Year 1251
Geralt's POV:
"A dragon?"
"Aye. A dragon. It's a big black one." The farmer told him with his arms crossed. Geralt just looked at the stubborn man. Dragon's we're extremely rare and hardly seen. It was most likely a Forktail or perhaps even a Slyzard.
"Does it breathe fire?" Geralt asked trying to puzzle out if this was actually a dragon.
"Well it's a dragon innit? So I imagine it does breathe fire." the farmer said with what sounded like a growing anger.
"Sure...who has it attacked?" Geralt asked hoping to see if their were any living witnesses.
"No one. It normally just flies around the mountains but since it's there, everyone's too afraid to cross the mountains and go to Rivia where we can sell goods." the farmer explained.
"What's it been eating? Not much game in the mountains. It must have to come down sometime for food." Geralt observed.
"How the hell should I know? You going to go kill it or not?" The farmer said finally getting frustrated with all of Geralt's questions. Geralt thought about it. This really didn't sound like dragon behavior to him. In fact he very much doubted it was a dragon at all. Probably just some draconid that the farmers had confused for one.
"Alright I'll deal with it. I'll be back for my coin once the deeds done." Geralt told the man. The farmer nodded apparently satisfied.
"About time you accepted. Beginning to think I was going to have to go hire someone else." The farmer said as if it were a threat. Geralt almost snorted at that but managed to keep his face still. There weren't many who would willing go after a dragon for such little coin. The real professionals didn't even go after dragons for contracts but rather for a chance to steal their horde once they killed it. As a general rule, Geralt tended to stay away from Dragons but in most cases there were rarely dragons involved. Geralt moved and approached his horse. A brown stallion he, of course, called Roach. He mounted him and looked towards the Mahakam Mountains. They looked no different than any time he had passed through them. He gave a slight kick to the horse to get it started towards the mountains. He knew there was usually some inhabitants that lived in the mountains so hopefully one of them could point him in the right direction. The climb up the mountain passes was surprisingly peaceful. He had not encountered anything besides a few wild animals who had scurried away as soon as he had gotten near. He hadn't even encountered any wolves which should have been more abundant nearer to the bottom which was odd. Still he pushed on towards the peaks.
Eventually the pass got to small for a horse and Geralt had to continue on foot. He was already quite high up at this point so he wouldn't have to push much further. He was actually surprised he hadn't found a nest or cave yet for whatever creature was nesting here. Not much mountain left and that meant there was less space to have a cave or a nest. Still, he continued on as he had already taken the contract. He pushed up higher and higher towards the peak. He was almost near the top when he noticed it.
"Medallion is humming….hmm." Geralt said to himself as he looked around. He was actually in a part of the trail where the path had widened considerably. To his left was the obvious long drop to the bottom where as the on the right there was an open space that had a rocky overhang. Now that he looked at it more closely, it looked almost looked like the start of a cave. Geralt frowned and walked forwards until he was near the wall. His medallion hummed even louder as he approached the wall.
"An illusion?" he asked himself. He touched the wall only to see his hand sink through it as if it wasn't even there. Geralt pushed forward through it as he confirmed his suspicion. As he pushed into the wall, the one thing that Geralt didn't expect to see was the most coziest cave he had ever seen in his life. The hidden cave had a comfortable warm feeling in it with torches all around it and a nice fire place in the middle with expensive chairs surrounding it. On one side there was a large open space that nothing had been done with. Off to the other side, there were quite a few book shelves, what looked like lab equipment, though not like any he had ever seen before, as well as a king sized bed. And in that king sized bed there appeared to be a man. A man sleeping quite comfortably if his light snores were any indication. Geralt walked up to the man and leaned down. The man appeared to be young with hair as black as night and a scar just above one of his eyebrows. He reached over and shook the man awake as he wanted some answers. The man opened his eye groggily and stared up at Geralt with confusion.
"Ummm….Can I help you with something?" The man asked Geralt. Geralt just raised a single eyebrow. Not quite the response he had been expecting from the man.
"Are you the one who has decorated this cave?" Geralt asked first. The man smiled at that.
"That I am. Why? Do you like it?" The man asked in a semi excited tone. Geralt just looked at the man. It was quite possible that he wasn't entirely all there. Geralt looked around the cave before looking at the man,
"Seems...cozy." He said drily. The man nodded as he got up and revealed himself to be wearing a simple shirt and trousers. A little strange as most people slept either in their undergarments or in nothing at all.
