it?"
Ken to his surprise, picked up Coram, their grandfather's sword in its sheath from the corner of the room. The blonde picked up the skirt of her dress as she walked and handed it over to Bella. His sister looked at Ken curiously, taking the sword from her and strapping the belt with the sheath around her waist, just like she and him had watched their mother and father do hundreds of times when they were young. It was something simple, but Dominik couldn't help but well with pride as he saw it.
"Your sword! You've told me before that it was the one thing your father found with you on the beach, that it fell from the sky with you," Ken said excitedly.
Bella's hand went to the hilt of the blade, she gripped the black leather grip, and after Ken took a step back, Bella unslung it. Like she had been born to do it, she twirled the sword once before holding it in front of them both.
"Yes…" Bella said slowly, looking down at the shining steel. "It… was the only thing that was with me. All I remember… is waking up around the corpses… a… a woman who had been next to me, it was next to her. It seemed she had been using it, when… when the men came for me I picked it up before-."
"You don't have to finish… I know it's hard," Ken said, a sweet smile on her face as she put her hand over Bella's, before she looked up and met her sister's eyes. "It's from the continent, it's not a Skelligan sword, not the same style, the crossguard is straight, and you see the runes? No smith in Skellige makes swords like that."
Dominik examined the faintly glowing blue runes in the shining steel, before he saw Bella nod and gently scoff.
"Okay… I know you're father's a blacksmith Ken, but what does this have to do with my memories?" She said.
Ken eagerly smiled and nodded. "It's the only thing from your past, if we can find out where the sword came from, we figure out where you came from!"
"Ken we've tried that before," Bella said, gently running her hand along the flat of the blade. "The only thing we can see is the name… Coram, it's itched into the steel. And like you said, no Skellige blacksmith would make something like this."
"Yes, but my father spent years traveling the continent! He's seen hundreds of different types of swords, if we show him it, maybe he can tell us where it originated!"
Bella nervously bit her lip, sliding the sword back to the sheath. "Ken… are you sure that's a good idea? Your father… doesn't exactly like mine, or me for that matter, ever since I gave Bjorn that black eye…"
Ken rolled her eyes. "He was just mad you beat up my 'potential husband'. And yes he… may not like you very much, but… but if I ask him, maybe if I agree to… well… meet Bjorn again at least, he can tell me where-."
"No! I know you don't want to do that Ken; I won't let you!" Bella said firmly, her hands going to Ken's shoulders.
The blonde bit her lip now and gently held Bella's face again. "Bella… you've wanted to figure out where you're from since we were kids…. I know how important it is for you, and well… if I have to put up with Bjorn a few times to do that for you… well I will."
"You know what a 'few times' will turn into Ken," Bella said worriedly, her face getting increasingly closer to Ken's. "If you do it a few times, your father will think you're okay with marrying him, and… and if that happens-."
"I won't let it Bella I swear!" Ken said, gripping tighter to Bella's shoulders, looking deep into his sister's emerald eyes with her brown ones. "And… and maybe if I were to tell him about… about us-."
"You know what would happen…" Bella said slowly, looking back into Ken's eyes. "And… I don't care, getting my memory back wouldn't be worth losing you…"
Ken shakily sighed, tears nearly welling up in her eyes. She leaned over and kissed Bella again, slowly, gently before pulling her head back.
"If that happens well… maybe the two of could run off," Ken said, a small smile coming to her face as she managed a chuckled. "I'm… not a warrior like you, but well… I could mend your sword, help in other ways…. But Bella… please… let me help you."
Dominik could see his sister's emotions then. Just like when she was young, when Bella was nervous, she'd begin spinning and tugging on her hair, she'd look at the ground, unable to meet anyone's eye. That was what she did then with Ken. Her brown ponytail spun in her hand, and she couldn't look up at Ken for a moment, before she finally sighed and looked up at the girl. She leaned forward and kissed her, before slowly shaking her head.
"Alright… but Ken please… please at least let me try to convince my father to take me to Kaer Trolde and see the druids again first," Bella said with a shake of her head. "If he will, then they can hopefully unlock my memories… and… tell me more about the… incidents."
At the mention of 'incidents', Bella's eyes fell, and so did Dominik's heart. He knew exactly what she was more than likely referring too. Her magic, her powers from Alexander, her carrier powers. In that current moment, just like Dominik's had been two years prior, a part of Bella's magic was unlocked. They both unlocked a small part of it when they met Ciri in Cintra.
Again, Ken quickly shook her head, pulling Bella into a hug.
"None of it has been your fault Bella… they've gotten few and far between as you've gotten older, don't worry," She said, shaking her head as she slowly let his sister go.
Bella shakily sighed and shook her head. "But they still come… the last time I… I almost killed you, and everyone else in the village."
"You were protecting me! Bjorn had no right to talk to me like that, you were right to get angry and step in, and I love you for it," Ken said, slowly shaking her head and meeting Bella's eyes. "Bella… I feel safe with you, I always will."
"Whether it was right or not… I still almost killed everyone, people who were innocent," Bella said, tugging on her ponytail again. "And… and if I had hurt you-."
"But you didn't," Ken cut her off, giving Bella a gentle smile as she shook her head. "Don't worry, either way we're going to figure out about your past, and we'll figure out what it is… together…"
A small smile formed on Bella's lips as she nodded. "Together…."
Ken smiled back, and Bella went to lean in to kiss her again, but that was when the door opened to Bella's room.
"Bella! You need to get up darling and…. Kendra… Bella, how many times must I tell the two of you, you must tell me and Eivor before you do these things!" An older looking woman said with a sigh as she came into the room.
Bella and Ken's eyes widened, as they both shot away from each other, turning and facing the woman. Just like she always did, Bella looked down at the ground at her socks.
"Sorry mother…" She said, slowly looking back up at the older woman.
Ken nodded quickly as well. "Yes… I'm sorry Mrs. Anora, I… I just didn't-."
The older woman, Anora sighed and shook her head, looking and meeting Ken's eyes as her face grew softer. "It's alright dear… but you'd best head on home. Your father already came by looking for you. I didn't know you were here, but I still covered for you. Told him you went down to the river to check the traps."
Ken sighed in relief after her face had grown worrisome and nodded at Anora. "Thank you so much Mrs. Anora, I… I swear next time I'll tell you when I'm here!"
"Yeah, I'll be sure to tell you mother I promise!" Bella quickly said.
Anora sighed and nodded at them both. "You two better! No, Kendra, head on home, Bella your father is waiting out near the path to the forest. You promised him you'd go check the snares with him."
The woman Anora was clearly older. Her hair was grey but tied tightly back in a bun. She wore a long dark red dress, and Dominik thought the woman could look more like Bella's grandmother as opposed to her mother. However, he assumed that it was the man Eivor's wife that he heard the man mention in previous dreams. The older woman had a strong look yes, but as she looked at Ken turning and hugging Bella, they softened.
Ken hugged Bella tightly around the neck again, and looked like she wanted to kiss her goodbye, but decided against it with Anora in the room.
"I… I'll see you later Bell, come find me after you get with your father?" She said.
Bella quickly nodded. "Of course."
"Alright…" Ken said, before striding through the room and nodding towards Anora again. "Thank you again Mrs. Anora."
Anora sighed and nodded reaching and squeezing the girl's shoulder. "Aye dear… you'll always be welcome in my home, remember that."
Ken looked thankfully towards the older woman, before smiling back at Bella, giving a small wave before she left the room. After the door closed to Bella's room again, his sister nervously looked to the ground again, both hands playing with her ponytail. Anora after seeing that the door had closed and Kendra was gone, turned back to Bella with a shake of her head.
"Bella darling… how many times must I tell you. You have to be more careful with when you see her…" She said.
Bella's eyes widened and she shook her head. "We were careful! Nobody saw us coming back last night, and her father-."
"Grow's more and more suspicious by the day," Anora said, slowly shaking her head as she walked closer to Bella. "You know her father hate's yours. He's looking for any reason to start a row, and if he finds out his daughter-."
Bella scoffed and shook her head. "What!? Is fucking another woman, because she doesn't want to marry some slob of a boy she's barely had three conversations with he'll be pissed off!?"
"Yes!" Anora said sternly.
"It's not fair!"
"I know it's not fair darling, but it's simply how things are!" Anora said, sighing and reaching a handout to hold on Bella's shoulder. "Bella darling… you know your father and I both don't give a damn if she's a woman, you can love whoever you want, and we'll still love you. However, as horrible as it is, some people simply aren't in the same mind, and it could get you in trouble."
"I love her, I don't care what happens to me!" Bella said, stomping her foot just like she used to do when she was younger.
Anora scoffed and shook her head. "I know you don't dearie, and your father and I would never let anything happen to you for it… but what of Kendra? If her father were to find out what do you think would happen to her?"
"She could come live with us!" Bella said right away, shaking her head. "Her father's an ass, you know that and-."
"I know he is… and she would always be allowed, but we're simply asking you to be more careful with when you see her, until something can be done…" Anora said, her voice more calm now, as she sighed and met Bella's eyes. "You know… you may not be ours by blood… but gods do you have my temper."
Bella's anger slipped for a moment as she scoffed a laugh. "I… I'm sorry I got angry, it… it's just-."
"I know, I know my dear, love drives us insane sometimes," Anora said a small smile coming to her face as she met Bella's eyes. "But in the end it's worth it…"
"It is… she is…. Thanks mother… for being understanding," Bella said, a small smile coming as she slammed into the older woman.
Anora scoffed and smiled, hugging her back. "Aye… always dear."
Dominik had to get over the initial shock of hearing Bella call another woman 'mother' other than their own. As much as he wanted to be happy, smile at seeing his sister in such a clearly loving situation, he knew better. He thought harder, and remembered the dream he had in Novigrad, the first one he had of Bella in Skellige with her adopted father Eivor. The raiders, the raiders had attacked and killed the man, causing Bella to lose control, her powers unleashing. She watched as Bella pulled back from Anora, smiling at her before rushing to the corner of her room again. His sister grabbed an armored leather tunic. She slipped it over her tight fitting, long sleeved white top, it had one pauldron shoulder guard, and stretched down to her waist. She slipped on a pair of brown leather boots and smiled back at Anora after adjusting and tightening the strap of her sword to her belt.
She was wearing the same outfit she had worn in that dream, the day Eivor had died, the day her powers unleashed.
The day the Hunt had come for her.
"Is father angry with me for sleeping in late?" She asked, adjusting the tunic as she walked up to Anora again.
Anora scoffed and shook her head. "Nay, but you'd best not keep him waiting! That man adores you, could never get mad at you. He's waiting for you at the start of the path."
Bella smiled and nodded. "Alright I'll head out now. Have… you spoken to him about taking me to Kaer Trolde more?"
"Aye, I have. I think if you ask him once more he may finally give in," Anora said, before sighing and holding a hand on Bella's shoulder again. "Just… try to calm his nerves. You know what his worries are…. He's scared if you get your memories back you'll leave, never return and-."
"I know, I know, you tried for years and… could never have children, not until you both found me," Bella said with a grin as she shook her head. "And I love you both, you're my parents. Even if my memory comes back, and I remember who my birth parents are, I'll still consider myself yours."
"Aye… we know," Anora said, slowly shaking her head with a small smile. "Eivor knows that as well. But still, what if they're alive, your parents, or you have siblings you don't know about? He thinks you'd want to find them."
"I would… I won't lie," Bella said shaking her head, but managing to keep the smile as she met the old woman's gaze. "I'd want to see them, figure out what happened, meet any siblings I'd have… but no matter what I'll always come back… you both saved me…no matter what I'll always be yours."
Anora smiled gently, sighing and pulling Bella into a hug again. "Good… now go, make sure your father knows that as well. I'll have some omelets, your favorite cooked up before you get back."
Bella eagerly smiled and nodded, before rushing out the door. Dominik watched Anora smile at her as she left. Even if he felt slightly odd hearing Bella call another man and woman father and mother, he was still forever grateful. The two of them, Eivor, Anora, and even Kendra, had found her, kept his sister happy for years when he couldn't.
But he knew their fate, and he didn't want to see it.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"MOTHER!? MOTHER, KEN!?" Bella screamed, the blood dripping from her cheeks as she rushed back towards the village outskirts, the flames clearly seen from above.
Dominik tried with everything to wake himself up, pinching himself, he tried to blink himself awake, but all he could do was sit and watch in horror as Bella came screaming to a halt at the village outskirt. Buildings were burning, people writhed in pain on the ground, screamed as they ran, the language of the Hunt echoed in his ears, he could practically smell the sulfur through the dream as skeletal riders strode through the village atop their horses. He saw hounds of the Hunt tearing into the flesh of the villagers, riders stabbing and cutting down men, women, children as a small amount tried to fight back.
And all Bella could do for that moment was watch in horror, Coram, their grandfather's sword loosely in her hands. He knew what she had just come back from. Her hair was a mess, she had a cut across her cheek, her leather tunic was stained with blood, and he could see the magic from her blood slowly begin to whirl chaotically around her, like it had in him when he first started using it unknowingly.
She had just watched Eivor die, and now after she woke up, she came back to see her village being burned. He remembered in the night he talked to her, that Bella told them both, that Eredin and the Hunt thought the explosion she caused was Ciri, and that was why they attacked.
And because of that, a village of innocent people, people who had saved and helped his sister were being slaughtered.
"MOTHER!? KENDRA!? WHERE-," Bella finally started to scream, before she was cut off by a horse galloping towards her a skeletal rider atop.
Bella ducked and rolled out of the way, swinging her sword down through the horse's legs. Dominik had heard a dwarven sahil could cut through anything, and it proved true as it cleaved through the horse's legs, bringing the rider down with it.
The elf, clad in skeletal armor stumbled to his feet, yelling in the Hunt's language before brandishing his jagged blade. He seemed to laugh as Bella whirled back around to face him.
It was the riders mistake, because just like what happened with him when he was in intense situations, Bella's eyes flashed bright blue. He saw anger, rage boiling up inside her, and when the rider charged and swung his blade, Bella parried and side stepped, a loud *BOOM* of magic exploding as her sword cleaved off the rider's arm and the soldier fell to the ground dead.
"DAMMIT!" Bella screamed, pulling her blade from the rider's corpse, before turning and rushing towards the center of town, the magic still radiating from her.
He recognized the village as he watched Bella run, it was indeed Brekka, the village that he, Faram and Folan had cut through to get to the mines on Undvik. It wasn't a large village, but multiple buildings surrounded multiple market stalls in the center of town, where Dominik saw a bulk of men and even women were trying to fight back against the riders. It was just like what Ciri had described happened in Lofeton, and like Lofeton, Brekka seemed to be about to suffer the same fate.
Bella rushed towards the center, past a group of men fighting riders and hounds. One hound went to leap at her, it latched onto the armored shoulder of Bella's tunic. His sister shouted for a moment, before plunging her blade into the beast's body and shrugging it off, by grabbing onto her shoulder, almost dropping her sword in the process.
The pain became unbearable, because Bella stumbled, but she managed to keep her hands on her sword.
"The… the sword must be part of your arm… you can't drop part of your arm…" Bella muttered to herself over the screaming and sounds of death as she stumbled to her feet. "Come on… come on Bella FUCK!"
She used the point of the sword to push herself to her feet. Dominik froze, remembering he quote he had learned from his father. When they were younger, Bella had insisted on coming to a few of the sword lessons his father gave him, or even having Dominik show her some of the things he had learned. He knew it could have been dangerous teaching her, but he could never deny his sister anything when she looked at him with those big eyes.
That had been Bella's favorite quote, she repeated it to him insistently, even when she had been smacking at Dominik with nothing but a stick. It appeared his sister remembered some things, small bits, and it seemed she was taking their fathers lesson to heart then because as another rider of the Hunt charged at her in the center of the market, she gracefully parried a strike and cut the elf down. He watched as magic whirled around her arms erratically shooting out at all angles as she finally seemed to get her bearings, all around her was death, carnage, men from the village being stabbed, cut down, the laughter of the riders draped over the market, as the flames sent smoke that could have been seen from Kaer Trolde.
She spun as another hound same running, her sword cut clean through the beast, as she had to duck out of the way of another man tumbling forward as a rider advance. Before the rider could skewer the man, Bella cut her blade through his back, before another came charging on a horse. Bella had to dive out of the way, she tried to pull the older man with her, but she was too slow, and the man was trampled by a horse. Bella screamed she fell back to the ground, rolling to avoid another charging skeletal horse, almost stumbling into a burning market stall. She shot up to her feet, breathing heavily as blood dripped from her cheek and for a moment with her sword loosely in hand as magic whirled around in her eyes. Just like when Dominik had first activated his powers, when he had first started using them, the blue light started to come to the corners of her eyes, as tears rolled down her cheeks as she desperately screamed.
"MOTHER!? KENDRA!?" Bella screamed, her voice getting drowned out by the sounds of battle around her.
"BELLA!" The voice of Kendra shot over the carnage, as Dominik saw the young blonde rush into view.
She slammed into Bella and hugged her, smashing her lips to hers, tears streaming down the girls face as she pulled back from her.
Kendra met Bella's eyes and with tears streaming she shook her head. "Bella… Bella, they… they just came out of nowhere! They killed my father and-."
"LOOK OUT!" Bella yelled, pulling her behind her and raising up her sword just before a rider could skewer the girl she loved.
She shot her blade up holding both ends and caught the rider in a clinch. Bella seemed to know she wouldn't win a battle of strength. Kendra screamed for her, but Bella pushed the riders blade down and spun out of the clinch, coming down and lopping off his arm before stabbing through his back.
Kendra cried out again, rushing and grabbing onto Bella's arm. Bella's wide green eyes looked up and met Ken's as she steadied the girl.
"Stay close! Stay close and don't let get of me, I won't let anything happen to you okay!?" His sister said, her free hand gripping on Kendra's arm.
Kendra dried her tears fervently nodded. "You won't let anything happen… I'm safe with you I know I am…."
"Good, now come on we need to find my mother and get out of here!" Bella said, dragging the girl along with her.
He watched as Bella drug Kendra through the town, the town being destroyed. Dominik noticed the immense amount of riders, more then was normal for a raid. Men were killed, he saw women being drug away. They must have truly thought Bella was Ciri, because it seemed Eredin had spared no soldier. The villagers were completely overwhelmed, but Dominik watched as Bella fought, one hand on Kendra one on her sword as she desperately tried to get to one long house with the roof burning.
"BELLA!" Kendra yelled, as she tripped over the bottom of her dress, letting go of Bella's hand as she rolled in the mud.
Bella whirled around just as she looked and saw a rider charging for the girl. Kendra sprawled back in the mud, but the rider and another tried to advance. Bella's eyes widened, she looked to the burning house, where she saw riders breaking down the door. It had to be her house, the house where Anora was, the old woman had been fierce, but she stood no chance against the riders of the Hunt.
"DAMMIT!" Bella yelled, turning away from the house and rushing back towards Kendra.
Kendra tried to scurry away again but was couldn't go any further as she got pressed up against a broken fence. Bella rushed forward just before the riders could grab her, she lopped off one riders' arm, before spinning and cutting across the chest of another. Her eyes continued to glow, the magic whirled on her limbs, just like it had done for her when Dominik himself fought her. The one recovered from his chest being cut and tried to lash out with his jagged blade again from the right. Bella parried, but the strike had been too powerful, and she got sent stumbling backwards, and the rider pressed. He struck down and Bella just managed to get her blade up to block again, and before the rider could bring the jagged blade down to end her, a rock struck the back of his head.
The rider and Bella both turned, as Kendra had gotten up and chucked the rock herself. The blonde's hair was marred with blood, her brown eyes terrified and full of tears as the rider went to advance on her. As soon as the rider took a step however, Bella lunged up from the ground, their grandfather's sword plunged into the riders back just before he could strike at Kendra. The blood from the rider sprayed onto the girls face as Bella rushed forward.
"Bella… Bella we… we need to-." Kendra started, before Bella grabbed her hand again.
Bella shook her head and cut the girl off. "NO! No, we… we have to go help my mother she-."
"Bella! Bella I… I'm sorry but if we don't-," Kendra started, but Bella quickly cut her off by gripping up on her arm.
"NO! NO, I already lost my father I won't-." Bella started, but she stopped when she turned.
"LET GO OF ME YOU DEVILS, YOU WON'T… BELLA RUN! RUN NOW THAT'S AN ORDER!" The voice of Anora shouted, as Bella turned to see soldiers from the Hunt kicking Anora out of her home.
The old woman's long grey hair was in tatters, her dress ripped as she bled from her head. Dominik's eyes widened when he saw three riders surrounding her, including one larger than the rest, clad in silver plate with a large hammer. It was Imlerith himself, and where Imlerith was, he knew that Eredin and Caranthir couldn't be far behind.
"MOTHER!" Bella screamed, going to run forward as Imlerith and the group of riders crowded Anora towards them.
However, before Bella could run Kendra grabbed her arm. "B…Bella…."
Bella stopped and whirled around. The fires crackled, no more screaming was heard, the faint sounds of men bleeding and groaning in agony rang. He could see the village in flames, a preview to the burnt ruin he had seen on Undvik himself. However, he realized soon that he had been right. A cold foggy mist dropped over the town, as in the path that was fenced off, Dominik saw what Kendra had pointed too.
The butt of Caranthir's staff hitting the ground echoed, as he strode towards Bella and Kendra both, dozens of soldiers flanked behind him. The snow came next, as well as the howling wind. Slowly, slowly but surely Bella and Kendra were both surrounded, Bella shoved the girl behind her, one hand staying on her as the other pointed out her sword. From one side Anora screamed, as he saw two riders dragging her next to Imlerith, who looked up to see Caranthir, as the navigator stopped only about ten meters away from his sister and Kendra.
"Bella…." Kendra cried, gripping onto her back, the tears on her cheeks freezing to her as the wind continued to blow.
Magic still whirled in Bella's eyes as she looked towards her mother but managed to reach and hold Kendra's arm as well.
"It's alright… it's alright we… we'll get out of this…" Bella shakily said, the magic shooting out from around her.
"BELLA! LEAVE! RUN!" Anora yelled, before Imlerith backhanded her to the ground, knocking the woman unconscious.
