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 : Sensitive subjects, descriptions of wounds and dead man.
Thanks for the reviews and the relentless readers. Knowing that I don't write for the whistle of the wind is important.
Notes : For those who know the story from the TV show, know that we are heading toward the same direction, though my characters are not the same. Especially the secondary ones.
The dragon hunt - part 3
Tension
###
They woke up with the colourful swearing of Yarpen and on a terrifying observation. The Reavers were all gone, leaving a body in a heap, a few meters from the camp, behind some trees. They killed sir Denesle while he was out to pee, as his trousers where opened, and and nobody noticed anything. Yennefer seemed more pissed off than sad. Everyone else seemed pretty much unphased, even Jaskier, who was looking at the body with almost dead eyes. That didn't feel like him.
- "I guess the Reavers saw a menace in his brute force demonstration yesterday against that poor Hirrika." The bard said nonetheless.
- "He was a blood lusting man." Added Geralt as everyone ignored his pertinent comment.
- "He was killed quite fast but it had must be fucking painful. I can see six stab wounds from different angles but all in vital organs. Lungs back and front, one twist in the heart and one throat puncture. They attacked in group presumably because there was no noise of fight. The body is cold, so it happened a few hours ago, in the middle of the night." Explained Yarpen, studying the corpse. "They are probably long gone now... Bollocks !"
Yennefer clicked her tongue in disapproval and returned to her tent, in the bruising of her new sophisticated outfit. Geralt followed her.
She was dressed like a high fashion model with a black and gray composition. Her robe was open on the front and showing her legs in a slim pantalon and long boots. The corset part was accentuating her curves by adding lines but her flesh was hidden by the dark tissu decorated by complexe lace parts to her neck. The coat was long and weirdly cut. It was covered in long black pieces of fabric, moving almost like fins in water as she moved. This was kind of hypnotic.
- "What are you doing ?" He asked, entering the magic place.
The tent contained the equivalent of a tiny flat. He pushed his surprise to a corner of his brain.
- "You've got eyes, Geralt. I am taking my belongings and resuming the quest."
- "This is not very cautious. You can't go alone like that."
- "Watch me." She replied angrily while using repeatedly the spell to miniaturize her stuff.
She didn't lose one second. As soon as she had everything at the correct size and in her bag, the tent just vanished around them in a chaotic distortion of space. She took her bag, fixing it at her side, and she took the only visible path toward the pikes. He wanted to follow her but at the same time, there was Jaskier. He couldn't leave him alone.
He looked back at his friend who was packing their stuff quickly, understanding that there was gonna be a departure, on one side or another. The dwarves were in a rush also.
Borch joined him. He seemed to come from nowhere.
- "What is it, sir witcher ?"
- "Please stop calling me that…"
- "My apologies. I am an old fashioned man." He smiled. "The sorceress seemed very determined."
- "Yeah. Yennefer is like that. But that won't resolve anything."
- "Have you tried to talk to her ?"
- "Of course. This is what I just did ?"
- "Are you sure about that ?"
The old man left on this question that pushed more tension in his already saturated system. Jaskier came his way, giving him his bag, but with a clear intention to speak, which he didn't want at the moment.
- "What now ?" He asked a bit too harshly.
- "Yarpen said he knows a shorter path to the tops, that could cut us a whole day of walking if not more. He is willing to share with us. I think he doesn't like the idea of fighting all the Reavers alone with his men."
- "Okay. I just need to catch Yennefer first then. She is going alone, following the Reavers' path. This is too dangerous."
- "We are leaving now though."
- "I will find you, don't worry." He took his bag.
Jaskier nodded but didn't say a thing. He didn't move either. Geralt knew he would go with the rest of the group once he would leave but with that mutism and lack of action, he clearly showed that he didn't want to leave his side.
The witcher didn't stay, he had no time for this. He had to get to Yennefer as quickly as possible.
He almost ran on the path and found her a few minutes later in a clear area, walking up the mountain. She had a very fast pace, despite the long boots, very inadequate for this type of field.
- "Yennefer, stop please." He yelled.
- "Geralt, no !"
- "The dwarves have a shortcut. You can beat the Reavers following us."
The sorceress stopped and turned to look at him quizzically.
- "You wouldn't stop me from killing that dragon then ?"
- "I find this stupid and unnecessary but no I won't. What I don't want especially is you running into a potential trap over a bunch of brutes. I know you are capable of many things, but I don't want to lose you on a bruised pride decision."
- "This is more than that, and you know it." She sighed. But she seemed more open to dialogue.
- "Yes I know, but this is what it is also, innit ?"
