Chapter 23:

The serpent is helpless unless he finds an apple to work with. - George Ade

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 Days Later:

Current Year: 1259

My sleep was… restless. At least, from what I could perceive. My mind was plagued by haunting nightmares. Mousesack's spell only intended to put me to sleep, not give me pleasant dreams. During my no doubt long hours of unconsciousness, I envisioned all of my failures. Things that happened in my previous life that made me who I am… the castle being destroyed… and everyone… Everyone I've grown to trust and love is dead.

Everything is my fault. I allowed myself to trust a sorceress, of all people. I want to blame my first trial for what happened, my mind wasn't in a good state and Fringilla helped me, but that was no excuse. Everything that's happened, it's all on me. I'll have to live with this sin for the rest of my days.

My thoughts kept wandering, continuously thinking about my mother and Ivar… Hell, I'm not even sure if the other witchers or Letho are still alive. If Letho isn't, then the future is fucked beyond repair. Without him, several important key events would not come to pass. If he is still alive, then Geralt and him will meet up at some point to save Yennefer. If he isn't… I might have to try and change some things around.

It doesn't matter, my future was looking bleak anyway. I have nothing, not even a sword, to my name. I am somehow in fucking Cintra and I can barely move my body. My mind felt a lot better, but the combination of the trial and the fact that I was probably crushed by something, judging from my broken arm and possible ribs, my body wasn't in the best of shape.

I managed to sit up slightly and glance at the window to my right, my broken ribs protesting all the while. I ignored the uncomfortableness and glanced outside to see. It was starting to get dark out, dusk was soon arriving.

As I was gazing at the window, reminiscing on the terrible time I've had recently, my enhanced senses picked up a subtle creaking sound to my left. The door that I desperately tried to crawl to the other day, peaked open by a smidgeon. I weakly pried my neck to my left to see who it was.

It was the young girl from the other day. Ashen gray and hair and emerald green eyes peaked through the doorway. It was incredibly obvious who she was, at least to me. I had spent a lot of time reading books about her.

Our gazes met, we stared at each other for a moment. She was clearly curious and stepped inside the room shyly. Slowly, made her way over to my bedside. Walking slowly and taking cautious glances at me all the while. She stopped around four feet away from me and just gave me a small smile.

"Hello there." I spoke with a tone that told whomever was listening that I had lost my voice. I haven't really talked in a few days, at least not in words. I was yelling my lungs out not too long ago, it's to be expected that my voice would take a little more time to recover.

"Hi, my name is Ciri! What's your name?" The white haired girl introduced herself with a bit of excitement. I already knew who she was, but it's nice that she was courteous.

"Nice to meet you Ciri, my name is Harkon." I said with a small smile on my face. I was trying my best to be nice, in spite of all the shit that had happened to me over the past couple days.

Ciri, being the seven year old she currently is, immediately sat down at the end of my bed after seeing the smile on my face. Having no reservations that I could be a dangerous threat. It's a… shame… the things she'll have to go through in the future. Just thinking about all the shit she has to face on her journey, especially the 'Rats', made me furious. If I get the chance, I would kill every single one of those bandit scum. You wouldn't even have to pay me to do it.

"Are you a witcher, Harkon? You also have the ears of an elf! Are you some sort of witcher-elf mix?!" Ciri blurted out with a lot of energy, interrupting my train of thought. It seems my eyes and exposed ears have given me away, it was good to get confirmation that my mutation process was completed successfully though.

"Indeed I am Ciri. I am a 'witcher-elf' as you describe it." I replied quickly. I hadn't completed my final trial, but you could say that I'm already a witcher. The final trial is simply a test for the trainees abilities, not another mutation.

"You know, I'm gonna be one of you someday. Not an elf or anything like that, but my nanny told me that a white haired witcher will take me away with him. She said he was my destiny." Ciri told me, excited she had another witcher to talk to. She probably has never even seen one of our kind before. At least, not that I read about in the books.

She must feel comfortable with me to be telling me this much, but I just chalked it up to normal seven year old naivety. Especially so, considering she is a princess and her grandmother is a bit controlling.

"I see. Well I can tell you that one of our schools will be happy to receive a promising candidate like you, Ciri." I replied with a smile.

Ciri seems to be happy at the compliment. Her face became a bit flushed.

"Ciri, is it alright if I ask you something?" I questioned her. I needed to ask her a couple of questions, there's some things I need to find out.

"Sure!" Ciri replied back to me.

"Alright, how did I get here then?" I asked with a bit of pleading.

"I'm not sure," Ciri said while resting her hand on her chin. "I think Mousesack found you asleep out in the main hall of the palace a few days ago. No one has really been telling me anything about you since you got here, it's making me frustrated."

Mousesack… found me within the palace… a few days ago? That doesn't even make sense! Tir Torchair is at least a month's journey on horseback.

"That's… alarming. Do you… Know how I injured myself then? My arm is obviously broken, but my ribs feel a bit shaky as well." I asked, but my thoughts lied somewhere else. How the hell did I actually get here? Fringilla obviously didn't teleport me. Hopefully Mousesack would have some answers.

"I might be of assistance regarding that." A gruff and Skelligan tinged accent entered my ears..