"MOTHER!" Bella screeched, the magic shooting erratically from her.
Bella went to run again, but Kendra stood rooted to the ground in fear, and when Imlerith spoke his sister froze.
"She… is not… the one…" Imlerith said in his broken common tongue.
Bella's eyes widened as her emerald eyes were almost overtaken with the blue magic, Kendra glued to her arm.
Caranthir spoke next. "No… she is… something else…. Tridman cease!"
Caranthir gestured for the soldiers all to move as he himself stepped forward. Bella's eyes widened and then narrowed. He had seen this kind of look before, heard of it, it was exactly how Ciri described himself looking at Kaer Morhen, facing down Eredin to protect her. Bella looked to Kendra, to the burning village, to Anora lying unconscious and bleeding on the ground, and his sister stepped away from the blonde as Caranthir approached them both.
"Bella… Bella don't… don't please leave me here… Bella I-." Kendra said, but Bella shook her head meeting the girl's eyes.
She slowly shook her head. "I won't let anything happen… I won't…"
Kendra slowly nodded, and Bella turned back to Caranthir. The navigator slowly stopped in front of his sister as she stepped off Kendra, her sword leveled as Kendra behind her stood rooted again, shaking from the cold her eyes glued to Bella.
Imlerith on the other side of her stood, his hammer pointed down towards a stirring Anora. Caranthir from behind his helmet looked at his sister, the mage's staff glowing with a blue light as Bella's arms shook with a fury, magic whirling down her blade.
"You… have power girl…" Caranthir slowly said, his eyes unmoving. "Power… you do not understand… that you do not control…"
"Come and take a closer look…" Bella said darkly, her arms shaking more furiously.
Caranthir slowly nodded. "Yes…. Let us see… if your power is what I believe…"
And the navigator quickly shot his staff forward, a jagged spike of sharp ice shooting from the top. However, the spike of ice didn't fire towards Bella.
It zipped past Bella's head, his sister barely having time to react. However, Dominik knew if Caranthir had been aiming for Bella, he would have hit her. No, Caranthir had hit his mark.
The spike of ice shot past Bella and impaled itself into Kendra's stomach.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Bella screeched, whirling around as Kendra didn't seem to realize what was happening for a few seconds as only her knees buckled.
The blonde grabbed around where the icicle protruded from her torso, and looked over at Bella, who had tears cascading down her cheeks.
Kendra croaked shaking as she met Bella's eyes. "B… Bella…you… you won't… you won't…let… let anything…"
The girl his sister had fallen in love with fell to the ground, blood pooling in her stomach, slowly streaming out of the corners of her mouth.
"NOOOOOOOO KENDRA!" Bella shouted, dropping her sword and falling to her knees just to catch Kendra as she fell, the girl's head falling into her lap. "It… it's going to be okay…. It's going to be okay… I… I won't let anything happen to you… I… I won't…"
Blood still pooled from Kendra's mouth, as she tried to reach for Bella's hands. "B… Bella… Bella…. I… I'm… I'm scared… Bella… Bella don't… don't…."
And Kendra didn't get to finish her sentence. After that, was when his sister lost it.
"No! No, no, no, no, no…. NO, KENDRA NO!" She said, her voice carrying over the wind as her narrowed eyes shot up towards Caranthir, who was still standing and watching the scene. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!"
Bella went to stand up, but another voice stopped her.
"B…Bella… Bella…dove…" Anora's shaky voice said, as Bella shot her gaze over to Anora, slowly getting up from under Imlerith's hammer.
The magic whirled, but Bella's green eyes widened, and tears fell onto Kendra's body below her. "M…Mother…."
Bella went to get up again, but that was also when Caranthir spoke.
"Imlerith…" The navigator simply said.
Anora shakily looked up as Bella held Kendra's head in her lap. Imlerith moved his hammer, allowing the woman to get to her knees.
"Bella… Bella…" The woman said weakly, blood pooling from the side of her head.
Bella shook her head, crying as she met Anora's eyes. "M…Mother… mother…"
"Go… go…" Anora said weakly, slowly shaking her head. "You… your father… your father and… and I-."
But the woman was cut off, when Imlerith slammed his hammer into the back of her head, sending her sprawling forward, dead, onto the freezing ground in front of Bella.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Bella said, her voice raking off the back of her throat as in her lap was Kendra's head, and to her left, Anora's corpse, the side of her skull caved in from Imlerith's hammer.
Dominik thought back to Kaer Morhen, and it was exactly what happened in front of him then. He had obviously been unconscious for it, but Ciri had horribly described what had happened after she saw him fall in gruesome detail.
Bella looked to her mother, and then back to Kendra, blood still falling from the poor girl's stomach. Bella's arms shook with the girl she loved in her arms, as she reached a handout, unable to touch her mother's caved in skull. The frosty fog had brought snow, as all the soldiers of the Hunt stood around her, Caranthir stood around her, Imlerith clunked his way next to the navigator as Bella's hands continued to shake.
He had seen his own magic spiral out of control. It had happened when he fought Eredin, it had happened in all his fights with Bella. Each of those times he had almost killed himself, as the power had just become too much. It spiraled out around him, erratically spun and churned around his limbs and in his eyes.
Never however, had his power ever unleashed like it did from Bella then. And he knew that Bella only had one of the triggers unlocked to fully activate her powers, so when he heard her scream, saw the magic take over her eyes, it told him how broken she had been.
"A waste…" Imlerith said, his hammer going to his shoulder.
Caranthir shook his head. "No… the King, he will want to see her."
Imlerith seemed to scoff. "You jest… she… is just another human, a weak… little girl… and not the one we seek."
Caranthir put his hand out to stop Imlerith as the general went to move forward. "No… wait… she will-."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Bella finally unleashed, her eyes glowing bright blue as a tornado of magic shot out from around her.
Riders got sent flying back, and so did Imlerith who hadn't been prepared. Bella's arms had shaken, her hands had gone to her head, as her arms flew out to her side. The bodies of Kendra and Anora got sent flying, he saw their grandfather's sword go flying. The fires from the village were put out as the magic shot past the flames, the fence behind her got ripped up, and the only one who didn't seem to be fazed was Caranthir.
Even though he didn't fall, Caranthir stumbled back, and Dominik saw his helmet fly off. His staff almost falling out of his hands, the elf stood back up. Dominik saw that Caranthir had light but beady eyes, as he looked toward Bella who continued to scream. The elf had a head of blonde hair that whipped back in the wind as he dug his staff into the ground to stop himself from falling.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Bella continued to screech, as all the riders and Imlerith stumbled back to their feet.
After Imlerith had, was when Caranthir finally reached out his staff, the top crystal ball whirling as the navigator shouted.
"IGTHLANE MENAU TAED CELAN!" The navigator yelled, as magic whirled from his staff.
The magic from the staff clashed with the tornado of magic that Bella had created, and for a moment the two magics erupted and exploded in midair, before finally with a loud *RIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPP* just like the spell he used to calm Ciri the sky went silent, only the sound of the icy wind howling.
After the magic had disappeared, Bella's eyes slowly returned to normal. He saw her weakly look around her, the soldiers of the Hunt, Caranthir and Imlerith around her. She went to try and stand, but the minute she did, she stumbled and fell onto the icy ground. Her eyes flickered defiantly a few more times, before they closed.
Imlerith slowly looked over to the helmet-less Caranthir. "What… was that? What power was that… more… Elder Blood?"
Caranthir walked over towards his sister. Dominik's skin crawled as the navigator reached down, gently moving her onto her back, magic still lightly whirling around her. The blonde elf smirked, and Dominik had never wanted to remove someone's head from their shoulders more then he did in that moment.
Caranthir shook his head, looking back to Imlerith with a smirk. "No… The King… and Avallac'h, they both told me tales of this power… this blood line…. Take her… I believe that she could be… useful given… the right programming."
Imlerith nodded, gesturing towards the soldiers to move forward.
And before the riders grabbed his unconscious sister, Caranthir stroked her hair. "My dear… you will be my perfect little weapon…."
Dominik had never thought he would want to kill someone as much as he wanted to kill Eredin, but as he had learned during his quest the previous month, was that anything was possible.
He was going to remove Caranthir's head from his shoulders for laying hands on his sister and turning her into what she was. Dominik also knew that the navigator's work was all for naught, yet he was still going to kill him anyway.
Caranthir's work Dominik knew was for naught because he knew the navigator had made a crucial mistake, as had Eredin. They had underestimated his sister's strength.
Bella was still there, his sister was there, and he was going to bring her back.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"Dom! Dominik! Dominik wake up!" Ciri's voice hit his ears, as with a quick breath he shot his sweaty chest up from the bed.
He shot his head over and saw Ciri's bright eyes staring worriedly at him. For a few moments he had to catch his breath. The shimmering sunlight from the morning pierced through the small cabin window of their room aboard Faram's ship. The bed they had was smaller, but still large enough to contain both of them with Ciri cuddling up against him.
In that moment however, Ciri was still staring at him, her hand on his back the other on his thigh. She was naked from their previous night still, just like Dominik himself, their undergarments tossed onto the cabin floor, while their clothes and armor along with their swords leaned and laid on the small dresser that was in the room. Faram had very few cabins on the ship, but his friend had been sure to give the two of them one, along with the sorceresses, Geralt, George and Freya. Avallac'h had tried to claim one of the room, but Faram told the sage that they were sadly all taken, and when the sage tried to argue he needed a bed, Faram so graciously had told the elf he could sleep above deck or at the bottom of the sea.
It had only taken them a night to get to Kaer Trolde, where they were of course welcomed by sailors loyal to Crach and Cerys who let them dock in the harbor. The hour they pulled in had been so late, that they all simply retired to bed, and after a night of love-making multiple times because as Ciri put it they, 'needed to make up for lost time', it seemed the day for them to truly make their final preparations were upon them.
And still he was haunted by the dreams.
He shakily sighed and met Ciri's eyes, grabbing her hand as he slowly nodded. "I… I'm sorry, was I thrashing, did I wake you up?"
She looked at him empathetically and shook her head. "I was already awake; I was just laying down and relaxing."
"Why didn't you wake me earlier?"
"Because you're simply adorable when you sleep," She said cheekily, leaning forward and kissing his cheek. "Seriously though, I like just laying with you. But… you started thrashing, yelling for Bella… another nightmare?"
Slowly he nodded, seeing his sister, seeing Kendra the girl she loved, Anora the second mother she had, his sisters second chance at life being ripped away.
Shaking he looked and met Ciri's eyes. "Yeah… remember how I said she landed in Skellige, after she teleported from Cintra? And… how she said she sent me a dream of her there when she was eighteen?"
"Of course," Ciri said with a slow nod, scooting in front of him on the bed and reaching out to hold both of his hands. "Did you see more? What happened to her?"
Again he nodded and told Ciri about his dream. From Bella waking up with Kendra, up to when Caranthir and Imlerith killed the girl and Anora, forcing Bella's powers to unleash. He was even more glad that they had all killed Imlerith now, and if he could his hands on Caranthir he would. He would make them all pay, all of them, and he would get his sister back. She had remembered bits and pieces of her past Dominik saw, there was no way that Caranthir or any magic could have pushed all the memories they had together so far back they couldn't return. If not for his boneheaded choice of words when they spoke the first time, he would have convinced her then. He saw it, he had seen it in his sister's eyes that she was still there, there had been doubt, regret, she didn't want to kill him, and not Ciri either, she just wanted to belong somewhere else, finally have someone care for her again.
He and Ciri would do that, he wouldn't break another promise to her. Alexander had told him when he met his ancestor, that you never gave up on your family. He and Bella were all that was left of their parents, of the line of Alexander of Lod, it was their destiny to end the threat Eredin posed not only to Ciri, but to that world and every other world.
In the end however, no destiny mattered, because as Alexander said, he wouldn't give up on his family. Ciri, Bella, Geralt, Yen, his friends, none of them, and now Bella was the one that needed him along with Ciri, and he'd be there this time. He wasn't a helpless little boy anymore; he would get through to her one way or another.
That was what mattered now, killing Eredin to give he and Ciri the life they always wanted, and saving his sister, nothing else was important now.
"Gods… gods Bella…" Ciri said after he had finished telling her about the dream, shaking her head, as she fiddled with the ring behind her new wolf medallion. "Dominik… when she said that… that she lost everything twice because of me… what if-."
"No," He said firmly, reaching both hands up to hold around her face. Gently he trailed his thumb down her cheek, down her scar as he shook his head. "We couldn't control what happened Ciri, but what we can do… is control what happens now."
Ciri scoffed and shakily sighed. "But Dominik… they were looking for me, they were looking for me and-."
"And we're going to make them pay for it," He cut her off, leaning his head forward closer to her in front of him on the bed. "For what they did to you… and to Bella. All that matters is what we do now remember?"
She bit the side of her lip, the scar that was at the corner perking in a small smile as she nodded. Dominik did the same, leaning forward and kissing her, making her yelp as he pulled her into his lap. She laughed, and hearing that laugh as it always did erased all his doubts. Her breasts pressed up against his chest, as for a moment she smiled, leaning in and kissing him again her head angled just above him, her arm wrapped around his neck. He squeezed around her waist, smiling into her lips as the tingling feeling on his lips, and the rest of his body with his cock being so close to her entrance again made him forget for a few moments that they were in any danger at all. For those precious few seconds she kissed him, they were simply on a boat touring and seeing the sights of the Skellige Isles, something they planned on doing much more after everything was over.
He brought his lips up and planted one last long lingering kiss on her lips, feeling her thumb gently stroke across the scar on his cheek. Her breasts stayed pressed up against him, as she gently pulled back, still smiling, before kissing him a few more times quickly.
"Now is all that matters, you're right…" She said smiling at him, the cute scar on her lip going upwards as her smile turned to a smirk. "So… while we're in Skellige, you still plan on taking me to see Crach, Hjalmar and Cerys? You did promise after all."
A small scoffing laugh left him as he leaned up and quickly kissed her. He knew that Avallac'h still needed a 'sun stone' as the elf called it to summon the Hunt. Ever since he had nearly beaten the sage to death he had tried to avoid him, however it was going to be unavoidable that day. Depending on where this sunstone was, he assumed himself and Geralt would go and get it, with them not wanting Ciri to go off too far and risk exposing herself. Yennefer had also told them both the previous day that she heard Fringilla Vigo was in Emhyr's custody, and as they had sailed into the harbor the previous day, they had seen the Black One's navy.
Geralt, Ciri and he were all laughing and joking with their friends above deck when they saw them. Emhyr had brought an armada to conquer the Isles, and all of the ships were already near Undvik, to the point where Faram had to call Barnabas and his men back from the Island. A small part of Dominik hoped that if Borch had been following them and staying close like the dragon had promised, he wouldn't have any reservations about roasting the fleet to a pile of tinder, with no navy Emhyr would stand no chance at conquering the Isles, or even protecting the coast of his lands on the continent, potentially it could give Adda a massive advantage in her quest to push the Empire back.
However, he pushed all those thoughts from his head. None of that mattered, he knew he needed to put his hatred and everything else to the side. Nothing mattered except beating back the Hunt, Ciri and Bella, that was what mattered. So, if he had to be around Nilfgaardeans in that final battle like Yennefer had suggested Emhyr might fight them back he would. If he saw the man Dominik would still try to kill him, however, he would focus more on keeping Ciri away.
Just for a bit longer that was it. Just for a bit longer he would have to put up with Avallac'h, being so close to Emhyr. After it all, he and Ciri would get their life, and it would have all been worth it. Dominik had made it this far, for Ciri and his sister he would be able to finish it.
For now however, he simply enjoyed that moment.
"Of course I will," He said, as an excited look grew on Ciri's face. "I wanna see them myself as well. Today even, castle's only a little ways away."
Ciri smiled excitedly and nodded. "That sounds lovely! But… you don't want to go with Geralt and get the sunstone?"
Dominik scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Geralt can manage I'm sure, besides if I were to find it, I don't think I'd be able to give it to your nanny elf. Also don't wanna let you out of my sight, not when we're so close, he may try to pull something."
Ciri sighed now, and gently met his eyes. "I told you, after this is all over he's going to leave, he wants to be rid of us just as much as we want to be rid of him."
"Don't doubt that," Dominik said, readjusting her naked body on his lap. "But you know that he's gonna try something, want something. Don't feel comfortable leaving you alone with him…"
A smile managed to some to her face, she leaned forward and quickly kissed him. "As sweet as that is, I can take care of myself you know."
"Not doubting that either, you've kicked my ass enough," He joked, getting a small laugh from her, as he smiled and met her eyes gently shaking his head. "But you know I'm already not too excited to see that fucker again."
Ciri bit her lip and nodded. "I understand, but don't worry. He's ready to leave all of us too. Don't think he'll keep us above deck for that long."
"I hope not…" Dominik said dryly, as Ciri laughed and kissed his cheek.
"Come on, be a big boy," She teased him, before she slid off his lap, her feet hitting the floor of the cabin as the boat gently rocked. "They're probably waiting for us already."
He sighed and whirled his legs around the bed as well. Ciri stepped further towards the door to their room, going to the dresser and pulled a pair of her knickers back over her legs. Dominik watched and admired her slim figure, smiling as she tied the bra over her chest. She was more beautiful every time he saw her, and he found himself still to that day finding time to simply look at her.
Ciri finished tying her bra on, before turning and seeing him looking at her. Her face got red for a moment, before she laughed at turned to him.
"Come on mister," She said with a smile, tossing a pair of his undergarments at him and hitting him in the face. "You said we could go to the castle, and I quite like that idea."
His undergarments hit him in the face and he made a dramatic gesture of letting them hit him, and pretending he had been knocked back onto the bed. It was worth it because Ciri laughed, as he smiled and stood. Finally he pulled the undergarments over his own legs, before walking over towards her, just as she pulled her trousers up over her legs.
She turned just as he got to her, handing him his own trousers. "Here, I brought them to be washed last night before we came down."
"Thanks princess," He said with a smile, unfolding the trousers and going to pull them over his legs. "You know, maybe tonight if we're lucky Crach will let us stay in Kaer Trolde."
"Gods that would be lovely," Ciri said, pulled her top over her head, and tying the front that covered her breasts, adjusting the straps on her upper arms. "I remember the room I used to stay in was always lovely, sheets were made of silk, pillows nice and fluffy."
"That does sound great," He commented buttoning his trousers before reaching in front of Ciri and grabbing his white top from the table. "I love Faram but… he really does need to get new beds for these cabins."
Ciri turned to him, smirking as she finished buckling her corset. She reached onto the table and hefted his armor with no trouble into both her hands and handed the coat over to him.
"Oh I don't know… the bed served up perfectly fine last night I believe," She said suggestively, leaning forward and kissing his cheek as she handed him his armor. "Although, the bathes in Kaer Trolde were also always extremely large…"
His face got red, despite the fact they had sex multiple times in the previous two nights, he still found himself flustered by her when she spoke like that. She had teased him a lot when they were younger, and a ton since they had been reunited, and while he loved it most of the time, he hated it when she did it right after they had gotten dressed, and right before they were supposed to head above deck.
"I… um.. yeah… wow that… that sounds-," He started, before she laughed hysterically, leaning up and kissing him again.
"Gods it's adorable when you get like that," She teased, as Dominik rolled his eyes, but she still smiled at him, handing him his gloves from the table. "I am serious however, me, you, a warm bath in the castle? How's that sound?"
He saw the genuine want in her eyes, the sweetness in her tone and he couldn't stay annoyed. Smiling at her, he pulled on both his gloves, leaning forward and kissing her.
"That sounds wonderful," He said, smiling as he walked past her, grabbing both of their pairs of boots from in front of the door. "I also want to make sure Anton got here okay, see if he made it to Crach or not."
Ciri twirled her sheathed dagger into her belt and accepted her boots from him. "Gods I almost forgot. Him and his knights will be invaluable to have in the battle. I… assume you still don't want to tell Avallac'h."
"No, none of his business he doesn't need to know," Dominik said, also picking up her sword from the corner and handing it to her. "I already regret letting him know about Bella…"
He realized after his outburst, that telling Avallac'h about Baelen being Bella was a mistake. One thing he had learned over the years, was that it was always a mistake to let anyone, especially someone who you didn't trust, have an advantage over you. Avallac'h already started out with one over him, Ciri. Ciri didn't trust the sage either, but she had too because the sage was the only one who could teach her to control her powers. Now Avallac'h had two things over him, he also knew more about Bella then he was letting on, about his powers then he was letting on.
Dominik knew that the sage had known, there was no doubt in his mind. Ciri insisted that the sage had said he didn't, and that through the whole time they had traveled, while he was an ass, the sage hadn't lied. Dominik didn't want to argue with her about the topic, so he hadn't brought it up since then, but the sage had known, he was more than sure.
However, he had reached a point where truly, all that mattered was Ciri, Ciri and Bella.
"You know… speaking of Bella," Ciri said, strapping her sword to her back as she handed Dominik over Fate, and his faithful steel blade she had remade for him. "I… had an idea, and to be honest, I can't believe neither of us thought of it sooner."
He strapped both of the swords to his back and adjusted the swallow and his medallion over his chest. Ciri did the same with the ring, and the new medallion he had gotten her. He hadn't seen her take it off since he put it around her neck two days prior, and when he had seen her looking at it, smiling, he was thrilled he had found an appropriate gift.
After their swords had been strapped they were finally fully dressed. Ciri looked up from her medallion and the ring, biting her lip she met his eyes.
"I was thinking… you said Bella… uses a spell with her blood to see where you are right? And I remember she said she sent you the dream of her on Skellige," She said, twirling the ring in her hands.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Yeah she did. That's how she figured out what we were doing at Kaer Morhen… even though she didn't seem to tell them everything."
It was another moment to him that made him know his sister was in there, that she wasn't fully lost. She could have easily just told Eredin and the rest of the Hunt where he was, where Yennefer was in the battle and ended it in minutes. However, she hadn't.
He also would never forget the first time he saw her perform the ritual with her blood, had seen him and Geralt traveling to Skellige the first time.
