An: First allow me to wish all of you Merry Christmas (even if a bit late) and Happy New Year!
An2: The Witcher franchise (or any part of it) belongs to those who made them. Andrzej Sapkowski for the books and characters and CD Projeck Red for the games. I can only claim my original content (OCs, weapons, storyline). I don't make money from writing this story (or any other for that matter).
An3: I will make some changes to the timeline, but it won't be that important as of now. (I just fiond it strange that there are mages more than three hundred years old when humans arrived on the continent only about five hundred years ago.
An4: Harry won't be godlike. This is the witcher universe. There will be very few if any character deserving called 'godlike'. (Okay one will be featured for sure, but it won't be Harry!) I will try to make Harry powerful but not overly so. He will be a serious player, but there will be others as well.
An5: Next I will update Star Wars Legends: The beginning. If I have any luck it will be out before New Year!
1. chapter
The choice he made
1261
He ran, he ran as fast as his legs allowed. He couldn't believe what happened. Oh, he knew that the world wasn't all sunshine and that shit. Not, even if the bards wanted to sing it in their ballads. He was fourteen, not six year old boy who wanted to be a knight in shinning armor. He knew life wasn't easy or fair, but for what it worth they had a peaceful one. Some monsters here and there, mostly downers, a few ghouls and so on. A few troublesome diseases, but nothing a druid, a sorceress and a healer couldn't cure. And now he ran because his village, his home burned.
He was the son of that sorceress, Lilian Evaine: Harry , he was a bastard really, no one knew who his father was save for his mother, though some of the rumours around the village said that even she herself didn't know it for sure. Of course the mayor put an end to these rumours. No village, even towns couldn't afford to lose a mage of his mother's abilities. And Lilian Evaine didn't want to speak about his past lovers, her son's father included.
Even if he didn't had the potential to become a mage, at least nowhere near the level of his mother, he had a very good and promising life. He had a loving mother, even if she sometimes had trouble showing it and sometimes showed too much love to her son. He learned under her mother, the village's healer, old Magdanela and Catnip, the druid in the forest nearby, which meant that he could be considered one of the most learned man in the shire. He didn't need to do work at the fields as most of the children, but in a little garden behind their house and helped the three healer with ingredients and preparation of their potions and salves. He wanted to make his mother proud even if he couldn't follow in her footsteps.
He was out the house, and usually he did in his free time he strolled in the woods. After two or three hours later he noticed the smoke in the sky. It came from the village's direction... He ran to their house, which was at the edge of the village just to see it burning, along with all the others. There were at least a dozen of man with a wide range of weapons in hand, forming a half circle in front of his home. In front of them stood a tall man in fine clothes under an equally fine armor. The flames illuminated his sharp features, his long black hair and gray eyes sat in a handsome face. Well, it could be called a handsome face if it wasn't in a mocking grin as if burning down a village meant nothing to him. Half of him wanted to ran, away from the danger. The other half wanted to stay, to help to whoever could be still saved. A crack from a breaking stick draw his attention from the group at his house. Twisting his head at the sound he saw on of these bandits only about forty feet away. He was big, round man with little, evil eyes staring right at him. Harry didn't wait for him. He turned around and dashed back into the forest with the man on his heels.
After running nearly for a quarter of a hour he stopped. He was sure that the man who came after him couldn't keep up. The adrenaline level inside his body lessened and his weariness made itself be known. He looked around. He knew that he crossed the border between the village and the Forest, where the dryads dwell. While he was there a few times in the past, never once did he do so without permission from one of the dryads. He hoped that they won't be angry at him for spending his night in their territory. Numerous men had been killed for far less after all. Grabbing a stick laying on the ground he sat at the root of the old oak tree next to him.
The early morning had found him up and thinking where could he be. A sudden crack drew his attention to the other end of the clearing. There was a full-grown man with his horse. And their eyes were on him. Harry was on his feet in an instant.
The man was tall with board shoulders. He had a dark brown leather vest and trouser of similar color with a black riding-boots on his feet. The man was a mutant he could tell at first glance. Snow white hair and golden cat eyes. The two swords on his back and the silver medallion on a simple necklace forming a snarling head of a wolf made it easy for Harry to know what was in front of him. A witcher. One of those rare mutants, who first were made by wizards for one thing: hunting monsters.
Harry didn't know much about them aside what everyone already did. They were professional monster hunters. He never seen one in real life and truthfully was happy with that. It meant that there wasn't a monster which would require the village to hire one to take care of it.
