Of Monsters and Men

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Vyle let go of Zack and didn't exactly calm down but he left them alone he heard him shout a name a very familiar name, he had already suspected he had been here after seeing Tatiana who had just gone off to who knew where. Zack came over to thank him "It's nothing. And yes he probably would have, but there's no point in would have beens. It turned out fine, I guess you only have to thank yourself or Tessa seeing she sent for me." He looked at the girl, the medic was still working on healing their mutual friend though the magic was all done and it required stitching. She had started but Tessa struggled against Seth trying to hold her down. He knelt next to the girl and put both his hands on her shoulders to hold her. His grip soft but his strength helping in holding her down. "It'll be okay, it'll be okay. Just stay still, it'll be over soon and you'll be okay."

 

Derrick nodded to Aaron's suggestions. He hadn't considered that line of thought. He raised a good point. It was impossible to tell who exactly had cast the spell, so he was open to either possibility. The only real option was to find one of them and then establish a chain of events from there. Otherwise, they could stand here and take shots in the dark as to what happened forever and get basically nowhere.
"Good point, I hadn't considered that. My assumption was that the one who was free to cast the spell was able to get away. Perhaps it could have been a distraction for the other though." The Witcher put his hand on his chin and approached the false panel. He yanked the bolt out. "There's something behind here..." He pushed the false panel to the side, revealing a lever. He clicked his fingers.
"Just as expected. Now then, let's se-" Before he could get any further, the Higher Vampire burst in. He sighed and fixed his eyes on the Vampire's. "Make your mind up. We can't afford to waste time. We'll had a hard time catching them in the streets of Oxenfurt, but we'd have had more time if you had decided this earlier." Nevertheless, he followed the Vampire out. Before he did, he looked Aaron.
"Your sister should be outside. You might want to take care of her. Follow us if you want. After all, it's your sister." With that, he followed the tracks that he could see on the ground with the inhuman speed of a Witcher, following the tracks that were laid out before him. It was already getting difficult to follow everything, and it was only going to get harder the more they went into the main thoroughfares of the city.​

 

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Now unlike Teliana, Zephyr wasn't all that knowledgeable on Witch Hunter, so he wasn't all that certain as to why she said that they would be in trouble. Well other than them being in cages. That was kinda a give away that they were here for tea and crumpets or whatever you want to call it. Hearing Bryce mention the skeleton using mage caught his interest, but he kept this to himself. Just what did they want with him? Then Teliana spoke, also mentioning the skeleton mage. She too apparently knew something about him and was willing to give up that information for his release. Zephyr wanted to know more about the mage too, but he didn't want anyone sacrifices themselves for him to get said information.

The next sequence of events happens in a bit of a blur for Zephyr. One of the men that had arrived along with Milosh had walked into the cage that he was in and placed a pair of shackles on him. It didn't take long for him to feel the shackles limiting his magical ability to the point where he couldn't use them the way he wanted to. This certainly would make things problematic for him if not for a certain thing. Teliana had caused an explosion that had cause the perfect diversion. Part of him hated the fact that once again someone was risking their own lives for his own sake, but he wouldn't be able to return the favor if they both got caught. So he ran. Ran as far and as fast as he could.

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Kruez didn't even know that Tatiana had looked towards him during Vyle's freak out. Partly because of his lack of attention towards the whole this as well as it wasn't long before he simply just walked out and started wandering about. It'd taken long enough (and totally isn't Mok's fault) for him to get bored and thus started to do what he did best. Walk around til he found something til he found something else of interest.

He'd taken a few steps away from where he left where he saw something out of the corner of his eyes. That something was Tatiana being dragged into an alley. This sight cause him to sigh. Part of him really wished that it was Derrick instead of her. That way he could at least pretend that he didn't see anything and keep to himself. Hell if Tatiana could actually handle things on her own he probably would do the same. But alas she couldn't, thus our current situation. "Ah fuck it." Having said that, he headed into the alley. "So a buff guy, a defenseless girl and a dark alley, I'm guessing you lack originality then."

