Of Monsters and Men

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"Ah, you could have been so great" Solomon sat next to the dead body "What a vision you had! But your tragic flaw was your overconfidence" he patted the body on the back "Ah well. Now you're mine" he stroked his hand lightly over the body, drawing forth a dark essence that coalesced and was drawn into the locket under his robes. Patting the corpse on the head condescendingly, he hopped off the church steeple and dived straight into the portal below.

The army were gathered motionlessly on the meadow, far south of Oxenfurt. Solomon had summoned a portal for them earlier. They didn't require rest, or food, or water. They were husks, puppets under the control of Solomon. He skipped out of the portal into the army, and every soldier stood at attention suddenly "Thank you, thank you" he bowed. Pausing for a moment, he smiled and raised a hand. The undead horde suddenly applauded. Bringing down his arm they immediately stopped. "Heehee, I'm enjoying this" he suddenly turned around and clenched his fist at a revenant, who spontaneously disintegrated "BUT IT'S NOT ENOUGH" he hissed with fury. Regaining his composure, he looked towards a village that was a short distance away "Time to have some fun"

Vyle turned sharply as Derrick entered "I'm going to check the nearby refugee camp. I would advise you to come along as well, you and your friends need some rest and..." he looked around the room with disgust "... and this is not suitable" Vyle jumped out of the window suddenly and transformed into a bat to fly away. He arrived at the camp stealthily and had a look around. There were dopplers and townspeople everywhere, survivors of the battle. Vyle noticed the mage who had been shackled, and the doppler he'd seen earlier. He approached them, seeing as the mage was the last person he'd seen with Ana "Excuse me, mage, could you tell me where Ana is?" he stated politely, but with desperation.

 

They arrived a little outside the city, deciding that it was rather more practical to walk into the city rather than enter by magic where they might attract a little more notice. After all, sorcerers and their companions arriving all of a sudden caused somewhat of a ruckus and that was attention they didn't want. Or at least, he didn't want right now. When they arrived at that area therefore, Adolin was able to spot not only the city, but something unusual as he was getting his bearings. There was a stone pillar some distance away. It must have been huge for them to be able to see it from such a distance. Alanna tapped his arm and he looked back at it and nodded.
"Let's take a look. We wouldn't have missed it last time we were here." Adolin stated .
"Yeah, no kidding. It appeared out of seemingly nowhere. We'd have noticed something like that being built. And well... It doesn't look like a real building you know? It's like a flat, smooth pillar." He nodded in agreement with his companion. He led the way towards it, taking a route across the roads as far as he could, but soon enough the road stopped heading in that direction and they had to take a bit of a rougher route across country. And as they did so, on the way to the mysterious pillar, which was beginning to be revealed to be a group of pillars, they spotted a man. He was haggard, looking tired and rough enough to have been through the Oxenfurt riots despite being here.
"Reckon he has an idea?"
"Yes Adoiin dear," Alanna rolled her eyes and started walking towards him. "I'll go ask him about it." She strode across the grassy field and held her hand up in a gesture of greetings to the man. The closer she got, the worse her impression of him became. His clothes were little more than rags, they were so worn she doubted he'd changed them for years.
"Hello there!" She called out. "Any idea what the deal is with the sudden redesign of the local geography over there?"





The village of Pontarsfork went on as it always did. The farmers did their duty, ignorant of riots and cullings and the affairs of sorcerers and other such people. That was not the concern of the people of Pontarsfork, who farmed on in blissful ignorance of the doom coming for them. Delaine and Corwyn served the hungry at the inn, while the last few drunk Nilfgaardians made their best effort to trudge their way back to their camp. Wilfred Hoover removed a new scythe blade from the forge and Boenn skinned his latest buck.

Meanwhile, the soldiers of Nilfgaard looked to the woman riding up to them and so casually asking them questions. They looked at each other and back at Ellyn.
"What do you want with a Nothern woman?" One of them, possibly the corporal of the group asked. "And why would you think to find her here?"




