Chapter Seven

~ Geralt ~

Ignore her, Geralt, it's only the potion working through her system. I stared up at the stars, fingers clenched into the grass I lay upon to anchor myself from leaping up and doing something stupid.

Eliana let out soft, fitful cries, calling out for her mother, begging for someone to help her, to wake her up. Every time I shut my eyes to shut her out, I envisioned the story Petra had told me; of a small girl found covered in her mother's blood, clinging to her cold body, crying out for help.

I recalled having my own childhood dredged up by potions and poisons in the long ago past, and, on more recent times since returning to the continent. Hadn't I felt the despair of re-living those nightmares, of my mother abandoning me?

"Wake up, mamma, please wake up." Her crying was in earnest now, and blades of grass broke in my hands. "Please, please..." Ignore her, just ignore her. "Please help, please." Fuck! I leapt up, stumbling a little from the sudden action, and stalked around the glowing embers to where she was just visible swathed in my cloak, curled in on herself.

"Please he... help, please?" I knelt beside her, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Shh, it's all right, shh." She sought my voice, hands reaching much like a child. The potion was a wretched concoction. For all it did good to the body, it injured the soul. Starlight illuminated her tear-streaked cheeks, and those eyes, fuck, those eyes held an ocean of sadness. I should have stayed on my side of the campfire, ignored her. Fuck! My resolve vanished, unravelled by shaking hands knotting into the front of my shirt, searching for something real, something safe.

"It's all right." Taking heed of her injuries, I lowered myself onto the bedroll, and wrapped my arms about her shaking frame. Her heart, I could feel it; a frantic staccato against my chest. Tears dampened my shirt where she buried her head, quiet sobs reverberating along my collarbone. "It's only a dream, it's all right." There was little more I could do to comfort her, and so, like the evening before, I stroked her hair.

Elven hair was softer than human, and readily took on the light of the moon and the sun, only adding to their enchanting features. Despite only being half Elf, Eliana's felt as if I were entwining my fingers in threads of the finest silk. Well, what I imagined threads of silk felt like.

Little by little, her heart-beat steadied, low sobs replaced by steady breaths. But she didn't let go of me, fingers still curled about the front of my shirt.

I drew in my own calming breath, releasing it in a sigh, ruffling her hair. I'd be remaining here for the rest of the night it seemed. Stirring, she burrowed closer against my chest, breaths relaxing once again. Her heart, it beat twice as fast as my own, yet every second beat synchronised mine. Remaining here was not so bad.

~Eliana~

I would have hit him, but my hands were bunched into the front of his shirt. Why was he here? Why did I have a death grip on his shirt? Warm breaths ghosted over the crown of my head, but I dared not breathe for my mortification. He was here because I had been dreaming about... a shudder wracked through my entire being, and his breathing abruptly ceased.

Looking up, I met his eyes, perhaps a little less bright for his half-awake state. There were mere inches between my face and his; my chest flush against his own. His heart, I hadn't noticed it before, but now I did, a slow, steady beat beneath honed muscle and strong ribs. It was too slow, a yawning pause before its thump reverberated against my breastbone. It was unnatural to all I knew of the human anatomy.

"Good morning." His voice rumbled right through me. "I trust you slept well?" His mouth quirked at the corner and realising I still clung to his shirt between us, I let go of him, my cheeks and ears tingling with embarrassed heat.

What made it worse, I'd been clinging to him, but he'd had no arm around me keeping me there. My ears burned, and I scrambled up, ignoring the now familiar but unpleasant stretch and pull of my back. I needed to get away from him!

I walked a little way from the camp, my bare feet knocking drops of dew from each blade of meadow grass, drinking in the crisp earthen chill of the air. With each exhale, I pushed back those haunting dreams, and my embarrassment. Brushing my fingers over my cheek, I scowled, rubbing away the remnants of salted tears.

Geralt must think me childish, the way I had let my dreams affect me. We'd been so close… I shivered, thanking the stars he was not like those other men. Yet, what was he? I supposed he could be in such good health his heart did not need to beat as often. His physic certainly attested to that theory.

I peered over my shoulder. He was still lying where I'd left him, but he'd rolled onto his other side, facing me. There was a slight frown between his brows, but he otherwise didn't make a move to stop my wandering. I breathed in the sunlight, as it broke through the clouds, for the first time in a long time, letting my soul be wild.

~Geralt~

Sunlight played off the droplets on the long grass, the elegant female figure walking away from me, basking in its small warmth. Something had changed in her. Not the initial shock of awaking next to me, a predicament I had tried to rectify. She'd clung to my shirt with fists like talons, and I hadn't wanted to wake her before dawn. That's what I'd told myself. In truth, I'd felt… fuck, I didn't know. It was not the paternal pull Ciri had on me, nor was it exactly the way I had cared for Yen, or even how I had felt during my time with Triss… it was… indescribable.

Yen had never needed my protection, never needed me for more than conversation, companionship and sex. Yen was a mage, a powerful one at that. If anything, she was more capable of protecting me. The wish, my wish, bound us. Had bound us.