Sweallow was in the middle of looking through some notes when he heard his guest speak. He pressed his hand down on the page he had stopped on and turned his attention towards her. "Think nothing of it, I just did what I felt was right at the time." Despite being a Doppler, Sweallow thought differently from the more trouble causing dopplers. For example he'd chosen to study in the field of medicine so that he'd be able to help other should the situation arise, much like he running into the woman he was currently speaking with. "You don't need to pay me back, but I would like to know your name."

 

Raymond had gone to sleep when the witchers had meditated, when he woke up they had left his home without a trace. He found himself some bread and a bit of milk and had himself a nice breakfast thinking about all the things that had occured, was he sure t hadn't just been a dream? Witchers at war and the war would take place here in Oxenfurt? Would the Redanian Army be involved? Did the King even know? How would a war involving witchers even work? There were so many questions his little peasant brain couldn't answer. He just went about his normal morning routine trying to figure out what was going on. He came to the conclussion that the shock of losing everything that had given him so crazy dream after that one beer, but he wasn't such a lightweight wasn't he? He had been drinking a lot heavier stuff back in Aedirn, though he hadn't had a proper meal that day. He went out of the house to go fish.

After Ana had been put into the cage Milosh wrote a note for his superior informing him of the catch of the day. Making sure the letter was on it's way. Egon had finished preparations for the burial of their younger comrade and while Jaroslav would remain behind to guard the cage of the now crying Ana. Jaroslav wasn't as cold as Milosh was and attempted to atleast comfort Ana a little bit. Jaroslav knew he couldn't do too much for her, but atleast attempted to console her. Outside Milosh Egon and a few others attended Dragan's funeral, burning his body. Milosh took the opportunity to remind everyone of protocol and why it was important to follow it. With the body burned they cleaned up the traces of it. Milosh was getting rather eager to get to work, but he would eat something. He treated himself to some salted meat as he began to prepare the tools of the trade.

Spoiler: WARNING: Contains acts of torture

Milosh went to get Ana from the cage and lead her to the torture chamber. He made sure there would be Dimeritium on her at all times, shackling her to a metal rack, with her back on it as if she were laying on a table. "You really should have eaten something, but hey you clearly thought you knew better." A devious grin appeared on Milosh's face, he had ordered Jaroslav to remove the bread from the cell and halve the amount of water in the bowl. Milosh paced around the table that had all the tools of the trade arrayedand selected a very sharp razor and made several shallow cuts on Ana's arms to start with, without asking her anything. He had after all told her he wouldn't ask nicely first after her stupid action of helping that other mage out and killing Dragan. He made a few more savouring the pained expression on her face trying her best not to scream. "It's okay little dove, sing for me." He whispered in her ear as he slowly made another shallow cut on her right arm, going from the pit of her elbow up to her shoulder. After that he used it to cut a citrus in half and squeezed it's sour juice onto the shallow cuts, he threw the drained fruits into a corner and watched her for a few moments letting the juice work it's magic.

Having finished with the razor for now he put it back in it's rightful place and took some near boiling salt water to pour over Teliana's arms. He then picked up a turka from the table and looked at her hands. Trying to decide which pretty little finger to start with. "Say, lovely little dove, what can you tell me about our glorious ruler Archon Dragoncrest? Or no wait even a better idea, why don't you tell me about that mage that summons the skeletons. Tell me what I wish to know and I might let you go free." Milosh said almost sounding sincere, but the look in his eyes betrayed him. He would break this woman, body and spirit and she would tell him all he wanted to know. He had made up his mind and a smile appeared on his face, her middle finger that's what he'd go for first. The sign of defiance would be broken and he put the turka just in front of her fingernail in anticipation of her answer, prepared to ram it underneath her fingernail to tear it off. The symbolic sign of defiance would be broken.

 

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"Easy for you guys to say." Tessa retorted through gritted teeth, whimpers slowly making their way out of her throat even after the old woman was done. "Fuck me." she whispered, sweat beading her forehead. People kept coming and going, and while Tessa couldn't keep track of them, she grabbed at Seth. We have to get away from here. Let's leave. Just go." We have to get away. She was sure Bryce had his reasons for hurting her, but she didn't want to be a part of it. She didn't want to see the pain reflected in his eyes, didn't want to have to hurt him, or him to hurt her.

