Chapter 2- A Neat Trick
Limping through the thick of the forest in the dark, Geralt's progress was slow and arduous.
However, he was determined to find the winged woman he had encountered earlier in the night.
In his many years of experience, he knew the terrain in this area well enough.
If he had the ability fly, Geralt knew where he would go to seek safety and solitude.
Up.
Finally reaching the foot of the rocky cliff face, Geralt sheathed his sword over his shoulder and began to climb.
Glad that he had left his heavy armor at the Inn, the gentle light of the moon revealed nooks and crevices to grip to.
Again, his progress was slow, with his injury.
But it was his determination for answers that spurred him on.
After reaching a ledge well above the treetops, not fully recovered yet, Geralt pulled himself into a sitting position and took a few moments to catch his breath.
Finally, he raised himself to his feet, before drawing his sword.
He looked around to see a level area lit by moonlight, with some signs of civilized life.
A small, darkened fire pit with some simple cooking implements, and further into the cliff ledge, a shallow cave.
Geralt heard painful sobs coming from inside the cave and still gripping his sword, approached with caution.
As his eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light, Geralt saw the winged woman, facing away from him, crouching on a bed of straw, trying unsuccessfully to remove the arrow embedded in the back of her shoulder.
So intent on removing the cause of her pain, she did not immediately sense his presence.
But she seemed to be making it worse with each attempt, as she reached around to grasp the arrow, blood flowing steadily down her back from the fresh wound.
Frustrated, she sobbed again, but her cries stopped abruptly when the woman finally realized she was no longer alone.
Gasping as her eyes landed on his large form outlined by the moonlight, she seemed shocked that he had found her at all, let alone so quickly.
But Geralt was a monster hunter after all and therefore an expert tracker.
Given enough time, he could locate anything he sought out.
Slowly stepping forward, Geralt approached the winged woman cautiously, pausing only when she spoke.
'I have seen your skill with a sword, Witcher. Have you come here to finish what the villagers started?' she asked boldly, in an attempt to be brave.
Geralt noted that her manner of speaking was eloquent, like she had been well educated.
Looking around and seeing no threat of danger inside the small cave, Geralt lowered his sword.
'No.' He said firmly.
'I kill monsters. I am not going to hurt you….' The Witcher said, almost annoyed that she assumed he would, purely because she was different.
'You are… no monster.' He said gruffly.
The teary-eyed woman breathed an obvious sigh of relief, relaxing a little through her pain.
'If I am correct, it seems that you have been doing the folk in this village a kindness.' Geralt went on.
'And… I believe it is you, that has done me a great favor.' Geralt said, slowly taking a few steps closer.
The woman looked up at him through tear-soaked eyelashes.
'I… just wanted to help….' She replied, realizing how quick he had been to figure it out.
'Well now, allow me to repay the favor. What is your name?' Geralt asked.
'S..Sable... of Sarvon Estate.' The winged woman replied hesitantly.
'I am Geralt of Rivia…. Let me help you.'
Placing his sword down on the straw covered earth, Geralt raised his palms in a passive gesture.
He noticed that she was breathing heavily, in pain, and still wary at his unwelcome presence.
Reluctantly admitting she needed help, Sable nodded slowly, allowing him to approach.
Kneeling beside her, he absorbed the details of her large white feathered wings that she angled back out of the way, to allow him clear access to her injury.
Without touching her, Geralt examined the damage closely.
The arrow, embedded deeply into her flesh, had almost gone through to the other side.
Placing a palm on her shoulder to hold her still, he grasped the shaft of the arrow in the other hand.
Sable grimaced a little.
'I am sorry Sable, but this will hurt,' Geralt said as he saw her tense.
As quickly as possible, Geralt pushed the arrow through the front of her shoulder.
Sable screamed out in agonizing pain before fainting, blood flowing from both sides of the fresh wound.
xxxx
Hours had passed.
Blinking slowly, Sable woke up on her primitive, but soft bed of straw and raised her head.
Her pain had subsided and she found that her velvet cloak had been returned and was now draped over her.
Remembering what had happened, she thought she was alone once more.
Slowly sitting up, Sable peered towards her injury.
Her ornate tunic had been removed, leaving her only in her smock, and her shoulder had been wrapped firmly with cloth which was stained with much blood.
Finally looking around, Sable was quite astonished as she saw Geralt, sitting on a rock outside the cave by a small, freshly made crackling fire.
He seemed to be admiring the view in the early light of dawn, whilst occupying himself sharpening a blade.
