Throughout that pivotal fifth year, Geralt's "prophetic dreams" became increasingly detailed and specific. He would wake with tears on his cheeks, describing visions of white hair that marked him as different from everyone around him, of yellow eyes that made children hide behind their mothers' skirts. He spoke of potions that burned through his veins and mutations that stripped away his ability to feel emotions as others did.
"In the dreams, I remember you," he told his mother one particularly poignant evening. "But only in pieces, like fragments of a broken mirror. I remember your voice singing to me when I was small, but I can't remember your face. I remember the smell of herbs and healing magic, but I can't remember what it felt like to be held by someone who loved me."
But perhaps most effectively, he described dreams of meeting his mother again as an adult witcher—brief encounters where she would heal his wounds and then disappear again, leaving him more alone than ever.
"She always looks so sad in the dreams," he would say, his young voice breaking with emotion. "Like she regrets something but doesn't know how to fix it. And I want to tell her that I forgive her, that I understand why she had to let me go, but the words never come. We just look at each other, and then she's gone, and I'm alone again."
These visions served a dual purpose. They demonstrated to Visenna the emotional cost of the choice she was contemplating, while also providing Geralt with credible prophetic knowledge that explained his understanding of witcher lore and the world beyond their small village.
As winter approached and Geralt's fifth birthday drew near, both mother and son knew that the time of decision was approaching. The dreams had grown more urgent, more specific. Geralt began describing visions of Vesemir, the oldest witcher at Kaer Morhen, and the choice that would soon be presented to them.