The Elven ruins were only a short while away from Midcopse, to the south in an area locally referred to as The Mire. The Mire was essentially a large lake, Lake Wyndamer, and the various islands, swamplands and peninsula surrounding it. Even by Velen standards it was rather hard living, with many villages having to contend with possibly sinking into a bog, and water creatures like drowners trying to turn them into food.
Keira changed back into her witchly attire - she didn't want to get her fine clothes dirty. Once they were on the path south, it took them less than an hour to arrive at their destination, which Keira complained about the whole walk.
"What are we looking for exactly?" Geralt asked.
"We'll know it when we see it." Keira simply replied. Wasn't particularly the answer Geralt wanted to hear, but it turned out to be an accurate the dirt road, there were faint remnants of a stone path leading into the woods. Following it for a bit, led to the remains of a grand staircase built into the hillside and rock. At the top of the stairs was a platform made of stone and brick, and under that was an ovular entranceway, slightly overgrown with vines. It stuck out like a sore thumb in the bogland of the Mire.
"We'll know it when we see it." Geralt repeated
"Quite." Keira added.
"This place could be thousands of years old." Philippa said, sounding a bit impressed. "Do these people even know they have history in their backyards?"
"I've come to the understanding that the people of Velen don't very much see beyond the perimeter of their villages." Keira commented dismissively. "If they did ever know about this place, they'd probably try and destroy it.
"Been here before?" Geralt asked.
Keira shook her head twice, "No. I was hoping the elf would return as he'd promised, or else his waif would appear. At any rate, I've no idea what to expect from this place." She admitted.
"Well, no point in waiting around." Philippa said.
The three entered the ruins, Geralt in front, followed Philippa and Keira. It didn't take long for the natural light from outside to disappear. Keira cast a luminescence spell, making the three of them glow slightly, and brighten their path. They walked down a seemingly never ending flight of stairs, going deeper into the bowls of the cavern and ruins.
"Why did they build down instead of up and outwards?" Keira questioned, nose wrinkling in displeasure as they moved down deeper.
"Likely to contain some powerful magic." Philippa hypothesized sagely "Aen Seidhe magic was once the dominant form after all - they had a few thousand years head start on humanity.
"Didn't know you were an expert." Geralt noted
This is BASIC magical history, could do things we're still scratching the surface of. Now - well with few exceptions, their magical community and prowess have diminished to near extinction."
"Well, we might soon be able to empathize if the witch hunters have their way." Keira said grimly. Philippa frowned, but didn't comment. They continued down the stairs, until they got to the opening of a chamber of some sort, ruined pillars, arches and brick everywhere, and a bridge cleaved in half over a large pit and gray water.
And on the other side of the bridge stood the unmistakable large armored forms of the Wild Hunt.
"The Wild Hunt." Geralt said, voice icy. Keira and Philippa froze.
"Phantom Riders…" Keira said, letting fear seep into her voice. "I-I never thought they existed."
"You thought I was lying?" Philippa asked defensively.
"I-it wouldn't be the first time." Keira muttered. Honestly Philippa couldn't really blame Keira for her skepticism. Philippa herself had never seen the Wild Hunt - she figured they were at least a fanciful exaggeration. But there they stood in the horrid flesh, in their black jagged armor.
"They have a navigator." Geralt stated, walking toward the destroyed bridge. "We need to get to the other side."
"We NEED to go home." Keira said in a panic. "Do you really intend to follow them?"
Geralt answered her question by continuing to march towards the bridge.
"Philippa, surely you see the lunacy in all of this?" Keira tried.
"Yes - but lunacy or not, we need to get to whatever they're looking for first." Philippa responded, following behind Geralt. Keira gave Philippa a look of disbelief, that she would go into something like this so foolheartedly. The Witcher was rubbing off on her.
"I hate to say it, but we need a portal to the other side." Geralt said. Philippa nodded, and raised her hands to cast the spell.
"Oh, allow me." Keira said, brushing past Philippa in a huff. "For the record, I think this is a foolish idea, but I won't be dead weight here."
