The Witcher: Through the Worlds
Chapter 83: The Cave of Life
Narrator: After discovering the horrid secret that Avallac'h had been hiding from them, Dominik, Ciri and Geralt and Yennefer turned their attention to a new task. After learning that his younger sister Bella, had been kidnapped, brain-washed and turned into a new weapon of mass destruction by Eredin, Caranthir and the Wild Hunt, Dominik right away began laying plans to save his sister. He knew that he could appeal to the young girl she once was, and defeat the evil that had alter ego of Baelen, that had festered and taken root in his sister's body. To do so, Dominik set about to send her a dream, a dream with a powerful memory from their past, showing Bella the person she once was. And also, he had one more plan to help get his sister back. With the help of Ciri, Geralt and Yennefer, the four of them all headed to the Isle of Undvik, the destroyed village of Brekka that was Bella's home after she had lost her memory during the massacre at Cintra, and after teleporting with the help of the magical powers in her blood. In Brekka, Dominik wished to find he and Bella's grandfather's sword, Coram, the dwarven sihil, in an attempt to save Bella. However, the sword had been lost near Brekka, in what is known as the Cave of Life, and to retrieve the sword from within, Dominik and Ciri both must face the ghosts of their past, their greatest fears…
Trigger Warning: This chapter contains scenes/discussions of rape/sexual assault, and mentions of mental abuse
"Scavengers have picked this place clean…" Geralt mentioned from behind him, the older witcher leaning down and trailing his finger along an old Wild Hunt helmet.
Ciri quickly nodded as well. "He's right…. And we've torn through nearly every part… the sword isn't here."
"I know…" Dominik said, sighing as he turned back to his family. "I was just hoping maybe Faram was wrong."
Yen to his right walked back down the porch of an old burned cottage. Her violet eyes met his as the three of them all came to join him.
"What did Faram say the claim of this cave was? Other then it could let you speak with the dead?" The sorceress said, as they all gathered around the center of the destroyed town.
The day had been freezing, to the point where even Yennefer was wearing a raven black scarf around her neck. Ciri came up next to him, grabbing his arm as Dominik took one last look around the destroyed village. The cabins and cottages were blackened, singed, burned to the ground, snow gently fell from the sky, covering what was left again. It had been as Faram said, the village truly didn't look like it had been touched in almost two years. The snow stuck to the black and scorched earth. He lost track of the amount of skeletons he trampled over, the old swords, armor. Each crunch sounded as if an avalanche was falling down the mountain ahead of him.
He couldn't get the thought out of his head. Bella had been here, walked across the ground he walked on then, been living there, had a lover there, was alive there. His sister was alive, it was still something that he had a hard time believing.
But she needed him now, and he wouldn't leave her behind, not again, not like in Cintra.
"He said when you go in, you face three challenges, face your greatest fears," Dominik explained, looking between Geralt, Yen and Ciri on his arm. "And if you survive and get to the final main chamber, apparently you get to speak to one of your dead loved ones, the one who you truly need the most in that moment."
"Don't think I've ever heard of anything like that," Geralt said with a skeptical shake of his head, turning to Yen. "What about you?"
Yen sighed. "Well I still don't like the idea of any of us going in that cave. How spirits of the dead could come back to speak is a mystery, but the veil is thin here, I can feel it."
"The veil?" Ciri said from next to him.
"The veil yes, some people call it other things, but it's essentially what keeps us separated from dead spirits. Sometimes, spirits slip through, that's how you get wraiths and other angry spirits," She said, her raven locks becoming flecked with dots of snow.
Ciri sighed and looked at him. "Faram said the sword should be in there?"
Dominik nodded. "Yeah… don't really care too much about whatever reward it is, hell if we find the sword halfway through, I'll turn back around."
"And…. You're sure you wanna risk it?" Geralt said, crossing his armored arms. "We could try something else, get a message to her another way."
Dominik had thought about that. After hearing Faram's description of the horrors inside the cave, your worst fears coming back to haunt you, to try and kill you, all for the chance to talk with someone from the past. If not for the sword within the cave, Dominik wouldn't dare attempt to head inside. He had heard of caves like this, claims of magic that brought the dead to life, it could drive any normal man mad. He however, knew better, the sword, Coram, the sword that used to sit above his mantle in his home back in Cintra. That night, that his mother ripped the sword from the wall, grabbed him and Bella before they ran through the flaming streets of Cintra.
They said a dwarven sihil could cut through almost anything, and his mother had proved that, as the sword cut through soldier, after soldier, no Black One stood a chance. Her last stand at the sewer grate, she had taken down every soldier that came her way before Cahir had shot her, it truly had been the only way to take her down. The sword was originally supposed to go to him; however he could always remember Bella admiring it. His sister had always loved the pretty dark blue magic runes etched into the steel, and to him it only felt right it had gotten teleported to Skellige with her. And then from his dreams he saw of her, it seemed his sister had inherited some of their mother's skills with the blade.
In the dream he had of her, the sword had been the one thing Bella had linking her to her past in Cintra, and now he would use it that way again.
He nodded at Geralt. "I'm sure, the sword will help her remember. I… I know she's in there, she just needs to remember!"
Geralt and Yen shared a look with one another. He had woken them all up at the crack of dawn that morning. The previous night he had been right, Ciri had been fast asleep in their bed when he arrived back at their room. He cuddled up into her and let her sleep, but at the crack of dawn, not wanting Avallac'h to see where they were going and try to intervene, the two of them had woke, with Ciri buzzing just as he was to get to Brekka. For a small moment they considered letting Geralt and Yen sleep in, what with them having helped them so much the previous day, but that idea was dashed when the two of them were waiting above deck for them both.
Now, on that snowy day, they had teleported to Brekka, to Undvik, and he stood exactly where his sister had been. Two years prior when Bella had been taken from Brekka, had been not long after Ciri disappeared after Rivia, after she had come back, and he had almost gotten to see her again. Both of their lives, he and his sisters, had been ripped to shreds two years ago now.
He would put them back together.
"Darling… I understand she's your sister, but we still must be careful," Yen said slowly, meeting his eyes and slowly shaking her head. "You'll do her no good if you die facing some challenge. And we don't know if it'll work, she's in the Hunt's ranks."
"It will work Yen, my sister is there, she's still my sister!" He said defensively.
"We understand that Dom… but we're just trying to prepare you for if it doesn't work," Geralt said, slowly shaking his head as well. "If you're not careful, you could get yourself killed."
"Bella won't kill me! I know she won't!" He said, his skin beginning to tingle.
Yen bit her lip, and Dominik could tell she was trying to be careful with how she worded her next response, as the sun beat down on her raven locks.
"Darling… she's tried to kill you before," She started. "We trust your judgement we do; we just don't want to see you getting hurt, or worse killed. We just want you to be careful and… not get your hopes up too high."
His heart felt like it was being constricted, while his brain was oozing like a sponge. His brain told him there was certainly truth to their words. It had been something he thought about in the back of his mind, the prospect of failing, failing to show Bella who she truly was again. The cold nipped at his nose then, the snow gently piling under his boots, as a surge of annoyance, and anxiety washed over him. He wasn't angry at Yen or Geralt for bringing it up again, but it didn't mean he wanted to hear it then.
"I don't care what's in that cave, if the sword is there I'm going," Dominik said, dusting the snow out of his hair. "I saw it in my dream, when Bella was growing up here, that sword was the only thing linking her to her past. We used to sit and look at it all the time, she loved the runes, it'll help her remember where we came from!"
"And what about this cave? What if you get killed for a sword, Dom…" Geralt said with a shake of his head. "You know better than anyone how to weigh risk versus reward. We have no idea what's waiting in there."
"I said," Dominik hissed, his heart thumping. "That I don't care. I can't not try, I'm going in there, I'm going to find the sword, and then I'm going to get it to Bella. She'll see who she really is… remember who she really is."
Yennefer sighed. "Again darling we're not doubting that it could work, we simply don't want you to get hurt, perhaps we should-."
"I believe him," Ciri said from next to him, all heads turning to her. "If he thinks that this can bring Bella back, if he thinks we can make it through the cave, then we will, and it will."
Her smile was contagious, her look of confidence washing over him. She always did have that power when they were younger, and it was no different on him now. The snow gently pooled in her ashen locks, the wind almost knocking her bun loose. Her eyes lit up, the emerald iris's, brimming with confidence, and reassurance.
She looked back at Geralt and Yen. "I remember the sword to; Bella was enamored with it when she was younger. This will work, we should split up and try to find the cave. You two go and search the east side of the mountain around the village, Dominik and I will go west."
Gods, I love her, he thought to himself, smiling like a giddy child, as Geralt and Yen both sighed and Ciri smiled triumphantly. The entrance to the mines that Faram and he had used to get to the giant's lair what seemed like ages ago was at the edge of the village. However, the tall mountain it was dug into wrapped around left and right, east and west. Faram had told them that the entrance was well concealed and had a steep incline as soon as you entered. At first they had scanned through the village, to make sure that the sword wasn't somewhere amidst the destruction. When it hadn't been, what Faram said was confirmed, the sword had been lost somewhere inside the Cave of Life.
Dominik didn't care much about the Cave itself, just the sword that laid within, the key to getting back his sister.
Geralt reluctantly sighed. "Alright… just be careful, we don't know what's around here. Emhyr's ships aren't far, so be careful."
"He's right… and don't cause any trouble, either of you," Yen said, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips.
Ciri did smile, smirking at them both. "When have the two of us every caused any trouble at all?"
"Don't make me list the times…" Geralt said with an eye roll, smiling at them both. "Be careful, we'll meet back here in a few hours."
Dominik nodded along with Ciri, before Geralt and Yen both went off, their boots crunching through the snow. They got a distance away, the both of them arguing about something, but after they were out of ear shot, he turned back to a smirking Ciri.
"Thanks princess…" He said, a cheeky smile coming to his face. "What would I do without you?"
"You wouldn't even be able to get your boots on in the morning without me," She said just as cheekily, reaching and up and kissing his cheek. "Come on, let's go find your cave of life, and that sword."
He laughed at her joke, his cheeks getting pink from the feeling of her lips. She winked at him and walked past, grabbing his wrist and dragging him along. A laugh managed to escaped him, as he stumbled after her in the snow. The cold wind howled in his ears, and his laughter raised up over it as he got to her side. She slipped her hand into his, lacing their fingers as she smiled, the two of them getting closer to the mountain, going west into the woods.
The sword was a means to an end. In the end, it was all to save her, to save her, to save Bella, to finally be able to save someone for once in his life. Of course he had saved people before, plenty of people whether it be by contracts, or by other means. However, the important ones, Ciri, Bella, his parents, everyone that died at Kaer Morhen, they were different.
I won't fail again, this… this is for you, for us, he thought, looking down at a smiling Ciri.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"You know that they're only looking out for you right?" Ciri said, trudging through the piles of snow.
Dominik sighed, picking up a large rock and tossing it into a pile of snow against the mountain. It burst the hill of snow and collapsed down to their boots. It was truly a beautiful sight, and as was becoming the case since he had reunited with Ciri, he would have loved to be there under different circumstances. No Hunt, no quests, just him and Ciri walking through that beautiful snowy forest.
He met her eyes and sighed again. "I know… but they're wrong. This will work Ciri I know it."
"I know it will, like I said, I trust you," She said, readjusting the sword on her back and grabbing his hand.
For a few moments they walked, and he simply basked in the glory of just being there with her. That was something he didn't take for granted those days, simply being there with her, having her back near him again. She was a vision, even simply walking next to him then, so much so he barely even so much as glanced at the mountain to his right. The snow hadn't stopped, and she seemed to him then like an icy queen, her sparkling emerald eyes gawking at the beautiful ice and snow caught on the array of tree branches above them.
Her corset was tightly fastened, her trouser and top freshly cleaned and scrubbed. Her hand stayed locked with him, and even her simple touch sent shockwaves up his arm. The most stunning person, that he would ever see in his life, and like it always did, looking at her made him momentarily forget the overall peril that they were in.
"So, what do you make of these 'challenges' in the cave?" She said, turning back to him with those eyes, those beautiful eyes as she looked at him. "You said Faram fought crows?"
Her words jarred him back to reality, and she laughed when he blinked to regain his sense she laughed.
"Ha… and what had you so distracted mister?" She said teasingly.
He scoffed a laugh and met her eyes as they walked. "Ha… you of course."
"Oh, me?"
"Yes you, I guess you could say that you're just so damn beautiful, you make me speechless," He told her, smirking the entire time.
She snorted a laugh. "HA, now that one was bad!"
"Hey, you told me you always loved my cheeky compliments?" He asked, feigning offense.
"Yes, but I would hope after so many years you come up with ones a bit cleverer," She said, looking at him mischievously.
It was his turn to laugh. "Would you prefer I insult you and act miserable the whole time?"
"Ass…" She said with an eye roll.
He looked at her and pretended to scoff like he was offended. "Gosh Ciri! Would you please wash yourself once!? I'm absolutely loathing this time with you, gods I wish it would end!"
"Ass!" She said with a scoffing laugh, shoving his shoulder only making him laugh more.
She laughed as well, catching his arm to keep him from stumbling and pulling him back to her. His body got closer to hers, feeling her warmth wash over him as her chest pushed up against his, her arms wrapping around his neck, as his slid around her waist.
Gently she leaned up and kissed him once, sweetly before pulling back and smirking at him.
"You can stick to your cheeky compliments," She said, her eyes baring into him as she smiled. "I love them."
"Ha, I knew you always did," He said, smiling as his hand slid up her back to her neck. "You always got the cutest blush on your face when you were young, and I gave them to you."
A similar blush appeared on her face then, her tongue wedged between her teeth as she smiled, the pink coming up in her cheeks. She leaned up and quickly kissed him again.
"I did… and I do now," She said, her hands trailing down to his armor chest, before she smirked back up at him again. "That's nothing compared to you. You could barely string sentences together around me at times."
"I still got that problem now."
"You do yes, but I must admit, it's quite adorable, one of my favorite things you do," She said, the wind howling in their ears. "Nobody… nobody ever got that look on their face… never, and… nobody's ever made me feel like you do… even just from looking at me."
"You're flattering me," He said cheekily, not letting go of her waist as he playfully rolled his eyes at her. "You can't tell me that you didn't blush when tall, handsome Sir Galahad was showing his affection!"
She rolled her eyes and punched his shoulder. "Shut up you ass, you can't tell me that you didn't blush at least once when Freya kissed you, or when Shani wanted to sleep with you, or when that one wolf girl asked, 'would you like to have sex with me'?"
He rolled his eyes back at her, but eventually smiled, meeting her beautiful, mischievous gaze.
"Alright fine, you caught me, I may have blushed at least once," He said.