Ciri nodded and met his eyes curiously. "If… she can do that…. Then maybe you can use the same ritual to see her. Or maybe you can send her a dream as well! You can-."
"Send her a dream of what really happened…" He said slowly, the realization dawning on him as his eyes widened, and he met Ciri's gaze. "But… she said she already has been having dreams of us, and she just thinks they aren't real! How… how are we-."
"Then we need to pick one that's strong enough that she can't deny," Ciri said, taking a step towards him and holding onto his now armored arms. "And… and she talked to me through the dream, saw me! Maybe… maybe there's a way we can-."
"Send her a message through her dreams…" He said, remembering his sister in the dreams with Kendra and Anora, an idea slowly forming as he looked back down at Ciri. "Ciri… you're a genius!"
She got a little red but scoffed. "Ha… it.. it's nothing. But I think it could work! Yen may know a way, or Triss or Ermion, or maybe there's something in Alexander's journal!"
Dominik's eyes widened and he felt one of the pockets on his belt. He had been reading Alexander's journal sparingly, mainly for the stories of himself, his children, Cregan and Lara that were there. However, he had noticed dozens of spells in the small book's pages. He knew something like Ciri was suggesting would take immense skill and a lot of magic. He assumed that Bella had plenty of that on the Nagalfar, she also had trained more with her powers then he did, had better control when her emotions were in check.
However, remembering his dream, the idea slowly started to form. He looked down and met Ciri's eyes, a smile tugging at his lips as they both met each other's eyes and laughed. Dominik watched and admired her beautiful eyes lighting up as she laughed, the scar on her lip perking up as he leaned forward and kissed her again.
"You're brilliant princess," He said, slowly shaking his head. "I… think I have an idea, but I need to figure a few things out first but… but I think we can, we can get some kind of message to her."
Ciri laughed and reached up around his neck to hug him. She squeezed around his neck as his arms wrapped around her waist. Slowly she pulled back, kissing his scarred right cheek before stepping back with her hands on her hips.
"Well I certainly do try my best," She said cheekily, smirking at him as she went to walk past him towards the door. "Come on, we'll talk with everyone above deck then-. Haha hey!"
She laughed he scooped her up bridal style, her sword clunking as she laughed in his arms.
"Ha, Dominik come on! We need to get going, we've already made them wait long enough," She said her arms wrapping around his shoulders as he held her.
"Oh come on… I think we can make them wait a little longer don't you think?" He said slowly, leaning in with his lips only an inch from her.
She rolled her eyes but smiled, leaning in and kissing him. For a few moments they stayed like that, him holding her in his arms as she cupped his face and kissed him with everything she had. Her tongue gently trailed along his lips again, before she pulled back and kissed his neck, laughing as he quickly moaned, before pulling her lips back to his.
Smirking, she kissed him deeply once more before wriggling out of his arms her heeled boots hitting the ground.
"Maybe if you're lucky… we can have that bath later before falling asleep on those silk sheets in the castle," She cheekily said, before grabbing his hand and pulling him along. "Come on, we'll have plenty of time later."
He sighed and bit his lip as she smirked at him. "Alright, alright let's get going."
"Good boy," She said, leaning and quickly kissing him again before she walked towards the door.
Like he always did, he admired her as she walked and opened the door. When she did, she looked back and laughed as she playfully rolled her eyes upon seeing him gawking at her.
"Come on!" She said, reaching and grabbing his hand and pulling him along, a smile on her face the entire time.
"Fine…" He said jokingly as he let himself be pulled out of the room.
Even in the midst of the fight of their lives, she still found ways to drive him crazy, the good kind of crazy. The kind of crazy the, kind of love that makes everything else worth it.
Because that's what love was about, finding that one person who made all the bad days' worth it.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"There you two are!" Yennefer said, as the group leaned against the railing of the boat, Geralt smirking at Ciri and he both with Triss as Avallac'h had his signature look of wishing he were anywhere else except with them at that moment.
Geralt continued smirking at them as Ciri and he both got between them all. "So… sleep well?"
Ciri looked up at Dominik and contained a laugh as his face got red. She took a second to appreciate how handsome the sun made him look, as the cold wind gently blew through his hair. The light kissed off his skin, off his scar, it only made his eyes sparkle even more as his face was beat red biting his lip. It was still the most adorable thing Ciri had ever seen, and finally he crossed his armored arms and rolled his embarrassed eyes.
"Yes Geralt we slept fine, we slept perfectly fine," He said quickly, scoffing and rolling his eyes again as he looked down whispering towards Ciri. "You know, I wish people would stop being so interested in our sex life…"
"You mean the sex life the just started," She whispered back to him, and she smirked when she saw his face get red again.
She laughed to herself, taking in the feeling of the wind brushing against her face. A small shiver went down her spine as she adjusted the scarf around her neck. Dominik made her freeze simply looking at him, his neck was exposed but he insisted that his armor kept him warm. Looking up at the clouds she could see that snow was more than likely close by. It may have been sunny, but the wind was still intense, and she was sure that the mountains and areas around Kaer Trolde were covered in ice and snow.
A beautiful sunny winter evening in Skellige with Dominik next to her. It had been something she dreamed about when she was younger. Of course she was excited to see Crach, Hjalmar, even Cerys who was always much younger than her and Hjalmar. She wondered for a moment if Dominik had heard about her and Hjalmar's proposal plans that Crach had put out of both their minds when they were younger, she assumed he would have gotten a very good laugh out of it, before he grabbed her and kissed her.
Yes, it could have been such a wonderful few weeks, however they had to push just a little bit more before that could happen. Before weeks like that could happen.
Ciri wondered if Fiona had ever tried to skate, and how much better Dominik had gotten at it.
"You're both late… every second you both waste with your childish antics is another second that our enemies have ahead of us," Avallac'h snapped, completely removing Ciri from the relatively good mood she had been in.
Herself, Geralt, Yen and Triss all sneered at the sage, and although he promised her he'd try his best to ignore everything Avallac'h said, Dominik failed right away.
"Yes, our 'childish antics'," He snapped looking over to the sage and narrowing his eyes. "Do you ever fucking get tired of being such a fucking prick? Or does it give you some kind of sick thrill?"
Avallac'h rolled his eyes again, which Ciri knew Dominik hated. "No, but I would assume that you, just as much as I am, am eager to get this over with. I've grown tired of all of you, you in particular you arrogant brat."
"And this 'arrogant brat, is sick of you being here," Dominik snapped again, and he took a step away from Ciri to look at the sage again. "It must be hard living over six hundred fucking years with a stick up your ass."
"Your childish insults do not affect me boy," The sage said, although Ciri could clearly see Dominik's insults did in fact affect him. "I wish to be rid of you all, so if you could actually be on time and stop acting like a child, we can finish this and be rid of each other."
Ciri saw Dominik's eyes narrow as he stepped forward again. "And you better be sure that you stay the fuck away after this is over. Don't think I don't see the fucking ways you look at Ciri when you-."
"Dominik, darling please," Yen said, stepping up to cut him off, meeting his eyes and shaking her head. "You know I'd be the last to defend him, but he's right. We all wish to be rid of each other; we'd best get things moving then."
"She's right…" Ciri said, coming up behind him and grabbing his arm to pull him back.
He turned away from Avallac'h, who looked far too smug for Ciri's liking and look at her. She could see the conflict in his eyes. She knew what he was about to be referring too. Over the months traveling and even in the previous few weeks she had caught the sage simply staring at her. He would stare at her, as if he were trying to pierce into her very soul. Ciri had wondered why at first, but after Dominik's visions with Alexander of Lod she knew why.
It was because as Dominik said, Ciri looked almost exactly like Lara Dorren, the woman Avallac'h was supposed to marry, the one he thought he was owed. So she assumed he looked at Ciri like that because of her resemblance to her ancestor. Ciri had thought it was creepy, and it made her uncomfortable before, but it was even more so after she learned that information. It made her extremely uncomfortable when the sage did that and Dominik knew it and had been trying to keep it together for weeks.
Ciri knew as Dominik said Avallac'h was almost six hundred years old. Cahir had been almost ten years older than her and tried to kidnap and hunt her down. Emhyr was quite literally her father as well as being nearly thirty years older than her. Even Mistle was years older than her when she raped Ciri. Ciri had no idea why it was her fate to be creeped upon by older men, even if not for the fact she was in love with Dominik it had always been uncomfortable for her to think about, it made her skin crawl, her insides churn the thought of any of them getting their hands on her.
However, she had pushed it to the side. She had Dominik again, and now she wasn't a child, if any older man be it Emhyr, or even Avallac'h tried to do something to her, then she could cut them down herself, that would be if Dominik didn't get to them first.
She met Dominik's eyes and squeezed his hand reassuringly. He casted one more glare at the sage before crossing his arms, both his swords clunking as he stood back next to her. When Ciri met his gaze his eyes softened, and she smiled. She herself casted Avallac'h a glare as the sage again had narrowed his eyes at her annoyedly. Ciri also looked to see Geralt standing near the ramp to the docks of Kaer Trolde, carefully watching the situation unfold. Her father met her eyes and gave her an approving nod, and Ciri sighed, looking to see Yen and Triss standing next to one another along the railing.
Noticing the ship was awfully quiet she looked at them all. "Where are Faram, George and Freya? They should be here and be a part of this as well."
"What does it matter?" Avallac'h snapped, cutting off Yennefer who was about to answer, she whirled around to the sage who annoyedly crossed his arms. "They do not need to be present, nothing they do has any effect on our plans.
"They're our friends! I know 'friend' is probably a hard concept for you to grasp, because gods know you can't have any, don't know who could put up with you for long periods of time," Dominik snapped from next to her, looking at the sage. "Also in case you forgot, we're on Faram's fucking ship, so why don't you show him and the rest of my friends a little bit more respect? Before I knock your-."
"Faram, Freya and George all went into town," Yen cut him off, her raven locks blowing in the cool morning sea breeze. "Freya believes she had an idea, one that could turn the tide of battle for us, says she needed George and Faram's help."
"And they didn't ask Ciri and I to come?" Dominik asked, sounding slightly hurt.
Triss shook her head next to Yen. "They tried, but you and Ciri were both sleeping still. The three of them told us to tell you they'll meet up with you when they come back."
Ciri nodded and Dominik seemed to accept this answer as well. The cold breeze sent goosebumps up her arms, as she wondered for a moment what Freya could have thought of. Ciri knew she was a genius, so when the blonde said she had something she believed could turn the tide of battle with whatever it was she had come up with, Ciri believed her.
Just like Yen however, Ciri also knew that Avallac'h was right when he said they needed to move quickly. She had thought that all their work was done in Novigrad, and it would simply be a matter of summoning the Hunt and beating them back. However, it appeared now, with Dominik wanted to take her idea of trying to contact Bella to heart. She also had a few plans of her own she had brewing in her mind, however to do so, she needed first for Avallac'h to not be glaring at her whenever she wasn't in her room, and to do that, she knew they needed to find the sunstone. If the sage got it, she knew it would take up all his time.
"Well we must hurry and find the Sunstone as we said," She said, looking between them all as she readjusted her scarf, her eyes falling on Dominik. "It seems we have more to do in Skellige after all."
He nodded in agreement, looking over to Yen. "She's right, and Yen, you said we needed to find Fringilla Vigo as well?"
"We do yes, we need her here," The sorceress said, looking over to Geralt. "And we discussed before you arrived, we know she's a captive on Emhyr's flagship."
Ciri scoffed at the mention of Emhyr, Dominik rolling his eyes in a similar manner. The last thing she needed was the degenerate coming and messing up their plans. She was a bit nervous being so close to him, she knew he wasn't stupid enough to believe she was dead, however, she still wanted to avoid any contact with the man. It wasn't because she was scared, it was for the same reason she knew Dominik didn't want to see the man. She had become better at holding it, but she knew she would lose her temper and do or say something she regretted if she saw Emhyr.
The last time she had seen him, he had wanted to rape her, impregnate her and force her to marry him, and then the despicable, vile excuse for a man dared to hug her before he left. Even coming into contact with him during that hug had made her want to get sick over the walls of Stygga Castle. She knew that if she hadn't gone off, he would have tried to find her again, just like he was doing now. If not for Yennefer and Geralt's words in front of his men he would have gone right along with his plan.
Now, he deigned to think that Ciri would even be in the same room as him, let alone do him any favors. He would pass it off as him wanting to 'gift' her an empire, but Ciri knew what it was really about. The nobles wanted him dead, or to abdicate so that they could end the wars. However, her 'father' cared not for the people of the continent, he wanted more, so he wanted to save his own hide, but still be able to claim the land was his through his blood by Ciri being on the throne. And who was to stop him from trying to recreate his plan a few years down the line? If he really cared about her like he was pretending to do, he'd know that she wanted nothing to do with him, he hadn't been there her whole life, and the first time he did go to find her, he wanted to do those vile things to her, he had hunted her wanted to use her.
No, she wasn't going to do him any favors, and the idea of him even being so close made her sick. She knew it did for Dominik as well. He had mastered keeping his temper over his years as a witcher alone, however, the times he did lose it, she was always involved. She knew that in the previous few days he had calmed since learning the truth about Bella. It was as she told him in their room, all that mattered now was them.
However, she knew that he would kill Emhyr without a second thought.
"Do we really need her? We have six sorceresses already," Dominik said, shaking his head as he crossed over his arms again. "You know i don't like any deal that involves us going anywhere near Emhyr."
"I agree," Ciri said right away, her voice bitter as she looked and met Yen's eyes. "I hope he doesn't expect me to go to him in return."
Yen quickly shook her head. "He does expect it, but it's like I said before darling we won't take you anywhere near him."
"Good… but Dominik had a point," Ciri said, looking between Triss and Yen. "I know she's a colleague of yours, but do we really need her when we already have six other sorceresses?"
Avallac'h shook his head. "To properly use the Sunstone it will require a great deal of magic, the more sorceresses the easier it will be."
"Was anyone talking to you?" Dominik snapped, turning over to the sage his angry eyes narrowed. "Or is the need to butt into every conversation just another of your annoying traits?
Avallac'h seemed to choke on his words before he could answer, and Ciri while she tugged on Dominik's arm had to resist the urge to laugh.
Yen gave a satisfied smile and nodded. "As rude as that was of him, Avallac'h is right, better to be safe than sorry, so we do need her here."
Geralt finally nodded, stepping next to Dominik and her. "Alright, well there's no way I'm bringing either of you two onto Emhyr's flagship with me."
"Good idea, he did try to have me killed a few days ago after all," Dominik said sarcastically rolling his eyes.
Ciri bit her lip as she could feel the fire burning in her eyes and stomach. Dominik joked of course that Emhyr had 'shoddy assassins' so he could try to kill him as much as he wanted. However, Ciri had seen him near dead after a second attempt on his life. She didn't know how she would, but one day she'd get Emhyr back for trying to kill Dominik, for ordering him assassinated, for ordering Gregory, Sofia and Bella hunted down in Cintra.
She didn't know how, but one day she'd make Emhyr pay for it.
Geralt nodded and turned back to Yen. "Gonna try to not remember that when I'm in front of him. Yen, could you or Triss teleport me onto Emhyr's ship?"
"Not a chance, it's shielded better than the Emperor's alcove," Their mother said, her violet eyes growing dark as she crossed her arms. "The man is lucky we need him still… sending assassins after my son… he'll pay for it, somehow…"
Ciri saw Dominik crack a smile, and it made her feel slightly better. She squinted in the morning light as she looked and saw Triss shaking her head next to Yen.
"You could try to force our way on," Triss said, and right away Dominik scoffed.
"I like that idea, I can get behind that," He said, his hands curling as he crossed his arms. "Maybe I can pay Emhyr a little visit, a shot of Igni into the sails should cause mayhem."
Avallac'h scoffed across them. "Impossible you imbecile, we need Fringilla in one piece and-."
"Seriously again were any of us talking to you?" Dominik snapped, as Ciri saw his hands gripping onto the folds of his armor. "When we need to ask you something we will, we don't all have to listen and bow down to you, you arrogant fuck."
Before Avallac'h could fire anything back, Geralt stepped in the middle of the circle they had formed. Her father shot Dominik a glare that clearly said, 'keep yourself calm', before he looked over towards Yennefer and Triss again, the wind blowing back his silver hair.
"Alright no need for any assault, I'll find a way onto the flagship myself," Geralt said, crossing his armored arms and looking at Dominik at Ciri. "Like I said, not bringing the two of you anywhere near him."
Ciri smiled at the protectiveness in her real father's tone. Emhyr could say whatever he wanted. Geralt of Rivia was her father.
"Will you swim? Swords on your back? You'll get shot up like a sitting duck before you could say, 'the white flame dancing on the graves of his foes'," Triss said worriedly as she leaned along the side of the ship.
Yen quickly shook her head. "Don't panic, he'll manage, he always does."
Ciri didn't like the idea of Geralt going off himself towards Emhyr's ships. A small part of her did like Dominik's idea of setting his ships alight. Perhaps if Borch Three Jackdaws had followed them like he said he was, he could do the honors at the final battle. It was a selfish thought, but she also knew that Bella commanded the dragon Kilgarrah, and if there was one thing Bella in her current state of mind might hate more than Ciri herself, it was the Black Ones.
Perhaps Emhyr's Skellige campaign would end sooner than he thought.
Yennefer reached into her back pocket and pulled out a sealed note. Ciri saw a fire grow in her mother's eyes as she handed the note to Geralt.
"Make your approach by night, you'll stand a better chance than… show that degenerate this letter," Yennefer said, lashing out as she stepped back and shook her head. "It should remind him what he promised, and what he'll get in return."
"You mean, what he thinks he'll get in return," Ciri said quickly, already knowing what her mother meant, but feeling a wave of anxiousness overtake her.
Dominik gripped her hand again as Yennefer turned to them both.
Their mother nodded to them both. "Yes, what he thinks he's getting. One day… he'll pay for what he did to you… to the both of you."
Ciri nodded, knowing that it was true. One way or another, whether it be Adda, themselves, or the universe, Emhyr would pay for all the misfortune he caused them.
"This is all good," Geralt said, before surprisingly turning to Avallac'h. "But we also need to know what the Sunstone actually is."
"Yes…" Yennefer said, turning to the sage as well. "Because you still haven't deigned to share that information with us."
The sage sneered. "So, I am getting permission to speak now?"
"No, it's actually quite simple," Dominik said his arms still crossed as he looked over at the elf again. "Now we're actually talking to you, so you can talk, instead of butting in when the conversation doesn't involve you."
"Dom…" Geralt said, turning and staring at him again, as Dominik sighed and rolled his eyes.
Ciri scoffed a small laugh at Avallach's annoyed eyes, before the sage finally shook his head and spoke.
"Fine…. It was created so the Mountain Elves could summon the vessels of the Aen Elle. Now it merely serves as a lost opportunity to unite two tribes…." The elf said, looking at them all expectantly, as if they had any idea what he was talking about. "Truly? Can all of you be unfamiliar with the story of Gealbhan and Dillan of the White Fleet?"
Dominik groaned and looked down to meet her eyes, whispering. "How the hell did you put up with him for so many months?"
"I've been asking myself that the entire time…" Ciri said dryly, whispering up to him as well.
The wind howled in her ears, as Ciri truly was getting tired of the elf as well. It was another reason she had been thinking about his secret base in Skellige. If she could get there, convince Dominik, Geralt and possibly even Yen to come with her she could have so many questions answered. One of them could be what it was Avallac'h genuinely wanted from her. In the beginning when she first had come back, after Kaer Morhen, she had a small fracture of trust for the sage still there. However, with his actions, his words, how he had acted, not telling them about Dominik's ancestors, and of course what he had done to her when they first met, that trust was all but gone.
Ciri needed to know. He hadn't lied to her yes, but he simply deigned to inform her of certain things. The biggest one of course was what he wanted from her, what he was planning on asking of her, or forcing her to try and do. She wasn't fooled like she was last time. The first time Avallac'h had claimed to be 'helping' her, was when he forced her to stay for months in Tir'Nala, forced to sit through the weeks of psychological and verbal abuse from Auberon. And the whole time, Avallac'h had never planned on letting her leave.
He was planning something similar now, and Ciri wanted to know what it was. However, she also had to be careful, because she knew that if they went to the lab, they'd figure out if Avallac'h truly had known about Bella being Baelen or not. The sage had looked her in the eyes and told her he hadn't, and Ciri was going to figure out if it was the truth.
"Not interested in some legend," Geralt said, saying what they all had to be thinking. "What I'm more concerned with is how we can use it."
Avallac'h scoffed. "You? No, me? Naturally. With some help from the sorceresses."
Dominik's head perked up right away, as he seemed to come to a realization. She didn't know what came over him, as he slowly walked from her side, stomping towards the sage again. Ciri went to reach for him, but before he looked back at them all with hard eyes.
"So, a powerful magic elven artifact, that only you can control," He said slowly, as he crossed his arms and scoffed. "And nobody else finds this suspicious? It can't just be me!"
The group of them all went silent. Ciri whole-heartedly agreed with him, however she was worried when she saw the look in his eyes. Dominik was getting angrier, a mixture of worry as the realization that dawned on him seemed to continue.
Yen and Triss both nervously looked at him, both of them surely thinking the same thing as Ciri was. Ciri was going to step forward and grab him, but Geralt beat her too it.
"Dom's right…" Geralt slowly said, as Ciri's eyes widened, seeing the accusatory look come to her father's face as well as he met Avallach's eyes. "You're also pretty insistent we go and fight the Hunt on Undvik… said it couldn't be anywhere else. Why is that?"
Ciri had heard that Avallac'h wanted the fight to be on Undvik but hadn't thought anything much of it. However, Geralt and Dominik both seemed to know something she didn't, because they both glared at Avallac'h.
The sage looked at them both and scoffed. "Does it matter where we fight them? Undvik is the best strategical location with enough space and-."
"Don't bullshit me," Dominik said, taking another step towards the sage only inches from his face now. "You're not from this world, no way you could have known… why Undvik!?"
"Dominik… what are you so-," Yennefer started to say, before she seemed to have a realized look come to her face as well.