She felt panicked, and though it could be attributed to the trauma she had just experienced, she knew it wasn't it. She felt like she was losing control, or losing something. What it was, she didn't want to find out.

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All too soon, her time had run out. She had nearly fainted several times on the way to the room, her breath coming fast and her vision blurring. It was the panic, the flight or fight response, but the dimiterium kept her from doing either. She didn't struggle against her chains, only stared up at the ceiling, where flecks of blood coated the walls. This entire room smelled of death to her, a promise of her own future. She took a deep breath, letting it hiss out between her teeth as it began. Milosh was a patient man, and it showed through his methods.

(Milosh doesn't play nice, kiddies, proceed with caution)

Spoiler

For every cut, she pictured blue skies, or clear ocean waters, or the birds singing. Something happy, something peaceful. Pain was all in the mind, but she couldn't keep her mind occupied forever.

As the turka was slipped underneath her nail, Teliana closed her eyes. "Don't know Archon. Never much cared for his methods." She said, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "You didn't keep your promise, you were supposed to let him g-" her words were broken apart as she screamed, the tool doing what it was made for as her fingernail was slowly torn from her middle finger. She didn't stop screaming until the deed was done, and lay there panting, sweat breaking out over her forehead. Only nine more to go. She almost laughed, but it was replaced with a soft sob instead as she opened her eyes once more to stare at the ceiling, wishing the gods would see fit to force it to collapse down upon her.

She wouldn't be able to keep from telling him for forever. Swallowing, she turned her face away, shutting her eyes once more as a solitary tear drifted down her cheek. Eventually, she would give in. But the pain wouldn't stop until he wanted it to stop. And men like him never stopped hurting others.

 

Spoiler: Warning: Milosh still isn't playing nice so proceed with caution

Teliana thought putting up the brave face would save her skin. "Really now, well I suppose I can't blame you." Milosh said then she started telling him he had broken a promise and he cut her off by dragging the Turka back from underneath the nail, the first sign of defiance had been broken, blood covering the fingertip. He walked around to the other side "I never made any promises, I don't promise things to mages, they always betray you in the end. Their lust for power simply making everyone else merely a means to an end, a stepping stone just to that next level of power." He pushed the turka underneath the fingernail of the other middlefinger destroying this fingernail too, ripping it off. "See you're starting to sing, I always appreciate that. I really do." He said circling the table.

"I'll ask you again my dear little fire mage...What can you tell me about the mage that raises skeletons." He started off nice then his tone became demanding as he asked about Solomon. "You know, no one is gonna find you here, you're all alone and you can make the pain stop. All you have to do is answer my questions and I'll let you go, how does that sound going back to your friend?" He wiped the single tear away from her face with his rough hands. "Don't cry, look at me, do you think I wept like a babe when a fire mage ravaged my face?" He asked her, this was why he hated them his entire scalp burnt clean, his face burnt the skin hurting when it was too cold or too warm. He hadn't let a single tear over it. He put the turka under another fingernail this time the ringfinger. The symbol for love and being together, he'd destroy that next, ripping away piece by piece. He once more pulled the Turka and the third nail came off once more walking to the other side he put it in front of the nail, ready to slide it under and rip it off "So, lovely little bird. What will it be?"

Adalwulf and Bernard had ran outside just after the incident intent on finding Zephyr, they saw him bolting in the distance and went after him. He could not get away, they had to catch him. Milosh wouldn't exactly kill them for failure to comply but they still would get several lectures and disciplinary actions for their failure. They themselves wanted to see this mage caught too. Bryce had told them he knew of another mage, one that raised skeletons and that one should definitely be captured and immediatly be burned. He sounded like a rather dangerous individual. The chase through the city streets went on corner after corner they were on him like bloodhounds. They were chasing the mage through the streets of Oxenfurt unbeknownst to them they were themselves being chased. Adalwulf being more familiar with the city of Oxenfurt told Bernard, his junior to keep on chasing the mage, he would swing around and they would corner him. Bernard remained on Zephyr's tail as Adalwulf split off from his comrade in an attempt to get to Zephyr from two sides.

