4 Old Story 3

Kingfisher inn

Mikael was now walking back to the Kingfisher inn, his clothes are all soaked in water and blood as the rain was still raining heavily outside, his prosthetic is now missing as Hattori needed a reference for the prosthetic, and his sword broken.

He was about to enter the inn from the back door, when he realized that he was covered in blood. He looked inside, it seemed like there's a lot of people inside, and he sighed. "Well, shower in the rain it is…" he murmured.

He then stepped back to the rain again, and let the rainwater cleanse him of blood. He could feel the cold sensation as the rain dropped to his face like needles. He just enjoyed the feeling of it as the rain continued to flow from the top to bottom.

Then, a voice sounded behind him.

"The hell are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" he answered. "Showering."

"The fuck did you do?" the man asked again. "You reek of blood."

"Dwarfs." shrugged Mikael. "The usual."

"Cleaver's men?"

"Yep." said Mikael casually. "The performance is about to start if you're asking."

"Nah, I'll wait here until you've finished showering." The man then leaned against the wall of the inn, watching Mikael closely.

"That's not creepy at all, Geralt." scoffed Mikael.

"Where's your arm?"

"Borrowed by a smith," said Mikael. "I'm making a new arm."

"Good for you." Geralt stated.

"Found Ciri yet?"

Geralt snorted. "If you told me, this'll be much easier."

"It's useless if I told you." chuckled Mikael. "You need to know her whole story in order to know where she is. Otherwise, it'll get messy."

"What's that even supposed to mean?"

"It means… that even if I told you, you can't go to her yet." Mikael continued. "Even I can't go to her right now."

Geralt sighed. "You know what? I'm not going to even ask anymore."

"Good choice." hummed Mikael. He then stepped out of the rain, the blood cleaned off of his skin, and took a deep breath.

"You with Shani?" questioned Geralt.

"How do you know?"

"Cause you probably would just bolt into the inn covered in blood if she's not here."

"True… she's a bit too worriful, but I guess it's natural, cause she's a medic." shrugged Mikael. "Anyway, let's go."

Mikael then opened the door to the inn, and he and Geralt entered the place, making people stare at them.

Shani was sitting with an old friend of hers, Zoltan, drinking mead as she talked to him. But when she saw Mikael's soaked state, she frowned.

Mikael just waved at her, and pointed upstairs.

Meanwhile, Geralt was walking towards Zoltan, sitting beside him. "What are you doing here, Shani?"

"I have a couple of things I need to take care of here." Shrugged Shani. "Found Dandelion yet?"

Geralt raised his eyebrow, then he looked at Zoltan, who shrugged at his gaze. "No, the rest of the women I've talked to didn't have a clue on where he went."

"Classic Dandelion." sneered Shani. "A lecher."

Geralt just shook his head in amusement, and turned to the stage, where a woman with a unique clothing presented herself.

Meanwhile, Mikael walked to the table, sitting beside Shani.

"What happened?" questioned Shani. "Where's your arm?"

"Long story." said Mikael. "Later."

Shani just frowned, but she turned to the stage once again.

The woman then began to sing as she used her lute for the melody. It was a soothing melody, melancholic, yet depressing, beautiful, yet painful.

The tune was soft, delicate, and calming, but there was a tint of sadness in it. As soon as she began to play the lute, the halls turned quiet. Before, people were talking loudly, but once they heard the music, none spoke. The melody was so ear-catching and calming, that even the drunk sat down to hear it.

♪These scars long have yearned for your tender caress.♪

The guests were now solely focusing on the woman. Her voice was somber, deep, mesmerizing. The ones who were standing up began to sit down, trying to focus on the music.

♪To bind our fortunes, damn what the stars own.♪

Geralt rested his body, he leaned forward, using his hands as support as he tried to enjoy the music, the melody echoed in his mind.

♪Rend my heart open, then your love profess.

A winding, weaving fate to which we both atone♪

Mikael could see Zoltan started to sober up. He closed his eyes as the woman sang dearly. He could see Zoltan's hands moving on its own, following the melody.

♪You flee my dream come the morning

Your scent - berries tart, lilac sweet.♪

The ladies around were starting to lean to their partners, seemingly consumed by the melody and the haunting voice of the woman. Mikael could feel Shani's hand holding his tightly, he turned towards her, and he saw her watch the woman, enjoying the music.

♪To dream of raven locks entwisted, stormy

Of violet eyes, glistening as you weep.♪

Mikael could now feel Shani leaning against his shoulder, closing her eyes as the woman continued to sing. Geralt was also closing his eyes, imagining the image of the music in his head. It was his song, it was his story, he remembered it all.

…

…

As the music ends slowly, with the melody at the start, the same soothing and haunting melody, Mikael could see women in the inn crying on their partners' shoulder, seemingly too consumed by the song.

The music ends with a standing ovation. It was truly a magnificent performance, even Mikael couldn't help but shed a tear. The melody, the voice, the song, it was just perfect.

"Never thought I'd see this live…" he murmured to himself as he stood as a sign of respect.

The woman then stood up, and bowed towards the audience as they cheered and clapped their hands.

As she saw Geralt in the audience however, her eyes brightened. As people continued to talk to each other, she walked past them, and touched Geralt's shoulder.

"Come." she said to Geralt.

Geralt then looked at the others, who just shrugged at the invitation, and he nodded, following the woman upstairs.

"There goes another victim." Shani rolled her eyes.

"You were once a victim too, remember?" groaned Mikael.

"Yeah… never again… never again…" she murmured.

Zoltan then laughed as he heard what Shani said. "Geralt'll not touch her. Dandelion fancies her!"

"When is that something new?" scoffed Shani. "Those two are the same."

"Oh no no no no." Zoltan shook his head while clicking his tongue. "This time it's real. Dandelion's head over heels for her, probably'll will drop his career for her even."

"Well that's new." Shani shook her head in amusement. "Anyway, nice meeting you Zoltan, hope you find that lecherous bard."

"Enjoy your night lassie!" laughed Zoltan as he drank his mead from the mug, while Mikael and Shani walked up the stairs, towards their room.

As they entered their room, Mikael sat on the sofa, while Shani sat on the bed. "So, tell me, how's your day?" she questioned.

Mikael chuckled. "Well…."

Gwent Casino

In a rather shady casino in the middle of the city, Mikael was playing a game of Gwent with a man with black doublets. The man looked annoyed, he saw his cards, and scowled in frustration.

"Come on man, just stop." sneered Mikael. "Don't want you to lose a house, do we?"

"No, no, I can still play." the man insisted. "5000 more crowns!"

"Don't have that many crowns." shrugged Mikael.

"You've got 15000 crowns from me!" shrieked the man in desperation. "Come on!"

"Fine, fine." sighed Mikael as he dropped a fat pouch of crowns, and they started to play once again.

Minutes later, they had finished the game. The man in front of Mikael slammed the table, frustrated.

"My wife's going to kill me…" he murmured in desperation.

"Hey, I told you." shrugged Mikael.

The man's eyes then sharpened at Mikael, and stood up. "Guards! He's a cheat! He's been cheating the whole time!"

"What?! What the fuck you talking about?!" Mikael also stood up, slamming the table. "I did not cheat!"

"Yes you did!" shouted the man in desperation. "Guards!"

A man then suddenly tapped Mikael's shoulder, making him turn around.

"What's this about cheating?" the guard questioned.

"I did not cheat," said Mikael. "He's lying."

"Who're you?" frowned the guard. "Haven't seen you, he on the other hand, is a regular."

"I'm… new…"

"Show me the invitation then." continued the guard.

Mikael looked around. He was surrounded, the guards were placing their hands to the hilt of their swords. He then sighed. "Well, using force it is…"

Mikael then quickly kicked the man in front of him, sending him away to the wall that quickly broke upon impact, sending the man falling to his death to the streets of Novigrad below.

"What the fuck!?" Mikael could hear someone scream. The guards then quickly attacked Mikael, rushing to him with their swords.

As they closed in, Mikael grabbed his pouch of crowns, and threw it to the guards, distracting them as they were hit with heavy coins. He then quickly dashed to one of the guards, grabbing his face, and slammed it to the table multiple times as the table turned red with the blood of the guards. He then quickly slammed his knee to the guard's face, knocking him down.

Mikael grabbed the sword, he parried an attack from the other guard as he slid the sword to the hand of the guard, cutting it. As the guard screamed, Mikael stabbed the sword below the guard's jaw, impaling his head instantly.

A couple of the guests threw up as he saw it, Mikael quickly pulled the sword back, and used the body as a meat shield as a crossbow bolt shot through the air, targeting him.

As the man holding a crossbow reloaded, Mikael threw the sword at him, impaling the sword through the man's chest, killing him as the sword made the man get nailed to the wall.

Mikael grabbed another sword as another man was behind him, trying to strike him down. But, another crossbow bolt flew through the air, and it implanted itself to the last guard's head.

Mikael turned around, and saw Geralt, steel in hand, and a small crossbow in the other, just made his way upstairs.

"The hell are you doing here?" questioned Geralt.

