V
...
As Annalise rode down the road, everything in her body screamed at her to stop, or at least turn back. She had to admit, this was a fantastically idiotic idea. Unfortunately, it was the only idea she had. The dull throb in her back had become more piercing as time went on. She needed real bandages and sterile water, but those were in short supply in this area of bumfuck Northern Cintra. Though, she supposed it was Northern Nilfgaard now. It didn't matter much to her either way.
She found the fiend's Nilfgaardian victims, the place where she had been taken by the Scoia'tael, and assessed the situation with further scrutiny. She saw the indent in the road where she had fallen and searched around it. There was a drag mark from where she'd been taken off the road that led North. A trail of nearly imperceptible footprints crept through the underbrush. Annalise followed them, making sure to keep her eyes on the trees, in case Aeonweth's friends decided to shoot another dart in her back.
She smelled cook fires about forty paces ahead. Her stomach growled. Annalise hadn't eaten in... Gods above, how long had it been? Two or three days? Besides, the smell gave her an easy way to find the Scoia'tael. Witchers of the School of the Griffin didn't have the famed senses of smell of the School of the Wolf or Bear, but it was good enough for her to find the entrance to Caer Drelch. Listredd sat at the mouth of the cave, her head supported by an arm, dark bags under her eyes. Annalise frowned. They haven't left yet. She intentionally stepped on a branch to get her attention. Listredd shot up off of her chair and made to draw her sword before she noticed it was Annalise. Listredd sighed and slammed her half-drawn sword back in its scabbard.
"I thought you were leaving vatt'ghern," she said, rubbing an eye with the heel of her hand.
"Well, va fail to you too. I-" Annalise hesitated. She could still turn back now and avoid this. She could go on back to Kaedwin or Redania; keep running. No. No, she'd done enough running. "I need to see Aeonweth."
Listredd blanched slightly, "Are you sure? She went on a tirade after you left. She almost brought down the-"
Annalise raised a hand to quiet her, "Yeah, I figured. I'll make sure we won't talk were she'll kill anyone."
Listeredd shrugged, "It's your funeral, dh'oinne."
With that, Listredd entered the cave's mouth. The wait could've been a few moments or an age. Time seemed to slow, like molasses at Kaer Seren while everyone was wintering. Annalise started to sweat. If she was well-rested, she could run for two miles without breaking a sweat. Talking to Aeonweth after completely snubbing her, however... That was something different entirely. Listredd emerged from the cave, her expression unreadable, and jerked her chin toward the cave. Annalise sighed and began to follow her. A blinding pain in her back caused her to stumble, almost making her bowl over Listredd. Listredd turned around, most likely to tell Annalise to watch where she was going, but when she saw the wounds on her back, she took Annalise's arm and supported her the whole way down the cavern.
Annalise's vision started to fade around the edges. She coughed, an act that caused her back to spasm again. She saw the cavern open up. A vaguely feminine form stood with her arms crossed in the center of the space. "Aeonweth..." She breathed. "Need... I need-" Annalise's vision blurred further as another round of pain, more intense than the last caused her to double over. She retched. The form began running over to her before she blacked out.
You. Must. Find. Me.
When her vision first came back to her, Listredd and Aeonweth stood over her looking concerned. She closed her eyes.
You. Must. Find. Me.
Annalise was on her chest now. The pain in her back was being exacerbated by the sharp, stabbing pains of some small implement. A needle? She closed her eyes again.
Find... Me...
Her eyes flew open. She began to rise from the bed to sit upright, but a gentle, yet forceful hand guided her back down to the pillow. "Rest. You'll take out the stitching," said a voice all too familiar to her. Her Griffin medallion vibrated at the touch.
Annalise sighed. She looked down and saw bandages around her midsection. She decided she might as well be as comfortable as possible before she was set on fire and set her head back on the pillow. "Thank you, Aeonweth."
Aeonweth sat in a chair next to the bed, frowning. "You know I almost failed my basic medical exams. If I made a mistake, it probably would've killed you."
"I know," Annalise said.
"Why are you really here, Annalise?" Aeonweth said, pronouncing every syllable of Annalise's name pointedly, "If you wanted to get patched up, you could've just asked the Nilfgaardians."
"I need to use your megascope," Annalise said, shifting her body to alleviate the stinging in her back. It didn't help. "There's someone I need to contact."
"Of course you do," Aeonweth said with a sigh. Annalise expected her to go up and get it, but Aeonweth remained seated, her blue eyes boring into Annalise's. "Something is hurting you, and it isn't your back," she said, finally, "You thrashed around on the table during surgery, muttering a name. Henri."
Annalise bit her lip. "Aeonweth, I don't want to talk about it."
Aeonweth's eyes were sad as she spoke, "I know you don't. I don't care. You've always been a fitful sleeper, but this... This isn't normal for you." She got up off the chair and sat on the edge of the bed, her hand going for Annalise's cheek. She didn't stop Aeonweth's fingers from gently brushing her cheek. "Please, Anna. Just tell me what's wrong."
"Do you really want to know? It will change the way you think of me."
Aeonweth brushed a stray red hair from Anna's face. "Well, right now I think you're a scared little girl running away from things that are to painful to feel." She gave Annalise a wan smile and shrugged. "There's nowhere to go but up from there."
Annalise felt the boulder that had settled its immense weight on her shoulders. Just when she thought she had gotten used to carrying it alone, the weight increased. It would only get worse. She decided to finally get some help carrying. "Witchers of the School of the Griffin are trained in pairs and linked by fate during their Trial of the Medallion. This allows us to read each other's minds and coordinate during hunts with better precision than any other School. It also has a drawback. If two linked Griffins are apart for too long, they have terrible dreams that demand that they come back together. It's even worse if one of the pair dies. Henri was the other half of the pair. I-" The boulder threatened to crush her as she shifted its burden. Tears began to well in her eyes, but she continued anyway. "I left him behind in Dyadra out of some misguided desire for freedom. I haven't seen him since."
It was quiet in the room for a long time. The candle on the nightstand flickered, its smoke trying in vain to escape the oppressive stone room. It ended up pooling in the middle of the arched ceiling, trapped underground. Aeonweth had stopped fiddling with Anna's hair. She now stared off in the middle distance, as if recalling some ancient memory. Finally, she stood, smoothing the ruffles in her dress, "Will my megascope help you find him?" She asked.
"That's my hope," Annalise replied. She found that she meant it.
"Let me set it up. You're in no shape to do it on your own."