Anielica

Geralt

Geralt knew he had overslept the second his eyes opened. He could tell by the shadows in the room that it wouldn't be long until sunset.
He stretched, making a low guttural sound.
He dressed slowly, taking in the rooms surroundings. Elena's bed was smaller than what he needed. His feet had dangled off the end while he had slept. He smiled at the memory of her concerned expression when she had realised her bed wasn't big enough.
It did the job nonetheless.
There was very little furniture in her bedroom: a small wooden dresser stationed next to the bed, and across from the bed stood a slightly larger dresser. All gave the impression that their owner didn't posses many things.
He left the small room and headed out in search of his new challenge. Elena.

The birds were still singing outside and the meadow looked transformed in the setting sun.
It was even more beautiful with the sun sinking behind the trees, shadows dancing across the swaying grass. It was very tranquil- he was beginning to understand why Elena lived here.
He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes- enjoying the feel of the suns last rays on his face.
Keeping his eyes closed, he sent power to his ears, trying to locate Elena. It took a bit longer than expected but he finally heard her heartbeat. Two heartbeats. Strange.
He opened his eyes and followed the peculiar rhythm across the meadow and into the forest.

The beating was getting louder but she was still nowhere in sight. He noticed that her heart was beating much faster than the first time he had heard it. The other heartbeat was far too slow. Worryingly slow. He picked up the pace and started scanning the forest with all his senses.
"Oh no.. oh... oh, please no!" He could hear Elena murmuring, panic clear in her voice.
Geralt started running, focussed intently on the sound of her alarmed voice. The thought of Elena in distress made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
Where was she?!

Geralt crashed through the forest, not caring how much noise he made. He could almost feel her presence now. A few more paces and she should be right in front of him.
Geralt stopped abruptly, breathing heavily and took in the scene before him:
Elena was crouched down on her knees, her hands splayed across the body of a small fawn. The fawn was injured, there was blood seeping out of its slim neck at an alarming rate. Geralt had seen enough scenes like this to know the wound was fatal. He scanned the surrounding area looking for danger, but whatever had injured the animal was long gone.
He was just about to crouch down and place a hand on Elena's shoulder to coax her away, when his medallion starting pulling at his throat. He froze.
Elena had her eyes closed in concentration, her hands now hovering strangely over the animals neck. There was something about her expression that made the hair on Geralts body prickle with unease.
What the fuck... She's glowing?

He watched fascinated as a soft, golden glow, started to omit from Elena's body.
The gold haze seemed to throb and move with her heart beat, and it was starting to intensify at her hands- all the while Geralts medallion was thrashing around his neck insistently.
Now the wound is glowing!
The animals wound had stopped bleeding, and it too had taken on Elena's aura. He watched stunned as the wound began to close.
Elena hadn't moved a muscle, changed a single facial expression or even muttered a spell.
This was chaos he had never seen the likes of.
The fawns heartbeat began to recover, and then suddenly it was up and off!
He stared after it for a moment, not really believing what had just happened.
He saw Elena turn her face towards him from the corner of his eye and snapped his head back to look at her.
She had opened her eyes- her bright blue were now the same gold as her brilliant power.
Geralt watched as the glow left her body, first from her hands and feet and then moved its way slowly inwards until it reached her chest, and then it was gone. All this had only taken a matter of seconds.

She looked at him sheepishly, her eyes still hazed with gold. The air around them felt charged with power. Geralt was sure that if any of them made a sound it would disappear.
This was a rare occasion.
He was utterly speechless.
Elena rose slowly, never taking her eyes of him. His medallion- at long last- stopped yanking, just as the last of the gold seeped from her eyes.
He suddenly felt like he could breathe again, and he wanted to know what happened here. Unthinkingly, he stepped towards her, curiosity overwhelming him. He must have moved too suddenly, as Elena startled and lost her footing. He steadied her by the elbow and looked deep into her eyes.
They had returned to their previous colour. A deep, ocean blue. He hadn't noticed before, but they were flecked with gold. He could hear her heart begin to beat faster. He loosened his grip on her elbow, creating more space between them but he didn't let go of her. His hand tingling pleasurably at the connection of their skin.
"What was that?" He asked, his voice sounding too loud even though he had barely whispered.
"I don't know..." she said, finally looking away from him. "It's not something I do often and I don't know how it works or where it comes from."
"Why didn't you tell me before?" He asked perplexed. They were still very close. He could smell the sweet scent of her hair and skin- like raspberries and vanilla. "I didn't know how to describe it," she mumbled. Her blue eyes looked on the brink of tears. He released her with a sigh and stepped back.

She began playing with her hands restlessly in front of her chest, avoiding his gaze.
She looked like a completely normal human, incapable of magic or mutations.
This was perplexing. What on earth have I discovered here?