"I knew it!" She said triumphantly.
"Yes, yes you win, but seriously, nobody at all made you blush, not even once?" He said cheekily, his head leaning to the crook of her neck.
She quickly exhaled when he planted a kiss on her neck, before he laughed and pulled back. Biting her lip she met his eyes and scoffed, rolling her eyes at him again.
"Fine, yes, I may have blushed once or twice," She said, leaning up closer, her lips almost brushing against his. "But it was always you… always would be."
"And I might have blushed… but you know how it goes," He said softly, sweetly kissing her lips once more before going on. "Only ever had eyes for you… since we were kids."
She laughed and kissed him, gently biting his bottom lip, taking his breath away, as one kissed turned into two, and then three, before their lips stayed locked under that beautiful, gently snow fall. She kissed and bit his bottom lip, as he explored ever curve and nave of her back, pulling her as close to him as humanely possible, and yet it somehow still wasn't close enough.
Eventually, the both of them needing air pulled back from one another, but that didn't mean Ciri let him go. She kissed along the side of his jaw, and on the side of his neck, making him sharply let out a breath, which made her laugh.
"Ha… turn your knees to pudding did I?" She joked.
He scoffed a laugh, kissing the side of her neck, gently biting. She let out a quick moan and her knees buckled, making Dominik laugh as he pulled back.
"Same could be said for you," He said back cheekily.
Ciri recovered from her buckling legs with a laugh, her one hand trailed down her chest as she took control of her breathing again. Her tongue bit between her teeth, she looked up at him and scoffed.
"Oh no, you do not want to play this game with me mister," She said, quickly shaking her head as she kept her mischievous grin. "Because we both know you'll lose?"
"Will I now?" He said.
"Oh yes you will," She said back, leaning her lips up to his ear softly speaking. "I've proven night after night I win this little game, and now would be no different."
He shivered, but not from the cold. He shivered from her suggestive tone, her hot breath hitting his neck and ear, sending tingles down his spine. He faltered for a moment, making her laugh, but Dominik smirked at her.
"Well I'd like to think my self-control had grown a bit," He said looking and meeting her eyes again. "But can you blame me? You're just so beautiful, that even now, you could quite nearly melt the snow beneath us."
She snorted a laugh. "HA! Who talks like that? Gods that one was bad… but sweet in a way."
"Or maybe, I could start reciting some of Dandelion's old poems," He said, taking a step away from her, cheekily smiling as he backed up. "Remember the ones from he and Geralt's old friend Little Eye? Those ones used to make you cry!"
"I do remember yes, made you cry even more than I did you big softie," She said, following him, as Dominik walked backwards.
He scoffed a laugh. "Ha, or maybe you'd like me to sing 'the ballad of the young wolf and the swallow'? Would that win our little contest?"
"Maybe, but as you've said many times, you sound like a wounded wyvern when you sing, you'd scare of any monster with that voice!" She teased.
Dominik continued to walk backwards and feigned offense. "How dare you! I sing beautifully!"
She laughed for a minute, but quickly narrowed her eyes. "Dominik… be careful-."
"I'll have you know; singing is one of the many skills I've improved that you've yet to see," He said, continued to walk backwards with a smirk. "You know, I can't wait to show you some ins and outs of what I've learned over the years I really-."
"DOM STOP!" She yelled, but it was too late.
His foot didn't find anything to land on, and tumbling backwards through a pile of snow, he yelled as he felt his back slam onto a muddy slope.
"DOMINIK!" Ciri yelled, as all he saw before he sped downwards on his back was her rushing towards him.
"CIRI!" He yelled, trying to sit and gain his footing, but stumbling and falling in the mud again, rolling like a log down a steep slope.
It seemed they had found the cave entrance, concealed by snow.
He rolled down the slope, a combination of mud and snow piling into his mouth. His sword clunked and poked into his body, as he yelled for what seemed like ages. After finally landing with a loud thud, he groaned and rolled onto his back, blinking as he looked up at the rocky ceiling.
"Fuck me…" He muttered, before he managed to sit himself up.
"Dom!" Ciri's voice hit his ears.
He turned around to see her making a much more controlled decent down the slope to the cave. From above, he could see the cold afternoon beaming in through the entrance, the piled of snow seemed to stop at the front, making way for the slick slide of mud that Ciri glided down in her boots. Blinking all he watched as she gracefully leapt as she got closer to the bottom of the slope, landing perfectly on her feet next to him, finally on flat ground.
She knelt down at his side right away. "Are you alright?"
He scoffed and groaned from the aching. "Well… I'm sure I've certainly smelt better, that's for sure. What about you?"
A small smile crossed her lips as she placed a hand on his back, helping lift him up to his feet. She reached down his body, wiping off the mud from his roll down the slope.
"Well, it can't get much worse than how you normally do after you've come back from a fight," She said with another cheeky grin.
He rolled his eyes at her, wiping the dirt from his cheeks, as he looked down and met her eyes, the green still visible despite being in the cave. Even then she looked beautiful, he didn't know how it was possible for a person to look so beautiful in such a place, in such a moment.
"I'll remember that later," He said, pretending to be threatening, before scoffing and looking at her, her hand drifting up to his chest. "We should probably climb back up, find Geralt and Yen, I think-."
"Hush… listen, do you hear that... look," She said, her hand gently trailing up his chest, her fingers slowly turning his medallion.
The wolf's head around his neck, near the swallow was vibrating with new vigor, its eyes bright red. His eyes right away drifted to Ciri's neck, before he remembered that the wolf medallion he got her still hadn't been enchanted yet, so it couldn't detect magic. However, he looked down near her waist, the silver cat medallion she always carried that was indeed enchanted.
Sure enough, the cat's eyes were glowing red as well.
"Must be magic nearby…" He said, looking up at her. "What do you think-."
"Dominik… I think we're in the right place," She said, as her gaze looked past him, and Dominik followed where her eyes led him.
He sucked in a breath when he saw the small monument. The two of them could see light pouring in from the above entrance, but deeper down into the cave was pitch black, except for sporadic torches burning a blue magical fire. However, right before the long narrow corridor leading further down, was what seemed to be a monument, a brazier of blue fire atop it, with a smooth stone surface on the front. The torches illuminated the space, casting a blue glow over Ciri's eyes as he looked at her.
She nodded and they both walked towards the monument, a marker it seemed to be of sorts. Dominik knelt, wiping his gloved hands along the smooth surface, months, or years even of dust and dirt came slowly falling off, revealing carved words in elder speech. The fire above in the brazier was cold, but still burned brightly enough for him to see the letters.
He turned to Ciri who knelt next to him. "Can't read Elder Speech, any idea what it says?"
She shifted next to him, narrowing her eyes and wiping the stone.
Clearing her throat she carefully read. "Breka taedh stuan, cove y laina, te ess en illesion, te aep Caemm mein chalem, an mire en taedh elgean meast…"
Just like he had expected she spoke the words like they were a second language, which he had been assuming came normally with her elven blood. However, that theory was now dashed, because apparently he had elven blood as well, and still couldn't make out the words.
He looked at her as she paled. "Okay… that was impressive and all but… can you translate it for me."
She faltered for a moment, looking and meeting his eyes, biting her bottom lip. "Before you stands the cave of life… fear is an illusion, face your fear, to reach the main chamber, and see the one you need most…. It's a marker to mark the beginning of the cave's challenge."
Dominik looked down the narrow dark corridor, the light from the cave above the slope barely reaching more than a few feet ahead. If he narrowed his eyes he could see more blue torches, but they were truly scant. He wrinkled his nose, feeling his chest tremble. Ever since he had become more attuned to magic, his powers unlocking, he had been able to feel the presence of powerful magic much more potently then he used to.
The cave around them, it was filled to the brim with magic, magic he had never felt before. It was powerful, potent, to the point where his head began convulsing, a massive headache surging through him. He shook it off however, until he looked at Ciri and could see the pained look in her eyes as well, as she looked down the corridor like he did, before rubbing her temples.
"You feel it too…" He said, coming up next to her, the both of them looking down the narrow tunnel.
She shakily sighed and nodded. "I can… Dominik… this place is powerful… the magic here, I've never felt anything like it."
"Neither have I… but the sword is somewhere in there, and I'm not leaving until I find it," He said slowly, his eyes not leaving the tunnel, as it grew deathly quiet.
The silence penetrated his chest, his head, somehow making his headache worse. He could almost hear his brain convulsing, as the only thing he could hear, was the now distant sound of the wind from the above entrance. His skin tingled, as he remembered Faram's words about what awaited deeper in the cave.
Your worst fears, do you even know what your worst fears are?
Looking down next to him, he could see Ciri seemed to be even worse off then he was. She groaned and rubbed her temples harder, as Dominik gently put his hand on her back.
"Do you wanna go back and find Geralt and Yen? I'll head in, and you guys can follow me," He said, as she looked back at him.
"Are you mad? There's no way I'm leaving you here by yourself… this place, this magic, it's like you said, it's powerful, dangerous," She said, meeting his eyes, her cheeks illuminated by the blue fire.
Dominik cupped her face with his hands and shook his head. "Ciri, you're not doing well here, I can see the magic is making your head spin."
"It's doing it to you too."
"Yes, but you have more magic then I do. Go find Geralt and Yen and meet me back here."
She furrowed her brow at him and shook her head. "Again, not a chance. Either we both go find them, or we both head into the cave now."
He sighed. "You know, I love your stubbornness, when it's not directed at me that is."
"Get used to it, because it isn't going anywhere," She said, shaking her head again as she looked up towards the cave entrance. "Besides… see that? Don't think we'll be finding anyone in that."
She pointed towards the entrance and he followed her gaze.
"Shit…" He muttered, seeing the snowstorm that was now violently churning outside the cave.
Ciri looked back up at him. "Geralt and Yen will have taken shelter. And we can either sit here and wait, or head deeper inside."
Dominik looked at her and sighed again. He could see the fatigue the magic was causing her. His own head hadn't stopped pounding since he slipped in, and with Ciri's powers being even greater than his, he could see the effect it was taking on her. The silence around them, was deafening, the thick, dense air didn't do anything to help them either.
But the sword was down there, his family's sword was down there, the key to getting his sister back was down that cave, so he couldn't turn back. However, he also didn't want to risk Ciri again. Biting his lip he looked and met his beautiful, brave, stubborn girlfriend's eyes.
"Ciri, I'm not even going all the way in. I just want to find the sword," He said, shrugging as he looked down the corridor again. "Who knows, maybe it's down in this corridor somewhere, and we won't even have to face any challenges."
She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Or, it was dropped deeper in the cave, and monsters have messed with it, and it's stuck in the main chamber."
"Ciri…"
"I'm going with you Dominik, I won't let you do this alone," She said, her eyes hard. "Who knows, maybe we'll go to the end, and see one of our dead loved ones."
"I don't care about that. All I want is the sword, this is for Bella."
"I know you don't, but think, it has to be a bonus," She said, a small smile as she tried to reassure him. "Come on, as long as we stick together we'll be alright."
"You remember the part about facing our worst fears right?" He said, as he met her stubborn eyes.
She nodded, seeming to be forcing herself to forget her headache as she looked at him. "Yes, and together, we can deal with them, and reach the main chamber. Now come on, the sooner we do this, the sooner we can leave."
"Ciri wait! Gods… I hate it when you do that," He said, darting after her as she started walking down the corridor, into the blackness.
He darted after her into the corridor and managed to grab her hand before she disappeared into the darkness. She turned and smirked at him as she did, her face illuminated faintly by the glow of the distant blue torches. Dominik was about to say something, perhaps chastise her, tell her how she was annoying at times, but he loved her anyway. However, she clearly already knew as her smirked grew, she grabbed the front straps of his armor, leaning up and kissing him, before smirking and turning back towards the corridor.
She wouldn't have been able to see it in the dark, but his cheeks went pink as they walked. He made sure to keep his hand firmly laced into hers, not daring to let her go with the torches being so sparce. Her head of ashen hair bobbed in and out of sight, as she seemed to have much more confidence then he did. After the previous day, and what they discovered, it continued to amaze him how calm she could be after everything that had happened. It was a talent he envied and loved about her all the same.
No matter what happened to her, Ciri always found a way to smile.
The words from the entrance teased the back of his mind. His worst fears, and apparently if they made it to the end, it would mean getting to speak to who they needed to most.
Who do I need to speak to most? And do I even know what my worst fears would be?
He couldn't shake the thought from his mind. The idea of getting to talk to someone that he apparently needed most was of course appealing, but it was far from what his main goal. As they walked, he was sure to one, hold onto Ciri's hand, and two, to scan the floor, the narrow pathway and small alcoves the torches hung in for any sign of the sword. He could vividly remember it hanging on his mantle all throughout his childhood, the faint glowing blue runes.
His parents had told him, that he himself would inherit the sword one day, but now, it belonged to Bella, and he was going to get it back to her, it didn't matter what specters showed up, what fears he had to face.
"Look up ahead, another monument," Ciri said, squeezing his hand tighter as they walked.
Dominik's head shot back up, and sure enough Ciri had been correct. Just like the smooth stone surface that had been chiseled into the marker at the beginning, another one stood in front of them. And just as Faram had described to him, they came to a fork in the cave, two paths, one leading right and one leading left, even narrower than the one that they had come down.
"What's the writing say, oh beautiful speaker of elder speech," Dominik said teasingly, pointing down to the words carved on the surface.
Ciri smirked at him, her face again illuminated by the blue light. She smacked his arm, the smile staying on her face as she knelt down, carefully reading the words.
"Yn per straede, nene mua, te chelenge breate, a'taeghane, neen, turnae, bruke," She said. "One per path, no more, your challenge begins now… no turning back."
Ciri paled as she stood back up to look at him. His heart thumped loudly in his chest, as he looked down both dark pathways. Distant torches lit the way, the dense magical energy that swirled in his brain nearly made him sick. He looked and met Ciri's eyes, and his heart sank.
This was the end, his whole plan had been ruined.
"Well… looks like we're turning back," He said slowly, sighing as he shook his head. "Fuck…"
Ciri looked at him incredulously. "What!? We can't stop now, Dominik this is your plan, we can't just abandon it!"
"You read the sign Ciri, it says we have to separate, you'd have to go down one, I'd have to go down the other, no way I'm letting you go off alone."
She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "You know I find your protective instinct sweet, but I can take care of myself you know."
Dominik sighed. "I know, but the magic here is messing with us both. Even Faram had to retreat, have no idea how he did, but he had too."
"Faram didn't know what to expect, but we do," She rationalized, taking both his hands in hers, the blue flame the only thing lighting their view. "Remember, this is for Bella, we can't stop now."
