Approaching Yaruga.

Several months later.

"We are entering Sodden, several days and I am home." - said Yurga clearly in uplifted mood.

"Several villages and all nearly empty. What happened here?" - Alan asked, looking around. After all war was won several months ago and they traveled through half of Temeria to Sodden.

"People still don't want to go back. Battle of Sodden Hill was bloody and nearly ended in mutual destruction." - said Yurga. - "We all are grateful. Mages stood up and protected our land."

"Why mages?" - asked Alan and Geralt suddenly turned from his horse with attention. What he asked is why he feels grateful to them instead of soldiers. That was puzzling to hear from a normal person of this world, where mages are more feared among common populace, than respected.

"You see, when the kings agreed to assemble a coalition army of soldier to protect their sovereignty, it was expected. Why else an army would even exist if not for waging wars? So they fought and died there, yes, but that is their obligation to the crown. However mages are different. They live way longer than normal people, they could have ignored it and simply go to serve another lord, but still stood in united front to fight the Nilfgaard. They stood until the end and died there not for the order of someone and not out of money, but because their hearts told them so. Each mage costs a whole army in significance, but they fought and left their lives there like regular soldiers. Without retreat and fear. No, masters, there are many things people of the world say about the likes of you, but we, people of Sodden, owe to much to your kind. We know to be grateful for everything you all have done for us. And we all will remember the names of mages who fought under Sodden Hill, fought and died for us. Every single name, all fourteen of them."

"Yurga, you said sorceress fought in the Battle of Sodden Hill?" - Geralt became pale all of a sudden, even more than he normally is.

"How come you don't know? With all Nilfgaard did here, in these lands?" - Yurga was surprised.

"I was in the north, on Skellige for a whole year." - simply answered the witcher with same apathetic face.

"Oh." - Yurga nodded and slightly spurred forward his horses. - "Well, I can tell you..."

"No." - Geralt said half closing his eyes. It was strange how a cold-blooded monster slayer created to be emotionless failed to follow that very basic rule. Any witcher is not a machine and neither cold in hidden recesses of their souls. Somewhere there, not visible to naked eye their heart still burn with incinerating flames of passion. Otherwise how can they continue living and not die willingly at some point? - "Don't. I better see it myself."

"Well, we are nearing monument where you can read their names, carved in the stone for centuries to be known and revered. It is just up a hill. You can go from here." - he noted and went silent.

"She is fine." - said Alan looking straight into Geralt's predator eyes.

"Who?" - asked the white haired witcher with same even voice. Sometimes one can't see if he really has no feelings or just awesome at suppressing them inside. Good that Alan knew the answer.

"All of them." - he added with mystery. Geralt looked at Alan with strange gaze, but declined to comment. They were together for half a year and he learned that sometimes Alan is hard to read, but he wasn't bad at heart.

And he never lies on serious matters.

So for good or bad, that put his heart at ease.

"I'll go take a look." - he hopped off the horse, leaving it in the hands of a servant and went with same steady, even steps. The same steps he used to walk out of pile of dead ghouls. He stood there for some time, reading each name with whisper. Perhaps, that was the only thing he can do for them.

Alan stood under the hot autumn sun, perhaps the last days like that, and breathed in the aroma of herbs. It was very rich and drugged him slightly, it was even pleasant.

"Master Alan." - Yurga leaned over front of the cart and looked at the figure of Geralt in the distance.

"Need something?" - Alan turned around and looked up. Standing in the ditch by the unpaved road made him shorter than he is. For his age Alan was already like a young man in his prime.

"Just thinking. Would you like to visit my house with Geralt?"

"Why with him?" - asked Alan not understanding the underlining meaning.

"I can see things, master Alan. I first thought you are old man but made yourself look like that through magic." - Yurga shifted his gaze away from youth's eyes. They were very strange to his taste, even more so than Geralt's. Alan was exasperated for a brief moment over his evaluation but latter sighed. If he was like other carefree kids after all he had been through and being alone in this world, now that will be a sight to behold. - "Master Geralt got a little attached to you through these months of travel and it seems you want to follow him. Plus, master Alan, you are a mage. You won't drag even witcher like master Geralt down."

"When it comes to friends, dragging down or not is irrelevant, Yurga." - said Alan, looking further down the road. - "We will reach the ferry soon. I bet it will be chaotic."

"Yes. War has ended, but consequences are still there." - sighed merchant. - "I hope my home is fine."

"There was Yaruga to stop Nilfgaard from approaching Lower Sodden and a whole army stopped them at this side of a bank. I bet your family didn't even noticed the war at all." - said Alan, running his gaze through the bushes by the edge of the forest.

"Something wrong?" - Yurga tensed up. Bandits are not new to these lands and with the way Alan looked around merchant made assumptions.

"No, why?" - he broke away from his thoughts and looked at old man again. It is quite rare to find good people like him in this war strike and monster ridden world.

"You looked around like that, I almost thought we are ambushed."

"Ha-ha... even if we are, what does it matter." - laughed Alan carelessly. Not like there is even one living soul aside from them in vicinity.

"Do you believe in destiny, master Alan?" - suddenly asked Yurga.

Geralt, who made his way back stopped near them and turned his head to look at the youth. It seems he was curious to know the answer too.

"Destiny is just a path, one of many to choose from. And it is for the person to walk it." - said Alan with misty look in his eyes. Eyes, that told a story. Eyes, that by all means shouldn't appear on the face of a young man. Geralt knew this kind of gaze. The one that saw pain, death and loss. He had similar one. - "But you know, Yurga, destiny is not enough. Far from enough, actually. You need something more. Something bigger."

Alan gave him a smile, that looked... sad, perhaps?

Geralt looked at the boy with contemplating expression.

"Ah, master Geralt, we soon will reach my home and there I can repay you."

"No." - said the witcher. - "No need, Yurga. Really."

"One can't run from Destiny." - shook his head Yurga and later laughed with ease. - "Although you miscalculated this time, master Geralt. You see, my wife is infertile after second child, so I really won't find anything unexpected, I just can't."

"That will be for the best." - nodded witcher in return, pretending to fix something by the side of his horse.

"But I have two able sons. You can take one and train as a witcher."

"Yurga, do you know what you saying?" - asked Geralt with eerie calmness, almost apathy. Typical for a his kind.

"Naturally. What so wrong about being a witcher? Same work like everything else. True, harder and more dangerous, but the one that needed! Protecting people from monster is a noble thing to do."

Alan looked at Yurga with pensive look. He was right at some point, but the problem is that most likely his son will die in no time. And fighting monsters who are way faster and stronger than normal person without undergoing mutations is just plain suicide for most cases.

"Whatever you say." - said Geralt and hopped on his horse.

"Master Alan, take a seat." - Yurga patted the front by his side and slightly urged horses to continue the path.

'Triss Merigold. She is alive.'

Alan hopped on and send a though through the Vibe. Geralt trembled with barely noticeable movement and nodded, but one can clearly see his figure becoming slightly more relaxed.

They rode for several hours and eventually made their way traveling by the side of a very broad river.

One can barely see another bank in this part of Yaruga.

Just as they were about to approach the ferry, a heart wrenching scream came from the side making the merchant cart stop on it's tracks.