Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of the witcher. Those are property of Mr Sapkowski and I using Netflix series canon mixed with the books and my twisted version of the lore.

Warnings : Swearing, mentioning and suggestion of past abuses, some whump again.

Notes : For the "not in the common languages" I would put the text in italic.

The devil of Posada - Part 5

Choice

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Geralt regained consciousness with a nice headache. He progressively some awareness of his body. He could feel almost blood dry on his skin on the side of his head. He could hear people arguing from afar. He didn't understand the language, or more precisely his head was too foggy to work properly. He opened his eyes on a blurry image of a slightly shadowed cave. His vision adjusted quickly though. He felt the restrains on his wrists and ankles, then everything rushed back on his mind.

The sylvan, the elves problem, the ambush, Jaskier !

He looked around. The young man was tied up, just like him, and half way through sitting and lying against some material crates not too far from him. He had been knocked unconscious too. He had some already growing shade on the side of his face where he had been hit. It didn't seem too bad though. But for himself to black out that way, the impact must have been quite hard. He was already healing from that, he could feel it, but with the resulting headache he was experiencing, he knew that for a normal human the blow would have led to a nasty commotion. They probably went extra hard knowing he was a witcher.

He studied his environment. The cave was large and giving on the outside with a large and bright opening but a lot of vegetation could be seen. Only the most naturally lightened part of the cave was used as storage. He couldn't tell what was on the crates but he had a good view on some small opened boxes a little bit further. He could see a large variety of products. Things you could find in a supermarket. Probably the kind of stuff the blond elf he saw could have stolen. On the other side of the cavity, there was a dark tunnel. He could hear water running nearby. He was probably in one of the caves he deduced the existence of, in the first part of his hunt.

Geralt focused on the discussion coming from the outside. There were elves arguing on what to do with them. He recognised the woman's voice. She was the blond elf from the supermarket and the potential troublemaker. She seemed very angry and she was inclined to kill them both for what he could translate. The male voice was calmer but he seemed angry too but he couldn't determine why. He tried to establish their name, especially the man, he could be the reasonable one. After a few exchanges, he got both. The woman was called Toruviel and the man Filavandrel. He heard some other voices. Mostly worry people by their presence in the camp.

A few seconds later, Jaskier woke up confused. He tried naturally to get a better position but failed miserably because of his restrained limbs and he bumped into the crates behind him, provoking the noise that alerted the elves outside.

- "Shit." Geralt muttered between clenched teeth.

He tried to tell the young man to stay quiet but the elves came right away. Toruviel was agitated. She clearly wanted to beat the crap out of them but the one that Geralt identified as Filavandrel made her the sign to step aside. He was a tall blond elf with a distinctive poise, like the ones described in the stories. He was probably pure blood and maybe someone important. His clothes were very humble though. Those were clearly not human made and seemed to come from another time. Was he living in the wild ? There were three other elves with them. They had rudimental swords in hands as weapons. They had strange outfits too and seemed to be some kind of guardians. But they seemed amateurs. In a fight he would get the upper ground very quickly.

- "You shouldn't have come here, humans." Said Filavandrel in elder, but that Geralt could understand.

- "I am not human." Geralt replied provocatively.

As expected, Toruviel reacted. She rushed toward him and kicked him in the knee. He growled. That was quite precise.

- "Shut up human bastard !"

- "Enough !" Filavandrel screamed back. She came back in the rank. He continued more calmly. "You see, witcher, I have a problem now. This situation shouldn't have happened."

- "On that we agree but the problem wasn't us. And we are not here to cause you trouble. Really. And attacking us won't help."

The next part was too complex for Geralt to understand. The reel problem was more that suddenly both Filavandrel and Toruviel were talking to each other and they were speaking too fast. Jaskier seemed to notice his difficulties and began to translate for him. The boy was perceptive and very intelligent, but totally reckless. He tried not to speak too loud though.

- "The experiment is going fine. The solar pumping system is working. As soon as we can produce more food on the other side, we are good."