"You know, meeting you like this is getting repetitive…" murmured Mikael. He turned to the gold that was covered in blood below him, and sighed. He quickly gathered his crowns again, and put them in a pouch.

"Gambling?" Geralt gruffed.

"Hey, I've made a lot of money." smiled Mikael. He then turned to the man who made this chaos, and aimed the sword at him. "I did not fucking cheat, you hear me?"

"Y-Yes…." he murmured.

"If you tell anyone… and I mean ANYONE about what happened here, I will hunt you down, understand?"

"I- if I told anyone, I'll be arrested anyway! I swear!"

"Good." smiled Mikael. "Now get out."

The man then ran away quickly from the place. Mikael turned to the other guests as well. "Same for you folks, I remembered your faces, if you told anyone…"

"W-We won't! We swear!"

"Then sod off."

The high stakes room quickly emptied as they left Mikael and Geralt alone to their lonesome.

"Looking for Junior?" questioned Mikael.

"Yeah." he said. "A trail leads me here."

"He's not here if you're asking." said Mikael. "But I suppose someone knew something upstairs."

"Couldn't you just tell me?"

"And don't save the guy upstairs?"

Geralt sighed. "Fine."

The two walked upstairs, climbing up to the highest floor.

"Where's Shani?" questioned Geralt.

"Locked her up back at the inn." gruffed Mikael. "Bloody stubborn, told her's not safe, yet she insisted on going alone, the result? Surrounded by thugs on the way home. If not for a certain redhead, I don't even know what'll happen to her. I suppose it's my fault anyway for giving in…"

"Redhead?"

"Your 'friend', Triss Merigold." answered Mikael. He then kicked the door opened in front of him, revealing a tied up halfling, covered in bruises and blood. "There's your answer. Now I'm gonna go, give all the blame on what happened here to you, and continue to wait for my prosthetic to finish."

"Wait," said Geralt.

Mikael turned, and raised his eyebrow.

"You know where Triss is?" questioned Geralt.

"Really?" said Mikael in amusement. "I thought she would've told you by now."

"No, I just met her for a while, helped her in a job, then continued my search."

Mikael sighed. "Then maybe you'll meet her again soon." said Mikael as he threw his bag to his shoulder. "Anyway, see you around Witcher."

Mikael just walked away from Geralt, leaving him with the halfling alone.

Arm of Steel

Four days have passed since Mikael and Shani arrived in Novigrad, and it was now time to leave. These four days, Mikael saw the breakdown of the city. Mages were quickly burned at the stake as Triss Merigold helped many sorcerers, sorceresses, and other similar professions run away from the cursed city. The witch hunters are furious that so many mages escaped their grasps easily, and they can't do anything with it as they fled to Kovir, well known for their neutrality and a safe haven for all things magical.

Right now though, Mikael was now walking towards a place he visited the first day he arrived at the city, Hattori's place.

The place was now guarded with bodyguards, displays of swords and armors were in front. He walked to the place, the smell of dumplings still present, but it was mixed with the smell of metal.

"Hattori's inside?" questioned Mikael to the bodyguards.

"Who're you?" frowned a man.

"A friend." Mikael answered. "Is he inside or not?"

"Name." the bodyguard continued. "Give me a name."

"Mikael."

The guards looked at each other, and nodded. "He's waiting inside."

Mikael then opened the door. The heat of the forge hit his face instantly as he did that, and he saw Hattori, hammering away at his anvil.

Hattori turned to the door, and smiled as he saw Mikael. "Ah, I've been waiting. Let me get your arm and sword."

Hattori then quickly cools down the forge, and puts the steel on the anvil, before walking upstairs to his room.

"Quite a nice place you've got now." Mikael commented, looking at his surroundings. Swords were displayed at the wall, along with shields and axes.

"Business is booming!" stated Hattori as he came down. "Yesterday, a nilfgaardian noble went to my place, ordered something, the upfront pay is quite a lot."

"Well, good for you." said Mikael.

Hattori then placed two items that were covered in cloth on a table, and sat on a chair. "I must say, this is quite possibly my best work yet."

"Well, I'm flattered." said Mikael as he also sat in front of the items.

Hattori then pulled the cloth from the items, revealing a metal prosthetic arm, gilded with gold, and a long slightly dark curved sword, carved in ornaments.

"It's made out of Dark Steel," said Hattori. "I've also mixed the sword's and the arm's steel with Dimeritium, magic won't stand a chance against this sword and your arm."

"Bloody hell, that must be expensive." frowned Mikael. "How much?"

"Oh, it's nothing really." shrugged Hattori. "I have a stash of rare metals that I never used, might as well use it in this sword and arm."

Hattori then giddily shows the prosthetic arm to Mikael. "Look at this," he said. He then pressed something in the arm, and a small blade suddenly sprung from the side of the arm. "I've asked a dwarven friend of mine to tinker with this kind of stuff, as I'm not quite proficient with it."

"That's… Amazing!" Mikael exclaimed. "You didn't have to make it this far you know…"

"No friend. It's all thanks to you that I can go to the forge again." smiled Hattori. "Here, I give these two masterpieces of mine to you, may you vanquish your enemies with it."

Mikael nodded. He grabbed the prosthetic arm, and quickly equipped it. He quickly strapped the arm to his body, and he could feel that he had recovered his right arm.

He tried to move it, roots of rot suddenly spread inside the arm, and lo and behold, he could raise it, moving the elbows easily.

"Ha! I knew you could do that!" exclaimed Hattori.

Mikael raised his eyebrow in amusement. "How come?"

"W-Well, at the fight last week, I saw you moving your previous prosthetic, normal prosthetics can't do that…"

"Fair enough." shrugged Mikael. He moved the prosthetic a little bit more, but then, he noticed something. The hand part is hollow.

He tried to move the fingers, and it worked, the joints of the fingers worked perfectly, it was like he gained another arm entirely. "Wow…"

He then tried to use the blade. The roots inside pressed the contraption, and it sprung from his arm, a short blade above his hand.

"This is… amazing Hattori…" stated Mikael in disbelief. "Are you sure this is all free?"

"I won't accept money for this." Hattori shook his head.

Mikael sighed. He then looked at the long sword in front of him, and grabbed the handle. It was a long ass sword, probably half his height. For normal people, it might be unusable, because the weight balance it's really off, but for Mikael, it was perfect.

"It provides more range for your… dance…" stated Hattori. "And judging from the strength you've shown me, you can wield that plenty."

Mikael hummed. He held the handle tightly, and swung it easily to the side. But he wasn't expecting the range of the thing, and he cut the chair beside him.

"Oh, sorry…" Mikael apologized.

"Oh, it's alright." said Hattori giddily. "So how is it?"

"It's… perfect…." Mikael answered. "It's quite strong as well… probably won't break."

"It won't. I can promise you that." nodded Hattori.

Mikael then noticed a carving of Elder speech at the end of the blade, and read it outloud. "Tearth vhóel…"

"Fear death." nodded Hattori. "A warning, to those who sparks your ire."

Mikael chuckled. "Thank you, Hattori." Mikael then looked around, the smell of dumplings lingering around. "Say… you still sell dumplings?"

—

Shani was waiting in front of the Kingfisher's inn. She was arranging her items in Ebony's inventory, trying to fit it in.

Mikael then walked up to her, a bag of dumplings in hand. "Want some?"

Shani jumped as Mikael offered her. She did not notice his presence at all, and once she saw it was him, she sighed in relief. "You scared me…"

"Sorry…" Mikael apologized, and he offered the dumplings again. "Want some?"

"What's this?"

"Dumplings." answered Mikael. "Beef inside it."

Shani took one, and took a bite. Her eyes brightened as she tasted the food. "This is good."

"Right? It's quite surprising that a blacksmith made this one."

Shani then looked at his right arm. "You got it, let me see." Shani then inspected his arm, admiring its design. "This looks way better than the last one."

"I'm still keeping the leather one." shrugged Mikael. "It's your gift, don't want to throw it away."

Shani just smiled at him, but she noticed the sword at his back. "Got a new sword too?"

"Yep." nodded Mikael. "Anyway, let's go, or the guards won't let us out if it gets too dark."

Shani just nodded, and both of them mounted Ebony, before leaving Novigrad, towards Oxenfurt again as the sun set in the west.

A Call

As the sun shines brightly over the town of Oxenfurt, Shani was walking through the market, buying food supplies for herself. She was bringing some bread, herbs, and meat as she exited the market, happy with the things she bought.

She then walked again, this time, towards her home, her clinic. The stone roads of Oxenfurt were heaven sent for her, she had not missed the muddy street of Novigrad, she had to constantly clean her boots after a day out, but not in Oxenfurt.

But as she neared her clinic, she frowned. She saw two soldiers knocking on her door, in their red and white uniform and all.

Shani continued to walk to her clinic, and greeted the soldiers. "Can I help you?" questioned Shani.

"Ah! Miss!" greeted the soldier. "Was waiting for so long, it turns out you're out of the house."

"I was buying supplies…" Shani stated. "Is something wrong?"

The soldiers looked at each other, and coughed to clear their throats. "Er… miss, you've been called."

"Called?"

"Redania needs you." said the soldier as he gave her a letter with a Redanian seal. "In the eastern front."

