Dragon Mountains, 1262
When Robin woke, she was still nestled against Geralt's chest. When she stirred, he rumbled, "Good morning."
She sat up slowly. He smiled at her, but she didn't return the expression.
She had to be done loving him. She had to start putting distance between them so she could complete her task and leave him behind.
He sat up too, his brow furrowing as she left the bed without a word and began getting dressed.
Outside of the tent, she spotted Jaskier sleeping on a bedroll and sighed in relief. Geralt, who had risen and dressed right after her, joined her, nodding when he saw the bard.
"At a quick pace, we can make it back to the Pensive Dragon before sundown," he announced as Yennefer approached them.
He assumed that she was worried about finishing the hunt, but as Jaskier had pointed out the day before, there was really no point now.
Robin looked at him incredulously. "What are you talking about? We're almost at the top." She turned and faced him. "We came here for a reason, Geralt. We made Borch a promise. He might be dead, but we're still going to see it through."
And she needed to be in that cave. It was the one from Nenneke's vision, she was sure of it. Now that she was confident that she was making the right decision, she wasn't so afraid of the destination anymore.
"And I'm not leaving until I've killed that dragon," Yennefer chimed in. "Even if you aren't going to help, I'm sure you'll be interested in whether or not it bites my head off, so we might as well get going."
Robin chuckled and nodded. "Let's go," she agreed, falling into step beside the other mage.
Geralt trailed behind them. "What about Jaskier?"
"Let him sleep," Robin declared. "With any luck, we'll have this problem solved before he even wakes."
"Has anyone noticed that the fucking dwarves are missing?" Yennefer growled suddenly.
Robin clicked her tongue. "Well. The pact only lasted until we were at the top of the mountain, and we're at the top. I'm sure they're on their way to the dragon to beat us to the punch."
"Well, let's not let them. If nothing else, I want to win," Yennefer confessed.
"I agree. Let's go!" Robin exclaimed.
She and Yennefer started to run. Geralt followed them, shaking his head.
"You've stopped trying to read my mind," Yennefer remarked as they moved quickly up the mountain.
"You've stopped trying to read mine," Robin pointed out.
"I decided it was silly, since we're being fairly transparent," Yennefer explained.
"I thought much the same," Robin decided. "Wasted energy."
"The dwarves," Yennefer pointed out.
She uttered a spell and they froze on the path.
"Impressive," Robin complimented her.
"Thank you. But it won't last forever, so don't stop."
They arrived at the mouth of the cave and halted. Yennefer drew her dagger. Robin threw her red hood back and peered inside, then walked under the branches covering the entrance beside the other mage.
There was indeed a green dragon at the other end of the cave, but she was dead. And, Robin saw, curled around an egg.
As Yennefer stepped ahead of Robin, Téa and Véa emerged from around a wall of the cavern and demanded that they stop. Robin did as her mouth fell open in shock.
"What the fuck?" Yennefer declared. "You should have stayed dead."
As she advanced on them, Robin shook her head. "Yennefer, don't!"
"Stop!" Geralt called, having finally reached them.
He ran into the cave and eyed Téa and Véa suspiciously. "How?" he asked.
There was a roar from above and they all looked up as a magnificent gold dragon with red webbed wings joined them. It eyed Geralt and Robin fondly, then spoke.
"Sir Witcher and his mage," it said.
Robin instantly recognized Borch's voice and glanced at Geralt. She'd had no idea that dragons could turn into men.
He shrugged and continued to listen.
"Hello again," Borch greeted them.
"Impossible," Geralt couldn't help muttering, even though the evidence was standing before him.
"Nothing is impossible, Sir Witcher," Borch disagreed. "If you would only allow yourself to realize that, you would be happier."
He stared knowingly at Robin as Téa explained. "When the dragoness was injured, her cry was heard by Villentretenmerth."
"But the egg could not be moved," Véa picked up the story, "or the life inside it would die."
"That's why the dragon attacked," Geralt realized.
"She was protecting her baby," Yennefer murmured.
Robin watched as the mage's hand went limp around her dagger. She saw genuine remorse in Yennefer's face, and in that moment, she made another decision.
She wasn't going to kill Yennefer to stop her. She was going to save her from herself. She'd almost given up yesterday, but now her conviction was renewed.
"And then we heard about the king's hunt," Téa finished, "and realized we had to keep our enemies close."
"And so I came to find you," Borch revealed, "the white-haired witcher, the knight who was taught to save dragons instead of kill them."
Geralt blinked. A dragon had come to find him because he thought he was a hero.
That was a twist he hadn't seen coming.
Robin turned as the Reavers arrived. Her hands instantly ignited and she shook her head. "You're not coming a single step closer," she informed them.
Boholt just laughed. "Looks like we get to fuck up the whole family," he stated. "Slay that dragon!"
They advanced. Robin lit two Reavers on fire, then pulled a dagger from her boot and started to fight another. Geralt and Yennefer, along with Villentretenmerth, Téa, and Véa, all joined in.
"Boholt's mine!" Yennefer called.