He shook his head again, looking into her eyes. "I know it is… but do you really know what to expect? Do you know what your deepest fears are that it'll make you face?"
"But what about the sword! We can't just leave it here, when we can use it to find Bella," She said again, looking down the two corridors. "You go down one, I'll go down the other, they both have to convene at the main chamber, we can meet back up there, the sword has to be in one of these corridors."
Dominik bit his lip, there had been plenty if times of course that he and Ciri had split up. However, with everything so close he wasn't going to take any chances. He would find another way to show Bella the truth, perhaps he could find a way to send her the same dream he had, of Eredin plotting her death after she had completed their purpose to them. He didn't have time to think, all he knew for sure, was that he didn't want to leave Ciri's side, especially after hearing how dangerous the cave was.
"Ciri, it's too dangerous. We can find another way, we'll think of something," He said as he let go of her hands. "We can find-."
"No, we're so close! This is my only chance to do something for Bella Dominik!" She cut him off, her eyes seeming to be stinging as she looked at him. "She… she hates me, it's my fault what happened to her, I can't talk to her, she won't listen to me… but at least I can do this!"
A cold chill ran through him. He knew that it had been keeping her up since they learned about Bella period, but the day before, after learning the Hunt had thought Bella's unleashing power was Ciri, Dominik knew it did little to help Ciri cope with what happened to her.
He met her eyes and cupped her face. "Ciri… it wasn't your fault, you know that, and deep-down Bella does too. We can find another way Ciri, I promise it-."
"We'll have no better opportunity then this!" She said, removing her hands from his as he turned her back to him, her fists clenched at her side as she looked down the corridor. "Your entire family… they all suffered, died, including you, just because they knew me… because you all cared for me… and what have I ever done?"
"Ciri that's a ridiculous question," He said, coming up behind her. "I love you more than anything you know this, my parents, they loved you like you were their own, and Bella… she's your little sister."
"Yes… and I let my little sister die… and then she got kidnapped by the Wild Hunt… all because of me," She said, turning to him and allowing him to see a tear slow down her cheek as she quickly shook her head. "And now… and now I'm going to do something about it."
His eyes widened when she took her steps down the corridor. "Ciri wait!"
He tried to chase after her, but as soon as Ciri crossed the threshold down one of the corridors, a barrier of magic shot up in front of him. Slamming into it, he yelled as he got sent sprawling back onto the rocky ground, his swords clunking as he groaned and got up to his knees.
"Dominik! Are you alright!" Ciri said from the other side of the barrier.
His chest erupted as he scrambled to his feet, rushing up to the barrier, he gently put his hand on it, and saw the blue magic ripple under his touch, but if he tried to push forward he felt it burn. He winced and pulled his hand back, looking at Ciri who's eyes were trained on him from behind the barrier.
"Are you insane!? Ciri. I'm not going to let you do this alone! Dammit!" He cursed, his chest exploding again, as Ciri's worried look slowly fell into one of determination as she met his eyes.
"I'll meet you in the main chamber… I can do this… we can do this," She said reassuringly, her eyes not leaving his. "I love you…"
He bit back a slew of curses directed at her. One of the things he always did say he loved was her boldness, her determination and her stubbornness. His gaze went to the opposite corridor, to the torches deep down the way, and his skin tingles. Turning back to her, he looked deep into her emerald iris's, his chest refusing to settle, as he shakily sighed.
He was separated from her again, which was what he assumed one of his greatest fears would be. It seemed he'd have to face four challenges instead of three now.
"Promise… promise me I'll see you in the main chamber…" He said sternly, his hand gently held up against the barrier.
Ciri met his eyes, slowly nodded as she put her hand up against his on the opposite side.
"I promise…" She said, a smile tugging at her lips. "I'll keep an eye out for the sword, there has to be a way out through the main chamber."
He sighed and rolled his eyes. "You're lucky I love you…"
"I am… really lucky," She said, pulling her hand back and smiling at him. "I'll see you soon alright?"
Again he shakily sighed, his bones chilling down to their very cells as he turned to the corridor opposite Ciri's again, the bright blue fire from the torches, illuminated the dank, murky cavern, the magic signature sending waves of thumps through his brain.
For Bella.
He turned and nodded at Ciri. "Alright… be careful, I'll see you soon princess."
She smiled and nodded at him, gripping the ring around her neck, before slowly turning and making her way down her corridor.
Dominik watched her walk until he couldn't see her anymore, the darkness overtaking her, her leaving his vision, leaving him alone.
Being alone again, another one of his worst fears.
Sighing himself he turned back to the corridor, gripping the swallow around his neck and narrowing his eyes.
"You won't beat me… I won't let you…" He said, looking down at the swallow. "And just like always… you're still with me…. For Bella."
Squeezing the swallow one more time, he trudged down through the corridor opposite Ciri's. He heard the wall of magic shoot up behind him, but he didn't look back, he looked forward.
For Bella… all of this is for Bella.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
A cold draft, and the sound of dripping water, was the first thing Dominik heard when he came into what he assumed had to be the first chamber. It was nothing out of the ordinary from caves that he normally delved into to hunt a monster. Large, circular, jagged stalagmites shooting down from the ceiling, small specks of light from the outside word leering through, with torches lining around the rocky walls. His gloved fingers dug into his palms, and as he had to grab his temples. The room was well illuminated, he could finally see more then a few feet in front of him, and he couldn't make out anything distinct about the room, other then the still strong potent magical energy that had already been present making his medallion vibrate around his neck.
The small rays of light let him know that outside, it was still the day time, the sun hadn't set yet, it gave him hope that perhaps he could get back out with Ciri before Geralt and Yen worried too much. From how Faram had described, it seemed like the cave was truly horrifying, but no specters or fears had come to attack him yet, and Dominik truly couldn't see anything.
And that included an exit to a new corridor.
"Shit…" He said under his breath, looking around the room once more, spinning in the center as his arms fell to his side. "Well… might as well look for the sword."
He didn't know how he would advance further, and he knew that he couldn't already be at the main chamber, he hadn't faced any fears or tasks yet. He still also didn't have any clue what could be waiting for him, what deep dark fear the caves magic would show him, so he set about seeing if he could find the sword.
With a sigh he walked along the outer walls, completely perplexed by the flat surface below him. He walked on stone yes, cobblestone, when he could have sworn it was gravel and dirt the moment he walked in. He got to the edge of the room, running his hand along smooth stone, the only jutting out rocks in the ceiling above as the small beams of light all shot down on him. He looked and circled his vision around the room, still unable to see an exit, or anything else besides the flat cobblestone beneath his feet.
As if he were walking in the streets of a city.
"What the fuck…" He muttered to himself, his skin prickling under his armor as he gently removed his hand from the wall.
He had to assume this was the caves magic. In his treck to the room he was in now, he had thought non-stop about not only finding the sword, but what was truly his deepest fears. The one that obviously came to his mind, was losing Ciri, losing her again and being alone, however, from how Faram had made the cave sound, it sounded as if the fears ran deeper than that, perhaps something you already had thought you conquered, the cave would bring it back. Nothing from his past stuck out at him, as being something that truly terrified him other than losing Ciri, then her dying because he wasn't there to save her.
Slowly he began to trail his hand around the circular room, the wall of smooth stone almost becoming hot to the touch.
No sword, nothing on the ground, and still no exit, only the wobbling of his medallion and his shallow breathing able to be heard, along with the steady thumping of his heart in his chest.
He scoffed when he realized he had gone in a circle, arriving back at, where he though the corridor he had come from was.
Only the door wasn't there.
"Shit…" He said slowly, backing up from the wall, the hair on the back of his neck standing up, as he could feel the magic whirling around him. Shakily sighing, the hair on his arms and neck stood up, as he looked at the base of the wall, seeing black smoke begin to slowly seep through the cracks like water through the cracks of a poorly built dam.
A part of him said he wanted to head back, before he remembered that the way back was no longer there, and right away his thoughts went to Ciri. Had she encountered something similar? Was she trapped in a room now as well, had she already faced one of her fears, what even were they? Or was she still wondering around the tunnels trying to make her way to the first chamber? Or could it be worse, could the path she had taken not even led her to a room like he was in now?
His thoughts were interrupted when the black smoke started seep out at a quicker rate. It was as if the dam keeping the smoke back had broken, and now the black dust ushered into the room like a waterfall. His medallion continued to wobble, as panic built up in his chest, his shoulders tensed, as he cursed again, backing up towards the middle of the room, his heartbeat getting louder and louder in his ears with each step.
"Dammit… gotta find a way- SHIT!" He said, a jolt of pain shooting through his head like a crossbow bolt.
He clamped his hands on the side of his head, the sharp stabbing pain ever present as he fell to his knees. The magic, he always knew that potent magical places could affect other users of magic as such, but this was the first time he had been somewhere where this was the case. It was as if the magic was snaking its way into his mind, slowly withering away his brain bit by bit, as if it was trying to make it explode. Writhing on his knees, he kneading his temples, unable to hear anything around him.
But soon, he could feel sweat beginning to trickle down his forehead, heat beginning to billow around him, and with the pain still present, he shot his head up.
Fire, everywhere he looked, there was fire. Flames erupted around him, but that wasn't the only thing that had changed, he saw buildings, stone ones, wooden ones, to his left, and along his right a large stone wall, a wall that was covered and marred in blood. Bodies lined the cobblestone in front of him, strewn about as the clattering and clanging of steel against steel could be heard in the distance. The stench of death and decay hit his nose, the familiar smell, of burning flesh, the familiar screams of people dying, they all hit his sense like a battering ram, as he blinked to try and figure out what happened, see the cave walls, but nothing. A large moon that almost seemed to glow blood red was above him, as a dark orange muggy haze, filled with clouds of ash and smoke filled his visage.
And when he looked closer to his right, he saw a large pipe with a sewer grate ripped off that surely led outside the burning city.
Cintra. He knew exactly where he was.
"What… how… shit…" He muttered to himself, staggering up to his feet, trying to control the pulsing of his head as the stench and sounds hit all his sense again. Shaking it off he gazed around him, he saw no people, but surely hear them screaming. His breathing became heavy, as he slowly shook his head, wincing from the pain.
"How… how the hell is…." He started, but froze when he finally heard something, other than screaming.
Thundering hoofbeats hit his ears, as he shot up straight.
He stiffened, miffed as the hoofbeats got closer, closer. "What the hell… how did is all so-. SHIT!"
He whirled around just in time as a massive black stallion bolted past him. A broadsword swung downward, and Dominik would have been decapitated if not for a last second dodge. The pulsing hoofbeats shot past him and came back from for another pass. Dominik could hear the whoosh of the sword trying to cut him down again, as he finally managed to whirl up to his feet, reaching his hand to his back, and loosing his steel blade.
The fire that danced around the burning city around him, reflected off his steel, as he shot to his feet. He gripped his free hand around his trembling medallion, and the swallow around his neck, as the agonizing screams of dying men and women, pierced the very depths of his soul.
It's not real, none of it's real, it's just here to test you, remember why you're here. He repeated the words to himself over and over, gripping around the hilt of the blade Ciri had reforged for him, readying and steadying himself, ready to fight, whatever the cave had deemed was one of his deepest fears. He managed to tune out the fire, the screaming, the death around him, and slowly opened his eyes, shifting his feet, ready for a fight.
However, when the stallion came back around for another pass, his heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach, before shooting back up, and igniting, with a feral, guttural, unquenchable rage.
The knight slowly came down from the horse, his armor clunking as he gripped firmly to his longsword, smeared with blood. He situated a bow, and a quiver of arrows on his horse, the black armor illuminated by the burning fire around them.
A yellow sun was painted on the chest, and atop his head, a black, winged helmet.
Cahir.
A scream left him before he could even think. "YOU! YOU… YOU SICK BASTARD!"
Cahir didn't say a word. He drew his longsword again, dripping crimson, his pale eyes glaring into him.
Dominik went to lunge but stopped himself. This is an illusion, he isn't real, none of this is real.
"Where is the girl? Where is she?" Cahir's rough voice hit his ears.
His head shot up to the knight, a man, who had apparently become Geralt's friend, who had traveled with him to save Ciri, who had apparently, died at the hands of Leo Bonhart, giving Ciri the chance she needed to escape, before she killed the man herself, who according to Geralt, had found his redemption in the end. However, he was also the man, who had murdered Dominik's mother, shot Bella near dead in the street, before chasing and almost killing him, who had then, chased Ciri and he for a month through the woods, haunting their nightmares for years, who had also, tried to kidnap Ciri on Thanedd.
Who had decided to help Geralt save Ciri, because apparently, he had fallen with her, had dreams of her inner thighs, of her making love to and kissing him.
A man, who Dominik would always hate.
"You're not real! You can't fucking fool me," Dominik shouted, rebuilding his resolve, but wrapping his hand tighter around his blade.
Cahir shook his head, his tone shifting, as he looked deep into Dominik's eyes.
"You don't understand, I must find her," The knight said, shaking his head again, taking another step towards him. "She is the love of my life! I need to find her!"
"She was ELEVEN when you first saw her you sick fuck!" Dominik yelled, swinging his sword a wide arc as Cahir approached. "Get the fuck back!"
"But do you not understand! I must see her, I need to see the woman I love!" The knight said, sounding desperate, longing.
Dominik's arm shook. "She was A FUCKING CHILD WHEN YOU SAW HER YOU FUCKING DEGENERATE!"
Cahir desperately shook his head again. "But I love her! The dreams, yes, they showed me the beautiful woman she grows into! I must see her, hold her and-."
"I SAID GET AWAY!" Dominik screamed, thrusting his hand forward, as violent wisps of magic erupted from his palm into his Aard sign.
The blue blast of energy, shot Cahir back, sending the knight stumbling to the ground. Just before his back could slam into the ground however, a burst of black erupted from Cahir, as his voice hit Dominik's ears again.
"Do you not understand boy? I saved her life, she would not be here without me today," The knight said, his voice coming out sharper than before.
Dominik whirled around, his blade swinging, and just before it could make contact with Cahir's neck, the knight's blade shot into the air. A loud clang of steel rang, as Dominik gritted his teeth, all the pent-up anger directed towards the man in front of him that had been boiling since he was eleven, seemed to be slowly spilling out of him.
"You didn't do anything! You're a fucking degenerate," Dominik screamed, spinning around and going for another strike which Cahir parried. "YOU KILLED MY MOTHER, SHOT MY SISTER! WANTED TO FUCK THE GIRL I LOVED, EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS A FUCKING CHILD!"
Cahir calmly blocked another strike. "Can a man not find redemption in your eyes? Can he not atone for his mistakes, and turn over a new life?"