Shani was surprised. "I– right now?"

"Well… not right now…" chuckled the soldier. "The next batch will depart at the end of the week, miss, I suppose you should pack up right now…"

Shani dropped her supplies to the ground first to read the letter. She opened it, and read the letter. It was a to arms, signed by the commander of the redanian army, it asks her to go east, to Kaedwen.

"C-Can I refuse?" Shani questioned nervously, anxiety in her eyes as she stared at the soldiers.

"You can miss." said the soldier. "But… It's not like you to refuse such a thing… but I suppose it's up to you, it's your life after all."

"I–" Shani read the letter over and over again. "Can I think about it?"

The soldiers looked at each other again, and sighed. "Very well miss, we will ask you again tomorrow morning."

"Thank you." Shani nodded as she grabbed her supplies again. The soldiers then left, and Shani quickly entered her clinic, closing the door instantly. Shani dropped her supplies, and sat on her couch. She read the letter over and over again, thinking about what to do.

—

In the evening of the day, Mikael was walking to Shani's clinic, nervousness could be seen in his expression. He was wearing his usual white shirt, not in any fight right now, he approached her door, and tried to knock.

But, when he was about to knock with his left hand, the door opened itself, revealing an anxious Shani, waiting for him at the door.

"You're here…" smiled Shani nervously as she allowed him to enter. "You want some tea?"

Mikael shook his head. "I'd rather have wine right now…"

Shani strangely agreed. "Then wine it is."

Mikael sat at the chair he used to sleep on, and Shani quickly brought koviri wine glasses, and an Est Est wine from Toussaint.

"That's a fancy wine…" chuckled Mikael nervously as she poured him a glass, but she flinched as he commented on it. "Celebrating anything?"

Shani poured herself a drink, and put the bottle on the table. "Mikael… we need to talk…"

"Yeah… I wanted to talk to you too…" said Mikael. "A serious talk."

Shani stared at his icy blue eyes, and sighed. "This afternoon… I got a call…"

"A call?"

"From the Redanian army." stated Shani calmly as she quickly gulped her wine.

"Oh." said Mikael. "So… do you…—"

"I– I'm sorry Mikael…" said Shani sadly, finally breaking down. "I just can't not accept it… I know you said it's stupid for supporting the war… but… People need my help, they're dying in the front lines while I'm just sitting here… it's my calling Mikael…"

"Okay…" said Mikael. "But you can refuse it, right?"

Shani nodded. "I can… but… this is the last time Mikael, after this, no more wars."

Mikael smiled. "That's good. Really good, I thought for a second that you were forced."

Shani just smiled, and shook her head in denial. "No… they gave me a choice…"

Mikael just hummed. He took a sip of his wine, staring at her hazel eyes nervously. He took a deep breath, and spoke again. "Truthfully, I'm leaving too." he said. "I have enough money to travel by ship right now."

Shani was definitely surprised. "Where?"

"Kovir." smiled Mikael. "I figured, if I want to let loose, it's there… people aren't that hateful there… well, as far as the rumor goes anyway."

"Kovir…" Shani murmured softly. "Good… if you want to travel, then it's there… at least I won't have to worry about you being burned at the stake…"

Mikael scoffed in amusement. "As if they can do it." Mikael then took another sip from his wine, this time, a whole load more.

He placed the glass on the table, he grabbed Shani's glass as well, so she won't get too drunk.

Shani just gave her glass to him, and spoke. "So… where does this leave us?"

Mikael sighed. "Honestly Shani… do you hope that I'll settle down with you?"

"Eventually, yes." she said. "But I know it's not possible right now."

"Why do you still hope then?"

"Because ultimately Mikael… I'm looking for someone I know I could love, to look forward to meeting every day… or every week… or even every month or so…someone who can cheer me up after a long day from stitching limbs, or fixing bones… or someone who I can write letters to to vent my frustration…"

"Well, I can't do half of that…" chuckled Mikael softly. "I could write to you though, just tell me where you are going…"

"That'll be nice…" She smiled, leaning for a kiss, which he answered. They kissed for a little while, it was a kiss full of worry and fear of separation, but they separated nonetheless.

"I- I'll come find you after the war ends… or my service expired…" she stuttered nervously.

"Shani…"

"W-We'll try this again after we finished with our business, I'll–"

"Shani." said Mikael sternly, silencing her. "Do you honestly want to do this? I can't settle yet Shani, not right now…"

Shani shook her head. "You don't have to settle down now Mikael, I'll just be a home for you to come to when you're tired of traveling." she said. "If you'll have me that is… look, you could find another woman in your travels that might treat you better than me, I'll have no problem with it, in fact, I'll be happy for you… but, I was hoping… that maybe… we'll give this a try… "

"Even if we'd be miles away?"

"Even if we'd be miles away." Shani nodded.

Mikael sighed once again as he stared at his glass of wine that was really tempting now. He stared at the reflection of the wine, and said. "How long has it been since we first met?"

"Ooh I don't know… a month and a half?"

"Really?" Mikael questioned. "Feels like ages ago…"

"Well that's because you almost visit me everyday." chuckled Shani.

"True…" said Mikael with a smile. Mikael then grabbed his drink, and made a toast gesture to Shani. "Well, let's give this a try then if you insist…"

Shani smiled widely. She grabbed her glass and she hit her glass to his, giving a toast. "Then to our last nights together for a while."

Both of them then drink their wine, finishing it quickly as they were quite desperate for that alcohol right now.

—

She couldn't get enough of him, she was tipsy from all the wine, and was honestly about to cry, but she couldn't get enough of him. Shani's tongue was deep in Mikael's mouth, her hands exploring his body as the full moon was shining brightly outside. She dragged him to her bed, slowly undressing him as her tongue kept licking his lips.

Mikael had then suddenly grabbed her bottom, carrying her to the bed as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Mikael had slowly undressed her on the way, leaving her with only her knickers as they entered the bedroom. Shani was already impatient, she was caressing his crotch rather seductively as she smiled naughtility at him

Mikael then dropped her to the bed, Shani could feel his cold right hand caressing her bottom, but she didn't care, she just wanted him, here and now, future be damned.

Mikael then began to slowly explore her body, he kissed and bit her neck in excitement as Shani's moans echoed throughout the room.

Mikael's left hand then slowly crept below her knickers, towards her flower. As Shani could feel his touch on her Vagina, she moaned loudly, but then, she grabbed his hand, she stared at him, and shook her head.

Instead, she pulled his pants, revealing his massive cock that throbbed as she touched it, which made her gulp.

"L-Let's go straight to the point…" she stammered, not being able to take her eyes off of his twitching dick.

"Okay…" Mikael answered. He lifted Shani's chin, and soaked in the beauty of her body. Her perky breasts, her slim waist, her beautiful hazel eyes. Then, he leaned in for a kiss, which she answered with a deep passionate one.

Shani quickly threw away her knickers, and guided his cock to her vagina. She wanted to feel him, she wanted to feel the ache, she's not going to feel this thing for a long time, and so she wanted it deep inside her, as deep as it possibly could.

"P-Please…" she begged shamelessly between kisses as she rubbed his dick to her vagina, already feeling her nerves overloading with pleasure.

Finally, Mikael shoved his hips to hers, his cock finally inside her, and she instantly moaned loudly, before biting his shoulder, holding it.

Mikael's hips then moved back and forth slowly, enjoying the sensation of her wet and warm flesh.

Shani instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, pushing his cock more deeply inside her. Mikael quickened as Shani begged him to go faster, doing long and fast strokes, which made Shani moan really loudly.

She didn't care about her voice anymore, or what her neighbors thought of her, she was moving in a couple of days anyway.

"H-Harder!" she gasped, begging for him to pound her faster. She bit his neck lovingly as love bites started to appear in his body, her nails dug deep in his back.

Shani then suddenly pulled him towards the bed, and she rolled them around, his cock still inside her. She was now on top of him, her breast in full display to him. She continued to ride him erotically as she grabbed his hands, placing it to her breasts, she didn't care if one of the hand feels cold, to her, it feels warm as the other one, as it was his, not anyone else.

She continued to rock her body back and forth as she smiled naughtily at him, she leaned in for a kiss, and Mikael suddenly grabbed her bottom once again, this time, she nailed him roughly, making him moan loudly in pleasure.

"M-Mikael– I- I-m gonna cum!" she said between her moans and gasps, hugging Mikael's head tightly as his face was buried in her perky breasts.

She then released a loud shriek of pleasure, biting Mikael's shoulder loudly as she tried to calm her nerves, but her body is out of control now. She had wet herself, squirting, making Mikael's body soaked in piss, her thighs quivering as she continued to hug him tightly, calming herself down.

Shortly thereafter, a stream of warm cum flowed out from her vagina, dripping erotically as Shani's body layed on Mikael's chest.

"I-I'm going to miss this…" Shani chuckled, already a bit tired.

"Just the sex?" Mikael questioned in amusement as she caressed her body slowly, soothing her.

"I'm gonna miss you…" she corrected herself, Mikael could feel wetness from his neck as Shani buried her face to his neck. . "Just… don't fool around with too many girls while I'm not with you…"

Mikael laughed. "So I'm allowed to fool around?"