Robin was more than happy to let the mage have him. She was more concerned with their severe tactical disadvantage at this point. The Reavers controlled the mouth of the cave.
Geralt was fighting five men at once. He was managing, but Robin knew he couldn't forever.
She ran towards him and held out her hand. "Aard, now!" she commanded.
She could enhance the sign using her magic and blow them all out of the cave, as long as he was touching her.
She didn't expect him to grab her around the waist and pull her in for a kiss when taking her hand would have sufficed, but the moment his lips touched hers and his power flooded through her, something happened.
She had a perfect moment of clarity.
She could read Yennefer's mind as if it were an open book. She knew how she was going to cast the spell, and when she was going to do it.
She also realized that she could read Geralt's mind. She'd always stayed out of it before and respected his privacy, but at the moment, she couldn't help it.
Her eyes widened as she saw everything.
She pushed herself away from him, ending their kiss, and glared at him in disbelief.
His brow furrowed. He had no idea why she was looking at him that way, but they couldn't worry about anything except the mercenaries at the moment.
Robin rushed forward, backing the remaining Reavers out of the cave as more came for the egg. For a second, all Geralt could do was watch as she fought with a fierceness he'd never witnessed from her before.
He joined her as she picked up a mercenary's fallen sword and stabbed it directly into his chest, then kicked another right down the mountain.
Yennefer joined them too, also impressed by Robin's sudden rage. She wondered where it had come from.
Geralt fought Boholt as the last Reaver grabbed Robin by the throat. Without even thinking, he threw his sword into the man to save her.
Boholt flung rocks into the disarmed witcher's face. Geralt grabbed Boholt's spear as the man thrust it at him, his eyes squeezed shut.
Robin made the head of the spear crumble as Yennefer came up behind the man and stabbed him in the throat.
Villentretenmerth, Téa, and Véa had taken care of the remaining Reavers inside. As Jaskier and the dwarves arrived, the dragon transformed back into Borch and offered the dwarves two teeth from the dead green dragon so they could claim the reward from the king.
The dwarves accepted and left.
"What happened?" Jaskier wondered, shocked when Robin angrily stalked past Geralt back to the path. "Robin?" He began following her. "Robin, what's going on?"
Geralt, Yennefer, and Borch followed as well. Robin only stopped and sat when Borch asked her to, and even then, she only did it begrudgingly.
When Geralt tried to sit next to her, she moved to the other side of the rock and sat with her brother.
"This is my final first," Borch declared. "A child. This treasure, this legacy, must endure. There is no other reason to go on. Thank you for protecting it."
He turned and smiled at Robin. "And you, Robin. I can see why Geralt doesn't want to lose you. You are quite extraordinary."
Robin stood, her fists balled up at her sides. "Perhaps if he would tell me something real, he wouldn't," she ground out through clenched teeth.
She knew it wasn't an entirely fair comment. Geralt had been more than truthful with her over their years together about almost everything. But she was so angry about what she'd seen inside his head that she couldn't think straight.
Geralt stared at her, his brow furrowed as he tried to figure out what she meant.
"And you," she accused Yennefer next. "You're a liar as well. You flit about like a tornado, wreaking havoc, and for what? So you can have a baby? But that's not what it's really about, is it?" she taunted the mage.
Borch intervened. "That's enough."
Robin whirled to face him. "It's not enough until everyone stops keeping secrets from me!" she shrieked, her voice echoing over the mountains.
"Then here is some honesty for you," Borch said kindly. "The sorceress will never regain her womb."
Yennefer pressed her lips together as tears started to run down her cheeks.
"And if you don't want to lose Robin, Geralt, this is your last chance," he proclaimed.
Robin started to cry too. "You don't have to have a baby to not be alone, Yennefer," she choked out. "When you're ready to tell me the truth, come find me. Otherwise, I'll see you when you attempt to cast the spell. I'll stop you and save you."
The other mage simply shook her head. Then she cast a portal and disappeared.
Robin turned and walked up the hill. She stopped at the top, sobbing and waiting.
"You wanted to show me what I was missing," Geralt murmured, his heart beating faster than he'd ever felt because he was so afraid. "There she goes."
"It's not too late, Geralt. But it will be soon," Borch explained. "And she's not all you're missing. Something else is still out there. Your legacy and hers. Your shared destiny. I know it. And you know it, deep inside."
Geralt watched Borch leave, the man's words echoing in his head.
He knew what he was missing. He had never asked Robin what she would do if he went and claimed his Child of Surprise. He'd assumed she wouldn't want that kind of burden.
But he didn't understand what Borch meant about their shared destiny. It was his Child of Surprise, not hers. Fate didn't connect him and Robin in any way. That was why he was so afraid of it.
He looked up at Robin, standing on the hill, then at Jaskier, who, for once, was waiting silently.
The bard shrugged. "I don't know what happened, but I'd go talk to her if I were you. It sounds serious."
He didn't repeat his advice about honesty. If Geralt wasn't ready to be honest now, he never would be.
Geralt left his things with Jaskier and climbed the hill to join Robin.