- "I have been commanded all my life. Everything has been taken from me. Call this pride if you want, I call it freedom."
- "Sure…"
Yennefer smiled but she wasn't amused.
- "See. You don't believe me. You don't understand me."
- "Oh yes I do. But you are so entangled in your pain that you don't see what is wrong in your reasoning."
- "I just want a child, Geralt. They took that from me. I want it back."
- "And have you thought of the consequences ?"
- "Please enlight me." She crossed her arms.
- "We are both made virtually immortal by magic. If the child is a normal being, you would outlive them. Also our lives are extreme. I would not wish that kind of life to any child. That's why I prefer to know my Child Surprise to live amongst her own kind anyway. I would not trade anything to get her out of her safe place just to fulfil any buried desire of mine of becoming a father. That would be just cruel."
The moment he saw Yennefer's already tense smile fade, he knew he made a terrible mistake.
- "You have a Child Surprise ?" The question was asked with a deep tone of threat.
- "Yeah. Well. Technically. But she lives safe, away from me. I would never reclaim her, for the reasons I just said." He knew he was digging his own grave here but he didn't want to lie. The sorceress exploded.
- "You have a child and you never told me ? You have a child that you abandoned and you are proud of it ? You abandoned her and you are lecturing me about parenting ? What the hell, Geralt !?"
- "I didn't abandon her. She lives where she belongs."
- "How long ?"
- "This is from before us. When we met it was almost history."
- "Why didn't you tell me ?"
- "Well this is public knowledge. Jaskier' song on the Lion Club of Cintra is quite explicit."
- "I didn't know this was the truth. I mean a Hedgehog man… I thought this was one of his inventions."
- "Well you didn't ask either."
- "I didn't… I feel so outraged right now, you have no idea… You tell me you understand my pain but this whole conversation is proof that you know nothing about my struggles. You know what. I will follow your group and your dwarves, but I am gonna kill that dragon and if you think one second about stopping me, I will kill you too. That's where we're at."
Geralt sighed. He did really badly on this one. He was mortified. She would eventually calm down but he didn't know how to come back from here. There was to much to forgive. But at the same time, he knew he was right, somehow.
He led the way and they walked fast but in silence. He had no difficulty reading the path of the dwarves and they joined them in less than half an hour.
Jaskier was a few meters behind the group and Yennefer passed him like a fury.
- "What have you done ?" His friend asked when Geralt matched his pace.
- "Nothing."
- "Obviously."
- "Leave it please."
- "Okay…"
- "I am not in the mood, Jaskier. I don't want to talk about it."
The singer just stopped walking.
- "What are you doing ?"
- "I am pondering if the best course of action won't be to return to Oxenfurt right away. Or maybe just throw myself off the mountain."
- "What's the matter with you ? Are you gonna judge everything I say and do too ?"
- "I am here, doing not much and this is already too much. You clearly don't want me here. Everyone doesn't want me here. I was looking forward to spending some quality time with you and forgetting the rest. But apparently I am the problem…"
- "Don't push me. Just move now."
Jaskier's face just dropped. He did move. But he couldn't help and spat a discreet :
- "Yes father. Julian obeys. Julian is a good boy. Or else Julian is a dead boy."
Geralt's blood ran cold. He tried to stop him when he passed him but Jaskier evaded his grip with a rageful movement. He resumed walking in silence, closing the procession.
###
Groups formed. Yarpen and his men were opening the line, then was Yennefer alone, followed by the two Zerrikanians and Jaskier. They were not together though. His friend was still very angry. Borch was walking slower and he joined him for a bit. But this was clearly on purpose. Till now, even if he was older, he seemed to have no problem catching up the pace. He wanted to speak apparently.
He did it already with Yennefer. Geralt was too preoccupied to notice.
- "She is an interesting lady." He told him.
- "She is intelligent and brilliant but a pure volcano." Borch smiled at him.
- "She too is searching for something on this quest."
- "Well she has been searching for that thing for many years now."
- "Indeed, but as much as you are searching for your one thing for many years."
- "What are you talking about ?"
- "You already know. That is the thing that forced you to search for a Djinn to find sleep again. The thing that you were running away from in your dreams, years ago. The thing that lies in the roots of the tree. The thing that makes the sorceress angry today."
- "How do you know that ?" Geralt stopped. Borch did the same. For a moment only he existed. "What are you ?"
- "I am old."
The witcher understood that behind this false response there was a truth. The old man wasn't human, although he couldn't determine the species of the monster. He didn't feel any sign of danger, nothing menacing. But the situation wasn't very pleasant as whatever he was, he knew more about him. He knew his dreams. Even to Jaskier he never spoke about them clearly.