"Doesn't sound like a bad plan. I'm worse for wear and well, thanks. I had no idea there was a refugee camp." Derrick replied, and before he knew it the vampire was gone. He sighed. It seemed to be a particular habit of his. Swooping in and out left and right heedless of other people. He did his best to ignore the bloodstains, knowing full well that there was no use in trying to discern anything from it. Whatever happened here was long since over, and since there was no body he was happy to assume that someone survived the ordeal. Whatever did happen here. With his blankets and papers collected, the Witcher hefted his back over his uninjured shoulder and headed out the room. As he was walking out, he heard a booming voice calling out. Any brothers here...? "Vec, Veera, there was a shout outside. Let's go." Derrick drew his silver sword, anticipating a Doppler attack of some sort. Right now, that was the best conclusion he could come to about who might have been shouting about brothers. When he did get outside to his horse, he could see that he was wrong. Very wrong. The opposite in fact. His medallion didn't vibrate, and a pair of cat's eyes identified the man as a fellow Witcher.
"Yeah, two and a sister." He answered with his trademark smile, sheathing his sword and hitching his bags to the saddle. "You're a little late to the party, but I'm always pleased to see a fellow Witcher. I thought you were one of the thrice damned Dopplers terrorising the city with that shouting about brothers." He patted his horse affectionately and looked back at what he just realised was a pair. The girl though, was not a Witcher. She was probably dangerous though. She was armed, and in this bear of a man's company. An appropriate comparison, because a more detailed scan of him revealed he was of the Bear school.
"Derrick of Kaedwen, at your service." He gave a bow with a little flourish of his uninjured arm. "How goes the Trail?" ​

 

Olivia's pov:



The man attacked he again and she again was just able to get out of the way. The man was to fast really for her to do anything. She had to change up the battle some how. 'Give up Witcher you are not going to win. Just let me kill you.' This man was wasting energy talking to her and sooner or later he was going to get tired. First she used Quen to protect herself from more attacks. The protective magical shield now around her. It was time to strike. First she used Igni, shooting the fire ball at the man hoping to blind him for a moment so she could do something, but the man just raised a sword to block it and she saw that he was going to. She had to slow this man down. She used Yrden on the man and he walked into it and the look on the man's face was priceless. Now with the man slowed down it was time to end this. She had no problem killing someone that was trying to kill her. With that it was time to strike and so she did. The man was now moving much slower and her was able to get in some good strikes now. The man attempted to stop her but all the man found was that he could not do that. With one final strike the man was down and there was no sight the other two would be coming back at least not yet. She jumped out the window and back onto the streets of Oxenfurt. She rounded the corner only to see hundreds of Dopplers. Out of the fire and into the frying pan. She could hear fighting somewhere near town square. She was sure Derrick was near now. She bagain fighting the Dopplers some fall other run to fight somewhere else. (time skip to catch up with others because I am kind of behind.) It was many hors or not she did not know. Dopplers falling and the numbers going down. Town square seemed to be where most of the action was, but she could not get there. The battle now over (because of the time skip) It was time to find the others or go off on her own.

 

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Zephyr wasn't expecting anyone to approach him, let alone ask him about where Ana was. Yet here someone was, doing just that. Though Zephyr did recall seeing the man before him when he ran into Ana once more, though he didn't really pay him much attention due to much more pressing matters at the moment. Still using his thumb, Zephyr pointed in the direction that the two dopplers had carried her off in. "Last I saw she was taken that way for medical treatment."

 

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"We heard." Veera muttered in response to Derrick as she hauled herself to her feet, and shrugging off the pain. "I'll make it." She told Vec, letting a hand rest gently on his shoulder before she limped outside. A huge man stood there, a girl at his side. Man was a witcher, girl was not. Curious. Veera frowned, but withheld from speaking. The day they had, she wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be another doppler trick. Derrick was being a little trusting, more then she could say. She leaned back against the entryway of the building, eyes narrowed.

The girl approached her, strung bow in hand. Veera watched as she slipped it into a quiver and held out a hand, face never changing. "You must be Veera of Velen. It's an honor. Uncle Alastar has spoken about you highly." Veera took the hand and nearly slipped, a groan escaping her lips.

"Allow me to help you." Before she could protest, Veera felt her uninjured arm slung around the girl's shoulders, the hand grasped tightly in the strangers while taking the weight off her wounded knee.

Derrick, Vec, feel free to step in at any time. She gritted her teeth against the annoyance and pain. If they were the enemy, she was right where they wanted her. It was then she felt her legs drop out from underneath her, staring up as the girl yanked out her bow and took aim. "Uncle!" She cried.

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Ana felt herself pulled away from Zephyr, but her body wouldn't respond to her commands. She heard voices above her, but they didn't make sense. Had she been wrong to trust Zephyr? Had he led her into a trap? She didn't think it fit his character, but she hadn't known him all that long. Strange hands touched her, speaking above her as she was laid on something. She desperately wanted to open her eyes, to see at least what was happening, but then the memories of what Milosh had done to her began to return.

