Chapter 25:

The gods have sent medicines for the venom of serpents, but there is no medicine for a bad woman. She is more noxious than the viper, or than fire itself. - Euripides

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P.O.V Switch: Fringilla Vigo

5 Days Ago: Right After The Siege:

Current Year: 1259

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

I quickly straightened my back and made myself look at least somewhat presentable. Being seen as incompetent by Emhyr was not such a good thing. I had been drinking for most of the day before the siege had started, trying to fix myself was kind of a moot point, but I continued to try anyway.

I walked over to the door with trepidation. Emhyr gestured that I be the one to walk in first. I did so and walked into the emperor's spacious office and took a seat. Emhyr also sat down in his grand chair that sat across from me.

"I would like an update, Fringilla. It's to my understanding that the siege has already begun. Were you able to figure out anything about the boy before you left?" Emhyr asked me with a fierce gaze. He is desperate to know how Harkon uncovered such critically revealing information.

"I have your majesty." I spoke the truth. "From what I was able to gather, he was a seer of sorts. He told me that he was 'blessed with understanding'."

Emhyr looked to be… not exactly happy, but not disappointed either. He looked sort of relieved that there was no serious information leak. The fact that Harkon learned about what he threatened Emhyr with through divination instead of someone telling him, must be a comfort.

"Good." Emhyr said quietly. "Can you give me an update on how the siege was going before you left?"

"I can, somewhat, your majesty." I responded while nodding my head slightly. "Before I left, the soldiers had just arrived. The witchers are completely outmatched against a force of that size. However there is one thing…"

"Speak, let us not waste time." Emhyr spoke with a bit of impatience.

"Well, your majesty… If you've ever read a bit about magical theory, you would know there are things called 'sources of power'."

"And?" Emhyr asked. "What is the significance of that?"

"Sometimes, a 'source' can be a person instead. Instead of having to draw magic from Intersections, like mages do, the person itself is a transmitter of chaos energy. I've found out that the boy is one of these sources." I told the emperor plainly.

"What does this have to do with the siege?" Emhyr questioned me with his brow furrowed.

"Before I left the school, your majesty…" I said slowly. "The boy was going through the mutations that witchers do. As soon as I left, his powers as a source started going out of control. I imagine that the castle itself will be destroyed soon enough. 'Sources' have been known to flatten towns and castles very easily. He will probably be killed underneath all of the rubble."

Emhyr had a complicated look on his face. He was probably pondering the complications and immediate ramifications of what this could mean. A lot of his soldiers were probably going to die from the destruction that would follow. Just as Emhyr was about to say something, a knock was heard at the door.

"Come in." Emhyr spoke while letting out a sigh. He was a bit stressed.

The door opened and a man walked through. He appeared to be a mage from the way he was dressed. Although, he did wear a few small pieces of light armor. The most notable feature I could notice on the man was a featureless black mask that seemed to suck in the light around it.

"Emperor and… company." The masked mage said, his head turning to look upon me. His voice was distorted by some sort of spell.

"Sit for now." Emhyr ordered while gesturing to one of the other chairs in the room. "Fringilla, this is the mage I told you about before. He will be the one attempting to heal you."

"Ah, thank you your majesty." I said while looking towards the mage in question. "His majesty has told me that I am not to be privy towards your identity. Despite that, thank you for trying to heal me."

"It's of little consequence." The mage said while folding his arms together. A bit rude, but I let it slide. From what I understand, it would be best to not offend this man.

"Enough of this for now." Emhyr started to say. "Tell me, how fares the siege."

"Well…" The mage began to say, his voice sounding otherworldly. "I'm fairly certain that all the witchers remaining inside the keep have been killed…"

"Is there a 'but' coming?" Emhyr asked while tapping the desk in front of us with his finger.

"There was a 'source' within the keep. Whoever it was went out of control at the last minute. A giant magical explosion was set off just as I portaled away to safety. Almost all of the soldiers were inside the keep at the time. They may not have survived." The mage said clearly.

Emhyr looked extremely frustrated at this outcome. He massaged his temples somewhat and breathed out an angry sigh.

"If you had to guess," Emhyr started to ask. "How many of them do you think survived?"

The mage looked up in the air for a moment, contemplating what he should say.

"If I had to guess, your majesty…" The mage intone slowly. "I would say that… there were no survivors."

Silence filled the room. Emhyr was clearly a bit angry. I don't know how many troops he sent, but possibly losing them all is a significant loss.

