The beginning is very self-indulgent and the song reference is simply for my pleasure and nothing else. Then again, that's what this entire fiction is. And I'm not sorry for it! :D If anyone wonders what it is, it's Nightwish-Sleeping Sun.

A/N: Chapter updated (02/16/2023)


Friday came and a message from her brother, telling her the clients were expecting a proposal in a little more than a week, made them rush home so she could start work on her own project.

Geralt watched her as she set up her desk to draw, then he busied himself with some books while she sketched out her first ideas. Or at least she tried to. Half curses muttered under her breath broke the silence. Clearly, it wasn't going well and, after a while, he grew tired of the books and more curious about her work, so he silently looked over her shoulder as she furiously sketched various shapes.

"You seem angry," he said, surprised at how hard she was pressing the pencil into the paper. It was a miracle she hadn't broken through the sheet yet.

"I'm... frustrated. I can't seem to come up with anything suitable," she said, sounding discouraged.

He brushed her hair from her face and grazed the side of her face tenderly with his fingers.

"Can I help?" he asked, unsure of what he could do to make her feel better.

"No..." She sighed. "I've been away for too long from this, and I need to find some way to get back into the right mindset. Maybe if I put on some music and make myself a coffee, I'll remember what it felt like to do this."

She did just that. Connecting her laptop to the sound system, she put on music. The female singer had an operatic voice; it was forceful and dramatic; it sounded haunted at times, glorious at others, a type of music fit for battle.

"Not what I imagined would get you in the mood to work when you said you'd put on music," he commented as she was boiling water to make coffee.

"Is it too loud? Sorry, I keep forgetting your hearing is so sensitive. I'll put on headphones so you won't have to suffer through this until I'm done with work."

"I don't mind it and it's not too loud, but it sounds like a siren's song. I suppose I was expecting something more... mellow. You always seem so calm and this isn't... that."

"Mellow doesn't help to keep one awake when trying to work at 4 am and there's no hope of sleep in sight. Maybe it's a little melodramatic at times, but the contrast between the melody and the voice is simply beautiful, and the lyrics are strangely romantic. It's something I used to listen to when I was younger."

He paid attention and indeed they had a deep dark romantic sadness to them.

"I wish for this night-time to last for a lifetime,

The darkness around me,

Shores of a solar sea,

Oh, how I wish to go down with the sun,

Sleeping,

Weeping,

With you," was what the woman sang.

"Romantic and... full of sorrow. Fit for mourning," he said pensively.

She nodded and poured coffee into a mug. Her eyes closed when she tasted the coffee, as if it was a ritual meant to summon memories from long ago.

"Maybe I should change the song to something... less melancholic."

"No, leave it. I feel like I'm listening to your youth."

She smiled and kissed him; her mouth tasted of bitter coffee.

"Not sure that's such a good thing. It feels like a lifetime has passed. I was a different person and not all of it was good."

"Maybe it wasn't, but it made you into the person you are now."

"Mhm, my wise witcher..."

She kissed him again, then went back to work.

He left her to it and searched the shelves for another book. Most of them were work-related, and he went through a few shelves before finding her collection of novels. Now that was something more interesting and personal.

He sunk into the couch with a book in his hands and, before he knew it, he was absorbed by the story of young Paul Atreides. He was halfway through the book when her hands rested on his shoulders. She leaned in over and kissed his cheek, then took a glance at the page he was reading.

"Hmm, Dune... How do you like it so far?"

She didn't wait for an answer before kissing his neck and unbuttoning his shirt. He cast the book aside and turned to pull her onto his lap. He couldn't hide his surprise at finding her already undressed.

"So the book really was that captivating! And here I thought you were ignoring me because I neglected you today..."

"I thought you were working tonight," he said with a quirked eyebrow.

Her hands snaked under his clothing.

"It's not going well, so I thought I'd take a slight break and you could help me relax a little. But if you prefer to read..." His kiss interrupted her.

"The book can wait. You have my full attention."

He picked her up and carried her to bed to continue what she started.

They set out for training in the morning. As before, she packed food and drink and drove to the same spot. His weapons and armour were still in the trunk of her car, untouched from the previous week.

She waited for him to finish equipping everything, then handed him a crossbow and some bolts. This time, he asked her to create oils and a few potions.

He downed a vial and its effect took hold immediately; his heart slowed further, but his reflexes and senses sharpened. With his pupils fully dilated and black veins visible under his skin he looked inhuman, but she didn't seem taken aback by the change. Instead, calm as ever, she settled herself onto the blanket and asked if he was ready. As soon as he nodded, his medallion tugged on its chain while waves of energy came off her, changing the world around them.