She bolted upright with a scream, fending off the unknown hands as she fell off the cot and scrambled away, her heart pounding in her chest as her vision struggled to adjust to the bright sun contrasting against the darkness the insides of her lids had provided. "Get away!" She screamed, fire shooting from her hands towards the strangers, who jumped back. She wasn't at her full strength, but her magic had returned just enough that she would, and could protect herself.

"Where have you brought me!?" She tried to get a bearing on her surroundings, but the moment she looked away the strangers tried to approach again. "No!" She held her hands, palms outward, towards them. "Stay back!"

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Zack nodded to Zephyr. "If there's anything I can do for you, I'll be over there." He headed in the direction he had just gestured, returning to his duties with the quarter master. There were still supplies to be ordered, and people to send out. "Has there been any word of the witchers, in the city, or the city guard?" He asked, the sun beating down on the back of his neck as he looked over the notes and scribbles on the hastily put together table.

"We can't stay here, it's not sustainable. So where....do we go?" He asked absentmindedly, brushing aside the notes to gaze at a map. "Reports from north and west are not good. East...are mountains. South....We could go south. But how is that feasible?" He glanced over the people who had remained in the camp, as more trickled in.

"How are we going to do this?"

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Treasa shifted, unsure of what to do. She had stepped forward to take Veera's weight, unable to stand by and watch the woman she had heard so much about suffer. She had deduced her identity from Derrick, introducing himself. The man was famous for fucking one half of the country and failing to seduce the other. That could only mean Veceslav was somewhere close by. If she hadn't traveled with Uncle Alastar for so long, she might have been more tongue tied in the presence of such legends.

Turning, she spotted the shadows quivering just as she dropped Veera on her butt and yanked her bow from the quiver, fitting an arrow to the string in one fluid movement. "Uncle!" She screamed, letting him know the enemy had snuck up behind him as she let the arrow fly, straight into the head of the creature. It retched before falling to its knees, but she knew better then to believe it was dead.

She backed up, helping Veera move alongside her until they were closer to Derrick, Veera still sitting on the ground. "You should get her out of here." She hissed at the witcher behind her, pulling an arrow out of her quiver to aim at another enemy. "We all need to get out of here."

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Tessa shivered, her breath catching in her throat as Seth's fingers raised goosebumps along her arms. She hadn't ever been allowed this, before. Bryce had been strictly a brother, and his presence had frightened away any possible suitors. But maybe that's what this is. The mental voice returned, it's tone crueler then ever. Maybe because you're the forbidden fruit. And once he's had you- I'll prove you wrong. She promised herself. I'll prove you wrong and ask him.

Oh right, because he won't lie. He won't tell you exactly what you want to hear. Tessa bit her lip as another shudder caused her wound to sting, the pain nearly overruled by the newly discovered pleasure she found in the sensation.

"Seth..." Tessa cleared her throat as her voice cracked, the tone filled with things she couldn't begin to understand. "Do you want me like you wanted her? The girl you hurt, I mean." The last part came out as a whisper as her courage nearly failed her. "Because you wanted to save her the pain of living after you....after you had been with her. What if that happens to me?" Because if you betrayed me it feels like it would kill me.

 

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Not to long after Zack had gone off to handle other matter, a scream could be heard from where Ana was supposedly being treated. Was this a part of the methods that there were using to treat her? Or had something gone wrong? Regardless, Zephyr quickly headed off towards where Ana was. When he got there, he wasn't expecting to see Ana up on her feet. That was a good thing, now the fact that she was fending off the people trying to help her, that was more questionable. Surely there must've been some reason for it. "Easy there Ana, they're just trying to help you." Hopefully thus would calm her down to some extent, then maybe he could try to figure out what was wrong.

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Kruez had continued walking, still unsure where he was going or where they were, when Tatiana had spoke once again. This time she had wanted to be put down so that she could walk for herself. A simple request, thus pretty damn easy to grant. So Kruez did just just and placed her down onto her feet. "Better?"

 

There was shouting outside, Derrick joined them pointing out the obvious, but he appreciated the thought though. Veera struggled to her feet and told him she'd make it, the hand she left onhis shoulder for a moment told him more than enough. She knew he worried about her and she wanted to assure him she was alright. He followed his two fellow witchers outside and saw the two people. A Witcher and a girl, that the witcher was a Bear School Witcher didn't surprise him in the slightest, it did explain the shouting. The girl walked over to Veera and mentioned that the Witcher was named Alastar. He had heard of the man's exploits, never met him before though or had he? He was too tired to remember.