 

Ethan's pov:



Wilfred told him that he should go talk to Dave or to try Boenn. He guessed that he should go. "I guess I should be going now." With that done he walked away from Wilfred. He did not see how Wilfred could help him anymore. He continued to walk and notice that Ellyn was still here. She must have things to do in town like he did. She was standing by Dave which was a just odd because that was where he was heading. It sounded like the girl was leaving from what she could tell and she was taking someone with her. Maybe Dave would not be in the best of moods and it might be better if he wait some time. There was always Boenn that he could try and if not he would head to Novigrad.



Will's pov:



He stood at the bowl with the water in it. Hours may have went by. He could not find Teliana she was not using magic for some reason. What the reason was he could not say. That said it would be difficult to find her if she did not use any. Maybe going to Oxenfurt right away would have better results then doing this, he did not know, but he had to keep trying. He thought back to Oxenfurt. Even a hundred and fifty years ago the place had Dopplers. This would not be a good thing going forward. Whatever the case he wanted to see how Teliana was doing. For now he would continue to search and hope that Teliana would show herself some how some way. He wondered what the girl had been up to all this time.


Olivia's pov:



She guessed that it might be time to do what she came here for and not wait for forgetful Derrick. Maybe that was Axii draw back if you used it to much you would forget along with whoever used it on you. She continued to walk past the various books on the shelves. She was not all that happy with this situation. With that said and done it was time to go. Time to see what Oxenfurt had to offer.

 

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Derrick helpfully lead Vyle through the streets of Oxenfurt with incredible speed, and eventually they reached a point where the two split off. Vyle pointed for Derrick to follow the main tracks, while Vyle followed the tracks that split off, presumably to corner the mage (Adalwulf). He'd gotten accustomed enough to the scent that he could follow competently enough. As he passed an old bell tower his thoughts reached out to the bats gathered there and willed them to follow. Eventually Vyle came across the man, and sent the bats fluttering forward to surround him and slow him down. Vyle caught up and easily tackled the man to the ground. He pulled out his knives and pinned down the man's arms "Witch Hunter!" Vyle snarled "Tell me where they've taken the mage! WHERE IS SHE!?" he would murder this man if he had to

"Oh yes, several assassin friends of mine are after your head" Willow responded to Bryce casually "But yes, I'm sure you have plenty of important things to be doing, an important man like you" she said dryly "See you around" With that, willow walked away. Eventually, she came across one of her contacts "I'm still going to kill her, don't worry. It may just take longer than expected" willow leaned against the wall, not looking at the hooded figure "Don't you think I tried? I... what?" an uncomfortable and slightly confused look crossed her face, she was slightly surprised by whatever the figure was saying "... I see. Well hopefully it won't come to that. I'll head to White Orchard as soon as I can"

 

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Veera wandered the streets of Oxenfurt. She hadn't found anyone she recognized yet, and while some of this filled her with relief, it also concerned her. She hadn't found Aaron yet either. She turned down a side street, frowning to herself and tapping her fingers on her crossed arms, when shouting echoed across the alleyway, bouncing off the stone walls. "By all the gods." She drew her silver and iron blade and raced towards the noise, only to find one man being pinned down by another. It was easy enough for her to understand a semblance of what was happening, but who was righteous here, and who was not was much harder to understand.

"You'll get nothing from this man if you kill him." she said to Vyle, bracing herself for battle just in case this went wrong. "Explain to me what has happened and perhaps I will help you."

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Bryce nodded towards Willow, and then opened the door. One by one, five cloaked figures entered the room. "There's been a development. I am going to go into hiding until it is time to march to the battlefield. Two of the finest swords are to stay by my side, and the rest of you will disperse to ready those who are ready to fight. We will leave at dawn." He looked at each one with a soft smile. "I am touched by your loyalty, and I have faith that with you by my sides, we will win this fight, and those to come."

