To Thaw A Frozen Heart

~ chapter 15 ~

authors note : i'm back bitches :)
- sorry for the LONG wait... I'm gonna try and update regularly ;)
This is a short one - sorry!

Triss POV

'It's been a week since Geralt left. He did not mention where he was going, or if he would return, but I soon hope he does. Strange things have been happening with the girl, Antea. Seeds I keep in jars have broken the glass and sprouted into new plants, flowers not due to bloom for another month have budded already, and all of them - well, all grow towards her. They are reaching out to her. I must keep observing.'
Triss closed her diary and looked back to Antea. It was peculiar. The plant that Geralt had smashed before he left was playing around her fingertips, and all of the others seemed to be trying to reach her hands, too. I've never seen anything like it. Not in all my years.
A loud neigh from outside woke me from my thoughts.
Walking into the bright morning sun, a peculiar fog clouded my vision, but I could see Antea's horse outside, she seemed unsettled.
'Shh, shh - it's okay darling' I whispered as the mare stomped her hooves.
Birds screeched from the trees, and the villages pets cowered in their shelters.
A scream from my home alerted me and I dashed back in - and what I saw... I had never seen before.
Plants and herbs that grew from my ceiling, and roots from the underground broke through my flooring and their pots to cling to Antea's body - hoisting her above my table.
Leaves and vines wrapped themselves around her limbs and intertwined with her fingers. But the most disturbing part was her face. She had no more white in her eyes, only a dark moss green. It was like she was in some kind of a trance, although her breathing was ragged.
Suddenly, the door was burst in behind me, and Geralt came charging through sword in hand, eyes fixated on the vines around Anteas legs.
'Geralt- wait!' I cried, but it was too late.
He slashed through the stems that geld Anteas frail body, and as he did so, her eyes returned to normal and she cried out in pain. Geralt backed away suddenly, fear in his eyes as he watched her small body writhe. Her trembling hands reached out for the wilted flowers beneath her and as she reached, they did too. I noticed a glow around her hand that was emanating towards the flower - she was giving it life.
'Antea stop! You're too weak!' I rushed over to the girl but she would not stop. I held her up as her body began to go limp and her eyes began to tire, looking to Geralt for help, he stood there, shocked. All he could muster was
'Her hair...'

And as I turned  to look at the girl who was now fast asleep, I only now noticed the strands of newly grey hair framed her young face.