He's Breathing

Ciri saw the peasant winding up his arm before he even launched his projectile. Compared to arrows flying at blinding fast speeds his manure bomb flew toward her at a leisurely pace. With the wave of her hand the manure bomb disappeared in a flash of green. She scanned the crowd at the riverbank, appraising their stunned faces as she searched for the original assailant. She spotted him quickly, a man with a black beard in a woolen cap. She wasn't particularly mad at the man, she expected as much of a welcome when setting sail for Novigrad. Still, she couldn't let behavior like that go unpunished. She pointed her right index finger towards the man and weaved a circle in the air. A tiny green portal opened above the man's head and the manure he threw earlier fell through the portal squishing itself onto the man's woolen cap.

As soon as the squelching sound of the manure dropped, shock gripped nearby onlookers followed quickly by laughter. Ciri smiled, glad she was able to turn at least some of the crowd in her favor. The majority on the other hand was still shouting curses at her. She sighed as she let the jeers wash over her.

"That was some remarkable restraint you just showed Zirael," Avallha'c said to her.

"Well I was expecting them to throw things when we got here, the empire isn't exactly well regarded here," Ciri said with a sigh.

"Which makes your choice to hold ze coronation here zat much stranger," General Voorhis commented as he approached the elf and princess.

"General," Ciri greeted.

"Your highness," the General replied with a short bow extending his hand outwards in the traditional Nilfgaardian fashion. Cologne wafted heavily off his clothes. His face was freshly shaven and he wore a finely tailored black doublet. Clearly he was well prepared for today's festivities.

"You know, you don't have to bow every time you come up to speak to me," she said.

"Nonzense, it iz imperial protocol that all members and officers of the court must bow to ze sovereign upon greeting," he replied through his thick accent.

"I swear this man has the most annoying voice I have ever heard," Ciri thought privately.

"You should get used to it Zirael," Avallha'c added, "after today everyone will be bowing and kowtowing everywhere you go."

"I suppose it can't be helped," she sighed.

"If I may your highness, I would very much like to know ze reason why you chose Novigrad as the site of your coronation rather than the Golden Towers back in the capital, as iz traditional. Many may not consider your coronation to be official as a result. And considering the stir that was caused when the Emperor revealed to ze public that his wife was an impostor and that your Highness was in fact his daughter and thus heir to the throne, rocking the proverbial boat so to speak may be considerable ill advised."

Ciri laughed, "So formal, yet so direct. I rather like that about you general."

"Your Highness?" Voorhis looked confused.

Ciri placed a shoulder on his hand. "Don't fear general. I've been planning this for a year now, I won't be letting a handful of naysayers stand in the way of doing what I must."

"But your highness…"

"Don't, worry, about it. I can't tell you the details just yet but suffice it to say that I have a little surprise in store for those who will say that my coronation isn't official."

"Still, why Novigrad? Yes, it iz a wealthy and strategically valuable city, and the benefits we will reap from building the portal here are obvious. But why be crowned here?"

"Symbolism General, symbolism. The construction of the arch will have numerous economic and military benefits but the majority of Novigrad's residents are extremely distrustful if not outright prejudiced against magic. One of the goals of my reign is to integrate magic into all levels of society, in doing so we'll be able to solve many of world's ills. However, that can only be possible if there is general cultural acceptance of magic."

"That iz…extremely ambitious," Voorhis said hesitantly.

"You don't think I can do it," Ciri said teasingly.

"I think…it would be incredible difficult. But if I'm being honest, certainly not impossible. However, I must zay you are taking some rather big risks to pursue zis goal of yours."

"I'm about to be crowned Empress of the largest Empire this world has ever known. I can afford to."

"The church of the Eternal Fire will fight you every step of the way," Voorhis answered.

"Isn't that what I have you for general?" Ciri said coyly.

"I suppose it iz," the General said with a laugh that Ciri joined in.

"I'll take my leave then your highness," the General said as he gave a bow to depart.

Ciri returned to her place looking at the crowd from the side of the ship. She noticed the crowd was still throwing rubbish at her, but the objects thrown splattered in midair before they reached the ship as if they had collided with an invisible wall.

"I took the liberty of setting up a simple barrier," Avallha'c said.

"Do you think I could create something like this?" Ciri asked.

"Most certainly," Avallha'c answered.

"Even with my limitation?" Ciri asked.

"Let me think," Avallha'c pondered, "you can create a soundproof bubble correct?"

"Yeah, I do that by distorting the space around me so that sound can't escape."

"The more common method for doing that spell would be to condense the air, the same principle applies to barriers like this one."

"I can't do ordinary magic remember? It has to in some way be an extension of my chrono-spacial abilities."

"It's no matter we can just apply the same principle you use to create the silence bubble. Distort the space to create a barrier that won't let objects pass."

