NINE | DEADLY FIGHT

Night had fallen over Temeria and the king's guards stood before the abandoned part of the castle, where the striga took residence. Geralt and Caira had left Ostrit imprisoned in Adda's abandoned bedroom in order to get him to confess how to break the curse to let the striga free. Geralt and Caira wearily approached the guarded entrance, with their bags of tools in hand to help them capture the striga. Geralt rolled his eyes and set down his bags, withdrawing his sword. The guards reacted quickly, drawing out their own swords as well. But, before anyone else could act—Foltest appeared and shouted "oh! So quick to violence!" Chastising his men and Geralt. "Strange, considering what Miss Merigold told me about you two."

"And what's that?" Geralt grumbled.

"She told me to trust you." Foltest chuckled. Geralt eyed him suspiciously, wondering if he were falsely leading him into a not so amicable conversation. "Will this work? Answer honestly." Foltest asked, anxiously.

"I don't know." Geralt replied lowly, expressing his uncertainty for the future.

"Will my—will my daughter be normal?" Foltest stammered, afraid of what was to come.

"She'll need special care. She's lived as an animal. All she's ever known is rage and hunger." Geralt explained to him as gently as possible.

Geralt turned his eyes to look at Caira. Her eyes were glimmering under the moonlight, her brows slightly raised in a sympathetic way for the worried king. Her raven hair blew gently in the light wind. Geralt sensed security and trustworthiness with Foltest, then decided to put his sword away. He grabbed a small gift, a pendant, and handed it to the king. "For the princess."

"You don't expect to see morning." The king mentioned, solemnly.

"This isn't my first time trying to save a princess who others thought of as a monster." Geralt admitted. Renfri— Caira thought to herself, realizing that pendant must've been something that belonged to Renfri.

"What happened to that princess?" The king inquired, with a hopefully smile crossing his face.

"I killed her." Caira spoke up, hoping to soothe Geralt's already tainted image. She didn't want Foltest to lose trust with Geralt, and to most—she was nobody. She was merely a human, if Foltest knew he killed Renfri, he wouldn't have allowed him to proceed with saving his daughter and would've simply had another reason to hate the mutant. Foltest seemed taken aback by Caira's cuteness. So did Geralt, since he knew it wasn't true. He knew she was trying to cover for him. "I did try to resist, at first, with Adda. We both did. For all it brightens, love casts long shadows." Foltest turned to Geralt. "I envy you. To live and never have to fall in love."

Geralt looked down to the ground, refraining from responding to his comment. Caira picked up Geralt's things, handed it to him, then brushed through the dozens of knights into the castle, cueing Foltest to lead his men away for the night.

Upon entering the abandoned part of the palace, Geralt stopped Caira from proceeding to where Ostrit was being kept. "You didn't have to say that, about Renfri." Geralt told her.

"I know."

Geralt suddenly reached into his pocket and pulled out the witcher medallion—of the fallen witcher that had attempted to kill the striga once—and reached out to give it to Caira. Caira was perplexed by this action. "Take it." Geralt told her.

Caira wrapped her fingers around the white wolf pendant and curiously ran her thumb over the engraving. "I shouldn't—"

"Keep it." He insisted. Caira obliged and slipped the medallion on over her neck, burying the emblem under her clothes for safekeeping.

Caira turned around to continue walking toward Adda's bedroom, but, once again, Geralt stopped her by grabbing her shoulder. "Stay out here, you're not going to want to see this." Geralt warned her, as he was about to get Ostrit to tell him about the curse he imposed on the girl.

She nodded and stood guard in the halls with her sword in hand. The dark castle halls eerily creaked and croaked, causing Caira to attentively scan her eyes to every dark figure she could see in the dim light. For various minutes, Caira was left alone in the darkness. The silence was maddening, it was making Caira almost start imagining things coming after her there. She heard some wails come from Adda's bedroom, knowing Geralt was probably threatening and torturing Ostrit in order to figure out how the hell to break the curse.

Once Geralt was done, he quickly returned to Caira's side and informed her of the plan. "He have to keep her out of her fucking crypt until the roosters crow three times." Geralt grumbled as he marched up next to her.

"Fuck." Caira sighed, knowing how exhausting it would be having to fight this damn striga until dawn. Caira looked up at Geralt and noticed his eyes were now black, like when she had first saw him, unlike his usual burning yellow eyes.

Suddenly, the screeches of the striga could be heard form the silent, skeleton littered halls. Caira felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise. She tuned into her fighting mode and raised her silver sword close to her nose, Geralt followed pursuit with holding his silver chains. The two stood very still, allowing the striga to come to them rather than them stalk her.

They heard her sneak over to Adda's bedroom, then heard inhuman screeches coming from Ostrit, whom Geralt had left behind. "You left the man?" Caira whispered to him.

"That's not a man." Geralt assured her, wrapping his chains in his hands.

The striga then sniffed the two out, slowly creeping over to where they were. She appeared before Geralt and Caira, menacingly screeching and slobbering all over the place. She was horrid. Her hair tattered, her skin and bones nearly meshed into one. Even her umbilical cord from years ago still hung low from her uterus, having never being cut all those years.

Geralt wound up his silver chain and lassoed the girl, burning her as he tied her with the chain. Unfortunately, she was stronger than this and managed to break free of the chains, and came out more pissed that she already was. "Fuck." Geralt cursed right as she came charging at the two.

Caira ducked as the striga launched herself at her, causing her to miss her attack and go flying right past her. Caira threw a dagger at her, causing her to scream, then continue attacking. The striga charged at Caira and shoved her against the wall, Caira jammed her her sword up her abdomen, but it didn't seem to take much effect on her. Geralt grabbed the striga from behind and ripped her off Caira. He then used some of his power to shoot a pulse that projected the striga away from him.

The striga turned her attention to Geralt, and began battering him around for a bit. She shoved him to the ground and managed to pin him down. Caira grabbed what was left of the silver chain and jumped onto the striga's back, choking her with the chain. The striga clawed at Caira from behind, managing to slice open her thighs. Caira grunted. Geralt jumped to his feet and used his power to shatter the ground below them, causing them all to fall into the lower level—where the crypt was.

Caira groaned and sat up, rubbing her head. "A heads up would've been nice." She sighed, looking over to the knocked out striga.

Geralt didn't respond, in his usual manner, then proceeded to use his magic to creat invisible barriers at every exit to prevent the striga from escaping the room until morning—when the curse was finally broken. Blood dribbled down Caira's forehead, and she was too busy wiping it away as it continuously poured down her face to notice the striga had gotten up and disappeared. Geralt quickly noticed and frantically looked around the room. He didn't find a trace of her until she jumped down from the ceiling and attacked him from above.

Caira returned to reality and jumped up to get to Geralt as the striga began to beat on him and toss him around. The striga swung her arm and launched Caira across the room, definitely shattering a few bones along the way. Geralt managed to punch the striga as she charged back at him, his face crazed with rage and face bloody. Caira spotted the striga's crypt and began limping toward it as she realized the sun was coming up. The striga noticed, too, and began booking it toward the crypt. Geralt raced her back to the crypt as Caira began to quicken her pace.

Within seconds from each other, Caira made it to the crypt, leaped inside despite her injuries, and Geralt dove right in beside her, sealing it shut and using his magic to creat an invisible force field around it to keep the striga from getting inside. Caira grabbed the collar of Geralt's cloths and buried her head into his chest, squeezing her eyes shut. She clung onto him out of relief that she had made it in and the striga hadn't met her inside the crypt as well. Both she and Geralt took heavy breaths, exhausted from their fight against the striga.