"I know you will, I can't stop you…" Shani rolled her eyes. "My only rule is that there is no Triss Merigold. Understand?"

Mikael laughed even more. "Damn, you really hate her don't you?"

"Not going to be cucked by her a second time…"

Farewell & Departure

As the week passed by, the time had finally come. Mikael was carrying a wooden chest on his shoulder, careful to not use his right arm, bringing it outside of Shani's clinic. Two soldiers were waiting for her outside with a carriage, and he put the chest in it.

As Mikael came back to the clinic, he saw Shani, putting the last of her things to another chest. It was a stuffed pig that he had won for her back in the wedding.

"You're still keeping that?" questioned Mikael as he leaned against the wall near her.

Shani turned, and threw a warm smile at him. "Yeah… someone rarely gives me these kinds of things."

Mikael chuckled, and walked towards her. He closed the chest in front of her, and locked it. "Well, the soldiers are waiting outside, don't want to keep them waiting do we?"

Mikael then carried the chest once again, putting it on his shoulder, before he and Shani got out of the clinic, to the carriage once again. Mikael put the chest to the carriage as the soldiers greeted them.

"Is that all, miss?" questioned the soldier.

"Let me check for the last time." she said, before entering her clinic once again.

The soldier then looked at Mikael. They saw the hickies around his neck, and sneered in amusement. "Had fun last night?"

"Hmm?" Mikael turned to the soldiers, they pointed at his neck, which made him laugh. "Not gonna see her for a while, she went all out last night."

"Lucky bloke you are." snorted the soldier. "A pretty lass like her took interest in you… I'll retire from the army if that happens to me…"

"Keep your simple lives, mate." smiled Mikael. "Enjoy it while you can."

Shani then quickly got out of her place, locking it for the last time. She took a deep breath, and walked towards the carriage. "Right, there's nothing more."

"Then let's go miss, they're waiting."

Shani looked anxious. "Err… Could I…."

The soldiers sighed. "Go ahead, we'll be waiting, miss…"

The soldiers then climbed up the carriage, waiting for them.

Shani then turned to Mikael, and smiled weakly. "So… this is goodbye…"

Mikael chuckled, and ruffled her hair. "Hey, this is your decision, don't go second guessing yourself now…"

'Yes." she giggled. "I suppose you're right, no point in staying here any longer then…"

"Said goodbye to your mother?"

Shani hummed. "Yesterday."

"Wait… you didn't tell her about me… did you?"

Shani laughed at his words. "Of course not, I'll be stuck in that place for hours if I did. Maybe after the war ends… if everything goes well."

Mikael smiled warmly at her, and just hugged her tightly. She buried her head on his chest, crying a bit.

"I'm going to miss you…" she murmured.

"Me too Shani, me too." Mikael said. They then separated, looking at each other's eyes. "You know… I remembered a saying of the elves…"

"What is it?"

"Va'esse deireádh aep eigean, va'esse eigh faidh'ar." Mikael said. "Something ends, something begins."

Shani smiled, and she leaned in for one last kiss. It was a kiss full of longing and worry, but they continued nonetheless. As they separated, Shani whispered to him. "Take care of yourself. Clean your wound daily, I know Kovir is cold, but you have to clean your body everyday…"

"Okay…" Mikael laughed. "And you… just… don't die."

Shani smiled, before kissing him on the cheek. "I'll try not to. Write to me, yeah?"

"I will." he said. Shani then walked away from him, climbing up the carriage, waving her hand to him.

As the carriage moved, and Mikael kept standing still, he just waved once to her as the carriage kept moving away from him, taking away Shani from her dearest clinic.

—

In the busy dock of Novigrad, Mikael was passing through the crowd quickly as he tried to catch his ride to Kovir. The dock is awfully crowded today, maybe something happened? But Mikael didn't really care about it, he was just trying to find his ship.

As he walked through platform by platform, asking directions, he finally found it. The ship was docking at the very edge of the dock, a figurehead of a siren was in front of it, suitable, as the ship was called the Siren.

Mikael walked up to the guard of the ship as he saw a lot of things being loaded to the ship.

"Good afternoon, this is the siren right?" questioned Mikael.

"Yes." the man gruffed. "Any business here?"

"I'm here as a passenger." Mikael answered. "I've booked a place."

The man hummed, and opened a scroll in his pocket. "Name?"

"Mikael."

"You're on the list," he said. "Watch yourself, yeah? The family of a Koviri merchant are also on the boat."

"Sure." shrugged Mikael as he followed the man to the ship. The man then led Mikael to the deck, then climbed down the ladder towards an empty room, where he would stay. It was a simple room. A bed, a desk, a lantern, and a window at the wall for air.

"This is yours," he said. "Apologies if the outside is loud, the merchant brought his kids with 'im."

"I don't mind." Mikael hummed as he dropped his things on the bed. "How long will the trip be?"

"Three, four days minimum if the seas are friendly." the man said. "Two weeks if storms plague the way."

Mikael nodded. "Thanks."

"Then I'll leave you to yourself." The man then exited the room, leaving Mikael alone.

Mikael then sat down on his bed, he looked out the window, gulls flying everywhere, and the smell of salty sea hit his nostril.

He then lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling above, and he sighed, before closing his eyes.

—

As the night came, and the moon was shining brightly outside, Mikael was sitting in a rather public cabin that was inside the ship. He was drinking with the passengers on board, which was not much, only the merchant family, and he was also drinking with the sailors.

The Merchant was quite a humble man. His name is Ardan, He sells glass and silverware to the northern kingdoms. He had blonde hair and clear blue eyes, just like Mikael's. He brought his family with him, his beautiful brunette wife named Evre who had a big bosom, his two kids, Mivi, who was a blonde girl, around 13 years of age, Mikael could tell she would also be a beautiful woman liked her mother, and a boy, round 10 years of age, name Carder, who was quite shy in front of others.

There were three sailors sitting with them. One named Vidmal, A Redanian who comes from Tretogor but decided to be a sailor, Athon, A Temerian fleeing from the war, his family slaughtered by the black ones, and Ivelm, and Ex-Marine of the Redanian Naval force, he had an awfully long and sharp nails.

"So… Mikael…" said Ardan. "What is your trade? And what brings you to the beautiful kingdom of Kovir?"

"I solve problems really…" Mikael answered. "If you had any problems… be it monsters, humans, or just house problems alike, you can come to me… as for why I came to Kovir? Well, a lot of things really…"

"And wha' are those things?" questioned Athon the sailor.

"Well, firstly, seeking safety," he said. "I can't do my job if the witch hunters burned me at the stake, can't I?"

"Meaning?"

Mikael sighed. He then suddenly moved his prosthetic arm, surprising the groups inside the cabin.

"How in the bloody hell did you do that?!" Vidmal the sailor questioned.

"Magic, perhaps?" Evre stated. "I had a sorceress friend back home, she could enchant things to make them move…"

"Those are Golems." nodded Mikael. "But… this is different… If the witch hunters ever see me moving my prosthetic like this, I'll definitely be wanted."

"Then it's a good choice to go to Kovir, my friend." nodded Ardan. "Kovir is a safe haven for all things magical, I'm sure you'll find yourself there."

Ivelm then suddenly scoffed as he drank his mead. "Bunch of Traitors, Kovir is..."

"Pardon?" Ardan frowned as Ivelm the Ex-Marine spoke.

"I said they're traitors." repeated Ivelm. "While the rest of the north is suffering from them black ones, you're sitting on your corner, rowing canoes on your pretty canals…"

"Friend, I must tell you, the kingdom of Kovir and Poviss is, and always will be, a neutral country." refuted Ardan. "And it's not like we've not helped your northern cause. We supported you using money secretly, if we didn't, your kingdoms would have already fallen by now."

"Well where's your money now? Where were you when Temeria fell? Where were you when Aedirn fell? Bunch of pompous pricks." scoffed Ivelm.

The room was tense instantly as Ivelm said that. Mikael then suddenly felt a tug from his clothes, he turned around, and saw the two kids, looking at his prosthetics with curiosity. Mikael raised an eyebrow in amusement, and let them play with his prosthetic.

"Right, enough about politics…" Mikael said to break the ice. "Vidmal, you said that you came from Tretogor, why become a sailor?"

"Always dreamed of the sea," said Vidmal. "My da's always telling me how beautiful the waves of the sea was, the birds flyin' around, the cool breeze hitting your face…"

"Your da's a sailor too?" Ardan questioned.

"Aye." he said. "Traveled the world. But then he met ma, fell in love, and decided to stay at Tretogor, where ma come from."

"Ah, love… a beautiful thing…" smiled Ardan. He turned to Mikael. "What about you Mikael, ever been in love? A handsome young man like you would surely have many suitors."

Mikael chuckled. "Not really in love just yet… no… but there is talk of the future… sadly, she was called by the army, and I have to go to Kovir…"

"My condolences…" Ardan murmured. "But… called by the army? Do women fight in the war now?"

"Oh no…" Mikael shook his head. "She's a medic, from Oxenfurt Academy."