Triss and Ciri herself were the only ones left who didn't seem to know what was going on. She couldn't think of what would possibly be so bad about the suggestion. Yes, it was a bit strange that Avallac'h insisted so heavily on the spot, but the three in front of her seemed to have a reason to be suspicious. The cold breeze shot through them again, as Ciri took a step up next to Dominik and stood behind him, looking just as Avallac'h slowly shook his head, looking and meeting Dominik's eyes in particular.
"You have gone this whole-time boy managing to tolerate my presence, except for the… incident a few days ago," The sage said slowly, looking between them all now. "I wish to leave and never see any of you again… but to do that, Eredin must be dealt with. Do you think that I would jeopardize that?"
"I don't trust a single word out of your mouth," Dominik spit back, getting eye level with the sage again as he shook his head. "So now, tell me, why do we have to fight them on Undvik!?"
"Trust me or do not trust me," Avallac'h said shaking his head, crossing his arms as his robes blew in the morning wind. "Either way you need me, as idiotic as you are at times, you are smart enough to know that."
It had been the first time Ciri had ever seen Avallac'h give Dominik a compliment, even though it was a backhanded one. Dominik however, seemed to get even angrier at the compliment, his fists balling as he shook his head.
"Enough with your bullshit! TELL ME WHY-," Dominik started, before Geralt held a handout to stop him from moving forward again.
"Dom… no… not worth it," Geralt said slowly, his gaze going back to the sage.
Yennefer nodded as well, holding a hand on Dominik's shoulder as she pulled him back a few steps. "He's right darling… only a little bit more."
Dominik looked like he wanted to say something else, but shakily sighed, as Ciri quickly nodded to Yen and grabbed his arm. She pulled him away off the deck, as Triss moved towards Avallac'h with Geralt and Yen. Ciri looked up at him, and she knew him well enough to know the anxious look in his eyes. He bit his lip like he did when he was nervous, and she noticed his feet moving as he attempted to pace. She had known him long enough to know this was how he got when he got nervous, extremely nervous. Gently she held onto his hand, squinting from the light as she looked up at him.
"Dominik… what is it? What is it about Undvik?" She asked him, as she heard the others talking as well.
He shakily sighed and looked down to meet her eyes. "I'll tell you later…. I can't believe I fucking forgot…"
She was going to ask more, however, before she did Geralt came over to them both. They both looked up, and in the sun their father's silver hair shone even more as he crossed his armored arms and met their eyes.
"So, Avallac'h says Sunstone is on Skellige," Geralt said, the sun sparkling off the pommel of his swords.
Ciri scoffed as they both turned to him. "Well that certainly doesn't narrow it down."
Geralt shook his head. "You're right it doesn't. But I thought if anyone would know that it could be Ermion."
"Smart idea," Dominik said, seeming to shake of his anxiousness for the moment as he looked between Geralt and she. "Do you… want me to come with you to get it?"
"Don't gotta worry," Geralt said a small smirk coming to his face as he looked at them. "We may not have many more days till we have to fight, spend some time together. I'm going to head up to the castle, see if Ermion's there, if he isn't, Crach can probably tell us where he is."
Ciri perked up at the words, looking and smiling at Dominik to try and improve his mood. Hearing Geralt's words seemed to do the same, as that cute small smile he got when he was nervous. The idea of seeing Crach, Hjalmar and even Ermion if he was there had excited her. She remembered how much she had begged Gregory to let Dominik come to Skellige with her. It had been a dream of hers after knowing him for so long, developing the bond they had, to have her spend the months in Skellige with her. She had already begun planning how to introduce her Hjalmar, Crach, and she had even planning on telling him how she felt about him there.
Yes, it was all supposed to go swimmingly. They would come to Kaer Trolde together, she would show him the most beautiful spots she could, and she would admit her feelings for him. She had only been eleven so she would have been dreadfully nervous the entire time, as she still hadn't been sure if he felt the same for her. Looking back it had been obvious he was just as smitten with her as she was with him, but the past was there forever, the past.
Now, she was in Skellige again, finally with Dominik, and she knew that the next day she would need help going to Avallach's lab, and then while he told her he was still thinking of his plan, she knew Dominik would need her help contacting Bella as well.
So they would try and enjoy that night.
"Dominik and I wanted to head up to the castle anyway," Ciri said, smiling as she held onto Dominik's arm and smiled up at him. "That is… if you're not being too much a grump?"
Dominik managed a laugh, and she saw Geralt crack a smile. Dominik looked and met her eyes, and she saw that beautiful gleam in his emerald iris's. Her heart fluttered as he sighed and slowly reached to grab her hand.
"Of course I will, I'll stop being a grump I promise," He said, the smile growing as he squeezed her hand and looked up towards Geralt. "We'll head up to the Castle with you, might spend the night at Kaer Trolde if you and Yen don't mind."
Geralt scoffed and smirked at them. "Told you both before, you're adults. We aren't back in Ellander anymore, you're not kids. Long as you stay safe we don't mind. Come on, let's go."
Ciri looked up and smiled at Dominik as they both went and followed Geralt towards the ramp to the harbor. The anxious look slowly left him, as he held her hand the whole time as they walked, just like they had back in Ellander as well. She could remember walking through the markets, the meadow, simply having him walk and hold her hand was one of her favorite things to do. It made her feel like they were really a normal couple for a small bit, and it was those moments she loved most.
When the daily danger they both faced wasn't there, when they finally felt like the weight of the world was lifted off their shoulders, and they could simply be two young people in love.
She leaned up and quickly kissed his cheek as they walked down behind Geralt, the cold breeze shooting through the scarf around her neck. He got all red, again just like when they were young as she smirked at him.
"Race you," She said, letting go off his hand and jogging past Geralt.
She laughed she looked past seeing him flustered before he took off in a jog after her, yelling as he tried to catch up with her.
"Hey! No fair, you always do that!" He said, as she heard Geralt groan before his armor clunked.
"I'm getting too old for this…" Geralt said, as he jogged after them both of them laugh.
She looked back and saw him gaining on her as she couldn't stop laughing. The most important part, however, was that he was smiling, and she was.
After being forced to be mature, to be adults and go through more then anyone their age ever should have too, it felt nice to simply run, laugh, be with him and Geralt both.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"Check it out, opening the gates for us personally," Geralt said with a smirk as they crossed the bridge.
Ciri scoffed. "Gods it hasn't changed a bit…. Feels like yesterday Gregory was bringing me here."
"Would've gotten to deal with me the next time," Dominik said cheekily, smiling as he looked down at her before they approached the gate.
She smirked up at him. "Well you're awfully lucky I happen to like you quite a bit then."
"I am aren't I," He said cheekily, smiling back down at her.
Her face got red as she smiled back up at him, the winches of the gates grinding in her ears. It was little comments like that she had missed most over the years. She could still hardly believe they were back there; it had been a big deal to her and him both when they were younger, the idea of Dominik going to Skellige with her. If not for the Black Ones being so close they would have, and she knew Crach would have welcomed Dominik just as much as he did her, what with him and Gregory being such great friends.
It had just about reached midday by the time they got to the castle. After racing towards the town center, her Dominik and Geralt had been lucky enough to run into Faram, Freya and George. Freya had been frantic, looking over diagrams she had apparently stayed up all night the previous two nights drawing, while Faram and George carried multiple sacks of ingredients. Kindling, arrows, rows of metal, different alchemical ingredients Ciri had recognized from her and Dominik's many lessons on making bombs. She couldn't think of what Freya's idea was, but the blonde had barely looked up from her diagrams before the three of them had said they'd see the two of them later and gone back to the ship.
Ciri felt slightly bad, ever since Kaer Morhen she and Dominik hadn't spent much time with their three friends. However, they all had insisted they understood. Dominik and she had been apart for an extremely long time, and some days they simply wanted to be with just one another. She appreciated this, and she knew Dominik did as well. She looked and saw the colors of Clan An Craite, and was flashed back to when she was a girl, Kaer Trolde had truly been her second home, and now while everything seemed slightly smaller, being there with Dominik and Geralt both was something she never would have thought possible only a few months prior.
The cold breeze blew, as the clouds continued to roll in, she had been in Skellige enough to recognize the snow clouds when they were coming. She remembered something Dominik had always said about winter being both beautiful and deadly, but he always thought it important to focus on the beautiful parts.
She couldn't have agreed more, and again she was having one of those few precious moments when she forgot about everything going on, and it was just the three of them there.
"Ahhhh wolf! It's good to see you in one piece," The booming voice of Crach rang through the air, as she excitedly looked up with Dominik. "And you little swallow… gods you got huge! Finally got you and Gregory's boy here together it seems!"
She laughed as she Dominik and Geralt all came to a stop in front of the doors to the castle. Crach had come himself, and Ciri could hardly believe how little the man had changed. He looked just like Hjalmar, and then next to him, she could hardly believe she was looking at Cerys, as all she remembered was the youngest An Craite being a little girl when she had been there. Always wanting to come and play with Hjalmar and her, but always being too small.
Now she was wearing a crown, grinning next to her father as they both came out to greet them at the gates.
Geralt smiled and spoke up first. "Open the gates specially for us?"
Crach scoffed and waved a hand, reaching and shaking Geralt's. "Bah of course! It's like I said, I see you as one of my own! And the same goes for the two of you… gods. The both of you here now… gods I feel old!"
"Crach…" Ciri said softly, the smile slowly curling on her lips as she hugged the man.
She could remember all the times she had come when she was young, the man was practically her uncle. The last time she had been in Kaer Trolde, she had been ten, she hadn't even met Dominik yet, but she could remember how excited she had been for Dominik to meet the man after that.
Crach smiled at her fondly, before looking over towards Dominik as well with a laugh. "Aha… and you lad! Looks like your quest was a success… hope the sword helped!"
Dominik next to her laughed and seeing him laugh and smile as opposed to how he had look on the ship, Ciri couldn't helped but smile herself. He hadn't told her what was wrong with Undvik yet, but she assumed he would later, she didn't want to ruin that moment for him then. She remembered him telling her Crach had given him the silver blade, Dominik smiled, tapping the pommel of Fate and reaching out to shake the man's man, smiling at him before he did the same down at Ciri next to him.
"It certainly did, saved my ass more then a few times… it helped me find her," He said, smiling at Ciri once, before he turned to Cerys who was standing next to Crach with a wicked grin on his face. "And it is an honor to see you again your royal majesty!"
Geralt laughed, and Ciri did as well, Crach even cracked a smile as Dominik mock bowed. Cerys scoffed, waving the gesture off, smiling at them both, walking over with her arms out for Dominik now.
"Oh come off it, none of that now! I'm still the same lass, come here!" The Queen of the Isles said, as Dominik laughed and hugged her, before Cerys smiled and met his eyes. "It's good to see you again, you as well Geralt, and Ciri… gods I can't remember the last time I saw you!"
Geralt nodded to her, and Dominik smiled as he stepped away gesturing towards Ciri with a huge smile still on his face.
"Ciri I believe I should do the honors or re-introducing you to the new Queen of Skellige! Our very own Cerys An Craite, first ever Queen of the Isles," Dominik said dramatically, as Cerys scoffed again, and they all laughed.
Cerys rolled her eyes and looked to Dominik first. "Oh I'll get you for that later! Ciri… it's good to see you."
"You too! Gods Cerys, you're huge!" Ciri said, the smile not leaving her face as she walked forward and hugged the youngest An Craite. "It's so good to see you, to see you both! I must ask… where's Hjalmar?"
"Yeah," Geralt said, cutting in and looking at the two An Craite's. "Thought he's be here with you both. Didn't see him anywhere in town either."
Cerys pulled back from Ciri before her and Crach looked at one another with grim looks. Crach sighed and crossed his arms, his head of ginger hair blowing back in the midday breeze.
"Aye he's not here. He's out sailing, gathering more men from the other Isles," Crach said, before casting a smile down at his daughter. "Cerys here has managed to convince most of the Clans to unite against the Black Ones, Hjalmar is gathering our force…"
"Our work isn't over yet unfortunately, Lugos and the Drummond folk are being as stubborn as ever," Cerys said annoyedly, crossing her arms as she looked at them. "As we see it, either way a fight is coming. Either the Black Ones… or the Wild Hunt from what your knights tell us."
Dominik's eyes widened next to her and Ciri's heart leapt as a smile came to her face. Geralt smiled down at him as well, as hearing he words 'your knights' had made him go all sheepish, laughing nervously as he smiled back at Crach.
"Ha… my knights?" He said, the cute, flustered look on his face. "You mean to say Anton made it? Him and his knights are here?"
Crach laughed and nodded. "Ha indeed he is! A right shock it was when I saw him, even more so when he said you sent him! Him and his men are in the castle, they told us about the fight with the Hunt…"
Geralt looked up and met Crach's eyes. "So that means… you're both going to help us?"
Cerys scoffed again. "Of course we are! We can put our mission against the Black Ones aside, that is… if the Hunt truly is attacking."
Ciri shakily sighed, thinking of the An Craite's, her friends, the people of Skellige fighting for her as well. Like Bella had said, so many people had fought for her, died for her, and now Crach, Cerys, Hjalmar, hundreds of Skelligers, they were all going to fight for her as well, possibly die for her.
She bit her bottom lip, but when Dominik smiled and nodded towards the two An Craite's, hearing his confident tone, it eased her slightly as she saw him nod at them.
"They are… but don't worry, we have a plan," Dominik said, turning and looking over at Geralt. "We appreciate the support… together we're going to blast back to their fucking world."
He looked over and smiled at her, winking and Ciri couldn't help but scoff a small laugh. She could see the confident look on his face as he smiled at her. It was hard to believe that only a few days prior, a few hours prior he had exploded at Avallac'h, Ciri had thought she would have to be the one to calm him down, now here he was doing it for her. Just like he always did, he was making sure that she was alright above all else. He was putting his own worry aside to reassure her.
And she loved him so much for it.
Crach laughed and nodded. "HA, I knew you and Geralt would lad! Gods… if Gregory could see the two of you now…. He'd be proud, damn proud."
Her face got hot as the corners of her lips curled, as she looked up and saw Dominik do the same. She hoped Gregory would be proud, and she had done good with the life she was living now thanks to him. At the mention of his father, she saw Dominik's face fall however, and she knew he was thinking about Bella.
So like he did for her, she reached over and squeezed his hand. The effect worked, as he smiled finally looking at her and then back to Crach.
"I hope he would be too…" Dominik said slowly, as Geralt smiled at them both.
"Oh I know he would lad, your mother as well!" Crach said, smiling as he looked between the three of them. "Now then! What brings the three of you to Kaer Trolde?"
Geralt nodded at them both and turned to Crach. "We actually needed your help. We got a plan in place to summon the Hunt, fight them on our own terms, but to do so we need to find something called the Sunstone, pretty sure Ermion would know where it is."
Ciri quickly nodded in agreement. "Yeah, where is he? I didn't talk to him nearly as much as I would have liked at Kaer Morhen."
Crach looked down to Cerys who quickly nodded to the three of them.
"He's actually out on a mission for me," Cerys said scoffing and crossing her arms much like she had always watched Crach do. "Like I said, Lugos and the Drummond folk are still being stubborn, refuse to join their forces with ours. I sent Ermion to try and negotiate."
She had learned from her time on the Isles, that the Drummond folk had always been at the throats of Crach and the An Craite's. So if Cerys's goal was to unite the Isle against Emhyr, part of her assumed that the Drummond's would even side with the Black Ones.
It gave her some hope however that Ermion was there, and that Cerys was still trying to unite as opposed to go to war. Dominik nodded and looked to Geralt. She did as well and quickly their father nodded.
"Alright, sounds like he could use some help any way," Geralt said, looking to Crach and Cerys. "If he can give us the location of the Sunstone, it won't be long before the fight comes with the Hunt."
Cerys quickly nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Hjalmar should be back by tonight, and with Sir Anton and his knights, we'll have a decent amount of fighters, we should be able to turn the tide of battle."
"Aye! Though we could use some more information," Crach said, crossing his massive arms as he looked at the three of them. "Hjalmar told us some, but we could use information on their numbers, armor, how they fight, more about the plan you all have."
Geralt gestured to Dominik and herself. "Dominik and Ciri can let you guys know more. I should get moving, a decent ride to the Drummond's. You two gonna be okay right?"
Ciri smiled as her father looked down at her, smiling up at Dominik who was doing the same. The idea of spending the day in Kaer Trolde with him was something she had been eager to experience since she was younger. She was also starving, ready for lunch and to see the halls of the castle again. She also wanted to catch up with Cerys, see Anton who was apparently there. She knew as Geralt said, after he retrieved the Sunstone, and Fringilla that night, the fight would be upon them, and it would either be the beginning or the end of a new great journey.
So, she was going to enjoy the little time they had left. She looked up and could see the clouds that she was sure contained snow slowly rolling in. Goosebumps went up her spine as the wind blew, and again she found herself admiring Dominik's handsome face as he nodded at her, and then looked back over to Geralt.
"We'll be alright," He said, before looking back over to Crach and Cerys. "Like he said, I'll explain everything and… I wanted to see Anton too, it was important."
Crach nodded with a smile. "Aye, good luck wolf! And Dominik lad I'll bring you right too him, some of his men are in town, but he should be in the training yard now."
Dominik smiled and looked down towards Ciri. "Wanna come with me? Or do you want to go get some food first."
Ciri's stomach rumbled and she rubbed it. "Could use some food, starving myself. I'll come join you after a bit."
Cerys eagerly smiled and came up next to her. "We just got served lunch before the guardsmen said you were approaching, come on the two of us can go eat. We can catch up too, gods I haven't seen you in ages!"
Ciri loved the idea from the offset. As much as she loved Dominik, Geralt, Faram, George, a part of her was really excited to talk to another friend who was a woman. She loved Freya and thought that it would have been delightful if herself, Cerys and Freya could have lunch. However, Freya was apparently working on her new invention of some kind. She would be sure to see Freya later, however in the moment she loved the idea of having lunch with Cerys.
It was only a few days until she and all the ones she loved would be in the fight of their lives, so she wanted to spend as much time with them as she can. Dominik smiled at the both of them, as she met his eyes and nodded. Geralt next to him nodded, and smiled at Dominik and she, before doing the same with Crach and Cerys.
"Alright, you guys just be careful, I'll see you all later," Her father said, nodding to them all the sun glinting off his swords.
"Be safe Geralt," Dominik said.
"Yeah, good luck," Ciri said as well, before Geralt smiled at them all, before turning and jogging down the path back towards the town.
After Geralt had jogged down the path, Dominik and she smiled at each other, before turning back to the two An Craite's.
Crach clapped his hands together, smiling at them both. "Alrighty then! Dominik lad, Anton should be in the training yard as I said,"
Dominik smiled and nodded. "Alright sounds like a plan. There's… also some stuff I wanted to talk to you about…. Ciri, I'll meet you back in the hall after I'm done?"
Ciri smiled seeing his enthused face. He had a look of genuine excitement on his face, she didn't know exactly what she needed to talk about with Anton. She assumed that he wanted to tell her about Bella, what with Anton having known her well in Cintra as well. Ciri had noticed the change in him, she knew what it was as well.
It was the idea he had been talking about earlier in their room. He had been incredibly sweet then, calming her nerves and after her idea about using their dreams to contact Bella, his mood had shifted. After talking with Avallac'h and the others on the deck, she thought she'd need to calm his nerves. However, whatever his plan was, he must have been either excited by it, or thought that it was an excellent one. She knew he had an idea and it was slowly forming, because of that cute inquisitive look he had. His eyebrows furrowed, he got a giddy smile, and he talked faster. It had been the same way since they were kids, and while he had grown and changed significantly since in some ways, in others he was still that same goofy boy.
She loved that, and whatever he thought he needed to do to help Bella, she would be there for him. It was nice to be able to put aside her thoughts for a while. She of course was still thinking about Avallach's laboratory on Skellige, and she knew it would take very little convincing to make Dominik go with her, however she decided that could wait.
Ciri was going to spend a nice day with her friends and her boyfriend. Everything else could wait for then, she was personally looking forward to the baths they had at Kaer Trolde, along with spending the night with Dominik on the beds with silk sheets. She had teased that their bed in the cabin was good, however her back did slightly ache from it the previous night.
The two of them were both lucky to have Geralt, because now they got one extra day for themselves, and after being apart for so long, even the one day was more than enough.
Ciri went to answer, but Cerys quickly scoffed and came over to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder with a smile.
"Go on, go on! She'll be fine, the two of us will have some time for us girls," Cerys said, smirking at Dominik and her father. "I'm surrounded by you boorish louts all day, and I'm sure Ciri is as well, we'll talk to you both in a bit right Ciri?"
Ciri laughed when she looked at saw the perplexed look on Dominik's smiling face while Crach smiled amusingly.
She walked up to him and leaned up to kiss Dominik's cheek. "She is right, tell Anton I'll come see him in a bit."
Dominik got all red like he normally did and laughed. "Ha… alright. You two enjoy yourself, Crach you said you needed more information?"
Crach laughed, wrapping an arm around Dominik's shoulder. "Aye lad, gods remind me of your father you do. Come on lad, tell me what the battle looks like."
The two walked off, and Ciri couldn't help but smirk and smile at the sight. She remembered how close Crach and Gregory had been whenever Gregory brought her to Skellige. Right away she heard Dominik begin going into details about the Hunt, their numbers, the battle at Kaer Morhen, with Crach eagerly lapping up every word, the sun reflecting off their armor as they walked. Ciri smiled at him fondly, remembering how much she had wished for this very day when she was younger.
"Ahh… I can you're as sodded as he is," Cerys laughed, smiling from next to her, the sun reflecting off her crown. "So you do wear a ring, he told me about the swallow he wears, how you gave them to each other."
Ciri blushed and smiled over at the An Craite, holding the ring around her neck behind her new wolf medallion.
"Yeah… I am," She said, just as she turned to Cerys when Dominik and Crach walked out of view. "He told you the story about it?"
Cerys nodded. "Of course, said it was the last thing he had of you. He's a wonderful friends, saved the clan he did… wouldn't be Queen if not for him and Geralt."
"He told me about that," Ciri said, meeting Cerys's eyes. "He said King Bran's wife tried to frame you all for murder."