The white haired man held his hand up with palm pointing out, a sign of friendliness (or rather non-hostility) and stepped forward with a reassuring smile. There was a twang and an arrow stuck the nearest tree near the man who grabbed of the handle of his sword in a flash.
"Don't step closer to that child, Gwynbleidd!" came the soft voice from the right of Harry. Glancing there he could feel his body relax. There, near to an older oak stood Moréen, the dryad in her forest green and earth brown dress. Her little, elf like body was also green from her little pointy ears under her braided hair to her dainty toes "This child is under the protection of the forest!"
Which of course literally meant: under the protection of the dryads. The witcher nodded as he let go of his sword.
"Greetings, lady of the forest. I did not want to intrude into your territory, but I'm afraid in the fog I lost my way. I wanted to reach the village of Zvaere. Maybe you can point me in the right direction?" he asked calmly in his deep voice.
"We can. This child is also from there. But I have to warm you: the village was attacked not a day ago." Moréen slowly walked to stand beside Harry who hugged the dryad to him, not so secretly enjoying feeling the ample bosom of the nymph squashing to his chest. He knew how lucky he was: any other man would be dead by touching a dryad when she didn't allow it.
"I said it before, Moréen, I am not a child!" Harry said with a playful scowl.
"In the eyes of us you are until you live at least quarter of an oak life." Moréen said with a little smirk causing Harry to pout at her.
"My apologies but can we go to the village." asked the man tossing Harry back to real-life.
"Let's go." Moréen nodded in consent as she took the lead.
"So, you are from the village, boy? Can you tell me about it?" asked the man.
"Yeah, but I would like to know your name first, master witcher." he replied making the witcher eyes to light up amusement.
"Geralt of Rivia." he said.
"Harry Evaine of Zvaere. Well meet, master Geralt." Harry shook the witcher's extended hand.
"I have to say that I agree with Harry here, Lady Moréen. He is nearly a full-man grown! He is of... what? Fifteen-sixteen year? Hardly what I would call a child." Geralt said to Moréen who walked in front of them in total silence.
"I'm only fourteen, master Geralt." Harry replied in place of the nymph "And from their point of view you have to agree..."
"I suppose I can." Geralt admitted, while his mind deciphered the new information.
"I heard that the mayor wanted to get a more experienced person to deal with the monster which caused problem on the river. Would that be the reason to visit our humble village, master Geralt?" Harry asked.
"Indeed. It was nearby so I decided to accept the job." Geralt said.
"So you wouldn't if it was out the way?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.
"We aren't paladins, boy..." Geralt said with a grin. It wasn't a happy one.
"I know that." Harry said defensively "I know that you take payment for those monsters you kill. You have to live from something after all... I can't fault you for that. I just wanted to know if the distance is something that you always consider when signing up for a job."
"We will arrive shortly." Moréen announced cutting off Geralt's reply.
The village seemed a bit better condition than what Harry would except after the night before. None of the houses burned fully down, even if two-thirds of them were damaged by fire. The bandits obviously focused on two house: the one where Harry and Lily called home and the mayor's. It was clear why they did so: these two were the best in the village and the value of the loot in them would be even bigger than the other houses put together. Harry wanted to run into their house, but Geralt stopped him.
"Stay put. There isn't anyone inside and if you want me to look for clues to who attacked I need you to hold still."
"What do you see, Gwynbleidd?" asked Moréen looking around with narrowed eyes.
"Whoever attacked wasn't a simple bandit." Geralt said "Those, if I'm not mistaken, seems to be the footprint of a Nilfgaardian cavalry boot. Those cost at least two and half hundred orens, which is more than what I would have got for getting rid of the monster in the swamp."
"Yeah, the leader seemed like a noble, but I thought that he killed a knight and donned his robe." Harry injected.
"That's a possibility." Geralt agreed "Could you describe him?"
"Hmm, tall, black haired, with gray eyes." Harry listed quickly, thinking back to the night before. "He had a black horse and a one and half handed sword..."
"Anything else? Maybe he had an unusual feature or something like that..." Geralt said not looking at the young man behind him, rather still inspecting the ground around the house.
"Yeah now that you mention it... He had white teeth, only my mother and mine are that white in the entire village, hell even the nobles who traveled through Zvaere, didn't have teeth like that!" Harry frowned remembering that man, who took his home from him.
"Your mother is a sorceress, isn't she Harry?" asked Geralt placing the next part of the puzzle to it's place.
"Yes, Lilian Evaine." Haryy replied.
