Her Sweet Kiss | Geralt of Rivia X OC | The Witcher FF

Chapter 20 - A drinking game -

3rd person pov

"Finest mead from the rarest Korathian desert honey." Nivellen said as he poured Geralt a mug full of said mead. The cursed man in the appearance of a boar took a sip from it and Geralt gave him a small grin. 

"Let's play a drinking game!" Lambert laughed as he slammed a bottle of pepper vodka and a jug full of ale on the table. He poured everyone's cup half full with the vodka and didn't even wait for an answer from his fellow Witchers, Coen and Evelyn. She laughed. "Reminds me of that one Winter when we played 'Never have I ever' with Eskel and Geralt." I said and raised my mug a little. Lambert nodded with a smile and also raised his mug. We drank.

"Now we're talking!" Nivellen cheered. "What sort?" he asked.

"We throw daggers." Evelyn answered Coen's question. She didn't care what else Lambert had in mind. That sounded like fun to hear so she spoke it out loud. "Whoever misses the skull of the dead Basilisk hanging over the chimney drinks and tells a truth."

"Prepare to lose." Nivellen announced and summoned daggers that would land on the table where the rest of the mead was standing. 

"You first." Coen smirked and took a dagger from the table. They were rammed in there to cut bread or perhaps the throat of a monster if it gets confused and wanders directly into the Witcher's lair. She hummed in agreement and took it from him. She aimed and threw it. She missed. "Let's start with the obvious. When and how did you and Geralt get separated?" Lambert asked and handed me my mug. "A week, maybe more ago. We've both been looking after the Child Surprise."

Nivellen threw a dagger. It landed in the middle of the head of his father's portrait. It was now Geralt's turn. He touched his medallion for good luck and aimed. He missed at what the cursed man chuckled. "What's your plan?" he asked with crossed arms. "Keep her alive." Geralt answered and took a sip from his mead. "That's it?" Nivellen scoffed. "I can protect her from any mark of man or monster. And you said so yourself. the world is changing. Perhaps that's why the Law of Surprise brought us together." he said. "Oh, that devious old chestnut. The plot thickens, huh?" 

"Your turn." Evelyn said to Coen after she threw a dagger and hit it right into the socket of the Basilisk's eye. He cracked his neck a little and took the dagger. He aimed. He missed. Eve chuckled. "You've become a lightweight, old friend." she said and he tilted his head, examining the dagger that was stuck in the wall mere centimetres away from the skull. "So it seems." he said and grabbed his mug to drink. 

"You spend a lifetime alone, then you claim a child of an ancient promise of destiny. What changed you?" Nivellen asked the Witcher that had to drink now and then to answer the question. "Who." he corrected Nivellen. He waited for an answer. Geralt licked his lips. "Evelyn of Lyria." he finally said and Nivellen cheered a little. "Ooh-hoo-hoo! And where is this rarest and fairest of all maidens? The one who could crack an icy Witcher's heart?" Nivellen asked with a smile on his lips.

"Gone. Kidnapped. I don't know." he said what let Nivellen's expression fall. "I'm sorry, my boy. How long ago?" he asked, his voice changing into a quieter one, filled with sympathy. "A few days." he answered at what the boar man shook his head in disbelieve. "How are you not heartbroken?" Nivellen asked and folded his hands in front of his chest. "Who says I'm not?" Geralt returned the question. 

It was Evelyn's turn again. She missed at what the other two men started laughing. "Anything else you want to know?" she asked the men and took a swig out of her mug. "What happened to your arm?" Coen wanted to know. "Leshy." Eve answered and the men exchanged a look. "Seems like they're quite the plague now. Did it infect you?" Lambert asked and lifted my arm to examine the wound. "Infected? What do you mean by infected? They can't do that." I said with a roll of my eyes. "Apparently they can. That's what's got to Eskel."

Geralt walked down the hall, past Nivellen's room from where emitted snoring. He was asleep. Since he found out that he walked out of the mansion and, while sitting on top of Roach, he paid the village below a visit. There was a destroyed cart with two corpses of humans and one of a horse scattered around it. They were covered in snow and their skin already took over the colour of it. They must be dead already for a few days. 

Geralt got off of Roach and drew his sword from the bag attached to his horse. With careful steps, he approached the first corpse. A man. An old man. He inhaled deeply, trying to find any clues of what's happened here by the smell. He walked over to the second corpse. A young woman whose face had drops of splattered blood, coming from the neck. Again, there were footsteps around but ended in the middle of the path. They didn't come from people jumping from the cart. "It flies." Geralt grunted. 

He grabbed Ciri's shoulder which woke her from her sleep. She gasped "Geralt?" she asked. "Roach is by the gate. If anyone other than me leaves this place, ride for your life." he instructed her as she sat up in bed. "There's a bruxa in the house." He said and popped open the small bottle of a potion. Cat, to enhance his vision in the night. Black blood would be useful now. However, he didn't have any of those with him right now. He wasn't expecting an encounter with a vampire.

"A what? What are you doing?" Ciri asked and approached him. "What's going on, Geralt?" she asked and grabbed his arm to look at him. His eyes were black and his veins around them had the same colour. "Move. Now." he demanded to what she listened.