1264, Deep Mountain Pass Close to Kaer Morhen
Triss's POV:
Triss covered her eyes to shield from the heavy snow onslaught she was wading through. She couldn't be quite sure, but she was pretty the storm was getting even worse. She didn't ponder it long though as she was currently focusing on keeping herself just warm enough not to freeze to death and shield herself with magic as much as possible. Sadly, even her magic had limits and she was pretty sure she was closing on to it's limits.
"Blast it all." she murmured to herself, she had been so close and thought she would make it before the storm hit. She had either timed it poorly or the storm had sped up. Either way, she was now stuck in it. She patted her mind-numbed horse on the side and urged it to keep moving forward, which it did albeit at an extremely slow rate. However, just as quickly as the blizzard had come, it was gone.
Triss looked around in confusion. The storm was still raging around her yet there seemed to be some sort of dome she had entered that was keeping it at bay. She knew the spell that did this though she wouldn't have been able to hold it for too long and thus would not have been able to make it all the way to Kaer Morhen. She looked around to search for the sorcerer/ess who put the dome up and looked back down from the dome's roof to the ground. Where that had once been snow covered path, there now sat a man next to a fireplace which she was positive had not been there before she looked up. Nonetheless, she approached the man.
If she were to be honest with herself, the first thing she noticed about him was that the man looked like the complete opposite of Geralt. Where Geralt had tough looking and more of a roguish look to him, this man had softer and more boyish features. Where Geralt was built with muscle in every place that could have muscle, this man seemed to be much skinnier, though a closer look revealed him to have a more lean muscle type. The hair was probably the most obvious difference though. Geralt had shoulder length ashen hair were this man had short hair that was blacker than any hair she had ever seen on anyone save for perhaps Yennefer. After she had finished observing him, she decided to walk up to him.
"Hello stranger. Never thought I'd find another mage this far in the mountains. May I ask what you're doing this far North?" Triss tried to ask politely. There was nothing up here besides Kaer Morhen and she wondered if this man had been summoned to "check on" Vesemir as well. The black haired, young, man looked up from the fire and smiled charmingly at her. Something almost familiar in his smile.
"Hello to you as well. Oh I just was in the neighborhood when I saw you slugging your way up this mountain through the storm. I thought I would give you a little rest stop before you keeled over. Triss Merigold, am I correct?" The man asked. Triss's eyebrow twitched at his explanation and she was instantly suspicious of the man. While the man sounded honest, there was no way a mage just happened to be up here for no reason. Could he be some sort of spy or an assassin?
"You're giving me the 'Is he a spy?' look. God, you wouldn't believe how many times I have received that looked. That's why I like common folk. You tell them that you're doing something nice for them and they usually believe you. Do that with a noble or mage and they immediately assume you either want something or are planning to kill them. What a terrible way to live one's life." The man said in amusement as he pulled out an ornate looking bottle and two cups from a snow pile next to him. She realized the bottle was a wine.
"That's because they are not educated enough to realize when they are being taken advantage of." Triss commented though she decided to sit down figuring the man didn't actually mean her harm, hopefully.
"Can't argue with that in the slightest. Their ignorance tends to be a double edged sword. They tend to not be so distrusting of the world around them giving them an innocent almost sweet demeanor. Yet, I know first hand the blackness that hides in their souls. I know how easily they can turn from farmers and merchants to a crowd cheering at watching a fellow sentient being lit on fire for no other crime than being different. Truly disgusting." The man said. While his topic got darker, his expression and tone did not change in the slightest. While he talked, he poured her a glass of what looked like red wine. When it was close to a quarter full, he stopped and handed it to her. She took it but did not drink any yet. She wanted to see him drink it first.
"Yes well, they are simply products of their environment. They only know how to be what they were raised as." Triss said in a slightly defensive voice. She knew the common people weren't all great and could actually be downright despicable but how could you expect someone to be better if you didn't give them the tools to be?
"That excuse can only go so far in my book. I don't expect it takes much to realize that killing innocents is wrong. But enough about that, let's talk about you. How have you been Triss?" The man asked as he sipped the wine. Triss looked at him in confusion.