"Then we can conclude, that those weren't bandits, but a knight and his group." Geralt said, sighing heavily "You can go to your house Harry. I will search the village, maybe I can find something as well."
Harry run to the house with Moréen following him like a shadow. It was empty just as Geralt said it would be. Every table was turned up, precious books lay on the ground disregarded. Going down to the laboratory Harry could see that there was an explosion in there destroying nearly everything in the room.
As he didn't found her mother he decided to find Geralt. He found him near to the inn, the Burrow. The way was littered with bodies of men and women, even some as young as him.
"Empty?" he asked Geralt who sat at the door of the inn.
"Empty."
"Can we gather them and bury them?" Harry asked the witcher who shook his head.
"I will help you gather them, but I won't help with digging up a hole for each." he answered.
"Please! I can't just let them lay here, out in the open!" Harry cried out desperately. Geralt looked at him for a long, very long minute, then after sighing aloud nodded relucantly.
"Thank you master Grealt. I will repay you somehow." Harry said sincerely.
"Let's start or we won't finish before sundown." the witcher growled.
They started to lay the bodies next to each other behind the inn. Harry flinched seeing some more familiar face and even nearly puked seeing Grodd, the dwarf and Edwin, the hunter.
"You knew them?" asked Geralt stepping next to him.
"Yes, Grodd here taught me how to fight, he was a mercenary once." he explained, looking at the dwarf who had his head separated from his torso "Edwin was a hunter and my mother's lover."
"Your father?" Geralt asked glancing at the man laying in front of him. Edwin had short brown hair and was reasonably muscled and handsome. He was gutted like a fish.
"Never meet him." Harry replied softly "Never heard his name, or anything related to him. Mom never liked to speak about him."
"I see." Geralt said "They are the last ones."
Thirty-four bodies, twenty men, eleven women and three younger than eighteen, though few would care about that. They were mostly humans, only two elfs and Grodd were of other races. Harry puked seeing that some of the women were violated and even a few men had the sign of not finding an easy death.
"Let's bury them." Geralt softly said "Where can we find a spade?"
"No need for that Gwynbleidd." said Moréen, who was until now silent, laying a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder "I will do the work."
Abruptly the air itself filled with magical energy. Moréen said something, which Harry couldn't hear and the earth changed in front of bodies. Thirty-four grave, one after another appeared as the ground was split open by Moréen's magic.
"We would be digging 'til midnight, if not for you, Lady Moréen." Geralt said.
"True. Thank you for this." Harry agreed and sent a small smile towards the dryad.
"Think nothing of it Harry." she replied, favouring him with a small smile "Now you have to decide what you want to do."
"What do you mean?" asked Harry, even when he knew what the dryad meant.
"Don't take me for a fool Harry. I like you, but I won't let you to do so." Moréen said back with a little frown marring her beautiful face.
"I-I apologies Moréen. I didn't wanted to hurt you or your pride, never did, never will." Harry said "But I don't know what could I do apart of waiting the villagers to return and hoping for the best."
"I wouldn't wait for them. There were at least two dozen who left the village and two carts did as well. It's quite possible that most where dragged off to sell them into slavery." Geralt cautioned him "Or they have gone into the groves, but they won't return for two-three days at the earliest."
"And even if they did I wasn't the most loved man in the village." Harry replied back "I may be able to become Catnip's apprentice, but the life of a druid isn't something I wish upon myself."
"You could come with me and become a witcher." Geralt offered suddenly.
"Really?" Harry asked surprised at the sudden change of heart. Don't misundestand him, Geralt was pretty helpful, but nowhere near to the point of offering, what in Harry's mind was, a very generous offer of apprenticeship under Geralt.
"You can also live with us, Harry." Moréen also offered in her soft voice.
"I think you should also tell him what a life like that means, Lady Moréen." Geralt said his voice gaining an edge "And why you do offer him this."
"Me and my sisters like Harry." Moréen said, but her voice also came with an edge looking at the witcher "Don't believe I don't know the reason behind your offer, Gwynbleidd.
"Hah, as if your offer would be anymore purer than mine." Geralt riposted
"Would someone explain me what in the blaze you two are bickering about?" Harry asked, flustered by the stand-off between the two.
"Gwynbleidd wants you to become a witcher because you have magic inside you." Moréen explained " He believes that you will be exceptionally powerful witcher."
"That's true." Geralt admitted "And I would have said so because I only take you to my home if you will answers my questions and hear the full offer."
"I see." Harry said "It's nearly noon. We shall dine and after that you can explain it wholesome to me."
