Novigrad (Part 4)

'Am I flying? Wow! So great! What is this big city?'

The evening sky was dreary with heavy clouds. Like a patchwork blanket, a colossal city laid in the river delta facing the endless sea from one side. From so high up it looked majestic, like a ruler of the land.

She got even more curious and flew over. She was eager to explore more, to see more.

'Huh?' - her senses tugged the mind with a trace of familiarity and drew attention to a certain street among the poor-looking district. It differed from a square nearby and certainly looked dilapidated if compared to an island over the bridge.

'It should be a place for commoners to live in. Wait, that person looks very familiar. Who is he?'

She descended on the street to have a closer look. Rain poured heavily, washing stone pavement clean and obstructed her vision. Let alone the young man walked with a hood on. Still, it took her barely a glance up close to recognize him.

Her heart skipped a beat with sudden anxiety and nervousness ambushing out of nowhere.

'Wait... Alan? And who is that woman? She is so pretty! Is she an elf? No, why is she with Alan, where are they going? Wait... she looks familiar. Have I seen her before?'

The duo stopped in the middle.

'Where do you think you are touching, old hag? Hmph, let go of Alan, you stupid sow! Look at her, rubbing her mammoth things at his arm! Aren't you ashamed?'

The dream became slightly hazy, but she still clung to it with all her might.

'They started moving again! Good, Alan. You didn't fall for her charms, but still... wait for me to find you! You just wait... hey, why are you going there? This street is bad. Terrible. No. Don't go. You can't! You absolutely mustn't go there!'

She felt lingering danger in the air, like a huge evil monster crawling around the corners. It was deadly cold and frightening.

'Alan! Don't go, you will die! Alan, stop! Stop!'

But no matter how he shouted, it never reached him. After all, it was just a dream. Yes, just a silly dream of the girl who failed to live up to the expectations of her mentor.

'Yennefer will scold me again. But how do I stop him? And that woman! Don't get close to my Alan, hmph! No, no, what am I thinking. It is dangerous... that must be one of my visions. I need to go, to find Alan, and warn him. But what is that street, why so dangerous? No, Alan, stop! Don't go!'

She wanted to see what will happen next but failed to, as her consciousness awakened with a ringing pain.

"Ciri, Ciri! Are you fine? Wait, don't stand up. How many times did I tell you not to do anything reckless? Why did you open the door without me? I said don't stand up. Just lay down, don't move, my dear, it will get better soon." - Yennefer touched Ciri and wiped the blood from her face. Coolness spread where her fingers passed and entered deeply, removing the pain.

"I'm sorry..." - said Ciri weakly.

"Ducky, didn't I teach you how to extricate yourself from the dream? Why didn't you do it the very first moment you saw one? I told you to lie down. Good and don't throw any tantrums! Remember, even if you see something, it means little. It might be a possibility or just an imagination. Now I need a coherent answer. Why didn't you listen to me?" - said Yen in a strict and slightly angry voice.

"I'm sorry for making you angry... milady Yennefer. It's just..."

"Just what?" - she asked evenly, looking straight into forest green eyes.

"I wanted to know... to see what is going on and to be there longer." - the girl hung her head low. She felt bad but still wanted to see more.

"Ciri. That is how chaos always works! It feeds you with your desires, with what you want to know and see, mixing lies and truths, confusing your mind, and corrupting it. You are loved by magic and force, but it doesn't mean that nothing will harm you! Why did we have all those lessons? For you to go into such an obvious trap? Chaos is there to tempt you, to control you and to invade your being. If you are not cautious and guarded, if your mind lack firmness, you better forget about using magic. Forget for good."

"I know... I made a mistake... but he is in danger. I saw it. Saw it like in Kaer Morhen. It's the same. Milady Yennefer... he might die."

"Who?" - sighed the sorceress. Dreams induced by chaos and magic are mysterious, but she knew one thing for sure: only a fool will disregard them.

"Alan! It is Alan, I saw him and a woman in an enormous city... they were walking together. And the street looked dangerous, enshrouded in darkness. Freezing and scary darkness. I was so afraid, milady Yennefer. Can it be just a dream?"

Yen caressed her face with a hand.