Ciri. I was bound to her too. My child of surprise. Bound by fate. Ciri was a daughter to me, a friend.

Triss. Well, my relationship with Triss was steeped in magic. When it faded, so did my feelings.

Eliana was not bound to me in any way, yet she was… fuck! Why was I analysing any of this? The girl despised me. I'd seen the horror in her wide eyes when I'd awoken, felt the shudder of revulsion through my bones. There were no feelings, only the foolish musings of someone who'd spent far too long alone on the roads with only his horse for company.

Still, the change in her, the one I saw now, I couldn't help but watch her every movement for more than heeding her safety. Despite her injuries, there was a wild grace about her movements, a beauty to the way she trailed her fingers over the tips of the grasses, venturing further to where a deer grazed. We could eat that deer. My fingers twitched toward my crossbow, but I didn't move, transfixed on the way the doe lifted her dainty head, allowing Eliana to walk right up to her.

I expected her to stroke the doe's head or neck, but she didn't, sinking down into the long grass beside the creature instead. Curiously, the doe sniffed at her hair and Eliana's lips moved, speaking words I could not hear. The doe went back to her grazing but did not leave Eliana's side.

It was still early, and our next destination was close. We could spare a little while longer here, I decided, watching how the girl leaned back on her hands, head tilted to the sky. I liked her like this; Peaceful. Watching her, I could forget there were monsters in this world.

~ Eliana ~

The cool morning breeze, warming under the sun's touch, whispered through the surrounding grass; mingled with the gentle tear and chew of the doe's grazing. There was another sound on the breeze, a whoosh, whoosh. I sat up from where I'd been leaning back, glancing towards the valley's steep walls. From the rocky plateau I made out a great bird swooping towards us at an alarming speed.

"Run!" I cried out to the doe, leaping to my feet as she bounded away. No sooner had she reached the tree line; a great force sent me flying sideways. I let out a surprised scream, pain shooting through my back as it connected hard with the ground. Overhead, silver flashed as Geralt's sword cut through the air, intercepting the flying beast. A piercing shriek echoed off the valley walls, going on and on inside my head. I gasped, my ears aching.

"Eliana get up, get into the trees!" Geralt's voice filtered through, urgent. The winged creature arced mid-air, out of reach of Geralt's blade, and for the first time I glimpsed its head.

It resembled a cockerel, but far more terrible. It shrieked again, opening its sharp beak, great wings sending the grass about me swaying. Scrambling to my feet, I made towards the trees and campsite as the creature swooped again. I looked back, heart slamming against my ribs as Geralt only just danced out of its way, swinging his blade at its long talons. It screamed, and I realised Geralt had cut it this time, but again, it flew out of his reach, those huge, yellow-rimmed, beady eyes watching his every move.

I'd reached the trees, and watched on, horrified as it swooped Geralt a second time, manoeuvring at the last moment to knock him with one of its heavy wings. He rolled in the grass, springing to his feet in time to swipe his silver sword up at the bird monster's underbelly. His teeth were grit, rage in his eyes as he dragged the point of his blade through its feathers. Blood sprayed down over him, the creature's shriek morphing into a high-pitched roar. It rose above Geralt's head, wings flapping hard, before pining them back in another dive. Again, he aimed at its underbelly, but this time, one of those sharp talons raked across his unprotected shoulder, drawing a deep line of blood.

The creature made to take off again, but Geralt had his free hand wrapped around its other leg. It shrieked, those sharp, black talons seeming to scratch at his arm, as it swept him off the ground. A gasp escaped me. I didn't know what to do! The bird beast would kill him if the fall did not. They now fought in the pale sky, level with the topmost branches of the trees. Geralt's blade glinted, only to disappear within the black feathers, and the creature let out a long, wailing scream, cancelling out all other sound. Then they were falling in a spiral of dark feathers.

With a great whumph, the beast hit the earth, Geralt somewhere beneath it. I was running towards them before Id drawn another breath, heart in my throat.

"Geralt!" My knees slammed into the churned-up grass and soil, searching under the dead beast for his body. Beneath a crumpled wing, I found his arm, blood smearing his pale skin where vicious talons still clung to it. "Geralt?" I pushed at the wing, sobbing from the effort to shift its impossible weight. Was he dead, goddess please no, don't let him be dead! There was a rumble of a groan, and the wing gave way, revealing his pale, blood splattered face.

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Hey to all you new followers!

lokidoki9 - First, love the username! Thank you, I do not want to stuff up the correct history between Yen and Geralt, so I'm so glad you like it! I ship Yen and Geralt so hard, haha, but I just can't bring myself to write cannon character pairings. I think if I tried, it would be like Jaskier said; That ship has sailed, wrecked and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. I am having a lot of fun writing Eliana into the witcher world, and their interactions, so yay you are enjoying it too!

blasttyrant - Ah hahaha! Yeah she's a right lil' snarky chica when she wants to be, but its more out of fear and defense.