"I thought so to. That's the vibe I was going for. Wasn't really planning on having any guest, especially so soon but I guess it's not problem. What's your name stranger?" the man asked.
"Geralt of Rivia." He told the strange man. He didn't miss the twitch that had appeared for a second on the man's face as he gave his name.
"I see. The date must be closing in then. I guess I should start making preparations. Tell me Geralt of Rivia. What year is it?" the man asked as he started moving about and throwing on regular clothes.
"It's the year 1251. I have a few questions for you." Geralt said as he remembered what he wanted to ask.
"Shoot." The man said as he moved over to what looked like a work table near the rest of his lab equipment and started looking through his papers.
"Shoot what?" Geralt asked confused. The man just shook his head.
"Nothing. Ask your questions." The man told him.
"Who are you and what are you doing in this cave?" Geralt asked first.
"Name's Harry and I live here." The now identified Harry said to him.
"You live in this cave?" Geralt asked with some skepticism.
"That's what I said." Harry confirmed as he kept rifling through papers.
"Why?" Geralt asked.
"The privacy for the most part. I usually change caves every few years as people tend to find my abode and bother me nowadays. Unfortunate as I just moved here." Harry said.
"Hmm. I don't suppose you've seen a dragon around since you've moved here?" Geralt asked.
"Dragon? A big black one?" Harry asked as he looked up at Geralt. Geralt's eyes narrowed as that was just as the farmer described it as well. He nodded.
"Nah. Never seen it before." Harry said causing Geralt to look at him in surprise.
"You haven't see it… you just described it though." Geralt accused.
"I just said big and black. That could be all sorts of things. I can think of plenty of things off the top of my head that are also big and black." Harry said as he laughed a little. Geralt just looked at what he now firmly assumed was a crazy person. He then tore his eyes off the man and looked around the cave. Something in the big empty part caught his attention. He quietly walked over and got a closer look. On the floor of the cave were large claw marks that caused Geralt's eyes to widen. These claw marks were much too large and spaced apart to be a slyzard or a forktail. These were actually some of the biggest claw marks he had ever seen. There was no longer any doubt in his mind, this was a dragon's cave. He turned towards the strange man.
"We need to leave, now!" Geralt said. The man just looked up at him.
"Oh you're leaving already, well I wish you the best of luck on the road." Harry said as continued to quickly rifle through some pages. Geralt frowned and quickly walked up to the man, grabbed him with one arm, spun him around, and glared at him.
"Listen, I don't know who you are or why you're here but you picked the wrong cave to move into. This is the cave of a dragon. We need to leave before it comes back so grab what you can take and we're leaving NOW." Geralt said in as threatening tone as he could manage. Most would cave in to him at this point and do what he told them for fear of their life. Sadly, this just man just looked at him with annoyance.
"Man, you are REALLY hung up on this dragon thing. Though I guess I shouldn't really be too surprised knowing you and all...Alright, can you keep a secret?" Harry finally asked him. Geralt just looked at the man debating whether he would need to knock him out and drag him out of the cave.
"Ok stop. I know that look, you're planning to hit me aren't you? I never realized she got that scowl from you. Look, perhaps I should just show you." Harry told him. Geralt just furrowed his eyebrows in confusion more than anything else. The man was speaking nonsense as far as he was concerned. He opened his mouth to respond but found his hands suddenly empty with the sound of a pop. His eyes widened and he drew his sword at the ready.
"You are actually about as paranoid as I thought you would be." a voice said. Geralt spun and saw the man called Harry standing back near the emptiest part of the cave where he first saw the dragon claw marks. Geralt said nothing, he just readied his sword. He didn't know what to expect from the man but he knew he was either really fast or had magic. One meant he was most likely a vampire, the other could potentially be just as troublesome as he more than anyone knew mainly due to certain previous relations he had in the past.
"Do me a favor and try not to kill me or run away when I change." Harry said to the man. Geralt still said nothing as he prepared what could possibly a fight for his life. He expected the man to either charge him with extreme speed or use ranged attacks as most mages specialized in. What he did not expect was the man to fall onto all fours and start to rapidly expand and darken. He continued to expand until it was almost the height of the cave and as dark as the night itself. By now, he knew exactly what he was looking at. A dragon.