"Ah, an intellectual…" nodded Evre the wife. "I graduated from Lan Exeter academy myself."

"What degree?"

"Business." she said.

"That's good." smiled Mikael.

…

The group then continued to drink and shares stories with one another, until they were drunk.

—

As the night continues, most of the men were already drunk. They kept drinking and drinking, but eventually, they stopped.

"We should go…" said Vidmal, along with Athon. "The captain's not going to be happy if we're drunk…"

The two then left the cabin, Mikael then heard Ivelm scoffed, and also stood up, walking way, almost falling to the ground out of drunkness.

"Where do you live Ardan?" questioned Mikael.

"We live in Lan Exeter," he said. "You must come there, the place is as beautiful as it can be… we don't have roads there, we use canals as a means of travel."

"They say that Kovir had only two seasons, am I right?" chuckled Mikael.

"True… only winter and summer… you can tell if it's the summer when the rain is warmer… which is not much… although, lately, winter comes quicker than ever before, which is worrying to say the least…"

Mikael then saw Mivi tugging her mother. "Mama… I'm tired…"

"Then go to the cabin yourself sweetheart, you can do that, right?" smiled Evre.

Mivi just nodded. She then walked to the cabin herself as she exited the cabin.

"Truthfully, the climate of politics in Kovir is also worrying…"

"How come?"

"There's a small group of extremists brewing inside the dragon mountains." Ardan continued. "As you know, the kingdom of Poviss and Kovir has an absolute neutrality policy, and overall not discriminatory around all things magical…"

"But?"

"Those extremists are starting to oppose those policies," said Ardan. "Especially, I just heard that king Tankred had supported the mass migration of mages from Novigrad. Those extremists grew restless. They're refugees from all over the north… Aedirn, Temeria, Lyria and Rivia, even Redanians are among those groups."

"So they wanted to take over, to support their homelands…"

Ardan nodded softly. "But… I'm sure the royals would do something about it, they have a history of solving problems efficiently after all…"

Mikael hummed. He then stood up. "Well Ardan, I think I'll catch some sleep. Have a good night."

"Have a good night too, Mikael."

Mikael then exited the cabin, walking towards his cabin. But then, he had a sudden urge to pee. He then walked to the public bucket on the corner of the ship, but then, was quickly greeted by a gruesome sight.

There was a man. Standing in front of the said bucket, his pants were off, but he wasn't facing the bucket at all, instead, he was facing on what's beside it.

It was the body of a girl, naked as far as the eye can see, lifeless on the ground. Her neck looks bruised, scratches all over it.

Mikael's eyes widened as he saw that. It was Mivi, Ardan's daughter, lying dead on the floor. He turned to the man beside the corpse, and saw that it was Athon.

"What the fuck did you do!?' something inside Mikael snapped. He rushed towards the man, slammed him to the wall with his right hand.

"I- I– Didn't do it–" gasped the man, trying to breath, his small cock still dangling around,

Suddenly, Mikael felt like this voyage wouldn't be that simple.

Masks of Lies 1

In an isolated room, a group of people were locked inside it together, some out of their own will, some were there for other reasons.

Ardan and his wife were crying in the corner of the room, mourning over the death of their daughter. Her corpse was covered in cloth, she wasn't cleaned yet, just enough so they could gather information from her cold body.

Mikael meanwhile, was standing besides the captain of the ship, in front of Athon, who was tied to a chair.

"I- I didn't do it, I swear!" Athon pleaded. "I- I was drunk and wanted to take a piss, I didn't see the body until I was finished! Please!"

Mikael just stared at him coldly. "You think I'm stupid? I saw that your dick was wet." Mikael said, punching the guy roughly, breaking a couple of teeth.

"I was pissing!" Shrieked Athon, defending himself as he cried.

"You spit on your dick when you're pissing?" scoffed Mikael, kicking him in the face again, dropping the guy to the ground, still tied up, groaning in pain.

"Sir, I think you should stop beating him before we get some answers," said the captain, Elond.

Mikael looked at him, and looked at Athon again. He walked up to him, and fixed his chair, making him not on the ground.

Mikael then grabbed his head roughly, forcing him to stare at him. "If you didn't do it, who do you think it is then?"

"I- It was Vidmal! I- I saw him come to the piss bucket before me!" Athon shouted.

Mikael turned sharply towards Vidmal, narrowing his eyes, which made Vidmal gulped. Mikael walked to him, and scanned his body. "So…. any words?"

"I- I didn't do it…" stuttered Vidmal. "I- I was just–"

"What's this?" questioned Mikael as he took something from Vidmal's clothing. It was a strand of blond hair. "Blonde hair huh?"

"I–"

"You were just what?"

"I–" Vadmil gulped again. "I- I saw the body… but I wasn't involved… I swear!"

"If you saw the body, then why don't you report it!?"

"Look at Athon!" refuted Vidmal. "I-If I reported it, I'll be like him right now!"

"You want to be like him?"

"N-No…" Vidmal cowered. "P-Please… I didn't do it… I- I just saw the body…"

Mikael crossed his arms in front of his chairs, leaning against a wall. "Tell me what you did after you came out of the cabin."

"I- I got up to the deck with Athon…" he murmured. "I washed my face, trying not to look drunk in front of the captain…" he said, which made the captain frown.

"Then?"

"I- I did my task a bit.. Opening the sails in preparation for sleep with Athon, fixing some of the loose rigging… took around fifteen minutes or so…"

"Then?"

"Then I went to go to my cabin…" he continued. "But the alcohol fucked me up, so I wanted to throw up in the bucket."

"Then you found the body."

"Y-Yes…"

"What did you do once you saw it?"

"I- I checked if she was still alive…" said Vidmal, which made Evre sob loudly. "S- She wasn't… A-and I don't want to be blamed for it… S-So I walked away… t-then… Athon entered the bucket room…"

Mikael hummed. He then turned towards the person beside Vidmal. It was Ivelm, and he was wasted as he could be. He was sitting on the floor, against the wall.

"Just get this over with and throw Athon to the sea…" he gruffed as he tried to stay awake.

Mikael saw that Ivelm's nails were a bit broken, and frowned. Mikael then stomped on his foot, which made Ivelm wail in pain.

"Wake up you drunk fuck." cursed Mikael.

"Wha' the fuck was that!?" Ivelm roared. "Fucking freak!"

"Show me your hands." Mikael said.

"Why? Wanna kiss it?" scoffed Ivelm.

Mikael stomped his feet again, which made Ivelm wail in pain.

"Give me your hand, dimwit."

Ivelm gruffed in annoyance, and just gave him his hand. Mikael saw that in Ivelm's nails were traces of blood. "Blood." said Mikael. He turned to the captain, and asked. "Captain, please tie him up."

The captain frowned, and did what he just said. Meanwhile, Mikael walked towards the mourning couple at the corner, and kneeled in front of the corpse.

"Ardan… Evre… I know that your daughter isn't in a rather decent condition right now… but… could I?"

"Just… find the ones responsible Mikael." said Ardan flatly, his expression showing rage and sadness, his wife leaning against him, crying on his shoulder.

Mikael nodded, and he carefully opened the cloth in the head and neck area of Mivi. he could see bruises, clear red marks around his neck. He could also see deep scratches from nails. He saw something, and carefully touched her neck. It was a broken nail.

"It's Ivelm." said Mikael. "You did this."

Mikael then stood up and approached Ivelm, who was now tied up in the chair, still drunk.

"What are you on about?" scoffed Ivelm. "I didn't do it, you delusional cripple."

"Scratch wounds in your arms." pointed Mikael, "Blood in your nails, scratch wounds in Mivi's neck… you honestly think you could get away with this?"

"Fuck off, you're choosing the wrong guy."

Mikael frowned. He then looked at the captain, who was sighing in the corner of the room.

He walked up to him, and asked him a question quietly. "You know your boys right?"

"Know them since forever…" said the captain.

"Then you know how they are…"

"Aye…" said the captain. "If you're asking if they're interested in children, as far as I know, no. but…"

"But?"

"I… saw Athon… often watching the corpses of the sorceresses back in Novigrad rather… enthusiastically…"

"Bloody hell…" Mikael massaged his head.

Mikael then turned around, looking at the two suspects who were tied up. "Now tell me, which of you did it? If you tell the truth now, you won't be punished."

"It was him!""It's Athon!"

Mikael sighed. "Alright Athon, you said you didn't do it, right?"

"I didn't! I swear!" he pleaded.

"But… did you… do anything… to her body?"

The room turned silent, a tense atmosphere quickly enveloped the room, making Athon gulped. Meanwhile, Ardan was staring at Athon with hate in his eyes, as if he wanted to end him himself.

Masks of Lies 2

Athon gulped as Mikael accused him of touching the body of Mivi. he looked around the place, all of them frowned, even his friend, Vidmal.

"I-"

Mikael grabbed his face, and smiled strangely at him. His eyes dulled for a second, and his face changed to an expression of a puppy being beaten by its master.

"I- I'm sorry…" he broke down, crying, looking at the ground below him. "I- I was drunk… A-And I just couldn't help it… s-she looks so beautiful… h-her crushed neck, t-the scratch marks…"

"Fuck." Mikael cursed as he punched him in the face with his steel arm. The man stumbled to the back as Mikael hit him, still tied to the chair.

