When Aderyn wakes up, she is surrounded by darkness. And a deep smell of death and blood. The ground is sticky with it. She looks around to see herself laying in a small cabin. It's practically empty. There are dead rabbits hanging on the walls, their furs removed and piled on a small table. Aderyn gags and turns around to let her vomit out. She coughs and wipes her mouth with her sleeve. There are traces of a portal in the air, as are there traces of dead mages.
"Who are you, witcher?" a distant voice speaks, distorted and doubled. Aderyn pushes herself onto her feet, feeling her wound by her lower abdomen. A deep stab sits there, and it's clearly been poisoned. Her skintone is darker around that part. A black shadow is spreading around it. Aderyn looks around to see a silhouette standing in front of her, behind a wooden lectern. "What powers do you seek?" the voice speaks again, this time closer. "Daeva." Aderyn whispers. The horrid voice chuckles. "Yes, that is the name you mortals gave me. The devil." Daeva steps forward into the dim light. It takes form of a person Aderyn knows too well.
Stregobor.
"Do you know how much trouble you have caused me, child?" he says, stepping closer to her. Aderyn steps back, knocking over a vase. The devil's voice starts overlapping with those of the people it's taking form of. "You left me." Geralt's figure says. Aderyn gasps quietly and feels a tear slip down her cheek. Daeva steps closer to Aderyn, placing two fingertips on her cheek, wiping away her tear.
"Shh, I won't hurt you," dozens of voices are now speaking over one another, "but you must promise me something." Aderyn freezes under the devil's touch, unable to move. Fear overtakes her mind, stopping her from being able to think clearly. "Aderyn of Ban Ard, sister of Declán the great, you will never see Geralt of Rivia again." The voices echo through the cabin as if it had turned into a grand hall.
Suddenly it hits Aderyn. Something she had only heard in tales, and rumours. But it was true. "You are scared." she whispers. Daeva is shocked and takes a step back. "There is a prophecy. A prophecy about you, Daeva, and, me." Aderyn steps towards Daeva now, making it step back and take its true form. A silver-skinned devil with black eyes and sharp teeth. "I have heard this prophecy many times before," Aderyn walks towards the lectern and reads the open pages:
The Raven that is followed by white footsteps shall bring ruin to the black-eyed devil, ere the fire burns out.
"You are afraid that when Geralt finds me and learns of this prophecy, it shall be the end of you." Aderyn whispers. Daeva has now stepped back enough for Aderyn to conjure up a portal. She disappears through it before Daeva was able to send daggers flying through it. The knives crash into the wall, piercing it. Black liquid flows down the wall, onto the floor. Daeva screams, creating rips in the ground, letting another dozen monsters crawl out into the continent.
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Geralt kneels onto the ground, pressing two fingers into the small puddle of blood. He lifts them up and sniffs at them, recognizing Aderyn. His worry grows, when he smells the light scent of poison. He has to find her. And he has to find her now.
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heyy guyss,
it's been long since an update but I'm back!
I'm leaving this part shorter to make better sense for the next one
hope you're all doing well!
x Brooke.