A Faint Memory
As the sun was shining above the lands, the group were riding through a dirt road slowly. Mikael was now wearing a basic white shirt that Geralt always used and simple trousers, his missing right arm covered with bandages. He was riding with Geralt, on top of Roach.
"So who is this woman you're looking for?" questioned Mikael curiously.
"Yennefer of Vengerberg." answered Geralt. "A sorceress, my… acquaintance…"
Vesemir scoffed as he heard Geralt's words. "More than your acquaintance I might say."
"Your lover?" asked Mikael.
"You can say that…" said Geralt. "But… It's been a long time since I've met her."
"What happened?"
"Amnesia." added Geralt. "Just like you."
Mikael hummed. He looked around the place, it was war torn, the earth was scorched, and he saw people's corpses hanging by the neck. He looked at them, and frowned. "I wonder… Do I have a family… or a lover…?"
"Possible." Vesemir answered. "But only one way to find out. If we ever find Yennefer…"
"Meaning?"
"The tracks muddled," said Geralt. "Need to find a lead somewhere here. Ask the locals if they've seen her."
"There's a village nearby," said Vesemir. "An inn too, we should stop there while asking around."
"Then let's go."
—
As they traveled, the sun was getting higher, then fell down, the sky was now orange, the wind blowing faintly, and the three could hear the sound of running water, possibly a river, and also, the sound of a screaming man.
"Help me! Help!" shouted someone desperately.
Vesemir and Geralt looked at each other, then Vesemir questioned. "We going?"
Geralt just nodded, and the two horses galloped towards the pleading sound.
As soon as they arrived, they saw a dried up river, with a cart in the middle of it. They saw a man, hiding below the cart, and a griffin, dangerously close to the cart, eating a dead horse.
"Stay back." commanded Vesemir. Both of them dismounted from their horses, and rushed to the Griffin.
Geralt slashed the Griffin's stomach thinly as it tried to take off to the sky, making a trail of blood fall to the dirt below.
As the Griffin flew high, it glided for a quick second, before rushing down again, striking Vesemir who was open.
The Griffin hits Vesemir's sword arm, throwing his sword to the ground, far away from him.
Mikael was seeing this as Geralt tried to chase away the Griffin. But then, a voice spoke.
"Pathetic." said the childlike voice again. "You are just like me… watching as blood drips to the ground, helpless as the ones I care about rotted…"
"Then what should I do?" questioned Mikael to himself.
"Take the sword Mikael." told the voice. "I… will show you."
Mikael gulped, and suddenly, his eyes rolled to the back, his expression empty.
—
He woke up in the body of a small child, a frail and thin child, standing in front of a giant dog, growling at him menacingly.
Mikael flinched as he saw the dog, he wanted to run, but he couldn't move.
Suddenly, someone pushed him to the side, effectively knocking him down to the ground. He turned around as he groaned, seeing who pushed him.
It was a girl with fiery red hair, she was missing an arm, the same way as Mikael was missing his, but instead, the girl had a prosthetic, with a blade attached to it.
"Dearest brother, why can't you just stay beside me…" spoke the girl fondly. The girl then quickly rushed to the dog, dodging its bite like flowing water.
Her golden hand then moved, using the blade to cut off the dog's leg.
Mikael watched the girl, paying attention to her movement. It was smooth, gentle, calm… yet, she moved like a madman dancing in the middle of a battle, swinging her long blade like it was an extension of herself.
He watched it all, information started to flood to his brain, as if he knew what she was doing. He noted everything that the girl was doing, her hand movements, and he thought about using it using his left arm, he watched her footwork, her focus, everything.
The girl had practically crippled the big dog, all of its legs missing, and the dog was still trying to fight, pushing its body using sheer will.
The girl then walked slowly to the rabid dog, and finally, she stabbed its head, piercing the brain.
The girl took a deep breath as she pulled her blade from the dog, and walked up to Mikael. She offered her left hand, and smiled at him. "Come now… brother."
Then, all black.
—
Mikael woke up from his dream-like state, at the same place, the same time, but he was a bit different from before.
His eyes scanned the Griffin in front of him, trying to fly away from Vesemir. Mikael's eyes sharply turned to the sword, and his instincts suddenly flared up, and pushed him to move.