"Yes, and no. It is very hard to properly interpret the dreams of mages. They are always a mixture of real and fantasy. However, disregarding them is a grave mistake no one should commit. Especially someone as special as you, Ducky. Your powers are strong, unique, and not studied properly." - Yennefer patted her head gently. It was a rare sight. This tenderness that seemed to go in contradiction to cold violet eyes. Eyes normally indifferent and even murderous, encompassed in the ice of evil and cruelty. Those eyes now shone subtly with tender warmth and affection that Yennefer failed to hide even if she tried.

"So... it might be true? He might be in danger?" - Ciri began to worry again. The sole thought of Alan dying brought distress and pain to her. She lost appetite and only felt lingering fear.

"Can you describe the surroundings?"

"It was a big city. A huge one actually, the most enormous I ever saw in my life. And it had a wide dock with high walls. Also, there was an island with something similar to a temple build on it."

"Novigrad. Should be it." - whispered Yennefer and immediately became somber, because she knew for sure that Ciri never visited the pearl of the North. - "What exactly did you feel?"

"Death."

Yen nodded and stood up. The door to the room felt unusually heavy this time.

Where was she going? Only she could tell.

* * *

They were walking on the street close to each other. The crowd around never bothered the duo, although Naevis could see Alan being tense. However, it would be foolish of a witcher to be careless after all the training and hunting he had done.

He was a slayer. A deadly predator, created to kill and trained to survive where others failed to do so. His calmness and an air of danger played tricks with the young elven woman, who periodically looked at the side of his face. The one with a vertical scar across his eye.

She didn't remember it. No, she was positive it was relatively new.

"What happened?" - she asked in a warm voice. Her clear eyes running through the place where long ago a wound was.

"Manticore happened. In Buki. Not the best story to tell the lady during the walk." - answered Alan, sensing her intent through the vibe. The woman didn't mind.

"Depends on the lady." - she said and noticed a curious look from a baby girl at the side.

"Mom, look at this aunt! She is so beautiful! Will I be so beautiful when I grow up?"

"You won't. She is an elf. And you are better than that lowlife woman with no morals. Remember, all beautiful women are vixens or dirty sorceresses! You are my obedient child, you won't be like them. How I wish Eternal Flame to punish them all. Let's go home and pray."

"But I don't want, I want to play with my friends, praying is boring. We just repeat things again and it does nothing."

"Hush!" - the mother admonished her child. - "Everything we have is granted by Eternal Flame. Even this food."

"You bought it from that uncle out there on the money you earned in the inn." - the little girl continued to grumble and Alan snickered, turning his head away. The kid was smart and logical. The last thing he needs is to provoke a believer and later temple guards for an offense to their religion.

"You are not to talk about Eternal Flame like that!" - the woman hissed and her eyes darted around in fear. This sentence could give her a direct ticket into the temple prison charged with heresy. - "Home! We are going home and you will pray for forgiveness! You will kneel in front of Eternal Flame for the evening and no meal for you!"

"But... mom..."

"No buts!" - the woman slapped the child across her behind, making tears appear in the eyes of a childish girl. Her face was full of unreleased grievances.

"Pray, pray, all you know is pray." - the child complained in a barely audible voice. Mother didn't hear her, Naevis didn't hear her too, but Alan heard everything.

The child gave her the last captivated look. Naevis ignored it with the same trace of a smile. A smile that somehow had a tinge of bitterness inside. And that woman wasn't the reason.

Life was. Still, elven sorceress knew better than blaming anyone or anything. She just lived on like all others.

Alan gave only a single fleeting glance at the pair. Somehow he wanted to remember the bright child. A glance was enough to do it for life.

But that was it. They wouldn't meet again. He never stopped moving.

The duo entered the inn full of people at this late hour. Even before stepping inside, they heard music from the hall. A couple of kids and people of age stood under the light that escaped through open windows. The tune was pleasant but fast, hopeful yet mixed with sorrow of taken lives.

It was a song about murder, a history of slaughter converted by Jaskier genius into something heroic from what it should be. From blood, screams of pain, the coldness of a blade and intestines all over the muddy street. From the smell of blood even amidst the rain.

Yes. He was a genius.

Only he can glorify ugly death to this extent.