"Aye, the bitch did," Cerys said, rolling her eyes before she smiled back at Ciri. "Dominik and Geralt helped us prove what really happened. But even Geralt will say… Dominik was the one who did most of it. He's a great friend but the last time I saw him he was… different."
The wind blew through the loose strands of Ciri's hair as she titled her head. "Different how?"
Cerys's smiled and met her eyes. "Well… he seems… happier now, much happier."
Ciri's heart fluttered in her chest, a crimson hue coming to her cheeks as her hand wrapped around the ring.
"Well I… I'm glad," She said, the smile unable to leave her face as she met Cerys's eyes. "Gods it… it feels like yesterday I was here; I hope it hasn't changed much."
Cerys laughed and smiled gesturing towards the castle gates. "Oh it hasn't much at all! Come on I'll show you, maybe you could tell me more about what's coming, or we can catch up, maybe you can tell me more embarrassing stories about Dominik."
Ciri genuinely laughed, the cool breeze shooting up her arms again. "Oh I have plenty of those! And I want to hear more about you too, like I said, you were so small last time I saw you!"
"Ha, and you were as well! Come on then, let's go get some food," Cerys said happily, leading her along into the castle she had been so eager to come back too.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"Ha! There's no way, he didn't even say a thing?" Cerys laughed, the mug of ale in her hands.
Ciri scoffed as she downed the rest of hers. "Not one word! He stood there shell shocked, girl had him speechless! She was so adorable though."
Cerys smiled and shook her head. "A child surprise, gods that sounds so exciting, aren't you a bit nervous? You're both so young yourselves?"
Ciri had thought about that very topic every day since her and Dominik had come back from Claywitch. She sipped the rest of the ale in her own mug, sighing as she met Cerys's gaze from next to her at the long table in the main hall.
"A little bit yes I'll admit," She said, placing the mug back to the table and taking another bit out of the apple she had gotten along with her lunch. "But she's older, thirteen, she can mostly fend for herself, it's not like she's a newborn."
Cerys smiled and nodded. "And Dominik's excited for it as well?"
She giddily smiled, scoffed a laugh and nodding. "I'd like to think so. He's dreadfully nervous I can tell but… he was great with her when we were there. Besides, I trust him, more than anyone."
"Aye… I can see the way he looked at you, and how he spoke," Cerys said, finished her own ale as she leaned back in her seat. "And the way you look at him as well, never seen two people smile at each other so much!"
Ciri got slight red as she poured herself more ale. The crackle of the fire in the hearth at the center of the feast hall was just as lovely as she remembered. It was a nice change from the chilly wind outside. Just before Cerys and she had come in, the clouds which Ciri knew had to have a light flurry of snow or rain had been getting closer. Cerys had been right when she said lunch was already being served, and Ciri gorged herself on lobster, crab, vegetables, all the delicacy's she had missed in the years since she had been to Skellige.
Cerys had been great company, and Ciri still couldn't believe how the girl had grown. She had told Ciri all about bringing the clans together to the fight the Black Ones, her quest to be a different type of ruler. It was surprising to Ciri that she was running into these kinds of rulers, first there was Adda and now Cerys. She wondered what could really happen if all the major powers of the continent had a similar way of thinking. Cerys wanted peace, prosperity, Adda wanted a better continent for humans, non-humans and mages all.
However, of course Emhyr stood in the way, wanting it all for himself. Ciri had found herself telling Cerys basically everything, parts of her time alone, what had happened since she reunited with Dominik on the Isle of Mists, even that Emhyr had wanted her, wanted her to abdicate the throne to her. Cerys had told her about how for weeks the ships had been sailing in, and Hjalmar was still mustering the forces, the first skirmish was going to be soon, Hjalmar and Crach were going to lead a raid on the Black Ones fleet, but they stopped when Anton had come and told them of the Wild Hunt.
Now she was sure Dominik, Crach and Anton were having a thrilling conversation about troop movements, numbers and formations. Dominik didn't speak of it often since he didn't need to use it much, but she knew he had a great knowledge of battle tactics, formations, weapons that would be effective. He had learned much from Gregory, who if not for she knew Cintra would have fallen even sooner to the Black Ones. She remembered she learned Gregory had managed to cut off the Black Ones advance towards the city by using a feigned retreat maneuver with a group of knights, delaying the Black Ones, and allowing more citizens to escape.
Ciri didn't exactly know what a feigned retreat was, but she knew that between Dominik, Anton, Crach, Geralt, all the others they had, the perfect plan would be put in place. She also knew that Dominik was still reeling inside from Kaer Morhen, his planning at the keep. He believed he still was responsible for the deaths of Arno, Declan, Folan and Vigi, and now he would more then likely see this as an even bigger task.
Which was why it amazed her even more that he had managed to smile still. Through it all, he was worried about her nerves, calming her. It had done wonders for her, it truly had. Every night she laid awake thinking about it, that everyone was there because of her, to try and save her along with the continent. Having him there, having everyone had been invaluable. The previous few nights, making love, laying together in bed with Dominik, it had been even more calming.
The sex the previous few nights had also been part of the reason, as Cerys had put it, they were smiling at each other so much.
"Ha… yeah, we're going to be great for her, I know we are," She said confidently, sighing as she shook her head and downed more ale. "But first… we must deal with the matter at hand."
Cerys smiled at her before grimly nodding. "Aye… thought the Black Ones were all we'd have to deal with at first."
"I'm sorry…" Ciri said, shaking her head and meeting the Queen's eyes. "If I weren't here, then they wouldn't be… they've been after me."
"Bah come off it!" Cerys said with a scoff, smirking at her. "You're family, me da's said so enough. We fight for our own, with everything we have. Besides, Hjalmar told us about Kaer Morhen, if we let the Hunt get you, we don't only lose you, but then they'll invade as well! I can put aside my petty war for the greater good."
Ciri smiled, nodding in appreciation. "That means more then you'll ever know…I just hope fighting the Hunt doesn't leave you exposed to Emhyr afterwards."
Cerys waved the concern off. "No need to worry about that. I know you've been avoiding telling me, but I'm aware. We're going to have to fight besides them, even if it's only for one battle. I'm more worried about that battle, but even so, afterwards us and Emhyr will be affected the same way."
A breath of relief shot from Ciri as she slumped back in the chair as well. That had been one of the things she had been thinking about since Yen had told them they'd unfortunately need to at least let Emhyr think he would get what he wants. She didn't like the idea of fighting with Nilfgaardeans, only for the fact that it did put her so close to Emhyr. Ciri still would never be able to believe how arrogant one man could be, how Emhyr could possibly think that she would be interested in even being in the same room as him after what he had done. First he had not been there her entire life, she also learned that he was the reason her mother Pavetta was dead. After that of course he had chased her, ordered her hunted down and kidnapped, all so he could rape her, force her to marry him and have a child with him.
She had no idea how anyone could possibly think she'd go to him after that, on top of it all he had ordered Dominik assassinated. Ciri would never go near him, and she hoped that Adda and then Cerys when things were over smashed everything he had built.
"Thank you again," Ciri said with a sigh, looking out through the stain glassed windows and smiling. "It should only be another day or two until that comes… we'll defeat them, I know we will. Eredin will figure out he picked the wrong world."
She smiled back to Cerys who's eyes widened as she eagerly nodded.
"I'm sure we will! Between all of us, they don't stand a chance," The Queen said, leaning forward and meeting Ciri's eyes. "Is what Hjalmar told me true? Did Dominik really get that scar on his face fighting the King of the Wild Hunt?"
A sheepish, embarrassed laugh left her. "Ha… he did. I… I was hurt, couldn't help him but… but he fought him. It was horrifying, he nearly died."
"But he didn't, he's alive, and so are you," Cerys assured her, smiling as she crossed her arms with a small smirk coming to her face. "He really loves you, a lot."
"He does, and I love him," She said with a smile, as she sighed and looked out the window again, towards what she hoped was the training yard. "I do hope seeing Anton will help him a bit, considering how he's been the previous few days."
"What do you mean?" Cerys said.
She bit her lip and met Cerys's eyes, knowing Dominik wouldn't mind her of all people knowing. "Well… we both figured out something horrible…"
Ciri went on to tell Cerys about Bella. Even telling the story still made her stomach turn, so she could imagine how Dominik was still feeling. Their last night in Novigrad, and the previous night she had seen him getting better and better. His mood had improved, but still at times she had seen him simply sitting and staring be it at the ceiling or wall. She knew he was thinking about her, what he could do to help her. Yen said they needed to help the fake memories Bella had fade away, they needed to somehow remind her of what was true.
But like Yen had also said, the psychological damage was what was worse in Dominik's sister. No, she's your sister too, don't forget that she thought to herself quickly. It was the truth, Bella was her sister back in Cintra, her sister by choice. And she also planned on spending the rest of her life with Dominik, so that made Bella her sister now at well. Ciri knew the best was she herself could help get her back, was to be there for Dominik. Bella wanted to kill her yes, but she still had a spot for her brother, Ciri had seen it. Bella had been so close to taking Dominik's hand, if not for his slip of the tongue she would have.
And when the next time came for Dominik to face Bella, which they both knew was coming, it would be when that prophecy Dominik received would come to pass. He would have to make a choice that would decide Bella's fate, decide their family's fate. She knew he was worrying about it, so as their friends, and Geralt and Yen both told her, the best thing she could do, was to just be there. He had always done whatever he could to make sure she was always smiling, at her best, so that was what she needed to do for him now, more then ever. She hadn't been able too for a long time, it was something she had felt horrible about. However, she was there now, and she'd make it up to him.
Cerys sighed and shook her head. "Gods above his sister…. Da told me that Gregory had a daughter as well… poor Dominik. I couldn't imagine something like that."
"It was horrible… he was a wreck for that day," Ciri said with a sigh. "I know it's still affecting him now. But… he's pushing through it for my sake, I know he is."
Cerys nodded to her. "Aye, it seems like the kind of person he is. Still… it's amazing how he can be smiling like I saw him; it says a lot about how much he cares for you."
"It is the type of person he is, and I love him for it," Ciri said, but sighing as she leaned back in the chair and shook her head. "But he's going to have to fight Bella again, and… now I need to be there for him."
"And you are!" Cerys assured her, reaching over and placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's like I told you outside, I can already see the difference in him with you just being here."
"I know it is, but… I just feel I need to do something more," Ciri said, biting her lip as she begun to think, sighing as she drank more ale. "I have some business I need to take care of before the fight starts, and I know he does as well. We came here to spend some time with each other, with you, Crach and Hjalmar before the battle."
Cerys eyes widened as she stood and smiled. "You picked the perfect night then! We're having a feast tonight! It's a Skellige tradition before a battle, I'll set a place at the head table for you both, get you a room set up! I assume you came on Witcher Faram's ship, it has to be better than the cabins there."
The idea again of a night with a feast, a Skelligan one at that with Dominik was something that certainly would be calming to them both. Being so close, so close to the fight that only a short while ago felt so far off was taxing on both of them she knew. It had felt like yesterday that they were all at Kaer Morhen, waiting for Dominik to recover, training and spending time with one another, the two of them, Geralt and all their friends. She could remember sitting with Geralt and watching a drunken Dominik, George, Faram and Freya all arm wrestling, stumbling over themselves.
She could remember seeing him for that first time on the Isle of Mists. Holding him, his first words to her, him checking if she was real. It had all felt like yesterday, but even in such a short time they had come so far. Now, they had everything they needed to fight the Hunt, Geralt would get the Sunstone and Fringilla, and then after that they would go to fight. She estimated two to three days, and finally, finally it would be there. They would succeed, they had too, and finally they would get there life.
The idea of all the places her and Dominik would go made her feel like a giddy little girl. Her and the man she loved, and soon they'd have Fiona as well. She had thoughts the previous days about what it would be like, bringing her to Kaer Morhen, bringing her to see all the places they had been too, they'd even bring her there to Kaer Trolde. No, Ciri wouldn't let Eredin chase her anymore, let the Hunt chase her anymore.
Her life was her own now, and she knew exactly how she wanted to spend it. That night at Kaer Trolde would be another preview of the life they would have. A feast, followed by a night in a cozy room, a large fire, more then likely a bath, making love and then her favorite thing, simply laying with one in each other's arms. The simple pleasures in life that they had missed so many year of since they had been apart.
Ciri got up from her spot as well, the smile coming back to her face. "That sounds wonderful, it's actually what we were hoping for. Will Hjalmar be back by then? Me, and I know Dominik would without a doubt want to see him."
"He should be yes. Sir Anton and all his knights as well," Cerys explained, the smile not leaving her face. "It's also lucky you showed up, we were going to need to explain our plan to everyone anyhow. With the two of you here that's easier."
"That's brilliant then," Ciri said excitedly, smiling as she adjusted the sword on her back.
She didn't like to consider herself a lucky person, what kind of person who had been through what she had would consider her as such? No, generally she wasn't lucky, however, now and then, like in moments like that she did consider herself so. After everything she and Dominik had been through, all the work they'd done, they deserved a night like that. Geralt and Yen had both said they don't mind if they were out later. Avallac'h perhaps would pitch a fit, but Ciri couldn't care less, the next day she wanted to head out to his lab anyhow.
No, it would be as she told Dominik earlier. They'd get to spend the night in a large bath and on silk sheets. It would be nice to have that one night, so yes she was lucky then. She thought that the night in Novigrad would be their last peaceful one, but perhaps the universe was doing her a favor again.
"Aye, it'll be wonderful, just like when we were kids again," Cerys said happily, gesturing out towards the doors towards the hall again. "Speaking of them all, I recon we should go and find them. I want to hear what you both have to say as well, but this was nice. You off all people will know how grating spending all your time with my da and brother can be!"
Ciri scoffed a laugh, unable to stop smiling. "Ha, that I do. I assume the feast isn't until later tonight?"
"It won't be no, why do you ask?" Cerys said.
Ciri looked outside again, seeing the sun gently begin to be covered by the clouds. She had been excitedly thinking about the possibility, and now seeing the snow coming, and having felt the cold outside, she knew that that same lake had to have been frozen over by now.
A wicked smirk came to her face, she had been looking for ways to help Dominik feel better, to calm his nerves. She had loved seeing the smile on his face earlier, and before he went off with Crach had been amazing, he had the most adorable smile when he got excited. And now with that final confrontation so close, she knew a day like this would be the perfect thing he needed before the fight came.
She had wondered as well how much better he had gotten.
"Well… I was hoping to do something with Dom before later tonight," She said, the smile growing as her hands went to her hips. "I remember Hjalmar and you always kept skates around, do you have any extra pairs?"
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"HA! Ciri this is awesome, I can't believe our luck," He said next to her strapping he skate to his foot before he turned to smirk at her. "Never thought I'd be saying that!"
She scoffed a laughed and took a second to take in the sight of his handsome smiling face. The sun was covered by the clouds, but it casted enough light through them to cast a beautiful glow over his scared face. She also took a moment to laugh, realizing more and more by the day they truly did have matching scars, just on opposite cheeks. It was hard to believe just a few weeks prior that scar was killing him, the blood loss being too much, his cheek nearly in half. Now, it was still much darker then hers, but healed over now, it still however didn't detract at all from how handsome it was.
After saying hello to Anton herself, who was absolutely delighted to see her, she had drug Dominik to get skates, to his absolute delight. They had taken the time to explain more about the Hunt, their numbers, and the situation with Bella to Anton. Anton had been aghast learning Bella wasn't only alive, but that she had been alive in the city the morning he tried to find a foothold in the city, and he hadn't found her or Sofia's body. She still didn't know what Dominik had asked him about, but after seeing the excited look he had gotten when she told him they would go skate, she didn't want to bring any of it up. She'd ask him how he was feeling and try to calm his nerves once they began skating yes, but in that moment she couldn't.
The lake that her and Hjalmar had used to skate on, not more than two miles out from Kaer Trolde hadn't changed. The ice they check wasn't the thickest, but it was more then enough to hold the both of them. They both still wore their swords out of habit after their skates were strapped on as they sat on the bank just on the ice's edge. The clouds above kept rolling in, and she smiled as the gentle snow that fell got caught up in Dominik's hair, as he excitedly tied his second skate, that excited goofy look plastered to his face. The wind chopped through her loose strands of hair, as she finished tying her own skate and tightened her bun. Seeing him smile at a time like they were in, just like it always had melted her worries as well.
The two of them would have a few hours until the feast started at Kaer Trolde, and Ciri planned on making them count. After tying her last skate, she smiled as she looked over at him.
"Well I'm glad you're excited," She smirked, leaning over and kissing his cheek before getting up to her feet and balancing herself on the skates. "Come on handsome I'll get to showing you the ropes again,"
He scoffed and grabbed her hand as she helped him up. He stood up straight, he was still only half a head taller than her, but as he looked down at her she felt like he dwarfed her for a moment. Her face suddenly got hot as he smirked at her and laughed, gently grabbing her hand.
"Oh you don't need to show me the ropes, been practicing since our last time," He said, as they both balanced and got out onto the ice. "Hunted a barbegazi in Kovir one time, led it out onto the ice, bombs did the trick after that."
Ciri scoffed right away as he gently glided ahead of her. "A barbegazi? Not a chance, even Geralt and Vesemir said they have trouble with those!"
He turned back and very impressively back skated, which he always had trouble with when they were younger. She gently glided herself over the ice slowly after him. He crossed his arms and scoffed, smiling the entire time as he looked at her.
"I'm telling the truth! I was… 20, so only two years ago," He said, his messy brown hair blowing to the side, the snow getting caught up in it. "I was up in Kovir, some miners were having trouble with tunnels collapsing, said it was some giant worm, asked me to take care of it."
"Fighting one in a cave or mine is suicide, even for someone like Geralt," Ciri said, an impressed smile coming to her face as she followed him.
"Oh yeah I know, I learned that the hard way, thing nearly killed me the first time around. Had to figure out another way to deal with it, so I improvised," He said with a shrug as he came to a stop in the center of the lake.
Ciri gently skated up to him, the feeling of the ice zipping under her feet flashing her back to all the times that they had done it together. The wind brushed through the loose strands of her ashen hair, as she came up in front of him. It felt like they were children again for a moment, as she reached up and wrapped her arms around him, smiling as right away she felt his arms wrap around her waist, the small bit of sun coming through the clouds still casting that handsome glow over him.
She smirked and looked up at him. "So, I take it 'improvising' was something you had to do often on the Path?"
He scoffed and smiled. "Oh yeah, all the time. I don't have mutations, so the 'brute strength' option that Geralt and some others use normally didn't work for me. I had to find other ways to deal with monsters, bombs, oils, traps."
"So how'd you end up getting the barbegazi?" She asked curiously.
A smirk came to his face before he sighed, the smile staying there as he held her. "Covered myself in blood, guts, other things it likes. Tossed a few bombs in its hole and ran like hell."
"Mhm… and the impenetrable shell that no sword could pierce?" She said, holding him and being careful to keep her balance as they held each other.
"Knew I couldn't pierce it," He said, before smirking and looking down at their feet. "But… there was a frozen lake not far from the mine. Blew the bombs, ran like hell, got skates on, and well… let's just say the ice wasn't thick enough to support it."
Ciri scoffed, the smile staying plastered as she looked at him. "Dominik that's brilliant. The ice didn't collapse under you?"
"Oh it did, like right away," He said amusingly, before looking deep into her eyes and smiling fondly at her. "Crack came right between me and the bank, but… I remembered you teaching me how to distribute my weight, what foot to land on when I jump…. Managed to get over."
Her face got hot as his handsome gaze bore into her. That smile, it had been something she missed more than most things in the years she spent alone. The fact that even small things like skating she had taught him had helped keep him alive, just like things he taught her had kept her alive, it was a way of keeping him with her.
She smiled and laughed. "Ha… and how'd you get the trophy?"
He shrugged. "Some of the miners saw me, got paid a good amount for it. A lot of things you taught me saved me over the years."
"The same goes for you," She said quickly, not letting go of his neck. "Just a few weeks ago, when I got lost with Gretka in Crookback Bog, I remembered what you taught me about Polaris."
"The north star," He said fondly, smiling at her and nodded. "Mother used to say, if you find Polaris-."
"You can always find your way home," She said softly, running a hand through his hair after too much snow had caught up on it, not taking her smile away from him. "Looks like we've been saving each other for much longer than we thought."
"Basically since I met you…. Have… I told you how much I missed you yet?" He said innocently.
She laughed and nodded. "Ha… yes… yes you did… and I missed you too…. You know, I… told Fiona, that I think… the time alone made us stronger in a way."
"It did," He said, a shiver running down her spine as his thumb gently trailed over her scar, his handsome smile not leaving her. "Because I went through those eight years without you… well I know I can do just about anything now."
"You're sweet… I feel the same. I missed those compliments of yours…"
"Which ones?"
"All of them," She said cheekily, smirking at him. "Your eyes light up, you get this cute look on your face, you get all red… and you'll give me an over the top compliment."
He scoffed, his lips getting closer to hers. "Oh yeah? Like when I used to call you the most beautiful, amazing, bravest girl in the world?"
"Yes… just like that," She said, her eyes closing as she kissed him.
In the middle of the lake they stayed like that for a few moments. Her cold chapped lips got warmer as his gently moved over hers. It was the same thing that always happened when he kissed her. Pleasant tingles ran down her neck, through her stomach, her arms, her legs. It was slow, passionate, and like every time he kissed her, he put everything he could into it. She could feel how much that moment meant to him. He smiled into her lips and pulled her closer, wrapping his arms tight around her waist.
She scoffed a laugh into his lips and wrapped tighter around his neck as he attacked her lips again. For a moment they were both children out on the lake outside Kaer Morhen again. It had been one of their favorite places to sneak off in the winter on days they weren't training. She had originally taught him to skate in Cintra, but in Kaer Morhen they had gone out even more. It was just like the moment they were having then; she'd lead him on shaky legs out to the center, and they'd simply glide with one another, kissing and holding each other. She would never forget the second time they kissed, after she had the first time near the pendulums. That first kiss had been sloppy, he was nervous beyond belief like she had been, however those two minutes or so they kissed after that she would never forget.