She rose and drew the cloak around herself for warmth, before joining Geralt on a rock opposite, making sure to keep her distance from the Witcher with the fire between them.
Geralt glanced towards her casually.
'You have a unique perspective of the world from up here.' He said looking beyond the mist covered treetops to valleys and mountains beyond.
Although the air was cold, the view was breathtaking.
'Yes, it is beautiful.' Sable agreed, before adding, 'I am… surprized you are still here, Witcher. I am sure you have much more important things to do.'
Geralt looked across sincerely.
'You have a serious wound; I couldn't leave you alone.' He said in a low voice.
Sable looked shocked that he seemed genuinely concerned, as he went on.
'Besides, I owe you thanks. For delivering me into town.' Geralt added.
Now his vague hallucinations of floating made more sense.
Again, Sable was impressed at how much he had figured out.
Geralt continued.
'There is not much that would kill a Witcher, but the poison from one of those creatures would. I could have died from that bite.'
'There was never anything to owe in the first place, but consider the debt repaid.' Sable spoke with gratitude, glancing at her shoulder.
Geralt huffed in contented reply.
The two sat in awkward silence for some time, by the warmth of the flames.
The only sound, metal on rock as Geralt continued to sharpen the blade of his small knife.
As Sable leaned in to stoke the fire with a stick, using her good arm, the cloak slipped off her shoulders.
Geralt glanced over to the blood-stained cloth bandages that were now exposed.
'Those need changing.' Geralt said, raising himself to move closer to her.
Sable's eyes widened.
'It is not necessary,' Sable protested. 'You have done more than any other already.'
Sable was not keen to have him lay hands on her again after the excruciating pain he had caused her was still fresh in her mind.
'I promise I won't hurt you…this time.' Geralt said, reading her facial expression.
Persistent, Geralt lowered himself to sit closely beside her and began to unravel the torn cloth.
Sable froze and held her breath.
'It really is not necessary.' Sable said again quietly as the last layer of cloth was removed.
To Geralt's surprize, her shoulder was now fully healed, leaving no trace of the deep wound only hours before.
'Hmmm..' was all he said, amazed as he lightly traced his fingers over where the wound had been only hours earlier, now looking at her completely intact skin.
Sable flinched slightly at his touch as it tingled her bare skin.
It was like the wound had never been there.
'You have quite a gift.' Geralt said.
Sable nodded.
'I know not how, but there is something in my blood that gives me the ability to heal quickly… and heal others.' Sable said, covering her bare shoulder with the cloak once more as she turned towards him.
'If the townsfolk only knew what you had done for them, they should be treating you like a queen, not firing arrows at you. You have been healing them at night whilst they sleep.' Geralt said, amazed.
Now that he was sitting next to her, glancing down, Sable saw that Geralt's palms were injured from the rigorous rocky climb up the cliff face.
'You are hurt.' Sable said.
'It is nothing.' Geralt remarked.
Picking up the blade that Geralt had been sharpening moments earlier, amongst many small linear scars, both new and old, Sable made a small cut on her forearm.
Without hesitation, she gently took his palm into hers.
Her touch was soft and caring, Geralt noted.
Dipping a finger in her own blood, Sable traced the cuts on his palm.
One by one, Geralt watched with fascination as they slowly closed before his very eyes.
'Hmm….' He said again. 'That is a neat trick. You would be handy to have around in my line of work.'
Looking up at him, Sable smiled.
It was the first time he had seen her do this.
After another period of awkward silence, staring into the flames, Geralt spoke.
'You were watching me in the Inn.' He said as more of a statement than a question.
Sable nodded.
'I moved you to safety.' she said.
'You mean... you flew me to the nearest village.' Geralt elaborated.
'Yes.' Sable confirmed.
'Go on.' Geralt encouraged.
'I put you down by the Inn and was about to heal you. It was dark and no one was around. But then a few villagers made their way out of the Tavern. I had to leave before they saw me.'
'So… you were watching me inside the tavern to see if I… needed healing.' Geralt realized.
'Yes. I wanted to make sure you were alright. I couldn't slip through the window at night as the shutters had been locked, so I waited for you to appear downstairs.'
Geralt raised an eyebrow.
It all made sense now.
How could he have known that the hooded figure watching him by the bar had been there to help him.
'You are more valuable than the villagers give you credit, Witcher. They don't know what is good for them.'
Thinking it over, Geralt agreed that what she said was true, but her statement applied to her just as much as him.
'But... what about before that?' He asked. 'You were following me before I was injured.'
Sable felt the blood rush to her cheeks, she looked a little embarrassed that Geralt knew about this.
