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thealfanator · 7 years

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The Steel that Warmed Us in the Night-Time ~ Chapter 8

Ciri crept through the silent, dark corridors and rooms of the castle. The Sun leaked like water through the diamond-shaped tinted windows. It seemed empty. No guards were about and no footsteps echoed around corners. Ciri crouched beside a cold, stone wall and listened for patrols. She could hear nothing except her own breath. She dug her fingertips into the ridges of the bricks so that it led her down the dimly lit rooms. The air was strangely clean like nobody had set foot in there for decades, although that seemed unlikely. Her breaths matched the rhythm of her footsteps. Eventually, she reached a larger, more open room. It was brighter, so she could make out the shapes of some objects although she had to squint to do so. A red carpet flooded the centre of the oval-shaped room. Bookshelves guarded the walls whilst the books made company between their creaky shelves. An empty, melancholy throne stood disappointed at the end of the room. Ciri moved forward slowly, creeping on her toes. If anyone saw her, her glowing eyes would be seen before the rest of her body, drowned inside the dark abyss which smothered the air. She suddenly identified a special glass case just off the side of the room. Light passed through it; looking unusually unguarded for an object which looked too holy and significant to be true. She silently swept to the pedestal. Inside the glass case sat the amulet that was in her grip for what seemed like such a long time ago. Once again, her fingertips were drawn to the sight of it like a strong magnetic pulse. She breathed out again, in awe of the object before thinking of a way to retrieve it.

Triss cast fireballs from the palm of her hand to force the invading drowners to retreat.

“Piss off!” she cried, constantly twisting her neck in a clockwise formation to the next monster who wished to gauge out her internal organs. The waist-high water and claustrophobic pressure of the temple restricted her movement and produced infinite amounts of anxiety within her stomach. The drowners croaked fiercely – their backbones hunched over, making them crawl nastily towards her. Her fireballs proved un-effective. Her powerful fire spells would blast them, but they were clever enough to crouch under the water level to brush off the flames. She continued to curse. Triss counted the synchronised enemies around her: one… two… ten… twelve… too many. She waded through the thick water towards another archway of the temple using all her effort to unstick herself from the claws of the drowners. She twisted her body awkwardly to try to multitask her casting with her steps, but realised she was becoming more and more tired through her movements. Another archway passed which she identified to be more unstable than the last one. Water dripped through the ceiling whilst cracked stones emitted dust particles to become dissolved in the large volumes of water below. In a split-second decision, she cast one last powerful spell directly above her which resulted in a large, blinding white explosion. When the surroundings reappeared, she was surrounded by nothing but darkness. As she came to realisation, she smiled at the corridor which was now caved in and sealed by rubble. It was so thick that she couldn’t even hear the drowner squeals on the other side. She breathed a massive sigh of relief before spontaneously coughing out the concentrated dust particles in the air. Dreading her mission, she turned, lit her fingertips with a light-emitting spell and proceeded down the hallway. It led her to a descent deeper into the temple. They looked like they could’ve been stairs but the stream of water which mindlessly fell eroded it into a smooth, uneven slope. The waist-level water also decreased, to Triss’ liking. She failed to dry her clothing, however, but she had more alerting issues pressing on her mind. She gasped once more for air before carefully trudging towards the dark hole in the ground.

Ciri continued to stare at the amulet; half in awe, half in frustration. If she attacked the vibrant glass casing, the alarm would scream horrifically. That wasn’t an option. She swore at her feet and glanced around the case. Front. Sides. Back. Nothing penetrable. She touched it again, fingertips feeling the warmth of the bright sunlight which conveniently illuminated the artefact. Suddenly, she heard a massive crash from some double wooden doors on the other side of the room. She heard screams from multiple people who entered. Geralt, sword in the air, deflected the blows from manic guards who slashed at the witcher. From the looks of things, Geralt effortlessly slashed back at the guards who then as a result fell to the floor with a satisfying clunk. Ciri stood motionless.

“I thought you were supposed to be distracting them!” she said in confusion. She stared at Geralt, waiting for an answer.

“Things didn’t really go to plan.” He replied, chuckling whilst stabbing more invading steel. He didn’t even turn to face Ciri because of the hectic nature of the attack. Geralt threw multiple spells, knocking books off bookshelves as well as sweeping the guards off their feet. Ciri guessed there must’ve been about ten of them; maybe more. Thinking quickly, she smashed her elbow into the glass and snatched the amulet; glass sprinkling everywhere. Naturally, she cupped her ears at the screeching alarm that sounded. It stormed through the castle like water, aching the ears of everyone nearby. Amulet in hand, she ran over to clutch Geralt’s arm.

“Come on,” she screamed, “we’ve got to go!” She tugged at his arm like a small child. Geralt grimaced at the dazzled guards before agreeing. He ran with her. They sprinted across the ruined red carpet away from the guards and towards the right side of the large room. Ciri emitted a bright, blue light as she teleported up and into a glass-stained window, smashing it into a million tiny fragments. Geralt blocked the shards from falling into his eyes by guarding them with his arm – with sword still in hand.

