Chapter 20:

For it is not possible to join serpentine wisdom with columbine innocence, except men know exactly all the conditions of the serpent: his baseness and going upon his belly, his volubility and lubricity, his envy and sting, and the rest; that is, all forms and natures of evil: for without this, virtue lieth open and unfenced. - Francis Bacon

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P.O.V Switch: Fringilla Vigo

Current Year: 1259

I was currently sitting in the cold dark basement of the keep, silently sipping my wine. The huge 'muscle freak' witcher, whose name I believe was Letho, had just come down the stairs and yelled out that the army of Nilfgaard was here. Ivar told him to start preparing for the battle and to grab some things from the armory. After a few seconds, Ivar himself started to run up the stairs, not even bothering to tell me he was leaving. He probably had more pressing concerns on his mind. Emhyr's plan has been put into motion. The time has come.

I'm about to be complicit in a slaughter and I was going to stand by and do nothing. I know that this is the way of the world, violence and death, but I still felt guilty. Especially because I rather like some of the people here.

After a few moments, Revna came down the stairs and into the basement. She looked afraid. Ivar had probably just told her the news. She ran over to Harkon's side, he was still convulsing and howling in pain, but she didn't seem to care. She hugged him, despite the amount of blood and sweat that was covering his form. It was a shame, she would probably be killed as well when the army gets here. A loving mother like that shouldn't have to be put down in such a way.

Revna suddenly tore herself away and stared directly at me.

"You have to help, Fringilla! The Witchers are trying to defend this school from Nilfgaard. I only know healing magic, I can't help with the defense. Please, help them!" Revna pleaded with me. There were a couple tears streaming down her face.

I took another big gulp out of my wine .I admit, I've been drinking a lot the past day and a half. It was the only thing keeping me composed. I would need to leave soon, Emhyr ordered me back as soon as the army arrived. I got up from my seating position and walked over to Revna. I might not be able to do anything, but I can do this.

"dearme aep a'taeghane" I intoned the phrase 'sleep for now' in elder speech. It was nice of Harkon to make me some of that sleeping dust for Svend, unfortunately I'm a sorceress, a simple sleeping spell is all I need.

"Wha-" Revna tried to say, but it was too late. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and then her body collapsed and dropped to the floor. It's better this way, she won't be able to wake up for at least ten hours. This way, she won't feel any pain when the soldiers eventually force their way in here. I've never known a Nilfgaardian soldier to be merciful, they leave no survivors.

After Revna was knocked out, I walked over to Harkon. I reached his bed side and just stared at his squirming form. I couldn't use a sleeping spell on him, if I did, the mutations would kill him.

"Harkon," I started to say. "I'm sorry. This, all of this happening now, is my fault. The information you possess… The emperor can't allow the continuation of your existence."

All that returned my little speech, was the continued screams of agony that bellowed out of Harkon's being. I would not kill him, I couldn't. Killing a child is… Something even I can't bring myself to do.

"I knew the Nilfgaardians were coming, Harkon. I just didn't tell you. Emhyr's planned this siege since you went off to the mountains. I was only informed the day you returned home what would happen. The other night, when we shared that drink… That was Emhyr's idea as well. He wanted me to gather information from you, try to find out how you knew so much. I'm sorry Harkon, I don't know what else to say. If it means anything… I didn't have a choice." I said with sadness. This is one of the worst outcomes that could have happened. I can't help Harkon, even if I wanted to.

I put my hand over Harkon's heart, intent on saying goodbye before I teleport away from this place. An extremely hot feeling suddenly singed my hand.

"Ahh!" I screamed out in pain as I pulled my palm away. I was left shocked, wondering what the hell that was.

I looked at Harkon's chest and noticed a… brand… appearing on top of his chest. The brand in question was slowly forming out of thin air, right over his heart. After a few seconds, it was complete. It took the form of a tree resting inside of a circle. Curiously, the branches and roots of the tree seemed to resemble… snakes?