- "What do you want from me ?"
- "On the top of the last mountain, in the heat of the haunt you will understand what I want."
- "Is there a treasure or something like that ?"
- "You could say that."
- "Why are you saying those things to me ? Why are you so enigmatic ? You could tell me now and everything would be easier."
- "I could but you are not ready. Yet you need to be ready faster than ever. You delayed things so much that Destiny is beginning to cut everything that comes in the way and people are gonna be hurt badly if you persist."
Geralt looked up. Jaskier was disappearing from his view as the road was taking a turn. Was it possible that the tension between them was a consequence of Destiny trying to push him back on the path ?
- "This makes no sense. You are telling me that ego bruises are linked to a supposed invisible force that I am not obeying."
Borch looked in the same way.
- "Concerning your friends." He insisted on the plural. "Your fights come from the fact that they are doing what you are not. They are facing their demons and try to evolve. You are evading your real fight, your real purpose, for too many years now."
- "What ? I have no purpose other than hunting monsters. I am a witcher. There is nothing as simple as that for a function."
- "And yet you are seeking for more. You were prepared to change. You needed to accept the price that came with it, not run away from what you became."
- "What are you talking about, old man ?"
- "Destiny does what it needs for its seeds to flourish. And it will do it until you comply. Jaskier has been placed on your road to teach you the minimal kit to survive the next leg of your journey. But you pushed the next step further and further. Destiny is calling him back because now he is a burden to you. I know you like him a lot and you could still be together for a long time, if you accept your fate, but if you are not careful you will destroy him. He is a simple human being. And many others will suffer. Destiny doesn't care. It cuts through."
Borch's voice was so strange, almost hypnotic. Geralt wasn't sure he was getting all the words but the ideas were burning hot in his mind.
- "He is more than that."
- "You are lying to yourself. "
- "You are manipulating me with your voice. He can hear what you are hiding. He could know."
The old man smiled.
- "Maybe he could. He is gifted. He is talented and has his own intelligence, but he is nothing more than a simple human being."
- "He has changed with me. He is more…"
Geralt's mind was suddenly drifting. The conversation was erasing itself from his brain. He already could barely remember what he was talking about with the old man.
- "We will talk about all of what you need after the hunt."
Borch smiled and then walked away. The charm seemed to break. The sound of nature around came back to him full force, that was almost overwhelming. Geralt whispered words that were lingering. Destiny. Purpose. Need. Hunt… Human. Change. Wrong.
His feet guided him back toward the rest of the group. They were silhouettes more than people. The red outfit of Jaskier was like a beacon. Human. Wrong…
Everything faded again, and he lost the grip on what happened completely. He had just a bad feeling and a distinctive need to finish the quest, even if killing the dragon still wasn't his goal. Something was calling inside of him. He would have the answers to his questions after. What was the question ?
###
The group composition changed again when they caught up with everyone. Geralt watched with a critical eye, Borch talking to Jaskier for a moment. It lasted just a few minutes probably and he couldn't hear what was said but he noticed the way Jaskier's head was tilting from time to time. This was a sign he knew well. The sign of him analysing hidden languages. It triggered a warning in his head.
Borch wasn't human. And he wasn't speaking the common human language either when he was using that strange voice that muted everything else. He understood it that way but it wasn't. He didn't feel chaos. He couldn't see anything strange. And still no menace. He was now almost sure that the old man spoke to him earlier but he couldn't remember what. Maybe Jaskier could.
As soon as Borch left his friend' side, Geralt quickly walked toward him.
- "You're ok ?"
- "Yeah... Why shouldn't I be ?" He was still angry with him.
- "What did Borch say to you ?"
- "Why do you want to know ? This is nothing about you or Yennefer, if you are worried about any gossip spills."
- "I saw you analysing his hidden language when he talked to you. His voice is strange to me sometimes. Was it to you ?"
- "No."
That was a clear "leave me alone", so Geralt didn't insist but he stayed alert. There was something very wrong here.
###
They reached the dwarven shortcut two hours later, after a wild ascension, that left them wheezing.
- "Are you crazy ? This is a shortcut to death !"
Jaskier was both scared and furious. And Geralt agreed with him. The platform they were standing on was leading to a series of wooden planks crossing several pikes over the cloud sea underneath. The planks seemed rotten - there were small patches of lichen growing due to the long exposition to the elements. There was a heavy chain attached to the side of the mountain for safety and guidance.
