Morning Talk.

The next day in the morning.

"You are not human. You are a demon, Alan, a demon! I declare so in the presence of this chair and a basin of my burp! I declare so, looking at the picture of Foltest... by the way, who has drawn a strange mustache on his face? And this... this is a felony! We need to remove it. We need to burn Foltest." - cried Jaskier suffering a heavy hangover.

Just in time to hear his last sentence, a girl entered a room. She paled with fright and ran away, but several moments later Yennefer entered carrying her with one hand.

She had a smile on her face, a radiant smile that told stories about glorious night.

But as soon as she entered the room, her smile faded.

"My goodness, Jaskier, open the window and let some fresh air in. This is just sickening." - she didn't wait for the poet to react, because, by all means, he was in no condition to do that. The only thing he can do was to blabber nonsensical stuff while suffering from a headache.

Yen waved her hand, and the window opened. Another wave of a hand and a basin was thrown out.

"Ya fucking twats! Ya dare to throw this at me! Imma kill ya lot, kill ya lot!" - came an enraged scream from below. Yen apathetically looked through the window and made a move with her hand.

Voice disappeared.

No one saw the man ever again, but stories about how he was thrown into the portal suddenly after cursing the sky spread everywhere. No one dared to curse the sky near Hofmeier inn from then on.

"Well, Jaskier, you really had it rough." - said a cheerful youthful man by the side. Jaskier glared at him with hate.

"You bullied me. Geralt, help me, Alan, that sonny of yours, bullied your best friend."

"My best friend, it's better to revise some outstanding poetry you wrote recently." - snorted Geralt, while standing in the room's entrance with Alan.

"What poetry? Good morning." - Ciri poked her head above their shoulders while hugging both men by their necks.

"Vulgar, Ciri. Very vulgar and unrealistic. I do not advise you to read it." - said Alan seriously. But he forgot that it is better to use reverse psychology on this unruly girl with Elder Blood. The more one tells her not to do something, the more she wants to do it.

"Oh." - it attracted her interest. Who would have thought Jaskier will suffer more under the hands of another little devil? - "Let's go eat. I'm hungry. I want their duck. I heard they can cook an amazing duck with pears."

"That is a dish of a Saovine time. Sadly, it is not today." - said Jaskier finally standing up. - "Can anyone do something about my hangover? I need some booze..."

"You smell bad." - Ciri frowned. - "In fact, this entire room smells bad. Alan, let's go down, I want to eat."

Alan gave the last victory glance to Jaskier and went with Ciri to order breakfast. They already ate half of it, when Geralt and Yen joined.

"Ciri, go talk to Jaskier outside. We need to talk with Alan for a bit."

Ciri looked reluctant but knew better when there might be a chance to argue and when Yen's tone absolutely forbid any misbehavior. She already ran away from her in Gors Velen and it turned out into such a mess.

Never the less, she pouted and gave Alan puppy eyes technique that nearly made him waver. He stoically survived the critical blow by hiding his gaze on the empty plate.

"Hmpf!" - she snorted and walked away to Jaskier who was gulping down glass after glass of water.

"So, Alan. What was that yesterday?" - Yen tapped the table with a finger. Medallions twitched and grew warm.

"Wild Hunt." - simply answered Alan and seeing their unimpressed looks, continued talking. - "Yen, have you heard about Elder Blood?"

"Not to the point of factual knowledge. Just some elven fairy tales." - she shook her head.

"It is in a sense an elven fairytale. In fact, they are obsessed with it. So much that they are ready to hunt Ciri everywhere. Elder Blood is known as a special bloodline of elves. It was said to be a project of Aen Elle elves who tried to bring their magic potential to the pinnacle through genetic breeding. That resulted in Elder Blood." - Geralt tensed up, Yen was sitting there flabbergasted. She of all people knew what it all meant. - "But I think it is another lie to cover more gruesome truth. And the proof for that is my existence. I don't know what Elder Blood is, but I feel like it is something similar to my bloodline, yet a weaker, artificial version of it."

Yen listened in silence. Her lilac eyes stared in the window's distance with the glazed film over them. Geralt twirled the mug with local cranberry juice, but he was tense. Like he would be before going to the hunt. Before drinking elixirs, smearing silver sword with oil and going to cut off some heads. En mass.

Alan took a sip from his mug and sighed.

"In the end, all that doesn't really matter. What matters is that Aen Elle, a world different from ours, is conquered and governed by elves. Their civilization is very strong. Wild Hunt you saw is just one of many squads inside their unit. What we fought yesterday wasn't even the main force of Wild Hunt. They were just a little reconnaissance group with a navigator."

"But Wild Hunt is rumored to be undead ghosts..."

"Magic, Geralt, you saw it yourself. Illusions, impregnable armor, sharp weapons. All of it is a product of magic." - people around thought they were talking about plans for a group vacation. In some sense, in their freak party, they discuss similar activities.

A waiter came over and offered more drinks. Alan nodded, he loved local food. Hofmeier's family did wonders with their inn.

"Navigators? Who are they?" - Yen asked a question that hit the mark as usual.

"Mages who are strong enough to create portals between worlds and had the talent to navigate in the World between Worlds." - said Alan. - "I myself know little about it, so don't ask more. If you do, what I say will be my speculations and not actual facts."

"But why do they need Ciri? I understand, talent and all, but you can't make empire strong with a single talent. Magic has its limits."

"Ciri and me... we are different. They just need it. For now, that is what's relevant. And believe me, the only way to stop it is to kill them. They won't stop. But they are a distant threat for now. Yen, do you remember what I told you during our first meeting?"

Yen frowned. Oh yes, she remembered it. Remembered it very well.

"Looks like you do and you investigated it, I presume?"

"Yes." - she finally said and turned to Geralt. - "Promise me one thing, Geralt. Just please, promise me, okay?"

The witcher frowned too. He never liked those talks about blind promises and all that.

"Geralt, I want you to trust me. Do you trust me?"

He remained silent. Yennefer smiled.

"You are reading me again." - Geralt snorted. The time when he grumbled about her telepathy for real ended abruptly. Noe, to his own surprise, he didn't mind it that much.

"And you are fine with it. I want you to listen to me. Our enemy is not simple. We can't act rashly or we will be killed. Let me plan it all. We need to properly act in public."

"Geralt, there is another thing. I have a lead that your friends in Dorian will be in danger soon. If you go now, you might save them."

Yen gave a glance at Alan. It was one that told volumes about possible tortures he will go through if Geralt leave her now.

"Are you sure?" - he asked.

"Yes." - nodded Alan. - "But we can't stretch thin now, we all need to be together. So I have a way. Well, I think it will work, but I need your help." - said Alan. After gaining a Net, he was constantly trying to figure out why he can't use it with monsters, and the answer he came up with is simple.

He needs to apply more soul power to break through their defenses. Monsters turned out to be very resilient to mind attacks and mind control. It was their trait from the very birth.

"In what?"

"How about domesticating a wyvern?" - gave Alan a warmonger smile.