Embers

The Witcher

Chapter 21
Geralt's POV

He couldn't sleep the night after they left the farm. Geralt was relieved Jaskier had made his way into the other direction. Not having the bard around with his never ending chatting would have been dangerous by now. His mood was low due to lack of sleep and during the night, Geralt made sure the campfire stayed bright and burning.

To his surprise, Eira went to sleep close by him. She hadn't spoken to him the whole day while they rode their horses through the woods. Only murmured something when the witcher went out to hunt a hare or two. He had no doubt the elemental felt his mood, which made her silent and let him have some space.

He was grateful, but wouldn't say it. Geralt just wanted to have a night of rest. Meditating didn't help. Counting bloody sheep didn't help. And getting drunk, he still had to try and considered it for the day after.

Yet, the elemental had laid down on her side next to him. Her hand peacefully under her cheek and her breathing soon became calm. Geralt hadn't seen Eira sleep. She usually went out into the forest to find a place for her own to spend the night.

He arched a brow when he thought about it. Maybe she became more human when time went by. Her presence didn't disturb him. The Witcher got used to Eira travelling along with him. They bickered sometimes, much to his amusement. The stubborn streak and the way she lifted her chin high when she tried to prove her point, made him bite back laughter every time Eira did that.

Geralt saw every hour pass of the night and when morning came, he had grunted and cursed. Which woke up Eira from her peaceful slumber.

"Couldn't sleep?" She asked while she stood up and stretched her limbs.

Geralt snapped his head towards her.

"No," he bluntly told her. "Not that you could know," he snapped angrily.

Something in her features twitched and she swiftly turned to follow him with Bramble. Geralt had no idea where the Pale Widow was located, only that they had to look for a cave or something that would lead them underground.

"There's still some hare from last night," Eira disturbed his thoughts.

He didn't reply, he wasn't hungry.

Instead the Witcher looked around and jumped of his horse when he found some bones on the ground. He took one, circled it between his fingers and threw it down again.

"A child," he muttered. "We're close."

"How do we kill it?"

He took a deep breath through his nose.

"They're really fast which makes them tricky. Though, it shouldn't be too hard to kill it."

"Did you kill one in the past?"

Geralt slowly turned to face her.

"Stop with the questions," he snapped again. "We will just kill it and move on."

There was the twitch again in her face, the light scrunch of her nose and the way her eyes pinched together. The elemental didn't say anything, just followed him down the path until they noticed the entrance of a cave.

It should have been easy ; kill the Pale Widow in her nest and leave. As soon as Geralt noticed the enormous centipede-like creature, he had drawn his silver sword and attacked it. Without thinking about it, certain it would be over and done with in just a few minutes.

It wasn't.

The Pale Widow had heard him coming. The footsteps of the Witcher heavy and he hardly noticed he was making noise by rocks tumbling down everywhere with each step he took. He left a worried elemental behind him, but knew Eira was still close when the Pale Widow attacked first.

There was a sound of roaring water that came their way and Geralt took a second to glance over his shoulder. There must be a stream inside the cave, and Eira had her hands raised in front of her, a look of determination on her face.

The witcher was distracted. Not only was he slow due to his lack of sleep, but he kept his gaze on Eira too long. The Pale Widow struck him by the shoulder and he tumbled down the slope. The sting of pain was gone as fast as Geralt stood up again.

Squinting his eyes, he searched the darkness for the beast. The roaring water closing in on them.

"Geralt," Eira spoke loud. "You're too slow. Get out of the nest."

Her voice was stern and he saw her standing a bit further. Still in the same position, but whatever she was doing, it took a lot of strength of her. Even from where the witcher stood, he could see the sweat drops that started to form on her forehead.

He cursed loudly, shook his head and swung his sword around him. The monster had emerged out of the ground and towered over him, but the witcher was able to wound it. It wailed out of pain. It wasn't dead yet and still had a fight in her.

The monster lashed out. Geralt jumped out of the reach of her claws and tentacles.

"Geralt! Get out!"

Eira's worried voice reached his ears and he huffed angrily. He wasn't too slow. This beast was stronger than he had thought. And he still had time. Whatever Eira was doing, the Witcher was sure the water was still far away. The rumbling did became louder, echoed against the walls of the cave and back to him. 

The monster might be strong, the Witcher was sure he was stronger. He swiveled around again on his heels, his silver sword ready to strike. The pale widow was faster, saw his attack coming and turned slightly. She used her tail to sweep him off his feet. He let go of his sword during his fall.

Geralt fell and got the air knocked out of him. In the distance, he heard Eira curse and the sound of roaring water stopped abruptly. The magic that was laced in the air was gone and Geralt searched for his sword while he kept his gaze focused on the pale widow before him.

The monster moved, saw its chance and bared its ugly fangs. The widow made a slithering sound and dove towards Geralt. Yet, a large rock covered in ice knocked it back. And a second rock hit the beast on its body, a third, a fourth...

In the meantime, the Earth started to tremble underneath them. Caughting the Pale Widow off guard and it wailed in pain when sharp, stone rocks grew out of the earth. It looked like sharp teeth shooting out of the Earth. Wounding the monster in the progress.

The Witcher came to his senses. He grabbed his sword, thrusted forward and planted the weapon in the Pale Widow's stomach. The scream that it let out was deafening and black, bloody goe spilled over Geralt. He pulled back with all the force he had in him and saw the monster fall down.

"Are you insane?!" The shrill voice of Eira came from behind him and Geralt turned to face her.

"Fuck off, Eira," he snapped, saw that twitch in her face again, but also noticed her rage.

"You could have died! Why are you so fucking reckless!"

"I wasn't. I had it under control," he lied and wiped his face with the back of his hand. "It wouldn't have killed me."

He already started walking towards the exit when he felt her hand on his shoulder. Geralt turned and glared at her. Only to be met with a furious glare of the elemental.

"You aren't immortal," she snapped. "If I wasn't here, the Widow would have killed you! And it's just a Pale Widow!"

"If you weren't here, I wouldn't have been distracted," he said angrily. "And I would have some peace!"

He finally knew what that twitch was in her features when Eira backed down from him. It wasn't anger, it wasn't a tic. It was hurt.

Geralt gritted his teeth together when the look of hurt on Eira's face stayed there while she looked at him. He regretted his words. Part of him knew that she had been right. Because he was exhausted, he had behaved reckless.

He felt the goe starting to cool down and Geralt slowly felt chilled to the bone. The Witcher's gaze travelled back to Eira who shook her head slowly and started her way towards the exit. He sighed and felt a headache starting to form above his eyes.