I turned my head back towards the doorway and noticed the druidic man Mousesack standing within it. He was wearing a similar outfit that he wore in the Netflix show. It was a golden tunic with a brown leather belt and accompanying pants.

"Cirilla, you have studies to attend to. Leave the witcher boy be. You can speak to him later." Mousesack stated with a demanding, yet grandfather-esque tone.

"You ruin all the fun, Mousesack." Ciri pouted. "Fine, we can talk later, Harkon. It was nice meeting you!"

I nodded at Ciri's words. She got up off the bed and ran out into the hall. She waved to me as soon as she opened the door and left. I weakly waved back with my good arm.

Mousesack, seeing Ciri had left, came over to my bedside. He pulled up a chair that was resting at a desk nearby and promptly sat down. I imagine I'm in one of Mousesack's many workshops. He is a druid and has focused a lot of his pursuits on magic, he needs room to work.

"So," Mousesack said. "How have you come here? I didn't sense the signature of a regular portal when I found you passed out in the hall. Also, in regards to your previous question… If I had to guess, your arm looks like it was broken by a rock falling on it. That's probably how you received your injuries."

Well… That answers that. All that did was just make me more confused, how in the hell did I actually get here?

Mousesack spoke politely with his questioning, but I could tell I needed to give him a direct answer. I have come into a foreign nation's palace unannounced, after all. I'm surprised they didn't just kill me as soon as they found me.

"Would you believe me if I told you that I have no idea how I got here?" I asked with a hopeful expression on my face. Mousesack's eyebrows just furrowed a bit.

"It just so happens that I would, we live in a strange world." He said with a great big sigh. "This does put me in a complicated position though. Queen Calanthe was expecting a thorough update once you woke up."

Mousack massaged his forehead, a migraine was probably setting in. I would feel the same way if there was an unknown half-elf boy within the palace and I couldn't explain to my queen how he had gotten here.

"I'm sorry for causing you trouble." I said truthfully. I am sorry for being brought here unannounced, but I have more pressing feelings plaguing my mind. The fact that my mother and Ivar were both dead severely brought down my mood. All I wanted to do was go to sleep and never wake up.

"It's quite alright, son." Mousesack said in a happy tone when he noticed my mood. He really is a good guy from what I've read and seen. He paused for a few moments before speaking once more. "You were screaming the other day that you had to go back to the mountains… Is that where your school is?"

I pondered on what to say to this question, but I might as well just come out and be truthful. There is nothing he's going to gain by me telling him, the school has probably already been raised to the ground by now.

"Yes it was." I stated matter of factly. "I am part of the viper school of witchers. Our keep was just attacked. Everyone inside is probably dead by now."

Mousesack could see that was a sore subject and then changed the topic.

"I'm sorry to hear that, young man. I wish there was something we could do." Mousesack stated while patting my shoulder. "There is one thing I wish to talk about… You told me something before you passed out the other day…"

"About your mother?" I said with a bit of a smirk.

"Yes, that. I've never told anyone about my mother. Then, you just come in here and tell me you know who killed her before you go to sleep?" Mousesack question with preposterousness.

"Well, it's the truth." I said while gazing at him right in the eyes. "I do know who killed your mother. I have… glimpsed into the past and seen a few things. I will tell you who killed your mother… as long as you agree to one request of mine."

Mousesack broke away from our gaze and pondered for a moment. His hand was resting on his chin and he was thinking about what I said quite seriously. I could tell that he believed me though, sorcerer's and druids have their ways of finding out the truth.

"What is this 'request' that you want to exchange from me?" Mousesack stated while staring into my eyes. He was giving it some serious thought. He's probably been wondering who did for decades now.

"If I tell you who killed your mother… you will take me in as your apprentice and teach me all that you know of magic." I stated my terms quite clearly.

"Apprentice? I'm a druid, son. I'm not some mage who is focused on gaining power over others." Mousesack said with a bit of an awkward smile. He found my request to be extremely out of the ordinary.

"We both know, Mousesack, that the only difference between a mage and a druid is their mentality. Druids mainly use their magic for altruistic purposes, saving the land and living in harmony with it. Mages use their magic for themselves and their goals, not caring about the world. The only difference between them, is that one simple fact." I stated with a knowing tone.

Mousesack looked a bit flabbergasted at my request and looked down at his feet for a second in contemplation before speaking once more.

"Aren't you a witcher?" Mousesack dryly stated. "And why do you even want to be trained by me?"

"My mother was a druid." I responded plainly. "I also know, just from looking at you, that you are a very honest man. You're from Skellige, and as you can tell by my accent, I am as well. You're one of the only other people on the mainland that follows our ways. A druid and a Skelliger makes for a wise and honorable combination."

Mousesack pondered on my proposition for a moment and what it would mean. Obviously, taking in an apprentice wasn't really on his to do list. I really hope he goes for this, otherwise I actually am gonna have an extremely hard time from here on out. I'll have to probably sail back to Skellige. I'll need to find some way to make some decent coin and build up some sort of faction.

"I will…" Mousesack started to say. "Accept… This proposition. I've never had a direct apprentice before, but I have dealt with enough wizards to give it a try."

"Very well then, Mousesack. Our deal has been established." I said with a small smile on my face. At least some things were looking up. "Now, prepare yourself. This tale doesn't start off well and it doesn't end well. You also sure aren't going to like the characters involved…"