Keira cast the spell, summoning a large blue portal at the bridge's edge. Geralt wasted no time going through it, followed by Keira. Philippa had a strange feeling, but followed through the portal herself.
The moment she stepped through the portal, Philippa knew something was amiss. Portals were in theory simple magic, especially when you could see your destination, but they weren't without dangerous consequences if cast incorrectly. People torn asunder by their matter being instantaneously in two places at once.
Luckily, that didn't seem to be the case here. Philippa found herself in a dark cavern, went and dank, a strong odor within.
"EEEPP!" she heard come from behind her, immediately followed by a splash. It was Keria - she also lucky was not torn into by the portal, rather dropped from several feet in the are into a large puddle. Philippa quickly ran over to her.
"Keira? Are you alright?" She asked as she knelt down to check on her friend.
"Am I alright? AM I ALRIGHT?" Keira screeched as she sat in the puddle, splashing her arms in defeat. "Look at me!"
"Nothing but a little water and a bruised ego." Philippa said curtly. "Have you let your magic lapse so much that you can't cast a simple portal?"
"Piss off!" Keira said furiously as she stood from the puddle, dripping murky water. "There's obviously something wrong with this place! All the reason we shouldn't be-"
"Sh!" Philippa suddenly shushed, going rigid and head snapping to a far corner of the cavern.
"Don't you shush me you stuck up-"
"Keira, be quiet, and listen." Philippa said urgently. Keira glared at the side of Philippa's head, but did as instructed, stopping her rant mid sentence, and listening. Beyond the decrepit sounds of the cave and ruins, a low growling could be herard.
"What is that?" Keira asked, looking around for the source of the sound. Philippa turned her head and looked into a dark corner of the cave.
"Drowners."
Philippa raised her hand above her head, and a ball of light shot from it toward the ceiling of the cave. When the ball hit the ceiling, light spread across the room, illuminating what was hidden. At the corners of the cave, lurking in the shadows were five drowners, all looking the way of the sorceresses. The sudden light surprised them, and the creatures hissed.
"What in the devil are those things?!" Keira screamed, eyes widening in horror. Her reaction was all that was needed to drive the creatures forward, and they bounded toward them. Philippa reacted instantly, lifting her hands offensively to the two beats coming closest to her.
"Grać w kości!" She chanted. From her hands, it appeared as if nothing but a gust of wind came from them, but as the spell hit the approaching Drowners, they came apart as if hit with blades on all sides, landing in nothing but chunks a few feet in front of her.
The three other Drowners hurdled toward Keira, sensing she'd be easier prey. Keira admittedly was not a sorceress who was regularally battle tested like Triss or Yennefer, or even compared to Philippa for that matter - however she was a very powerful practitioner of telekinesis.
"Stay away from me!" Keira yelled as she closed her eyes and blindly swept with her hands in front of her. A power blast of telekinetic magic followed sweeping across the area in front of her. Two of the drowners managed to duck under the wave of energy, but the last one took it full force, immediately being sent flying across the room and crashing into a decrepit pillar.
The two unharmed Drowners hissed and continued to bound toward Keira. The sorceress's eyes widened in horror and she panicked, stumbling backwards to put some distance between her and the monsters. The creatures leapt for her, horrid webbed claws extended. Keira thought she was dead in that moment, destined to be a corpse in some elven ruin in the middle of fucking nowhere. That was until Philippa crashed into her, knocking her out of the way. The two sorceresses rolled and landed in a heap a few meters away as the Drowners landed where Keira had been standing. The two monsters hissed and turned to them, ready to attack again.
Philippa pushed herself to her knees, scowling at the beasts.
"I'm over this." She said flatly. With one finger, she pointed to the feet of the drowners, in the same puddle that the Keira landed in.
"Zaszokować"
From her finger shot a single bolt of lighting, striking the small pool of water. The effect was immediate - the Drowners went completely rigid as the electricity coursed through their body, instantly cooking them from the inside. A moment later, they fell over, smoking from their mouths and ears.
"Wretched things." Philippa said, as she pushed herself to her feet. She looked around, making sure there were no more surprises in the immediate area. When she was satisfied they were alone, she took a moment to appreciate the short work she made of those drowners.
