Of Monsters and Men

He saw Treasa whistle at it and looked around at her. What the devil is she doing? In the time that it took for him to look around, it struck. He felt himself lifting off the ground and landing hard on the ground. His back seemed to scream and his wounded shoulder began pulsating uncomfortably. He looked, and he could see red coming through the bandage. Oh f*ck. He was going to need help. Once they were done with this damn thing, he was going to ask Treasa to give him some medical attention because by the Gods he needed it. He got to his feet and saw it pulling itself towards her, but then she made a familiar hand motion. Axii? Her technique was a little off, he could see that much, but it seemed to work, at least for a moment. It stopped in its tracks, dazed. That was the opportunity that the Witcher took. Bellowing out a primal warcry, Derrick of Kaedwen charged at the creature as it stood there, leaning on its front paws. The distance was closing again and he could feel the blood leaking out of him. He just had to finish this. Once that was done, it'd be over. And then he could rest for a while. Suddenly, as he was about to reach it, it shrugged itself off and heard his shout. It looked around, its single unblinded eye glaring balefully at him. He gritted his teeth and once the gap was closed enough, Derrick jumped and drove his silver blade up towards its eye, aimed straight for where he thought the brain would be on it.

The result, he didn't quite realise, as he was lying on his front with his head in the dirt. He looked at Treasa and struggled to one knee and tried to get up. He fell on to both knees and tried to crawl towards her. His head was pounding with the sound of his own heartbeat. His body gave up and he fell prone again.
"You better have died you b*stard... Killing me like this just isn't fair..." He mumbled. His head felt light. He probably was losing a lot of blood. Where was the horse? That had some healing stuff in it. Yeah... He needed his horse. Wherever it was... Damn thing... Never was where you needed it to be... He refocused himself on reality and tried to drag himself along the ground, inch by bloody inch towards the only person who could really help right now. ​

 

​

Veera was, for once, left somewhat nonplussed. "I suppose you decided with the short version. That's fine, but ho-" she paused, frowning as something tickled the back of her mind. Veceslav's voice, whispering. She sighed, and brushed it away. She didn't want more of his hypocritical apologies, or to hear his regrets. She knew she had messed up, and she knew what she had to do to fix it. He had already taken away her home, what could he really say to make up for it?

Shoving the thoughts away, she turned her gaze back to Kruez, but this time, remained silent for a bit longer. "We should arrive by afternoon." Veera replied instead, looking back down to the tracks. She had a job to do, and by the gods she would do it. "I hope you don't mind the smell of rotting flesh." Or the sight of whatever happened to the people he decided weren't good enough.

​

Treasa stumbled to her feet, one hand pressed against her head. She kept her bow clenched tightly in her hand as she wove her way to Derrick. She had never been drunk enough to consider herself unable to walk into a straight line, but did a concussion count as a first time? She would consider it later.

Dropping to her knees next to Derrick, she shook her head, giving herself a pounding headache but clearer vision before yanking his armor off, reaching in her pouch for whatever she had left. It wasn't much. "Call your horse back." She grated, wiping the blood off her cheek with the back of her arm before pulling Derrick into her lap, free of his chest piece at least. "If you pass out on me before I get these stitched up, I will never let you forget that a woman remained conscious long after you. And every time you try to get laid in the future I will be at your shoulder, telling the poor girl all about how you fainted at the sight of a little blood."

​

Tessa nodded, blushing with pride as she turned and used the money that Sigmund had given her to pay for the blade. It was more expensive then she had thought, and took nearly all of the coin he had loaned her. She gritted her teeth on such frivolous spending, but it was one of the few things she felt she had bought herself. She could afford it, just this once. And if it ended up saving her life, all the better. The dagger came with a small sheath that she buckled to her waist, although it also shrunk to fit around her thigh, useful if she was planning on wearing a dress in the future.