"I… See." Emhyr said while clenching his fists. "Fringilla…"

"Yes, my liege?" I asked with a bit of trepidation. Emhyr looked away at the window before speaking once more.

"What was this boy's name? I wish to learn the name of the enemy who gave me so much trouble. I will remember him for what he's done, he will survive as a reminder of my failure." Emhyr asked while attempting to control himself. This was a significant loss that was done by a child no less. I would have felt the same way.

"I believe your majesty…" I started to say. "That his name was Ulf. I believe he was from Faroe, an island of Skellige"

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P.O.V Switch: Harkon

One Day Later: After Talking To The Queen:

Current Year: 1259

I was currently doing a series of calisthenic exercises in my room. They don't have a weight lifting station or anything like that in this castle, if they did, I would have done a light workout with them. It's important to keep yourself on a tight schedule for training. Discipline is key to staying at your peak. When witchers or warriors in general get slow, they usually die.

I had just gotten up out of my moderately comfortable bed not too long ago. They had given me temporary accommodations. Mousesack didn't want me to stay in his workshop if I was already healed. The room was of moderate size, nothing fancy. Stone walls, a desk, a mirror, a chest, a bed, and a window that didn't have a curtain.

After doing my last set of squats and leg raises, I got up and breathed a deep breath. These mutations sure were great, I don't even feel fatigued after an hour long workout. Being a witcher certainly has its perks. I went over to a basin filled with water that I had in my room. I quickly cleaned myself off a bit. It sucks that they don't have showers in this world, but I could probably come up with some magic to fix that later on. There probably already is a spell to clean yourself.

After I was finished cleaning myself, I walked over to my mirror. I glanced at my new appearance. Despite being ten years old, I was a bit taller for my age and incredibly toned. My black hair wasn't long, being of a rather medium length. I liked to slick it back, that way it didn't bother me whenever I fought. The most striking feature that I had was probably my eyes. After having just undergone the trial of dreams, my eyes were a striking yellow color. The slits of my pupils resembled a viper's. They almost seemed to glow whenever I looked in the mirror. I thought they looked quite cool, it's too bad everyone else in this world disagrees.

Ivar wanted me to undergo additional trials before he… before everything that happened. I didn't get the chance to participate in those trials, but perhaps one day I will figure out how to conduct them on myself. There is a place in this world where the witcher mutations came from. I only need to go there and attempt to retrieve or barter for them. Though, I imagine I will not be able to travel there for quite some time.

Putting those thoughts out of my mind, I stepped away from the mirror and over to my bedside. On top of my covers there was some light armor that I had requested to have. If I was going to duel Eist, I would need at least some protection. I imagine not too many of Calanthe's knights wear light armor, even less of them were my size. The gear was nothing too special. It was mostly made of a dark leather material and some small protective bits. There was a minimal amount of steel that covered my torso and back to protect me. It came with some light steel gauntlets and accompanying boots. It looked remarkably similar to how Vilgefortz's armor looked in the Netflix show during the Battle of Sodden. It was no witcher armor, mind you, but it would do the job well enough.

There was also a sword that was resting near me on the side of my bed. I needed a blade if I was to duel the man, afterall. I was most comfortable using long swords so I had requested a weapon that I was personally familiar with. It was a Kriegsmesser, similar to one I had used in the past. It was a single-edged sword with a knife-like hilt construction. It had a curved blade and the balance was very decent.

I quickly grabbed the armor and began to don it. It took me a minute or too, but I managed to dress myself. I moved around a little bit, testing my maneuverability and nimbleness. My flexibility remained pretty much intact, so I was happy with it. After I was finished getting dressed and testing myself out, I attached the scabbard holding my sword to my waist. After that was finished, I walked over to my door and opened it. As I walked out into the hall, a familiar man stood within my gaze.

"Are you sure about this?" Mousesack asked me with a bit of worry. "You know, if you gave me enough time, I could probably convince the queen."

"That's quite alright, Master." I stated with a smirk. I knew he didn't like it when I called him that. "King Tuirseach is a Skelliger, like us. Declining a duel with a great man like him would be a complete sign of cowardice and disrespect. I will not sully my mothers name like that."

"There is no need to call me master, but I… understand where you're coming from. I'm sorry about this, you know. We already had a deal that I would take you in as my apprentice in exchange for the knowledge you gave me." Mousesack replied with a big sigh.