Mikael jumped over the chair, and continued to beat the man repeatedly with this steel arm, until his fist full of blood.

"Mikael, that's enough." someone suddenly said. Mikael turned around, and saw Ardan, his expression radiating coldness, his sleeves rolled back. "Can you pull a confession from the other one?"

Mikael looked at him calmly, before nodding. Mikael walked to Ivelm, and stared at his lecherous eyes. Ivelm's eyes turned dull, but the man quickly shook his head, as if trying to stay awake.

"Could you please tell me if you kill her?" questioned Mikael coldly.

"I- I didn't…" said Ivelm, but he looked in pain when he said that.

"Are you sure?" questioned Mikael again.

"I–" Ivelm shook his head again, trying to break free of the influence. "FUUUCKK! I DID OKAY!? A FUCKING SPOILED KOVIRI PRINCESS LIKE HER DOESN'T DESERVE TO TO LIVE! NOT WHILE THOUSANDS ARE SUFFERING IN MY HOME!"

Mikael punched his face roughly, making him drop to the ground, laughing, as he was still in the influence of alcohol. "You should see her face…" He sneered, spitting blood. "When I choked her… shoved my cock up her pu–"

Mikael kicked his face roughly, hitting the wall behind him. "Great. A child rapist, and a necrophiliac who likes sloppy seconds…" Mikael turned to the captain, and commented. "Quite a crew you have here, captain."

Captain sighed. "Sorry… I'll take responsibilities about this–"

"It's not your fault captain." suddenly said Ardan, walking to the two trash in front of him. His sleeves were already rolled back, and he was staring at the two coldly. His wife followed him, standing beside him with hateful eyes. "Captain, you have some… tools, I could use?"

The captain and Mikael were surprised. "Tools?"

"You know… tongs, knives… preferably the 'unclean' ones…"

"Ardan, are you sure about this?" Mikael questioned in worry.

Ardan just smiled at him. "We merchants used different masks in front of other people, Mikael. You are a good man, we used a good mask. To my family, to Carder, to… Mivi… we used a good mask… But to enemies…"

Ardan just stared at the two men coldly, he was truly a different man now. "We used a… different… kind of mask."

Mikael knows what it means, and sighed.

"Captain, could you please tie Vidmal too?" said Evre suddenly.

"W-What?!" Vidmal was suddenly scared. "I- I didn't do nothin'!"

Captain just sighed once again. He walked towards Vidmal, who cowered in the corner as the captain approached, and the captain quickly tied him up to the chair, ignoring his plea.

"W-What did I do, miss?!" shrieked Vidmal desperately, trying to break free. "I- I didn't touch your daughter!"

Evre just punched Vidmal roughly, which was surprising, as Mikael didn't know she could do that. Vidmal coughed up blood, trying to breathe.

"A coward." scoffed Evre hatefully. "If you just told the captain about my daughter's death, her body wouldn't have been defiled by this… freak, right here."

"I-I'm sorry miss! What was I supposed to do?! I could lose my life wrongfully if I told the captain!"

"Well, you're about to lose your life right now," said Evre coldly. "We are just going to do it really, really, slowly…"

Vidmal gulped and his face paled as he heard that, the smell of urine spread towards the room, as he had pissed himself.

"Captain? Do you have it?" questioned Ardan.

"Sorry, don't have one of those…" murmured the captain.

Ardan then turned to Mikael. "Mikael?"

Mikael just sighed. He raised his right arm, and a small blade sprung from above the wrist. He grabbed the small blade, and detached it, before giving it to Ardan. "Just don't break it, quite rare materials…"

"Will do." nodded Ardan as he took the blade. "Now, could you please… get out of the room?"

"Sure." nodded Mikael and the captain.

"Please make sure Carder doesn't go to this place," said Evre. "Let him sleep for a little more."

Mikael just smiled. "Will do."

Mikael and the captain then exited the room, opening the door with a key. As they exited the room, they could already hear the pleading sounds of men inside, with a couple of insults from Ivelm here and there. But soon enough, bad becomes worse.

Shrieks of pain echoed throughout the hall near the place, even Ivelm was pleading now. The captain couldn't help but become dizzy as he heard those screams.

"You think the other kid would hear it?" questioned the captain to Mikael.

"Let's just watch out for him…" Mikael answered as the shrieks of pain continued. What are they doing inside? Skinning them alive?

—

Turns out, they did just that…

A couple hours later, Mikael and the captain entered the room. Evre cried in the corner, while Ardan was still standing in front of the 'corpses' of the three men, a small blade in his hand, all bloodied. His hands are deep red, blood drips from his chin, and he has a cold look on his face.

"Bloody hell…" the captain turned around and threw up, while Mikael didn't quite care about the gore.

He walked towards Ardan, and stood beside him.

Vidmal was practically unrecognizable… his face all torn up, his legs deskined, his nails everywhere.

Athon's small cock was literally in his mouth, his hair has been cut up, his fingers are missing, and his chest is open.

Ivelm was the worst. His skin has literally separated from his body, but his body position was still there, like a statue of flesh and blood, his cock was nowhere to be seen, but Mikael could guess where it was.

Ardan then turned to Mikael once again, and gave him his bloody small blade. "Like I said. Masks."

Ardan then walked up to his wife, and the two carried their daughter's body out of the place, intending to clean it.

"Captain…" said Mikael. "Who's going to clean it?

"I'll return your voyage fee if you clean it…" said the captain, trying not to throw up again.

"I can just throw it to the sea, right?"

"Do whatever you want."

Summer and Winter Capital

As the cold wind of the northern seas blew past Mikael's face, he could hear the songs of the gulls, flying along as the Siren traversed the salty waters. It has been quite a few days since the incident, nobody talks about that, the corpses have been disposed of, there was some trouble regarding Carder asking for his sister, but that was quickly taken care of by Ardan.

Speaking of the merchant family, they had asked to build a coffin for Mivi. the captain of course agreed, he instructed his other men to deal with it, making it from the emergency wooden boards that they stored below the deck.

Now, they are approaching Kovir, Mikael could see it, as there are many fishing boats sighted near the ship. Then, Mikael finally saw it. Walls disguising themselves as breakwaters, it's not even like a port anymore, it was like a fortress in the middle sea. Forests of black and white masts filled the port of Pont Vanis. The high walls were protecting the port, stocky roundels around the walls as tall towers stood in the middle of the waters, guarding the entrance.

"Ah… Pont Vanis, the summer capital of Kovir." someone suddenly stated. Mikael turned around, and saw Ardan, his eyes looked tired, but nonetheless happy to see land in front of him.

"Have any thoughts on the city?" questioned Mikael.

"What can I say? Base of the fleet of Kovir, traders filled the port with ships and boats, and a literal fortress by the sea."

Mikael hummed. "Must be a great place."

"It is." nodded Ardan. "I recommend that you taste the cuisine by the beaches, seafood prosper in that area."

"Don't like seafood." shrugged Mikael.

"Preposterous!" Ardan said jokingly. "Seafood is the core of Koviri cuisine, well, at least the towns near the sea."

"Then I'll just travel to the place near the mountains." said Mikael casually. "But seriously, even I doubt the Nilfgaardian fleet could siege this beast of a fortress."

"Ha! I even doubt the Skellige fleet could!"

"Er… not so sure about that…" Mikale chuckled. "Anyways, our destination isn't here."

"True, we're going to the great canal of Lan Exeter. We'll stop there." said the captain suddenly, entering the conversation.

"It's not really a canal is it if it can fit a big ship like this?"

"It's more like a river." shrugged Ardan. "But the canals are all connected to there, hence the name."

"It'll probably take a good while to get used to." stated Mikael. "Traveling using canoes instead of simply walking…"

"You'll get used to it quickly." the captain patted Mikael's shoulder.

"Ah, I just remembered…" Mikael suddenly said. "What's the currency here?"

"Oh, it's Bizats." said Ardan. "You haven't got any?"

"Forgot to exchange it back in Novigrad…" shrugged Mikael.

"No matter, I can provide some for you."

"Oh no, I'll just exchange it myself once we docked…"

"No, no, I insist, friend." said Ardan. "You've helped us a lot, it's the least I could do, you are also always welcome to our estate in the city."

Ardan then gave a pouch of Bizats to Mikael casually, making Mikael raise his eyebrow. "Well… this is a bit too much don't you think?"

"Nonsense, you'll be traveling around Kovir, which needs Bizats." said Ardan. "Just stop by once a while, tell your stories."

Mikael just smiled. "Will do."

—

As the ship approached a rather well-built city, Mikael saw the city of Lan Exeter in full glory. He could see people greeting each other from their canoes, smoke rising from chimneys as snow fell from above, covering the roofs with clear white snow.

Mikael could definitely see this place as people's choice of a retirement place. It's just a nice city, while it's cold, Mikael could feel the warmth of home around this place.

"We're almost there." said the captain. "Grab your things lads!"

Mikael had already picked up his bag from his room, he was just waiting for the ship to dock.