After dinner which was spent in Harry's house, Geralt, Moréen and Harry stayed around the table. After a minute of silence Geralt spoke up.
"What Lady Moréen said is true, at least part of it. You have magic inside you and ,if you will become a witcher, would be a great addition to our School. But there are several... risks. I won't lie to you. The Trials are brutal, at best four students from ten survive." he said with absolute honestly "And I have to ask if your mother did anything for your body."
"She didn't. I heard her once telling it Catnip, but he didn't believed her so she allowed him to examine me." Harry answered "I was only given special elixirs and teas, nothing to really affect my body."
"At least not how a mutagen would do it." Geralt said, deep in thoughts "Your mother seems to made sure that you are at peak human condition for your age, but nothing magical. That's good, you can receive the mutagens."
"And the mutations will render you sterile." Moréen said with disgust "You won't be able to father a child."
"Which would also render you useless to the dryads." Geralt said with a hard voice, but laced with an emotion Harry couldn't place... sadness? Regret? "If you go with them you will be nothing more than a breeding stallion, one who can't go out of the forest."
"That's-that's not true!" Moréen cried out, but Geralt face stopped her "Or at least not entirely." she admitted."I like you Harry, really like you. I didn't feel like that in my entire life." she looked away embarrassed. Geralt sighed again.
"Lady Moréen, can I tell you something?"
"Of course Gwynbleidd." replied the dryad.
"Do you swear not to tell anyone, but your fellow dryads:" Geralt asked.
"Who would I tell? There are only three people aside from you that we speak: Harry, Lilian, Harry's mother and Catnip the druid." Moréen answered.
"Please don't tell them either, nor you Harry." Geralt said softly.
"I swear, Geralt ." Harry said.
"I swear." Moréen said at last.
"As you may know our numbers are declining since years beyond even my lifetime." Geralt said "One reason for this is that we didn't have one who could conduct the Trials and the mutations. We had everything: mutagens, laboratory, equipments... But we didn't had a mage. Now after years, our leader Vesemir" Geralt said that name with obvious respect "found one of his old friend, a druid who agreed to help us. This will be the first year in nearly a quarter century that our home will receive students."
"Isn't that dangerous?" Moréen asked worriedly. Geralt couldn't help a humorless chuckle.
"Yes, it will be." he agreed "But we, or more accurately the druid, master Myrdinn studied ancient tomes and our records for three years now. And master Myrdinn is obviously a very wise and knowledgeable person. For all intent it won't be anymore dangerous than my own set of Trials."
"You said that was one of the reasons. What is the other?" Harry asked curiously.
"Just as Moréen said: all witcher is sterile. None of us can produce seed which would grow." Geralt replied.
"How poetic of you Gwynbleidd." Moréen said with an amused smile, but the smile didn't reach her eyes...
"Sorry, it seems I spent to many time with that whoremonger Dandelion." Geralt replied embarrassed a bit "But here comes the main point of this. Do either one of you know why we are the way we are?"
The two seemed to think it over. Why would the witcher become sterile if they were normal people before? Sure, maybe all of them were sterile but the chance of that was somewhere very near to zero.
"Your mutation." Harry said at last "That's the only thing that can explain it."
"Yes, that right. Now, a harder question. Which part do this to us?" Geralt asked calmly. Seeing the puzzled expression of Harry, he answered his own question. Moréen seemed uninterested at first, but both human knew that she follow the conservation closely. "The magic. None of the witcher had magic before the mutations or so scarce talent that it was little to no use. But now..." he lifted his arm and it flashed for a moment. Golden sparks flared out his palms and the winds picked up inside the room. It intensity grow to another level and the books in the living room flew to the other side, the two chairs fell over. Then Geralt ceased the flow of magic.
"Don't say this lie Gwynbleidd!" Moréen didn't seem to believe the witcher "My mother had magic and she clearly bore me. Myself can use it as well and you could see what I did before..."
"That's true." Geralt nodded "But for humans magic has an adverse effect on our ability to reproduce. Very few among the natural users of magic, both sorcerers and sorceresses, are capable to that simple feat for our race. Those who were granted this ability from outside source, the mutations, will lose it completely. No witcher going under those mutations could hope to have a child. But Harry here already has the potential to use magic..." Geralt finished his tale.
"Which would mean that the mutation that allows you to use magic won't be needed." Harry said.
"And thus Harry could have children." Moréen continued with relieved voice.