When the girl had taken Veera, he had noted the annoyance of her and went over to take over. His Medallion wasn't reacting so they weren't dopplers, but that didn't make them trustworthy. He looked up at what the girl had been shooting. Ghouls. they were here already? Well that dropped the city as a safe place, they needed to get out before more came in. "I agree. Let's get going. Derrick, you heard the lady. Help Veera up. We'll cover you both." Veceslav yelled as he was the oldest and most experienced Witcher it left him in charge for now atleast. He drew his silver sword and took up a defensive position, near Veera taking on a Ghoul that thought it a nice idea to pounce on the injured witcher. He made short work of it even while wounded. But where there was one Ghoul there were more and he doubted he could take on several simultaneously in his state.


His calls were answered as a trio of Witchers appeared and he couldn't help but laugh roaringly as the Witcher said two brothers and a sister. "Splendid!" He looked each of the Witchers over. There was Derrick of Kaedwen, the witcher he would keep his neice away from because of his reputation. "The Path is long, wide and like the roads, dotted with horse shite." Alastar responded to his collegue's question. He let the remark about him being a doppler slide as the man looked like he had already lost an argument with a bear, didn't exactly need another one. Treasa had gone over to help another witcher. Veera of Velen, the one and only, there was no doubt about it. He had told Treasa stories about her hunts and accomplishments. And while the stories had made her want to become a witcher as well, something he would keep on denying her, they also made her feel better and gave her something to aspire to when she was feeling a little bit down, a hero to look up to.

The last one of the company took him a moment of thought, but then he realised, the Crow, judging by the state of the city his reputation did precede him. All were skilled witchers in their own right an he was glad that he ran into such experienced hands. While a bit lost in thought, he heard his neice screaming at him. He had done nothing wrong had he? Said nothing wrong? Then he heard the retching behind him and he turned around as he lifted the silver axe and cleaved it's skull apart, he kicked it off the axehead and as he turned around another Ghoul tried to jump at him, but was met with an armoured fist to the head, followed up with a boot crashing down on it's ribcage. His neice and the Crow were advocating for leaving, just when it started to become fun. Then again there were more and he didn't want to be buried here and leave Treasa alone. "We get out the way we came in, it would seem to be the fastest route. Follow me. Treasa, stick close." Alastar said as he began to lead the way towards the gates to get out of the city, keeping his silver axe and fists ready to kill some more Ghouls that dared to attack his brothers, sister and neice, particularly those for the latter would have it coming.​

 

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A thousand fleeting thoughts darting through his mind, stumbling through the longer grasses that threatened to trip him up, Evander whipped his head up as a sudden woman's voice tore his musings away. He was startled that she had come so close to him before he had noticed her, and his face showed it.
“Who-” he blurted out as she spoke, then looked over his shoulder back when he realized she was asking about the obelisks he had left behind. He frowned in momentary confusion, scrambling for a way to explain the rocky formations that wouldn't pin the cause on him. They were the work of a mage, obviously. Perhaps he could say he was merely a farmer running away from them? The weight of the sword at his side immediately forced him to discard that idea. A farmer would not carry a sword, but perhaps he could pretend he was someone who did...
Looking back at Alanna, Evander straightened up. “Mage done it. I was about to get her, but she started all that before I could get close,” he explained, tapping the sword hilt. “Damn near got me killed. I wouldn't-”
He cut himself short, having suddenly become aware of Adolin on the road, and more importantly the twin swords. Witcher swords. With a sinking feeling he realized that the Witcher would have a medallion, one that would be vibrating right now, identifying him as something not human. Much as it irritated him, at this point he figured telling the truth would be the most likely way for him to keep his skin intact. He wasn't in any state to start a fight with anyone right now.
He sighed, and pointed over Alanna's shoulder at Adolin. “That's a fucking Witcher, isn't it?” He shrugged in defeat. “So I may have lied just then. My name is Evander the – earth mage,” he finished, stopping himself from giving his full title. Hell, now wished he hadn't used his real name. William in Novigrad had known too much for his liking, enough to know who Evander was. For all he knew these two would know who was right away as well. Fuck.
Regardless of what he was thinking, he gave Alanna a deep, mocking bow. “I was the one who made all that.” He waved a hand over his shoulder. “Now, has your curiosity been satisfied? I hope so, because I have a few questions of my own.” He pointed at Adolin again. “You travel with what is obviously a Witcher, who with his medallion will have sensed that I'm not just a random farmer. That much I'm certain of.” At first glance, the Witcher would easily be considered the more dangerous of the two, and in fact Evander had first assumed that. He was now quickly reevaluating his assessment of them however. His finger suddenly swung to point directly at Alanna. “And yet it is you that comes up to me, a woman armed with just a dagger. Perhaps you have more on you, but even so I somehow doubt that you're simply relegated to defending yourself.”
Evander eyed her closely. Assassin, doppler, mage, or something more exotic? He couldn't even begin to guess, but regardless he prepared himself. His fingers twitched on his sword-hilt, and a trickle of Power meandered through his body. He wouldn't make the first move in a fight, but he'd be damned if he'd go down easy.