"You're a Dragon?" Geralt asked with some astonishment.
"You hit your head or something in the middle of my transformation? I'm clearly a Black dragon as you can see." The dragon said in a deep but familiar voice.
"I...I don't understand. How can you change shape if you are a dragon?" Geralt asked the dragon while lowering his weapon but still keeping it out.
"I am not a dragon that can turn into a man but rather a man that can turn into a dragon. I am a mage and it is one of my many abilities. It shouldn't surprise you too much. I have heard of other mages who can do something similar even if it's not to this extent." The dragon/man explained. Geralt processed that information for a second.
"So you're not a real dragon then? This is just some fancy transformation?" Geralt asked for clarification.
"That's hard to answer. When you take on another form in the way I have done, you do truly become the creature you turn into. You even gain some of the creatures tendencies and if you're not careful, can fully lose yourself to it. To answer your question, yes and no. It is a transformation but it doesn't make me any less of a dragon" Harry explained while Geralt listened.
"I see and what 'tendencies' have you gained due to this transformation of yours?" Geralt asked trying to see if he ate like a dragon or hoarded like one.
"Sharpened senses for the most part. That, as well as the want and ability to hibernate are the main things." Harry said. Geralt scrunched his brow at that.
"Dragon's don't hibernate." He said suspiciously.
"Aye, the ones here certainly don't. They are also not as big or as powerful as me either." Harry said to him. Geralt took that to mean that the dragon this man transformed into was either not native to these lands or a whole new one altogether. Both options would make sense which made it harder to pick which theory to choose from.
"Hmph...well I guess I can't complete the contract given to me then." Geralt said as he fully sheathed his blade and stared at the now shrinking dragon. Soon the man named Harry from earlier was standing in its place. Almost unbelievable.
"Yes well perhaps I can help with that. I have quite a sum of money. Perhaps I can repay your lost fee. How much were you getting paid?" Harry asked as he moved over to one of his trunks.
"You don't need to. I'll be fine." Geralt told the man.
"Nonsense, I know how Witchers live and how important contracts are. You were probably going to get quite a reward for a dragon. Go ahead and tell me." Harry told him. Eventually Geralt finally told him.
"250 orens? That's it? For a dragon? Man times must be tough." Harry said as he pulled out some coins.
"Well, I didn't believe you to truly be a dragon when I accepted the contract, there was not much dragon type behavior from what was described. Still, the fact that there's word that a dragon is in these mountains will cause dragon hunters to come running. Especially if the claims are verified. I would advise you to leave if you don't want trouble." Geralt said as he himself prepared to head out.
"Hmph. Well that's an annoyance. Here is the coin. 300 orens. Extra 50 for your troubles." Harry said kindly to the man. Geralt nodded.
"I appreciate it. I wish you well on your future travels." Geralt said walking backwards towards the exit.
"And I you Geralt. I am sure that we will meet again...at some point." Harry said as he and everything else in the cave vanished before his eyes. Geralt's cat like eyes widened for a moment before he shook his head and left the cave.
1252, Cintra
Harry's POV:
Harry stayed hidden in the shadows of the room were loud screams of pain were echoing in the dimmly lit room. Harry wasn't paying attention to the screaming or the many handmaidens running around the room, instead he simply read a book in wait while hidden by charms in a corner of the room. He even had a sound charm up to lower the volume of incoming sound because the screaming was so loud.
Harry was reading a book on portals and their usage by normal mages. They seemed so horribly medieval compared to apparating. You also could not use them in combat which was a waste. Apparition could be used in combat with enough practice. Portals also seemed to work similarly in the fact that if you didn't know where you were going, you could potentially end up anywhere. Despite their faults, portals were much safer than apparating because there wasn't a chance to accidently splinch yourself if you did it wrong. If you did it wrong then it would just not work.
Harry raised his head from his book when he noticed the screaming in the room finally stopped. He looked over towards the bed in the room and noticed that most of the handmaidens had left with only one remaining. An additional man and woman had entered the room though. The new woman who had entered was familiar to him especially since he saved her life not too many years ago. Calanthe Fiona Riannon was now the Queen of Cintra as well as being a new grandmother as of just moments ago. One wouldn't be able to tell this from her face as she still looked relatively young as she was only 33 years old. The other man was apparently named Duny and was the father of the newly born girl. Ciri had never talked much about her biological father but he always got the feeling she wasn't exactly fond of the man, Harry couldn't see anything currently wrong with him. He seemed overjoyed by the girl resting in his arms as did everyone else in the room. The woman who gave birth, Pavetta, seemed exhausted but still managed a smile as she looked on at her newly born daughter as well.