'Eat your heart out, Witcher' She thought in self-satisfaction. She glanced down at Keira, who was still sitting on the ground, still in shock at how quickly everything had happened.
"Keira." Philippa offered softly, along with her hand.
"I- yes, thank you." Keira thanked, taking her friend's hand and being helped to her feet. "Thank you." She repeated, both for her assistance up, and for saving her life.
"Of course." Philippa responded with a small smile. "Now, we have to get moving."
"Right." Keira agreed, nodding her head. " We need to get back to the entrance-"
"-find the the elf."
Philippa's discordant response shook Keira from her state of shock, and she looked at her friend like she was crazy.
"Find the elf?" Keira repeated. "We need to get out of here now Philippa! Between a group of ghostly warriors, and horrid monsters, I think this place has well established itself as inhospitable, and you want to go deeper down?"
"We came here for a reason." Philippa responded simply.
"I came to get what the elf promised me! I've decided it's not worth it - let's go!"
"And what of Geralt?"
"He's probably at the entrance waiting for us?"
"And leave here without a clue to where Ciri is? While the hunt is on the trail?" Philippa asked incredulously. "He'd sooner fall on his own sword than do that."
"Look, we can find you someone else to screw. A nice lady perhaps."
"Enough." Philippa declared, striding past Keira to where she could see some sort of exit. "I'm going to find Geralt, and we're going to get what we came for. If you want to leave - fine."
"I…but…you can't-" Keria sputtered. Philippa just kept walking with purpose. Soon she heard the sound of Keira's footsteps behind her. "We've only just reunited, I'm not going to leave you to go wandering in the dark."
Philippa smiled to herself, glad that her bluff wasn't called, and glad that her friend stood beside her. "Thank you Keira."
"Just know that I still think this is a horrid idea and will end with us in the stomach of some foul beast."
"Noted."
The two walked out of the immediate cavern, following the tunnels and ruins ahead of them. They had no destination, no point of reference to where they were going, but pressed on anyway.
"So-" Keira began. "Is that what you've been doing while you've been in hiding? Training to be some badass monster slayer? You sure made quick enough work of those creatures."
Philippa laughed, "Hardly. That I just picked up since traveling with the Witcher. Overblown profession if you ask me. Im White Orchard I was-"
Philippa stopped herself, realizing she said too much. The magic she was attempting to regenerate her eyes was frowned upon, she knew that. Keira, for all her brashness and self serving attitude was a sorceress on the lighter side of things, rarely delving into the deep, the dark, or the ancient.
"You were what?" Keira pushed.
"Nothing." Philippa tried to dismiss. "Nothing that matters at this point."
"You can't leave a girl hanging like that!"
"Drop it Keira."
"Hmph. Well I supposed you have to keep SOME secrets don't you, or you wouldn't be Philippa."
"Helps keep things interesting."
"Will you at least tell me how you got onto the trail of Ciri? How does Nilfgaard play into all of this?" Keira huffed. Philippa thought about it - she supposed she could offer that much, especially if she wanted further assistance after they made it out of the ruins.
"This is just a theory…but I believe the Emperor has it in his mind that he's going to abdicate the throne to Ciri." Philippa said.
Keira quickly wheeled around Philippa, turning to look her in the face.
"What?" She asked in genuine shock.
It WAS just a theory. But one that made perfect sense given the circumstances. The research documents the saw in Vizima, the efforts of Emhyr to find his daughter.
"As I said, just a theory." Philippa repeated.
"If that's true…she'd be everything we ever wanted in Kovir" Keira realized.
"Now do you see the importance in finding whatever it is that's down here? To find Ciri before the Hunt can get their hands on her?" Philippa chastised before continuing to walk. Keira sped up to walk along beside her.
"Does Geralt know this?" Keira asked, sounding innocent enough. Philippa faltered half a step, hoping that Keira didn't see it. She did of course. "Oh Philippa, you naughty girl you."
"Keira…" Philippa said in a warning tone. That just spurred Keira on more.
"Geralt wants to find his little surrogate daughter, and you want to find your queen in your real life game of chess." Keira teased. Philippa just frowned and walked faster. "Would that make you the step-mother here? I suppose Yenn is the real step-mother, but Ciri could always use a wicked one."