"NOT YOU!" Dominik said, screaming as he struck out with a quick series of blows, moving his feet with more swiftness then he could ever remember. For his entire life he had wished that he could have killed the knight in the helmet, after learning of what Cahir had done, it only strengthened that want.
Dominik knew that in truth, when the real Cahir was alive, he wouldn't have been able to hold candle to his own skill. However, the Cahir that was in front of him, Dominik could see wisps of black magic shooting from his pale eyes, his sword moved effortlessly and blocked every strike he threw.
The two fought and fought as the flames and Cintra around them slowly faded. He was so focused on getting his blade to cut into Cahir's flesh, he didn't notice the change around him. Twirling his blade to a reverse grip Dominik lashed out again, a series of strikes and spins that finally seemed to put Cahir on the defensive. He struck upwards, twirling his blade back to a normal grip, but Cahir parried with such force it sent him stumbling to the right. Seeing his opportunity, Dominik dug his heel into the ground. He spun, using the momentum from being parried to leap and spin, thrusting his blade forward towards Cahir eye, towards the clits of his helmet.
A loud *CLANG* rang as Cahir's helmet was knocked off his head, blood pooling and trickling down his eyes. Dominik landed on his feet, trying to force his powers to activate, his magic to burst through, but no matter how hard he focused, he felt like his insides were combusting from so much strain.
Cahir didn't even flinch to his eye now being cut shut. Blood slowly spilled from his eyes, trickling down his cheek, as a cold, snowy draft shot past Dominik's eyes and finally he took in his surroundings.
An old, run down castle, a snow courtyard, and when he looked down, he saw snow beneath his boots, blood staining the white with crimson red.
"Geralt has told you, what I did yes?" Cahir said, as Dominik's gaze shot back up to him, looking at the knight as the blood still gashed from his eye. "I distracted the maniac, distracted him, so Cirilla could live, I gave my life for hers."
"BECAUSE YOU FELL IN LOVE WITH A CHILD YOU SICK FUCK," Dominik said, lunging forward with a powerful overhead strike.
To his surprise Cahir didn't move, and Dominik's blade plunged deep into the knight's shoulder, finding the gap between his plated armor and his shoulder. Blood gushed from the wound, and Dominik's breathing didn't cease, as he looked up at Cahir who was still unflinching.
The man looked far too much like Declan, and it made Dominik's stomach churn, remembering his dead friend.
Cahir, grabbed the blade in his armored hand, looking through Dominik's eyes.
"You carry so much hatred in you young man," Cahir said slowly, each syllable drawn out, as the wind picked up around them. "Deep, visceral hatred for the ones who've wronged you… and that is what you fear, that you will never be able to let go of this hatred. That you will never, ever be able to truly be at peace, not with all that you and the ones you love have experienced."
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Dominik yelled, his eyes stinging as he yanked his sword from Cahir's shoulder, spinning and cutting it deep across his neck.
Cahir's head, fell backward, only a thin layer of bone holding his head on his shoulders. Blood sprayed into Dominik's face, the metallic tasted stained his tongue, as Cahir still didn't react, didn't scream like he had hoped.
The voice that came from the knight still remained calm, knowing.
"It will eat at you, tear you apart, the hatred you hold, the regret, it is one of your fears for a reason," The head slowly spoke, before his armored finger pointed behind him. "You fear you'll turn into a monster, that if you can't let go of your hatred, you will never find peace. You need not forgive, but to simply let go of past hatred, that means nothing anymore… because… as you can see, sometimes even the ones you think evil… can show goodness."
Dominik's gut wrenched, turning around to follow the man's finger. A puff of black smoke filled his vision, as the Cahir he had nearly decapitated disappeared.
His heart wouldn't stop beating, as the words that had been spoken sunk into him, gnawing at his heart, his brain, but he was distracted by the sound of steel on steel.
He whirled back around to the courtyard, and his eyes widened, a familiar head of ashen hair, darted into his view, panting, blood on her cheeks, her sword clenched in her hands.
"Ciri…" He said, nearly rushing to her, but he was glued to the spot.
He heard shouting, but it came into his ears a garbled mess. A group of men burst into the courtyard, and Ciri whirled back around to face them, holding out her sword as they approached.
A realization dawned on him, as he looked at the crumbling castle around him, just as Ciri began to fight, cutting down men, and parrying blows, her ashen hair marred with blood and sweat, her moves as effortless as they were now. She didn't use her powers, because she hadn't learned how to use them in combat yet.
Because this was years prior, Stygga castle.
Ciri was pushed to the brink, before a man sauntered into the courtyard, laughing and at the sight of him, Ciri faltered and trembled. She had described Leo Bonhart to him in excruciating detail, but even those descriptions didn't do the man justice of how terrifying he was.
He wasn't very physically imposing, with his old, wrinkled face, stringy grey beard and bald head. However, the witcher medallions dangling from his belt, his pale eyes, his glower, was sickening, he looked at the situation before him, Ciri bleeding, near death, as if it brought him the greatest satisfaction in the world.
Dominik couldn't hear what he said, but Ciri raised her sword, facing down Bonhart and the group of men. He thought she was a goner, and he nearly charged forward, but that was when two more people came rushing into the courtyard. One younger woman, had choppy blonde hair, stabbing her blade into an unexpecting man, before the fighting quickly resumed. The man with her, was unmistakable, it was Cahir, his armor glinting in the distant sun.
Ciri had been distracted by Cahir, and the woman, who he recognized by Geralt's descriptions, Angouleme. Ciri had been distracted by them, and that was when Bonhart took his chance, he went to lunge for her, to bring his blade down and finish her, but Cahir stepped in front of her, intercepting the blow and fighting, furiously with Bonhart, until he was able to push the bounty hunter back.
For a fleeting few seconds, the fight stopped, Ciri helped Angouleme, the woman's arm around her shoulder, as the number of men had dwindled. Cahir faced down Bonhart, shouting something to Angouleme and Ciri, before Bonhart laughed. Ciri looked like she was going to try and protest, along with Angouleme, but Cahir held firm, and soon, the two women fled, with the remaining men chasing after her, while Cahir faced down Bonhart, his face twisted in determination, his blade held outwards.
Dominik recognized the look on Cahir's face, it looked so much like Declan's, the look of a man, who knew what he was doing was right.
Before he could see the battle commence, the black puffs of smoke filled his vision again, and he felt like he was falling, as he stumbled to his knees after finally being able to move his feet again. His sword clattered from his hand, but not onto cobblestone or snow, but onto gravely dirt. The beams of sunlight shot down into his vision, as he could see blue flames dancing in his peripheral. Furiously he blinked, trying to clear his vision, as he realized he was back in the cave of life. For a moment, he thought his challenge was over, he heard what his deepest fear was, knew it was correct, and he had killed the Cahir that faced him. He thought he'd look up to find a door, an exit to the current chamber.
But then he heard armored plate rustling behind him, and he whirled around just in time to see a sword coming down to cleave him in half.
"SHIT!" He said, his blood surging through his body, as the sword that almost killed him hit the ground beneath him with a loud *CLANG*
He scooped up his sword and went to get to his feet, but while he was on his knees, the sword came for his neck. Falling to the ground again, he whirled back around to his attacker and shot his forward, he felt magic swirl in him, his powers, as erratic, blue wisps of light danced in his eyes before the blast of Aard sent his attacker stumbling.
Finally he was able to get to his feet, and that was when he saw Cahir again. Except this Cahir, had black smoke coming from red eyes, his blade was metal, and smoke at the same time.
And unlike the last one he saw, this one seemed bent on killing him.
Dominik flashed back to all the times he said he would kill the knight in the helmet, how his seething hatred for the man had risen with every mention of his name. He was the one who murdered his mother, almost murdered Bella and himself, the demon that had haunted his nightmares for years, and fell in love with the woman he loved.
A man he would never cease to hate.
Cahir rushed him again, and now, Dominik finally felt his magic spring to life. His eyes tinted shades of blue, but he felt the beams of magic shoot from all angles as he parried one blow and spun to strike at the knights back. However, Cahir was quick, moving his blade back to block his blow, but Dominik spun back around to his front. He tried to stab him through the side, but Cahir leapt backwards, leveling his smoking black blade towards him.
For a moment he didn't know what was happening, if this was his true challenge, what had been the purpose of his visions before if he was to fight Cahir's ghost again?
Don't think about it, this is your chance, finally your chance to kill him! But he's already dead, this is just an illusion, why carrying on hating a man who's already dead?
Both thoughts raced through his mind, it distracted him as Cahir lunged forward at him. He fought like a knight; a type of opponent Dominik had fought plenty of times. After his first lunge, Cahir held his ground, with perfect footwork and sword angles, he lashed out, and Dominik went on the defensive. He parried a blow from the right, the left, he dodged a stab, all while looking for an opening, and finally he found one.
His eyes flashed blue, as magic erratically shot from him. He moved his blade to parry one of Cahir's strike, performing a perfect riposte, pushing his blade up, spinning under his arm, and cutting his sword across the unarmored part under the knights' arms. Blood spilled, but before he could do anything, with supernatural speed himself, no doubt fueled by the magic, Cahir smacked his aside, jabbing his blade forward, and catching a part of Dominik's shoulder.
He winched, knocking Cahir's blade away, and spinning back to the front, his anger surging to new heights, as he lunged forward, leaping with a quick spin, that assisted by his magic, broke right through Cahir's attempted block. He felt the energy quickly leave his body, but he stayed the course, as his sword cut down into Cahir's shoulder, bringing the knight to his knees, and taking his advantage again, Dominik spun and precisely cut up across the knight's elbow, another unarmored part of a knight's armor he knew of.
Blood spilled onto the ground below, and from his knees, Cahir tried to swing his blade again, but Dominik was too swift, spinning around and thrusting his hand forward. Aard shot from his palm, and knocked Cahir's black smoking sword from his hand, and sending he knight tumbling to the ground.
He rushed to the knight's body, and before he could even get to his knees, Dominik's blade was at his throat. Looking down, the red and black smoky eyes went away, and now, they were replaced by the eyes of a normal man, the man he had seen in the vision, the one who fought off Leo Bonhart to save Ciri, sacrificing himself in the process.
But also, the eyes of the man who had haunted his nightmares, who he saw shoot down and killed his mother and sister.
Kill him, he deserves to die, you've wanted to do this your entire life! He killed Bella, he killed mother, he chased you and Ciri!
The thought beat down into his head, pounding him over and over. Every single nightmare he ever had about the knight in the winged helmet came crashing back into his brain like a meteor. This man had perversive dreams about Ciri, fell in love with her, when she was a child, killed members of his family, chased him for a month, nearly killing him plenty of times.
He raised his blade, ready to deliver a killing stroke, to finally, finally do what he promised he'd do, the first night he got to Kaer Morhen. Kill the knight in the winged helmet for what he had done to him, had done to him and Ciri, he'd kill him for it, get his revenged for his mother and Bella, and all of the nightmares.
But he's already dead, Cahir is already dead, the man before you… is apparition.
Freezing mid-strike, Dominik's blade stopped inches from Cahir's neck, as a breath he had been holding the entire fight left him.
Faram's voice echoed in his mind. In the Cave of Life… you have to truly conquer your fear, mentally, and physically, you have to face the true meaning of the fear.
Dominik looked down at the man before him, and his arms began to shake.
No, this isn't a man, this isn't Cahir… Cahir is dead, this is your challenge.
You need not forgive, but to let go of past hatred, that means nothing anymore. The words the specter spoke before his vision of Stygga Castle came back to him.
Hatred that means nothing anymore….
He met Cahir's pale eyes, and the bleeding man said nothing, his eyes simply staring into Dominik's waiting for his decision. Dominik winced, as he could clearly see Declan in the man. Hatred that meant nothing anymore. His hatred had consumed him then, he would have been lying if he didn't say that some nights, he wished he had gotten to kill Cahir, no matter what the man had done in the end.
Cahir would always be a monster to him, the first monster he had ever faced.
But that means nothing anymore… because he's dead, and you have Ciri back.
With trembling hands, Dominik slowly moved his blade from the man's neck. With quick precision, he slid the sword back into its sheath, his eyes narrowing down at the bleeding knight below him.
"I'm never going to forgive you… I don't care what you did… to me… you'll always be a monster…" He said slowly, his eyes not leaving the knight as they shrunk into slits. "But that doesn't matter anymore… because you're dead… and how much I hate you… means nothing anymore."
For a moment, Dominik thought he Cahir would try to strangle him again, as the silence was thick enough to put cut with a knife. He crossed his arms, trying to keep them from trembling, as he met Cahir's pale eyes. The eyes, of a man who he hated, who haunted every facet of his nightmares as a child, the one responsible for his mother being dead, who had hunted he and Ciri.
And for the first time while thinking about him, Dominik felt nothing. Not hatred, or anger, only indifference.
Because Cahir was dead, his hatred didn't matter anymore.
A small smile tugged on the corner of Cahir's lips as he stayed silent. Dominik nearly jumped when the knight nodded, turning his back to him, walking two steps, and disappearing in a puff of black smoke.
"Fucking hell…" He muttered to himself, the blue fire, warming his bones as streams of light from above pierced into his eyes.
Shuddering, he heard the loud rumbling of stone, and turned around, to see a part of the wall shifting.
"Well… looks like I passed… two more to go," He said, as a small passageway, leading to another narrow corridor opened in the wall. "If that was only the first… fucking hell…"
He muttered more obscenities under his breath, as he trudged through the passage, scanning the ground for any signs of a sword. Gripping the swallow around his neck he shakily sighed, as darkness enveloped around the path again.
For Bella… this, is all for Bella.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
The cold draft hit Ciri like a brick, as she finally trudged her way into a much larger chamber, with her narrow corridor coming to an end. Right away, she wondered if Dominik had found something similar, if he had already faced any challenges yet, or if he was possibly already in the main chamber, talking to one of his ancestors, if he had found the sword. She had scanned every bit she could see for it and found nothing yet.
And as she waded into the room then, she cursed, when around her she couldn't see anything, let alone a sword, as the smooth ground below her was nothing but barren gravel, with light beaming in from above. The room couldn't be that large, and Ciri was perplexed by that fact, from the breeze she felt, it seemed like it should have been much larger. The only sound that she could hear was the thumping of her own heartbeat, as she slowly trudged her way to the center of the chamber, an eerie tingling running down her spine, as a pounding shot through the base of her skull.
The magic, the potent magic in the cave was still every present, and it made her stumble as she got to the middle of the room.
Focus Ciri, this is for Bella. It was for Dominik's sister, her little sister. Bella would cut her down the minute she saw Ciri in her current state, this she knew. Ciri had tried to reason with her when they saw her in the forest, but the only one that had been able to get her to even lower her guard had been Dominik.
So if she couldn't speak to her to help her, then Ciri would do the next best thing, follow Dominik's plan, and get he sword.
