Chapter Nine

~Eliana~

The world swayed back and forth, back and forth in time to the beat of hoofs. I was warm, safe, yet chill air whipped at my face, and each time I stirred, my head throbbed, and unintelligible words, or were they growls, of discontent reverberated through my aching body.

I don't know when, or how, but when finally I could open my eyes, and hold consciousness, the tall pines I'd glimpsed in flashes of painful light now stretched into the darkness of night.

There was no low burning camp fire, but I was warm, cocooned in blanket, a solid heat emanating from behind me.

"Geralt?" My tongue was heavy, and I struggled on each syllable, as I tried to push myself up . The blanket shifted, and the frigid air bit at my arms and throat.

"You're awake." Geralt shifted, sitting up beside me, a silvery shadow. "Stay there and warm, I'll fetch you something to eat."

"I'm not hungr-" My stomach rumbled unexpectedly, a sharp pang causing my muscles to clench. Geralt returned from where Roach cropped grass nearby, the outline of her saddle upon her back. Why was she still wearing it?

"Here." A hunk of bread and square of cheese were pressed into my hands. I tore into the bread, and savoured the bite of the hard cheese, as my mind began to process my time in the village.

"What happened, where are we?" I asked, swallowing the last of the cheese.

"Not nearly far enough away from the village." Geralt all but grunted in displeasure.

"What, what happened? There was a woman, I couldn't save her-"

"You saved her, healed her at the risk of your own life, foolish girl." Geralt bit out, and it was now I realised the coldness was not from the night air, but an anger emanating off him, despite the warmth of his body when I'd awoken.

I dropped my remaining bread, stunned momentarily silent. "Don't snark at me, I don't even know what I did wrong." I found my words, confusion bringing out my own anger.

"You took off!" He thundered, golden eyes burning into mine. "Anything could have happened to you, I didn't know where you'd gone, if you'd been taken, hurt, killed!"

"I-"

"And then when I find you, you're as good as dead! What in the Goddess's name possessed you to leave?" He was so angry with me, teeth partly bared as he enunciated each word, and for a moment, I remembered the day he'd rescued me, the pure rage he'd unleashed upon those soldiers.

Struggling from the swath of blanket, I staggered to my feet.

"What are you doing, its freezing." The air bit at my bare skin, and my back stung from the stretch of healing flesh, but I ignored it, testing my strength and balance as I took a step away from him, followed by another. "Eliana." There was a low warning in his tone as he began to rise. My fear spiked, and with a jolt to my pounding heart, I whirled, dashing down a slope.

"Fuck!" The growled out curse followed me through the trees, and I pushed myself faster, faster, ducking and weaving through underbrush, my breaths turning to gasps as the cold stole the air from my lungs. A flash of pain shot through my temples, and the darkened forest tilted violently.

I never hit the frostbitten ground.

"Foolish, foolish, girl." Geralt rasped out, between his own breaths, holding me up by my arms, preventing me from falling.

"Let me go." I gasped, my mind whirling in dizzying circles.

"You'll fall over if I do."

"I don't care."

"I swear you have a death wish." He muttered. My fear must have shown plainly, for he frowned, before shaking his head. "Why are you running?" He asked, gentler.

"I…" It seemed silly now, why I'd run. I let out a long breath, the air a white, curling wisp before me. My head throbbed on my next breath in, spinning. "You were angry." I exhaled. Geralt let out an unintelligible rumble, his brow furrowing in consternation under the little moonlight filtering through the dense pines I'd run through.

"Eliana." He sighed, as if he were not quite sure what to do with me. "I was angry, but I won't hurt you, I promise you that. You never need to run from me." I caught the distinct bob of his throat as he swallowed, heard the sincerity of his words. "I'm here to keep you safe from harm and return you to your people." And just like that, Geralt reminded me of the entire reason he was here, of who I was meant to become once he'd deposited me safely back with the elves. Suddenly, I felt the cold bite of the night, the weariness I'd awoken to.

"Let's go back to camp." Geralt suggested, and I nodded once. "May I carry you; it is a long way back up."

"I can walk, it isn't far." Geralt let out a low snort of humour.

"I chased you nearly a mile down a hill, it is far, and steep. While it has been many years since I've had to chase down such a swift opponent, I only caught you because your energy is still too low. You need rest." There was no point in arguing, he was right.

"Fine, but only because my head is aching." I conceded, and he made a sound of approval, letting go of my arms. In one fluent movement, he caught me up in such a way the healing wounds upon my back did not protest too much. Closing my eyes, I let my cheek rest against the warmth of his chest, too exhausted and dizzy to think too much over the proximity I kept finding myself in with him, as his long strides carried us back up the steep hill.

~Geralt~

Eliana barely stirred as I settled her on my sleep roll, pulling the extra blankets I'd been given by the healed Blacksmith's wife, snugly over her. Her little stunt saving the woman, had cost us precious time.

The scents of the village had made Eliana hard to track, and if it were not for Roach, I would not have caught her scent, where it was near overwhelmed by the dying woman's. I'd reached the girl just in time, to yank her away from the woman before she poured her entire life essence into healing her.