"All set." She said with a smile, letting her shirt drop over the dagger to keep it hidden. No sense in telling the world she was armed if she could help it. She didn't look like much, and Tessa knew it, but she had and would continue to use that to her advantage. She led Seth back towards Matilda and Greg, hands clasped behind her back. "So where do we start?"

​

The basilisk attacking Alastar screeched as the axe bit into its side. Turning to snap at the witcher's arm with its beak, it fell over and rolled as a massive blast shook the ground. Getting to its feet, the creature screeched to its mate and turned, flapping its wings and taking to the air. Even the beast knew that something was massively wrong, and it felt the animalistic urge to flee.

The basilisk attacking Olivia took off into the air to avoid the Yrden. It keened as its mate was attacked by the other, and circled, turning its beaked head towards the pillar of smoke rising to the east. Flapping its wings, the bird careened higher into the sky, waiting until her mate had joined her before they took off, flying as quickly as they could back to their nest, further to the west. It was time for them to pick safer hunting grounds.

 

"If I were a woman..." Solomon began "This would be so much easier" he mused at the table. Fletcher, with those beautiful green eyes, sat opposite eating breakfast
"If you were a woman, I wouldn't like you so much" he responded with a joking smirk, Solomon smiled, but it had only the faintest traces of happiness in it. Abruptly he got up and walked over to Fletcher, throwing his arms around the man.
"Why does it have to be like this" he said with a sigh. Fletcher's smirk disappeared
"Because life isn't fair, it kicks us in the teeth and expects us to get back up again" he said. For a moment they just stood there embraced, until Solomon pulled away, his eyes red from crying
"I... I wish I could help. That's all I want. You're everything to me, I don't want you gone" Solomon sobbed
"...There's nothing either of us can do"

Solomon wailed and howled in the field, the lonely headstone and freshly dug earth at his feet. He beat his fists on the ground, maddened by grief at the sheer unfairness of life "HE WAS TOO YOUNG!" he shrieked "IT WASN'T HIS TIME CURSE YOU!" he cursed the heavens. A dark expression suddenly crossed his face and his expression became unreadable. He whispered to the grave "I told you... if you die before me, I'll go up to heaven and fight the angels themselves to bring you back. I won't stop until I'm done. Whatever the cost, no matter how long it takes... I will bring you back"
​

Vyle's reaction to Ana's kiss came in several stages. First was shock, and he looked at her with surprise. Then came embarassment, and for the first time in his life he blushed. Lastly came happiness, and Vyle smiled at Ana awkwardly like a little boy. Until he abruptly returned to normal and replaced the cold, cynical expression he usually wore. "Come on" he grumbled and lead the group into the city. Oxenfurt was encompassed in thick fog and reeked of death. As they walked into the outskirts Vyle saw some dead bodies, but they were torn to pieces "Ghouls... as expected after such a catastrophic battle" Vyle muttered, but there was still something odd about the situation. The atmosphere felt... unnatural. "It would be much easier to find Solomon's tracks if there weren't this damn fog"

​

Zavarius crested the hill and gazed out over the lands. The city of Oxenfurt was not far from here, and it was most certainly different to when the mage had last seen it. The city was shrouded in fog and showed no signs of life, buildings were burned and destroyed, the once great city had fallen to desolation. Zavarius turned his horse, a mighty white steed, and began to head back to the main host. The mage was another member of the Order of the Supreme and was Archon's head monster hunter. He wore his trophies on him, a cloak of scales, a helmet made from a Leshen skull, and various other trinkets. Eventually he arrived at another hill and lain before him was one of Archon's great armies. They had rallied, from every castle from here to Novigrad, together to fight the scourge that had taken their great city. Their patriotism and desire for vengeance guided them. They weren't fighting for Redania, they were fighting for humanity, against the horrible monsters that threatened their homeland. Zavarius smiled. The soldiers ranged from well-trained troops to peasants who'd picked up a sword, but there were a lot of them, and they were lead by Zavarius's own apprentices, themselves master monster hunters. They could not fail to destroy anything that lurked in Oxenfurt.