The only problem was that she couldn't see anything in that chamber, nothing except the gravely earth beneath her. She couldn't even see an exit to the next corridor, it was as if she was trapped.
"Dammit… maybe I should have thought this through more…" She muttered to herself, remembering the annoyed look Dominik had given her when she walked down the corridor.
Ciri sighed and reached around her neck, gripping the ring there and the new medallion he had gotten her. She knew they were doing the right thing, and deep down he did as well. Like always she appreciated and loved his protective instinct. When she was with him, she always felt safe, secure, as if nothing could hurt her. However, she knew that they couldn't let this opportunity pass them by. If that sword could help save Bella, then they would find it.
However, there was no sword in that room she was in, and no exit.
"Shit…" She muttered to herself, before she saw streaks of black shoot up from the cracks in the ground.
Do you even know what your worst fears are? Dominik had made a great point, she had rushed off, ready to face whatever was to come, but she hadn't given much thought to what she would be facing in the three challenges. Her worst fears, she had things she was afraid of naturally, but she couldn't tell anyone what he true, deepest, darkest fears were. They were all a jumbled mess in her mind, and when she felt a surge of magic rush through her mind, as the black mist around her swirled around the chamber. It consumed the walls, the rocks, the beams of light shining from above was replaced by noting but the blue flames of the torches around her.
And when she fell to her knees, clutching at her temples, the mist continued to invade her vision. Around her waist, the cat medallion's eyes glew bright red, and with each pulse of the medallion, her brain felt like it was about to explode. Panic welled up in her chest, as when she rose her head up finally able to open her eyes again, she saw nothing but black smoke the only illumination brought to her by a large glowing brazier of blue fire in the center of the room. She couldn't see more than a few feet ahead of the flames as she slowly staggered to her feet.
As soon as she rose, the medallion around her waist furiously shook, as if it was trying to leap off her waist.
She looked down and gripped the medallion in her hands. "What the-."
"Cirilllllllaaaaaaaaaaa! It's time your next bout my dear!" A voice, cut through the air, smashing into Ciri's eardrums like a battering ram.
Blood drained from her face, unable to move any other part of her body, she slowly let go of the cat medallion. It fell to her side, and Ciri could hear the echo of it hitting her waist, it was as if she had been transported to a canyon as the voice yelled out again.
"Ah! My medallion! How nice of you to keep it safe for me all these years!" The voice said again, getting closer, closer, until it Ciri could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. "My oh my… you've grown beautiful, your little boyfriend must be all over you! Tell me… did he ever figure out about that one Rat that you were fucking behind his back?"
All her limbs seemed to combust at once, she reached up behind her back and her sword was out in a flash. With a scream, she whirled and swung her blade where the voice had come from, only to be met by another puff of black smoke, before a tsking hit her ears.
"My oh my still so much anger! You've not changed a bit my darling," He said, as Ciri whirled back around with her blade leveled, only making him smile more. "I always loved that feisty side of you, always fighting no matter how many times I beat you down, you kept moving forward, I must say I had a dash of respect for you by the end of our time together!"
"Fuck your respect, and fuck you," Ciri spat, her eye narrowing, her skin trembling as her limbs continued to explode, as she shook her head in disbelief. "You're not real, you're dead, I killed you, I fucking killed you!"
He was just as Ciri had remembered before her sword plunged into his neck. A balding head of stringy grey, almost white hair, a handlebar mustache leading to a long white beard. He wore a long brown coat over chainmail, a slim broadsword at his waist, he may not have looked physically imposing, or frightening to a normal person on the street, but Ciri knew the monster that lurked beneath the skin. Around his waist she spotted two dangling witcher medallions, a wolf, a griffin.
There had been a third the last time she saw him, a cat.
And now it dangled around her own waist.
"Oh, you didn't kill me my dear," Leo Bonhart said, his pale eyes, digging into her like claws. "Yes, you may have physically killed me, but I am very much alive darling… I live on every, single, day. In your nightmares, in your dreams. I am… a part of who you are."
"THE FUCK YOU ARE!" Ciri said, her chest, erupting with a new boiling rage. She tried to use her power, to teleport, to blink forward and cleave her blade, clean through Bonhart's stomach, separated his top and bottom halves.
But she didn't move, she couldn't, she blinked, and suddenly, the black mist around her churned. Bonhart disappeared in puff of smoke, before suddenly snow shot past her eyes, chilling her to the bone as she whirled back around as she heard the bounty hunters' voice.
"Of course I am! How much time did we spend together? Well, I dare say I rubbed off on you a bit!" The man laughed, as Ciri whirled around to see his smug, maniacal grin. "So, you never answered my question! Did you ever tell your little boyfriend about the Rat you were fucking? Oh, I remember her, her head flew from her shoulders! I imagine your boyfriend would thank me for that, I do so wish I had gotten to meet him!"
Ciri whirled in place, her sword loosely in hand as with each passing second her blood pressure continued to drop. It felt as if liquid mercury was coursing through her veins, pure ice as around her the chamber she was in, had shifted into an old crumbling castle.
One she remembered, one that she saw in nightmares, night after night.
"Ahhhh this is where our relationship reached its apex my dear!" Bonhart cooed, a sword materializing in his hand as he laughed at her. "Ahaha, that one little fool, that gallant knight in the helmet, he fought tough for you he did! Did you ever learn that he was in love with you as well! Quite foul don't you think? He was what, 10 years older than you? What did your boyfriend think about that? What did he think about me? Or how my influence has rubbed off on you?"
"I'm nothing like you!" Ciri spat again, her legs trembling, as she closed her eyes, her gloved hand gripping tighter around the sword. "You aren't even real, you're dead, I ended you, I killed you!"
"Yes, yes you did, quite viciously as well, I was almost proud!" Bonhart said again, as Ciri could hear his boots crunching in the snow as he paced around her. "Oh, and did I ever tell you, that display on the lake! Gods, it ruined our plans, but the way you killed Rience, mercilessly, no thoughts of mercy for a second! You were a brilliant little fighter, still are! And so much like me!"
It's not real, he's not real, you killed him, this is a challenge. For Dominik, for Bella.
All the nightmares, all the fights in the arena, the fisstech forced into her gums, the men, women, all the people she killed for the man, it all came to her at once. And then after that, all the things she had done, all the people she had killed, her anger, her rage, all the times it had almost gotten her killed.
You are not like him, you're not. Then why am I shaking? What if he's right,, what if I'm slowly turning into him.
"Oh? The silent treatment? You know that never worked on me my dear!" Bonhart said, his lips right near her ear, his hot breath trickling down her neck like molten lava. "I saw that you found your little boyfriend… what does he think of all the things you've done? All the people you've killed, the Rat you were fucking… do you really think, someone like you… everything you've done… could ever, truly, truly be loved?"
"FUCK YOU!" Ciri's arms shot from her side, reaching to her waist and spinning around,
A loud gurgle of blood sounded, as her dagger was plunged into the side of Bonhart's neck. Blood spouted from the bounty hunters' neck, not unlike what happened when Ciri killed him the last time. It sprayed onto her face, and her legs shook with a new fury as she stumbled back, falling on her ass into the snow, but when she blinked, the black mist came into her vision again. They weren't in Stygga Castle anymore, they were back in the cavern, back where she had started, the black mist surrounding the burning blue brazier.
Bonhart stood unmoving, his dagger, jutting out from the side of his neck.
And when the man smiled, Ciri's heart caught up in her throat.
He plucked the dagger from his neck, a loud squelch as blood covered the blade before he tossed it to the side.
"Well… it seems that rage is still there," Bonhart said slowly, the black smoking steel blade appearing in his hand, as he slowly approached her. "You have so much rage inside you… dear Cirilla. Rage, hatred, anger, and you're afraid… afraid it will turn you into me... that when the ones you love, when your little boyfriend discovers its truth depths, he'll be unable to love you!"
Ciri scrambled backwards, getting up to her feet, her heart still up in her throat as she slung her sword off her back, pointing it at the man as he laughed, swinging his blade towards her.
"You've faced many hardships, and you're still afraid of what happened, of me, of Vilgefortz, that they'll turn you into what I am, a monster," He said calmly, swinging his blade again after Ciri blocked his first strike. "Do you think Dominik will be able to love you, when he learns more about all you did? How much have you told him of your time with the Rats? Not only were you fucking another person, you were robbing, killing…. You're afraid of it, afraid that your past, what you did, will haunt you… and make it unable for you to be truly loved."
Ciri blocked the incoming blows, but still felt as if she was punched in the gut, all the wind and air leaving her body as she stumbled back.
She had told Dominik bits and pieces, about the things she had done, the things that had happened to her. She had told him about Mistle, about the Rats, but not the specifics, of all the horrible, horrible things she had done. The people she robbed, killed, all while fucking someone else. He had told her it didn't matter, but what would happen when he heard more.
He loves you, more then anything, stop it. She blocked strikes that Bonhart threw her way, his eyes had changed from the pale color, to pure black with a single dot of red in the middle. He lashed out with new vigor, from above, from the left, right, fluid, swift, just as he had been in real life. Ciri tried to used her powers again, but it was all she could do to raise and parry, she blocked and overhead strike, and spun under the bounty hunters guard, cutting across his torso. Blood gushed again over Ciri's gloves, but she felt a hand punch into the side of her gut, and she stumbled, before she just barely was able to avoid a strike aimed for her neck.
Whirling back around Bonhart was bleeding, but still unfazed, as black mist whirled around his finger as he pointed at her.
"I will always… and forever be a part of you… my dear," The apparition spoke, a haunting, ghostly voice as blood continued to spew from the wounds she had inflicted. "You cannot escape it… escaped me… how will it be possible for Dominik to truly love you… after everything that you have done?"
Ciri's fingers trembled around the hilt of her steel, as Dominik's face popped into her mind. His sharp, angular face, warm, kind eyes, full, soft pillowy lips, that goofy smile he got whenever she walked into a room, and for a second she stumbled, looking down at the ring dangling from her neck, and the new medallion he had gifted her. Her shoulders stiffened, as she looked up at the apparition of the man who had tortured her, haunted her nightmares to this day.
We're here, together now, and that's all that matters. Dominik's words, the words, from that first nigh they had spent back together in their cave, the night Ciri thought for a minute they'd make love for the first time but was marred when she had to tell him about Mistle. She remembered that night, she was a crying mess, but he had been there, held her, kissed her, made her forget about the pain, about the horrible memories.
She thought about all their nights since then, making love, holding each other as the sun rose, the adorable thing he did when he kissed her the back of her neck in the morning to wake her up. He was there, he was hers, and she was his.
And that's all that matters, the past doesn't matter.
It didn't matter, and now, she needed to help him, she had promised him they'd meet up in the main chamber. And finally this was a promise she was going to keep.
Her eyes shot open, and finally, she felt eh flashes of blue magic violently shoot through her limbs. Bonhart came in for another strike, but with the magic, her powers now surging through her again, she ducked under a strike, and lashed out for the mans sword hand. She raised her blade to block a strike, and slid her blade down his, spinning her hands and with a quick flick of the wrist blood erupted from Bonhart's palms, and she finished off by flicking her wrist upwards. Steel clanged on steel, as Bonhart's sword fell from his grasp, blood continued to spill, as Ciri reached down and caught the falling sword in her hand.
To her surprise is didn't disappear into vapor, but taking the advantage she rolled with being so close to the ground, she easily was able to roll behind him. She cut both her own sword and his across the back of his knees, before spinning back up to her feet and leveled both swords in an X across Bonhart's neck as he fell to his knees.
Ciri's breathing hitched, as the room around her, slowly morphed again. The black smoke disappeared, the brazier in the center of the room disappeared, and sunlight, small rays streamed down from above again as she looked right down into Bonhart's pale eyes, blood spilling from all the wounds she had inflicted.
"Well… here we are again my dear…" The bounty hunter said slowly, the voice, the same as the man she had once killed.
Ciri looked deep into his eyes and shook her head. "No… we aren't, because you aren't real… I killed you, you're in the past… and that's where you'll stay."
"You know our time together… will always be on your mind," Bonhart shot back, a small smirk coming to his lips. "You will never… ever forget about me."
"I won't… you're right, I'll never forget about you and all the things you did to me," Ciri said, a sharpness to her voice. "But all of that… doesn't matter…you don't matter anymore, because I have Dominik back, my family back, and they love me, love me more than anything,"
Bonhart chuckled. "Aha… that is all well and good my dear… now, if you will allow me this time around, to say a few parting words-."
He was cut off, when Ciri growled and slit both swords across his neck. The mess of stringy grey hair fell to the ground and rolled at her feet, Bonhart's eyes open, and unmoving.
"Fuck your parting words…" Ciri said, as the sword she had gotten from the man slowly disappeared in black smoke.
In her trembling other hand, she looked down at her own sword, the sword that had twice now helped her kill the man who haunted her nightmares for years.
It was clear of blood, just like her mind was clear of him.
None of it mattered, her past, it didn't matter, because now, she had the ones she loved back, she had Dominik back. She would never see Leo Bonhart again, Vilgefortz again, the Rats, none of them mattered, all that mattered, was what she was doing now, and how close she was to the life she had always wanted.
That life with Dominik, and now Fiona as well.
"The swords going to be in the main chamber…" She sighed, letting out a breath she had held the entire fight. "It's just how our luck goes…. I hope he's alright-."
She was cut off by the loud rumbling of stone, as she whirled around to see it's source. A narrow chunk of stone had opened in the far side of the room, and she could see distant blue torches, much like the previous path she had taken.
Quickly, Ciri rushed towards it, afraid it would close if she wasn't quick enough, gripping around the ring the whole time, remembering why they were there.
For Bella… this is for Bella…. And for Dominik.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"It's going to be all the way in the main chamber…." Dominik muttered to himself, as a familiar cold draft washed over him. "It's just our fucking luck…"
The treck to the second chamber through the corridors, had taken much less time than the first. The whole time however, he didn't think of his previous visions of Cahir, all he thought about was Ciri, more than likely on another side of the cave, trudging through and trying to find the sword the same way that he was. A small part of him hoped that she found it already, and that she was on her way back to the entrance. It would have been good, except he hadn't told her, or Geralt and Yen what he planned on doing with the sword once they retrieved it.
If he had, they would have all called him crazy, even Ciri.
However, he needed to focus on finding the sword first before anything else. He had no idea how any thief had managed to find his way all the way to the main chamber, past all the obstacles and challenges, perhaps the thief simply feared nothing. Or perhaps he was killed, and the blade somehow got carried to the main chamber by monsters.