"I'm sorry, I don't recall us meeting before." she said as she finally drank some of the wine. It was actually very delicious. It was a Beauclair clearly.
"You don't? Oh well, perhaps I should have expected that, you had been very disoriented at the time and had just had an extremely traumatic experience. Plus I had left soon after as well." The man said almost seeming to talk to himself.
"I...don't think I follow." Triss said with some confusion as she looked closer at the man. He did sort of look familiar but she could not for the life of her say why.
"Hmm. Maybe this will help. When we first met, you didn't look like this. You didn't have hair. Barely had much skin stuck to your body either. You were covered in more burns and cuts than I had ever seen on another living person. Luckily they were all fresh. I had to take stem cells from your femur, replicate them extraordinarily quickly, and then reintegrate them into your body. It was one of the hardest medical performances of my life. I think you could legally be declared dead, what was it, four times? Dreadful. I kept shouting at you embarrassing things like, 'I'm not going to lose you!' and 'Come on woman, just breathe!'. Got a lot of strange looks." The man finished as he then drank the rest of his wine in one gulp before refilling his cup. Triss could do nothing but gape at the man in pure shock.
"You were the one who healed me?" She yelled in shock as she stood up and spilled her wine. The man looked up at her in surprise.
"Woah calm down. Man, you spilled the wine. That cost me quite a pretty coin you know. Oh nevermind. Sit down and I'll pour you another glass." the man said. Triss calmed herself as she sat down and picked up her fallen cup. "Now, to answer your question, yes I was the one who healed you. Took five days of my absolute attention to do it too."
"I remember the villagers told me they had no idea how I had survived. They claimed the Black Mage had come to save me. Though others seemed to think it had been some sort of forest spirit that had nursed me back to health." Triss said quietly.
"Well I guess some of them were right and some of them were wrong. I have been known by the title the Black Mage or Apollo to some." the man said. Triss looked appraisingly at the man in a new light. The legendary Black Mage in the flesh. She could count the Mages on one hand who have claimed to have seen him with any credence.
"So it's true. I heard you had come to Sodden after the battle and started healing many of the wounded." Triss said though she had dismissed it at the time.
"Indeed. I healed who I could and then headed out. Speaking of which, I see you have healed quite well. If you don't mind me asking, did the scar on your upper stomach ever heal?" The man asked. Triss looked down for moment in sadness.
"No. It's still there." she said a little quieter.
"Ah...I'm sorry to hear that. It had cut extremely deeply into you and I also had to heal the intestines, stomach, and liver at almost the same time. I don't know what you were hit with but it had been terrible." The man said clearly reminiscing.
"Doesn't matter now. Regardless of the scar I am thankful for what you did for me that day...or days I suppose. If there's anyway I could ever repay you please don't hesitate to ask." Triss said to the man with her head slightly bowed. He just waved her off though.
"Think nothing of it. I also don't charge people for healing. Don't feel the need to try to get even. You don't owe me a thing." The man said as he stood. Triss looked at him in surprise.
"Are you leaving already?" she asked. She had hoped to talk with her savior a bit more.
"Yes well, as I said, I only came down to give you a bit of a rest stop from the storm before reaching Kaer Morhen. If you take up your previous rate, you shall reach it in 45 minutes." The man, she was just going to call him Apollo, said.
"Wait, I didn't say I was going to Kaer Morhen." Triss said. Apollo just looked at her as if she was a simpleton.
"There is, literally, nothing else except forests and mountains in the direction you're going. Where else would you go in this blizzard?" Apollo asked with amusement. Triss felt her cheeks grow slightly warm at that.
"Ah." is all she replied. He just smiled at her.
"Have a safe trip Triss. Tell Geralt that Harry sends his regards." Apollo, or possibly Harry, said as he walked away and gave a backwards wave over his shoulder.
"Thank you and I will." she said as she watched him disappear outside the door and disappear in a sheet of white. As she saw him disappear, it had just occurred to her that the man was wearing nothing but a black top and dark trousers. What's more was he didn't put up a shield against the cold when leaving. Interesting.
