248 No rest for the wicked

Elsewhere.

It's a stormy night in a palisade hold, the commoners were hold huddled inside with a line of salt drawn in-front of their doorways. They'd heard fighting, screeches and screams from outside and fearfully awaited dawn, this of course is the result of a Witcher coming into their domain... This is what they all assume, not knowing that the Witcher they all curse is combating groups of Wraiths.

Blood Baron \"Geralt! This thing is going barmy!\" he shouts while struggling to calm the Botchling in his arms.

Geralt twirls and cuts the throat of another Wraith and quickly casts an Axii sign on the mutated Fetus so they could continue the ritual. The rain continues to batter them as they cautiously walk through the town, occasionally fighting off Wraith's attracted by the Botchling, eventually they reach the Threshold of the Barons home where they quickly conduct the naming ceremony before burying it.

The baron sucks in air with heavy breaths, \"I-Is it done?\"

Geralt nods, \"It's done. You should go home, I'll wait here.\"

The baron tries to stay behind and wait with Geralt but is sarcastically rebuked and sent away, his head held low.

Geralt kneels next to the grave and sighs, \"Why do I bother...\" he mutters, thinking about why he's here... Ciri. A month or two ago he'd finally found Yeneffer but before he could get \"reacquainted\" she dropped a bomb on him, \"Ciri's been spotted.\". This had been a shock to him, even more so when the Emperor of Nilfgaard, Ciri's father hired him to search for her, heh, like he'd ever force her back to that vile man after his past intentions. He wasn't sure whether or not Ciri knew Emhyr was her biological father but could guess that she'd already figured it out.

Truth be told Geralt was in a rush to find her, not only because he saw her as his daughter but also because of how much damage and destruction the Wild Hunt could cause if they caught her. Alas instead of searching, he's stuck doing errands for undeserving people like the Baron, he'd been blackmailed with knowledge about Ciri. He could just use Axii on him or threaten him but there were a couple things stopping him, one was the garrison of guards outside who had no qualms with outnumbering him and butchering him, presumably like they'd done countless times already. The other reason was that this man's situation slightly resembled his, obviously he wasn't abusive to Ciri but she was indeed missing. This caused him to agree to the man's request which leads Geralt to where he is now, watching for a Fetus to turn into a guardian. He sighs, \"Maybe I should have just killed it?\" he shakes his head, \"No, that Pellar isn't trustworthy... He had me searching for his damn goat for hours.\"

He thinks back to his past experiences while waiting for the Fetus to turn into a Lubberkin, he had actually died once already... He'd taken a Pitchfork to the stomach when he tried to show mercy to a young boy in the midst of a \"race-war\", the last thing he remembered was Yennefer's healthy skin becoming emaciated as she tried to heal his fatal wound. He still doesn't know how he'd survived that, he had Yennefer had woken up in what he could only describe as paradise. It was awkward making love to her with live unicorns watching but he made do.... They didn't spend long in paradise before the Wild Hunt came searching for Ciri, when he and Yen couldn't or wouldn't give them the information they wanted they kidnapped Yennefer. The subsequent panicked search with some Witchers from the Viper school eventually allowed him to find them, they weren't strong enough to defeat them however and Geralt decided to trade his soul for Yennefers and become a rider for them. After that he didn't really recall much, only that he'd reappeared without memory... This led to his current predicament where he'd entered a relationship with Triss, He'd need to sort this out with Yennefer later...

Luckily he'd managed to somehow survive til now, he thinks back to the enhanced Witcher mutagens he'd recieved in Toussaint while looking for his still missing Apprentice. He now knew exactly why Reima didn't disclose his unique magical powers , of course he would, the Elder Blood is one of the most sought after things in this world, as well as others. Geralt is still trying to wrap his head around how Reima knew he'd meet Ciri, it must've been fated that she'd end up being his surprise child... Maybe this is all leading to a big conclusion like you see in stories, maybe Reima is just waiting to return with Ciri? He chuckles, \"Indeed, and once he does he'll unleash an ocean of fire on his enemies before slowly bringing peace to the world.\", the image cheers him up more than he thought it would. That kid saving the world? Yeah, when pigs fly and he's introduced to a spider-woman purporting to be his daughter in law.

These thoughts continue until the next day, a humming sound causes him to open his eyes, a ghostly blue figure of the Botchling they'd buried appears before him. \"Greetings Dea, I'm searching for your lost family, could you help me?\" It doesn't even twitch before it starts floating off in a direction. \"No rest for a Witcher.\" he says as he quickly jogs behind it.