Bowing to him, three of the cloaks turned to leave, while two came to stand at his side. Bryce nodded to each of them, grabbed his pack, and headed outside. It was a dangerous move, but it was only a short walk to his hiding place. He would indeed remain there, just in case Seth or Zack had the balls to come after him. Just in case Tessa had been alive to tell them. Just in case she survived.

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Spoiler

"Wrong choice of wor-" Ana screamed again as the turka was shoved underneath a second nail. She lay on the table, panting as Milosh circled to the other side. She shuddered when Milosh's hands touched her face, but refused to turn and look at him. Yes, she wanted to go back. She wanted to go find Vyle and just leave and everything would be okay. But that was an already dead dream, killed the second she had been smuggled outside of Oxenfurt. "I'm sorry for what has been done to you." She whispered, gritting her teeth as the turka was placed underneath the next nail.

The scream that tore from her throat didn't sound human, it wasn't a sound she would have thought could be produced by her own self. "His name is Solomon, he's a necromancer, he can raise the dead." She cried as she spoke, the tears leaving dust stained tracks down her face. I'm sorry Vyle.

 

Adalwulf was chasing the mage down the street then all of a sudden bats came out of ****ing nowhere in the middle of the day. This was heresy! Magic was at work here bats stayed in during the day everyone and their grandmum knew it. He tripped upon the uneven cobbles, fell and covered his face to keep the bats away from his fast. When he was getting back up a man tackled him to the ground and immediatly got a knife put to his throat. He looked at Vyle without fear in his eyes. "Mage? What Mage? I don't know what the feck yer on about." He said, not able to keep the fear out of his voice but that was simply because of the creepy bloke on top of him.

Spoiler: More Milosh not being nice, be warned kiddies

Milosh paced around the room as she finally decided to start spilling. A smile appeared on his face Solomon the necromancer eh? Well then ain't that the newsflash well atleast they got a name for the ******* now. "See I just wanted to talk." He said putting the turka away. He had savoured the sound of her screams which echoed through the room. She sang so beautifully. "So this Solomon got an idea where I can find him?" He asked her the tone of his voice sounded more kind but it was forced.

"Don't cry, little dove, it's okay just tell Uncle Milosh everything and you'll be fine." Again there was no sinceretiy in it. He just wanted his answers and he wanted them quickly, he had other business to deal with and as much as he loved to make this lovely little birdy sing he wanted to get to this other business. He walked over to the table picked the turka up again and another little favourite of his to use in combination, a little wooden frame with a dimeritium screw in it. The frame had holes in it to have a finger put into it and the screw could be tightened. Normally it was just for pressure on the finger, Milosh however had this one specificly made and had the screw end in a pointy end.

He placed it over the nailless middle finger and tightened turned the screw a little the pointdigging into Ana's flesh as he once more prepared to break a symbol. This time it was the symbol of promises, the pinky finger. Her little soft pinky finger would be next on his list. Another icon destroyed.

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Veceslav held the girl down as she gritted her teeth and retored it was easier for them to say and well she was right. He let go of her and did catch how she grabbed at Seth. "I advise you two to leave this city and not come back for a while. I don't know what'll happen, but this city won't be safe that is for sure." He then got back up and saw Aaron one of the two witchers that had gone astray he didn't say a thing to the man just looked at him the same way a father would look at a son that has disappointed him deeply he walked over to young man and gave him a hug, he was only slightly wounded but he was still alive. "Where's Veera?" He whispered

 

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Vyle punched the man in the fact as he defied Vyle, trying to decieve the vampire "This man is a Witch Hunter! His associates have captured my friend!" Vyle explained to Veera "I know what you've done! Sick, depraved, coward!" he snarled "You're not going to tell me anything are you? Fanatical creature!" Vyle knocked the man out and left him on the ground, he was hesitant to kill him with the witcher woman so close "Are you a friend of Derrick's? You might as well come along for the ride" running along again, he found Derrick "Derrick! The favour you're going to get from me for this is going to be massive, trust me. I've changed my mind again, we're going to head down that tunnel. We just need someone to navigate the sewers, and I think I know exactly who..." With that Vyle headed back to the building, witchers in tow.