1264,
Harry's POV:
Harry stood back and watched as Geralt slaughtered three men and chased after the man named Rience. When, Harry had first talked with Ciri, she had not liked to talk about herself much. She preferred to talk about the people around her instead especially about the people she cared for. Of course, over the months, she had finally given up more and more of her life to him. Despite that, there were things that Ciri had simply not known about in the world around her. For example, she had told him how Nilfgaard wanted her but hadn't said why. He had no doubt she knew but he got the feeling the topic was not one she liked so he hadn't pressed her. He had no doubt that she didn't know about Rience though. She did not have the spying skills Harry had developed specifically to find out what Nilfgaard was up too. At this point, Harry probably knew more about this world then Ciri had. He had been in it longer than even his own world.
Harry stopped that thought process though. He seemed to be going on a tangent. He actually seemed to do that quite often now. He wondered if it was a product of his old age? He looked down from the rooftop he was casually sitting on and watched to see if Geralt would kill the man. It certainly looked like he was giving it his all. Sadly for him, a portal opened behind Rience which the man was making his way towards. Harry watched as Geralt was thrown off his feet as power exploded from the portal. Harry was actually impressed at the amount. Whoever was behind that portal was probably one of the most powerful mages he had ever witnessed on this world. He wondered how the man or woman would stack up to him. He didn't think about it for long though as it would seem he needed to intervene. He stood and launched a banishing charm at Reince that caught the man midair as he tried to jump through the portal and back to his master. Reince went flying to the side while Harry cast a dispelling charm at the portal causing it to disappear completely. At this point, Geralt got back up on his feet and looked at the downed Reince. He didn't even stop to think for a moment as he charged the man with his sword. Harry's eyes widened.
"No, Geralt. Wait!" Harry yelled but it was too late. The Witcher was too fast to be able to be hit by a spell like Reince had to stop him. Geralt brought the sword down on the now terrified man's head and cut it clean off freezing the terrified expression on the man's face. Harry just threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.
"Welp, guess we no longer have a lead on the mystery mage that was this man's benefactor. No worries. I can just pop over to Nilfgaard and ask Emhyr var Emreis who his secretive mystery mage is. Oh wait a minute, no I can't do that!" Harry yelled out loud in frustration. Geralt sheathed his sword and looked at him.
"Harry? What are you doing here?" Geralt asked with crossed arms.
"Well I was trying to capture that man so I could find out who his mentor was so I could hunt them down and kill them but it seems that plan has gone tits up." Harry said as he gave a light kick at the now beheaded Reince.
"Sorry then but it was personal." Geralt said as he looked down darkly at the corpse. Harry sighed.
"It's...it's fine I suppose. I'll just have to find out another way to find the mage. Plus, how can I blame a father for protecting his little girl." Harry said lightly. Geralt looked sharply at him expectedly.
"Calm yourself man. I mean your daughter no harm." Harry said before Geralt could reach for his sword, "Let's go get a drink, it's been awhile and I think we should catch up." Harry said as he gestured towards the town. Geralt looked at him for a second.
"Fine, but you owe me some answers." Geralt said with an air of finality. Harry nodded in agreement. They walked a ways but met up with Dandelion and a redhead medic by the name of Shani.
"Dandelion this Harry. Harry, Dandelion. And this is Shani." Geralt said as he gestured to them both.
"Hello, errrr is it done Geralt." Dandelion asked as he noticed the fresh blood still on Geralt. Geralt nodded grimly. Harry looked at Geralt.
"Here, let me get that for you." Harry said as he waved his hand and the blood disappeared from the man's armor and clothes.
"Thanks." Geralt said appreciatively. Harry nodded. Geralt looked back at Dandelion and Shani, "We're going to an inn for some drinks and rest. You coming?"
"I unfortunately must return to the academy." Shani said looking a little unwell. Harry had a feeling it had to do with the bloodbath she had just witnessed earlier.
"I will join you." Dandelion said. They said farewell to Shani and headed to the nearest inn for some drink. It didn't take them long to find one and get a table. They quickly ordered some drinks.