"But to do that would require greater distortions," Ciri noted, "I might create a rift on accident."

"Hmm, fair point, we'll test in the lab later," Avallha'c said.

Ciri nodded then resumed looking at the crowd.

"My they are really piling it on," she noted as more refuse was pelted at the ship.

"Why not just let the troops return fire? They'll disperse quickly then," Avallha'c said.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Ciri snapped, "I made it very clear from the beginning, no blood, and no one dies today."

"Right, right," Avallha'c answered nonchalantly, "still it's not exactly dignified for a ruler to be pelted by commoners like a harlot on a shame walk."

"I don't care!" she shouted before taking a deep breath.

"Listen, can you go set up these barriers on the other ships as well, last thing I need is for a soldier to get irritated and do something stupid."

"As you wish," Avallha'c waved his hands and opened a portal that he quickly stepped through.

After he left Ciri went back to looking at the crowd as the boat inched along the river. "I wonder if I could get another glimpse of that pink haired boy. He was quite handsome."

She scanned the crowd, hoping that the boys pink mop would stand out again. He was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, she noticed a rippling on the riverbank. She looked closer to see someone was swimming in the river. She couldn't see the persons face but there was a sword on his back. Then a shock of pinkish-red hair emerged from the water and Ciri immediately recognized him as the boy she was looking for. "What in the…? Is he trying to swim towards the ship?"

Her answer came when she saw that the boy was actually swimming around the ship towards the front. Not wasting a second she raced to the front of the ship to see where he was going. When she reached the prow she saw another body floating in the water. The diminutive size and shape of the body told her it was a Halfling and the boy was swimming towards it. "Is he trying to pull that Halfling out of our way?"

She shouted to the crew, "STOP THE BOAT! DROP ANCHOR!"

General Voorhis answered her, "but ze ships behind us will crash into us!"

"Dammit!" She looked at the boy again, he had reached the Halfling and was clearly struggling to pull him back to the river bank. The boy dragged the Halfling by his collar whilst trying to pull both of them to the river bank with only one hand free. "Dammit! We're going to run into them!"

Before she realized what she was doing she jumped off the prow of the ship, diving head-first into the water. The first thing she felt was the blistering cold, followed by heaviness as her elaborate gown took on water. "Dammit! I should have cast this thing off before diving in."

She powered through it, and swam towards the boy and the Halfling. "Give…me…hand!" she screamed out between gurgles.

The boy heard her and reached out with a gloved hand. Fighting through the current she just barely managed to lock fingers with him. Ciri pulled herself toward him and wrapped her arms around him and the Halfling tightly. The Imperial flagship rushed toward them, threatening to run them over. Just as it was about to collide with them Ciri closed her eyes and a bright green flash enveloped them.

The flash blinked out and they fell five feet onto an elaborately woven black rug. She knew this rug well, it was the rug at the foot of her bedchamber. She had successfully brought them back to the Imperial Palace in Nilfgaard.

"He's not breathing," the boy gasped. "Help me!"

Ciri helped the boy roll the Halfling onto his back. The boy reached into a satchel at his side, there was a quick flash from inside the bag and then he pulled a knife out. He took the knife to the Halfling's collar and cut the shirt open exposing the tiny non-human's hairy chest. The boy crossed his hands over the Halfling's sternum and began to pump. One, two, three, the Halfling was unresponsive. Ciri examined the little ones head, he was already pale, and Ciri could make out head wound.

The boy opened the Halfling's mouth pressed his own lips to them and blew air down his windpipe before continuing to pump the Halfling's chest. The Halfling was still unresponsive.

"Stop," Ciri said, "he's gone."

Panic gripped the boy's face. She saw his red eyes widening in fear before narrowing like a cat about to pounce. "He's a Witcher."

"Not yet he's not," the boy said. He stuck out his right index finger and quickly weaved a zig-zag pattern in the air before closing his hand into a fist. His fist sparked with electricity. He then opened his fist and slammed his electrified hand down on the Halfling's chest.

"Kwaoohh! Aff, afff, afff," the Halfling gasped and coughed as water shout out of his mouth. His eyes were wide open and alert for just brief a second before closing again. The Halfling didn't move and for a brief moment all was quite. Ciri waved her hand near the Halfling's mouth and nostrils and felt a slight flow of air.

"He's breathing," she said.

A/N: I swear I constantly keep planning to write more but then as I go I keep finding really good stopping points and I'm like, this is too good to write past I need to stop here or I'll miss a great chance to capitalize on drama. Anyway, thank you so much for the support you guys have been showing. I'm trying the best I can to make this my best fanfic ever and it really motivates me when you guys leave comments and reviews. If you can I'd like to hear more, tell me what you're thinking and feeling as you read, that's what really drives me.