Either way, he wasn't finding the sword in the chamber he came into, which looked eerily similar to the first. Smooth with no exit, and after blinking once, the corridor behind him disappeared, as the magic beat into his brain. The rays of sunlight became harsher from above, and he even got a glimpse of the blue sky above, the sun beginning to set. Geralt and Yen both were surely ripping their hair out trying to find them already, but it was too late for him to turn back. He had promised Ciri he'd see her at the main chamber. He had no idea if the cave would even truly let him speak to a dead loved one, but he didn't care. All he cared about was the sword, so he could help Bella, and making sure he and Ciri got out of there alright. Perhaps the whole cave itself was a sham, and at the main entrance he'd encounter some sick mage, who enjoyed playing with people's minds.
No matter what the case was, the sword wasn't in that room, and that only meant one thing, as he balled his clammy gloved hands into fists, letting out a shaky breath as he got to the center of the chamber.
"Just once… just once can something be easy…" He complained, sighing and looking around the room, the small tendrils of black smoke billowing around him. "What could it be… fuck, what am I scared of? Ghosts, spiders… Eredin… fuck me why can't the damn thing just be here-."
"Dominik…" A familiar voice said behind him, and his heart leapt from his chest as he whirled around, breathing out a deep sigh of relief.
"Ciri! For fuck's sake you scared me, how the hell did you get here." He said, seeing her standing right in front of him.
She was dressed exactly how she had been when he last saw her, before they separated to follow the caves diverging paths. Her hair was tied up in its bun, her eyes bore into him, he rushed over to her, finally relieved that she had somehow gotten to him.
"I still haven't found the sword," He said, coming up and wrapping his arms around her and squeezing. "Knowing our luck, it's probably in the main chamber, did you have…. Ciri?"
He looked down at her, her body was rigid, unmoving, unresponsive to his touch.
And when she looked up at him, she was crying, tears streaming down her eyes, her makeup falling in streaks down her cheeks. Dominik's heart leapt up into his throat as he grabbed onto her shoulders, meeting her eyes.
"Ciri? What is it, are you okay did you-."
"Why didn't you go to Thanedd with Geralt Dominik? You had dreams… you knew something was going to happen," She said, cutting him off.
His inside's turned to mush, his throat, which his heart still felt like it leapt into closed and constricted. Soon he found it hard to breath, as the tears fell and fell from Ciri's eyes, her palpable gaze not leaving him, piercing into him like a hot knife that was slowly melting away the inside of him.
"Ciri… Geralt refused to take me, I tried, I begged him, you know that," He said, his voice nearly shaking, as around him, the black smoke began to dominate the room.
Ciri however, tore his attention back to her with a sob. "But you knew something would happen. Geralt didn't believe you, but you knew you knew what would happen, and you just let it. You could've gone yourself, forced your way out with him… but no. You promised, you promised me that you would protect me… but when you knew I was in danger, that I could die… you didn't do anything."
"I tried! I did everything I could to go, I regret it every single day, Ciri you know that!"
"And you also knew that if I went to Aretuza… if you didn't go to Thanedd… that I could have been killed," She said through tears, her eyes not leaving him. "Do you know… what I had to do? What happened to me… what I had to become…. All because you didn't come for me."
She had told him before, but never a full story, only smaller bits and pieces. Of course there was the Rats, what she had done to the men who chased her, how she killed them, how merciless she was. Now he also knew why she had been forced to spend so long in Tir'Nala. All of it, however, didn't matter, she was there now, he had her back.
But he would be lying if he said that he didn't think about all she had gone through because he hadn't gone to her, gone to Thanedd, when he knew something would be wrong.
"Ciri…" He said, meeting her eyes and slowly moving towards her. "I regret not going to Thanedd every day… not going to you every day… we've talked about this. Ciri what… what's brining this on I-. SHIT!"
A puff of black magic shot from Ciri's hand. It smacked into him and he groaned as he hit the ground. His head throbbing he shot to his knees again, the black magic finally overtaken the entire cave, ensnaring his vision, as all he could see was Ciri now, illuminated by a brazier of blue fire in the center of the room.
Dominik's chest erupted when he saw her. Ciri's eyes, swirled with black mist, her green, emerald pupils turning bright red.
"Fuck…" He said, rubbing he smoke from his eyes.
It wasn't Ciri, and he scolded himself for not knowing.
Another challenge, what is it now? I'm not afraid of what happened to Ciri, I regret it. His mind swirled, as the magic billowed up around the apparition of Ciri, her form flickering in and out of his vision. The red eyes bore into him, the mist consuming her body, as his heart, thumped in his chest and the magic, the magic signature made it feel as if his brain was about to burst from his skull.
Not Ciri, I'll fight anything else, anything else… just not her, not even an apparition of her. The last chamber had made him fight, fight both physically and mentally, but he wouldn't fight now. He didn't care if it wasn't the real Ciri, the idea of swinging his sword in her direction made him nearly sick on the cavern floor there. He needed to figure out what was happening, what the fear he was facing was. He knew about what had happened to her, how she had escaped from Aretuza, she had told him about that night on Thanedd, and each night he regretted it, he didn't fear it, it would forever live as his greatest regret.
But fear and regret… are often one in the same, you fear what you regret will happen again, and that again, you won't be able to do anything.
"You knew, you knew what would happen, but you let it happen anyway!" The apparition said, its voice still perfectly mimicking Ciri as the black smoke swirled around it, churning violently like a tornado around the room. "And I believed you! I believed you loved me, wouldn't let anything happen to me, what a STUPID little girl I was!"
"You're not real, this isn't real, FUCK," He said, falling to his knees as the violently black smoke knocked him over in a gust.
Pain shot through his head, as it smacked onto the gravel below. He only had time to curse again, grabbing his temples and slowly shuffling up to his knees, when the last thing he expected hit his closed eyelids.
Sunlight.
Groggily he groaned, as he could hear distant voices. The first thing he managed to see was brown canvas, the walls of a tent, as he shakily rose to his feet. Around him, he saw a few old barrels, a table, and a bed. It couldn't be that much larger than a room he would rent at an inn, the room he and Ciri shared at Dandelion's inn back in Novigrad.
"Where… the fuck…." He muttered, trying to finally blink his vision clear.
It went clear, and his muscles stiffened when he heard the voices, one in particular.
"I… thank you… I don't know what would have happened."
"Ciri!" He said, recognized the voice, and after blinking again, sure enough she was there, Ciri was standing right in front of him, only a few paces away near the front of the bed.
But it wasn't Ciri now, it wasn't the one that had arrived in the cave with him. She was younger, she was fourteen, he would recognize her anywhere. She wore a loose leather tunic wrapped around her arms, brown trousers and boots, her tattered and marred ashen hair was covered in grime, bruises and cuts along her face, her sword was laying in the corner, and around her neck he spotted his ring. The bronze dangled down to her chest, as she still looked to be absolutely terrified, clutching at it as she spoke to the girl in front of her.
Older, short choppy blonde hair, a smug look of superiority as she lingered over Ciri. Ciri had told him about her, it was someone else who Dominik wished he could have killed, another one of the people who used and took advantage of the woman he loved.
Mistle.
"Oh it's no problem… what's your name?" Mistle said, her arm, holding onto Ciri's shoulder, gently trailing her finger down her wrist.
"No… no no no please…." He said to himself, neither apparition able to hear him, as his throat closed, his ability to breath all but gone.
Ciri trembled under the girl's touch, the terrified look yet to leave her. She met Mistle's eyes and looked like she was about to say something but rethought her words.
"Falka…" Ciri said, meeting Mistle's eyes with a nod. "My names Falka."
"A pleasure it is Falka… go on, get some rest," Mistle said, gesturing towards the bed next to her.
Dominik went to rip his eyes away, but nothing he did was able to make his body move. However, just like the previous chamber, he couldn't tare his eyes away. His head was focused on the two, on Mistle, and Ciri, he couldn't close his eyes. It was as if the magic, the mist was physically prying his eye-lids open, making it impossible for him to not watch the scene unfolding before him.
He knew exactly what happened, Ciri had told him while she was in tears, half-naked in his arms the first night they had tried to make love.
Ciri slowly nodded, shakily sighing, climbing up onto the bed sighing again as he head hit the pillow. Dominik's throat fully closed however, when Mistle climbed in after her, laying down right next her, propped up on one elbow, eyeing Ciri up and down, eyeing up her body as if she was bruxa ready to devour her unsuspecting victim. Dominik got the same feeling he did whenever he saw a Bruxa, when he saw Mistle's hand then.
She trailed it down Ciri's chest, making Ciri almost leap from the bed, but Mistle grabbed onto her arm, yanking her back down.
"What… what is it?" Ciri said.
"Go on then… if you're going to relax you out to get comfortable, take that leather off." She said, fiddling with the straps of Ciri's leather.
Ciri's eyes widened and she shook as she shooed the girls' hand away. "I'm fine, I'm comfortable as is."
"Are you? So tough to sleep like that, you'll be better off, here… let me help."
"I don't need help."
"You certainly needed it a few moment ago…. Didn't you?" Mistle said, as she moved her way down Ciri's body, taking off her boots, her hand traveling up Ciri's leg as Ciri jumped at the woman's touch, her skin crawling.
And her hand, stayed grasped firmly on the ring.
"There… much more comfortable now, wouldn't you say? What's with your hand? What's that ring?" Mistle asked, her hand, exploring up Ciri's arm again.
Ciri shook, Mistle had undid the leather vest covering her. Now Ciri only lay there, her trousers, a white linen tunic down her body, her hand unwilling to move from around the ring.
"Someone… important to me… gave it to me," Ciri said wearily.
"Boyfriend?"
Ciri hesitated. "No…"
Mistle smirked. "Girlfriend?"
"No…. just… someone important," Ciri said again, flinching under the girls touch.
Mistle's hand, slowly stopped in the middle of Ciri's chest, just above both her breasts, a sick, twisted smile on her face.
"Well… if this 'important' person, didn't see how beautiful you are… Falka, then well… I dare say that's their loss… and my gain," The girl said, her hand traveling lower, and lower on Ciri's body.
Ciri's eyes widened, and she shook, grabbing Mistle's wrist as her finger got to the hem of Ciri's trousers.
"What… what are you doing?" Ciri asked shakily. "I… I don't-."
Mistle cut her off, spinning her hand and grabbing Ciri's wrist, forcing it up above her head, and when Ciri tried to bring her other hand down to stop her, the older girl overpowered her, holding both of Ciri's wrists forcefully above her head, while her other hand, trailed down Ciri's body again.
"I would've fucking killed you…. Fuck I would have killed you…" Dominik said, feeling his chest heavily rise and fall, as he blinked away tears that were stinging his eyes.
"What are you doing!? I don't… I don't want-," Ciri started, but Mistle quickly shook her head.
"You don't know what you want…. I just saved you… I dare say that you owe me something after that," Mistle said, her mouth coming right up next to Ciri's ear. "You're going to enjoy it… I know you will…. This… is how you pay me back… Falka."
Ciri tore her neck away from the girl. "No, no you don't understand I… I've never-."
"Never? Someone as beautiful as you? Gods… that makes it even better," Mistle said, her lips going to Ciri's ear again, as she clamped down harder on Ciri's wrists. "Just let yourself enjoy it… and I promise this could be one of the best nights of your life."
"No… no, please, I don't… no…." Ciri said, blinked her eye rapidly to fight back tears, as Mistle's hand, slipped under her trousers.
"STOP, FUCKING STOP!" Dominik said, his eyes stinging, as tears cascaded down his own cheeks, he used every bit of muscle in his body to close his eyes, to look away from what was happening.
But still he couldn't. He felt like they would finally close, but tendrils of black magic swirled around his eyes, and no matter how hard he tried, he looked. It propped his head up, and even when he finally fell to his knees, his head was still shot up to look at it.
To watch the woman that he loved, raped in front of him. When he could have been there, been there to prevent it.
He listened, had to listen to Ciri's sobs, her shaky breaths, her reluctant moans as Mistle was relentless. I could have stopped this… if you were there.
"Gods… gods Ciri… Ciri…" He sobbed, finally feeling the magic release him, as he fell to the ground, crumpling like a deflated, emptied sack.
He clamped his eyes shut, but Ciri's voice, her struggling breaths, all it still hit his ears. He heard her forcing out reluctant moans between her sobs, as Mistle didn't let go of her arms, raping her, without thought or conscious, only interested in her own pleasure.
The tears didn't stop, from him, or from Ciri. And when he looked up, it was as if Ciri was looking directly at him, as Mistle dug her fingers deeper inside her, and Ciri yelled, tears, streaming down her cheeks.
The whole time, her eyes stayed on the ring bouncing around her chest, and between her sobs and forced moans, she heard one single word.
"Dominik…. Dominik…." She said, not loud enough for Mistle to hear, but she said it nonetheless, tears in her eyes as she sobbed.
"Where were you!? You could have prevented this," A sharp voice said behind him.
He turned around, as the sounds of Ciri's cries drowned out in his ears, and the black smoke circled around him again. Tears didn't stop as he turned and found the apparition of the Ciri he knew now staring at him, her eyes still swirling with black smoke and a red center.
Dominik wiped the tears from his eyes, still shaking. "I… I did everything I could… everything I could I… I never stopped looking."
"Did you? So, all those years you spend meandering around by yourself, pouting like a petulant child how the world was unfair, not going to Geralt and Yennefer, when you knew that they were your best chance…. Did you do everything you could then?" The vision asked him, the blood red, smoky eyes in Ciri's head baring into him.
His heart, dropped. "It was a mistake… I should have gone to them sooner… I know… You… you went through hell… I know that and I-."
"Do you really know? Do you really know the depths of what I went through?" The Ciri asked, before waving her hand, black smoke filling up his lungs again.
"DAMMIT!" He said, shouting as he yet again was knocked back.
He wanted to get angry, shout at the vision, the cave for making him see such things. However, all he could see was Ciri's crying eyes, Mistle forcing herself inside her. He could still hear Ciri's yells, her forced moans and trembling arms. Slowly he stumbled himself up to his feet, just as the black mist disappeared around him again, and a cold chill ran through his bones.
His head shot up, and he found himself looking out a window. Out it, he saw a full moon on a cold night, outstretched before him, a city, like he had never seen before. White marble buildings, intricately carved, like the elven ruins he so frequently visited for contracts. It took a moment to register the lavish room he was in. A large four poster bed, red silk sheets and piles of throw pillows. Carved vanities and dressers, pictures on the wall of men… no elves, in battle atop horses, skeletal horses, with one large portrait, dominated the left side of the room.
And it was one he recognized, painted onto the canvas in the frame, was Lara Dorren. Lara was seated on a chair, with a tall, strong looking elf dressed in regal attire standing beside the chair, long flowing blonde hair, and sharp pale eyes.