Archon's footsteps echoed around the castle as he stepped through with purpose. Earlier, heralds had announced Archon's arrival and now no doubt the commoners had spread out below the castle battlements to hear his words. Servants parted the doors, sunlight streamed into the castle and lighted his face. He slowly stepped up onto the battlements and lowered his gaze to the many people who had gathered. Some of them loved him, some of them hated him. It didn't matter. Today was not a day to make people happy, today was a day of reckoning
"People of Novigrad!" Archon greeted with a smirk.

As Violet wandered the halls she came across the young princess Annabelle. Archon had ordered that the princess should not be there to watch his reckoning
"Princess Anna. Wonderful to see you" Violet murmured "And what are you doing wandering around?"

 

​

"You're more than welcome to try, though I can't say that you'll succeed." It was hard to tell whether or not he was just being cocky, arrogant or just both. Either way he was making it pretty clear that he wasn't about to give up easily, no matter what the risk that were before him were. "Do you think I am some kind of factory that can produce remarks on a whim, dear sir you wound me." Xross said, changing his tone so that he sounded like he was insulted, though it would be pretty clear that he wasn't in any way shape or form. "Though, if you really want to hear a another sarcastic remark, I guess I have no choice but to stick around with you." And just like that, the slightly offended tone turned back to a mocking one.

​

"I'll be fine." Kruez replied. Naturally he'd probably be grossed out, but he would be able to keep it together. As they continued traveling, they came across someone else. This person had said to be 'Veera's older brother of sorts' which wasn't something that Kruez could question so he just left it alone. The man, who introduced himself as Keenan, requested his name. A request Kruez soon obliged in. "Kruez."

Sweallow wasn't all too surprised that she managed to explain what it was that she was holding with ease, but what did catch him off guard was how she was describing various other items among the shop. She was clearly displaying her knowledge on the topic, much to the disapproval of the owner, who had started glaring at them. Basically yet subtly telling them to leave the shop. Terra had noticed this as well and suggested that they leave now. "I agree." And without saying another word, he guided her towards the exit.

 

He saw Treasa come over to him and then kneel down next to him. She told him to call back his horse. He nodded and made a slightly off key whistle. Nevertheless, although he couldn't hear it due to the pounding in his ears, the horse galloped back. He faintly heard what she was saying and forced a smirk on to his face to play it off. She probably wouldn't notice, would she?
"Heh... You think this is bad? You should see the other guy." He chuckled a little and he swallowed back the blood that was trying to come up. He wasn't going to make this any worse. He already looked terrible, he didn't need to look any worse. He didn't resist when she started removing his chestplate and laughed at what she said. "That would mean you're there at the time and hell, I'm not going to complain about that." She probably wouldn't particularly appreciate the comment, but he wasn't doing great and he didn't feel like letting her know just how beat up he felt not only physically, but mentally as well. It was probably silly, but a man had his pride and well... Of all the people he could show weakness in front of, it wasn't going to be Treasa. Veera maybe, because she was a sister, even if she did try to kill him in a vengeance fuelled rage. There were years of trust there, and both of them had been through the same gruelling trials. Veera may well have watched him going through it all, even seen him experience the Trials of the Grasses. That would have been him at his worst. Not to admit weakness to her would be foolhardy. but Treasa was still a stranger. He had pride to uphold. ​

 

​

Teliana didn't suppress the smile on her face at Vyle's reaction to her affection, but followed him without a word. Just like her own healing process, his would time. She peered through the fog, calling a small amount of flame to her hand to act as a torch. "I've never seen anything like this." She admitted, the unease spreading through her just like the dampness in the air. "This isn't natural, whatever it is."

​

Veera tensed when Keenan touched her. Little sister, was she? If Keenan professed to know her so well, then he would have known better and not touched her. She aimed a punch at his stomach before turning away and stalking back in the direction of Pontarsfork, leaving both men behind. "Men." she snarled, her hands clenched into fists. If it wasn't Kruez being obscure and strangely flat, it was Keenan appearing and being overly familiar. She missed Derrick. She missed Aaron. She missed...her stride broke into a run, and she took off towards the town by the river.