"I should have left you for the drowners." Philippa mumbled.
Thoroughly annoyed, Philippa didn't talk to Keira as they continued walking. Neither woman however realized how long that would be. They walked for an hour, deeper into the caverns and ruins, with no clear sign of Geralt or their destination. Philippa had to appreciate the sheer scale of the ruins - how powerful and advanced the elves of a millennia ago must have been. She wondered how much of the North had ruins like these buried beneath the earth.
"We're lost." Keira said, speaking up first.
"We're not lost." Philippa lied. Keira unsurprisingly didn't buy it.
"Oh come off it Philippa!" Keira complained loudly. "We've been stumbling around for ages now, we don't know where Geralt, the Hunt, or any elves are!"
Keira threw her hands in the air, and sat on some nearby rubble. to have a pout. They were in a small subsection in the ruins, an area where whatever roof was there had caved in and littered the floor. They had gotten turned around more than once, so perhaps it was a good time to rest and try and recollect themselves.
"I don't remember you being this whiney." Philippa stated.
"You've just never been in a position where you've had to stand by and listen." Keira shot back. "You have me in some horrid cave, it's dark, it smells, with no limit of things that can and want to kill me - I think I've the right to have a moan. If I wanted to be miserable, I could've stayed in my cabin, at least there I could.
'Squeak'
Keira froze, going stiller than Philippa thought someone could be. Keira slowly turned her head, looking at the source of the squeak. By her hand sitting on its hind legs, was a rat, looking up at her curiously.
"Keira." Philippa tried, hoping she could avoid what was about to happen.
'Squeak'
'Squeak - squeak'
Philippa looked around - more rats emerging from various places. She looked back at Keira, knowing that this was not about to end well.
Keira opened her mouth and let out an ungodly shriek, jumping up from her seated position. She lifted her hands out in front of her.
"Keira don't-"
Keira heard none of it, blasting away with strong telekinetic blasts, any and every way with her eyes squeezed shut.
"Get away! Get away!" Keira rambled as she continued to blast around the room. Philippa actually had to duck and cover to avoid catching a stray blast. Keira HATED rats. Philippa didn't love them herself, but her reaction to them is less…visceral.
"Keira, get a hold of yourself!" Philippa yelled, as she rolled out of the way of another psyonic blast. "You'll bring this whole cave down on top of us!"
Keira of course wasn't listening, ready to deliver the most powerful blast yet, until a hand suddenly grabbed her arm, stopping her. Keira whirled around, to see the dirty and very annoyed face of Geralt.
"Please stop that." Geralt said gruffly.
"The rats! Kill them, get rid of them! Do something." Keira shrieked, hopping back and forth on her feet trying to stay away from them. Geralt raised a white eyebrow, before sighing and letting Keira go. He quickly cast an Igni sign, scorching the rats in the immediate vicinity. He then walked over to what looked like the nest of the vermin; he pulled out a small bomb from his pouch, lit it and dropped it into the nest. After a moment the bomb exploded, casuing the nest to fall in upon itself. With the rats handled Geralt went to Philippa and helped her to her feet.
"Are you alright?" He asked. Philippa offered him a small smile.
"Despite Keira's best efforts, yes." She answered. Philippa looked Geralt up and down - he was damp, covered in mud and other grit, and smelled of mildew.
"Where have you been?!" Keira demanded, marching over to the Withcer and poking him in the chest. "We've been lost, dealing with all kinds of vermin and monsters!"
Geralt's eye twitched as he recalled how he spent the last hour and a half.
"Shit shit shit!" Geralt cursed as he was chased into a corner by 6 foggers that he landed in the middle of.
'If I drown here, I'm going to be pissed.' Geralt thought as he swam in an underground stream. He could hold his breath for a long time, but even he had limits
"Why is the room shaking?" Geralt asked, moments before having to jump out of the way of a falling stalactite.
Geralt let out a deep sigh through his nose, before simply answering "I got held up."
"The Hunt has a head start on us," Philippa said. "If we hurry, we can catch up."