- "This experiment won't save us. On the other side of the mountain, the lands are ravaged by chaos tempest. You, elves from the human world, don't know much about us. You are a great help but you want everything too fast."

Jaskier was translating quite fast. His impressive scholar feats were not overrated. The night with the sylvan was already a proof but that was another good one.

- "But time we don't have." Toruviel was looking at Jaskier with murder in her eyes now. She had spotted him and she was clearly not happy with him translating the whole conversation. "We don't need them alive. No-one will search for a witcher and as for the other one, one more or missing humans, who's gonna check. Geralt, what do we do now ?"

Jaskier was looking at him scared for the first time. Toruviel was a boiling volcano. She had a real issue with humans and wanted blood.

- "You may be right for the witcher but don't underestimate the response of humans when you take the life of another. Why do I have to remember you, all the time, the reasons we are here ?"

Jaskier translated again but quieter. He was afraid of the reaction of the woman.

- "Because I think we are losing time. There is a whole new generation of elves out there, more than in the wild lands where you are all dying of starvation. They want to fight. The Valley of Flowers would be easy to take back from humans. With the land of our ancestors we could feed you without all these precarious installations."

The last part didn't pass.

- "I hate you so much !" She screamed still in elder, turning toward the young man who was now petrified by fear.

But before anyone could say a word, Toruviel rushed past Filavandrel and kicked Jaskier violently in his belly. The reaction was immediate. He doubled over and dropped on his side, wheezing to catch his breath. She screamed at him words Geralt didn't understand but were probably inventive insults.

He looked at her and then at the singer who was miserably trying to catch himself up. The way she had hit him was nasty but he also had noticed how the young men had anticipated the hit and had absorbed it in a good way though, illustrating involuntarily that he had some experience in being beaten. But the first impact was bad and he probably won't be able to take another in his state. If she accidentally hit the wrong part of his chest she could kill him.

- "Leave him alone !" He screamed when he saw her preparing another direct kick.

Geralt's intervention had the merit to focus her attention on him but was accompanied by several blows. Incidentally, he could verify his theory personally. She wasn't holding back at all but she was just pure rage and uncoordinated. He felt the coppery taste of blood filling his mouth. The mutation of the witcher was giving him the advantage of dealing favourably with the pain for a longer time than a human, so even if she was beating the crap out of him, he took the time to analyse her weaknesses. She was putting too much weight on the front when she hit and she was bending too low.

So he got her on the next one. When he saw the signs of the blow, he bent too and headbutted her hard. The shock was violent even for him but she got the worst of it. She moved backward and fell to the ground.

Geralt smiled, licked his bloody teeth and lips and spit to the ground. Jaskier, still on his side and breathing hard, was looking at him admiratively. Their attention went back to Toruviel though who seemed not to be able to get back to her feet. Filavandrel was at her side. He spoke to her, still in elder but Jaskier didn't translate this time. Geralt didn't get what he was saying. He understood something about magic and health but this was too precise vocabulary.

- "What is wrong with her ?" Asked Jaskier in elder too finally as he was trying to lift himself up.

- "What do you care about, human ?" Spit the woman.

They were all interrupted by new arrivals. Several elves from the wild lands, judging by the outfit, accompanied the sylvan. Torque was impressive at the light of the day. It looked at the scene and kneeled by the side of Toruviel. He put a hand on her chest and closed its eyes. It produced a guttural chant and Geralt felt his medallion vibrating. He was using chaos.

The beast's incantation didn't heal her wounds but she seemed better, as if the other symptoms she had softened. It turned toward Jaskier then and helped him to sit up. The young man was looking at the creature as if every second of this moment was to be remembered for a lifetime. There was no real fear about this in the man. This was more of excitement and glee. Geralt was impressed. He never found a human so captivated by monsters before.

- "Torque don't approve. Torque protect. No killing." Said the sylvan turning toward the elves.

- "What is happening ?" Asked Geralt. "What's the problem with her ?"

- "The chaos is polluted. Humans have corrupted it." Replied Toruviel in common language. "I hate you…" She was almost crying now.