“You could’ve gave me a warning.” Geralt chuckled.

“Shut up and get up here!” The witcher climbed up the stone infrastructure, crawled over the gap where the glass was standing a moment ago, then ducked through to the next room. Hearing the castle guards run to the window on the other side, they tried to keep up their pace. They were greeted with a long, brightly lit stretching hallway; similar to all of the other rooms that Cirilla had visited. Cobblestone walls scattered throughout followed by an elegant red carpet and torch sconces. They shot down the hallway with incredible speed. They turned a corner just as they glanced back at the knights that had only just managed to find their way over the gap in the wall. They came to an open drop with spikes far down at the bottom. They stopped and shielded each other from the drop. “Shit.” Ciri swore. Geralt looked at her in shock at her goofy language. Ciri smiled back, “Sorry.” The trap in front of them looked entirely out of place and seemed increasingly unusual to imagine having deadly traps scattered around a holy castle. Nevertheless, the stomping feet of guards behind them forced them to think swiftly. Ciri saw a lever on the other side of the drop – only a few metres ahead. It must’ve controlled the trap. She glanced at Geralt, silently pleading. Geralt, almost reading her mind, spoke with a serious, caring tone.

“Absolutely not.” He said. Ciri, ignoring his response, jumped over the gap. As she started to descend, she materialised to the ground opposite the gap, once again casting a bright blue light as she teleported. Out of breath, she looked at Geralt proudly before quickly spinning the contraption. The hole in the ground chugged shut. Guards sprinted around the corner. Geralt started to act. Smiling at his daughter, Geralt pat her hard on her shoulder as he passed her. “Come on, let’s go.” He said. Ciri smirked at the guards before using her finger to push the lever again. A large, spiked hole sat between them and the guards. She turned and walked towards Geralt; the smile still glued to her face.

Triss entered a large, dark, empty room. The air continued to stink of foliage and decayed interior structuring. Walls were collapsing and sprawling over the floor, tiny amounts of water spewed from the ceiling, drops sounding like tiny dwarves crying for help. She inhaled in a pleasant surprise despite the dangerous position she was in. She realised that the building could collapse at any moment. She travelled slowly through the room whilst tripping on small rocks on her way. She could hardly see except within a tiny radius which her pale light emitted. However, she caught glimpse of a shining gemstone at the end of the room. After looking in more detail, she noticed the outline of a large, ominous-looking pedestal. As she walked closer, she noticed vertical graves on both sides of the room; embedded in the walls. They conjured an unnerving fear inside her. There it was. The amulet. She placed it in her hand slowly and with care before smiling to herself.

“Oh no…” she said to herself. Immediately, the ground started to rumble after an almost predictable click of the surface in which the amulet was placed. The graves which burst open wiped the smile from her face. She turned whilst stuffing the artefact inside her pocket. Numerous skeleton-like creatures drew their rusty swords and crept towards Triss. Her heart skipped a beat. Her hands produced an orange flame as she prepared to fight. Then, without her consent they turned blue. A strong blinding blue colour. No, that wasn’t her hands… it was a large portal behind the invaders. Suddenly, with a yell, Yennefer appeared; her hair tugging at the air. “Thank God you’re here!” Triss cried. Yennefer recovered from her sudden transportation and stood up from the rough, stone ground. Together, they fought off the monsters with flying spells and deafening sounds of the casting. At one time, during the blitz, Triss became overwhelmed with the high quantities of necrophages but fortunately recovered with a couple of lightning sparks from Yennefer’s fingertips. In the hall, only Triss and Yennefer stood – highly exhausted.

“Please,” Yen started, “hand me the amulet. I want to see it.” She smiled. Triss handed it over, sparkling in their hands. Yennefer’s face suddenly grew subtly suspicious. She threw an explosion at the wall, making water flood in. Triss became wary. “There’s a way out. Just swim up the water and you’ll be back to the sea and to the surface.”

“You’re coming with me, right?” Triss questioned.

“I’m sorry.” Yennefer responded, looking sympathetically into Triss’ eyes. She cast a portal between the both of them, then dematerialised mercilessly; taking the amulet with her and leaving Triss alone in the temple. Triss grew angry, then relieved her frustration with a difficult sigh.

Yennefer greeted Ciri and Geralt with a large hug in the sweet, bliss hot sun of Toussaint. The pair of them escaped the city guards before Yen prepared a boat journey out of the city. They counted their amulets. The contractor, Janshai, has one. They’ve already given three back. They have another three in their possession; meaning that they needed to collect three more. The journey seemed to fly by and Geralt couldn’t help but grin at Yennefer and Ciri having a conversation together a fair distance away – hugging each other and chuckling at the smallest moment. He sighed. They seemed happy.

Oh no! You’ve reached the end of this chapter :( Sorry, but I can’t write at the click of my fingers; it does take time! Nevertheless, I hope it’s worth it. Please leave me feedback of the series! I appreciate it a lot! :)

Link to Chapter 1: https://thealfanator.tumblr.com/post/161443706234/the-steel-that-warmed-us-in-the-night-time

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