"Right." Geralt nodded.
"You two are insane." Keira said in exasperation. "Maybe Yenn and Triss were never right for you. Clearly Phil is the one who shares your death wish."
"Keira-" Philippa warned again.
"Oh stuff it you hag! I'm coming already."
Geralt took lead of their little expedition, which was fine with the sorceresses. He seemed to have a natural intuition when it came to delving into decrepit and monster infested ruins.
"So - what happens if and when we run into the Hunt in all of this." Keira asked. It wasn't as if Geralt hadn't thought about it, but truthfully he didn't have a good answer. He knew what the Hunt was capable of firsthand.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Geralt answered.
"Lovely." Keira sighed.
The three continued walking until they were in a small chamber room. On the other side was a door that led to the next section, but next to that was a pedestal with seemingly nothing on it. That was until they got near to it and instantaneously they were looking at the spectral from of a man - or rather an elf.
-Daughter of the Gull. Greetings. I await you, Daughter of the Gull-
"That's him! That's the elf!" Keira stated.
-Follow the sign of your sword-
With those last words, the pedestal was once again vacant.
"What was that? An illusion?" Geralt asked.
"No." Philippa answered. "A morphotic projection. Good for leaving behind messages."
"Message was definitely for Ciri. "Daughter of the Gull" - Lara Dorren's heir." Geralt surmised.
"Indeed, it is what the elves would title Ciri. But what was the bit about the sign of her sword? A riddle?" Philippa wondered.
"Yeah, not a hard one, though. Not if you know Ciri named her sword Zireael - Swallow." Geralt said, almost wistfully.
"Now who besides you would know that?" Keira snorted.
"Might've been the point. Your elven mage secured the passage, hid it, so that only Ciri could find it."
"But he didn't account for someone like you showing up." Philippa added.
"Nevertheless, I think he was expecting uninvited guests, made some preparations. Let's hope the Wild Hunt ran into some obstacles." Geralt continued.
"Well let's be on our way then." Philippa urged. "Seems we have to follow the swallows."
The three moved to the next section - a watery cavern with a high ceiling and what looked to be the remnants of a dock of some sort.
"An old elven...port?" Keira stated.
"Must have been how they got out by sea." Philippa hypothesized.
"Wonder how long ago that was?"
They continued into the large cavern, wading through the shin high water, until Geralt held out his arm. "Hold on."
"What?" Keira asked, looking around. Her question was answered moments later, as 3 Wraiths materialized from the ground, in their spectral horror. "Great. First horrible black eyed monsters, now ghosts."
Geralt drew his silver sword, and cracked his neck. "Keira, you might want to hang back. Philippa?"
"Right." The sorceress sighed.
Keira didn't very much like being told to stay back like she was some helpless lass, but she did anyway, not particularly wanting to get involved with murderous specters. Besides, it gave her the ability to witness the sight of Philippa and Geralt working in tandem. She was surprised how well they worked together, how in sync they were - Geralt with his blade swinging, spinning and slashing - Philippa casting spells with the grace most other Sorceresses could only beg to have. It was almost as if they were dancing. In such a short amount of time, they seemed to time, they seemed to be as in tune as a pair that had fought together for years.
Keira was almost jealous.
Within minutes, the two had dispatched the wraiths with little effort on their part.
"Once again to the grave." Philippa commented, brushing off her vest.
"Don't have much specter oil left." Geralt complained. "Any more specters might be a hassle."
"Hardly. I can banish these things in my sleep." Philippa dismissed primly.
"Might not be a wise business decision to keep you around." Geralt responded, slight smirk on his face. "You'll take all the good contracts."
"They couldn't afford me."
'Oh gods, they're FLIRTING' Keira thought, with a roll of her eyes.
"You coming, Keira?" Geralt asked, moving across to the other side along with Philippa.
"Yes, yes. Wait up."
The followed the path of swallows scrawled on the walls - a proverbial breadcrumb trail left by the elf for Ciri. It was unlikely that the Hunt understood their significance, but their Navigators allowed them to teleport freely through the ruins without interference. They moved blindly, but freely. Following the swallows for a while, they reached a room similar to the one they were in previously, with another pedestal waiting in the corner, except in this room there was a large pit in the middle of the room with water at the bottom.. As they approached it, it once again activated and the projection of the elf was shown.
