To Heal A Lonely Heart

Blood

We had been traveling the Continent together for a few years now, hunting monsters. Well, honestly, not really. The first few years Geralt refused to let me join him on hunts, claiming that I wasn't trained enough.

He trained me, though, and I was a quick learner. At first he trained me in sword-fighting, but soon enough we started practicing my magic in combat. It was exciting to discover what I was able to do – for both of us, really. Freezing time, creating barriers and pushing things out of my way with a simple flick of my wrist were only a mere scratch at the surface, but I concentrated on perfecting those abilities, as they were the most useful, even if I couldn't use too much magic in battle, as it costs a lot of energy.

And finally, after three years of training, Geralt let me join him on hunts. We were inseparable from that moment on, only leaving the other's side if we had to split up for the job.

And now, two years later, we found ourselves in Angren, in a little tavern in the mountains to be exact. People have been disappearing around here, the few that were to be found again looked horrible, deep claw and bite-marks littering their dead bodies and all of them were drained of blood. At first the people thought it was a wolf or bear, but a wild animal does not suck the blood from their victims, and soon enough the people called for a Witcher.

We sat in the dimly lit room. The threat of the monster in the mountains keeping only little people away from going out at night; the tavern was packed. Much of the townsfolk had come here to report to the witcher, or to simply gawk at him. They had collected about two-thousand and five-hundred coins for slaying the beast.

"All of them, scratched and bitten... they should have been laying in a pool of blood. But there was nothing, not one drop. Those poor lads, still so young," the inn-keeper told us, his voice shaking like a young tree in a storm.

"Wait, only young men?"

The inn-keeper nodded.

"Are there caves in the mountains?" I asked him, urgently, and he nodded again, his face growing pale at my sudden nervousness. "O-one."

Geralt turned to me. "You think...?" he trailed off.

"Mh-mhh." I nodded.

"A bruxa. Fuck," he sighed, closing his eyes.

We, well I, thanked the inn-keeper and went to our room to discuss our tactics.

"You'll stay here, Nienna. Only this time. A bruxa is nothing to mess with," Geralt commanded as soon as he closed the door.

I whipped around to face him. "Wha- No. That's all more reason to not let you go out there alone!"

"Listen, I've killed bruxae before, I know what to do. You on the other hand... She'll smell the trap." He was almost yelling now.

I knew he only wanted to keep me safe, but if a bruxa really was as dangerous as I've read and he told me, then I would not let him face the beast alone. This was no abandoned village we are talking about, but a cave somewhere in the mountains. If he got hurt he could die out there and no one would ever find him. So, yes, I'm coming with him, if he likes it or not.

"I'll come," I said stubbornly calm, staring at him. a few minutes passed and he sighed in defeat.

"Alright."

Now that this was settled we discussed our plan. Tomorrow we'd leave at noon, searching for the cave. Then, when it gets dark I'd be the bait, wandering around aimlessly. Geralt would slay her when she tries to attack me and we'd be done with it, hopefully before midnight.

We went to bed early this evening, trying to get enough rest as possible before the hunt tomorrow. I must confess, I was a little nervous. I never had to play the bait, hell, we never needed a bait before.

The morning arrived way too soon and we got dressed for the hunt. Geralt put on his usual armour, both his swords strapped to his back. I had gotten new clothes in the years I've been traveling with the witcher, dresses were, uh, just not really useful. So now I was slipping into a blouse, tight leather trousers and a corset, strapping my father's to my hip and pushing my dagger into my boot.

Once we were both done we left the room and the inn altogether. The people had gathered, waving us goodbye and wishing us luck. We'd need that.

We wandered through the mountains for hours, Roach trotting behind us, but even she seemed to be on edge. Around late afternoon we finally found the cave. It was right next to the path, a small meadow stretching out between us and the home of the beast. Now was the time to put our plan into action.

While I was preparing myself a little camp in the meadow, Geralt hid behind the rocks a little down the path, along with Roach.

Not so long after sunset I heard a hissing sound coming from the cave. I was pretending to sleep now. The soft rustling of the tall grass 'waking' me up, I opened my eyes to see a beautiful woman approaching.

"Child, are you lost? Here all alone," she sang at me.

"N-no, ma'am. Ju-just passing t-through," I stuttered in fake nervousness, playing along with the role of the young girl she put me in.

She came closer, not walking directly towards me, more like circling me. She was ready to pounce.

"Mhh. Such a pretty young thing as you shouldn't be a-" she was interrupted by Roach whinnying softly. The bruxa's head shot into the direction where the witcher was hiding, and to me. "But you are not alone, child," she snarled, her pretty face deforming into an ugly grimace, large fangs poking out from under her upper lip. With a high pitched screech she jumped at me as I scrambled to my feet, clumsily unsheathing my sword in the process. But it was too late. She swung at me, her sharp claws catching me at my belly, ripping through the leather of my corset and into my flesh. I cried out in pain, the white hot feeling where her claws pierced my skin making me almost lose consciousness. She let me drop to the ground as I heard the dragging sound of a sword unsheathing. With a yell Geralt charged at the bruxa, forcing her away from me. I was clutching my wound, desperately trying to put pressure on it to stop the bleeding, all the while gasping for air almost pathetically. Only faintly I made out the sound of the fight, the whooshing of Geralt using Aard, the bruxa screeching as her body hits the ground and finally the squashing sound as Geralt's sword impaled the bruxa.

The witcher grunted and ran over to where I was laying. He fell to his knees, pressing one hand atop of my own, trying to stop the bleeding. His other hand went to my cheek, softly running his fingertips along my cheekbone, afraid that if he put even the slightest bit more force into the touch I would break.

"I told you to stay behind," he croaked out, his usually strong voice broken, "I could have done it without you. You were never supposed to get hurt."

I weakly reached my bloodied hand up to caress his cheek, his own grabbing it like it was an anchor, and pressing it to his face as I smiled weakly at him, my eyes beginning to fall close.

"No!" I heard him yell, but it seemed far away. "Nienna! Nienna. Stay with me." His voice broke down to a broken whisper. "D-don't leave me, Nienna. I-I love y-you."

And then everything went black. I didn't feel how he freed me of my corset, how he ripped his cloak apart, bandaging my belly with the fabric and securing it with my belt, pulling it impossibly tight so that I would bleed out. I didn't feel how he rode through the night, clutching onto my limp body, making it to the tavern in less than an hour. And I didn't feel how he laid me down on the bed in our room, taking care of my wounds.