However, the one his eyes fell too, was the woman standing on Lara's right. The painting captured all the people perfectly, but the woman, Dominik almost felt he could recognize. The woman wore a long, dark, purple dress, slits going down both sides of her legs, her arms adorned with bracelets and armlets, a gold, intricate necklace coming down between her breasts, as she smiled next to Lara Dorren. Long, dark chocolate locks went down her shoulders, and her eyes, even in the painting seemed to glow amber gold. She was certainly incredibly beautiful, and Dominik even had a guess as to who it was.
Leila of Tir'Nala, Lara Dorren's old best-friend. Alexander's soon to be wife. His ancestor. And upon that assumption, looking out over the city again, he had guessed where he was.
Tir'Nala itself, the world of the Aen Elle.
"I know what you think of me," A voice made him turn around.
Ciri.
Dominik's breathing hitched. Ciri saw uncomfortable, in a large chair on the opposite side of the room, staring at the back of a massive, seven-foot elf. She wore old elven robes, her hair tied back in a bun, and Dominik saw the red, jagged scar that ran down her cheek. Ciri had always told him her scar was much worse than it looked in the present, and he was seeing that truth now. The mark dominated her cheek, deeper, redder, wider. She was older than in the last vision he saw, seventeen, eighteen, he didn't want to think about it.
But even with the scar, she was still the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.
Now however, she was just as rigid as she was with Mistle. Her fingers dug into the hand rests of the chair she glared at the elf. The massive, seven-foot elf turned, and Dominik recognized the now streaky blonde hair from the painting behind him. The pale eyes, the sickly face, that still managed to wear a scowl. It was clear that he was old, decrepit, and he looked at Ciri as if she was a piece of shit he had accidently stepped in.
Ciri had told him recently about the man.
"Do you? Please, enlighten me little d'hione," He spoke, his tone uninterested, disgusted as Ciri looked and met his eyes.
She shook her head. "I disgust you… I know I do. I carry her blood, but also that of a humans, and that disgusts you, I have that drop of elven in me. Like a gold nugget in a pile of compost."
King Auberon turned away from her. "You give yourself to much credit…. That blood… her blood… A pear in pig shit. A diamond, on the finger of a rotting corpse."
The words cut through him like a hot blade.
A year… almost a whole damn year, I had to go to him… try to…
This was what Avallac'h forced her through, days upon days of this. She was supposed to be trying to get Auberon to put a child in her, all so that she thought she could leave.
But Avallac'h had no intention of letting her leave, he never had.
It doesn't matter… you could have stopped this.
Ciri sat in uncomfortable silence, as Auberon sighed annoyedly and turned back to her, sneering his nose down at her.
"You will return to me, and learn more comparisons as part of your lessons…" He said, shaking his head. "Go now… little d'hione… repulsive human creature… of which nothing remains of a elven woman."
The King turned back to the window, and Ciri took her leave. Tears welling in her eyes, when she slammed shut the door to Auberon's chamber, where she slowly fell down the door the ground, silent sobs coming from her.
And the whole time, she looked down at the ring around her neck.
"You knew the whole time… you knew what would happen… and you could have prevented it," The voice said behind him again.
Dominik's fists balled, as he turned around again, the tears still stinging his eyes. Black mists churned around him yet again, and soon, he was looking into the eyes of the apparition of Ciri yet again.
Both scenes, played in his mind. Things, that could have been prevented, he could have stopped. He could remember to that day, the horrible dreams he had of Ciri on Thanedd. He remembered begging Geralt to let him go with her. All of what happened to her, all the horrible things he heard she went through, that he just saw her go through, all of them could have been prevented had he somehow gotten to the island with Geralt.
But he hadn't, he had failed her, and it was something he thought about every day.
"I regret it… every day…" Dominik said, his eyes burning as tears slowly trickled down his cheeks, his eyes locking with Ciri's. "And… I won't let any of it happen again."
Around them, the mist continued whirling, until it finally settled, and he found himself back in the cavern, face to face with 'Ciri' again. The blue flames, and rays of sunlight streaming in from above came back into view, as a tingling chill ran down Dominik's spine.
"You promised me that once… how I can trust you again?" The Ciri said, her eyes, slowly turning from the swirling mist of black and red, back to bright, shining emerald.
His body slowly unfroze as he looked at her now. He knew it wasn't really her, but the cave, the magic had produced such a perfect copy of her, all the words came spilling out of him. All of it. Everything he had pent up, that he wanted to tell her.
"Because… I love you, more than anything. For the last eight years, since I got separated from you, I was nothing but cold, cynical, and despondent. There was a time, when I felt like, nothing would end up being worth it. That no matter how much I looked, where I looked, what I did, who I talked to… I wouldn't find you. And you Ciri, are what makes this life precious to me, the reason that I was able to keep going…." He slowly said, walking towards her, his eyes not leaving hers.
He looked down and shook his head. "I did everything I could to try and make it to you… but when I look back on it, there's so much more I could have done… and I'll regret that until the day I die. But now… I have you back, and that's all that matter. I fight every day… for us there is no, just me, or just you anymore… it's both of us."
Hesitantly, he reached his hands out, taking her face in his hands. He knew it wasn't really her, but even when his hands touched her, he still felt that familiar warmth.
"You're everything….and I'm never going to leave your side again," He said, a slow, explosive tingle running up his arms. "You were my beginning, you're my middle… and my end. And I wasn't there to defend you all those years, but I am now…. And no matter what comes our way Ciri… I'll be there, no…. We will be there to face it together… because I don't just protect you… you protect me, and even though I'll regret not being there for you, failing you for the rest of my life… I won't let that stop me from doing everything to protect you now, because you are the greatest gift that I've ever been given in my entire life…."
The words had come right from his heart, despite the fact that he had stumbled over them. He looked down into her eyes, and just like every time he did, he felt his heart finally begin to beat again. Her gaze slowly turned warmed, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, that cute scar on her bottom one upturning. His eyes didn't move from hers, from her full pillowy lips, and adorable cheekbones, which shot upwards as she smiled and leaned up towards him.
She kissed him, one long, single, delicate kiss.
For a second he almost melted, before remembering that it was in fact not Ciri that he was kissing. Whatever apparition it was apparently saw his discomfort, because 'Ciri' pulled away from him, giggling the same adorable laugh that Ciri had, as she kept her hand on his face, smiling at him, and slowly nodding.
"Almost there," She said, the smile not leaving, before a black puff of smoke took her place.
Dominik yelped at the sudden change, and fell backwards again, landing with a groan on his back, his swords clunked in their sheaths, his crossbow almost fell from his hip, as he heard another loud grinding news.
"Almost there…." He repeated, dusting off his trousers as he got to his feet.
The message was clear. That was the second chamber, the second fear he had faced, and now, only one remained until the main chamber. He shakily sighed, and looked up to see the new passageway that had opened on the opposite side of the caver, and quickly, with what strength he had left jogged his way towards it.
One more cavern, one more fear to face. He ran through his plan once more as he entered the narrow corridor. Find the sword, get it to Bella, complete the spell from the journal. A small part of him regretted that they had entered that cave, the scenes, the image of what happened to Ciri, played over and over again in his mind, Mistle's hands over her, the degrading words of King Auberon.
But another part of him, was glad that he saw. Because now, he had an even greater understanding, a greater love, and appreciation for just how strong the woman he loved was.
And now that treck wasn't only for Bella. It was to make it back to Ciri in the main chamber, just like he had promised.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Ciri stomach still twisted from the sickening visage of Bonhart's head rolling from his shoulders. She knew that it was an apparition, a trick of the cave, but even so, the loud squelch played over again and again in her ears, and she couldn't get it to stop. However, she also wouldn't deny the pleasure she had at seeing the maniac's head roll again.
She'd never have to deal with him again, and now, she could fully focus on her task at hand.
"Would you look at that, another empty room… no sword," She said, cursing under her breath. "For fuck's sake… just once couldn't it be easy…"
She stood in the middle of the cavern, looking up the beams of sun that were coming leaking through the ceiling. The sun was setting, and her gut wrenched, thinking of Geralt and Yennefer more than likely madly searching for Dominik and her. It also told her that she had been in the tunnels, in the cave for hours, what with it being midday when they arrived. Around her there was still nothing but gravely dirt, nothing at all except the beams of sunlight and blue fire.
Sighing she stood standing in the middle of the chamber, her hands on her hips, waiting for the familiar looking black smoke. It didn't come, and she cursed under her breath.
What could possibly be worse than Bonhart? What else am I afraid of?
Nothing came still, and she almost began to think that something had gone wrong, perhaps killing Bonhart in the last chamber wasn't the right thing to do. Sighing again, she picked up a rock from below her, and turned to throw it at the space where she knew an exit into a further corridor had to be.
The rock smacked against it, doing absolutely nothing,
"Shit…" She mumbled to herself, sighing as she looked up through the cracks in the ceiling, up at the slits in the cavern ceiling. "Yen and Geralt are probably going made… great, now I'm talking to myself…. I hope Dom-."
She got cut off, by the sound of boots crunching through the gravel. A quick surge of panic ran through her, she knew the exit behind her had sealed. Her hand went to her sword, and she whirled around, leveling it right towards the source of the noise, directly at someone's neck.
Someone who she never thought she'd see again, someone, who she didn't want to see again.
"Well, well… all grown up aren't we Falka? Damn… I thought you were a looker years ago, look at you now," She cooed, her honey sweet voice, just as smooth as Ciri remembered. Just like she had that first day, she looked Ciri up and down like a piece of meat. "Tits are a little small, but you got quite the ass on you… and your body, look at those curves…"
"Don't you fucking touch me!" Ciri hissed, swinging her sword in an arc, but right before it could cut through her, she disappeared into a puff of smoke.
And the honey sweet voice cooed behind her again. "Oh! Feisty as ever! Don't touch you? My oh my Falka… that certainly wasn't what you said most nights we spent together!"
"That was a mistake! You're nothing but a thief, a rapist, I regret letting you touch me every single fucking day!"
"And why's that? Is it that handsome new boyfriend you have? Falka I'm hurt, I never knew you'd leave my cunt for a cock! Tell me… does he fuck you as well as I do?"
"You didn't fuck me, you raped me, took advantage of me!"
She laughed. "Aha… oh we remember it very differently Falka. I remember, a feisty young girl, who I drove crazy each time my tongue-."
"Fuck you," Ciri said, lashing out, but her blade again simply passed through her, as she evaporated into mist.
The laughed hit her ears again. "Oh Falka… I'm so hurt! What happened to my eager little Falka? Oh! I know… do you still have this?"
Ciri had been avoiding looking at her too long, not wanting to see her face again. Ciri knew she wasn't real, she was dead, her head had been cut off. But still, she hadn't wanted to see her. The inside of Ciri's thigh trembled, but not in a pleasant way. It flashed back to her, the robbing, the killing, the fucking, and everything she had worked to suppress all came rushing back to her.
"What is it? Don't wanna look at my cunt? Oh but you were so eager all those other times!" She said, a jovial tone to her words as if the whole situation was amusing.
Ciri finally pulled her head up to see her. She looked just as Ciri remembered, the choppy blonde hair, the thing figure and curves, she wore a leather tunic, brown trousers, and wore the same coy, pretty grin. Sure enough she had pulled her trousers down, her womanhood, out and about, but Ciri's eyes fell right down to her inner thigh.
A rose, one that matched hers.
Mistle.
She laughed, as Ciri gripped tighter on her sword, taring her eyes away from her. Black mist started filling her vision, filling the chamber around her, as Mistle laughed again.
"Aha, come on now Falka, don't you like looking at my cunt anymore?"
"Stop fucking calling me that!" Ciri snapped, shaking her head she turned back around. "My name, is Ciri… not Falka, Ciri!"
Another laugh. "Is that what you tell yourself? That may have been the name you were born with, what you call yourself now. But I saw the real you, the real person you are… you were never more authentic, then you were in the time we spent together. Come now Falka, don't you remember how happy we were?"
"We weren't happy! I was a child, I was traumatized, you took advantage of me, raped me, I did what I had to do to survive, and that included fucking you, it was nothing, a mistake!"
Mistle scoffed, rolling her eyes. "And getting a matching tattoo right near your cunt to match mine? Did you 'have to do that to survive'? Tell me, how does it make you feel, that whenever your little boyfriend looks between your legs, right before he slips himself in, he sees a reminder of me…. The one who fucked you first?"
"YOU BITCH!" Ciri erupted and lunged forward and tried for a third time to cut through her.
Ciri hadn't cared, she knew it was all fake, but for so many years after she realized what had happened, what her relationship with Mistle really was, she had been holding this in. She remembered the night she spent with Dominik in their cave, the beautiful, beautiful night, right before that fucking tattoo on her though had to ruin it. It had been what she said. A mistake.
She would never forget that day, the day Mistle forced herself on her. Even in that moment it made her skin crawl, thinking about her fingers trailing down her legs, entering her, raping her all while Ciri could do nothing about it. She had to go along with it, it was the only way for her to survive, she wanted anything to make the pain from what happened go away.
You had too, Dominik understands, you had too.
Mistle had burst into a puff of smoke again, as tears pricked at her eyes.
"My oh my! As feisty as ever Falka!" It was a new voice that hit her ears.
Ciri whirled around, her eyes widening. "Iskra?"
Iskra stood next to Mistle, the same shit eating smirk that she always had plastered on her face. The elf scoffed and laughed, looking to Mistle.
"You're right, she's become quite the looker," Iskra said, looking at her with that smirk that Ciri always hated. "Still a feisty little thing too, took you a while to come around last time, doubt it will be that long this time."
Ciri's skin crawled. It had taken her a long time. She remembered how hesitant she was to kill, to rob at first, but with coaxing, both from Mistle and Iskra, she had come around. All it flashed in her eyes, the people she killed, the people she robbed, the people she threatened.
"I'm not that person, I never was," Ciri hissed, her sword leveling at the two women. "I did what I have to do to survive… nothing more."
Mistle laughed. "HA, you did a lot more than that Falka!"
"Stop fucking calling me that!" Ciri said, her eyes closing again, gripping the ring around her neck.
Iskra scoffed. "Oh come on of it Falka… you were never more alive than you were in your time with us."
"No…. no I wasn't," Ciri said, closing her eyes to try and block everything out. "I… I did what I had too."
"And what does your little boyfriend think about what you did?" Mistle cooed, her boots crunching under the gravel. "Did you even tell him….? Do you think… he'll love you like he claims, when he learns more about what you did?"
"I already passed this test," Ciri quickly hissed, swinging her sword and making Mistle disappear in a puff of smoke. "The past doesn't matter, Dominik loves me, he always will!"
