Chains of Destiny (book 2)

Chapter 39

The two soon exited the portal and somehow ended up in a run down town known as Lekar. It was close to Vesina but it would still take them well over a week to reach their destination. "Where are we?" Selene looked over at Geralt and frowned a bit. "Lekar, a town that was once full of life, it too like Vesina was destroyed in the war." Geralt looked at her shocked. "So we're close?" "Still over a weak away. I wanna know who sent us here, I also want to know why here. Where did that portal come from." Geralt looked at Selene and nodded.
     Even he was curious as to how they got here and who created the portal. "So, what do we do next?" Selene frowned as she tried to think. "We need that last book, I have a feeling some of the answers I want might be in there." Geralt was silent as he listened to her. "So we go off and we find that final book." Selene wanted to agree but something told her they needed to go straight to Vesina.
    "No." "No?" "No, we need to head straight for Vesina." Geralt's eyes widened. "But the book?" "I feel like whoever has it, and I'm positive someone does, they're waiting for us in Vesina."  Geralt looked at her before sighing. "Then we need to go, now." Selene nodded and they started heading towards Vesina. Even if they were in fact well over a week away.
    "While we were with Iorvath, in the forest. I heard the whispers once again." Geralt's golden eyes widen. "What did they say?" "I needed to go home. We need to find the keeper of time." Geralt however was still confused by this. "I wonder who that is." "I have absolutely no idea, I'm hoping to find out in Vesina." He simply nodded as the two continued traveling out of Lekar.
     "They say anything else?" "That I needed to hurry, I don't know why though. I don't know what's going on. It all happened before the hunt showed up." His eyes widened once more before he frowned. What the fuck was the hunt after? It wasn't just Ciri, no, they wanted no they needed something else. Something extremely powerful. "Whatever it is, I won't let anything harm you." "I know, I trust you with my life after all." He simply gave her a soft smile before they continued to travel.
     "Any idea what we're gonna find there?" "I have absolutely no idea, but I know we can't avoid it. After this we need to make a straight shot for Kaer Morhen, winter is almost upon us and I don't wish to travel in the cold." Geralt nodded. He wish they could have stopped for jobs, or hell, even go and check in on their friends, but they couldn't. Not with the Hunt on the loose and especially not with Selene possibly being a target.
     They continued to travel and Geralt looked around. He could see the way the town had fallen into ruin. A place that was once probably full of life was now empty and barren yet what puzzled him was the sight of certain houses. Like they were untouched. "I wonder why these are ruined?" Selene looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
     "These houses, some of these look like people still live here." Selene looked over and frowned at what she saw. "I...I really don't know." "Wanna check it out?" Selene looked at him and nodded. "Yeah, let's see what's going on." They soon stopped their horses and dismounted before walking towards one of the still standing homes. Inside a fire was lit and food was on the table, even if it was moldy at this point. "Impossible. How is there a fire still burning?"
     Geralt frowned as he knelt down. "I don't know, my medallion isn't humming, is yours?" Selene only shook her head as she looked around. Yet something compelled her to walk into the other room. As she walked into it she froze before letting out a scream. Geralt heard the scream and ran to see what was going on when he saw it. Children, no they weren't dead. But they had been turned to stone.
    "Oh god." Selene was trembling slightly. Who or what turned these people to stone? Or were they simply just statues? "What the fuck happened here?" Selene backed up before looking at Geralt. "I don't know, I can't even tell if these are actual humans turned to stone, or just very realistic statues." Geralt frowned before he pulled her out of the house.
    "We need to leave, now." Selene could only nod as she climbed onto Raven and Geralt onto Roach. The two quickly urged their horses out of the town and onto a path. "When was this place destroyed and who would have been strong enough to turn people to stone?" Selene was silent for a moment before she looked at him. "Roughly 10 years after the fall of Vesina. I have no idea who could have been strong enough to do this."
    Geralt frowned but they continued to travel towards Vesina. "We should take the longest way possible." He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "What?" "The long way, we can't afford to be seen by anyone and we can't afford for someone to learn where we are heading." Geralt sighed before he nodded. "Long way it is." Ans with that they took off towards the path on the left.