This time, it wasn't the barren land she used the previous week. Instead, he was on a mountain plateau; the sun was hidden behind a thick shroud of clouds and an icy wind blew across his face.

He heard it before he saw it. A forktail was circling above the clouds; he heard the flapping of its wings as it descended. His pupils adjusted to better see the outline of the beast and, taking careful aim, he loaded a bolt into his crossbow, patiently following the shadow until its outline became clearer.

He let loose the bolt and hit its wing. The reptile flew erratically, hopelessly trying to regain altitude, and screeched so loud that his ears hurt. It crashed some distance from him, so he approached carefully, trying to land the first blow before the creature regained its senses. This wasn't some knightly tournament where you challenge your opponent to a fair and balanced fight; this was a beast that needed to be dispatched fast and with as little risk to him as possible. He would have thrown sand in its eyes if that got the job done.

As he got closer, it became clear that the beast was on the larger side. She definitely wasn't taking it easy on him and there was no warm-up round this time. The forktail screeched again and lunged at him. He rolled out of the way of its talons just in time, but the beast also struck out with its tail and caught him off guard. The sharp tip dug into his back painfully and knocked him to the ground. He turned just as the toothy jaws were coming to snap him in half. Cursing under his breath, he formed the Sign of Aard and the monster was pushed back long enough for him to get up and put a safe distance between them.

The hit he took was much more painful than he expected. It stung each time he moved, but he pushed it out of his mind and kept fighting, keeping his distance and letting the beast come to him. It didn't take long for the enraged reptile to charge at him with its mouth open. He pirouetted to the side, slashing with his sword, hitting the wing, crippling the beast and making it lose its balance. He quickly swung again from the other side while dodging under the flailing tail. The forktail roared, jumped forward and tried to slash him with a talon, but its attack was clumsy and easy to evade. His sword flashed as it came down over the monster's neck, cleaving it in half.

He breathed out, relieved to have managed the kill. A rush of warm air swept the surrounding area; it passed through his clothes, enveloping his body, and the pain subsided.

When he turned to look at Criss, he found her watching with a vacant expression, eyes turned from white to gold with no kindness in them. In this state, she was closer to a marble statue than a human. As soon as her eyes turned white again, the next opponents appeared.

A swarm of arachnomorphs skittered around him. He counted up to twelve but got no further before evading their pincers and nets took up all his attention. A burst of Igni broke their attack and created an opening between them, but it was short-lived and soon he was surrounded again.

A thought crossed his mind: if only his Yrden also dealt damage. With that in mind, he traced the sign. A wide ring appeared around him and each time a creature crossed it, it was engulfed in flames, offering him enough protection to stave off the swarm and pick them off one by one.

As their numbers dwindled, he cast the sign again just to see if he could repeat the effect. He could. After doing away with the remaining beasts, he had only a few moments to catch his breath. Next, he faced two slyzards, and both were females. He smiled. These were the most dangerous. His little nymph either wanted to see him belly up or her confidence in him was greater than his own.

He drank another potion to increase his speed, not wishing to repeat the mistake he made with the forktail. Even so, it was hard to stay ahead of both creatures. While he managed to separate one's head from its body, the other one hit him with a sonic blast that knocked the air from his lungs and made his eardrums explode.

He narrowly escaped the talon that followed the blast by lunging to his right; he hit the ground hard and felt a rib crack. The beast was charging again. He groaned in pain but still got up and loaded his crossbow, he aiming for its open maw. The bolt hit its target, and the monster staggered, shaking its head. It was close enough for Geralt to leap and land on its back.

The tip of his sword came crashing down into the base of the neck, severing all nerves and connections. He drew the blade back and with one quick motion detached the head from the body, then called for her to stop.

The beast vanished, and he landed on the ground beneath him. He wiped the blade clean and sheathed his sword, then headed towards the place where Criss was sitting.

"I need a break. You were even rougher than last time, and I think I might have cracked a rib. Even if the monsters can't kill me, hitting the ground still hurts."

He felt his side, and it was still painful; something was definitely broken. The elixirs were also wearing off and he was slowly going numb. After experiencing the high and speed they provided, coming off the rush made the world and himself feel sluggish.

"Take off your armour so I can have a look." She stood up to help him. "I wanted you to feel challenged, but maybe I overdid it."

"You think?"

"Sorry," she said, looking remorseful. "In the future, I'll at least start you off with something lighter."

His armour was off, and she lifted his shirt to see the bruised skin on his side. She pursed her lips as her hands moved over reddening blotches. There was some pressure and warmth as she healed him, but nothing else.

"Stop doing that."

"What?" She looked at him with innocent eyes.

"Coddling me. I'm used to pain."

"As you wish."