"Oh he might…. But do you?" Iskra said light, as Ciri felt the elf's breath on her neck. "You know it… deep down… you'll always be Falka…"
"One of the Rats," Mistle said quickly. "And my… excitable little lady."
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Ciri said, erupting as she felt her eyes flash bright blue.
A ring of magic erupted out from around her. It shot around her and both Iskra and Mistle disappeared, puffing away in smoke. Breathing heavily Ciri felt her eyes relax, but still felt the magic simmering around her. Wisps of blue energy radiated from her flesh, her anger, reaching new peaks as she whirled around and looked to see nothing but black mist and blue fire.
You'll always be Falka.
Her inner thigh trembled. The rose. A symbol of the 'relationship' she and Mistle had shared. It had been eating at her, gnawing at her ever since Bonhart had cut off their heads. They hadn't deserved their fate. None of them did. Nobody deserved a fate that cruel. However, Ciri hadn't thought about their deaths, cared about them since it happened. They turned her into something she wasn't. Her view, on the world, on what she wanted to do was shattered by them. She had done things, that to that day haunted her nightmares, that made her think, that truly deep down she was Falka, that she was the person she was.
The rose on her inner thigh would suggest that was true. Why would she have gotten it, if she didn't truly, feel like she had belonged? Dominik had said the cave showed you, your deepest fears, and that you have to conquer them.
How do you conquer a fear… if you can't change what happened?
"You will always be one of us Falka," Mistle's voice hit her ears again.
"Always, come now… why not embrace it? It's who you are. Deep down," Iskra's voice said, as Ciri's head shot up to looked around her while it cooed on. "You are… will… and always, will be Falka."
"No… no, no I won't," Ciri said, her heart thumping loudly in her chest. "I'm Ciri… Cirilla of Kaer Morhen… a witcher… I help people…"
"Yes you help people… us," Mistle said, as Ciri saw a blade materialized in her hand.
Ciri throat closed up, as with another puff of smoke, one appeared in Iskra's grip as well. And then around her, more people stepped from the mist, three men, one by one, and Ciri recognized them all.
Giselher, Kayleigh, Reef, right alongside Iskra and Mistle.
"You're one of us Falka," Giselher said. "You cannot escape it."
"We're a part of you, you'll never be rid of us," Kayleigh said.
"Forever, you are Falka," Reef said.
Mistle smiled her honeyed grin, stepping forward with her blade. "You made it so. You will never be rid of us… rid of me. You'll forever, be one of us… and the reminder is right between your legs."
Her grip around her sword tightened, they got closer and closer, each and every one of them. Ciri wanted to lash out, to fight, to kill them, kill her past and the ones who had made her do the things she had done.
Only they didn't make you do anything… you did all those things…. You were the one who became Falka, who called yourself that. She had become Falka, it ensnared her, took over her, took over who she was, how she acted. Ciri was pushed aside, and there was nothing but Falka for those months that she was with them, the months she fucked Mistle, killed and robbed. And Mistle had been right, a permanent reminder was stuck between her legs.
Dominik see's that every night…. He had told her he simply ignores it, too enraptured by the moments of pleasure they had, the love making. But Ciri couldn't at times, and the feeling was only washed away by the love he gave her.
But no matter what happened, it was still there, a constant reminder of what she had become, the horrible things she had to do.
"Get away… I said get away!" She hissed, as they all closed in on her, closer, closer, until their sword were almost poking into her.
"Now… why don't we go find a bed Falka?" Mistle said.
"Or a big target, nothing better than a fat purse to wash away your woes." Iskra said.
"Forever… one of us, Falka."
"You are Falka."
"You forever will be a Rat."
"It's who you are, and you know it."
"Come now Falka."
"Falka."
"Falka!"
"Falka!"
"You ARE Falka"
"It's in your blood, in your soul, who you are!"
"FALKA, FALKA, FALKA!"
"Falka!"
"Who you are."
"Falka…"
Falka, Falka, Falka, Falka.
Over, and over again, that's all she heard. Ciri clamped her hands over her ears, her sword almost falling from her hand, as all the Rat's voices smashed into her brain. All the things, all the kills, all the robbing, it all came back.
The little girl.
I want the fucking brooch. You're lucky me or my friends, don't take you into the alley, and rape your ourselves. That girl's face. Ciri would never forget it, the tears, the fear. She couldn't have been any older than ten.
But Ciri had threatened to rape her anyway.
She fell to her knees, her hands still clamped to her temples.
"My tongue back between your legs, the only thing that belongs there." Mistle said.
"You were a natural when you came out of your shell, I'm sure you still got it." Iskra said.
"It's who you are. Embrace it… Falka."
"Falka."
"Falka."
"Falka."
"SHUT UP, FOR FUCKS SAKE SHUT UP!" Ciri fell to the ground, to her knees, her sword cluttering to the ground.
Black mist, and the Rats got closer, closer, closer, and all Ciri could do was scream. Her hands clamped over her ears, trying anything to keep the noise out, but she kept hearing it over and over again.
"It's who you are."
"Embrace it."
"You are Falka."
Tears slowly came down her cheeks. For so long she had fought to keep it suppressed, keep these memories suppressed. What if really was who she was? What if when she was Falka, it had really been the truest form of herself.
She wiped her face with her left hand and froze when she saw her gloved pulled up. Her bare skin was exposed, and her breathing hitched when she saw it.
A new tattoo, a black wolf head, in the shape of a witcher medallion.
One that matched exactly what Dominik had on his inner wrist now.
You're Ciri, of Kaer Morhen. The daughter of Geralt of Rivia and Yennefer of Vengerberg. My best-friend… the love of my life. I love you… because you're Ciri, not because of any special blood or powers… but because you're Ciri.
Cirilla of Kaer Morhen, witcher, school of the wolf, that was who she was.
"Falka… that's who you are." Mistle said, her hand reaching down to grab Ciri's shoulder. "Embrace it, be who you really-."
"ENOUGH!"
A burst of magic shot from her, blue rays of light erupted in Ciri's eyes. Blue magic washed away the black smoke, as Mistle, the rest of the Rats, were all blown back. Ciri's heart nearly erupted out of her chest. She scooped up her sword, just as the ghostly apparitions of the Rats, all rose, their eyes black with smoke, with blood red irises.
Kayleigh was the first to charge her from the left. Ciri's powers kicked into action, she easily parried a blow, cutting across the boy's chest, before teleporting forward. Kayleigh's body slid in half, before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Magic still burning in her eyes, Ciri turned back around to the remaining four Rats, her eyes bursting as she leveled her sword.
"I'M CIRILLA OF KAER MORHEN, WITCHER, SCHOOL OF THE WOLF," She said, the magic shooting to her limbs, coursing through her veins. "YOU'RE NOT REAL, FALKA ISN'T REAL. WHAT WE HAD WASN'T REAL!"
Her gaze went pointedly to Mistle, who had stolen her first time away from her. Who had manipulated her, pressured her, and turned her into something that she wasn't. Giselher and Reef, made the mistake of charging at her next, but the anger that course in her then, it spurred on the magic on inside her further.
Blinking forward in a flash, she had knocked Reef's sword aside. He vanished into smoke after Ciri's blade cut through his throat, before Giselher came in for an overhead strike. With as much grace and speed as she could muster, the magic making her movements even quicker. The much larger man stood no chance. Ciri parried quickly, dragging her blade along his to his hand, before flicking her wrist and making him drop his blade. With a swift stroke, she cut across his throat. Just like the last two, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Ciri leveled her blade, as Iskra came leaping with surprising swiftness for her next. Parrying, Ciri teleported behind her, but the black magic seemed to be spurring the elf on as well. Ciri went to go strike but heard the whistle of steel behind her. Teleporting away, she just barely dodged the sword from Mistle, leveling her own at them both, magic still in her eyes.
"You won't kill me Falka…. You don't got the tits for it," Iskra said, scoffing as she looked over at Mistle. "See? I told you that she wouldn't-."
She was cut off, but her upper half, separating from her lower half. In a flash of blue light, Ciri teleported, slicing her blade clear through Iskra's stomach. Iskra disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving only Ciri and Mistle. Facing her down, Ciri's magic dimmed, color returned to her eyes, as Mistle smirked at her, raising up a sword that honey sweet, coy smile not leaving her.
"Well… here we are my dear…" Mistle said, circling around Ciri with her blade pointed out, gesturing it towards her legs. "You never did tell me, what's your little boyfriend think about having a tattoo for another woman near your cunt?"
Ciri's hands gripped tighter to her sword. "He loves it, and me… more than anything."
Mistle chuckled. "Aha… little Falka, a cock gobbler, never thought I'd see the day. Have you told him? That I was the one to fuck you first."
"I have."
"And how did he take it mhmm? How did you take it? How did it feel fucking the 'love of your life', knowing your first time was when we fucked first?"
"Love is about much more than just sex…. Dominik told me that," Ciri said, switching her stance and holding out her sword. "You were nothing but a mistake. I was a hurt, broken little girl when you first met me. I let you take advantage of me… but not any longer."
The black swirling mist in her eyes glew fiercely, as she lashed out from above. Ciri raised her blade and blocked, pushing Mistle's sword above her head. With a swift spin, a loud squelch hit her ears, as Ciri's sword plunged hilt deep into Mistle's stomach, the Rat, trembling as Ciri's lips ended up right near her ear.
"You're dead…. Gone… I've moved on… for good." Ciri shoved the Rat off her sword.
Ciri expected to find blood on her blade, but it was clean as Mistle gasped for air, stumbling to her knees. The Rat grabbed onto her stomach, the hole bleeding over her tunic, as the black mist around her disappeared, showing her the familiar cavern where it all had started.
Mistle looked up at her, a small smirk crossing her lips. "Almost there…."
Ciri had time to narrow her eyes in confusion, before Mistle disappeared in a puff of black smoke.
Gone from her view and gone from her thoughts. Forever.
"Almost there…" Ciri repeated, as the familiar grinding of stone hit her ears. "Only one more to go… I hope Dominik's alright."
Gently, she looked down, and move the sleeve of her glove up, revealing the black wolf tattoo again.
A smile creeped onto her lips, as she looked at it, and gripped the ring around her neck.
"Always there for me… one way or another," She said, before looking up, and dashing towards the corridor that had opened.
One more, one more fear, and if it was anything like the first two, she needed to prepare herself.
Only she had no idea, what else there was left for her to fear.
A/N: And just like that ladies and gentlemen, we have finished the first half of the Cave of Life! I really did want to keep this all one chapter, but that would have required me to shorten the first two challenges for Dominik and Ciri each, so I decided to split it up into two chapters.
We only have 7, possibly 8 or 9 chapters left to go period! I never imagined getting to the Isle of Mists let alone the final battle, so I am so so excited! Next chapter we finish the cave of life, we'll see Dominik and Ciri both face their third fear, find the sword, and both get to speak to one person they both really need to talk to who isn't here anymore. Also, we'll finally figure out how Dominik plans on getting Bella the sword!
After that, we'll have a smaller, calm before the storm chapter, with some bonding and sweet moments, before the final battel arrives, and we see the culmination of the entire books efforts so far, as Dominik and Ciri fight for the life they always wanted!
This chapter however was very eventful itself!
First we have Dominik, Ciri, Geralt and Yen all arriving, and I love writing these four together, the cutest little family xD After that they split up to find the cave, and after some Dominik and Ciri cuteness, we quite literally stumble upon the entrance.
After splitting up, Dominik and Ciri are both presented with facing two of their deepest fears.
Now Dominik facing down Cahir, and while not forgiving him, but putting his hatred to rest, was a scene I always wanted to write, however, obviously Cahir is dead xD So, that was actually what gave me the idea for this concept. Dominik's first fear, is that he'll let his hatred consume him, and that his anger at the past will corrupt who he is. So after a fight, Dominik doesn't forgive Cahir, but he puts his hatred to rest.
Anyone who follows the Instagram or has read these ANs knows I do not like Cahir at all in the books lol It quite literally all stems from the fact I think he is a massive creep, who fell in love and had pervy dreams about a literal child in Ciri lol. If you just remove that part Cahir is probably my favorite character, and as we see Dominik shares this sentiment xD However, Dominik and I both can't deny that he did do good before he died, (Even if it was because he did it because he loved a literal child).
His second challenge, was facing the fear that Ciri would be separated from him again, and that facing the guilt of not going to Thanedd with her. He sees two of the more traumatic experiences of Ciri's journey. And Dominik reacts in this chapter, and will next chapter when he sees Ciri again well… how you would expect someone to react after seeing the one they love go through something like that.
Now yes, yes I'm aware both scenes with Auberon and Mistle aren't exactly what happened in the books, but a few things 1.) I didn't feel like going and finding the chapters where these things happened lol they are quite disturbing for me to read. 2.) Both scenes played out differently in this story, because of the inclusion of Ciri thinking about Dominik. 3.) They're close enough to what happened I believe xD
So those were Dominik's fears, now onto Ciri…
Her first one, is facing down the man responsible for bringing her so much pain, for torturing and chasing her, Leo Bonhart. Similar to Dominik, Ciri is afraid of her traumatic past, turning her into the very people she fought so hard against, that all her trauma and the things she did to survive will come back to haunt her.
Just like in the books however, Ciri is able to kill Bonhart, and remembering Dominik's words of, 'nothing else matters' is able to move on.
Then after that… the scene with the Rats. Now, I hated the Rats with a burning passion, Mistle is an f-ing r**ist, and they're all just pieces of garbage in my mind. They took advantage of the state Ciri was in. She was quite literally what 13 years old then? Mistle raped her, took advantage of her, and then Stockholm Syndrome kicked in, and Ciri began to think that they were truly her only escape. I don't believe any of the bs that says Ciri really loved Mistle, it was disgusting and built of rape, Ciri was taken advantage of.
In the books she never comes to realize this for obvious reasons, she had a lot more to worry about like the multitude of people trying to kill her. And even when she reunites with Geralt, they don't get into specifics of what happened so Ciri can learn she was taken advantage of.
However, obviously in this story it's different with Dominik in the picture, and him being there helps Ciri realize this point. She fears becoming the person she was, becoming Falka again, and with reminders of what really matters, and who she is she's able to defeat her fear!
SO, what are Dominik and Ciri's last challenges going to be? Who or what will they face? And who will they both get to speak too who is currently dead and how will they help them? And how does Dominik plan on getting the sword to Bella?
Anyway, as always everyone if you like this story and you want to see even more awesome FanArt besides just what I have as the profile pictures here, go and follow the Instagram I made for this story! Go and follow dominik_of_cintra if you want to see awesome fanart of this story!
As usual everyone thank you so much for reading, please be sure to follow if you enjoyed, favorite and leave a review if you have time! Stay safe everyone and I will see you all next time!