"So tell me…" Geralt started but Harry shushed him. He looked around the bar to signal to Geralt that people might be listening. He cast some privacy charms as well as alarm charms to know if a mage dispelled them.
"Ok, now we can talk. Had to make sure no one could listen in on our conversation." Harry said as he took a sip of his drink.
"Fine, how do you know about Ciri?" Geralt asked getting straight to the point. Harry rubbed his chin.
"I was under the impression that you read my journal while Yennefer had it, did you not?" Harry asked the man.
"I did, we tried to track you with no luck. Even went back to the cave where we first met to try and find you with no scent or trail to follow." Geralt said. Harry nodded at that then turned extremely serious.
"I can't tell you everything but I can tell you something's. You may never repeat them to a living soul unless I give you permission Geralt. Is that clear? You as well Dandelion, if you plan to stay. Not a single tale or ballad. Clear?" Harry asked, Both men nodded though Dandelion looked put out at the reprimand he had received.
"Hmm. The girl I talked about in my journal is Ciri. I have been waiting for her for about a century now. Ever since I first came to this world." Harry said. Geralt's eyes squinted in suspicion where as Dandelion looked shocked.
"Other world? You're from another world?" Dandelion asked. Harry nodded.
"I don't have time to get into the specifics of it. Ask Geralt after." Harry said.'
"I don't get it. If you came from a different world, how did you know of Ciri and how did you get to this world?" Geralt asked.
"I know about Ciri because I met her before. We we're good friends. She came to my world. I can't tell you why or how. She left after around six months. I actually didn't mean to come to this world. It was pure luck….well not really luck but more of situations outside my control. When I realized what world I had entered I decided I would wait around for Ciri. Unfortunately I can't meet her or talk to her until she meets me originally first. This leaves me in an annoying predicament of trying to subtly change the world around her to be more...friendly? Without really changing much to the point where she no longer meets me. This puts me here with you know and god does it feel good to finally tell someone what is going on in my life!" Harry finally said with a smile and took a big chug of his drink now that the weight off his shoulders was gone.
"I...probably shouldn't have told you all of that now that I think about it." Harry said as he looked at their stunned faces, or at least Geralt's version of a stunned face.
"So….you know Ciri because she somehow ends up in your world for some time?" Geralt asked.
"Well, yes." Harry confirmed.
"And then you accidently came to ours but a long time before Ciri was born?" Geralt continued.
"Right." Harry said.
"Now you can't let Ciri know you exist until she meets you some time in the future?" Geralt asked.
"Also correct." Harry said.
"Hmmm." Geralt said while looking at him. Dandelion seemed to be doing a fish impression in silence.
"You don't believe me?" Harry asked.
"I do. You've never lied to me. Though granted we have only met a few times. I feel you're leaving something out though. Seems to me like you're going through a lot of work for a girl you were with for 6 months is all." Geralt said as he looked pointedly at Harry.
"Ciri….Ciri was something special. She was not only a friend to me when I needed one most, she helped me get through one of the most difficult points of my life. Despite not being in my life too long, she played a significant role in helping to develop the man you see sitting before you. Were it not for her...hmm, I'd rather not think about it actually. The point is, she was someone who I considered very important." Harry finished.
"I see. So just friends then?" Geralt asked. Harry rolled his eyes at the man.
"We were close. If you're asking if I was in love with her then I can't answer. I have never experienced a romantic love that I could safely identify. I'm not sure if what I feel for Ciri is actually love nor am I going to to say that I plan to become her suitor. I can say that in the months that I was with her, Ciri was closer to me than any other person on the planet and I would have done anything for her." Harry said. He purposefully left out the part where she had kissed him because that would have ended….well badly.
"Hmmm. If I find out you're taking advantage of her, dragon or not, you'll end up like Rience. You know that right?" Geralt said. Harry nodded.
"It would be kind of pointless considering all the work I have put into making sure that she will be happy and have a long life." Harry said.
"Regardless, the threat remains." Geralt said. Harry nodded.
"With that cleared up, I suppose I should leave."Harry said though he made no move to get up.
