The White Werewolf || Season One: Ties That Bind

Chapter Forty-Four

Outside Oxenfurt, 1244

Jaskier gagged as Roach and Cricket carefully picked their way through the swampy ground on the way to Oxenfurt. "You and your infernal back roads, Geralt," he muttered. "Have you ever smelled anything so bad in your life?"

Robin wrinkled her nose in agreement as Geralt seriously answered Jaskier's question. "I've smelled worse, but not much. It is an unusual scent. Almost reminiscent of a..."

Before he could even speak the name, an enormous, bulbous creature rose partially from the depths of the sodden muck around them. Jaskier's first thought was that it resembled a rotten potato.

His second thought was panic as a thick, slimy tentacle wrapped around Robin's waist and lifted her right off of Roach.

"Geralt!" she shrieked.

She raised her arms to grab the dagger from her bodice or cast a spell, but another tentacle quickly pinned them to her sides.

Another erupted from the murky water to wrap around Jaskier, pinning his arms immediately. Clearly, this creature learned from its mistakes.

Jaskier howled as he was lifted into the air and turned upside down so he was pointed directly at the creature's gaping maw, which was filled with sharp, spiky teeth.

"Geralt! I think this thing is going to eat me!" he yelled urgently.

"Fuck," Geralt swore.

The next tentacle swung in his direction, as he knew it would. He reached up and grabbed it with one arm, drawing his silver sword with the other hand.

Robin struggled against the hold of the tentacles binding her, but each time she moved, they only grew tighter. She quickly went limp to see if it would make a difference.

It did. The tentacle holding Jaskier moved and the creature maneuvered her towards its mouth instead, assuming she was easier prey.

Geralt noticed and smirked. "Good girl," he grunted, swinging his legs up to squeeze them around the tentacle, squirming closer to Jaskier.

Robin's chest convulsed and she almost vomited as hot breath engulfed her, making her instantly damp. But she stayed still, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Geralt watched her, inching closer to Jaskier, who had gone silent when he'd realized they had a plan.

The tentacle pinning her arms unfurled, setting her partially free. Still, she waited, swallowing nervously when she felt her boots scrape the creature's teeth as it lowered her into its waiting mouth.

Once she was close enough, she moved fast, grabbing her dagger out of her bodice and sinking it deep into the creature's eye.

It shrieked, letting loose a foul burst of rank air, and its tentacles loosened. Jaskier slipped partially free, and Geralt leaned forward, grabbing his ankle and yanking him the rest of the way free, then using all of his strength to throw him clear of the creature and onto the road.

"Go get the city guard!" he called. "Tell them there's a zeugl in the swamp!"

"A what?" Jaskier called back.

"Zeugl!" Geralt roared. "Go! Now!"

Jaskier obeyed, scrambling away and running down the road as fast as he could so he didn't get caught again.

The other tentacle around Robin had also loosened as the creature thrashed, and she was perilously close to being swallowed.

"Geralt!" she squeaked.