- "He is right. Maybe for a dwarf the path is ok, but for a full size human, this is very dangerous."
- "Well, this is the only way to get to the pike before our enemies. We shared our secret, now you do what you want from that gift. Our goal stays the dragon "
The dwarven company was already moving forward. Yarpen was the last of them to engage on the bridge and he was laughing hard, especially at Jaskier who seemed - rightfully - terrified. He punched him amicably but a bit hard in the guts before going on the bridge.
Yennefer was hiding her fear with anger. She shot at him a look that was saying : so that's your way to help. But from the group, she was in danger the least. She could use any magic trick to quickly get herself out of a dangerous situation. He was hoping now that she would do the same with any other member. But her first gesture sent shivers down his spine.
Jaskier was having a very bad moment and clearly tried to joke his way out of it, but she literally pushed him forward. He caught the chain, pivoted toward the mountain side and but this was too close from a fall to Geralt's liking. He caught Yennefer's by her arm.
- "What was that for ?" He whispered, but the growl of anger was a clear menace.
- "Oh I'm sorry. I forgot he was your toy."
- "He is not my toy. And since when are you trying to kill people to get your revenge on me ?"
- "You are right, he is not your toy. He is your first one. Maybe losing your first child would open your eyes to why you shouldn't have abandoned the second."
She got away from his grip and engaged on the bridge. Fortunately Jaskier hadn't heard any of their dispute. He was moving quite fast despite his fear and talking to himself quite loudly to pump his courage up. Also the altitude wind was a kind of white noise that engulfed their dispute for those who weren't on the platform.
He turned to Borch who, on the contrary, probably heard everything. He didn't say anything, he didn't move. Thea and Vea were equally stoic. But he could almost hear the warnings blasting in his head. He could almost see every occurrence of his friend being hurt in his dreams. Every time Vesemir told him not to keep a fragile human being with him. Something bad would come if Jaskier stayed with him. This was the threshold. He looked back at the bridge.
The dwarves were already far away, and almost disappearing in a misty cloud sliding down the mountain. The atrocious red shirt of his friend was like a blood stain against the monochromatic landscape and was about to fade into the very same cloud. Yennefer was a few feet behind. Her sophisticated outfit was not the best for the task but she was advancing gracefully and in this environment gave her almost the shape of a bird, as the long pieces of black fabric dancing in the wind.
He moved forward, gripping the chain. The wooden planks were creaking under his weight.
###
The progression was painful to him, not because of the effort and the tension, but because of the noise. The shape of the mountains was provoking huge corridors for the wind and the acceleration was making it howl. It was almost incessant. Two hours in, they entered the biggest cloud. Yarpen and his men were nowhere to be seen. Jaskier and Yennefer weren't very far. His friend was moving very slowly now. And a few planks behind were Borch, followed by the Zerrikanians. He turned his head to check on them at the same moment the mistake was made. The three of them were on the same plank and it didn't hold their weight.
But worse than that, the sudden fall of the three dislodged the chain that was their life line and it almost pulled him down, with Jaskier and Yennefer just before. Geralt stood his ground and firmly held the chain up but the sudden movement made his companions fall on their back.
His muscles protested, the weight of the tree was too much. He couldn't pull them up and his plank was now making dangerous sounds, promising to break very soon also.
- "Move up !" He screamed. "I can't hold much more !"
- "I am sorry, Geralt."
The old man just pushed himself out of the way, releasing the chain. He fell into the milky cloud, his arms opened and a smile on his face. Thea and Vea did the same a second later. There was no fear in their eyes.
The sudden lack of weight made him fall backwards. Yennefer caught him before he could roll out of his plank. She looked as shocked as he felt. They stayed a few minutes there, catching their breath and trying to realize what happened. And cruelly the wind pushed the cloud away, freeing the sight around. The valley was so far away underneath and there was nothing to stop the long fall for many yards. Borch, Thea and Vea's body were certainly crushed down there, out of even an eagle sight. But the worst was that, the clear view revealed that the end of the bridge was just at less than fifty meters.
The dwarves were waiting for them on the final platform. They understood quickly that there was an accident and they seemed way less cocky than when they started. Yarpen and his men were caring more about the group than what they showed. But there was something more. He looked at Jaskier. His friend was sitting on his plank, clutching the chain to his dear life, and he was crying. Geralt could see the shock coming from the fear to fall, but there was also a real sadness. Yennefer was more contained but she clearly matched his inner feelings. They all lost someone.
But Borch was no-one to them. Why did it hurt that much ?
Well I hope my Borch is ok for you. Soon the final chapter of this story.
See you soon.