 

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Veera narrowed her eyes at the mention of witch hunters. "I see." She sheathed her swords as Vyle screamed at the man and then knocked him out. "You know Derrick? What an interesting fellow you're turning out to be." She followed him, and froze, her hands clenching as she laid eyes on her witcher-brother. She had to remind herself that it hadn't been that long ago she had stormed out of Kaer, because to her it felt like years. Derrick looked much the same, albeit a little harried. Clearly his hunt wasn't going well. "Derrick." She murmured in greeting, her eyes wary and her body tense.

She hoped he wouldn't decide to press the issue, their issue right now, not when a mage had been taken by the witch hunters. She may be many things, but a mage killer, she could not stand. At least witchers and witch hunters chose what they could be. Mages had no say, most of the time. Just like dopp-her mind whispered before she cut it off with a sharp jerk of her head, turning to follow the strange man.

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Tessa held onto Seth's hand, her eyes a mixture of pain and fear. "Let's just go. Veceslav says we should, and I don't care about the horses, we can walk, let's just go." She tried to stand, gritting her teeth as the movement pulled at her newly torn and sewn together muscles. "Please, before he comes back. I don't want him to finish the job." She finished breathlessly, her heart pounding as she clung to the wall and Seth in her attempt to stand.

While she was pleased her legs were holding her, the healing woman was clearly not, and shook her head, a frown on her face. "You don't have someone chasing you." She told the woman, her legs shaking. "You don't know.." All at once she felt her mouth go dry, and swallowed past the sudden lump in her throat. "You don't know what it's like." she whispered, pressing one palm to her eyes to stem the sudden flow of tears.

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Zack watched Tessa with sadness, his mouth pressed into a tight line. She was right. Bryce might still come after her, or him for that matter. It wouldn't take a large amount of genius to figure out how Tessa had been sent Bryce's way. What he couldn't understand was why Bryce hadn't just killed her. He had the skill needed to take down a witcher, so why was this young girl, with very little martial skill still standing?

Because he was too weak. Was the only answer Zack could retrieve. He couldn't kill something, someone he loved. Zack felt his fist clench. He needed a weapon. He needed to end this, to do something, to fix what he had done. He needed to find Bryce, and put an end to this.

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Spoiler

Teliana whimpered as the new device clamped down on her already throbbing finger. "O-oxenfurt." She whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. She didn't want to see the ruins of her fingers, didn't want to see what the man was about to do to the rest of the digit, didn't want to see these walls, didn't want to be here. "That's where we were looking. He likes big cities. Novigrad, maybe."

She sucked in her breath as the turka was placed under one of the remaining fingernails, and her heart felt like it would burst from the apprehension of what was about to come. "Please..." she whispered, begging the man to stop. She didn't want to do this, didn't want this. Please gods, if you can't save me then just let me die.

 

And so the Witcher followed the tracks, and then the vampire. It seemed that all semblance of sanity was quickly disappearing from him. They split off, but on his route things came to naught. The main track led on to the main road. In the confusion of the well trodden main path, there could be no hope of finding anyone. For lack of anything better to do, Derrick backtracked. Perhaps he could catch up with the person he was ultimately doing all of this for.
"A Witcher, helping a vampire..." He muttered to himself. "Who'd ever believe such a thing?" He soon reached the fork again, but there was no need to search. Vyle was there too, arriving at the same time and with him an all too familiar face. He blinked in surprise.
"Veera? Of all the places, an alleyway with a Higher Vampire that we aren't actually trying to kill." He said lightly. She looked tense. She was radiating it. It seemed that she could scarcely meet his eyes, but he could not for sure say why. Perhaps she was embarrassed for her earlier outburst, but that seemed wrong. She wasn't like that. It must be something else, but that was a matter for another time. "Well, we are Witchers. We're capable of navigating the sewers." At least he was going to get a big favour after this. Now that Veera was involved, he couldn't help but wonder - How deep did the rabbit hole go? The idea of reporting this incident to Archon and offering his services in tracking down the people responsible came to mind again.
"I assume you found something other than Veera on your route?" He inquired along the way, raising an eyebrow. ​

 

