[Chapter Size: 2000 Words.]
Third Person POV
Kaedwen.
...
...
"Then... Looks like there's a nest around here. They're ruining our hunt. At this rate, we won't have any at anyti soon." Coen murmured while they were in a small clearing in the middle of the forest, though the grass was tall, as three figures examined the blood scattered around the area.
"And this one died in a pretty ugly way..." Lambert said, looking at the deer's corpse, devoured with bite marks that indicated the work of small monsters, with only so parts of the head and legs remaining, while the animal's skeletal structure was completely visible.
"We haven't been here for two months and we've already got this problem. These things are worse than pests." Geralt comnted with an indifferent tone, also examining the carcass.
"They're Nekkers, judging by the bite size, and at least twenty of them... Looks like we won't have at today... damn it." Lambert said, still analyzing the corpse.
As they discussed, footsteps approached them quickly, almost no sound being heard in the movent, but the witchers could sense it, as it was quite close. The person also didn't seem to want to hide their presence, and all three witchers quickly looked up, raising eyebrows and eyes when they saw who was approaching.
It was Madara, wearing black clothing, having left his Akatsuki cloak behind to travel.
"Madara!" Lambert laughed. "You finally made it. We heard so of the rumors... What have you been doing on the other side of the kingdom? You seed pretty busy." Geralt comnted, aware of the rumors from travelers and even Lambert's account when he returned to Kaer Morhen with a hunchbacked girl.
"It's been a while. You all look guilty." Madara said as they all greeted him. Either way, he turned to the deer carcass.
"I have so dead animals stored with , so you don't need to worry about at." He said.
"Great news. At least we won't be eating dirt today. Lack of protein is a cri against a witcher." Lambert said, grinning at his own joke.
"Anyway, I think we could take the opportunity to hunt down that Nekker nest, since we're here." Coen suggested.
"I think that's a good idea." Geralt murmured, turning to Madara. "You coming?"
"No. You guys can handle it. I'm heading to the castle." He said as he said goodbye, heading alone toward Kaer Morhen, running and jumping between the trees, just about two kiloters from the castle.
The witchers continued searching for the tracks of the small creatures until they vanished into the forest, around Kaer Morhen.
Madara arrived at the entrance a mont later, while he could hear soone training near the gates. There was no doubt it was Ciri. Madara kept approaching, passing through the gate, and it didn't take long for heavy footsteps to co from afar, from sowhere.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Ciri exclaid from the other side, stopping her training as she saw the griffin passing by, heading toward the entrance like a dog finding its owner.
The girl had a confused look — until she realized why it was acting that way. Madara appeared, and Totó stopped in front of him.
"What are you doing?" Madara murmured, touching the animal's neck.
"Madara!" Ciri exclaid, dropping the sword and quickly approaching him, while he left the griffin aside to receive a hug from Ciri, who imdiately grabbed him.
"Finally, you're back." She said, a little displeased, but also with a tone of longing in her voice.
Madara returned the hug.
At the sa ti, Triss, who was sharing the courtyard with a girl sitting crookedly, a book in hand, looked up when she saw Ciri running over and saw them reuniting beside the griffin.
The girl also looked surprised, having her own thoughts upon seeing the man who had sent her here. Triss was surprised too, as she stared fixedly at them.
Madara and Ciri hugged for a few seconds, while the griffin moved a little away. And Madara had to gently push Ciri back. At the sa ti, she smiled and quickly leaned in, eting his lips with hers.
Madara didn't refuse the kiss, and she stepped back, wearing a slightly mischievous smile, but he said nothing.
"Now you're going to stay here, right?" she asked.
"We'll need to talk about that." he said, while she raised an eyebrow upon hearing it.
"Is Vesemir here?" he asked.
"Yes, he's inside the castle handling a few things. Do you have any idea how much I've learned during this ti?" she said excitedly. "Let's practice a little after you finish talking with grandpa," she said.
Madara raised an eyebrow at the nickna she gave Vesemir, but at the sa ti, they had that kind of relationship, so it was normal.
"Alright," he said, starting to walk away from there with her following him.
He looked at Triss sitting with the other girl, satisfied that she was there and apparently learning sothing with Triss already.
Imagining that, seeing the book in her hand and the notebook, she was formally learning to read. Since he knew that girl was illiterate, without any surprise.
Madara wondered how she was getting along with Ciri. Even though they were the sa age, both lived in opposite worlds — even if each had their own suffering. At the sa ti, he knew Ciri wasn't soone who would despise her like everyone else had in her life before coming here.
"You sent Isabela to beco a sorceress, didn't you?" Ciri said, coming closer, while he drew the hunchbacked girl's attention, who looked a bit embarrassed at being ntioned so openly.
"And is she fit to be a sorceress?" Madara asked, looking directly at Triss, to whom he had posed the question, and not at Ciri.
Triss had been analyzing her the entire ti. Upon hearing the question, she remained silent for a few seconds.