He rushed towards Vesemir's sword, grabbing it with his left hand. He quickly turned his direction towards the flying Griffin, and ran as fast as he could.
He jumped strongly as the Griffin was getting away. The jump was so high, that even Geralt couldn't believe it. When Geralt saw him jump, he felt like Mikael had wings, his form is… enchanting… for a swordsman like him… He moved his sword like flowing water, but there was roughness in it. He could see Mikael's eyes as sharp as a hawk as he stabbed the Griffin's wing, making it useless for the beast.
They fell to the shallow river on the left, the beast's blood tainted the clear water, and Geralt could suddenly see shock in Mikael's eyes.
"Did I just… do that?" Mikael questioned himself, looking at the bloodied sword, in the wing of the Griffin.
"Watch out!" shouted Geralt as he saw the Griffin trying to bite Mikael. Mikael jumped away from the Griffin, not forgetting to pull the sword from the beast.
Mikael took a deep breath, and ran towards the Griffin again.
The beast tried to sweep Mikael's legs with its other wing, but Mikael just dodged it by jumping. As Mikael was in the air, he was thrown off a bit, but stabilized his body as he dropped on top of the Griffin's back.
He then raised his sword, and stabbed the beast's head, killing it instantly. Mikael pulled his sword from the head of the beast, and took a deep breath.
He looked around, and saw the Witchers looking at him, baffled at what he just did.
He then turned to another person, the boy from before, standing behind a tree.
"Beautifully fought," his voice echoed in Mikael's mind. "She… would be proud."
Mikael sighed as he heard the words. He doesn't know how to feel about this… he doesn't know 'her', yet he feels… happy about it.
"You okay there old man?" questioned Mikael suddenly, dropping down from the beast's body.
"Just a scratch." stated Vesemir. "It'll heal in no time."
"Right…" murmured Mikael as he looked at the sword in his left hand. "Here… sorry if I use it without your permission."
"It's all right." nodded Vesemir as he took the sword from Mikael's hand. "Didn't know you could fight… if that was even a fight…"
"Didn't know it either…" said Mikael, seeing the blood on his hand. "I just… suddenly knew…"
"Strange…" frowned Vesemir. "Geralt?"
Vesemir looked at Geralt, who was inspecting the Griffin. "Dead," he said. "Should take the head, might have a bounty for it."
Then, a voice spoke from the cart.
"H-Has it gone?" questioned a voice. The witchers and Mikael turned around, and saw a man with a bowl haircut, staring at them fearfully.
"Yeah, it's dead." answered Geralt, walking towards the man, the head of the Griffin in hand.
Mikael then stretched his arm, as he felt stiff after the fight.
"Gods that was close! I was sure I'd end up like my mare…" he said, examining his dead horse nearby.
"Provided you got lucky." commented Vesemir, making the man confused.
The man then looked at Geralt, who gave him an explanation. "Your horse died quickly, but Griffins like to toy with their prey, eat it alive… piece by piece…"
"Ah– ha…" chuckled the man uncomfortably. Then, there was an awkward silence between them, before the man spoke again. "You'd… You'd like a reward, I suppose?"
Geralt shook his head. "You didn't owe us a thing, you were in need, we helped." he said, but then he looked at the corpse of the Griffin. "Although, we'll take the Griffin, there might be a bounty back in the village."
The man sighed in relief. "And they call witchers heartless… say that they won't lift a finger without pay."
Geralt and Vesemir hummed at the words, and Geralt then turned to Vesemir. "Back to the trail?" he questioned.
"Like I said, the trail went cold from here." answered Vesemir. "Muddled."
The man perked at Vesemir's words. "You seek someone?"
"Yes," said Geralt. "A woman, black hair, wearing a lavish dress, seen anyone like that?"
"Ah, that sure will bring attention." nodded the man. "Sadly, no. but there's an inn near here in White Orchard, perhaps you'll learn something there. Besides, the inkeep's my cousin, tell her Bram sent you, she'll treat you like family."
Vesemir turned to Geralt. "It's the inn I was talking about."
"Might give it a try looking there, pack up some supplies." Geralt spoke. "That wound needs cleaning as well."
"Ah… like I said, just a scratch," said Vesemir. "But fine… needs some rye after the Griffin."
"Alright then." spoke Mikael. "Let's go."