After that was when they began 'dating', and the trips sneaking out of bed and out of the castle picked up. Some of her favorite times had been in the winter, out on that frozen lake, just like that moment then was high up on her list of moments she'd love since they had been back. She truly was beginning to believe she'd smiled more in the last month then she had in the last eight years combined. She didn't find herself wondering about the what if's as she kissed him then, only on the fact that she was in his arms, that she was there, and their life would soon begin, and the rest of their lives would be what they always dreamed.
However, first they needed to make it past the first two days. Buzzing like a young girl she gently pulled back from his lips her own tingling.
She scoffed a small laugh as she looked up at him, her arms still around his neck. "So… what was it you wanted to ask Anton about? Oh, and what about Crach, did you tell him-."
"Ciri," He said, cutting her off with a smile.
A small nervous laugh left her as she looked at him. "Yes…."
He leaned down and kissed her again, his one hand cupping her scared cheek. "I don't want to worry about any of that right now…. I just want to focus on you, on us."
Ciri melted into his arms as she not red and laughed.
"Ha… you suck up…" She said, leaning and kissing him this time, slowly pulling back and meeting his eyes. "That was really sweet… thank you…"
He smiled and got all flustered, his face getting beat red as he nervously chuckled. "Ha… thank… thank um… thanks for-."
"AHA, gods, I love it when you get like that," She said, leaning forward and pressing another kiss to his lips, before pushing away from him. "Come on handsome, show me some of those moves that have help you slay beasts most foul!"
She back skate away from him, gliding perfectly, as he laughed and did the same, getting a distance away from her. That look on his face, the enthusiastic smile, that loving gaze as he glided and looked at her, it was worth every single bad thing that had happened to her.
"Alright princess check this out! Picked this up a few years ago!" He said excitedly, skating towards her and speeding past.
She laughed as his blowing past her blew her strands of hair. With an impressed look, the snow still gently falling as he performed a series of very impressive moves. He spun and leapt, landing gracefully on his feet. She simply watched, knowing that even if he was surprisingly nimble she could still skate circles around him. However, she still impressed as he zipped past her again and spun before back skating past and winking at her.
Scoffing a laugh Ciri finally took off on her own skates. The lake was large, with a small range of hills jutting out over one side, but the banks all around the rest. The route they had come from Kaer Trolde led down on another path while forests surrounded the rest. Snow gathered up on the banks, catching up on her scarf, and in her hair as she zoomed past him, leaving him completely in the dust as she spun and skated backwards while looking at him.
"Well well well, all those years of practice and you still can't catch up with me!" She said, smirking and laugh after she saw him roll his eyes and speed up.
She slowed down and let him catch up, he tried to catch her, pick her up, but with a quick spin and leapt she got out of his way and laughed again.
"Haha, where did you even go to practice?" She said, looking at him as she skated backwards with him following her. "Find it hard to believe you had time just to practice skating."
He finally caught up to her and seemed slight annoyed she was just as fast skating backwards as he was skating forward as they both turned and glided back towards the center.
Dominik however, managed a smile as they approach the center of the lake again. "In Ellander. You see… every year after you went missing, around your birthday I'd go spend time there… you know… be in the last spot we were together. Skated out on the lake each time."
She broke with the heel of her skate, ice shooting up from her foot. Her stomach tingled, her skin grew warm, as a new crimson red color came to her cheeks. She hadn't done anything like that for him, she had been so busy running that all she could do was hold and look at the ring during the night. She had thought about him through it all, the Rats, the Arena, Tir'Nala, Stygga Castle. Each night she wondered what he was doing, a part of her thought that he was with Geralt looking for her, but at Stygga she had learned he had gone to look for her himself, not stopping for a single day. Dominik told her how much he regretted it, regretted leaving Geralt and not being at Stygga.
However, she had still found the fact he had gone by himself, walked the path of a witcher by himself for eight years alone, just to look for her. He had done all of that for her, gone through all that hell for her, and while he thought it was foolish, Ciri found it as another way he showed his love for her.
She stopped in the center of the lake again as he gliding towards her, he came a blistering pace, skating faster than she had seen him.
"Woah easy princess!" He yelled, as he broke with the heel of his skate as well, but he always did have trouble stopping when he was young.
"Easy!" Ciri laughed, grabbing him as he yelled and almost fell past her.
She grabbed onto his arm and whirled him back around, the ice from beneath their skates shooting up at them both.
"GAHH!" He yelled, as she yanked him back up just before he could hit the ground, she pulled on his arm and regain his balance.
He came up and breath a sigh of relief, looking at her and smiling, and Ciri laugh, seeing him out of breath, red and embarrassed. He had a handsome face, sharp jaw, high cheekbones, and of course those gorgeous eyes. However, in that moment she smiled, her heart thumping beneath her breasts as when she looked at him, she could practically see them both as kids.
She thought about him going to Ellander every year, skating on that beautiful frozen lake alone, like they used to do together. She could see him holding the swallow, looking at it as he glided along the ice, each year not seeing her, but still holding out that hope to find her, not giving up on her. Each year he grew, and each year he didn't see her again and again. Now, they were there together, there together on the ice, and Ciri could still see that goofy boy she had fallen in love with back then.
She bit her lip, nervously shaking her head at him, her lips inches from his again. "Dominik that… that's incredibly sweet I… I had no idea that-. Haha hey stop put me down!"
He reached under her legs and picked her up, smirking wildly at her the whole time.
"Ha, Dominik! Stop put me down, you can barely stop yourself let alone with- AHH!" She said, laughing, wrapping her arms tighter around his neck as he took off.
"Hold on princess! Better hang on tight, or I may drop you!" He said, skating and spinning with her in his arms.
She laughed, feeling the cold wind hit up against her face, banging on his back with her gloved fists her heart racing.
"Ha, but I thought you promised you'd never let me go!" She said, smirking at him as he went around with her in another large circle.
He came breaking to a stop, out of breath as he smirked at her in his arms. "And I won't… it's like I've told you before princess, you're stuck with me, hope don't mind."
Ciri bit her lip, her hand resting on his chest as he held her like a bride in his arms, the snow gently falling over them both. She leaned her lips and gently kissed his holding her one hand over his scarred cheek.
"Well… I think I can tolerate you for a bit longer," She said slowly, smirking as she met his eyes. "Under… one condition that is."
"Oh yeah?" He said cheekily his lips inches from hers as he smiled handsomely at her. "What would that be milady?"
Biting her lip again, she took in the handsome look on his face. She loved it when he had that look on his face. When she teased him, gently held her hands near his trousers or made jokes he'd always get that goofy look on his face, get all flustered, and she assumed that no matter how old they got he'd always do that.
However, when he got the smile he had no on his face she loved it as well. She gently leaned forward and pecked his lips again, holding her hands around his neck as she pulled her lips up to his ear.
"Only if… you be my date to the feast at Kaer Trolde later," She said, as right away he scoffed and nodded.
"Of course milady I'd be honored," He said softly, his lips coming up to kiss her, but Ciri pulled back, smirking as she looked into his eyes a suggestive look to her own.
"Oh no mister, that's not the only stipulation," She said softly again.
A small laughed left him. "Oh yeah… what else is there?"
She leaned in and kissed him deeply, pressing her lips onto his with as much force as she could muster. Gently she pulled her lips back from him letting them linger together for as long as they could. Every minute sent a tingle down her stomach, through her neck, chest, her core and legs as he gripped under her thighs while he held her.
Carefully she leaned and whispered in his ear. "Me and you take a bath, a long one, and I get to pick the wine this time."
A part of her expected him to get flustered, stutter over his words, it was adorable when that happened. However, she was shocked when a small moan left her after he gently kissed the side of her neck, before letting her gently down to her skates.
He kept a hold of her and kissed her again on the lips. "I think that can be arranged… can I get a preview of what you're picking?"
"Kaedweny? Like we tried to steal at Kaer Morhen, not very strong, so maybe you won't get drunk as fast," She said, her hands gently traveling down to rest on the chest of his armor.
A smirk came to him as he scoffed. "You kidding? I won't drink enough to get drunk… I wouldn't wanna forget tonight now would I?"
She lightly laughed, smiling as her stomach heated up, leaning her lips close to his again. "No… I don't think you will, we have a long few days ahead of us… we may as well make this night last right?"
"Ha, that we should princess," He said, leaning down and kissing her before he pulled back and smiled at her. "Let's make tonight last like you said. I… actually had something important I wanted to ask you."
She gently pulled his arm and they carefully glided across the ice together. Ciri looked up at him as he continued smiling at her and nodded.
"Of course, what is it?" She said, as they gently went around in a circle.
He sighed and looked down at her as they pulled to a stop. "Well… I think I have a full plan now… you know, from what you suggested about Bella."
Her eyes widened, a smile coming to her face. "Dom that's brilliant, what do you need from me, you know I'll always be there for you, and for Bella too."
He leaned down and pecked her lips with a smile. "Thanks princess…. I wanted to go back to the village on Undvik I saw. And with Anton's help… I know exactly what dream I want to try and send her now. I… I think I can find something in Alexander's journal to help. I… wanted to know if you, Geralt and Yen would go with me…"
Ciri smiled, eagerly nodding. "Of course i will, and I know they will too. Dominik this is perfect, it's going to work, I know it is."
Pulling her close he smiled. "Thanks princess, if… if I can just show her, get the dream to her then… then maybe it'll be different at the battle."
She knew that was what he wanted the most. He wanted to try and get through to Bella like he almost had in the forest. If she could talk to Bella herself, tell her how sorry she was, tell her how she'd do anything to make it right she would. However, she didn't think she would last more than a few minutes without Bella trying to kill her. Dominik had assured her, promised her Bella wouldn't, not matter how much she claimed she would.
However, as much as Ciri wanted to believe him, she had seen that Bella and Dominik were similar in many ways other than just their appearance.
Both of them had trouble controlling their powers, the powers they had gotten from Alexander. She had seen what Dominik could do, how much power he could unleash upon his enemies and upon himself if he didn't properly control his emotions when those powers unleashed. When he was angry, when his emotions were erratic and all over the place, so was his magic. His power had almost unleashed on Avallac'h a few days prior, and it would have caused damage to much more than just the sage if it had. Other times as well, during Kaer Morhen, in Claywitch, and she was sure that other times when she wasn't around, his powers had gone erratic and helped him fight yes, but also almost killed him.
Luckily for Dominik, Ciri had been there to calm him, help him gain control of his emotions before he could kill Avallac'h. Also at Claywitch, he had her and Fiona there, so he was able to calm himself with them both around him. Other times as well, he had the likes of her, Geralt, Yennefer, Triss, their friends all to help calm him, help him regain control of his emotions.
Bella also had trouble controlling her powers, she had powers just as great as Dominik did. At first Ciri had thought that Bella could possibly have more control, more power then him. However, she had concluded, that they both possessed the same amount of power. That night in the forest she had seen it erratically unleash from them both, almost killing them that night. However, Dominik had come out on top for one simple reason.
Because Ciri was there, and he gained control of his emotions as his power unleashed. Dominik had people around him to calm him, to help him gain control of his emotions, who cared about him and didn't wish to see his powers kill him. Herself, Geralt, Yen, his friends, they all worked to help him better control his power, his emotions, and as a result, Dominik was getting closer to having full, true control over the power from Alexander.
Bella however, had none of that. She was surrounded by ones who only wished to get the most power out of her. Eredin and the Hunt only cared about how much power Bella would unleash, and with Bella's anger, resentment, feelings of being alone and thirst for someone to blame for her misfortunes on it made her extremely powerful. However, that power that came from Bella when her emotions were that frantic, Ciri had seen what it did to Dominik. The power would eventually kill her, burn her out and leave her exposed and easily vulnerable.
Dominik had Ciri and their family, teaching him to control his powers, keep calm so that the powers didn't kill him. Bella, meanwhile, had people who only cared about how much power they could squeeze out of her, and eventually it would kill her.
But her and Dominik would never let that happen, they weren't.
She leaned up and smiled at him, wiping some of the snow from his hair. "It will… we're going to get her back. We won't let anything happen to her… and Eredin's going to pay for it."
He smiled and gently stroke his thumb along her scar. "We will… thanks princess…. So, was there anything else that you wanted to do? To prepare for the fight. Or do you want to just laze around, eat chocolate, drink wine and have sex for the next few days?"
Ciri scoffed a laughed leaning against his chest as they did together. She smiled and looked up at him again, her face slightly red as she slowly stopped. Quickly at his words she remembered Avallach's lab and nodded.
"As lovely as that sounds, I actually did have something I wanted to do," She told him, gently moving from him and holding her hands on her hips as she looked at him. "You may actually like it, I wanted to-."
She was cut off by a loud *WHOOSH* of wind blowing past her, knocking her off balance as Dominik quickly caught her. A particularly cold chill went up her spine as the wind howled, and they both looked around them, a thicker white fog had rolled in over the frozen lake, and after regaining her balance she surveyed around the lake, barely able to see a thing other then the faint outline of the bank.
"Woah… seems like a decent storms rolling in," Dominik said as he held onto her.
Ciri scoffed and nodded, looking up at him. "You're right, we should probably head back, besides, I think the feast should be starting soon anyway, and we have a date."
She smirked up at him and Dominik smiled at her. He laughed and nodded, leaning down and kissing her cheek, his skates raking against the ice as he backed up, the smile not leaving his face.
"Ha wouldn't miss it for the world," He said, back skating again as he laughed. "Ha, one more spin, check this out princess I finally got that pirouette on one foot you taught me down!"
She scoffed a laugh and rolled her eyes with a smile. "Dominik come on! Show me later, we need to-wait!"
He skated off and leapt before she could catch him, a smirk coming to her face as she listened to him laughed, his skates scraping against the ice. She knew that they needed to leave, however she was impressed with a double pirouette he did, before landing and gliding further off into he fog. Scoffing as she watched his outline skate in the fog she slowly clapped her hands.
"Ha, very nice indeed, a double pirouette? You've almost caught up to me," She said, as the sound of him laughing got more distance as she skated towards his silhouette. "You may need to drop a few pounds before you get a triple! Dominik! Dom, come on come back, we need to leave!"
She didn't hear him laughing anymore, and she pulled up on her skates, as another intense breeze hit her face. It almost knocked her off balance, a gust of snow blasting through her hair, even knocking her bun loose. Her ashen locks fell down her shoulders, and she shivered as she reached her gloved hands up to tie her hair back into its bun. Her eyes narrowed in the mist around her as the wind slowly came to a speed in which she could easily balance herself. Gently her skates glided beneath her as she narrowed her eyes into the fog around her. The silence was as dense as solid earth. Ciri couldn't see his silhouette, his outline, hear his voice, not even distantly as the fog began to get thicker and thick around her, to where she could almost hardly see her hands in front of her.
The ice built up around the tips of her ears, as she gently skated into the white fog, unable to even see where the banks of the frozen lake were. The snow started coming down quicker, the howling wind picked up and for a moment she skated and spun in place, her heart pounding so loudly in her chest she could hear it over the wind.
"Dom! Dominik! Dom, this isn't funny where's you go!" She yelled, as all she continued to be able to see was the fog around her. "Dominik! If you can hear me yell or follow my voice! If this is your stupid attempt at a joke I swear…"
Again nothing but wind. Ciri focused every bit of her hearing, the hearing she had spent to long training. The cold became more and more intense, as she felt her ears freezing up, going red, but she ignored it and kept herself balanced as she listened.
The fog, the ice, skates, the wind, momentarily by herself, it all flashed her back.
"You've been in this situation before…." She said slowly to herself, shaking her head as she closed her eyes and focused her hearing past the howling wind. "Come on… come Ciri…"
She could practically feel her ears unlocking as the wind gushed into them. She focused past the howling for any signs of any type of movement. Her skates stayed still; her balance impeccable as it always was. Her hair gently blew as the wind seemed to finally die down, but the fog kept up. She remembered all the lessons; she and Dominik had been in to fine tune their hearing. That lesson with Eskel had been one of the most bizarre she had ever been in, however, looking back on it now it was invaluable.
Eskel had taken her and Dominik both into the mountains, and simply had them meditate. She knew of course mutated witchers could mediate for hours at a time without needing to move, however a twelve-year-old Ciri and Dominik couldn't exactly do that very well, they had trouble even staying still for a few minutes. However, Eskel had drilled it into them, had them sit, mediate, focus on the sounds of the forest, the different animals, the birds, the wolves, foxes, and even the screeches of forktails. And then, after a few hours he'd quiz them on which sounds were which. That had been the easy part, after that was when he took blunt arrows, and instructed them to listen for the sound of the arrow whooshing past them and when they did, they'd have to dodge.
It may have seemed harsh, but Ciri had always loved that lesson, and it paid off in the end, in that moment in particular.
"Been through this before… gonna give you once chance to leave," Dominik's distant voice hit her ears. "Stay, and I'll kill you like I did the last two groups… got more important things to worry about then Emhyr…."
"You will address the Emperor-."
"By his full title or not at all, yes the last group said the same thing," Dominik's voice distantly rang again. "God he's like a child, now get out of here… aw shit…"
His voice was followed by the shaving off ice on the ground. She looked up into the fog, and saw a flash of fire, and she knew that no assassin could have launched flames, so she knew had to be Dominik casting Igni. Her mind raced, her skin growing hot as right away she kicked her skates, and nearly fell forward she tried to move so fast.
"DOMINIK!" She screamed out into the fog, trying to follow the blast of fire she saw.
A loud *CLANG* rang over the wind, the sounds of a fight, multiple blades ringing, steel on steel as she kicked her legs, reaching up to her own back. Her sword raked from its sheath, as she felt magic beginning to whirl in her, anger churned, her skin prickled as her eyes narrowed.
"CIRI!? CIRI WE GOT A PROBLEM-. FUCK!" Dominik's voice screamed again, before another large blast of fire ripping in the fog, and for a split second she saw clearly as she broke on her skate.
She counted four men, blades all in their hands-on skates of their own. Ciri had no idea how they had found the two of them, but Dominik was stumbling, having trouble catching his balance on the skates again as one glided towards him swinging his longsword horizontally. Dominik, with the steel sword that she had just reforged for him a few days prior, managed to block it but stumbled even more. He fell back down onto the ice, he may have been a good skater in his own right, but the four all started gliding around him, making passes and trying to cut through him.
One came zooming for him, but Dominik shot his hand up, with the proper hand sign a Quen shield popped up around him and the assassin bounced off it with a loud *BOOM* getting thrown to the ice and coming towards her, the fog slowly parting around them. The large man's black and yellow armor charred as he spasmed and glided on his back across the ice.
Ciri looked down and could see the insignia on the man's armor, a golden sun.
No, he wasn't going to take him from her, not like he had taken so much else.
She busted forward on her skates, raking her sword down across the ice, across the man's neck and he gurgled blood, the ice below eagerly seeping up the crimson liquid.
"CIRI!?" Dominik yelled, as she stumbled up to his knees, and he turned around just in time to see her skating towards him. A smile came to his face somehow as he scoffed. "HA, you're all in trouble now and-."
"DOWN!" She screamed cutting him off as she felt the magic erupt from her.
The magic spurred her on as she ripped the ice up below her. Dominik obeyed her command right away and fell to this stomach on the ice. She zipped by him just as one of the assassins went to cleave strike at him as he glided by. Ciri slung her blade up and parried and spinning on the toe of one of her skates she cut her blade across the chest of the assailant, right across the sun.
Right away the man's body went limp and fell like a sack to the ice, and Ciri could notice the smallest crack. She came back around, swinging her sword in an arc to push back the last two, as she skated back up to Dominik's side, magic still churning in her eyes and around her limbs as he came up and reached her hand down to him.
"Are you alright!?" She said, as he grabbed her hand before she yanked him to his feet.
She scoffed and shook the snow and ice from his hair, his hand gripping around his sword. "You kidding? That was fucking amazing, thanks for the save princess."
"You're welcome…" She said slowly, her voice dripping with a seething venom as she slowly turned on her skates back to the assassins, his sword pointed out. "And you two… have made a very big mistake…"
Dominik wobbly skated up next to her with his own sword leveled. She could tell that he was a bit shaken, he hadn't been expecting a fight, and while he could skate normally, fighting while you did was a whole different skill.
The two men remaining skated a few meters away from them both, swords out. One towered over the other, a black beard and slicked back hair as the fog finally seemed to be passing. She looked down to his armor and saw that golden sun, that fucking golden sun that chased both of them for weeks, that had taken everything from them. Now, even eleven year later, Emhyr wanted to use her as a pawn in his game, use her, take her, after everything he had done. That on in it's own would have driven her to a rage like she experienced now.
Now however, he had tried to kill Dominik, three times now. Emhyr saw Dominik as a blockage to control over her, just like he had Pavetta, and Gregory. However, Emhyr was making a brutal mistake, because no matter who was alive and who wasn't, Ciri would never feel anything but disgust for the degenerate. She had told Fiona in Claywitch, that she used to wake up every day, despised by the fact that man was her father.
And she had, but now she wasn't despised, she was angry.
"We'll have to kill you as well then little girl," The tall gruff one said in response to her threat, his massive broadsword slung out. "The Emperor was clear, any one present with him, is to be killed along-."
"Are you blind you fool!?" The shorter one said, his eyes widening as he leveled his blade and narrowed his eyes at Dominik and her. "This is no ordinary girl! It is the Emperor's daughter, the one he is looking for! We must take-."
"Don't you dare call me his daughter," Ciri hissed, her heart rapidly beating and thumping out over the wind as she felt the magic whirling. "That bastard is not my father and he never will be!"
Dominik skated up next to her. "You're gonna pay… Emhyr is going to pay."
The large assassin's eyes widened as he looked to the smaller one. "What do we do!?"
The smaller man looked to Dominik and her, shaking his head again. "Your highness, we will give you one chance to come with us, before we drag you back to his majesty, your father."
"She's not going anywhere," Dominik said coldly, the snow still falling gently and catching in his brown hair as he leveled his sword. "Give you one more chance-."