"I tested her as a sorceress and, yes, she's suitable to learn magic," she said, while Isabela shrank even more, being introverted due to a series of bad events in her life.
Since she ca to the castle, she was surprised to end up in the middle of the woods, still fearing she would be hurt — even though she had chosen Madara's offer to beco a sorceress.
The witcher who brought her was quite ironic, to the point she was very afraid of him, but he never hurt her, despite her hearing him talking the whole ti for more than two weeks of travel.
When she was introduced to the group at Kaer Morhen upon arrival, she couldn't say a word. Everyone there studied her with different expressions upon learning why she was there, but there was no judgnt, neither for her appearance nor for nicknas like "monster", nor any open rejection.
Vesemir accepted her living there, waiting for Madara to explain what he would do with her.
Isabela saw a sorceress for the first ti and imdiately confird all those stories about sorceresses, upon seeing the beauty and confidence of Triss rigold — who was introduced the mont she saw her and approached the girl with curiosity — while she studied her.
She also comnted that they were surprised Madara had asked to evaluate the girl.
After that, the girl her age, extrely beautiful, who introduced herself as Cirilla, looked at her with curiosity and asked questions about her condition directly to the sorceress, who explained what Madara had already seen.
That she was a Source, that she had a great connection to the energy of Chaos, and that her body couldn't handle it, deforming until it reached that condition without any training.
"Like !?" Ciri had asked imdiately.
Upon learning that she had received the sa diagnosis from Triss — being a Source who couldn't control her power very well, especially before Madara's training — she was horrified, imagining she could have ended up in that form too.
But Triss shook her head and said at that mont...
"If you had reached that condition, clearly Calanthe, your late grandmother, would've done sothing to change it, since you were a princess of a kingdom that had power and wealth. As queen of Cintra, Calanthe could've hired any skilled sorcerer on the continent to reverse your situation."
Unlike Isabela, who ca from a humble family, where the concern was simply being one more mouth to feed.
Isabela was still surprised as the conversation continued, the girl with snow-colored hair was still kind to Isabela, despite her being quite shy and answering her questions with stamrs or not knowing very well due to her difficulty in speaking.
In the end, the older witcher had given her a room with a bed that Madara had left available — and it was the best she had ever slept in her entire life.
She had never felt so little discomfort after a night of sleep, considering her hunchbacked condition.
The days went by and she started getting used to that routine. Although still quite shy, Ciri managed to talk to her, making Isabela open up a little more. Triss also talked with her and took her to do so magic tests, all with positive results.
No surprise, she was suited to learn — and could even reverse her body's condition, if she went to Aretuza.
That lit a spark of hope in Isabela, dreaming of becoming a sorceress...
"Do you think I could be as beautiful as you and Ciri!?" she asked directly to Triss at that mont, which made the sorceress laugh.
"Yes." Triss answered, making Isabela even say she would trade half her life to have those conditions, to no longer be called a monster.
And so she stayed over two weeks at the castle, since she arrived with Lambert.
Triss started teaching her how to read and write the basics — while also training Ciri in magic — and she was very happy about that. Although she seed a bit nervous when asking the sorceress sotis about her future.
'Am I really going to Aretuza?'
But Triss seed to give a slightly more negative answer about that.
Then she would explain the conditions that would have to be t to go there, saying she couldn't fund her and that it depended on a direct answer from Madara. After all, he was the one who brought her, and it was in him that the girl now placed her hope.
She was with the sorceress every day, while learning to read and write. And now, on this day, the one who had helped her before had returned, making her feel a sudden nervousness. After all, her fate now depended on Madara.
She was surprised as Ciri rushed toward Madara and could swear the two kissed, realizing they were a couple, which wasn't a surprise, since Ciri talked about Madara all the ti and she heard many incredible things from her mouth, even asking herself, wanting to know more about the boy who saved her.
Back to the present, Madara looked at Triss then his gaze fell on the girl, before answering the red-haired sorceress.
"Alright. We'll talk about this later. I'm just going to greet Vesemir," he said to Triss, leaving the matters about the girl — and even what happened — for later.
He headed to the castle, and Ciri walked beside him. And Triss also followed, walking right after at the sa pace as Isabela.
They reached the large gate, opening it, until they found Vesemir working at his cauldron.
Looking curiously, he was surprised to see Madara.
"You finally arrived..." he comnted, a little surprised, taking care to extinguish the cauldron without revealing exactly what he was doing.
"Yes, I'm back," Madara said with a small smile. "But we need to seriously talk about so things," he added.
Vesemir nodded, aware of the rumors. Thanks to Geralt going out a few tis, he had gathered so information a week ago, when he entered so villages where rchants were frequently seen — and managed to get so intel about what was happening in the west of Kaedwen.
-------------Nexts Chapters ----------------
Chapter 206 - Exploring Val Drahzûn 01.
Chapter 211 - Ciri vs Madara 01.
Chapter 221 - The Threat Is Already Chasing Her.
Chapter 229 - Horse Race.
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