​

Treasa was tempted to smack Derrick, but she had a limited amount of time to work, for his sake and her own. Reaching up, her fingers barely brushed the horse's saddle bag. She grimaced, knowing she would be unable to get to her feet. "Sorry for this. Actually.. not sorry at all." Using an arrow from her quiver, she slashed it through the bag, letting the potions and oils fall to the ground next to them. Thankfully, the grass provided soft cushioning, keeping the bottles from breaking. She sorted through them with shaking fingers until she found the one she was looking for. Swallow.

She uncorked it, careful not to spill any on herself, and placed it in front of Derrick. "Unless you want me to feed you like a baby, I suggest you drink that." She could have used a healing potion herself, but there were none to be had. She was just going to have to put her...trust in this witcher. As much as she didn't care for the idea, her mind flashed back to how he had defended her from the monster. Perhaps it would be alright. Ripping off the lower half of her shirt, she pressed it to the gashes on his back, a little harder then necessary after his comment.

It didn't fail to catch her attention that she and Derrick were more alike then she would ever care to admit out loud. Her head swam, and she knew she was bordering on unconsciousness, but should she sleep, she would probably never wake up. And that was a frightening enough thought to keep her awake, for now. And for now, she would just have to hope the Swallow worked quickly on Derrick's injuries.

​

Zack watched the army approaching the city shrouded in fog. His brow furrowed, his eyes narrowed, he strode back towards the camp with Riel. "I'll gather the council. Spread the word to start packing, quickly and quietly." He emphasized the word, knowing Riel would get the message. "We need to leave. Now." It seemed they would have to go searching for help, instead of waiting for it to come to them.

​

Tessa followed Matilda, much more at ease now that she had a dagger at her side. Having Seth with her helped too, but she was used to wandering the streets of Oxenfurt alone, how much different could Novigrad be? It turned out; very different. Novigrad's streets had a bustle that was all its own, the priests of the church chanting, mercenaries standing around waiting for work, and civilians hurrying from one stall to the next. She found herself fascinated, and distracted in turns as she tried to see what a merchant was selling, or a blacksmith was hammering. There was so much, and she found she loved it. But a roar went up, some distance away, and she stopped, craning her head.

"Hey, do you hear that?" She asked Seth, her eyes turned in the direction of the sound. Something was happening...and by the sounds it, it wasn't good. The need to know what was happening overcame her fear, and Tessa started towards the sound earnestly, her white blonde hair flying behind her.

 

Derrick watched her slash open one of his bags and sighed. That was probably her revenge for the smart commentary that he was making.
"Hey!" Maybe it was best to shut up before more of his stuff got wrecked by her. At least she was actually trying to help him. He took the bottle of Swallow and downed it in one, grimacing as he did so. Just because he could drink it, didn't mean that it was pleasant. Veceslav knew how to make the good stuff, but he had used up all of Veceslav's much superior Swallow potions on his shoulder. That was foolish but equally, he didn't exactly expect to be accosted by a giant angry cow beast on the road to Novigrad. His own fairly average mixture did its work, although he certainly feel very good after imbibing it. "Ahhhh, ow! Okay, okay I'll stop making comments! You could... At least give me a break..." Looking at her, he could see that she wasn't doing so well at the moment. He wasn't surprised, but he was impressed.
"You know... I'm impressed. You handled yourself well... For a simple human."