A sharp pain in his side that made him gasp followed her words. It wasn't unbearable; it was just unexpected. Next, the warmth became a searing heat and the pressure a ruthless vise. Thankfully, it all lasted no more than a second. When she was done, she sat back down and gathered her knees under her chin. He put his armour back on.

"You want to continue?" She looked at him in disbelief.

"Of course. I want to fight at least one more cockatrice and basilisk. If we're only doing this once a week, I need to make the best of it or I'll risk becoming rusty from sitting on my ass all day."

He came off as reproachful even if it wasn't his intention, so he went down on one knee next to her and put on a smile. A faint blush washed over her face, and he knew he was still in her good graces. His hand cupped the side of her face, holding it so he could look into her eyes.

"You're good at pushing me to improve. So, can we continue? Please..."

His thumb swept across her chin and lips and he had to force himself to focus back on her eyes.

"Of course," she answered with a soft smile.

She reconstructed the mountain plateau. The beasts he wished to fight appeared, and he dealt with them without great difficulty. As the construct melted around him, he once again headed back to her.

"Thank you," he said as he unbuckled his baldric.

She remained silent, staring at the blanket, apparently deep in thought.

"It was a good training session," he continued, hoping to get a response.

She finally looked at him. Whatever she was mulling over had come to a conclusion, and he was about to hear it.

"We can add Tuesday and Thursday as training days if you want. After my lectures, there should be enough time."

"That would be great for me, I'm not going to lie. But even if you're the one proposing it, you don't look or sound happy about it."

"It's not that I'm unhappy. I want to help you as I promised, but with work and my brother's project it feels like I'm juggling too many plates."

"Then take care of that and then we'll see about training once you're done. I don't want to be the reason you're stretched too thin."

"And I don't want to be the reason you're rusty when facing the Hunt."

"How about a middle ground?" she asked after a moment's thought. "What if we add just Tuesdays?"

Instead of replying, he sat next to her and kissed her until she melted into his arms.

"Whatever you think is manageable is fine with me," he said.

She remained glued to him and played with his medallion, looking at the silver wolf outline.

"I promised to teach you a spell to shield your thoughts. We shouldn't leave until the elixirs wear off and your appearance returns to normal, so maybe I can teach you now if you're willing."

"Sure. Do I need to prepare in any way?"

"Not really. Just sit or lie down, whatever is most relaxing to you. As you practice, it won't matter if you're relaxed or not, but for now, I need you to be able to focus."

He stretched out on the blanket and closed his eyes.

"Clear your mind of all thoughts. Now, think of an image or a memory, something you won't mind if I see. I can't teach you without checking to see if you can do it."

He thought of Ciri's face.

"Good. Now think these words and imagine a veil in front of the image you chose."

She whispered words into his ear; the language was nothing he had heard before, so he just repeated them mechanically. He did as she instructed and a dark veil shrouded the contours of Ciri's face.

"Good."

Her voice echoed inside his mind, and then a projection of her hand touched the veil; it shone wherever it made contact. It felt intrusive, same as whenever Yen prodded his thoughts. His mind tried to resist, but her fingers dug into the soft material and ripped it off.

"Don't lose focus on the words. Let's try this again."

On the second try, the veil turned into a solid steel wall as she touched it. No matter how much she pushed into it, it wouldn't crumble under the pressure.

"Perfect! Now, add something else behind the veil and extend it." Even with his eyes closed, he knew she was beaming at him.

He remembered going through the Gauntlet as a young witcher in training. It appeared as a coloured sphere, with his memory running like a movie over the surface. He added it behind the veil while focusing on the protective words. The shroud danced and surrounded the sphere, wrapping tightly around it. It once again turned from a moving piece of cloth into a smooth, poreless surface as she reached out to touch it.

"You're a natural at this, but you'll still need to practice with more and more memories hidden behind the veil. In time, you'll be able to hide anything and everything behind it and it'll feel effortless... if you practice enough. You can relax now and open your eyes."

"This wasn't as hard as I'd expected," he said as he got up. The elixirs had worn off and his body was sore. He groaned as he moved. "I hate how much the potions numb me." She touched his chest, and he felt instantly better.

"You really do have a magic touch," he joked and kissed her.

She smiled and looked up at the sky.

"We should eat and go, it's getting cloudy, and it looks like it'll start to pour soon."

"Sure, no use loitering. I assume you need to get back to working on those drawings." She nodded in response.

The wind changed direction and started blowing harder. It made them pack up in a hurry and get in the car. Rain started pouring heavily when they hit the main road and it continued to do so until they got home.


A/N: So this is my take on how Geralt improves his skills and signs. It fits with the book lore where magic is a fluid thing and signs are a simple form of magic that requires only a gesture and a thought, not real spell words.