"No…." Ciri said darkly, cutting him off skating closer to the two men, her sword still dripping the blood of their two comrades as she pointed it at them. "Do… the two of you know… what Emhyr even tried to do to me?"
Ciri's blood ran cold, as she skated forward slowly. Emhyr wasn't going to take anything else from her, let alone Dominik. She had already known Emhyr was sending assassins after him, but to see it, to have been having such a perfect day together, only for it to ruined by the man, never had her blood boiled like it did then. It was another moment he had ruined, and still the man thought that she owed him anything, that she would go to him and be her little puppet, come and save him from all the mistakes he made. The thought that someone could be so arrogant, so clueless, it utterly amazed her. How could Emhyr think that after he tried to rape her, had hunted her for years, sent men to capture her all so he could rape her and force her to have a child with him.
How could anyone possibly think that after that, she would ever be willing to be in the same room as him again, let alone do something like become Empress for her. She knew that he would lie, give her the bullshit how she could 'help the continent', 'care for the people', it would be a 'gift to her'. If she were empress she'd do what she could to make the world a better place yes. However, she would be miserable the entire time.
Dominik wouldn't be allowed to come with her no matter what he said. There was also the fact that she knew that it was all bullshit. Emhyr didn't care for the continent, only for his own power. He had started two wars, completely unprovoked, only for his own power, because he believed that he was right, that he was entitled to everything. Entitled to her. Now, his deeds were finally catching up to him. Not only did the North hate him, but now even the nobles in Nilfgaard were seeking to depose him, to possibly even kill him. The only way he could survive, still claim that it was him who owned it all, was if he abdicated to Ciri.
So no, he wasn't doing it 'for her, or 'for the good of the continent', he was doing it to save his own arse. No, Ciri wouldn't do that for him. She wouldn't force herself into a life she knew would make her miserable, that she hadn't wanted, had never wanted even when she was young for him. She could do good for the continent as a witcher, right alongside the man she loved and their child surprise.
Ciri skated in a circle around the two men, her sword dragging across the ground. Both men seemed to freeze, clearly seeing that Ciri was quicker than her, and more than likely remembering how quickly she had killed their comrades. The sound of her swords tip raking against the ice filled the air, as she slowly skated back in front of them, between them and Dominik.
She looked up at their frightened expressions. "Well!? I asked you a fucking question. Do… you know what Emhyr tried to do to me, his 'daughter'?"
"Ciri…" Dominik said behind her, but she shot him a dark glare.
Dominik shut his mouth right away, staring at her, even managing to bring a small smile to his face as he nodded, just as Ciri turned back to the two assassins. The wind started to howl again, as she pointed her blade back out towards them both.
"Well!? Did he tell you? Did he tell anyone, do you all know?" Ciri said slowly, the words still dripping from her mouth with a venom, as the cold sun started to come out.
Dominik skated up next to her, as the smaller of the assassins, slowly shook his head, his hand wringing out around his blade.
"He did not, but you are his child!" The smaller man said shaking his head as he wobbly balanced on his skates. "It matters not what you want, or what he has done, he is your father our emperor and-."
"He wanted to rape me," Ciri said, her grip on her sword tightening as she narrowed her eyes and leveled the blade at them with magic whirling around her. "He was going to force me to marry him, have a child with him. He burned Cintra to the ground… for that, to do that to me, then chased me for years… did he mention any of that?"
Dominik next to her shifted, as Ciri felt her blood begin to boil. The men clearly had no idea, and the worst part of it all, the tall man didn't seem to be affected. The smaller one stumbled for a moment. Emhyr hadn't told anyone of course, the men there with him, they must have either been killed, shipped off or sworn to secrecy. But no, he still had no remorse for that he had done. Ciri genuinely believed that most people could be redeemed, most actions could be redeemed in due time, if the person felt sorry for it.
However, this was not one of those situations. Emhyr had no remorse, he never would, and what he had done, there would be no redemption, not for the years of horror he had put her and Dominik through.
"He… he did not," The smaller assassin said with a shake of the head, his sword dipping as he looked up to the tall man next to him. "It is best we retreat; we saw how they fight and-."
"I always knew you were a coward, and now you're a traitor as well…" The tall boorish man said, shaking his head as he pointed his sword towards her and Dominik both. "She is clearly lying, if we kill the man, and deliver the Emperor his daughter, the rewards will be immeasurable…"
"You are the fool! You see the power they possess, don't throw away your-." The small one started again, but the tall man snorted, hefting his longsword again.
"They are basically children… I will deal with them and-." The man was cut short by his blood spilling out onto the ice beneath them.
"CIRI!" Dominik yelled, skating to join her, but Ciri had already done the job.
Just as the fog began rolling in again Ciri's eyes slowly faded back to their normal color, the magic disappearing. The man wasn't going to be reasoned with, he had been too dedicated to Emhyr, but now he wouldn't be. He wouldn't be doing much of anything anymore, considering his massive top half had been cut clean in half, his intestines and blood spilling onto the ice, as Ciri's blade dripped more blood beneath them, small cracks starting form under them all.
Dominik came skating up to her side, going around the man's body. When he but a hand on her elbow, her boiling blood simmered like a stew over and open spit. She had been so angry she noticed under her skates there were skid marks from where she had teleported. She hadn't realized her body was shaking, that so much rage was building up in her that a dangerous amount of her powers had almost come out. She had been progressing well in the lessons she did have with Avallac'h, mainly because she knew that the sooner she got them done the sooner she could be rid of the elf, so she had that to thank the sage for at least.
She met Dominik's eyes, and for a moment again all the horrible things flashed in her eyes. Emhyr at Stygga, Skellen chasing her because Emhyr had sent him initially, the sack of Cintra, Cahir chasing after her on Thanedd. For another moment she internally boiled thinking about him even having the gal to think she'd go anywhere near him now. She was angry, angry that the man was so arrogant, so selfish, such a vile person, and it was her father. That despicable human was her father, and now he was going to keep hunting her, and keep trying to kill Dominik, and then eventually perhaps even Fiona.
"Ciri…" Dominik said softly, as she shook and slowly looked up at him. He gave her that small smile and slowly nodded. "Your life is your own… and always will be."
Shakily she sighed, hearing the words she had spoken to Fiona back in Claywitch. She looked up and almost smirked at him, touched that he remembered. Carefully she reached her sword behind her back, and with her hands shaking she had trouble finding the sheath. Dominik skated over to her, gently holding onto her arm and helping her guide the blood sword back into place.
His touched soothed her again, it warmed her, but not in the blood boiling way that it had when she was angry. When Dominik touched her, held onto her arm as it normally did, it sent a warm, calming tingle up her arm. She shakily sighed again, looking up and slowly nodded at him.
"Thank you…" She said, realizing that her anger was fruitless.
Her life was her own, Emhyr couldn't change that, nobody could. Her life was her own, and she already knew what she wanted to do with it. She had decided when she was eleven years old in Cintra.
"You're welcome…" He said gently removing his hand from her and smiling at her one more time before looking past her again, his eyes narrowing. "And you… well like Ciri said, you made a very bad mistake in coming here…."
"Please! Please I will leave, I will leave, and you will never see me again!" The scared final assassin wailed in her ears, as Ciri slowly turned on her skates.
The man seemed absolutely terrified as he had fallen onto his backside next to his former colleagues severed upper half. Seeing the golden sun on the cowering man's armor sent her into a state of rage again, as she followed Dominik, who still had his blade in hand skated towards him. As they did, the tried to back up, whimpering the whole time as with each little movement Ciri saw the ice beneath him crack.
Dominik scoffed as the man finally stopped. The tip of Dominik's steel glinted in the setting sun as the wind howled Ciri's scarf sending more shivers up her spine. It was yet another romantic, brilliant day that Dominik and she were having that had been ruined. So many times the previous few weeks they had tried, only to be accosted by their friends, Geralt or Yen. They loved them all of course, but after eight years of not seeing one another, they yearned for more time alone like they had been only a few minutes prior.
Now they were both covered in splatters of blood, and Ciri's blood boiled. She needed that bed, and the feast back at Kaer Trolde, but the man was in the way of that again.
Dominik narrowed his eyes at the man, his steel at the assassin's throat. "If we let you go you're going to run right to Emhyr like a good little dog, we aren't stupid. Even if he knows Ciri's in Skellige with us, not a chance I'm letting him know where she is."
The man's eyes widened as he shook his head again. "No! I will not report back, please, please I swear to you both, I will never say a word of what I've seen of you! I will run off, abandon the army, please! Please just don't kill me-."
"Easy!" Ciri snapped, as she saw the man about to crack the ice. "You snivel anymore, and you'll crack the ice beneath us….. Dominik's right, I'm not going to let that degenerate know where I am."
The assassin looked down, and carefully moved to all fours at a snail's pace. He slowly looked up at Dominik and she both, desperation in his eyes.
"Please… please spare me… I have a fiancée… a family," He said desperately shaking his head again, small tears coming from his eyes as he looked at them. "I… I'm not even from Nilfgaard! I'm from Vicovaro!"
Ciri's eyes widened at hearing the name, but it was nothing compared to Dominik who fumbled his blade. Vicovaro. That had been not only where Cahir was from, but their friend Declan, the one who had saved them both, the man who she knew Dominik still felt guilty about dying. Ciri looked and met his eyes, Dominik looked at her his breath shaky.
He turned his eyes back to the assassin. "Vicovaro? Still under the Empire's boot! You're still loyal to Emhyr, and I won't let that slide…"
"Please! I am loyal to my fiancée, my family, I joined the army for them," The man said, holding both hands together as he slowly looked to Ciri. "And… and if what you say is true… I will not serve a man who has committed such acts…. Please… spare my life, and I will leave, head straight for Vicovaro to find my fiancée and family… and we will leave Imperial lands for good."
Dominik's grip on his sword tightened as the tip got closer to the man's neck. Ciri could see the conflict in his eyes. She knew that he had been trying to control his emotions. She knew a large part of him wanted to kill the whimpering man then in front of him. The one thing that she knew Dominik hated above all else, even Avallac'h, was Nilfgaard. Ciri had lost everything to them at Cintra yes, and Dominik always argued with her about it when she said it, but she knew it was true. Dominik had experienced much worse in Cintra then she had.
Ciri had been locked in the castle and snuck through the secret exit into the streets. Dominik had been in the streets, had seen his mother, sister and father all killed in front of him. Later he learned that Emhyr had ordered his families deaths, Ciri knew his hatreds for the Black Ones would never go away, his hatred for Emhyr would never go away.
However, the man had thrown Dominik for a loop when he said he was from Vicovaro, making him think of Declan. She saw the conflict in him as he slowly looked up to her.
"It's your call princess…" He said slowly, making the man whimper even more.
Ciri slowly turned her eyes down towards the man. "What's your name…"
"Christopher…." The man said quickly, looking directly into Ciri's eyes now, his beady brown eye baring into her with desperation. "Please… please… I… I just wish to see my fiancée again, my parents again…"
The man couldn't have been that much older than her and Dominik, mid-twenties to perhaps thirty. She wanted to kill him; she saw the small man begging before her as Dominik's blade stayed near her throat. Her fists curled as she looked to Dominik, who gave her a reassuring nod. She knew he was deferring to her because he wanted to spare the man. Christopher below them was unarmed, terrified, and begging to go back to the ones he loved, get back to them, just like Dominik and she had done. Ciri didn't know if she'd ever see Dominik offering mercy to a Nilfgaardean again, however, she knew it had more to do with Declan then anything.
Every part of her was screaming to have Dominik do it, to have her end the man who had initially come to kill him and take her. The man had served Emhyr, wanted to deliver her to him so that Emhyr could control her and do who knows what else. She was surprised to see herself in a position like that again. In that moment, it had felt like yesterday she was by herself, on the ice, in the fog, Rience, Skellen and their band on her heels.
She had picked them off one by one, blood staining the ice as it did then. Ciri could see Rience, begging for mercy as he almost drowned under the water. He begged, pleaded for his life. However, Ciri had mocked him, and she could remember her skates turning red as she skated across his fingers to let him fall to his death into the icy murk. Christopher below her now hadn't done nearly the things Rience had done, and the man wasn't begging for his own life, only the chance to see his loved ones again.
Ciri could never regret what she did to Rience, the man deserved it and she was glad she could end him. However, what she did regret, was the coldness at which she had done it. She had done so many things she regretted, things that didn't reflect the person she truly wanted to be. The Rats, the men and women she'd robbed and killed, so many things ran through her mind in that moment she regretted. Her eyes slowly met Dominik's, and he slowly nodded at her, a small prideful smile coming to his face when just as always, he knew what she was thinking without her even saying anything.
However, she would make sure of one thing.
"You can go…" She said slowly, turning back down to face the man.
Right away, Christopher's eyes widened as he bowed on his knees. "Thank you! Gods bless the both of you, I swear you won't-."
"Under one condition," Ciri cut him off, her voice dangerously low again as she kneeled on her skates to meet the man's eyes.
"An…anything! Anything I swear!" He said, as Dominik's sword slowly left from near his neck.
Ciri narrowed her eyes, her hand slowly reached to the ring around her neck. She heard the screams for a moment, the screams from Cintra that night. Never in her life did she think she would ever think of it so much again, as her and Dominik both tried to forget as much as they could. She had tried to run from her past, wanting to forget the bad bits, and focus on the good bits.
However, the only way to be able to live with the bad bits, was to learn to accept them, that they happened, and face the consequences of them head on.
"On your way back to Vicovaro, I want you to tell everyone you come across," Ciri said, looking and meeting the man's eyes again as Dominik skated behind her. "Every guardsman, every passing traveler, your fiancée, your family. Tell them all… tell them all what their 'precious emperor' tried to do to his daughter… and why he's started two wars."
"Got it!?" Dominik said to reaffirm her point as he slid his steel onto his back.
Christopher slowly nodded, getting up to his skates. The sun was setting, and she knew it would be dark within the next few minutes. She was cold, agitated, hungry, angry, and looking at Dominik then, his handsome, scarred face, all she wanted was a night with him by a fire, just like they had promised. However, nothing could ever come easy for the two of them, with their attempts now repeatedly foiled. Soon it would be over, this journey would be over, and the new one would give them plenty opportunity to make up for lost time.
After navigating around the bloody corpse next to him, and balancing himself, Christopher looked to them both, and to Ciri's surprise bowed.
"I will do this… I swear it," The man said slowly, a grim smile coming to him as he nodded to Dominik and her both. "Thank you both… for my life."
Ciri shook her head. "Go now, get out before I change my mind."
Christopher didn't seem to mind her coldness. Dominik nodded in agreement with her, and within seconds, the assassin rode off. Dominik and she had really let a man who had come to kill him skate off.
She was truly beginning to think the entire quest was making them both insane.
The wind howled again, as the sun continued to descend beyond the mountains. One thing Ciri hadn't missed in Skellige was how truly freezing the nights got. It was normally offset by the warmness of the fires in Kaer Trolde. As the wind blew she shivered, wrapping her arms around herself, one hand going around the ring, and it wasn't long before Dominik came up behind her.
His large, warm armored arms wrapped around her from behind, and Ciri shakily sighed as she melted into him. No matter what happened that day, the next few days, with the battle, with Emhyr, she had him there. He was normally the one to say it to her, but she thought it as well. After so long apart, missing him, yearning for the moment she was having then, his arms around her, she sometimes thought she was in a sick, twisted dream. She turned around and wrapped her arms around him, he quickly did the same, warming her to the bones as she shakily sighed and tried to keep back tears. All she had wanted for so long was to be back with them all, just like when they were in Ellander as kids.
Now she had that. It wasn't a dream, a cruel trick. She looked up into Dominik's eyes then, and he was real. His eyes were on thing that hadn't changed, they were still as handsome as ever, and they still lit up whenever he looked at her.
He looked at her like she was the most special person in the world.
"Thanks again for the save princess…" He said, slowly smiled as he pulled back from her, his hands staying wrapped around her waist as they balanced on the ice. "Skating is one thing, fighting and skating at the same time? Well that's different. Can't believe he-."
She cut him off by kissing him, a proper deep, passionate, loving kiss in which she pulled him closer to her. He was taken aback for a moment, but kissed her back with equal vigor, his hands pulling tightly on her waist, she even laughed into his lips when he grabbed her ass for a moment. It sent tingles up her core, her stomach, her heart thumped loudly in her chest as she finally pulled back, looking at him the entire time.
"Dominik… we're going to have a lot to do the next few days," She said slowly, the tingle from his lips still present on hers.
He scoffed lightly and nodded. "That's very true… what do you say we get back to our night huh? I love Cerys, Crach, Anton and Hjalmar of course but… what do you say we leave that feast a little early? Take a bottle of wine up earlier for that bath?"
Ciri had wanted that, and him for longer then she could possibly describe.
"That sounds lovely," She said softly, leaning up and quickly kissing him again, smiling as she pulled back. "Come on you stupid boy, tell me more about this barbegazi on the way back."
He scoffed and bit his lip with a nod. Ciri went to skate away but laughed when she felt him gently smack her ass and pulled her back into his arms. He spun her for a moment, and she laughed the entire time before he pulled her close again. Her eyes were dizzy for a moment, but Ciri soon saw his face clearly, laughing as he smiled before leaning in and kissing her again.
She cupped his face, kissing him again, before he gently pulled back and smiled at her.
"I love it when you laugh… makes everything worth it," He said, as he laughed at her blushing face. Quickly he leaned and kissed her scarred left cheek. "Come on princess, let's get going before the real cold hits."
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
The bathes had been just as big as Ciri remembered, as she gently, slowly rubbed the soap and water down her arms, her legs, over her bare breasts. It warmed her to the point where she sighed in relief and leaned her arms and head back in the tub itself. She had of course bathed the previous few weeks with Dominik, however as she currently sat in the large bath by herself she couldn't help but feel complete bliss. She wanted Dominik to finish up his talk with Anton and join her of course, but for the moment she enjoyed the heat, warmth and silence alone.
Just like they had agreed out on the lake, they had left the feast earlier then they had initially planned. Neither of them had drank much, or talked much for that matter, simply sitting, eating and enjoying the company of the friends that they had around them. Cerys had given a rousing speech to follow her father and Hjalmar about the coming battle while introducing Sir Anton their new ally to the men that had gathered. Cerys decreed that together they would beat back the Black Ones and the Wild Hunt. After this was when the true party began, Hjalmar and his men had seemed to get along splendidly with Anton's knights.
Dominik and she both had spent most of the time speaking with Anton, listening to the old stories the knight remembered from when they were both kids. It shell shocked her for a few moments remembering those old times. Dominik and she both, they had been so happy in Cintra. Ciri of course had spent most of her first ten years in the palace miserable. She loved coming to Skellige, when Gregory would help sneak her out, and she did love her grandmother with everything she had. However, being the princess, the royal duties, the people coming to her and treating her like she was nothing but that, a princess, no, it wasn't the life she wanted.
However, when she had met Dominik, that was when things changed. She finally had someone who loved her, and played with her, because she was herself, not just because she was the princess. They had spent a year together, almost every single day, and she had loved every single minute of it.
She moved in the water, taking in the beautiful smell of lavender that she had infused the water with. The crackling fire lit their room, a large one with a four-poster bed. Silk sheets and pillows, a large bath, plenty of sweet-smelling candles, combined with the bowl of bread, and other fruit she had brought up with her. Dominik had said he needed to speak with Anton more, and Ermion as well who had come back to Kaer Trolde during the feast. Ciri had been completely knackered, so she had gotten up to their room, stripped off her clothes and had gotten into the steaming bath that already had been prepared for them both. She was going to make it a point to thank Cerys when she could, she had truly done a lot for them, and the warm water seeping into her bare skin then was more relaxing then anything she had done in quite some time.
Her clothes and her sword were all tucked away, and she sighed as heard the door click.
"Well well, couldn't have waited?" Dominik said cheekily, as she turned around to see him smiling in the doorway. "You seem comfortable."
She scoffed as she turned to him. "Be more comfortable if you were in here, come on get your clothes off."
"Well as you know your wish is my command," He said, the smirk growing on his face as he pulled the bottle of wine out from behind his back. "Kaedweny?"
"Absolutely," She said fondly, sitting up above the water as she smiled back at him, seeing that he was staring at her. "And what exactly are you staring at mister?"
His face was red, and he had that loving smile she loved seeing. He looked up and down her naked body, and Ciri's own face got red as she saw the look of disbelief in his eyes. She noticed when she was naked in front of him he looked like that each time. The first night they had made love, the previous night, even the times before that he had seen her like that. Ciri had no idea how much emotion a person could omit, could make her feel simply by how they looked at her.
That was one of the things she missed most about him, she simply had missed how he looked at her.
"Gods… Ciri have… I told you how beautiful you are?" He said, a bit of cheekiness to him as he walked to the edge of the tub.
She was on her knees in the water, looking up at him as she blushed and smiled. He looked down at her, and with the water dripped from her body, she held onto his arm, leaning up and kissing him. The two of them both smiled and laughed as they kissed, her lower half still in the water as she felt his bare hand hold onto the small of her back. She shuddered for a moment, smiling into his lips as she pulled back from him.
"You have… a lot, thank you," She said softly, before smirking at him and slowly sinking back into the water and leaning against the wall of the tub. "Now come on! You're not seriously going to let me stay in this bath alone are you?"
After a moment of being flustered by the kiss she gave him, he scoffed and nodded. "Wouldn't dream of it, hope you don't mind, but I don't smell very pleasant right now."
"I've dealt with it for weeks," Ciri said with a roll of her eyes, playfully smirking at him. "Come on, I'll even clean you myself if I have to you stupid boy."
"Had a dream about that one time," He said cheekily, smirking at her as he walked over towards the large dresser where she had put her own clothes.
She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You did now? And when was this?"
"Can't remember exactly when," He said, pulling off the top of his armor, revealing the sweaty top beneath it as he looked back to her. "But it involved us, a bath, and wine, a lot like right now."
"You have those kinds of dreams often?" She asked, rubbing the soapy water across her breasts.
"Now and then yeah…" He said slowly, turning to smirk at her just as he pulled off his shirt. "You didn't?"