They reappeared in a side street in the city of Novigrad. As soon as they emerged from the portal, Alanna stumbled forwards and held her arm out to catch herself on something. The Doppler rushed forwards and caught her around the stomach as she tipped forwards, exhaustion seeming to overtake her. He pulled her towards him and scooped her into his arms. Stepping out of the side street, they were pretty much outside the inn that they were staying in. He carried the sorceress inside and up the stairs into her own room. He put her down and pulled the sheets open, then placed her into the bed and covered her. She could rest easy now. She had earned it. For now, he was going to relax a little himself. He shut the door to her room and let the lock catch. Then, he walked outside into the street. He took a walk around the city, keeping to crows to hide away from the guards. Then, he noticed everyone converging towards somewhere and simply followed them. When he reached the castle battlements, he could plainly see the King standing there, starting to make an address. He stopped and listened. He had lived in this country his whole life - It would be worth seeing what the king had to say. ​

 

​

Treasa lifted the cloth, doing her best to keep her eyes focused on Derrick's injuries. Swallow didn't immediately heal them, not by any means, but coupled with the regeneration qualities witchers already possessed, it quickened the process. She was mesmerized as fresh wounds slowly became physically comparable to those that had been carried for weeks.

"A simple human.." She repeated softly, tearing her eyes away from his back and shifting, indicating she wanted him to sit up and give her some space. For some reason, the words hurt her, but she couldn't understand why. "I guess not all of us are helpless blobs of skin." She finally replied, pulling her knees up to her chest and breathing deeply to try and clear the head swimming that was slowly coming back.

​

Tessa was swept up by the crowd before she realized it, momentarily separating her from Seth as she was pulled towards the center of attention; the king. Tessa stared up at him, her jaw opening slightly in amazement. She had always heard of King Archon, Bryce had even wanted to go to him for help at one point to appeal their situation. But never had she imagined that he would look like that. That was when she noticed the tense air in the crowd.

This wasn't right, or good. Clenching her fists, Tessa waited to hear the king's words, gaze unflinching as she stared up towards their sovereign.

 

​

Zephyr wasn't sure to be concerned or somewhat relived when Ana said that this fog wasn't natural, but he was leaning more towards concerned. It was already hard enough to see just what was ahead of them and while Ana's flame did make things somewhat better, it only helped for their immediate area, leaving a good amount of the surrounding fog still dark and hard to see through. "Hopefully there isn't anything hiding in this fog." Zephyr muttered to himself.

​

If the fact that Veera had punched Keenan in the stomach wasn't a clear sign that she wasn't amused by what had just transpired, the fact that she had just up and left was a pretty clear indication of that. "Typical." Kruez said with a shrug before running behind Keenan. When they had started to catch up to her, there wasn't much that Kruez had to say on the matter on her briefly ditching them as for anything else that may be wrong, Kruez had no idea whether or not there actually was or if she was just being herself.

​

"You say that like I care whether or not it was an invitation." By this point Talon probably already figured out that Xross rarely cared for what the other person thought, felt, or said. The fact that he was injured made little difference to him right now. "I suppose you could drop dead, you would be free of me and all your problems, but you wouldn't do that. Oh no no no no, you have people that care for you." Ah the whole 'people who care about you' card, or anchor as Xross saw it. It prevents one from doing anything that would cause them distress. or send them to the pits of despair.

Either Terra was bad at hiding her disappointment or she was trying to guilt trip Sweallow, whatever the reason behind it was Sweallow heard the tone loud and clear. They shouldn't be out for much longer, otherwise they'd be risking more harm to Terra's already injured back. On the other hand however, they didn't quite have to go back right now. After giving it some thought, Sweallow had reach a decision. "We could walk around for a bit longer, but you have to let me know if you're back starts acting up."

 

​

"I must have amnesia, because I don't remember ever giving you permission to touch me." She didn't stop running, didn't look for Kruez, didn't care at this point if they kept up. She also found it best to not tell Keenan she did have memory loss. Nothing that far back, but it wouldn't help her case. "You could at least respect what I want, but that would be too much of a stretch for you. So here's a hint. Don't touch me again."