"It's quite alright, Master Mousesack. I expected that the king and queen would test me somehow. If I'm being honest, I actually sort of prefer it this way. I expect King Tuirseach to be a formidable opponent, from what I've heard. Let's see how he faces up against a witcher." I stated with confidence.

"Haha." Mousesack gave out a small laugh. "Well, at least you're brave. I expect the King to respect that more than anything. Come, let's go to the training yard. He's waiting for you."

I nodded at Mousesack's words and we began our journey through the halls of the castle. We walked in silence for a little while, but Mousesack made a note to speak up.

"So," Mousesack asked. "You said that you would not 'sully your mothers name'. Does that mean that 'Helson' came from your mother and not your father?"

"Aye, it did." I said with a small smile. The pain of losing my mother was still fresh, but her memory was a sweet one. "She is the one who cared for me when I was a little boy, before I went to join the witchers. She was incredibly protective and kind."

"So does that mean your elven blood is from your father?" Mousesack asked curiously.

"Indeed, Master. That does seem to be the case. Although, I've never actually met the bastard." I spoke with a bit of contempt for my unknown father.

"I see." Mousesack said after a few moments.

We continued the rest of our walk in silence. After a couple more minutes of travelling, we walked into an extremely large courtyard. There were several knights sparring in pairs wherever I looked. As soon as Mousesack and I walked out through the doorway, they all seemed to stop what they were doing. There was a large black circle that was painted into the middle of the ground not far from where we were.

Queen Calanthe was currently here wearing her armor. It seems she was out here to do a little sparring of her own. I don't doubt her capabilities. It is said that she is also a very formidable warrior.

I could see Eist in the distance, he just got done with some light sparring with one of the knights from before.He was probably warming himself up for our match. He was wearing an intimidating set of armor that was clearly of Skelligan origin.

"My good Knights!" Calanthe yelled out while gazing around the courtyard. "My husband, your King Eist Turiseach, has a very special duel today! We have a witcher in our midst!"

Everyone in the courtyard had their eyes on me. A couple of them were gossiping and whispering to each other. They all looked a little disgruntled at the fact that I was going to be given the honor of dueling the king.

"My liege, I must protest this duel." One of the plain looking younger knights said with a frown on his face. Calanthe just looked at him with one of her eyebrows raised.

"What would you like to protest, Ser Cagre?" Calanthe asked with a bit of a mock tone.

"My liege, this… half-elf mutant shouldn't have the honor of dueling our king. He is a mere boy, not some renowned warrior." Ser Cagre responded with a look of disgust when he stared at me.

The Queen looked disgruntled at this knight's words. Calanthe herself was of a lineage that descended from an elf. Lara dorren is one of her ancestors and she knows that her bloodline carries her gift.

"It must be tough for you, Ser Cragre." I told the knick with a condescending smirk. "Knowing that a boy like me is a better warrior than yourself. Some piss poor knight like you wouldn't last a minute against a witcher, fully grown or not."

Ser Cragre's face seemed to redden at my comments. Getting insulted, by what in his eyes is a child, must be tough.

"Impudent mutant! I'll cut those fancy ears off of you myse-" Ser Cragre tried to finish, but was interrupted.

"That will be enough, Ser Cragre." Eist, who had been staying silent till now, spoke up. "Speak another word and I will take it as an offense to your king. If the boy was not suitable to fight, then this duel would not be happening."

Getting reprimanded by Eist is not such a happy affair. Ser Cragre shut himself up after that. I was pretty sure that most of Cintra didn't really hate elves like most of the northern continent did, but I guess there are some dissenters that persist.

"As I was saying." Queen Calanthe picked up where she left off. "Today there will be a duel between our King Eist Tuirseach and the witcher Harkon! Both of you, please stand at the opposite sides of the circle."

Both of us listened to the queen and began slowly walking over towards the circle. I drew my sword from the scabbard at my waist. I twirled it a few times and did a few small hops in the air to ready myself. Eist just drew his sword and stood over at his side quietly. It seems he had already prepared himself.

"Now," Queen Calanthe stated. "Both contestants will be allowed three hits on their opponent. Once those three hits are up, the duel will be over. Do both of you agree to the terms?"

Eist and I both just nodded at the queen's words. I could see that Eist had a battle loving smile on his face. I imagine that if I had a mirror, I would see a similar looking smile present on myself as well. I got into my stance, sword at the ready, preparing for the queen to let us begin.

"Alright then." Calanthe intoned with a smirk. "Let this duel… BEGIN"