"Where will you go now?" Geralt asked. Harry smiled.
"Oh don't worry about that. For now, you both look tired. Why not take a nap?" Harry said while silently casting a strong sleeping charm on both of them. Geralt looked surprised for a moment and seemed to try and fight the charm but had no success with it. He quickly slumped over on the table and didn't move.
"I'm sorry Geralt, I trust you not to reveal my secrets but that won't stop a mage from picking through your mind and discovering it by chance. Especially your dear Yennefer. I thank you for giving me someone to talk to though as the stress recently has been quite the hindrance. I promise to give you your memory back when this is all over. Still, perhaps a gift to apologize with." Harry said as he took out Geralt's sword and imbued magic into them both.
"There, that should help next time you need an edge on cutting someone up." Harry said as he put the swords back and started the removal of the memories and planting false ones in both of the men's heads. He withdrew from their minds and looked at them with a bit of sadness. He took a last gulp of his ale and silently apparated away, leaving the men to be found by the innkeeper as he simultaneously tore down his privacy charms.
1264, Thanedd
Harry's POV:
Harry flew threw the air quickly. He couldn't remember the last time he had flown this fast as a dragon but now, he was on a time limit. He had just returned from Nazir where he finally decided to see if anything could be done about Emhyr var Emreis. He had even thought about killing the man. However, meeting the man in person had changed all that. Emhyr var Emreis, Emperor of Nilfgaard was also Ciri's father. Harry did not know how the man lived through the storm all those years ago. Even Harry was forced to leave when following him and his late wife to possibly do something to help them only to be stopped by the very forces of nature. Even in dragon form, he could not stop the storm from tossing him around like a doll. It mattered little how the man survived, all that mattered was that the sick fuck wanted to marry Ciri and had a powerful sorcerer named Vilgefortz in charge of getting her to him. This Vilgefortz character was planning to take out the the Chapter of Sorcerers of the Northern Kingdoms in one night during a little get together. A get together that he happened to know that Yennefer, Geralt, and Ciri were attending.
Harry had been so stupid, how could he have forgotten about the goddamn coup. Normally he wouldn't have been too worried, this was expected and he knew no one died or got to badly banged up from this. At least no one who mattered to him. Unfortunately, he also found out that the the hunter named Rience was this man's apprentice. There was no way to tell how Vilgefortz would react without the aid of his assistant. Of course, everything could still work out fine, but he wouldn't wish to test fate.
Harry didn't have to fly long before he picked up a familiar scent, the scent of a man he had left just a few weeks previous. He tilted his head down and saw a grey tower standing near a road. With his superior eyesight, he could clearly see two forms that seemed to be clashing. He quickly realized this was Geralt and swooped down. He shifted from his dragon form to his human one and quickly descended through the air. When getting close to the ground, he cast a featherweight charm on himself causing him to drift lightly towards the ground he landed without even a thump and looked around. A 100 yards away, the mage had Geralt on the floor while his staff seemed to glow. What was worse, he could feel Ciri's magic in that tower right now. If Harry remembered correctly, she would go through the portal and into a desert. He hoped that she would still remain ok as she had previously. Right now though, he had to worry about Geralt. Harry whipped out the Elder wand as he had a feeling he would need it for this battle. He ran quickly at the man
"Confrigo Maxima!" Harry said and watched the large blue wave approach the man. Vilgefortz swiftly turned and used his staff to swipe at the curse and blasting it apart before it reached him.
"Hmmm. Well, well, well what do we have here? A mage with quite a bit of power to him, though I don't think we have met." Vilgefortz said with a smile to him. Harry sneered. Harry had to be careful, in combat, his specialty had always been taking out large groups of people or mages with uncontrollable spells that were almost impossible to spell. That's why Fiendfyre was a personal favorite of his. Most people besides him couldn't counter it. Sadly, he could use none of his usual overwhelming spells because Geralt was currently passed out close by.