At this point, she had arrived in the village of Pontarsfork. Or what was left of it. Her yellow eyes narrowed, and she slowed her pace to a crawl, looking down in the dirt. It was faint, but she could read the signs of what happened here, telling her the story of how these people....well, died. There was the smell of the dead, as she had warned Kruez, but it was far fainter then she had anticipated. That could only mean most of these people had become fuel. Clenching her hands, she slowly walked forward, taking in every detail of the tracks as she followed the ghostly footsteps of Solomon, and his undead army.

​

Zack wished that the movement of a great amount of people could be as simple as moving a small number. Unfortunately, it was not so. They could not afford to leave a single tent or trace of their remains. While Lila and the Guard Commander took those that were ready and moved deeper into the forest, Zack and Riel stayed behind with those who were not yet ready. Riel was sweeping up the fire pits, erasing tracks, and throwing brush over their campsite in an attempt to cover their existence while Zack flitted from family to family, trying to hurry them along.

They had decided, in the short ten minute discussion, that splitting up their forces would be best. This way, if one were caught, it wouldn't doom everyone. Torture was another matter, but Zack would only cross that bridge when they got there. We need horses. He bemoaned, as one of the very few donkeys was loaded with as much as the poor beast could carry. He shouldered a pack, as did Riel, urging people to finish their remaining business quickly. Riel would take the lead, following Lila and Angeal's path, while Zack would cover the rear to make sure no one fell behind.

It was going to be a long journey.

​

Tessa jumped as Seth touched her, hand going to her blade as she wheeled around, one hand on her attacker's arm. She sighed when she saw it was only him, and relaxed, letting go. "He doesn't ever leave Novigrad, and I've never left Oxenfurt, so..." She turned back to face the king, waiting for her rapidly beating heart to calm down. At least to a more nervous tempo, rather than erratic. "This isn't going to be good." She murmured quietly.

​

 

​

Archon smiled slyly at the gathered crowd. He clicked his fingers, and all along the battlements guards brought forward a line of figures. They were bedraggled and injured, but they looked like ordinary people other than that. "Do you recognise these people? They have walked among us, pretending to be like us. But they aren't like us" Archon bellowed to the crowd. He brought out a knife, the silver edge gleaming "Observe!" he commanded, as a guard brought forward one harmless-seeming man. Archon grabbed his arm, and raised the knife dramatically. Swiping down, he cut the man's arm. The man shrieked, his form flickered, and he suddenly transformed into a horrible trollish creature "Dopplers! Every one of these people are secretly dopplers! Living amongst us, plotting. They destroyed Oxenfurt and given the chance they would surely destroy Novigrad. No longer will we allow these creatures to plot against us, they are a threat to us all, they are a threat to humanity. This is a statement from Archon, Supreme Ruler of Redania, all dopplers are hereby banished from Redanian cities, if caught they will be executed. And so you know this isn't an empty threat, observe" Archon waved an arm dramatically, along the battlements the dopplers had nooses placed around their necks by the guards. The crowd below had begun cheering and roaring for the justic Archon was delivering, and this rose to a crescendo as the guards systematically kicked them one by one from the wall. Some died immediately, some hung there for a moment, strangled. Men and women, they all died. And the crowd loved it. Justice for the destruction of Oxenfurt, justice for humanity.

 

​

Tessa bit her lip as the man was revealed to be a doppler. She knew they had another form, a true form, but she never used it. Bryce had trained her how to remain in her chosen form at all times, and unless she was severely wounded or dead, she might never change back. It made her feel more accepted, more human. Which was all she wanted to be. But here was Archon, talking about them as if they were bad. Her eyes widened when he mentioned Oxenfurt, and she began to tug on her hair nervously, squeezing the hand that held Seth's.

It was only when the nooses were put around the necks of those poor people that she finally understood. "No no no no!" she let go of Seth's hand to barge through the crowd, trying to...she didn't know. Do something, keep those people from dying so horribly. There was no conventional way she could have stopped them, or even made it to the scaffolding in time as the guards pushed the dopplers off, one by one. Her scream was lost in the crowd's cheering as she witnessed death for the first time in such a brutal, staged fashion. They weren't people, anymore. They were objects for the amusement of those around her, and she pressed a hand to her mouth, unable to tear her eyes away from the jerking bodies. Her stomach roiled in revolt, and she was quite certain that if she had eaten, she would have been sick by now.