With Eliana pale and unconscious, we were both inevitably trapped within the home of the Blacksmith, until I could get us both out of town without raising the suspicions only a Witcher carrying around a half-dead girl could raise.

Thankfully, the Blacksmith and his family were overjoyed by Eliana's healing power, the Blacksmith's wife now restored to full health, and all eager to repay Eliana in any way they could, ensuring I was fed and cleaned up. The woman aided in treating Eliana's lash wounds, and I had taken my leave soon after, letting the kind woman, whose name I'd learnt was Annetta, wash and clothe the girl in a dress she assured no longer fit her.

We'd left bestowed with a second dress, the blankets Eliana was now wrapped in, and, oddly, a bow and quiver of arrows the Blacksmith insisted I take for Eliana. I hadn't the slightest idea what the girl intended to do with them.

Lying on my side, facing the girl, I wondered at how such a lovely looking creature could cause me more hassle than most of the monsters I'd dealt with, excepting Yennifer? I supposed I was usually hired to kill lives, not preserve them.

I let me eyes drift shut, lulled by her peaceful breaths, and those of Roach nearby.

Stinging pinpricks upon the right side of my face me awake, and I blinked the fine dusting of snow from my lashes. Just what we needed. Groaning for lack of sleep, I sat up, shaking my hair. Beside me, Eliana was curled up in a ball beneath her blankets, shaking. I pressed a hand to her shoulder.

"Eliana, we need to go." The girl mumbled, incoherently, and I decided to leave her until I was ready to ride, shifting her off the sleep roll so I could pack up.

Roach let out a huff of discontent, when I approached her. "Sorry Roach, I can't control the weather. Dusting off her saddle, I checked and tightened her girth, and then stowed my sleeping roll. My blanket, I draped over her hind end, securing at the saddle. It was all the warmth I could offer her as we moved.

Lastly, I scooped Eliana up, blankets and all, sitting her before me in the saddle, where she curled into me, shivering.

"Why are we moving? She whispered; voice still thick with exhaustion.

"It's snowing, I want to leave now, while it is light, so our tracks will be covered."

"Oh. Okay." Eliana sighed, and I pulled her closer against me, letting Roach pick her way down the hill, hoping the snow would vanish any trace of us being here come morning.

~Eliana~

We'd been riding for hours. I'd awoken to the motion of Roach ambling through a thick layer of snow, my cheeks numb with cold. Curiously, Geralt, seated silent behind me, had both his arms wrapped about my middle. Trapped! I reacted, twisting my body forward, trying to break free. His arms vanished and a long-suffering sigh immediately brought me to my senses.

"Sorry." I muttered. Taking stock of our surroundings. Endless snow laden pines protruded from an endless stretch of snow covering all else. Geralt remained silent, and events of the past day danced through my mind. "And, I'm sorry about last night too, for running."

"You're an elf, well half elf." He stated, as if it solved everything. I craned my head around, giving up some of the warmth from the blankets I was rugged up in, to peer at his face. "Fight or flight. Those instincts are stronger in elves."

"Oh." I continued peering at him. He looked drawn, paler than usual against the dark cloak he was now wearing instead of me. No, not pale, but grey. "Are you alright?"

"Fine." He rumbled.

"I don't believe you."

"You don't have to." He curtly replied. With a huff of annoyance, I faced forward once more "I'm tired." He eventually admitted. "And I'm worried we drew too much attention in the village, despite taking extra precautions. How are you feeling?" He asked so suddenly, I wondered if he were avoiding something.

"I'm alright. My head no longer aches."

"Good." We lapsed back into silence for some time, the world dreary and cold. Geralt did not put his arms about my waist again, but I could feel the forward slump of his body, noticed the small jerks and twitches as he tried to stay awake. The poor man was clearly exhausted. I knew it was still quite dark when he'd stirred me, bundling me, blankets and all, onto Roach, muttering something about moving on so the snow would cover our tracks.

Tentatively I touched his right hand, where it rested on his leg. Despite the cold, his skin was warm.

"Hmm?"

"Where are we headed, is there a landmark I can sight to guide Roach?"

"There's a lake far off, you can catch glimpses of it at the peak of each hill. Why?"

"I'll make sure we reach it. Close your eyes, rest."

"No, if there is danger-"

"I'll hear it and wake you. Elf hearing, remember." I freed my head from the hood-like fold of the blanket to better hear. He grumbled, but did not contradict me, falling silent.

"Fine." His tired sigh ruffled through my hair as Roach crested the hill she had been climbing, and a deep shimmer of blue caught my eye far ahead. Finding his hands, I guided his arms back around my waist, not trapping myself, but using myself as an anchor, so he would not fall. He didn't resist, and as strange as it all was, I could not help the smile which twitched at the corner of my mouth, as he finally gave in to his exhaustion, his head resting on my right shoulder.

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Hi peeps! Hope we are all doing super well despite the current state of things! Still busy af IRL, soo the fic updates are still slow all round. It does feel good to update one of them though! Anyone seen the Making of the Witcher which recently dropped on Netflix? I may have drooled a little over the world building aspects. :D

x A