"Well, what have you decided to name the girl?" Calanthe asked as she looked at her daughter.
"Cirilla." Pavetta responded looking adoringly at her new child.
"It is a wonderful name my love. One truly fit for a princess." Duny told his exhausted wife. Harry just watched the family coo over the new girl. Harry was happy that there was a new life in the world and happy with the family's happiness over the situation but it was not actually why he was here. It wouldn't make sense for him to go through all his work to avoid all things Ciri and then show up at her birth just to see her. He was here simply to verify that this was the Ciri he knew. He already knew that he had changed history to some extent so he needed to be sure that it hadn't changed to such an extent that his Ciri no longer existed. He waited for what felt like hours for them to take the baby and place her in a crib away from the bed to allow her mother to rest. Harry had to squash the healer in him to help them deal with the woman. They were using horribly outdated methods to ensure her health and Harry just wanted to swoop in and show them how it was done. He was, luckily, used to squashing his natural tendencies at this point and waited patiently. Finally, they put little Ciri in her crib and vacated the room to allow the mother to sleep. Harry waited until the mother fell asleep before he approached the crib still hidden under his charms. He stared down and looked at the child who still was squirming a little in her sleep. Harry reached out with his magic to touch little Ciri's and see if it matched the way it used to be. Everyone's magical signature was as unique as their blood meaning this was the only way he could truly tell if they were the same person. He waited a moment as he tried to really analyze the girl's magic and then smiled to himself. A perfect match. Harry smiled as he looked down with happiness at the girl.
'I shall see you again soon Ciri.' Harry thought as he disappeared silently from the room with no one the wiser.
1255
Harry's POV:
When Harry entered this particular inn at this particular non descript village, he never expected to see a highly visible splash of ashen hair at one of the tables. A familiar form accompanied the splash of ashen hair that was too bulky to be who he first had confused it to be. It also wouldn't make sense if it was her as she should still be a toddler but his second thought seemed to be the correct one. He walked over to the table and saw that Geralt had three guest. Two beautiful woman and a man that sat in the middle of them across from him.
"Evening Geralt. My it's been sometime since we saw each other. When was it….the castle? Oh no it was in the cave." Harry said to the man. He had forgotten for a second that Geralt hadn't known that Harry had been there the night he had gone to Cintra to drive away Ciri's father by the Queen's command. That had been an amusing night.
"Harry...What are you doing here?" Geralt asked him with surprise clear in his eyes.
"Oh you know me. I just pop in and out of places." Harry said as he sat next to the man since there was no real room on the other side of the table.
"Uh huh. So you just happened to be traveling into the same town as me, no other reason?" Geralt asked with suspicion. Harry looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Geralt what possible thing do you think I could need your help with? Me?" Harry asked the man with a semi-serious, semi-joking manner. Geralt actually looked to be thinking on that.
"I suppose nothing then." He said after some thought.
"Exactly. So introduce me to your friends. Haven't met anyone new in ages." Harry said with a smile as he looked across the table at the man and his two female companions.
"That's Borch otherwise known as the Three Jackdaws. His two companions are Tea and Vea." Geralt said with a short head nod at each so Harry could tell the difference.
"A pleasure. My name is Harry." Harry said to them all with a smile. It didn't escape his notice that the male smelt of a dragon and he would know.
"A pleasure Harry. Me and your friend Geralt were just having a discussion on dragons." Borch said with a smile as he poured some ale in a spare cup and handed it to Harry. Harry took it gratefully.
"Oh do continue. I happen to have quite the fascination with the creatures." Harry said. Geralt snorted quietly into his drink at that.
"Well to be specific we were talking about Golden Dragons and whether they could be myths or perhaps mutants of the species.
"Again, if they were mutants than they most likely died out by now." Geralt said adding to the conversation.
"Well you're both wrong." Harry said.
"Oh? So you believe in them then?" Borch asked him with a curious look.