I didn't have time to think about it as Harkon's screams started to get incredibly loud. He was writhing in his bed far more than he had previously. His mutations were not yet complete, but something was happening. Despite the blood accumulating near his eye lids, I was able to make out that only one of his eyes was currently changed. His golden iris and snake-like pupil looked like they were burrowing a whole through my body as his screams started to grow past the normal sounds humans were capable of making.

I felt a brush of chaos energy starting to emulate from Harkon's body. The ground and ceiling started to rigorously shake. This wasn't good, this is the same thing that happened during the last trial! I quickly backed as far away from him as I could.

I debated on what to do for a moment before I resigned myself. I made my way over to the wall and waved my hands, opening up a portal to the palace. I looked back at Harkon one last time before I left. An ominous red energy was starting to coalesce around his body. He was no longer writhing, instead his back seemed to be arched. His eyes were glowing with the same ominous red light as before.

I quickly stepped through the portal before it was too late. If I had stayed any longer, I might very well be dead. I had my hands on my knees as I started to breathe a bit rapidly. I felt like I was going to have a panic attack. Having so much magical power coming your way does that to someone.

"Fringilla." A cold tone said from behind me.

I turned myself around to see his majesty, Emhyr Var Emreis, standing with his arms crossed behind his back. He had the absolute faintest of smiles on his face.

"Come with me." He said while gesturing to a door to his right. "We have much to discuss."

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P.O.V Switch: Ivar Evil-Eye

A Few Moments Later

Current Year: 1259

I was currently waiting in the tree line near the castle. It would do me no good to stay cooped up inside the walls, I prefer attacking rather than defending. They undoubtedly have at least a couple mages in their midst. I doubt something like 'walls' would hold for long.

The other witchers and I had already set all of the traps that we could. We would need the rest of the bombs when the army arrived at our gate. I had two of my brethren scouting the army right now, remaining out of sight. It was still the afternoon, so it would be hard to sneak around and mount any sort of stealth offensives. I had told them to wait and try to see if there was an opportunity to kill some of the army commanders. If the soldiers became disorganized, it would slow them down. At least, until someone else takes charge. I doubt killing a few of their men would make them turn around, they were made of stronger stuff than that.

I heard a few explosions in the distance, it looks like a few of our traps were already set off. Suddenly Vormis, one of the witchers I had sent out to scout, came running towards me.

"Ivar!" He said in a huff. "They approach rapidly. They're around half a mile away now. They seem to have a couple mages, that I could count at least. But, there's something else…"

"What is it? Where's Markus?" I asked with worry. Markus was the other witcher I sent with him. The problems just keep piling up.

"He made it back to the castle, he is preparing with the rest for when they storm the gate. Listen, there is a… man wearing some sort of mask among them. He doesn't look military, but even the general seems to be listening to him. I think he's some sort of mage in the emperor's employ." The old witcher told me with haste.

"A mage that Emhyr trusts enough to take charge of his army?" I said while rubbing my eyes in frustration. I let out a long sigh. It just never ends today.

As I said these words, I felt a tremor on the ground. It almost knocked me off my feet, but I collected myself. I looked back to the castle to see an ominous rusty red energy being blown out of the castle.

"God damn it, Harkon. Now is when you choose to do this?!" I stated to no one in particular, I was even more frustrated than before. Now is when Harkon's source powers go out of control? I really just can't catch a break today. I moved in long strides, intent on getting into the keep to stop whatever was happening, when tVormis stopped me.

"Hold on, Ivar." Vormis said while grabbing my shoulder to stop me.

"What?" I asked quickly. We didn't really have time for this conversation

"This could actually be a good thing. Think about it, we already know that we won't be able to win. If Harkon manages to bring down the keep, the soldiers won't bother to look for him underneath all that rubble." Vormis explained his reasoning with haste.

"You're forgetting that he could die underneath 'all that rubble', Vormis. Even if he survived the destruction, he might just be trapped underneath the ruins until he starves to death or runs out of oxygen. Is that what you want?" I asked seriously.

As I was waiting for a response, I heard the ominous sound of armored footsteps coming down the path. Nilfgaard was closing in, rapidly.