​

Ellyn regarded the soldiers with a haughty stare, perfectly imitating the look of someone who was used to subordinates doing as they said. Not a look she liked to assume very often, but it was necessary at times.
“One of your soldiers has taken her here, corporal,” she said laying emphasis on his rank, and implying that she was much, much higher up the chain of command than he. She jerked a thumb back at Gordon. “She's this young lad's sister, and I have good reasons for bringing her back safely.”
Ellyn urged Oak onward towards the gates, the stallion eager to acquiesce and bully his way past the soldiers, show these small metal-clad beings how much stronger he was. Ellyn for her part didn't seem to expect them to resist her demands. “Open the gates, and if you have any information on the girl, spit it out before I lose my patience!” she told the corporal in a tone of barely restrained expectancy.

 

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Teliana heard a familiar voice, and hesitated, her fingers curling on her palms. "Zephyr?" She asked softly. "Where are we? I don't know this place." The fear rising in her voice made her swallow, hard. She had never been so prone to panic in the past. It appeared her recent experiences had changed her more then she knew.

"Please. I don't want to be touched. I'm....fine." Her wounds were survivable, at least, and her magic had returned. "Please, I just need to go back to the city. My friend is there, and he's probably worried and I just.." She backed up another couple of steps, wondering if anyone would try to stop her if she made a portal to Oxenfurt. It wasn't that far away, but it would take her an hour to walk, at the very least.

"Just don't touch me."

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Tessa kept her eyes downcast as she listened to Seth's explanation. Her mind was silent, for once. When he fell silent, it began to work in overtime, analyzing every word he said, the tone, the way his hands moved through her hair. She bit her lip, shutting her eyes for a moment as she let the words fall around her, envelop her.

Seth had done bad things. She could accept that. He had tried to get himself killed. She couldn't accept it, but she could handle it. He had listened in on her confessions with her witcher rescuer, okay. She recalled the way he had held her hand when she had been dying. The way he hovered over her even now, protesting she needed sleep. Taking care of her.

Tessa reached up, hands cupping Seth's face before pulling it down, touching her forehead to his. "No more." She whispered, opening her eyes, but keeping her gaze on Seth's chest. "No more hurting. No more suicidal tendencies. No more of that Seth." Only when she finished did she raise her head, smiling sadly as she looked into his eyes.

"I like the Seth I have in front of me, not the one you talk about. I want this Seth." she gently stroked the hair out of his face, her hands barely more then a whisper along his skin. "Don't leave me, and I won't leave you."

 

​

Carefully, Zephyr started to approach her. He didn't quite know where exactly were they besides some sort of camp, so he wouldn't be able to give her the best of answers. He could however tell her what he did know at least. "We're at refuge camp of sorts, these people just want to help your injuries."

That said, there wasn't much that they could do to treat her if she herself didn't want to be touched. Just what had happened after he'd run off from the cage. That didn't really help make him feel any better about the decision he'd made at the time. Yes, Ana basically gave him the means of escaping, and it was the only thing that he could do at the time, but that didn't change that he felt like crap about it. Especially if this was an after affect of whatever had happened. "Wait, friend? Someone did show up looking for you. Is that the friend you're referring to?"