"Of course. Beautiful creatures. Insanely smart too." Harry said as he took a swig of his drink. Tasted pretty good to his surprise.
"You've met one?" Borch asked with some surprise.
"Met is a strong word. I observed him for awhile. Seemed like a pleasant sort. Just sort of flew around and ate things in a certain mountain range he inhabited. He tended to avoid people and went to great lengths to do so. I almost missed him when I first saw him." Harry said to them. The three new people seemed very interested in what he said.
"Fascinating. When was this?" Borch asked. Harry tilted his head up in thought.
"Well let's see...it's 1255 now so...about 70 to 80 years ago, give or take 5 years." Harry said.
"70 years ago! How old do you expect us to believe you are?" Borch said a little too loudly.
"A century I suppose, give or take a decade. Harry said with his mischievous smirk as he downed his drink.
"You have a wild imagination my friend." Borch said. Harry smiled
"One of the many things I have yes." Harry replied.
"You also said we were both wrong about our thoughts on what a Golden Dragon is. So what do you think it is?" Borch asked.
"A Golden Dragon is simply a dragon that got lucky off his parent''s success. When a dragon is able to suck up huge amounts of magic in its body over it's lifetime, it is then possible for it to give birth to a Golden Dragon. Normal dragons have no real other use for magic so when they lay eggs, their body condenses all the magic they have stored up and presses it into the egg. The baby dragon then absorbs the magic into it to first strengthen its body as well the strengthen its fire. This is why the first born dragons are usually stronger." Harry explained to the men. He saw he had the rapt attention of everyone at the table including Geralts.
"The problem is that usually dragons give birth to multiple babies at the same time. The magic then has to be distributed to all the babies with the oldest getting the most and the youngest getting the least. The amount of magic required to even have a chance of making a Golden Dragon is so much that there can only be one baby to absorb it all as well as an extremely large amount of magic stored in the parent. So you can see why they are so rare now. The circumstances to their birth are just very hard to accomplish which is why only one, maybe two, are seen every century or two" Harry explained. Admittedly, he may have done more than simply observe the last golden dragon he had seen but it actually had been no problem figuring out how they were born. Nundu's back on his home world where born in the same way but on a much more successful scale. As soon as he had found the tell tale signs of that type of birth with the last Golden dragon, he knew how they were created.
"A fascinating theory, one I had admittedly never thought of. How sure of this theory are you?" Borsch asked. Harry shrugged.
"Very sure but not quite completely. I would bet quite heavily on it but there is always room for failure no matter how much you try to change it." Harry told them.
"How fascinating. You still think it's mutants after hearing that Geralt?" Borch asked good naturedly. Geralt gave a little grunt.
"If Harry says it magic that makes them then I'm sure he would know better than me." Geralt said as he took another chug of his drink.
"You have much faith in this man. You must be quite something to impress such a witcher." Borch declared. Harry smiled almost politely.
"I only know what I know. So, you never told me what both of you are doing in this random pub. Are you traveling somewhere together?" Harry asked them. Geralt shook his head.
"Just got finished with a contract. Basilisk. Some villagers wanted to help themselves to my things while I was taking care of it. Borch, however, stopped them until I arrived." Geralt said. Harry looked at the dragon smelling man impressed. Not many were willing to stand up for Witchers.
"Well, that was nice of him." Smiling at the man. Borsch just tilted his head in acknowledgement.
"Well, it was nice catching up with you Geralt and meeting your lovely acquaintances. Unfortunately, I am terribly busy these days and I must be off once more" Harry said as he stood up from his seat on the bench.
"Ah. Are you sure my friend? Me and Geralt still haven't ordered food yet. You should stay and eat with us." Borch said.
"Unfortunately I simply don't have the time. I wish you all wellness. Geralt, I'm sure we'll run into each other again. Au Revoir!" Harry said as he disappeared with an almost silent pop. He didn't even give them a chance to say goodbye.
Geralt's POV:
Geralt sat around a fire with both Dandelion passed out on the ground near him and Yennefer sitting reading a book on the other side. They had just left the mountain peaks where they had encountered the golden dragon, otherwise known as Borch. That had been a surprise, even more surprising than when he had first met Harry. He had not slayed the dragon and had simply listened to what the dragon had idiot dwarves and king had almost got him and Yen killed after they refused to honor the deal of their knight. Borch had dealt with them nicely enough. Yennefer hadn't been in a great mood ever since they had left. She didn't seem quite as upset with him but more disappointed about not getting the dragon parts she wanted. Geralt could understand as he knew that Yennefer really wanted to have a child at some point. He looked at her and against his better judgement, decided to talk to her.