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Vyle sprinted along the streets, trusting the witchers could catch up. He knew the streets of Oxenfurt well by now, he'd run back and forth so much. Vyle hated that he'd been wasting so much time, Ana could be dead by now. But there was always the chance that the Witch Hunters would be savoring keeping Ana alive, Vyle grimaced as he considered what the witch hunters would be doing to her, he'd heard stories of their torture methods... he didn't like thinking about it, but it was better than thinking about her death. Eventually Vyle arrived back at the scene near the building and grabbed the doppler he'd previously grabbed (Zack) "You. Doppler, right? Come with me" he pulled the man into the building, to the secret hatch "Did you work out how to open the secret passageway? Because this doppler can guide us through the sewers, presumably. I'm certain the witch hunters would have used these sewers to get out of the city, so you just have to guide us out" he poked the doppler in the chest. He was getting slightly infuriated and losing self-control, he knew, but he had to find Ana.

 

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Zack felt himself yanked backward, and spun around to face the vampire who had nearly torn his head off earlier. He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could get so much as a word out, poor Zack found himself dragged off by the overly powerful man. As he stumbled to keep up, he turned towards Veceslav, to call out a warning, to ask for help, to whimper in fear, he didn't really know, but by the time Vyle shut the door, it was too late. The vampire demanded one of the people he was with, witcher by the looks of him, to open the passageway. Zack recognized him as one of the people who had been floating around the area, and crossed his arms, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. The uncomfortable feeling turned into fear when the vampire poked him in the chest. Zack opened his mouth to tell the vampire to stop, that it wasn't his fault, that he was just trying to stay out of it, but remembering the reaction speaking out had gotten him, he shut his mouth and nodded quietly, looking for all the world like a lost puppy.

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Veera stiffened. A Higher vampire? She glanced from said vampire to Derrick, noting his casual stance. Forcing a smile, she simply shrugged. "I suppose we find ourselves in some strange positions in this world." She watched Vyle take to the rooftops, and sighed. Men, always taking the dramatic way. With a shrug she followed Derrick and the vampire towards a slightly decimated structure. Vyle grabbed one of the people standing around, and towed him inside. Derrick followed, and Veera prepared to, when she stopped, the hair rising on the back of her neck.

Gods....She turned, her face tightening as her gaze met that of the one person she had dreaded seeing after all this time. "Crow." She whispered, her hands clenching at her sides. This was not how she had imagined this happening, not at all. She needed to go, she needed to help Vyle, and possibly the poor man he had towed inside, before someone was murdered by the impatient vampire. She took a step towards the door, reaching for the handle, but her body refused to move, frozen by too many emotions to identify. So this is it.

 

"Yes, that we do." He agreed with a sagely nod. "We have nothing to fear from that one. Nor do most. He is somewhat of an irregularity amongst vampires. We won't be needing our Silver. Not for him." Vyle was no Katakan or Ekkimara, so consumed by their thirst for blood that they were feral, nor was he in accordance with the rest of his kind. Meeting any other vampire on the road, Higher or otherwise, would have led to bloodshed. Higher Vampires were powerful creatures. Even the most skilled of Witchers had cause to fear them for their incredible powers. Derrick followed him. After all, that's what he had roped himself into now. He noticed that he couldn't actually see Tatiana around. He frowned, but thought little of it. With Veceslav nearby, it was unlikely that anything would have happened to her. The Crow was if anything, a protector. His name had seldom came through his head when he heard it uttered in a low, panic stricken voice behind him. He looked around. Veera had seized up. His suspicions only heightened. If she had done nothing wrong then there was nothing for her to hide from him. She could be paranoid, or perhaps there was something hidden, lurking that she had not mentioned... He should have pressed Aaron. Shaking his head in annoyance, he grabbed Veera and pulled her inside.
"Yes, I'll open the passage. One moment." Derrick turned his intense amber eyes upon Veera, speaking quietly though urgently. "If you freeze up at the very sight of him you'll give whatever it is away. You're lucky I heard you. I have an awful suspicion that you've got Aaron mixed up in something. You should tell me at least what you've got yourself into. What you do to yourself is your business, but now you've got him mixed up it's no different. I've no desire to have two friends dead, one barely a man." ​

 

​

Veera turned her gaze to Derrick, opening her mouth and then shutting it again. "He's his own person. He made his choice." Though even to her ears it sounded weak. Half of her wanted to curl up into a little ball and wait until the world passed her by, forgot about her completely. The other half wanted to shove Derrick away, demand who the hell he thought he was. She often forgot he was only six years younger then herself, the way he treated her; as an equal, and in many ways they were.

