Everything You Mean To Me

I Cant Lose You

A cold night in the damp and decrepit ruins of a once grand castle was not how Jaskier had wanted to spend the evening. It was his own doing, of course, but lately Geralt had become particularly stingy with the details of his adventures. So, tonight Jaskier had decided to tag along, much to the witcher's dismay.

He wasn't terribly sure what type of beast they were looking for; some hideous creature that Geralt had mentioned the name of when Jaskier wasn't quite listening. Whatever it was, it seemed to have the locals very afraid. The villagers had begged Geralt to help them from the moment that he rode into town.

According to the people, the beast lived in the remains of the old castle on the edge of their farmland, and it had been slaughtering any sheep, cattle or men that wandered too far into the fields come nightfall. Jaskier felt for the people of this village, they were terrified, you could see it in their tired eyes and hear it in their desperate voices.

Now, sitting on the cold, damp, stone floor; Jaskier regretted his choice to abandon the warm bed at the tavern for the sake of adventure.

"Stay here and stay quiet." The witcher had told him. The beast was upstairs, and Geralt had made it clear that under no circumstances was Jaskier to go up there until it was dead, and he was certainly not to make any noise that might draw the thing down to him.

From what the bard understood, the creature was blind with impeccable hearing and claws like daggers; and as intrigued as he was, Jaskier had no interest in finding out for himself.

He sat there, quietly thinking of new music, for what seemed like hours, though the moon outside told him that it had been no more than thirty minutes. Upstairs, the grunts and commotion let him know that the beast had finally found Geralt, and that the two were enthralled in some fantastical fight that would make lesser men shiver.

He let out a soft sigh, inwardly thanking the gods that this night was finally getting more interesting.

Apparently, after all these years, Jaskier still hadn't learned to be careful of what he wished for.

From the corner of the room, enveloped in total darkness, came a low, blood chilling snarl. The bard let out a terrified yelp and jumped to his feet, his eyes widening in fear as the creature came out of the shadows towards him. He covered his mouth and tried to suppress his fearful whimpers as the monster slinked closer to him, trying to follow the sound.

It was horrific. It's mouth was massive and gaping, revealing what seemed like hundreds of jagged, decaying teeth; and it's spine was twisted and bulging through its mangled skin. However, the worst part of all was the eyes, or the lack thereof. Where it's eyes should have been, there was only emptiness and rotting flesh, oozing out from the blackened sockets.

Jaskier watched in terror as the beast inched closer with each bated breath. It was so close now, lurking only a few feet away, close enough for Jaskier to smell the rot and decay seeping off of it.

Suddenly, a thud from upstairs rattled the building; sending rock and debris cascading around Jaskier. Before he could react, the beast lurched forward, pinning him to the wall with a deafening screech. It's sharp claws ripped through the brightly colored fabric of Jaskier's doublet before sinking deep into the skin beneath.

Another thud and what sounded like Geralt's voice from upstairs seemed to grab the creature's attention as it let go of Jaskier, leaving him to sink to the floor. The beast slinked back into the darkness and up the crumbling stone stairs, leaving Jaskier alone and trembling.