 

Adolin watched Archon's speech with a stern expression. Archon revealed their true face in a horrific fashion, and revulsion swelled inside him. How could anyone put up with such a terrible king? And yet, the crowd enjoyed it, as the crowd did. He saw someone nearby in his peripheral vision, a platinum blonde girl starting to panic. He looked over properly, guessing what was about to take place. Sure enough, she broke away from her friend and started to try to make her way through the crowd. Adolin shoved his way through some of the crowd and caught her arm with a vice grip from behind and pulled her over to him, a grim expression on her face.
"What do you think you're going to do running over like that girl?" He barked. "You're only going to get yourself caught by those dogs." He put a firm hand on her shoulder and looked around. Luckily, he didn't see any guards near them in particular though he was certain he saw some around at least.
"You're better off just getting out of this square. Go back home. Pack your things. Leave Novigrad. Because if I know people..." His face became more serious than it already was. "Tonight the pogroms start. A lot of people, Dopplers or not, are going to get lynched and it won't matter whether they kill the right people. Get out of here. Make sure you're not one of them." Judging by this display, this was soon going to become another Oxenfurt. Now that they were in the capital, the army wouldn't simply run away and even if they did take the streets, there was still the castle left. And there was no way that they could break that. Unless... He thought about the final pouch in his room. Alanna said we're never going to use that again, and it'd only give people ideas. And it's not what that guy would have wanted. But still...




"No, not at all." He agreed with her statement, sitting up and grimacing as his back knitted itself together. At least, he thought, he hadn't broken anything. He reached for his chestplate which Treasa had removed and saw that the front of it was obliterated. He whistled. "Going to need a new chestplate. Damn, this was a good one too." He put it down on the ground and sat back, supporting his body with both hands as he looked up at the sky. Looks like I'll keep living beneath you, despite the efforts of that thing. He looked over at it. It lay there on the ground, its hide matted with blood and most fortunately, still.
"Say, do you think it's worth cutting its head off and selling it in Novigrad? A monster like that might be worth something. If of course, we could figure out what it actually is." He looked over at Treasa. "Any ideas? Seen anything like it when travelling with Alastar?"​

 

​

Treasa mutely shook her head, raising her gaze to stare at the monster with a sickening feeling in her stomach. "Just lie and say it's a leshen. Most people have never seen one and won't be able to tell the difference." She sighed, lying on her back to try and quell the spinning. "Either way, I'm afraid I won't be much use." Concussions varied, at least in her case, how long they lasted, and she wouldn't trust her hand with a bow until the spinning and headache stopped.

"At least not for a while. How far do you think we are from the city?" She covered her eyes with her arm, wincing at the pain as she accidentally touched the bump on her head. "Maybe someone nearby as a healing remedy for head wounds." And maybe I'm a witcher. Still, if she could get back on her feet half as quickly as Derrick, it was worth the thought. She refused to be simple meat fodder all the way to the capital.

​

Tessa tried to yank herself free, before the man's words managed to penetrate the fog of terror and desperation that surrounded her brain. Nevertheless, she turned, trying to ignore the hand that was still on her shoulder. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, and her eyes wide, but they burned with a combination of fear and defiance. "I just ran from that!" She pointed at the stage, her voice cracking. "Why do you think the dopplers rebelled in Oxenfurt? Because of that! There weren't no king, no, it was the city guard! The commoners, and the merchants, and the rich! They would take bets on how long the doppler could last with all their silvery jewelry pressed against them!"

She grabbed his arm by the wrist, using the self defence skills taught to her by Bryce to wrench it off, and with the intention to twist it uncomfortably. "So I ran here! Now where will I run to?! Have you an answer to that? Not everyone can just find a home anywhere! Not everyone can just leave the little they've got and try to start over!" She was crying again, she was ignoring the danger around them, and she didn't care. How much more could she lose before she had nothing left?