'I…I overheard chatter from some travellers that there might be a Witcher heading this way. There are not many of you around anymore and I wanted to see one for myself. The White Wolf. Even I, who has seen so little of the world, has heard of you. You are more legend than man.'
Raising an eyebrow, Geralt was taken back at such a compliment.
Sable moved her attention to the bandage on Geralt's leg.
Without speaking, Geralt watched intently as Sable kneeled on the rocky ground before him and carefully loosened the knot.
Removing the white cloth entirely, it revealed a partially healed bite wound.
Placing her hand firmly on his upper leg, Sable was very much in healer mode and quite oblivious to her closeness to the Witcher.
Again, Sable took a drop of blood onto her fingertip and carefully traced the partially healed area.
Once more, Geralt watched with fascination as the bite mark disappeared before his eyes.
No trace of the potentially fatal wound remained, not even a scar.
With her hand still placed gently on his leg, it was when she raised herself to her knees, Sable realised how close her face now was to his.
She froze.
If only for a moment, their eyes locked.
Sable inhaled a small breath, and looked away first, retreating quickly by raising herself back to a seated position on the rock beside Geralt once more.
Another period of awkward silence passed as they sat side by side by the fire.
'What did you mean when you said you have seen so little of the world?' Geralt asked curiously, turning his head towards her.
'Oh, you don't need to know about any of that.' Sable said. 'I don't want to bore you with my sad tale.'
'Please... I insist.' Geralt encouraged.
'Well alright then.' Sighing, Sable started hesitantly.
'I am... I mean I was... owned by Lord Sarvon, who paid a sum for my healing abilities when I was young. I don't remember much, where I am from, but I was told my family was very poor.' Sable said, continuing.
'I lived in his large manor house and treated well enough. I had fine clothes, maids, many books to read and enough food, but... I was a prisoner. Never allowed to leave the confines of the house. I always had an armed escort with me when I wasn't locked in my room.' Sable said, thinking of a time gone.
'So Lord Sarvon knew of your ability and kept it for himself, rather than helping others.' Geralt said.
Sable nodded.
'Yes, he is a selfish man who employed an aide to extract my blood at will to gain power and allies.' Sable replied.
'So... how did you escape? Geralt asked with great interest.
'One day, to my good fortune, a disgruntled maid, who had spoken out against him and consequently relieved of her duties, left one of the windows in my room unlocked and I slipped away that very night. I have been living in hiding ever since, trying not to let eyes see me, in case he finds out.' Sable explained.
'Lord Sarvon warned that he would hunt me to the ends of the earth and never give up on finding me if I escaped. He said he would commission a mage to create a terrible beast with the nose of a wolf to sniff me out, and the wings of a bird, to track me down.'
Geralt raised his eyebrows at this information.
He had never seen such a beast.
'Perhaps Lord Sarvon was just saying that to scare you.' Geralt suggested.
'That is highly unlikely. Lord Sarvon does not make idle threats.' Sable replied, shaking her head.
Realizing that word of her sighting may have spread to most of the villagers by now, Sable stood up nervously as the cloak fell from her shoulders.
'Make haste Witcher, if you want to help me, the best thing you can do is return to the village, tell them that I am dead, collect some coin for your troubles and be on your way.'
Geralt's gaze shifted from Sable, to the fire.
He remained still for a moment, staring into the flames, deliberating.
'No.' He said finally in a low voice.
'No...?' Sable echoed in question.
'You should not have to hide for the rest of your life. Make yourself known to the villagers below. Your gifts could be of great use to them. Once the know you are not a threat, I am sure they would allow you to live amongst them, as a healer, in time. If word got out, many would seek out your help. You could be quite happy and respected.' Geralt explained.
'But I cannot come out of hiding, I will be taken back…' Sable said, pacing back and forth.
'Do not worry about that, I will find this winged beast and kill it, if it does indeed exist.' Geralt said determined, raising himself to his feet.
His full strength had now returned.
'You will?' Sable asked, halting her pacing to face him, looking up at him with big eyes in wonder and appreciation.
'I will.' Geralt confirmed.
Time seemed to stand still as their eyes locked.
Somehow, they seemed to understand eachother.
They were both outcasts, both different, trying to help the folk that shunned them, dispised them.
Interrupting the moment, a hideous spine-tingling screech sounded in the far distance.
Sable gasped in fear and shifted her weight nervously.
Was it possible that the beast had caught her scent or had news of her sighting travelled faster than she thought?
'You may not need to seek out this creature after all, Witcher...' Sable said, terrified.
'...it seems... it has found me.'