- "Humans didn't change chaos." Said Geralt calmly. "They use it differently."

- "And this is a bad difference…"

- "Torque agree with witcher. Chaos is the same. But nature have changed. Nature is sick and elves suffer. Humans chaos and elves chaos use different. Elves feel poison in the elements. Air, water, soil. Human adapt quick to changes. Don't feel poison the same. Wild lands elves are future for sick elves here. Elves here are future for wild lands elves. Torque help if work together and no killing."

- "The humans are killing your forest. They will kill you." Toruviel was calmer but still emotionally raw.

- "Witcher didn't kill Torque. This human can hear Torque real voice. Then humans can be different too. Toruviel must open eyes and heart. Need to heal inside. Rage and fear make her sicker than human poison. Toruviel created danger for Torque and elves. Torque tried to repair and humans saw Torque. Toruviel lied to brothers."

- "What are they saying ?" Asked Filavandrel. He looked at Jaskier who translated everything back in elder for him. The elf looked back at Toruviel. She dropped her head ashamed.

She had probably used the fact that she was able to speak common human language to hide the truth from Filavandrel. And she probably hid a lot of bad actions she was taking without approval. Torque couldn't reveal the truth and tried to make things right by itself.

- "I never wanted to put us in danger. I wanted to punish the humans. I couldn't help… When I see how sick the elves are, how we are dying slowly hidden in the human population, I just want to destroy everything that they have done. When we discovered you were so many pure elves, recluse in the wild lands, I was finally seeing the light in the dark. But I need vengeance now. I need to make them pay for what they have done to us. For what they are still doing… Three weeks ago, Temeria passed new repressive laws against us. They are depriving us from our lands. I snapped when I heard this, and when I saw so many of our brothers and sisters wandering helplessly between human kingdoms after that."

Jaskier was fighting his own emotions to translate. He seemed to feel Toruviel's distress as his own.

- "Toruviel, go get some rest, we will need to address the consequences of your actions later."

That, Jaskier didn't have to translate. Filavandrel did speak slower and more distinctively. Maybe that was the fact that Toruviel was an elf probably born in the human world and having to learn elder away from natural speakers that made her speech less clear. But that didn't explain how Jaskier managed to speak fluently from human studies.

###

The elves didn't keep them long. On the way back to the car, Geralt was thinking about everything that Filavandrel said after he had sent the other elves away. He didn't want to tell much about their plans, but it was quite clear he wasn't fully pacifist, even if he wasn't as willing to destroy everything as Toruviel. He gave them some input on their forgotten history and Geralt had cut him short. He didn't want to know everything. He explained that the experiment they were making was interesting and he was willing to help them but didn't want to step into their conflict with the humans. He preferred Torque approach to the problem and helped it protect its forest. And Filavandrel had said something that was bugging him now.

- "I appreciate that you are willing to buy us some time with the humans but I am warning you. You may think you are on your own, impervious to any change of the world but you can't stay on the side of the road for ever. Torque wants peace and to protect its forest and yet he chose its side in the end. Doing what you did already put you on a path. Your choices cannot lead to pure neutrality, if this is what you are seeking for."

And then he had given him a folded paper. This was the printed paper from the museum he wanted to test Jaskier on two days ago. Filavandrel explained that was an old prophecy from before the Dark Age. A prophecy announcing the rebirth of the world by the elder blood. This made both him and Jaskier nervous, especially the way it was said to them.

The young man hissed as he was descending the big boulders from Torque's secret path, cutting short Geralt's thoughts. So he helped him go down. The aftermaths of the kick he had received were already beginning to hurt badly and the large movements were a bit hard for him at the moment.

With the exception of that, the walk back was quite silent. They were both lost in thoughts. But when they arrived at their destination, the magic of whatever they experienced faded immediately.

- "Fuck..." Grumbled Gerald when he saw his Roach.

The car was less damaged than he feared but the bodywork was pressed on several places and had many scratches. He had lost another light, to the back this time. New repairs to add to the list…

On the platform, his packages have been ripped open and his clothes dispersed. The camping material has been stolen. But what broke his heart was the remains of the small harp. Jaskier was tearing up when he approached. Still an arm around his waist he turned round and sat on the end of the platform.