-Swallow, the obvious route is not always the best. Find Kelpie.-
With that simple but cryptic message, the projection once again disappeared.
"Kelpie?" Keira said in confusion. "Does he mean that sea monster?"
Geralt shook his head. "No. That's what Ciri named her mare. Horse could apparently gallop like a demon."
"Hm, good name for a horse."
"Certainly better than Roach." Philippa commented snidely earning her a scowl from Geralt. "So we're looking for this Kelpie?"
"This doesn't make sense though. This chamber's only entrance is the way we came in." Keira pointed out. "There's no way forward."
"Hm." Geralt grunted, scanning the room himself, before locking onto the pit in the middle of the room. He walked over to it, and looked down into it. "No way forward…but a way down."
Geralt then leapt over the parapet and into the water with a splash."
"Geralt?!" Philippa exclaimed, rushing over to the pit and looking over into it. Geralt broke through the surface of the dark water, whipping his hair back and looking around. "Have you gone completely mad?"
"No madder than usual." Geralt responded. "But I did find what I'm looking for."
Geralt swam over to the wall of the pit, and surely enough, drawn on it was an image of a horse. When he touched it, it glowed slightly.
"Great, you found a horse. Now what?" Philippa questioned.
"Now, I see where this pool leads. I think there's a flooded tunnel under here."
"You can't be serious? You've no idea how long it goes for!" Philippa tried to reason
"I have to try." Geralt responded simply.
"I…just be careful." Philippa sighed. Geralt gave her a small smile.
"Always am."
The Witcher took a deep breath, and dove under the water and out of sight.
From the background, Keira watched, slightly amused. Philippa looked over her shoulder at her.
"What?" Philippa asked.
"Just be careful." Keira mocked in a saccharine tone. "Heavens, you have it bad don't you girl."
Philippa frowned deeply, and felt her face redden. She was glad it was likely too dark for Keira to see it. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I simply instructed him to be careful."
"Philippa I don't think I've EVER seen worry about a man's well being." Keira pointed out. "Pretty sure you've actively wished death on most men actually."
"And that wish does not discriminate on gender." Philippa growled, growing annoyed by this conversation. Keira just smiled at her, which only served to annoy her further.
"Oh you're all bluster. We both know I'll be invited to the wedding."
Before Philippa could respond with something scathing, the wall in front of them began to shift. Brick by brick it began to split, opening up a clear passage.
"Well look at that." Keria commented. "Whatever he did worked."
A few moments later, Geralt reappeared from a hidden tunnel just above the pedestal. He dropped down back to the ground, and shook off the excess water on him like a dog.
"Charming." Keira said, using her hand to shield herself.
"Careful enough for you?" Geralt said, smirking at Philippa. She wished she could roll her eyes.
"Oh, let's go already." She huffed, walking through the newfound entrance.
Then they walked.
And walked. It seemed that the expansiveness of these ruins could not be understated - it seemingly had an unending number of different subsections and chambers. Keira made sure Geralt and Philippa knew how miserable she was the whole time. More than two hours had passed before they reached something that felt like progression - a small room with not much of note, but on the wall was an archway drawn in chalk, with elvish inscriptions, and drawings of swallows around it. An inactive portal
"Well, now I know what distorted my effort at teleportation. This very portal." Keira stated.
"Hrm. Let's figure out how to activate it and-"
"Now hold on just a minute." Keira interrupted. "We've been at this for hours, walking through this hell-hole of ruins!"
"You've made your displeasure noted." Geralt drawled with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm TIRED. Witcher. Tired and hungry. I have no intention of going through some portal headlong into more unseen dangers and more WALKING without a proper rest." Keira complained, folding her arms over her chest.
"We don't have time for this. The Hunt-"
"I'm with Keira on this Geralt." Philippa chimed in. Her body ached, and she was famished as well. "The Hunt has a head start, but they don't know what they're looking for. No use in facing the next challenges exhausted."