Just like he did with her, Ciri bit her lip, her face turning red as she saw his bare chest, his torso, his arms, the only things left covering him being his trousers. She looked at the two large scars on his chest, his defined, large, toned chest that Ciri was becoming fond of resting her head on while they slept. She also had found herself fond of simply running her hands along his stomach, arms, everywhere really. It was hard for her to believe at times the man before her was that goofy boy she had a crush on before falling in love with back at Cintra and Kaer Morhen.
He had been fit then too of course, but the man he had grown into, to Ciri she knew she wouldn't find anyone who she ever thought as gorgeous. She could remember first seeing him that night in Cintra, how handsome she thought she was then. Of course Ciri had known he was Gregory's son, and that Dominik looked like his father. However, she would never forget how flustered she had initially got when he came out onto the balcony. She would never admit it to him, but she had been shaking and nervous the entire time she talked to him, despite the confidence that she had appeared to have.
She remembered in Cintra, and even for their first bit of time at Kaer Morhen she wasn't sure if Dominik had felt the same for her as she did for him. She could remember long nights staying up and thinking about the matter, and if her grandmother would ever possibly let her be with him. Calanthe had adored Dominik of course, but marriage was an entirely different thing, Ciri had been betrothed to a few different young boys in her early years, however it was always strange to her that in the year she had known Dominik, the topic seemed to be dropped completely by her grandmother.
Either way, now she was as he ran a hand through his messy hair, smiling at her the entire time, waiting or the answer to his question, and the answer was obvious yet Ciri still blushed.
"I have yes, multiple times," She admitted, making him smirk even more before she rolled her eyes and looked at him. "Now, if you would please get in the bath so we can make those dreams a reality, I would be much appreciated."
"Impatient are we?" He said playfully, pulling his trousers off and walking towards the tub again.
"Very much so, it's been a long day," She said honestly, smirking as he pulled a table to the edge of the tub with two cups on it. Smiling Ciri met his eyes as he poured wine. "And we have a very long few days ahead of us, so a bath, wine, and sex with the man I love after a romantic evening seems a bit deserved."
He smiled at her and handed her the cup of wine in his hands. "It is deserved for you… but what about me?"
She bit her lips as she smirked at her, his face inches from hers as she took the wine from him. She could smell wine already on his breath, as she slowly leaned up and kissed him.
"You deserve it, and much more," She said softly, kissing him a second time before leaning back with the cup of wine in her hand and gesturing her towards his undergarments. "Well come on unless you plan on bathing with your knickers on. I'd be pretty disappointed, but if you really don't-."
"Very funny princess," He said with a roll of the eyes, smiling the entire time.
She laughed and gestured towards the tub again. "Well? Stop standing there and get in here you stupid boy, before the water gets cold!"
"Alright alright," He said with a small laugh, pouring himself wine as well, before finally taking off his knickers.
She smirked as he dipped his foot into the water, it churned as he let out a relaxed sigh. The light from the fire hit off his handsome face, and Ciri found herself biting her lip as she sipped from the cup of wine he had given her. She gazed up and down his body, and felt her chest flutter beneath her breasts, and her womanhood vibrate under the warm water. After a moment of him pouring the water over his chest, his arms, and rubbing some in his face, he relaxingly sighed as he drank the wine in his own cup, looking over at her after he finished.
"Lavender, some white petals, big fire," He said cheekily, leaning and placing the cup on the table right next to the tub. "And the company of course is what makes it so great."
Scoffing with a smile she moved through the water over to him. She placed her own cup of wine next to his, her desire and want for him heating up with every second. The fire crackled as it casted the beautiful orange light over his handsome face as she got to him. Her core heated up, and she lightly bit her lip as she finally got over to him, straddling over his waist and wrapping her wet arms around his neck.
"Yes… the company is very nice…. I love you," She said, her one hand gently trailing down his scarred cheek. "And I must admit, you look extremely handsome tonight."
He lightly laughed and shifted himself under the water, and Ciri yelped out a moan, her body shivering as his cock brushed up against her entrance under the water. A smile came to her face, the tingling sensation running up her stomach, before gently moaning again when she felt his hands hold onto her ass, one hand staying there while the other trailed up her back. Just as always his touch was warm and inviting, and it only made Ciri want him more in that moment.
The next few days would be long, hard, and culminate in what was sure to be a massive battle. She wanted him that night, because no matter how confident they were, she never knew if it could be their last chance for one like that.
His smiled washed over her as he held onto her ass under the water while she straddled him. Ciri bit her lip to suppress another moan as his cock rubbed against her entrance again, but when she looked at him he leaned up and kissed her, the playful smirk coming back to his face.
"I love you too, thanks princess…" He said gently, his one hand coming to stroke his thumb across her scar as he scoffed a laughed. "And not gonna lie, seeing you earlier nearly make the guy soil himself was priceless, looked downright sexy doing it too."
She scoffed a loud laugh as her hands fell around his neck again, and for a moment they both laughed. After a moment of laughing, staying in his lap, keeping her arms around him, she kept laughing, and smiling as she gently kissed him. A small moan escaped him as she moved and under water his cock continued to graze up against her. She smirked and bit her lip, her stomach tingling as well before she finally pulled back from him.
For so long she had wanted a moment like that. His arms around her, the both of them naked, soaking in the warm water, the fire crackling on a cold night. The two of them had managed to salvage the night with each other, Emhyr had been unsuccessful, he hadn't killed Dominik, hadn't gotten her, and hadn't ruined the night for her. However, she still realized, that Christopher had either gone straight back to Emhyr to report their position or had truly gotten on a ship back to Vicovaro.
She playfully bit his lip while she kissed him, making him scoff a laugh and shudder as he pulled back from her, his hands on her ass while he smiled and leaned against the tub.
Ciri sighed contentedly and leaned her head down into him. "Dom… did I make the right choice?"
It had been something she thought about since they left the lake. After the man who tried to kill them had run off, the two of them had skated to the banks. The walk back to Kaer Trolde had been only a mile or so, and the two of them even ran into Freya and Faram in the marketplace. Freya once again had only said hello to them, her head buried into some diagrams she had drawn up, when they asked her what she was working on, the blonde simply said 'something that will help', before walking away. Faram had sighed, laughing and telling them how the cart he was pulling, was full of albedo and other alchemic powders that could explode, and that she had requested part of his crew to help her constructed whatever it was she was building.
Dominik had been interested, and Ciri was as well, however, all she could think about was the fact she let a man who had come to kill them run free.
However, as usual, Dominik was there to assure her.
He smiled at her, his wet hand coming to stroke her cheek. "You did… try not to think about it too much…. Soon as he said he was from Vicovaro I-."
"Declan, I know," Ciri said right away, smiling at him reassuringly while she sat straddling him in the water. "Dominik… you know that there was nothing you could have done."
He sighed and nodded as he met her eyes. "So you, and everyone else has told me…. But after what I did to him… he didn't deserve to die. I wish he were here… that I had trusted him at first."
"You didn't have a reason to trust him," She said slowly shaking her head. "He worked for Emhyr; he was Cahir's cousin."
"Yeah, I know… but still if I had trusted him sooner, did things different… maybe he'd be here…" He said with a sigh, looking and meeting her gaze. "I miss him, as crazy as it is. You know he had a crush on Freya?"
Ciri scoffed a small laughed. "He did?"
"Yeah… he did," Dominik said with a fond smile, his hands trailing up and down her wet, naked body. "He said she was 'good company', and 'very polite'."
She laughed again seeing the fond smile on his face. Ciri remembered that night in Claywitch, when he had explained who Cahir was to her, who Declan really was. It made her skin crawl, thinking that the man who she saw killed by Bonhart had been doing it because he had somehow fallen in love with her, however, just like Dominik had said, they both had to be thankful. Dominik also told her about Declan, how he almost killed Cahir's cousin upon meeting him, and then again in Novigrad, before Declan had helped him fight off assassins.
Dominik wanted him there, wanted Declan to be alive, be apart of the hansa they had now. However, she didn't want him to think about that now. After the battle was done, after the Hunt was dealt with, they'd properly mourn, for now however, she wanted to focus on the living.
She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck again. "Well Freya is both of those things…. You know, you can still fulfill the last wish he had for you, you do remember it right?"
He let out a small laughed and nodded. "To live well… and not let them have this world."
"Exactly," She said, leaning down and kissing him deeply, before smiling as she pulled back and nodded towards him. "We'll 'live well' tonight, and after this is over… we have a busy few days ahead of us."
Her words had the intended effect, because he leaned forward and kissed her, gripping tighter on her ass to make her laugh out a moan, before he kissed on her neck. She laughed and moaned as she moved her lips to kiss him again. After a few moments he pulled back from her, his hands still holding her ass under the water as he smiled at her.
"Thanks princess… you did always know what to say," He said.
"That's because I know you so well," Ciri said smirking, as she trailed her hands down his chest, over the swallow and his medallion, admiring his body, the tattoo on his inner forearm, the swallow with her and their family's names. Of course as well the wolf tattoo on his inner wrist, the same one that matched hers. Between her legs she felt where the rose was tingle, but not because she was remembering getting it, but because his cock teased her entrance again.
Biting down on her lip, she wanted him, she wanted to move his cock have him inside of her, make love to him as she had the previous nights. It was becoming something of a habit, she wanted it more and more each night, the euphoria she felt with each time they made love more invigorating then anything she had ever experienced, and she wanted it that night, before their few days of challenges began.
"Yeah… you do don't you," He said softly, twirling the ring and medallion around her own neck, slowly looking up and smiling at her. "So princess, before we do anything else, what was it you wanted my help with?"
"You mean other than having sex with me right now?" She said with a smirk and small roll of her eyes.
He chuckled and she moaned as she grinded her entrance against his cock again. She bit her lip to suppress the moan as he gripped onto her ass, but gently leaned up to kiss her.
"Yes, I mean other than that, I'll help with that any time," He said, getting a small laugh from her as he smiled and went on. "Before everything happened out on the lake, you said you had some things you wanted to do before the battle, things to prepare."
Ciri had full intentions on letting him inside of her, fucking him then and there in the tub, but hearing him say that stopped her as she remembered her plans. She could remember Avallac'h making frequent trips to his hidden lab on Skellige, and she could remember the location as well. It was the perfect opportunity. Dominik had been urging her ever since they had been reunited that Avallac'h wasn't helping her for anything other than himself, for some scheme he had cooked up to help himself.
And the thing was, Ciri knew Dominik was correct. The only reason she had defended the sage even the few times she did, was because she knew they needed him. Dominik knew as well, but she understood that seeing someone like Avallac'h use her, and being so sure he was up to something, something that could harm her, made it hard for him to keep his cool. Dominik was the most protective person she had ever known, dating even back to the two of them in Cintra, and it was something she loved immensely about him. So, that was why she had been defending Avallac'h the previous few weeks, because in the end they did need him to summon the Hunt.
However, soon they wouldn't need him anymore, and while the sage claimed that he wanted to be rid of them, Ciri knew it wouldn't be that simple. Avallac'h was going to try and do something after the battle, would try and get something from her, and she needed to know what, and his base would have the answer.
She met Dominik's eyes and adjusted herself on his lap with a sigh. "Well… as we both know, Avallac'h is planning something, he has some plans for me after the battle, or during it, I'm not sure."
"I've been saying that since I first met the guy," He said with a scoff, his wet hands exploring up her bare boy in the water. "Knew I should've just chucked him off the walls of Kaer Morhen after he woke up and didn't tell me where you were."
"Yes, yes I'm aware you've been saying that you ass," She said with an eye roll. "And so have I, from the beginning, I'm not that naïve. I just stopped you from killing him or trying to all those times because I know we need him."
"I know that too… unfortunately."
"Exactly, and as sweet as your protective instinct is, we need him alive for a bit longer," She said, holding her wet hand up to cup his cheek. "But… I think I know how we can figure out what he's planning for me."
Like she expected his eyes widened with intrigued as he smiled. "Do you? Well, well, well let's hear it then princess."
She scoffed amusingly and met his eyes again. "I know he has a secret base on Skellige… and I know where it is. I was hoping that you, Geralt and maybe Yen would go with me, and we can check it out."
It was Dominik's turn to scoff. "So, you want me to go with you Avallach's secret base to find dirt on him, to prove I was right about him being a complete prick this entire time?"
"Yes you ass, that's exactly what I'm asking you," She said rolling her eyes.
He chucked and gripped her ass again with one hand, his other coming up to hold her cheek. She bit her lip, enjoying the feeling of his hands on her under the water, and shuddering for a moment under his touch as she slowly looked back down to him.
Smiling he nodded. "Of course I'll go with you princess. We'll head back to the ship tomorrow, Geralt should be back by then, we'll get him and Yen and head out."
She had known he would say yes, but still she smiled, leaning forward, their wet bodies rubbing against each other as she gently kissed him.
"Thank you… I knew you may like the idea," She said playfully, holding her head in the crook of his neck.
He laughed and nodded, his hands going to her ass again. "Always…. So, are we finished with everything that has to do with Avallac'h? I'm sorry, but before we're about to have sex he's the last person I-. Fuccck…."
She moaned herself as she grinded her entrance against his cock again, finally feeling it slip inside her easily in the water. Biting her lip hard she gently moved her hips, his cock slowly moving in and out of her under the water, as he moaned and gripped hard on her ass, moving his hips to thrust into her as she moved her own.
"Ciri… gods Ciri I…I-." She cut him off with a fierce kiss, her lips not leaving his as she kissed him and fucked him with everything she had.
He deserved it, she deserved it, they both deserved that moment then. Her hands went up to her hair as she moaned loudly into his lips, his cock thrusting deep into her core, her long locks of ashen hair falling down around her shoulders.
"Ciri I… I love you… I love you gods I-."
"Shhh…" She said, moaning loudly as her hips bucked and his cock thrusted in and out of her swiftly in the warm water. As they fucked, she moaned again and met his eyes, a smile coming to her face as she moved with him inside her. "I love you to… you… you stupid boy, just… just make love to me… gods… fuck… yes gods…"
He quickly nodded, the goofy smile she loved coming to his face. And before she knew it, they weren't just making love, they were fucking then and there. She leaned down and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, smashing her lips to his as she thrusted her hips forward with his cock still drilling inside her with new vigor. She could feel him smashing inside her womanhood, the water making it easy for him to thrust quicker and harder, and Ciri loved every minute of it as she kissed him.
"FUCK, FUCKING FUCK… gods… gods Dominik don't… don't-. FUCK!" She moaned, as she felt his hands grip tightly around her ass, his lips going to kiss her neck as he started thrusting with new vigor as well.
"You… you're so beautiful, fuck… fucking gods you're beautiful," He moaned in her ear, biting on her earlobe as she thrusted and fucked her.
"YES! GODS YES!" She moaned loudly, wrapping tighter around his neck, making him moan a laugh as he bucked his hips and cock into her faster, continued to bite and kiss her neck.
His cock kept thrusting into her, and she felt the electricity run through her body as he kissed and bit along her neck. His lips down her neck towards her chest, and Ciri felt herself nearly explode as he kissed around her breasts, near her nipple so suddenly she yelped out a moan, grabbing the back of his head and holding it between both her breast as his long, hard cock moved in and out of her with more pace as he gripped harder onto her ass, the strokes so long her ass almost came out of the water.
"Gods… fuck me I… I love it when you're like this…" She joked to him, moaning as he kissed between her breasts again, trailing kissing up her neck again to her lips.
"Ha… like what," He said, his cock slamming into her with new force that she had never felt from him before, as she moaned, her head going back as she yelled his name.
"GODS DOMINIK FUCK!" She moaned, shuddering from feeling his cock still drilling into her entrance, moving her hips so fast now, that the water around them both was almost sloshing out of the tub.
"Like… like this… gods fucking FUCK!" She moaned, shuddering as she grabbed his face and kissed him.
He kissed her back with just as much vigor, but keeping his hands on her ass still, squeezing it and making her moan more as she grinding her hips into his cock.
"Ciri… Ciri fuck… fuck I'm gonna…. Fuck-." He started, but Ciri cut him off with another kiss, feeling her climax coming as she met his eyes, a small smile coming to her face.
"I… I am to… don't… don't worry, go on, FUCK," She moaned as he thrusted harder into her then he had yet, before she bit her lip, her climax close as she looked back down at him. "We… we have all night… and silk sheets."
"We… we're gonna have to get dry first," He teased, as he picked up his pace again, moaning the entire time as slammed into her.
Ciri moaned and bit her lip. "Fuck… fuck… FUCK! We will! Just GODS GODS DON'T STOP DOMINIK!"
"I… I fucking love you… FUCK!" He said, his thrusts perfectly meeting the thrusting of her own hips under the water as it sloshed around them.
She grabbed onto his face and pressed her lips to his with new force, moaning into them as he continued to drill into her, and she could feel his cock twitching, his climax close. She had used the spell Yen taught her earlier, so she moaned louder, her voice cracking as she thrusted her hips into his cock and leaned her forehead against his as they fucked.
"I… I love you too… gods… gods Dominik I… I've wanted this for- FUCK!" She cut herself off with a voice cracking moan again as she kissed him again talking into his lips as he fucked her. "I… I'm gonna FUCK FUCK GODS DOMINIK!"
"FUCK, Ciri… Ciri… gods you… you're so fucking beautiful…" He said, as she felt her climax finally come at the same time as his.
Her entrance felt warm as he didn't exit her, he gripped onto her ass tighter as he came, her lips smashing onto his as he did. A long, shuddering moan left her, as she slowly felt his cock pull out of her, still rubbing against her entrance as she melted into him. The water slowly stopped churning, and Ciri felt herself craving more, but for the moment then she breathed heavy as she leaned onto his hard chest, her head burying into the crook of his neck again. She was already drenched from the bath, but now her hair was down around her shoulders, and sweat trickled down her forehead.
Leaning against his chest, she felt the rapid heartbeat beneath it. His hands left her as and wrapped around her slim, wet body, as he heavily breathed and looked down at her, that goofy, loving, adoring smile hadn't left him, and the stupid boy actually laughed. His laugh had never failed to put a smile on her face, and it didn't fail then either. She felt her womanhood tingling his cock tingling, and she knew they'd go again soon, but right then, all she could do was look at him and laugh, the both of them laughed and held each other. She laughed into his neck, as he squeezed her and laughed the same.
And just like that again, Ciri got a preview of what her life could be like after everything was over. It was something she was going to fight for with everything she had.
"Ha… ha… gods… Ciri… I… I love you," He said looking down at her, his handsome scarred face still contorted in a smile.
She laughed sheepishly and reached up to kiss him again. Her hands cupped his handsome face, her thumb gently trailed along his scar, as for a minute or two she simply moved her lips with his. That was what she fought for, this life was what she wanted, the life she had picked for herself.
No longer would anyone tell her what she would do with her life, because she decided, her life was her own, and she wanted then, what she had wanted since she was eleven years old.
Gently she pulled back from him with a smile, the warm fire crackling as the war around them calmed.
"I love you… a lot," She said cheekily, sighing and laying down to rest her head on his chest again, a content smile coming to her face. "You know… for someone who waited twenty-two years… you're awfully good at this."
She opened one eye to look up and see him get beat red, and she chuckled at his flustered expression.
"Ha.. um.. thanks princess you… you're just… just… wow and-," He started, but she cut him off with a laugh, gently placing a kiss on his neck.
"Aha… gods you're adorable… we'll go another round… or two… maybe three, we should take advantage of this room while we have it, don't you agree?"
"You… you mean like… right now?" He said, a small bit of excitement in his voice.
Ciri scoffed a laugh and shook her head, closing her eyes and contentedly leaning against his chest again.
"Not right now, but in a bit," She said, sighing as the smile didn't leave her, and she felt his strong arms wrapped around her. "For now… just hold me for a bit alright? I always loved it when you did that…"
A/N: Chapter one in the return to Skellige is finished everyone! EIGHTY chapters have been finished, and we are FINALLY in the home stretch! I am both excited, and extremely upset that the story is ending, but fear not because once it does, we're going to jump right into the sequels! As I said before, the first sequel is going to be, 'The Great Northern Gambit: The First Push" which will be a mini sequel of sorts, perhaps around 12-15 chapters, before we move onto Hearts of Stone! And in between of course I'll be writing and publishing a few short stories haha, which will include Dominik and Ciri between DLCS, and I also have a Game of Thrones crossover planned!
However, first we have to get this story done, and we are so close, everything's coming together!
First, we get the tragic story of Bella in Skellige, and how the new life she seemingly had was ripped from her… we learn about her lover Kendra, her mother Anora, and of course, we see Caranthir and the Hunt raid the village, taking everything from her….
What do you think about the new details for Bella's backstory? What does it help you think may happen in future chapters…
After that, Dominik and Ciri wake up, and after strategizing head to Kaer Trolde! I loved writing for Ciri and Cerys together, I feel like they would be the best of friends if we saw them interact in the games, and here it's no different! After some political talk, Cerys gives Ciri the idea for a new date for her and Dominik!
However, Dominik and Ciri's romantic evening as often happens, is interrupted. Yes, this whole scene was a reference to the scene in Tower of Swallows, that had to be my all time favorite scene in the books, and I am so happy to have finally gotten to write it! I also can't wait to write this scene with the two when I eventually get there in my book/Netflix adaption xD
After that, we head back to Kaar Trolde for a romantic night, and set up the scene for the final few chapters in Skellige! Next chapter we head to Avallach's lab, a chapter I've been looking forward too since the very first chatper! After that, we'll head to Lofeton, to Skjall's grave, and finally lay the poor boy to rest! And after that Dominik's quest to contact Bella somehow will take him, Ciri, Geralt and Yen to the site of where her life was ripped from her a second time…. So in all I'm estimated about 10-11 chapters or so left depending on how many the final battle take! And I am sooooo excited!
As always if you like this story, and want to see more fanart then just what I have posted, be sure to head to the Instagram I created for this story, it's dominik_of_cintra on there I post cool witcher and writing stuff, as well as the awesome fanart I receive!
Now I've rambled enough, one chapter closer to the end as I hope you're as excited for it as I am! Be sure to follow and favorite to keep up with updates, and please, please, please review if you have time! Stay safe everyone and see you all next time!