She recalled practicing by his side, under Veceslav's direction; training, riding horses, swimming in the lake near the Kaer. We were children. We knew nothing. It had always felt the same, every time she returned from a mission back to the welcome company of Veceslav and Derrick. Even when their numbers dwindled, and then rose with the recruitment of Aaron and Olivia, the feeling hadn't changed. Until the very last time she had returned home, to the Kaer. Until Veceslav had turned his back on her, and Derrick with him.

She yanked her arm free, her face smoothing into one of stony silence. "We are not friends. And Aaron's done nothing wrong. The blame lies with me. So leave me alone."The last words left her mouth in a hiss as she turned and stalked towards Vyle, aware but completely ignoring Zack's presence. She had no more time for his kind today. She would help this vampire as she said, and then.....she was going to go hunting for a monster.

 

​

Veceslav turned to Seth who thanked him, he had heard he was dead broke so Veceslav held him a small pouch of coin. "I know what you did to Tatiana, normally it would warrant death, and I think both of us know that pretty damn well, your one saving grace..." He started in a low voice nodding to Tessa "She is the only thing keeping me from murdering you on the spot. I hope this has been a lesson for you and I am willing to let you go, on one condition. I know damn well you can change appearance and you could still continue your little sadistic adventures. You are going to get marked something you can't shift away and I'll let you go. There's a friend of mine in Novigrad by the name of Sigmund, he'll help you you need to look around in the Golden Sturgeon ask the barman what fish came in today and if he asks you about anything specific ask about a swordfish." He told the man and drew the silver sword motioning him to wrap his hand around the blade for the mark. He had caught Veera walking past, but he had to deal with that later he turned back to Aaron "I am gonna regret askin this but you mentioned a battle what in the name of Melitele have you gotten yourself into?" He asked, when he asked where Tatiana was he began to realise she had left he had been so focussed on Tessa that he hadn't exactly noticed where she had gone off to. "We ought to look for her."

Spoiler: More of Milosh and co so be warned Kiddies it ain't pretty

The little mage was starting to spill what she knew, she really had given up easily. He tightened the screw until he was sure it was digging into the bone of her fingertip. Without saying an aweful lot he destoryed the finger nails of the pinky fingers. He put the Turka away as Egon came walking in a whispered something in Milosh's ear. "Ah, it would appear that I have something more important to do now, is there anything else you want to tell me, before I go to that slippery mate of yours who nearly got away? He's in the next room especially for you so you can hear him sing." Milosh said nearly turning away going for the door waiting her response at the door. It was a lie they hadn't caught the runaway mage at all but she didn't know that and she had been putting in an effort to make sure he got away. He heard her out and then left her in there, they imitated the sounds of torture in the next room just to tick her off a little bit more.

Then it was Jaroslav's part to be played, he entered the torturer's chamber and removed the fingerscrew and cleaned and cauterised her bleeding fingers using an iron poker telling her to be as quiet as possible. He told her he was gonna get her out of there. Unshackling her from the metal rack, he told her he couldn't unshackle her because he didn't have the keys to the shackles around her wrists. Milosh and Egon were busy as were all the other Witch hunters in the base they were either out on hunts or inspecting some of their more lucrative ventures or picking up shipments. He lead Ana out of the cave and into the forested area past the grave of young Dragan. Jaroslav supported Ana when she stumbled helping her along telling her there wasn't much time before Milosh would find out and come after them.

Adalwulf only grinned as the vampire realised his mistake in attempted to hear him out. He took the words fanatical creature as a compliment and laughed until Vyle knocked him into unconsiousness. Bernard was still chasing Zephyr unbeknownst to the fate that his comrade had befallen.