 

"You're the mage that did that-" She began, but apparently Evander wasn't finished. He began pointing - Aggressively, and was insinuating that there was going to be violence. That they were coming for them. He seemed to even be suspicious of her. He reeked of alcohol, so she wasn't surprised. And he was someone who had something to hide. Evander... She didn't know the name off the top of her head. The sorceress took a step back as soon as he returned his attention to her, signified by the pointing finger returning to her. She held her hands up. "Hey, cool it! If you must know, I'm a sorceress. And he's not a Witcher. He just killed one. We don't want any trouble with you." She gave a hasty explanation, trying to make sure that this didn't get ugly.
"We just wanted to know what was going on with that. I mean- Wow. That was impressive work." She glanced at the large obelisk she could see behind him, then back at the sorcerer. "I've never seen someone as powerful. The sorceress who taught me couldn't do anything like that." By this point, Adolin had come up to her. She could feel his familiar presence. She looked at him. He was guarded, but not aggressive.
"Whatever your problem is sorcerer, you've nothing to fear from us. I only kill two kinds of people - And you're not either." Adolin stated flatly, gazing into the eyes of the sorcerer. "And since you gave us your name -" Adolin put a hand on Alanna's shoulder, and pointed at himself afterwards.
"This is Alanna. My... Companion. And I'm Adolin." He wasn't sure how this was going to go. Would this strange man be... Not necessarily pleasant but... Civil? He hoped so. He seemed... Interesting. And someone as powerful as that could certainly do something in our plans. Heh, perhaps with this one if we can only convince him, we won't even need materials at all. Nevertheless, I'm willing to let him slide. After all, he might well be fond of these Witchers. I won't kill him for that, but I won't involve him either.




"Ellyn!" Gordon exclaimed quietly so that they couldn't hear her name. He looked at her with a panicked face. He'd heard of what Nilfgaardians did to the people that annoyed them. They ended up on the gallows. He didn't want to her there, hanging. She didn't deserve that. Gordon's fears soon proved unfounded and the corporal laughed with his squad.
"Your girl's brother is... What you Northern people would call a pisspot." He chuckled. He signalled and the gate of the camp opened for the pair that rode upon the horse. Sizing it up, he could see that it was a fairly respectable beast. The cavalry would be envious of a horse like that. He turned to his soldiers and barked something in the fluted Nilfgaardian tongue. "I don't know anything, but Elan here does." A short conversation in the foreign tongue later, the soldier known as Elan came forward.
"This girl... You call her Matilda, yes?" He nodded, as if answering his own question. "There was such a girl... Go to the... North-Western side of the camp. Look for... Corporal Ardal aep Skellan."




Derrick burst out into a hearty laugh at the reply of their fellow Witcher.
"I like you friend! Where have you been all this time? It'd have been great to have someone with your sense of humour!" He united his horse, noting that the Quen spell had been removed (Making assumption there). "If Veceslav's sense of humour was as good as his alchemy, it would have been more fun at the Kaer. No offence meant Vec." He was about to turn around any say something else that would have sent the whole group of them into peals of laughter, but Veera suddenly fell over and the Crow dumped the job of carrying her on him. And there were Ghouls now.
"Must have come up from the sewers... There's a way up from them not far from here... Just our luck." Derrick grumbled as he hefted the weight that was Veera. Carrying her like this was going to be a pain in the ass, but luckily he had a horse. "Alright Veera, up you get. You're lucky. You get to sit down on the way out of here." He lifted Veera into the saddle and strapped her legs into the stirrups.
"Now you stay conscious and guide my horse out." He said before drawing his crossbow. He patted it affectionately. You're getting so much use these days. I bet you're happy. He fired a bolt off, striking a ghoul between its ugly little eyes and dropping it instantly. He reloaded and followed the others out. He couldn't use a sword, but he could fight in other ways. ​

 

​

First she had been dumped on her ass, then she was handed off to Derrick, then she was stuffed on top of a horse and told to stay out of the way. By Derrick. "You can go fuck yourself." She muttered to Derrick, gripping the saddle horn with her hands before pulling out her own crossbow and aiming. The resulting shaft buried itself in the chest of a Ghoul, followed by a second arrow from the other girl. Veera glanced at their companions, and sighed. Would they ever get a moment of bloody peace?

She guided the horse with her knees, biting down on the groan from the throbbing knee cap and cursing the doppler who had decided to inflict such a wound on her as she followed the girl through the streets, reloading the cross bow and waiting until a ghoul approached. Once it got too close to Veceslav, she fired, striking it in the shoulder and hindering its progress.

"Gods damn it." She muttered under her breath as she reloaded again.

​

Treasa fired again, the twang of her bow soothing her fraying nerves. Are they ever going to stop coming? She stuck close to Alastar, keeping an eye on Veera and Derrick behind them, but that left the rear to be brought up by Veceslav, who was obviously just as injured as the rest of them. "Uncle, I've got the rear!" She yelled to Alastar before brushing past Veera and skirting around Derrick with a wary eye before coming up beside Vec. "Let me get this. You stay next to Veera." She offered, raising the bow and firing off another another with barely a glance before looking back at the older witcher. "It won't do us any good if you go down from exhaustion on the way out of the city."