As the anchor was dropped, and the board was connected to the platform below, people quickly unloaded the cargo. Mikael helped the merchant family carry the coffin to the platform, Ardan's wife ever silent.

As Mikael and the other sailors carefully placed the coffin at the platform, some new men suddenly approached Ardan. They greeted him with respect, perhaps he's they're boss. They then offer some condolences to him, before carrying the task of bringing the coffin to the estate.

"Well Mikael, I guess this is where we part ways." said Ardan, offering his hand to him.

Mikael accepted the handshake with his steel arm, and smiled. "Can't say that it's been a fun journey, but it was nice meeting you, Ardan, Evre."

"Thank you." said Evre as he hugged Mikael, kissing his two cheeks politely. "For everything you've done for us… for Mivi…"

"I didn't do anything, Evre…" said Mikael sadly. "I just did what I was supposed to do."

"Well, some people can't even realize that," said Ardan. "And for that, I thank you. Be careful outside the city Mikael, remember my warning about the extremists."

"Will do." said Mikael. "Who knows, might get a job that involves killing them."

Ardan laughed. "Then I pity those refugees…"

Ardan and his family then departed from the port, leaving Mikael alone amongst the busy sailors, unloading the ship behind him. He took a deep breath, it was cold, piercing his nose as he breathed, but he took it nonetheless.

Mikae looked around, the smell of the sea still lingers, and he walked away from the port. As he was walking, he saw a peculiar woman, standing behind a bunch of barrels. That woman wore a cloak, he could see her hair, same as him, red. As he tried to get a good look of her, the woman vanished, as if she wasn't there in the first place.

Mikael raised her eyebrows, and shrugged, before continuing to walk towards the nearest tavern.

Mikael walked through the side of the canals, it was made out of stone, but it was covered in snow as it kept falling from above. He honestly never saw such a city, a cold climate city that used canals as means of transportation, it had this unique charm to it. He saw a couple rowing canoes together, spending their time together, he saw a family of four having fun in this cold climate, he saw orphans running around the side of the canal, chasing each other.

It was a calming sight in this world, such a peaceful city, honestly, he had missed this, a city where people could walk freely and not being mugged or raped, a city where children could run around freely.

But then again, this city is rich, so it's definitely not possible to create this atmosphere for the whole continent.

Mikael sighed again as he turned, where he saw an inn in the corner, just at the end of the canal. He walked to it, and read the name. "The Windy River."

Mikael hummed, quite an ironic name he might say, but I guess it's better than nothing. He opened the door, and entered the inn.

Echoes of the Mine

A cold and stale day greeted Mikael as he exited the city of Lan Exeter. Men huddled along as he rode Ebony through the gate, entering the vast mountainous region of Kovir. As he looked up front, he saw rows and rows of camps, possibly from refugees, smoke coming out from every single one of those camps, darkening the clear sky above.

He had gotten his first job here in Lan Exeter. A businessman had hired him to go to his mine just outside of the city. An infestation problem the businessman said, strange insects made his mine home not long ago, and he wanted to find someone to get rid of it. The pay was good, so Mikael accepted it.

He rode through the dirt road, soaking the mountainous scenery in front as the cold wind blew past his face, fluttering his cloak.

The journey was short and boring, only the occasional traveler and deer blocking his path was his entertainment. As he arrived at the mine, he was greeted by two guards, holding halberds, blocking his path to the mine up front.

"Halt!" the guard said. "What brings you here, stranger?"

"I've been hired by the owner of this place." answered Mikael as Ebony stepped back for a couple feet. "I'm here to deal with the infestation."

The two almost identical guards looked at each other, surprise filled their eyes. "I'm surprised someone took the job again," said one of the guards.

Mikael raised his eyebrow, not knowing what the guards were talking about. "Meaning?"

"There have been two attempts." told the guards, opening the gate to the mining camp. "None return."

Mikael just shrugged at the warning. "Well, third time's the charm."

He was then escorted to the entrance of the mine, the place looked abandoned, carts everywhere, pickaxes laying around, and the camp devoid of life. In front of the mine, Mikael saw a rather thin man, wearing shabby peasant clothing, he was holding keys, probably the key to the mine.

"Ah, There you are!" exclaimed the keyholder as Mikael unmounted Ebony. "Name's Stoval, the warden of this place."

"Mikael." the one-armed man simply said. "So, mind telling me about what I'm dealing with?"

Stoval sighed in tiredness as Mikael asked him the question. "Truthfully, we haven't got a clue on what lurks inside the mine."

"What? None at all? But the guards said that there were two men that tried to deal with it before me?"

"It's true, but, none return alive… we don't have much information, aside from the fact that they're insect-like creatures, and they could make you lose your mind."

"Lose my mind? Like illusions?"

"No, not like that… Workers report that they can hear things, telling them to get out of the mine, strange innit? They're insects, they can't talk."

Mikael hummed. He stared at the dark hole in front of him that is the mine. "That's strange indeed… but I've seen stranger things, It's entirely possible that the insects could talk."

"Well, whatever it is, I hope you can get rid of it." stated Stoval. "The mine'll close if you can't deal with it."

"Sure, don't worry about it."

He quickly retrieved his sword in Ebony's pouch, and wore it on his back. He grabbed a lit torch nearby, and proceeded to enter the dark mine in front of him.

As he entered the mine, he lit up the way using his torch. Only the sound of the crackling fire could be heard, the strange ores around him shining as light entered the place. The place was humid, damp, and rather suffocating, Mikael wondered what it would like to work here, probably not pleasant.

He continued to traverse the mine in front, occasionally finding abandoned pickaxes and bags of ores that haven't been retrieved. On his way, he found some unlit torches at the wall, which he quickly lit up using his own torch.

He went deeper and deeper inside the man, one might think that this mining complex is endless, but, as he heard sounds of small footsteps to that of insects, he stopped.

"You are not welcome here, outsider, return to where you came from!" a voice echoed throughout the mine.

Mikael frowned, he unsheathed his longsword in his back, and continued his way.

As he went deeper, he started to smell rotting corpses, the thick stench of decomposing bodies is definitely not a strange thing to him anymore, and he started to search for the source of the stench.

He followed the smell, he quickly discovered things that scattered around the floor of the mine. Clothing, leather, even scraps of steel were thrown everywhere. Bloodstains filled the walls, to that of claws and bites, not of swords or axes.

"You are not welcome outsider! Return!" a voice echoed once again throughout the mine.

"Who are you?!" Mikael shouted, a bit annoyed at the body-less voice.

The voice did not respond however, only the sounds of crawling insects remained in his ears. He continued to walk forward, to the darkness in front, trying to find the source of the smell, and the voice.

As he followed the smell of rot, he found two bodies, all rotting and mangled on the ground. Their clothes were torn, swords were bent, and stains of blood everywhere.

"Seems these are the two guys mentioned…" Mikael said to himself as he knelt, checking on the bodies.

But then, something pounced on him from the back, he quickly turned 90 degrees to the right, and he grabbed the thing that wanted to pounce him with his steel arm.

The thing was moving frantically as it tried to release itself from his grasp. It resembles a dirty rock with insectoid limbs, the thing was hairy, and six blue eyes were glowing from the side of the body.

"Outsider! Return!" the voice echoed once again, this time, it was from his back, where he used to face. He turned around, the struggling insect still in his hand.

In the darkness, he found many glowing blue eyes staring at him, at the walls, on the ground, at the ceiling, everywhere.

Mikael sighed as he crushed the insect's head in his arm, and cursed.

"Shit."

He quickly threw away the corpse, his longsword in the other ready to be used, and he stood straight.

He rushed to the front, his arm reflecting the light from the torch that was on the ground, and many of those insects rushed to him, like a beach wave in rough weather.

Mikael frowned as he saw the swarm, and stopped running. He just stood his ground, without a trace of fear. The ground started to change, from the gray rocks that could be found anywhere in Kovir, to that dirt that had been mixed with blood.

Scarlet rot started to spread around, forming a protective circle on the ground. As the insects touched the scarlet ground, their bodies quickly rotted. Shells of the insects quickly piled up in front of him, obstructing the view.

He slashed the shells with his sword, destroying it entirely as scarlet butterflies flew around him. The obstruction was dealt with, but he still saw glowing blue eyes in the darkness as the torch was extinguished.

Mikael just walked slowly to the eyes, scarlet dirt spreading from below, and his sword hitting the wall on the left, generating sparks of light to barely light up the room.

—

Stoval was waiting outside in anxiety as the man whom his boss hired didn't come back. He would lose his job if he didn't, he had a family to feed, a wife to take care of, a sick mother to cure. He was walking back and forth, biting his dirty nails as he gazed at the dark abyss that is the mine in front of him.

As time went on, the sun was slowly sinking, radiating a faint orange light from the west, he heard footsteps echoing from the mine. He was nervous, is it the monster, or Mikael?

He soon sighed in relief as a man with a redhead got out of the mine, his body drenched in insect blood, his face dirtied with dirt, and his steel right arm smirred with green flesh of the monsters.

"H-Have you done it?" questioned Stoval nervously, waiting painfully for the answer.