"Don't worry we won't be acquainted very long. I guarantee it." Harry said menacingly as he jumped into action, " Locomotor Mortis, Vox Inrita, Petrificus Totalus, Expulso!" Harry said as he launched a chain of spells at the man .Vilgefortz used his staff and twirled it with clear expertise as he swatted the spells out of the air. Harry smirked as he expected the man to do this which is why the last spell was an Expulso. As Vilgefortz hit that spell, it exploded in a ball of flames and covered the man. Unfortunately, he called out something ineligible and the flames disappeared though Vilgefortz did look annoyed.
"You will regret that." Vilgefortz spat out at him.
"Probably not to be honest." Harry shot back as he dodged an arc of lightning that sailed right past him.
"Maybe you should stick to stick-fighting mate." Harry said to the man. That seemed to make Vilgefortz angrier. He chanted something else in elder speech and suddenly a portal appeared. Harry tensed thinking he was calling for reinforcements. He was only partially correct. A giant golem appeared out of the portal. Harry had seen golems since arriving here but he had never seen one that was this big before.
"Oh cock." Harry said to himself as the large creature lumbered towards him. Now it was Vilgefortz who was pushing on the offensive. He now had to deal with both a close range and a long range attacker.
"Bombardo!" Harry yelled and watched as the spell smashed into the stone creature. The creature took some damage but it was still on it's feet and trying to kill him. Luckily, however, Harry could use the big walking stone slab as a shield from Vilgefortz's onslaught as well since it was between the two of them. Harry thought for a minute on how to quickly dispatch the golem when his eyes traced the glowing runes on its body and a thought came to him.
"omnia perturbare!" Harry said as a green spell erupted from his wand and smashed into the golem. The effect was almost immediate. The golem seemed to take no physical damage but the glowing green runic arrays all over its body seemed to flicker until they went out completely. The golem went out with them as it no longer had magic holding it together and simply crumbled to the floor.
"Impressive." Vilgefortz commented with a smile returning to his face.
"I aim to please." Harry replied as he jumped into action.
"flammis acribus" He shot out as he moved forward at the man, pressing his advantage. The fire did not hit Vilgefortz but the ground right next to his feet. Vilgefortz tried to put out the extremely hot fire quickly which Harry took advantage of.
"maledictus glacies!" Harry said .A crystal blue spell came out of his wand and hit the arm of Vilgefortz while he tried to put out the fire. Vilgefortz screamed in pain and for good reason too, Harry had hit him with the spell of cursed ice. A spell known to encase its victims in a thick layer of ice that was held together with dark magic making it hard to combat on a normal day. If it hit you, you were most likely dead in 30 seconds which explained why Harry was so surprised when Vilgefortz wasn't. The man seemed to recognize what the spell did almost immediately, despite the fact that he had never seen it before. Not knowing how to stop the spell that had been creeping up his arm to encase his whole body, he simply severed his whole arm completely with a spell. Harry almost grimaced yet couldn't help at being impressed with the man's quick thinking. Vilgefortz's, now missing an arm, fell down to one knee from the pain.
"It looks like this was my win. Shame we both couldn't go all out. I should have very much liked to know what some of your more...destructive spells were. To bad you couldn't afford to accidentally destroy the tower." Harry taunted the man. No matter what, Vilgefortz had lost a great deal with his arm, he would not be able to grow another for certain even with Harry's terrific healing skills. The loss of his arm also gave him a major hit to his spell repertoire since so many powerful spells required two hands to perform here. Not that any of that mattered, Harry wasn't letting him walk away from today. Ciri had told him that he would one day torture Yennefer for information and Harry wouldn't allow that. Vilgefortz looked up at him with a smile.
"You think you have won stranger? I may be disarmed, quite literally, but I am not so stupid to believe myself infallible. I ALWAYS plan for everything." Vilgefortz said with a knowing smirk as he looked at him. Harry looked at the man closely with confusion and ready for any of his tricks. It took only a moment to realize that Vilgefortz was not looking at him but….behind him?
'Oh SHITE!' Harry thought as he made to turn around but he was too late. The next thing he knew, something hit him on the back of the head, HARD! His world delved into an inky blackness.
"Take him to the hidden lab at Stygga! I am most curious to find out this man's secrets. Before he dies that is."