And yet... Here we are

A Final Wish

Jaskier fell out of the portal onto the hardened ground of the mountain. He had made his displeasure of being teleported to Skellege very apparent the past three days. Geralt had as well. Yennefer hadn't cared. She had refused to hear Geralt when he said portals made his stomach turn at the thought alone. She didn't acknowledge Jaskier when he said that Skellege was sure to be frozen through and through this time of the year. 

Jaskier stood and dusted the snow from off his clothes. He glanced over when he heard someone else come through the portal. Geralt stumbled out. The Witcher hardly caught his footing before he straightened out. He grumbled under his breath as he placed a hand on his stomach. 

Yennefer was the last to step through and, arguably, the most composed of the three. She dusted her hand along the fabric of her dress in attempt to alleviate any of the unseen wrinkles. Her purple eyes landed on the two disheveled men. She scoffed. 

"You two are so dramatic." Yennefer rolled her eyes. She gestured in the distance. "At the edge of this cliff is where the seal is supposed to be."

"Supposed to be?" Jaskier quickly turned his gaze to look at her. "I thought you said it definitely was." 

"If I said it was only a possibility, no one would have joined me." 

Jaskier looked incredulously at Geralt. At least the Witcher himself looked annoyed at the information as well. The bard grumbled but didn't speak out against the sorceress. He simply followed her on her path. His flat-footed boots made his feet ache from colliding from the frozen ground with each step. Geralt walked beside him silently. 

The three of them slowed as they approached a shipwreck. However rather than placed anywhere near the frozen water, it was placed atop of the tall mountain. The front was decimated as though a tidal wave had carried it up from the sea and crashed it into the mountain top. Icicle shards laced the sides of the boat as though rain had frozen midfall from the wood. 

Geralt grumbled but said nothing aloud. He walked over to the ship. His medallion hummed around his neck and pulled in unconclusive directions. Jaskier didn't pay the scowling wolf charm any attention, he had grown used to it humming. 

Jaskier crossed his arms tightly over his chest as the wind blew around him. He began to hum to try to take his mind off the overwhelming blast of cold. Despite knowing Yennefer had been joking, the bard was beginning to regret turning down Yennefer's offer for him to wear one of her furs. He kicked the rocks along the frozen ground until his foot collided with one that was frozen to the ground. The troubadour cursed under his breath. He grabbed his foot in pain and sat down. 

The bard looked at Yennefer and Geralt as they began to argue. He couldn't make out what they were saying. He sighed. Why had he insisted he come? He was cold and it was causing him to be irritable. This would be a lousy ballad anyway. He huffed and relaxed as the pain started to alleviate in his feet. 

Curious, he looked to where he had kicked the object that hurt him. The man froze. It was a small circle. Indented into the metal circle was imprints of swirling lines as though they attempted to display waves. In the center was a single cross, the only thing that disrupted the pattern. 

The bard glanced back at Yennefer and Geralt who were continuing to yell at each other. Jaskier frowned. He would just grab the stone and take it to Geralt; surely touching it alone wouldn't activate the creature. 

Jaskier hovered his hand over the seal as he tried to force himself to touch the metal. He felt the phantom pain once again stab at his throat, reminding him of what the liquified remains of his vocal cords had felt like. Was reversing a wish worth all that pain again? He looked at Geralt rather than his hand as his hand wrapped around the seal.