"What are you reading?" Geralt asked trying to make conversation. Yennefer just looked at him with her patented' you're an imbecile' look that Geralt was use to at this point.
"What am I reading. Why? What do you possibly get out of knowing? Are you going to engage me in conversation about it and astound me with your surprising knowledge on obscure magical people?" Yennefer asked patronizingly. Geralt just shrugged and looked at her waiting for her to answer. Yennefer looked at him for a moment before seeming to cool down. It was clear she might still not be in the best mood.
"It is a journal from a sorcerer I believe to be the Black Mage." Yennefer said. Geralt's eyebrows furrowed at that.
"Who's the Black Mage?" Geralt asked.
"The Black Mage is a infamous mage who is said to be immortal and wanders the lands doing a mixture of helpful and frightening things. He is said to be an expert in magic as well as extremely illusive. He has been a topic of discussion in the magical community for almost a century now. Many thought he was an elf at first with some of his actions as well as his life span. That was disproved though as any who have had the chance to glimpse at him have stated he looks nothing like an elf nor does he have a single elven feature." Yennefer finished explaining. Geralt thought on that.
"Hm. Sounds impressive. You say you think you may have found his journal. What makes you unsure it's legitimate?" Geralt asked.
"Several things, the most prominent being that I bought it off a merchant on his way to Vizima for just a few orens. He said he found it in a cave he had used for a camp one night. He knew it was the journal of a mage from reading it himself. It would have been too easy for him to write it though for a quick coin." Yennefer said as she looked down at her book skeptically.
"Yet you still believe it for some reason." Geralt observed. Yennefer turned to him and eyed him for a moment.
"I do. Anyone who know's of the Black Mage could possibly recognize this as his journal with how deeply it recounts some of the experiences that the Black Mage is known for. If he were trying to pass it off as real then the merchant would have tried to sell it for a lot more meaning he probably sold it not knowing about the Black Mage. Therefore it is very unlikely he wrote it himself. Still, it would take quite a bit of luck for it to end up in my hands don't you agree?" Yennefer asked him. Geralt nodded in agreement.
"So is the book interesting at least?" Geralt asked.
"Oh yes, if a bit unbelievable. He talks about healing and murder quite a bit. He also goes on and on about these plans for a girl he knows that hasn't been born yet. I believe he purposely leaves some things out though. He never mentions his own name nor the name of the girl. He also never mentions what plans he has for her. It all just sounds so unbelievable yet so interesting as well. He also talks about how he is supposedly from a different world and how our magic differs from his. It's almost so ridiculous that you can't help but believe it surprisingly."
"Fascinating. Do you believe him to still be alive?" Geralt asked.
"I do. He still appears every now and then. Many times he appears in hospitals and starts healing people. No sorcerer has ever caught him and gotten to talk to him though. He seems to have a sixth sense for avoiding us. I'd kill to have just a few moments to talk with him." Yennefer said almost bitterly. Geralt looked at her with some confusion before it dawned on him. This Black Mage sounded like an expert magical healer and perhaps she thought he might be able to help her with her problem with birth.
"Perhaps you could try tracking him down." Geralt suggested.
"I doubt I would be successful, he is remarkably good at hiding and covering his tracks." Yennefer said.
"Well you have to start somewhere. What do you know about him? Anything in that journal give a hint at something we could use to track him down." Geralt asked.
"We? Are you trying to tell me you want to come?" Yennefer asked with a smirk. Geralt shrugged.
"I don't have any plans." He admitted.
"Well...there is one thing. In a recent entry that I have read, he mentions a particular ability he has. He seems to have found a way to turn into another creature through magic." Yennefer said. Geralt immediately thought of a certain mage he knew that happened to turn into a dragon on his off time. Still, turning into animals was an ability that other sorcerers could accomplish with enough skill and practice so perhaps it was just coincidence.
"What animal?" Geralt asked.
"Well that's the thing... He claims that he can turn into a dragon." Yennefer said.
"...Oh hell."