Monsters?

Solaire and the Everlasting Dragon had both just annihilated two separate Gold Dragons, with the loss of their leaders the other lesser dragons immediately started fleeing for their lives, vowing to never again enter this beast's territory.

Reima had a droplet of sweat crawling down his face as he fell through the sky after picking up the last corpse. The constant teleporting, use of the Folded Space, as well as him utilising his Observation Haki had begun to tire him out, not having to use this much power in recent memory.

He blinks back to the rooftop where Yennefer, Keira, Priscilla, and Solaire are, the latter duo giving him a look of concern due to his increased breathing from usual.

Solaire "Are you okay my friend? You seem tired..."

Priscilla nods and wipes the droplet of sweat from his face, "Are you injured?"

Yennefer "Injured? He's just sweaty from fighting a legion of dragons... I'd be worried if he were not!" she says.

...

Reima "I'm sweating?" he asks, the others becoming confused at his happy tone.

Yennefer nods, "Just a touch."

Reima grins, "That's good news... Anything unexpected happen on the ground?" he asks, changing the subject.

Yennefer shakes her head, but just as she is about to answer a familiar voice shouts in between the shuddering of the ground.

Saskia in her dragon form stretches, her head poking above the building to reveal Iorveth hanging onto her neck.

Iorveth "Reima! The enemy has been routed and are fleeing, we've captured Mensfeld as well... Should we cut down the rest trying to run?" he asks.

Reima shakes his head, "Don't bother, we need someone to tell of what happened here... Who better but the mentally scarred soldiers of the battle." he says with a chuckle. "Now, shall we take a look at our prisoner?" he says, disappearing in a turquoise flash before reappearing next to Mensfeld.

The heavily armoured man squeals and tries to shuffle away, the nearby Prospects laughing at him.

Reima pins him to the floor with a foot on his chest and smiles down at the King. "So, it seems you've come out the worst in the conflict between us... I wonder what happened to your Dragon Bane?"

Ciaran "He was crushed by Saskia." she says, her expression unseen behind her helmet.

Reima breaks into laughter when he hears of this, "Pfft, hahahahahaha! Man, what a shitty "Dragon Bane" he was."

Risryn nods, "What will you do with this man?" she asks with interest.

Reima scratches his face and ponders the question, never having expected Mensfeld himself would appear with the army, or if he did, not staying for their defeat. His gaze is drawn towards the man's arms and legs, a cruel idea coming to his mind. "Burning him to death would be ironic, but... I feel like something different would be a better choice." he says with a grin, the cowardly man paling at his words.

Reima picks up the man with ease and looks over everyone watching him, "Alright guys, clean up the battlefield and we'll have a celebration afterwards." he says, teleporting to the Painted World prison cells to put Mensfeld.

He drops the king in a cell and quickly leaves, deciding that his interrogation could wait as he had a party to attend to...

A few days later :

Radovid looks up in bordem from his chair at the person addressing him, "Have the crime lords accepted the coin yet? Any longer and I'll simply just have them killed." he remarks.

"No my liege, they seem to be negotiating with one another about whether or not you'll allow their presence within the city to remain after the war is over."

Radovid frowns, "Criminals that think of the future? What has the world come to?... Assure them that they will always have a role within Novigrad, and that I will not betray my word." he says, thinking that he would always need people to manage the sewage within such a large settlement.

*Bang!*

"My liege!" shouts the man who'd just run in.

Radovid waves off the previous man, giving a "Do not mistake my words, or it will be on your head." before turning his attention to rude intruder. "Yes? I hope the urgency in your tone is valid, or I'll have your tongue remov-"

"Kaedwen has been defeated! Mesnfeld has been captured!" he exclaims.

...

Radovid sighs, "I suppose it wasn't the Empire that was involved, was it?"

The man shakes his head slowly, "No sire... You are correct, King Mensfeld attempted to invade a northern keep known as Kaer Morhen, the ones responsible for the assassination of Reverend Albwin Ferbert. I-I don't know if the stories the soldiers spout are true but... The clear power shown by this foreign power is troubling to me." he says.

...

Radovid leans back in his chair, "How many simpletons will die from not following orders? It seems I was mistaken in my choice for Kaedwen's King, Mensfeld is-was, clearly inept."

"Mensfeld might still be alive sire, we only need to randsome-"

Radovid "We will do no such thing, leave him to rot in whatever cell they're keeping him, stupid dog... Tell me, what do the soldiers who survived the skirmish say about our opponent?"

...

The man hesitates, but a glare from Radovid has his tongue wagging, "Sire, they tell stories of a city of gold, dragons, and monsters. They say they battled immortal beings under an army of winged beasts, ungodly magic that mutilated and burned, sliced and crushed... They were all previously deep adherents of the Eternal Fire, but after the battle they all seem to have renounced their faith, believing that gods live among us, though they are not merciful, nor kind."

Radovid rubs his face, "Is... Is that all?"

They shake their head, "There are many stories, but all agree on one thing... Whatver that city is, whoever inhabits it... They are not human, dwarf, elf, or any known race of these lands."

Radovid "Monsters, hmm?" he murmurs.