​

Teliana inched towards Zephyr, away from the strangers. "I'm fine, I'm perfectly fine." She responded, her eyes wide and frightened. "But you...you're injured. The woman hurt you, right? They can heal yo-" She paused. "Someone asked for me?" Vyle? "Where did he go?"

She turned, her hands still out in front of her to keep space between them, but her eyes were less scared now, more inquisitive. "Did you see which direction the man went?" She bit her lip, realizing how callous she must sound. "I'm sorry. It's just important I find him. But if we're as safe as you say we are, then you should let them fix that." She stared down at her ruined fingers sadly. "I'm in no shape to help anyone right now."

​

Tessa curled up in Seth's arms, shutting her eyes as a genuine smile crept onto her face. "Sigmund can go fuck himself before you go anywhere without me." She murmured, using the curse word for the first time. Was it the first time? I think so. She would consider it part of her desire to turn over a new leaf. To never be left behind again. Ever.

 

​

Alanna and Adolin. At first impressions, not hostile, but that could simply be a ploy of theirs. And if it was? Did he kill them right here and now, or stand here glaring at them until they made a move or left? Fuck it, did it even matter? He let out his pent up breath, and pried his fingers from his sword, as well as letting go of the Power. He would take a chance this time.
A wave of exhaustion suddenly passed over him, leaving him surprised that he was even able to stand right now. Looks like I'll have to take the chance whether I like it or not, he thought grimly.
He lowered himself to a squat for a moment, resting his face in his hands. “So, Alanna and Adolin. A sorceress, and a killer of Witchers.” He looked up at them, maintaining his squatting position. “I suppose I should be polite and say it's a pleasure to meet you, but that would be a fucking lie. I'm not fond Witcher's, but if you killed one then I'm not gonna exactly feel all safe and cozy around you. Less so with a sorceress on your side,” he said sliding his eyes over to Alanna. She said she was impressed by his power, but that could be a ruse to conceal her own potential. He couldn't help but shake the feeling that she was the more dangerous of the two.
“As for those pillars, it's mildly impressive at best, and more than likely to kill the one who made them. As it is... I'm fucked. I used too much, too much...”
And all for naught!
Evander groaned. He'd forgotten about It for a moment. And he'd spoken too openly just now. These two, if they intended on attacking him, might see this as the moment of weakness they should exploit. And try as he might, he couldn't grasp the Power, and he was half sure that he could hardly grasp his sword either. But perhaps it wouldn't be so bad, dying. It would free him, at the very least. The thought made him want to laugh
“So as you can see, I am at your mercy, Sorceress and Killer of Witcher's,” he grinned. “Behead me now, shackle me in chains, banish me to a plane of eternal torment. Do as you see fit.”

​

Ellyn nodded curtly at the soldier Elan, and urged Oak on into the camp, making her way through to the north-west corner. Along the way she made a mental note of notable features; a smithy, a coral for the horses, and the general layout of the camp. Not for any ulterior motive, just a habit of hers. It had helped her escape trouble before. She glanced once back at Gordon. The boy seemed nervous, but she didn't think she'd need to worry about him.
When they'd reached the corner of the camp Ellyn caught the attention of a passing soldier. “I'm looking for a Corporal Ardal aep Skellan,” she told him sternly. “Bring me to him, or otherwise find out where he is.” She hoped she sounded authoritative enough.

 

​

Vyle followed Zephyr and burst into the tent "Ana!" he yelled, and just stood there dumbfounded for a moment. Then he moved closer to her "Ana, it's okay, I'm here" he approached her with hesitation, not sure what to do, or what the state of their relationship was. Eventually he decided to just hug her "I'm so glad you survived" he stated with sincerity as he released her.

 

​

Upon mentioning, Zephyr glanced down at his make shift bandage for injury he'd gotten. "It's fine for right now, I'm more concerned about you." The fearful look in her eyes faded quickly upon mentioning the guy looking for her. "Yeah, he's still outside." Using his thumb, Zephyr pointed behind him, outside the area in which they were standing. Which is right when he came into there area as them.

