I will ride you terribly one day!

"They might not work for a witcher." - Geralt said looking at the alchemical marvel in wonder. - "Are they really that good?"

Instead of talking Alan took out a knife and directly pierced his palm with apathetic look.

"Ah!" - came a cry from the door. There Ciri was standing wide eyed at the boy of her age who so easily ran a knife through his hand.

"Look." - Alan didn't bother with reactions around, noting that even Geralt frowned a bit. It wasn't because he wounded himself, but because of how he did it. No yelp, no frown, not even a normal constriction of a pupils can be seen. It was as if his body and mind adapted to pain of way higher caliber than this. What must a boy go through to have this? Not even he, a witcher who saw death and injuries en mass can boast about such tolerance.

Meanwhile Alan poured as little as couple of drops on the wound and drank similar amount himself. It really was a marvel, how the wound started to heal with the speed visible to naked eye. No matter what one might say, but alchemy in Harry Potter went way ahead of the one in witcher, contrary to art of magic. Strange occasion. Perhaps mages found it degrading to research alchemy thoroughly, they have power to harness and forces of nature at back and call.

Geralt took the knife and made a cut on his own hand, dropping couple of drops on it. It was healed in matter of seconds.

"If only we had that earlier." - said Geralt with apathetic look, hiding sadness clearly flashing deep within his aged eyes.

"I gave you a whole canteen of both. You can dilute them with water to form a huge supply for you lot to drink in battle in mouthfuls and distribute among yourselves. If you need more, ask me. One need to be a mage to brew it. Well, Triss perhaps can do the same, but she doesn't know the recipe." - than Alan thought for a while and finally took out a paper and a pencil, writing down recipes for both including precise brewing process and necessary equipment required for the process.

All took quite a while of time and during it Ciri walked over and looked in wonder at what Alan was doing.

"What is that?" - she pointed at pot still.

"Oh, this is a part of machinery, called alembic, used to..."

"No, I am talking about what are you writing with!" - she said rolling her eyes and looking at him with superior look. - "Why would I ask about this alebic... alemic or something. It is so boring."

"Pencil. Need some?" - he sighed, not knowing what he was actually expecting of a girl.

"Can I have some? Really?" - she asked with an innocent smile and childish happiness.

'Am I the only one like an adult? Do all ten years or so old people act like her?'

Perhaps, it is about education in this world. Thinking deeper Cirilla as a lady and a princess to boot, learned how to read and write and maybe count, but aside from that most of her lessons must have been about needlework, etiquette and all that lady stuff of middle ages of Earth. Let alone she lived in four walls only rarely leaving them disguised as a boy.

Naivety and lack of knowledge is expected, thus the childishness.

'I need to teach her how to control Elder Blood of hers. Elves actually claimed it is their bloodline, but it seems they are simply lying to everyone. It feels like an attempt to fuse with something on the level of my bloodline and not very great at that.'

There is a question Alan never was able to find an answer after months of traveling an visiting several libraries. Why elves have Elder Blood, but not all of them are mages? What is more, most don't have superior talent in magic in comparison to humans.

Well, take Vilgefortz as an example. His level of talent in magic is simply sick. And he is a human. And the answer he thought of is simple – Elder Blood is not originated from elves at all, instead it belongs to a being way higher on the level of evolution and they simply obtained some of it through some means, perhaps quite dirty ones.

'All in all, they say humans can't control it, but so goes with elves! Otherwise, how could Lara Dorren die so easily? While giving birth she just... well... froze due to cold weather? Really? Was she giving birth using White Chill as a pillow or what? I can't imagine myself freezing at all. In fact if it is not some offensive spells, I never felt either hot or cold, it all was comfortable somehow.'

Alan firmly believed that with knowledge that Amalgal left him he will be able to teach Ciri to properly wield this power. What Isu researched greatly at their time was bloodlines and souls. Their knowledge were different in the field and direction if compared with this world, where rich in magic energy environment granted people with outstanding possibilities to explore energy forms and sources of magic.

However, there is a downside in teaching Ciri. She might use it earlier and through this Wild Hunt will be knocking at their doors way in front of schedule.

That needs to be addressed before teaching her. Maybe a seal of some kind? Or cloaking spell like the one on the Invisibility Cloak. Well, not like he can replicate the later, but a bloodline seal might be possible. Still, active involvement of Wild Hunt won't happen until Eredin kills Oberon in the act of regicide.

But how did they even find her and why then they didn't feel Alan at all? It's quite clear, that his bloodline is a sort of progenitor of Elder Blood but to what extent? Can he find origins of his existence if he studies elven history?

Alan took some time assembling pencils for Ciri as he thought of it all.

"Here, take it." - he gathered a whole box and they were not all gray, but colored ones with several simple ones added. - "And also this pencil sharpener."

He silently added a spell of hardening to it. Although it is not even close to effectiveness of runes, inscribing runes on a sharpener is a bit of an overkill.

"Wow! So magical. You just turn and its done! Geralt, Geralt, look!" - she ran to him and Geralt nodded with a smile. A very kind smile. Meant only for Ciri.

"Good. Take it. You can draw a colored pictures of monsters in your diary." - well man, Geralt is clearly not the best one to feel the atmosphere.

"Right!" - Ciri nodded with anticipation and Alan nearly chocked. She actually is looking forward to colorfully depict, say, a hag or a ghoul?

'The girl is a witcher in skirt through and through. No wonder her sword was called Zirael, or Swallow. To be a free seeker of adventure and lucky encounters is in her blood.'

"We are ready." - Geralt said plainly. - "Buy a horse for yourself in the next city."

"Me too!" - Ciri chipped in.

"Pony for you." - answered Geralt sternly.

"I'm old enough to ride a horse! A real one!" - said the girl while being picked up like a plush toy and positioned on Geralt's lap.

"Yeah, sure." - he said clearly not listening to her rattling.

"What about him?" - she pointed at Alan, who was standing by the side.

"And what about him?" - asked Geralt. - "He will run."

"Oh." - Ciri nodded and looked at Alan with pity and then said with cute seriousness. - "Sorry. When you get tired tell me. I will switch with you."

"No need." - said Alan and turned to his Tenebris form.

"Woah!" - Ciri's mouth opened round. - "Can I ride him?" - she pointed at the dragon wolf with stars in her eyes and asked Geralt in excitement pouring out of her all over the place.

'I'm not a horse for you to ride!'

"But I want to ride you! I so terribly want!" - she pouted and her green lanterns of the eyes darted from Alan to the witcher with pleading. - "Pretty please..."

'No way.'

"One day I will ride you. You wait and see. I will ride you so terribly you won't be able to walk!" - she said huffing and puffing her cheeks, while turning away. Her cute act failed, time to use another means to achieve success.

Alan was left speechless with great embarrassment deep down and opted to one of the two best options a man can do in front of unbeatable woman logic – flee or agree. He sped into the distance under slight smile of the witcher, who pretty much enjoyed what was going on between the two.

He remembered banter between Lambert and Eskel looking at the two kids. Yes, for him even Alan, no matter how mature he might be is but a kid.

And it was for an adult to protect them, not the other way around.