"Yes, that's what I hope for." Geralt said, before focusing solely only Harry instead of both of them "I will tell you now: what I just said is only speculation, no one tried this before. Even if you don't undergo that mutation there is a chance that the others would still render you sterile."
"I see." Harry said, deep in thoughts. After a moment or two he stood up "Whatever I choose I will have to leave this place so while I decide I will go and collect whatever I will need."
"A sensible idea." Geralt agreed.
Harry started to search the house for anything that he would need. He started with the easiest things: some clothes from his wardrobe and his bow which Edwin gave him on his thirteen nameday. He would never be a master archer but could use it well enough. Next came the hidden stock under the floorboards. There were fifty orens, a case with six vials of potion and description with it and a map. Then he wanted to take some of the books with himself. Starting in his mother bedroom after choosing a few which seemed helpful enough, he discovered a little booklet wrapped in brown leather. Harry cautiously opened it. It was the diary of his mother! He didn't knew she had one.
Moréen and Geralt had waited him in front of the house. Both of them looked calm on the outside, but their eyes told him a different story. Moréen he could understand, but Geralt? Why would the witcher be anxious?
"I decided to go with Geralt, Moréen." Harry said with a sad smile "I'm sorry but I want to see the world and I want to find my mother... and my father if I can."
"I have known you would choose that." she replied in a sad voice "You and your wanderlust. But perhaps that's why me and my sisters like you that much. If-if you could promise me something?"
"Anything." Harry answered immediately.
"When you become a witcher... Would you visit us?" she said embarrassed, not looking at him. So it came a real surprise to her when Harry tightly hugged her.
"Of course I will. And if you want it" there he looked deep in her eyes "I will mate with you." Moréen seemed shocked, while Geralt hide his amused smile behind his hand.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Moréen said with a smile, this one reaching her eyes "I will wait for you Harry." with that the dryad kissed the young boy who after a moment started kissing back. It was a soft, gentle union between them. It was so loving and tender moment that Geralt turned his back toward them. He couldn't believe he was embarrassed by this. He seen Dandelion screwing whore after whore before without batting an eye!
While the witcher had his inner turmoil, the two had lean away from each other with small smiles tugging on their lips. Moréen pecked Harry on his lips before turning on her lips and silently run into the woods on her light feet. There she looked back at Harry once again and lifted her in farewell. In the next moment she disappeared like the wind. Free and untamed.
"We can start our journey Geralt." Harry said to the witcher.
"Alright. Then get your horse and let's get out of here!" the witcher replied "And whip off that stupid grin from your face."
"You can be a real jerk. Did you know that?"
"You didn't bring him back here?" asked one of her sister, Nae.
"No I let him choose his destiny." Moréen replied.
For a minute neither spoke, but enjoyed the feel of the forest around them. The peaceful silence was only broken by the sound of water hitting rock in the near creek and the song of birds. It was perfect for them.
"Will he come back?" Nae asked.
"You know him as well as I do. He will." Moréen replied but her emotions betrayed her.
"Oh, there is something there! Tell me! Please!" Nae was very energetic.
"He promised to mate with me." Moréen confessed flustered at little grin appearing on her sister's face. "And we kissed..."
"Truly? How was it?" Nae asked curiously. It was rare for a dryad to kiss someone. Now it was even more rare as they had less and less breeder after years and years.
"It was... I don't know how to describe it." Moréen confessed "It was... it felt right. I found peace there...
"In Harry's arms. That's great. I'm happy for you sister." Nae told her sincerely.
"Is it alright that I don't think of him as only a... breeder?" Moréen asked, afraid of the answer "He is so different from other men."
"He is." Nae nodded, along with other dryads who stood nearby "And it's perfectly alright to think about him. But you have to promise one thing."
"Yes?" Moréen asked with a tilt of the head.
"You will have to allow your sister to mate with him as well." Nae said with a grin. Moréen only nodded, embarrassed at the conservations and giggles around her.
Suddenly the forest cried out in alarm and the dryad lost their cheerfulness. Men arrived at the edge of the forest with axes and saws. In the place of a group of little, cheerful nymphs stood warriors, who will defend their home. Nae and Moréen took their bow together.
"Let's go sister."
"Let's sister." Noréen replied. For now she had to forget about her minne.
Elder Speech:
In the most simple way to describe it would be saying that it is the elven language. It is one of the oldest language still in use.
Words:
- evaine: delivered from elaine which means fair or beautiful
- Gwynbleidd: White Wolf. The name the dryads gave to Geralt.
- Zvaere: swear (to take an oath)