- "I am sorry for your instrument." Said Geralt.

- "This is beyond repair. I don't think I have the money to even buy a new one at the cheapest price. The good news is that I will travel light..."

So he was poor too. Geralt grimaced. He couldn't do much for him either. He looked at him drying his eyes and trying to find a more comfortable position. He was in pain.

- "Let me see your chest. At least I can have an expertise on that..."

Jaskier didn't protest, he didn't make any obvious jokes either. He seemed shaken by the lose of his instrument.

He lifted his shirt and one short look was all that was necessary to Geralt to confirm things that were suggested before. The young man had probably late surgery to get the scars removed. It was done pretty well and probably cost a lot, but his witcher eyes got the lines on his skin. This vision made him angry. With the angle and the marks, he could tell what was used. Julian had been beaten repeatedly at the same place. This was punishment.

- "Is that the way they teach at Oxenfurt ?" He asked, clenching his teeth.

Jaskier looked back at him, surprised.

- "Your witcher sight is incredible. Almost no- one see that."

- "I have been the subject of extreme treatments to get this incredible sight. And to be fair a tortured child can recognise another..."

The young man smiled sadly.

- "This was the way of every institution I was sent to when it came to recalcitrant kids like me."

- "What could you possibly do for being hurt that much ?"

- "Well, I could have bent to make things easier. But easier meant I let myself die in whatever they wanted me to become. It meant disappear." He laughed but regretted it instantly. "Oh shit…"

Geralt looked at the young man. Disappear. Did he have when he became a witcher ? This wasn't his will to become a mutant but what was his little boy's dream ? He vaguely remembered the short time he had with his mother, running around with a bucket on his head as a helm and a stick for a sword. But this memory was so old now, he wasn't sure of his feelings and wishes. Would they belong to the kid with the bucket or the one who learnt to be a witcher ?

He came front and removed Jaskier's arm from his belly with a gentle touch. More marks there. More discreet but the placement was terrible. He clenched teeth but focused on the current predicament. There was already a big red mark on his upper abdomen. He probed it, the musician groaned and hissed.

- "This will become a spectacular bruise but to the touch everything is fine." He said. "I don't feel more internal bleeding than what the first impact did and it is under control. You're in good shape, boy. And you blocked that hit well. She could have done much more damage if not. But I am not gonna lie, this won't be pleasant. You may want to go and find a doctor or a healer to ease the pain."

- "I don't have the money for that either." Jaskier said, putting back his shirt slowly in place. "Thanks for the expertise. It will heal, like everything else. And you ? Are you ok ? She hit you pretty bad too."

Jaskier was lifting a hand toward his face. Geralt was surprised. Not many times in his life a human had a thought for him. He pushed his hand back.

- "I am a mutant. I will heal fast. Don't worry for me."

- "So your scars are from when you didn't ?"

- "Yeah. Those are wounds from very dangerous battles I sometimes almost lost and for which my mutation wasn't enough to get over. I needed old fashion treatments."

- "You never thought about laser removal, like I did ?"

- "These are reminders."

- "Well this is where we are very different, buddy. I don't want to remember." Geralt smiled.

- "You are young. Your copying mechanism is to forget. And the wounds for abuse are not the same as those from fights. But when you will grow older, there will be a time when you will find the need to remember those things and regret that you cannot."

- "What did you regret forgetting ?"

- "My life as a human child. The face of my parents."

Jaskier shivered, but this was a pure distress signal. It made Geralt sad. What did that boy go through to be scared of a memory like that ?

- "Let's return to the human's world. We have to make sure the farmers don't come near the forest again." He said to change the subject.

- "We ?" Jaskier raised an eyebrow and smiled, pushing away from him all of this darkness.

- "Yeah, let's finish this together."

Here we are. Two broken men that are beginning to learn each other. Geralt seemed ok for now but things are resurfacing 😈.

See you soon