Songs of Fire °Jaskier, The Witcher

°0.1°

0.1 |blood of my blood|

IT HAD BEEN WEEKS. Weeks since Valeria Blackfyre found the black dragon egg in a dark cave.
Every night in secret she would lay the egg in the fireplace, hoping that it wasn't too late for its creature inside.
The seventeen year old girl was slowly losing hope with each passing day.

Valeria did not have much to hope for in her life. Years living in excile as the beggar queen that's what the masters liked to call her. Her father was a cruel king, that she knew. It was still no reason to ruin her life as well.

Walking through the markets of Erondell, the girl witnessed horrors on a daily basis. After the fall of her father's kingdom, Valeria was bought by a slave trader and brought to the island of Naath, an island close to the Continent.
Valeria walked past the wall of shame. All those who've committed a crime are nailed to a cross, waiting for an inevitable death.

"Do you like it?"
A man rode his horse beside her. He motioned his head to a man on the cross, with blood covering his face.
Sighing sofly she nodded her head.
"If a man has committed crime, a man must pay, master."
The man nodded in satisfaction. Valeria hated the masters. No one deserves to be treated the way these people were. No crime could justify this torture. The girl winced when she felt a whip hitting her back.
"You should have been up there a long time ago."
The man on the horse sniggered.
"Come, slave, master Kreach is waiting for you."

***

Valeria stood in the background, behind her master. The only time she could make her presence known was when she needed to serve her master or his guest something.
The man who master Kreach had invited was tall. His white hair and almost golden eyes were fascinating to Valeria. He was a witcher, she learned.
The master snapped his fingers, signaling for the girl to serve them some ale.
She quietly walked forward and filled their cups. She felt the golden eyes of the witcher on her.
Her hands softly trembled while pouring the drink. She hated when someone stared too long. Did he recognize who she was? Did he look at her in lust or just interest?

She stepped back without saying a word. Many minutes passed and Valeria would stare at the witcher from time to time.
The white haired man refused to accept her master's offer. The witcher would kill the monster they'd been dealing with but when master Kreach wanted a person killed he refused.
Valeria gulped. Master Kreach would not like that. He would get angry, and when her master got angry she would be the one to be punished.
She bit down on her lip feeling her back burn even though nothing had happened yet. Most times a whip would slash against her back when he was angry or he would use his hands. The worst nights were when he sent others to her to deal with his anger. Because if something went wrong it must have been her fault.

***

It was the middle of the night. Valeria was walking back to her chamber. She was done for the day. No more duties. She could go back to her egg. Maybe something had changed.
She walked through the dark streets of Erondell.
She hadn't received any punishment from her master yet so she was anxious.

A strong grip on her arm pulled her into an alley and she gasped.
She was about to scream but a hand on her mouth stopped her.
"Don't scream. I'm trying to help."
Valeria saw the golden eyes from before.
The hand slowly fell from her mouth.
"Six men just entered into your chamber. I wouldn't go in their if I were you."
Her eyes widened. Her egg layed on the fireplace in the open for everyone to see. They would have found it by now.
"I-I have to go their. There's something in there. T-they might steal it."
The witcher let her go.
"What's worth the risk of going in there now?"
She avoided his gaze and looked into the street.
"A dragon egg." she whispered.

"What?" his voice sounded harsh. She flinched at his tone and looked down.
"It turned to stone, sir. I've been trying to hatch it for weeks but nothing works."
Her voice was soft and quiet. She feared what he might do.
"If they get the egg, I have nothing left. Let me go in there and if they have the egg then I'll die along with it."
The man stepped back and Valeria walked into the streets.
She turned back to look back at the man one last time.
"It was an honor to meet a witcher, mister.."
She turned quiet again, waiting for his answer.
"Geralt." The man grunted.
She nodded and walked away. She whispered to herself.
"Goodbye Geralt."

Valeria opened the door of her chamber. Six man stood around the fireplace. One of them slashed his sword against the egg. Another did the same.
A large gash appeared in the egg and Valeria cried out. She ran towards it but two men pushed her back.
"Don't touch it!"
The men laughed and the door behind her opened.
"Let's bring the bitch to her master."

Valeria was pushed against the cold floor and not too long after the stone egg was thrown onto the floor as well.
Master Kreach walked towards the girl on the floor of his chamber.
This one was ten times the size of hers.
"What were you trying to do with this?"
Valeria cried while reaching for the black dragon egg. The master pushed it away with his foot.
"Nothing, master. I swear."
She cried out when he pulled on her white hair to make her look up at him.
"Don't lie! That thing is worth a lot and you hid it from me!"
Her loud sobs were the only sound in the room.

Her cheek stringed when her master slapped her cheek.
"You filthy whore!"
He turned towards the men with a smirk.
"Do what you wish with her. Don't kill her yet."
One of the guards walked towards her and threw her against the wall. She felt the blood coat her forehead and hair. She felt a few more kicks and she was pushed towards the other side of the room again.
She cried hearing the footsteps of the men approach. Her eyes found the egg laying on the other side of the room.

Her crying slowly stopped. She pulled herself up on the iron cast that held fire. To her surprise she felt no pain from the heat.
She stood up and turned around. The man looked at her and even master Kreach stayed behind to see what was happening.
"You don't deserve to be the leaders. You should be the slaves," she spat.
Master Kreach laughed.
"You crazy cunt, do you think anyone would serve you? Never!"

Valeria grabbed the fire holder. Her eyes darkened and she looked the man in the eye.
"You're not going to serve. You're going to die."
And with that she pushed down the holder. The fire spread from the cast onto the floor.
The fire engulfed one man's leg and he started screaming.
Valeria limped towards the other side of the room towards the door.
She grabbed the lit torch from the wall. Master Kreach tried to run towards the door but Valeria stepped in front of it and dropped the torch.

Screams of agony was all she heard but she felt numb. Walking towards the dragon egg, she grabbed it en hugged it to her chest while sitting down on the ground. A tear escaped her eye, waiting for the flames to engulf her.

***

Geralt followed the rest of the people of Erondell towards the broken down building. Last night it cached on fire, exclaimed everyone. The master he talked to yesterday was inside the building along with seven other people. None of them made it out alive.
He heard a few gasps when the witcher got closer to the pile of ash.
Stopping in his tracks he saw the reason everyone was surprised.

In the pile of rubble a naked girl sat. Her white hair all dirty from ash and blood. Geralt stepped forward and the girl raised her head. Nothing on her skin seemed as if it was hurt by the fire. Many more people gasped or fell to their knees when they saw a baby dragon crawl onto her shoulder.
Just like everyone else gathered in Erondell, Geralt kneeled for Valeria Blackfyre.

The unburnt and mother of dragons.