Sodden Hill, 1263
Geralt groaned and rolled over. His head was pounding, and everything hurt. He pushed himself up onto his arms, then managed to sit.
He turned his head, looking for Robin, and saw her passed out on the floor next to him.
He scooted over to her and lifted her into his lap, grunting with the effort. "Robin," he croaked, his voice hoarse. "Robin, are you all right?"
She moaned and her eyes fluttered open. "Geralt? Are you alive?"
He chuckled. "I think we both are."
Robin laughed, then coughed as she craned her neck. "Where's Yennefer?"
Geralt glanced around again. "She's here too. I don't think she's awake yet."
"Is she alive?"
Geralt nodded. "I can hear her heart beating."
As if on cue, Yennefer slowly sat up. "What the hell happened?" she asked when she caught sight of them.
"I stopped you," Robin said smugly, very satisfied with herself. "I stopped you, Yennefer. And you're still alive. Oh, I did it!"
"You were right," Yennefer admitted begrudgingly. "I lost control of it. It would have been... terrible."
Several tears escaped as she thought of the consequences. Robin managed to crawl over to the other mage, embracing her and stroking her hair gently.
"Can't even let me enjoy my victory, can you?" she teased.
Yennefer only cried harder. "How can you forgive me after what I did?" she wondered.
Robin shrugged. "Did you learn your lesson?"
"I think so."
"Then it's fine. I stopped you, and you wanted to stop yourself, in the end. We'll talk through it all later, and much more. But the most important thing is that no one suffered. Except us, I suppose. I feel like I got trampled by Roach."
Geralt grimaced at the mention of Roach. He hoped she was still all right outside. He had no idea how much time had passed.
Yennefer raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You feel like you got trampled by fish?"
"Oh," Robin realized. "No. Geralt's horse is named Roach."
"That's an odd name for a horse," Yennefer decided.
"Don't make fun of Roach," Geralt warned her.
"Whatever," Yennefer mumbled. She took a deep breath. "I'm... sorry."
"It's okay," Robin assured her. "But we better get up and moving. We need to find Jaskier and Cirilla."
Geralt nodded. "How long have we been down here?"
"Well, it's been a week since we talked, so at least that long, I think," Triss' voice replied, making them all jump.
"A week?" Robin repeated incredulously. "How are we even alive?"
Triss leaned down in front of Robin and lifted her chin. "It's you," she answered. "You're emitting a magical aura. I think it put all of you in stasis, essentially. So you could rest and heal after the enormous amount of power you used."
"I thought I couldn't heal anyone with magic," Robin reminded her.
"Stasis isn't healing, technically," Triss explained.
Robin looked up. She could hear footsteps and voices above them. "Is the entire Brotherhood here?" she questioned.
Triss nodded. "Yes. They're worried about what caused the magical surge. They're afraid it was an incredibly powerful mage."
Yennefer looked pointedly at Robin. "It was."
"The Brotherhood is afraid of me," Robin giggled. "I'm okay with that."
Triss smiled. "I'll come up with something to tell them. For now, you all need to rest and regain your strength. We're going to need all the mages we can get."
Robin and Yennefer both nodded as Triss kindly cleaned them all up and provided food and water with a wave of her hand. "Stay here. I'll come back when I can."
As they slowly ate, Geralt reached out and touched Robin's hair. "Part of it turned white," he pointed out.
Robin touched it curiously. "It did?"
He nodded. "It's pretty," he informed her, studying the way that the white wound through her braid.
"It is," Yennefer chimed in.
"Thank you."
Robin was surprised at how quickly they all felt normal again. She suspected that Triss had done a bit of healing before she left them as well. She was glad for it. They didn't have any time to waste.
"Are you going to stay and help the mages, Yennefer?" Robin wondered.
Yennefer nodded. "It's the right thing to do, isn't it?"
"It is. I'm staying too," Robin decided.
"What about the Brotherhood?" Geralt worried.
Robin shrugged. "If they want help, they'll have to take it where they can get it. Maybe it will earn me a reprieve, if it comes to that."
"I'll fight too," Geralt insisted.
But Robin shook her head. "You need to start searching. It's been a week. Jaskier and the princess could be anywhere."
"Robin..."
"You can't fight a whole army by yourself, Geralt. You'd only be in the way of any spells we wanted to cast."
"She's right," Yennefer backed her up.
"If Yennefer didn't take me out, no one can," Robin assured him, making him smile. "And together, I'd wager we're quite unstoppable."
"Of course," the other mage decided.
"Go, Geralt. My brother and our daughter need you more than I do right now."
Yennefer's brow furrowed, but she stayed silent as Geralt rose and the two said goodbye.
He kissed her deeply. "Come to me as soon as you can, Robin," he urged her. "I love you."
"And I love you, Geralt. I will. I'll cloak you so you can leave without being noticed."
Only a few moments later, she was sitting alone with Yennefer. The other mage turned to her. "You have a daughter?"
"Geralt's Child of Surprise," Robin explained. "We were looking for her when all of this happened."
"I see," Yennefer acknowledged sadly.
"I think she's going to be a powerful mage," Robin continued. "I could use help training her, if you're interested."
"You'd want me to train her?"
"You have a lot of valuable knowledge, and you've learned from your mistakes, Yennefer. Of course I would."
Yennefer grinned. "I'd like that."
She reached out for Robin's hand, clasping it in hers. The other mage squeezed it back. "Then let's make it out of here alive so we can actually do it," Robin suggested.
Yennefer laughed. "Deal."