​

 

His axe bit into the creature's side and the beast tried to snap at his arm with it's beak, the arm got caught in the vicegrip of the beast's beak. He roared in pain as he could feel something snap in the arm and was about to go berserk on the beast with his axe as it realeased, the result of some massive blast. The beasts took off and Alastar didn't know what to think of it. The basilisks ran so something serious must have been happening. When his rage started to subside the pain started to increase. He was nearly certain it was broken he used one of his throwing axes to cut off a pair of straight branches and then tried to set the bone using the two branches to splint the arm, when he was done he looked to Olivia "You alright?" He asked her then looked around "We should go before they come back..."

Tobias had already seen the small group of people that had entered the city, while there were a few necrophages following them around in the fog, they had no reason to attack them atleast not in Tobias' eyes. However what one of his other crows had seen, an army and the intent had been made clear when the one rider had moved forward towards the city. He couldn't exactly blame the pesky humans for wanting their city back. He could feel the sentiment of the Scoia'tael now. He had finally given his children a home and they were already coming to flush them out. Well they would have to root them all out then preparations were being made, the gates had been closed and barred, rotfiends had dug in, his three Bullvores were preparing munitions and making sure the gates had been barred properly by stacking large pieces of rubble against them. Ghouls formed up and drowners patrolled the murky waters around the city, grave hags were moving to their designated positions. Today would be a long and hard day, as his people worked Tobias decided to approach the strangers visiting the city himself, keeping his cadre of Graveir guards with him as he approached them, these would hide in the fog just out of sight, ready to jump into the fight if need be. "Greetings strangers, what brings you here?" Tobias inquired.​

 

Adolin saw the expression on her face. It was a scared face, one that to him, seemed cornered, so she didn't know what to do except to fight. He shook his head. Apparently she was a survivor of the Oxenfurt incident as well, and he could tell that she wasn't one of the aggressors either. She was just another person caught in the mess, and now she was angry. Before he could say much else, she decided it was a great idea to twist his arm. He gritted his teeth.
"Stop that, I'm doing you a favour girl!" He hissed. He flickered his form for a moment to show her exactly who he was, and perhaps explain a little more why he was doing this. "Do you think that I don't know? Do you think I've not lost things myself? That's why I'm telling you this. Go find a village somewhere out there. Somewhere where the people don't care so long as you work honestly. Those places exist out there." He gestured to the blades he carried. All three of them, and the throwing knives visible through his slightly open coat.
"It's not the life for me, but whatever life you want to have, it won't be served by running up there and trying to protest against it! You'll waste your life doing that! Hanging, burning, summary execution. Doesn't matter how, or when they do it, but you'll die one way or another." He looked at his arm. "Now if you wouldn't mind releasing me, then maybe the two of us can get the hell out of here? And your friend over there. I'm guessing he's one of us?"




"I'm not going to go as far as a Leshen, it doesn't look right. A Fiend maybe..." Derrick considered. "We're not too far I should think. Certainly not more than a day. Let's get back on the road, I think I'll manage. But first..." He picked up his Silver Sword and strode over to the dead creature. He hefted the blade and got to work. It was a somewhat arduous process, considering the size of the thing, but he managed to get it off and dragged it over to his horse. He hefted it up and tied it to the horse. It whinnied in complaint but he shushed it.
"Ow, my back." He complained, both from the exertion of carrying the sizeable head and that he had to pick up all of his potions and alchemy supplies and then put them in another bag. He clambered back on to the horse when he was done. "Come along! We've a ride ahead!" He remembered at that moment, that he wasn't actually wearing a shirt as Treasa had to remove with his armour to get to his injured back. He fished a spare out of his bags and pulled it on, then strapped his blades to his back and let his medallion hang out of the shirt in plain sight. ​