"We're all about to die, Ivar." Vormis said solemnly after turning his head in the direction of the army. "If we let him do it, he might at least have a chance."

I stared at Vormis heavily for a few moments. After contemplating for a second, I realized that Vormis was right. This is probably the only way. If not, the soldiers will eventually just break into the keep and bludgeon him to death before the mutations are complete. The army was at the precipice, I needed to worry about them right now.

"Fine." I said after looking down at the ground in anger at my indecisiveness. Hopefully Harkon and Revna will survive, although the chances are slim."Let's take as many of these bastards with us as we can. Let's move out!"

"Now that's more like it!" Vormis responded with a toothy grin.

We both wandered a bit away from the keep. Looking down the road at one of the paths that lead to the castle, I could see the armored forms of Nilfgaardian soldiers. Several explosions masked the sounds of our movement. The Nilfgaardians were starting to set off the majority of our traps. Every few moments, a group of eight or more soldiers would erupt into a fiery mess of blood and severed body parts. Despite that, the troops still proudly marched on.

While I was watching the army, I saw the man that Vormis had talked about earlier. It appeared to me that he was unbothered by the litany of soldiers that were dying from our bombs. He was wearing some simple mage robes, but with a bit of a mercenary's flare. By that, I mean that he had some light leather armor covering him in important places. It was designed to allow for maximum movement and flexibility, rather than for just pure protection. I couldn't see his face behind the black mask he wore that seemed to suck in the light itself, probably some sort of magic artifact, but I could tell he was dangerous.

As I was thinking these thoughts, the soldiers' view of our castle had entered their sights. They blew their war horns and shoved their swords into the air. All of them looked like they were pumped up and ready to kill. They all started to scream a blood thirsty battle cry and started to charge towards the castle with reckless abandon. A few of them that were in a group were carrying a moderately big battering ram.

"Put that down," The masked man commanded. "It will not be needed for this. I'll take care of it."

The few soldiers that were carrying the ram obeyed and placed it down on the ground. They all quickly went to join their brothers in arms running towards the gate to the keep. The masked man stayed behind by himself. As I gazed over at him. I saw him say some words in elvish. A bolt of lightning was being formed in the man's hands. My medallion was humming with incredible intensity. I could not let him cast this spell, I could tell with one glance that it could destroy the gate to the keep.

"Vormis." I whispered as I grabbed his shoulder. "We need to move in and stop that man. If he blows the gate now, it will be too late."

Vormis nodded at my words and readied his sword. I did the same, pulling out my steel sword as well. We both looked at each other once again and made sure we were ready. I reached behind my back and pulled a northern wind bomb off my belt. It felt chilly to the touch. I gauged the distance between me and the opponent in front of me and then threw the bomb with as much strength as I could muster.

The chilly explosive flew through the air towards the masked man. Faster than I've ever seen a natural human move, I saw the masked mage cancel his lightning spell just in time to pull up a shield around himself.

A chilly frost covered the landscape around us. The air turned cold and I could see my breath whenever I exhaled. I waited for a few seconds for some the chilly winds blocking my vision to dissipate. After a few moments, the winds settled down and I was able to see my opponent once again. He was perfectly fine, his clothes weren't even ruffled.

The surprise attack had failed, but it made no difference. Vormis and I charged in to assault the mage. Vormis reached the man first, he made a horizontal chop aimed at the man's neck. Before it could reach him, the man moved with inexplicable speed once more and dodged the attack, but not before kicking Vormis in the chest. Vormis went flying towards me, twirling himself into a hard roll by my feet.

As soon as Vormis landed, a solid black iron staff appeared in the man's hands. He lazily backed up a few meters while twirling the mighty weapon in between his fingers. I could tell right away that if my sword were to make contact with this magical weapon, it would break. It must be some sort of enchanted item. Warily, I got into my sword stance and began to slowly circle the mage. He looked uninterested in my approach and continued to just stand out in the open.

"Well then." The masked mage said while cracking his neck. "Shall we get started?"