​

"Pretty sure if I leave you alone, you'll somehow end up in trouble once again." Kruez bluntly said, basically showing how little faith he had in her in her current situation. Though regardless of their current situation trouble would still somehow find her. Still taking her back to Kaer was probably as best of a suggestion as to what to do now as anything else. "Though if that's what you want, then I'll see what I can do." The whole portal thing was still pretty new to him and he had no idea about the finer details of how it worked, assuming there were any finer details in the first place.

This time he just held his hand out in front of him and focused once more. It wasn't long afterwards that a portal had appeared before them, hopefully leading to Kaer. "Ladies first."

After sitting in silence for some time, Sweallow decided to check up on Terra. He got up from where he was seated and went to where Terra was drawing in silence. "What are you drawing?" He asked before glancing towards the other drawings that she had done. They all seemed to have a similar theme among them.

 

"Hey, don't be like that Veera! I bet you'd hate carrying my arse with a busted shoulder too!" Derrick retorted. He noticed that Treasa was giving him a strange look and he gave her a quizzical look. Seriously, what is with her? I've never met this woman in my life. It's like she's staring into my soul. It never once occurred to him that his sexual exploits across the North were that well known. He continued to fire off crossbow bolts towards the oncoming creatures.




Alanna looked down at Evander as he started squatting on the floor for some hitherto unknown reason. His gaze passed over her and she shuddered. It was a strange look. His embittered eyes made her feel uncomfortable. Her next thought was that he was absolutely bloody rude. She could hardly blame him, and at least he didn't hide his unease or his contempt.
"Relax, if we wanted you dead then we'd have tried to kill you." She heard Adolin speak behind her. He confessed that he had used too much energy, and that what he did wasn't even that impressive...? He mustn't think much of himself, even though what he did was nothing short of impressive. She had never seen magic applied like that before, or in such a grand display.
"Listen, if you've used too much power then you're going to need to get a decent rest." Alanna stated. Adolin looked at her about to protest, but she narrowed her eyes at him. "And don't you complain. We've done enough bad stuff for now." Yeah, I screwed another Sorceress. And we sold her out to that psychopath Bryce. Anyone else and I'd have felt better about it.
"Very well." Adolin nodded and conceded the argument to her. He wasn't going to complain about helping this guy. He looked in a rough state, but he was powerful. Very, very powerful by the looks of it. Deceptively so. Evander was now telling them to do as they wished with him. That he was at their mercy. That was obvious. He was as soon as they found him, judging by his state. He seemed damn near insane. "Look Evander, this is the fact of the matter. If we wanted to kill you, or capture you, we wouldn't have waited this long. You couldn't put your sword to mine in that state, and I imagine that Alanna would be able to overpower you. We're not here to hurt you, capture you, or kill you. We just wanted to find out what was with those pillars."
"And now we're offering to get you somewhere safer than in this field." Alanna added.




The soldier that Ellyn accosted stood up straight sharply and was about to salute when he realised that she was speaking the Northern tongue and not his own language. He looked up at her. Expensive warhorse, armour, sword... Yeah he wasn't going to ask any questions. She seemed important enough.
"If you would follow me, I can take you to the Corporal." The soldier led her dutifully to the place that the Corporal should be between the tents. There was a set of tents over by the wall where the Corporal kept an eye on the men under his command. He led her to the group of tents. "He is here. I do not know where... But that is your problem. Good day to you." He marched off hurriedly. ​

 

Olivia's pov:



She was now on the streets of Oxenfurt the Dopplers long gone, but that did not mean that she would not run into more of them. There was nothing more she really wanted to do in town. It might be best to get her house and find somewhere else to go. That was what she was going to do, get her house and head to who knew where. If it was not Dopplers in Oxenfurt it would be something else she was sure of it. She began making her way to where she left her horse, looking for Derrick along the way. She could not believe she did not run into anyone besides Dopplers when she was here. Maybe Derrick did not come to Oxenfurt at all and he stayed back home. This would not surprise her at all. After awhile of walking she could feel her medallion move. Something was near the only question was what. It could be more Dopplers and that wound not surprise her at all. She now had a choice to make and that was to head towards where there might be trouble or head out. Really she was tired of all of this running around.


Ethan's pov:



With the crazy sorcerer in the sorcerer's building dealt with he thought it might be time to go. He walked out onto the streets of Novigrad. Really he was not sure what do do. He guess that he should head back to the village of Pontarsfork because really he had nothing else to do. He could tell Wilfred about finding some answer about the sword he had and then he could find some way to make money. For now he would continue to walk around the town and see what other sight he could see. So far it was not looking good for what happened so far.