The White Werewolf || Season One: Ties That Bind

Chapter Eighty-Two

Sodden Hill, 1263

As the sun began to rise, a gnawing sense of urgency settled in Geralt's gut. He didn't know how, but he knew he didn't have much time left if he was going to help Robin.

In the keep, Robin was analyzing. Yennefer had constructed a magical shield around herself, not only to protect against Robin, but also against the effects of the spell itself. She was going to cast the spell everywhere but inside the shield, hopefully preserving her own life.

Robin needed to find a way through it.

There was nothing dead for her to use here. Even if there had been, she didn't think it would have been effective. It would have just shambled towards Yennefer and bounced right off the shield.

She'd already tried fire. It had no effect. Now she was trying to see if she could deconstruct the shield, or at least poke a hole in it. She wasn't sure what she would do after that, but she was improvising.

She didn't know how long she tried to take the shield apart, but by the time she gave up, she was drenched in sweat, and her nose was bleeding. She wiped it on her sleeve as she took a break.

She knew she was running out of time. Yennefer's spell was complicated, even in its rudimentary state, and it would take hours to finally cast, but Robin had to make some headway before she got too close.

She shut her eyes for a moment and thought. She couldn't get through the shield to Yennefer. But she might be able to reverse the effects of the shield to only cast the spell inside of it.

Robin put her hands on the shield and let herself really feel it. She had been learning it for a long time, but now she was trying to do something different to it, and she had to shift her focus.

"Dammit," she cursed under her breath.

Yennefer smiled, unaware of what Robin was thinking, but still confident that she was going to succeed.

And, for the moment, she was right. Robin could feel that her plan would work, but she also knew she didn't have enough power for it.

Without another source to draw from, she wasn't going to be able to stop Yennefer.

Even knowing that, though, she had to keep trying. There was too much at stake, even if it was futile.

Her head snapped up as she heard hoofbeats she would recognize anywhere outside. "Geralt," she whispered.

Yennefer's eye twitched, but she didn't look particularly concerned. Geralt couldn't get through her shield either.

He followed Robin's scent into the keep and all the way down. "Little mage," he greeted her, glancing at Yennefer. "What's happening?"

"I need more power," Robin spoke through gritted teeth. "I can do it, Geralt, with more power."

Yennefer looked at the other mage in alarm, but she didn't stop. She was close, and they all knew it.

Geralt nodded at Robin, grabbing one of her hands and placing it on his chest. "Use me," he offered. "You know what I am. I have more power in me than most. Use it. Take it."

Robin hesitated. "I could kill you, Geralt," she protested. "I'm trying to stop this to save you. If I kill you..."

"It will be worth it," he finished for her. "If it's me or all of them, it has to be me, little mage."

She knew he was right. It wasn't easy to accept, and she had no time to process it. But there wasn't a choice.

"I love you," she told him.

"And I love you," he returned the sentiment. "Always."

She stared into his eyes and concentrated as she began to siphon power from him. His nostrils flared and he huffed. It was painful, but not too much for him to bear. He could take it.

Yennefer's shield began to change color under Robin's hand. It spread slowly as she pushed out its edges, trying to engulf the shield completely.

"Stop," Yennefer commanded, suddenly afraid.

Robin shook her head. "And you can't make me," she observed. "You're using all your power already."

"More, little mage," Geralt growled. "Take more."

"No," she insisted. "I have enough."

She didn't, but she was afraid that if she took more from him, it would seal his fate. So she pushed herself to the limit again.

Her blood felt like it was boiling. Her clothes were sticking to her because she was so slicked with sweat. Her skin was overheating.

"Take more, Robin," Geralt instructed her. "Or you'll be the one who dies, and I can't stop her."

She was clenching her jaw so tightly she felt like her teeth might crack. She ignored him, directing all of the heat in her body into the shield instead. She was so close. If she could just push her magic a little further, it would be enough.

She screamed in frustration. Geralt stared at her, clearly terrified.

He'd always known that she was willing to give her life for this. She was that good. She'd do anything to save people from being hurt, because she had suffered.

But he hadn't thought it would ever happen. He'd never imagined they would come to this point. He hadn't allowed himself to face actually losing her like this.

They hadn't had enough time together. They would never have enough time together, as far as he was concerned, but he couldn't stand to see it truly cut short.

He remembered the cave on the mountain. He had kissed her, and she said it had opened her up. Maybe, if he could do that again, it would be enough to stop Yennefer and save her. Both of them, ideally, but at least her.

So he reached forward, grabbed her cheek, and pulled her towards him, pressing their lips together in one last desperate kiss.

She gasped against his lips, and then she began to glow. Geralt's eyes popped open and widened. He hadn't expected that.

He felt the power flowing through him and into her. She glowed brighter. Finally, it was so bright that he had to close his eyes.

With one last yell, the shield changed color completely. Yennefer panicked, but when she looked at Robin, even Geralt could see that it wasn't because the other was about to stop her.

It was because she was about to lose control.

"You were right," she choked out. "I can't do it. It's too much."

"So stop!" Geralt shouted.

Robin shook her head. "She can't. Not by herself. It's like Pavetta at the feast. She's unleashed something that she can't control."

Geralt swallowed, his throat tight, the veins in his neck pulsing. Suddenly, Robin was eerily calm, just like she'd been when she stopped Pavetta's storm.

Robin took a breath and the shield crumbled. She reached out, took Yennefer's hand, and began to siphon tendrils of magic away from her, absorbing the spell until it was gone.

There was a loud snap as the last tendril vanished and all the magic around them abruptly came to a halt.

Yennefer looked alarmed, then suddenly spit up a gigantic gout of blood and collapsed.

There was a flash as the brightness surrounding Robin dissipated, then she and Geralt fell and hit the ground simultaneously.

Silence descended as all three of them lay there, their clothes smoking, not moving.

Outside, Roach snuffled uneasily as Cintra burned in the distance.