The Witcher and The Slave

Killing Monsters

Geralt's POV

I rode through the woods, heading to my contractor with the kill I did. It was raining and cold. The night stars were covered by clouds. The rain wasn't bad but it was enough to make people stay indoors and make me pull my hood over my head more.

Suddenly my horse, Roach, made an abrupt stop and flicked her head back. "Woah. Easy Roach. Easy girl." I pet her neck to calm her and scanned the area to see what could've spooked her. I got my answer when I spotted some lights on another trail. I couldn't really see what it was so I guided Roach through the trees to the other path. I could see the lights were from a one horse wagon. There was a man who looked frustrated at the side of the wagon. He was looking down at the broken wheel, probably the reason why he was so angry.

"Gah! Damn it!" He said. He was an older man with a slight hunch. Some teeth were missing from his mouth and his eyes were cold and hard.

"Having some trouble there?" I asked.

The man jumped. "By the gods! Who are you?"

I chuckled at his startled look. "Geralt of Rivia."

"Geralt? The witcher?"

"Indeed. What happened?"

"Gah! Rode over a pothole. The wheel just gave way."

I nodded. "Do you have a replacement?"

"Yes. My slave is getting it now. Hurry up girl!"

Suddenly a woman came from behind the wagon. She was soaked, head to toe. Her long, black hair dripped and stuck onto her face. Her body was slender and lean. Her eyes were the most beautiful glowing blue I have ever seen. I couldn't help but stare at her beauty. She stared back at me in awe. Probably never seen a Witcher before. She was clutching the spare wheel to her chest in her shivering arms. The only thing she was wearing was a white, thin strapped dress that went down to her knees. It was clinging to her body, which showed her figure more.

"Well?! What are you waiting for you whore?!" The man shouted at the girl. She flinched and the man spoke again. "Get that wheel on before we freeze out here!"

"But it won't work." The girl mumbled softly.

The man looked at her with an angered expression. "What do you mean 'it won't work.'"

She held up the wheel to show a crack that went through the center. "See? There's a crack. If I put it on it will only brake."

The man roared with anger and approached the girl. I sat up straighter as the girl tried to back away from him but he grabbed her wrist and threw her to the ground. The he unstrapped a whip from his belt and lashed the girl's arm.

That's where he crossed the line.

I hopped down from Roach and walked to the man. Anger filled my eyes. "Hey!" I shouted. "Leave her be! She's done nothing wrong."

The man huffed. "This lazy bitch has done nothing right! I ask her to do something and she does it wrong. Therefore, she must be punished!"

The man swung his arm back to lash the girl again. Her eyes widened in fear and she covered her face with her already bleeding arm. Before the man could deliver the blow, I grab his arm in a firm grip. He looked back at me. At first in anger, but when he saw my cat yellow eyes burning with rage his eyes turned to fear.

"W-what are you doing?" He stuttered pathetically.

"Killing monsters."

I used my free hand to grab his head. I let go of his arm from my other hand and used it to wrap it around his neck. I squeezed his neck tightly and he started choking. I let go of his head, but still choked him, and grabbed my knife from my belt and showed it to the girl. She looked at me in confusion.

"You should do the honors." I said to her.

Ever so slowly, she stood. Shaking as she did, and walked up to me. She grabbed the knife from my hand and looked at the man I held. He was still struggling.

"Please." He begged.

She hesitated for a moment. Then, she narrowed her eyes and lifted the knife. With lightning speed, she struck the man's chest. Blood splattered everywhere. Staining her white dress with crimson red. She stabbed him over and over again, 8 times until the man fell limp. When he did, the girl panted hard and backed away. Dropping the knife as she did. I let go of the corpse and looked to the girl. She had fear on her eyes.

"I can't believe I just did that." She said softly.

I slowly, as to not scare her, walked up to her. Only when I was right in front of her did she look away from the corpse and at me. I stared at her for a moment. The rain splashed against her face. I looked to her injured arm. The gash was deep and bleeding.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

She glanced at her wound. "Y-yes. This has happened many times. I-I'm use to it."

"Well you shouldn't be use to it. No one should be treated like that."

She looked at the ground. "Well when you're a slave, that's kind of your whole life." She whispered. Then looked back up to me. "I'm sorry, but I don't have any coins."

I was going to wave it of, but when I lifted my hand she flinched. I became shocked and lowered my hand. 'Wow. She's been abused her whole life that she's afraid of a raised hand. They've treated her like a dog.' I thought.

"Don't worry. I promise I won't hurt you. And for the money, don't worry about that either. I only wanted to help you." I said to her.

She looked at me shocked. I caught a glimpse of the corners of her mouth twitch up, but that quickly disappeared. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. I quickly took off my cloak and stepped behind her and placed the cloak on her shoulders. She jumped slightly but then relaxed and turned her head to look at me.

"Thank you." She said.

I smiled. "It's not a problem."

"No really. Thank you. For everything."

I only kept smiling. "Where do you live?"

Her face quickly became saddened. "Right now, nowhere. I'm a slave, so my master owned everything and I had nothing."

I looked at her sadly. "Well, you can come with me."

She whipped her head up at me. "R-really?"

"Of course. Don't want you to just roam around alone. Especially with that gash. Come on."

I wrapped my right arm around her shoulders to cover her more from the rain and give her more warmth. As we walked I bent down to pick up my knife that she dropped. We then approached Roach and I help her on the mare. I then mounted and guided Roach forward. I felt the girl wrap her arms around my waist and I froze. It felt... nice to have her arms around my waist.

"She's a lovely horse." She said. "What's her name?"

"Roach."

She chuckled. "Roach? Really?"

I smiled. "Of course. Why not?" She only chuckled more. "Speaking of names," I said. "What is yours?"

"Aura Monaco." She answered. "I would also like to know the name of my savior."

"Geralt."

Suddenly, a flash of light lit the skies and thunder bellowed from the clouds. Aura gasped and squeezed tighter on me. I placed a hand on one of her arms. "Don't worry. Like I said, I won't let anything happen to you."

She rested her head on my back. "Thank you."