Geralt looked between the two sorceresses in annoyance, before huffing out a loud sigh. "Fine. No more than six hours."
"Finally!" Keira exclaimed, sitting dramatically on a piece of rubble. "Have you anything to eat?"
"I have some dried fruit and nuts. Should be enough for all of us." Geralt said, opening his side pouch to root through it. "Might be a bit wet."
"...Have anything else?" Keira said, wrinkling her nose.
"Well, If you insist, I can catch a few rats and we can roast those. Pretty decent eating"
Keira turned a lovely shade of green before fainting.
After they resuscitated Keira and ate their small meal, the three decided to make full use of their rest. It was hardly the most welcoming conditions, but with some heating spells, and spells to soften the stone floor, it would make due for the exhausted trio. Despite her complaints about discomfort, Keira was the first to sleep, snoring lightly.
Still, she found herself waking multiple times and having to readjust to get a semblance of comfort.
"Philippa, Keira is right there." She heard the hushed voice of Geralt say. Keira's eyes blinked open. She had her back to Philippa and Geralt - she couldn't see them but she could hear them.
"She's sleep." She heard Philippa reply just as quietly. Curiosity got the best of her, and Keira pretended to snore to add to the illusion. "I-it's happening again. I NEED this."
Happening? What was happening?
"Philippa-"
"PLEASE."
PLEASE. Philippa must have been in some kind of bad way. Keira nearly rolled over to see what was wrong, to inquire if Philippa needed help - that was until she heard the unmistakable sound of the subtle shift in clothing. A moment later, she heard Philippa let out a breathy gasp.
"You need to be quiet." Geralt whispered.
"I'm sorry - just keep going." Philippa near begged. There were more sounds of shuffling, before a slow but rhythmic sound of skin meeting skin, each punctuated with a small moan from Philippa.
'Oh gods, they're FUCKING' Keira realized in utter disbelief. She knew Philippa's sexual tendencies were near of legend, but she'd think the older sorceress could go a night with out sex. Perhaps it was just Geralt, who's sexual exploits were almost nearly as well known. The two of them together made for an interesting combination in libido. Once again, Keira almost found herself jealous - having no one who'd hop into the sack with her in the middle of a dark decrepit ruin.
Eventually the slapping of skin got faster, and Philippa's moans louder, and more haggard.
"You'll….wake Keira." Geralt grunted, but the sound of flesh meeting didn't get any slower, if anything it increased in speed. Philippa's moans became muffled - either she or Geralt was covering her mouth. Keira bit her lip - it wasn't as if she was frigid herself. Keira thought perhaps if they made it out of all of this, she'd have to find a Witcher herself; anti-social tendencies aside they seemed to make up for it in other avenues. The sound of their romp reached a fever pitch, and it was almost as if they weren't even trying to stay quite, the sound of their fucking echoing lowly in the room. Geralt was grunting softly, and Philippa's muffled moans were rapid and broken.
With a particularly audible meeting of skin, Geralt grunted, and Philippa let out a sound akin to a long whine, before their movements ceased. Keira could hear their low breathing, and the sound of shuffling.
"Thank you." Philippa sighed breathlessly.
"Think we got carried away." It was more of a statement than a question.
"You worry too much. She hasn't even stirred." Philippa assured.
"Hm." Geralt simply grunted.
Keira laid on the other side of the room, grinning near ear to ear. She wasn't sleeping anytime soon.
The three got up early, and prepared themselves for what lay ahead.
"Hope the accommodations weren't too far from your standards." Geralt said sarcastically, as he stretched.
"Leave her be Geralt." Philippa chided.
"I've certainly had better." Keira stated. "Certainly could've done without the…noisy neighbors."
Geralt halted his stretches, and turned fully to stare at Geralt, while Philippa's mouth dropped open slightly. Keira smiled slyly.
"Um-" Geralt said dumbly.
"Well, let's not waste anymore time." Keira said, clapping her hands together, and looking back and forth between Geralt and Philippa with a smile on her face. Philippa's face went a bit red and she cleared her throat.
"Right." She said, trying to act as if she wasn't absolutely mortified. "Let's see what lies ahead."