"It's done." hummed Mikael. "Though, you need someone to clean the carcasses if I were you… although some of them rot, I didn't bother to rot all of them…"

Rot? What is he talking about? But no matter, Stoval was ecstatic when he heard that.

"Oh, and also, I may have destroyed some of the silver ore inside and have turned it into useless dirt, if that's alright?"

"Oh, that's more than alright sir!" exclaimed Stoval happily. "It'll be quickly forgotten anyway once the mine is back and running again!"

"Anyway, the pay." stated Mikael, stretching his hand to Stoval.

"Sure sure." Stoval then gave a fat pouch of Bizats to him, Mikael opened it, and counted the gold.

"Right, my work's done here, so long."

Mikael then quickly jumped to Ebony, before riding her towards the gate.

As Ebony walked, he saw someone between the camps of the mine, he saw the redhead woman with a cloak, staring at him intently, before disappearing away as the wind blew the cloth around her, covering her body.

Mikael frowned again, it was the second time now, what does she want?

The Fourteenth of the Hill

It was the middle of the night, the full moon was shining above, reflecting its light to the canals of Lan Exeter. Mikael was traversing the said canals using canoe, he was rowing gently through the body of water, just admiring the view the city, the smoke that came out of every chimney, the snow on the roof, the howling of the wind as it passed the alleyway of the buildings.

It was a cold yet serene night, the streets at the side of the canals were already abandoned, only a couple of drunk men were walking about, trying their best to go home.

As Mikael passed through a small bridge, he saw a redhead woman, watching him closely on the corner. It was honestly starting to get annoying, these past days, he always saw her at every place he visited. He took a contract for an Amarok wolf in the forest near the city, yet he still saw her, standing between the dead tree. He took a contract for a vendigo north of the city, quite far away he might add, but still, she saw her, watching him ever closely, not even talking to him, nor she approached him, just standing, watching, staring.

As he neared the inn, he sighed. He tied the canoe on the small platform by the canal, and climbed the stairs to the tavern he was staying in.

To his surprise, the woman moved from the corner, approaching him as he opened the door. He walked inside, trying not to care, he sat on the corner of the inn, ordering a pint of mead.

He saw the woman enter the inn, her cloak's still on, covering her red hair from anybody else. Mikael saw her walk up to him, not caring about the stares of the men inside, she just kept walking, and finally, she stood beside Mikael's table, but she didn't say anything.

"Finally pluck up the courage to talk?" Mikael sneered as he sipped his mead.

"I've been watching you." stated the woman.

"Yeah no kidding." snorted Mikael. "Sit down, I'll hear what you want to say."

The woman then sat down, her cloak still on for some reason. Mikael ordered her mead, which she didn't say anything about.

"So, what do you want?" questioned Mikael. "What made you stalk me for almost a week?"

"I just wanted to see what you're capable of." she answered, finally uncloaking herself, revealing a face that could possibly be described as a face sculpted by the gods themselves, well, technically, it's true… because she's a sorceress, she sculpted her face herself…

.Her hair was red like him, her eyes green, and she had this warm yet fake smile on her face.

"Merigold the fearless, who would've thought." Mikael said sarcastically.

The woman chuckled as Mikael said her name. "That title comes from long ago…"

"Okay then, what do you want?" asked Mikael once again. "I remember that you're supposed to be the king's advisor."

The sorceress raised her eyebrow, surprised at Mikael's statement. "How do you know? Geralt?"

"Maybe." shrugged Mikael.

Merigold frowned at the answer, but she shrugged it off. "I can't read your mind."

"That's good. Wouldn't want you to read it anyway."

Merigold looked at Mikael intently, she scanned his entire body, his red hair, his icy blue eyes, his steel right arm. "What are you? It doesn't make sense, you clearly used magic to move that hand, and to use your… power, but I can't sense anything from you, at all."

"You just stalk me just for that?"

"No… but, just… curious…"

"Well, not going to tell you, obviously." said Mikael. "Just straight to the point Merigold, I'm tired."

"Can I… touch you?"

"What? What the hell?" Mikael cursed as he frowned. "No Merigold, just stop, curiosity killed the cat, it applies anywhere, be it Kovir, be it Redania, be it Temeria, everywhere."

"I just wanted to check, are you like… a witcher? Who had anti-magic bodies, or are you like us sorceresses, who draw magic?"

"No Merigold, don't want to answer that, just why are you here? how do you even know me?"

Triss sighed as she drank the mead Mikael bought her. "Fine, I've come to offer you a job."

"A job?"

"Kingdom's affair." continued Triss as she conjured an anti-spy spell. "We're gathering a team. To eradicate the extremists up north."

"And you wanted to recruit me?"

"Yes." said Triss. "I doubted your capabilities at first, but after watching you take contracts around Lan Exeter, I'm convinced you'd do well."

"How do you even know me anyway? Geralt?"

"Well, not really. He just mentioned meeting a powerful man back in white orchard, I also saw you interact with him back at Novigrad, I just connected the dots."

Mikael sighed. "Okay… how's the pay?"

"What do you think?" Triss rolled her eyes. "It's a request from the king, you should imagine."

"Must be a lot." said Mikael. "And the king must be desperate as well, to tell you to stalk me for weeks on end…"

"Yeah, well, the king can't really do anything right now," said Triss. "Technically, the extremists are refugees, and they haven't really done anything, well, publicly at least."

"Meaning?"

"They have… kidnapped the king's sister." told Triss. "It's not public, because if it is, her head will be detached from her body, and the king doesn't want that…"

"Obviously." hummed Mikael. "So this… team… we're told to rescue her?"

"And kill them all if possible." added Triss with a nod.

"Okay… who's in the team?" Mikael questioned. "I mean, you just saved a shit ton of mages from Novigrad, must've had volunteers from that."

"Yes, but not enough." answered Triss. "While we are powerful, we tend to be frail if we're surrounded…"

"Really? Triss Merigold said that?" snorted Mikael.

"Well…" giggled Triss. "Not all of us…"

Mikael sighed. "And how do you think I could fill that position?"

"I saw you at the mine." answered Triss. "Your strange curse… or is it a gift? Anyway, it'll definitely be useful."

Mikael hummed as he gulped his mead until it's empty. "Fine. I'll do it."

"Splendid, I'll–"

"But…" Mikael continued. "I need a guarantee that I won't be involved in politics in any way."

"Don't worry, it won't be like that…"

"I'm serious Merigold." Mikael sternly stated. "If your words aren't true, Tankred's head will be mounted on top of his castle."

Triss frowned as she placed her hands on the table. "You're quite cocky, do you have any things to back those words?"

Mikael just touched her hand, rot instantly spreading slowly from her hand, making her pull her hands from the table.

She looked at her hands. She tried to heal it, but couldn't, she used her fire magic, but it won't disappear, slowly spreading from the tip of her finger.

"What is this?" questioned Triss.

"You should know, you stalked me for a week after all."

Triss looked at her rotting hands. "Get rid of it."

"Tell me the truth Triss, what will happen to me if I succeed?"

"I'll tell you if you get rid of it." Triss insisted as rot continued to spread to her elbow.

"No. Tell me. Now."

Triss sighed. "Fine, you'll be knighted, that's it. And your rewards of course."

"What's the reward?"

"Not fixed yet." shook Triss's head.

Mikael sighed, and asked for her hand. As Triss touched Mikael's left hand, the rot disappeared, not a single speck remained.

Mikael then smiled as Triss inspected her hand thoroughly. "Well, when's the job?"

"I'll find you when the time comes." Triss said with a bit of annoyance. She stood up, and stood beside the table once again, cloaking her body. "Can't say it's been nice meeting you."

"Well, you stalked me for a week, if Shani found out, oh all hell will break loose…" chuckled Mikael. "After all, they say that redheads are born from fire, don't you think so, Merigold?"

Triss was surprised. "You know Shani?"

"I'm surprised you didn't know." stated Mikael. "Anyway, so long." he said, standing up from his chair, walking upstairs to his room, leaving Triss alone.

Triss just stood there for a good minute, staring at the chair that Mikael just sat on, and to her hand where the rot used to stain.

Tankred Thyssen

It was a gigantic palace to say the least, a palace worthy of the Kingdom of Kovir and Poviss. Its windows are many, overlooking the entire city, the towers were tall, gleaming in white as the minimal sun of Kovir shines. The main entrance of the palace overlooks the Great Canal of the city of Lan Exeter, so all of the ships passing by would be able to see its magnificent glory.

The gate that was gilded in gold opened as Mikael and Triss arrived at the front. It's unusually sunny today, therefore, a lot of people were walking outside, soaking the bright sun above. That's why, when the gates opened, letting Mikael and Triss in, the people watched them as they entered, like it was a show that they could watch on a whim.

"You know, we could just enter from the back, or use your portal…" Mikael commented as he continued to walk to the palace.

"Can't use a portal, you hand." stated Triss. "And besides, I thought you liked attention?"

Mikael scoffed. "And how did you come to a conclusion?"

"Just a feeling…"

"Well, it's a wrong feeling." Mikael said. "Attention brings unnecessary trouble."

"You're starting to sound more and more like Geralt…" commented Triss in amusement.

"You're imagining things, I don't want you to start to be obsessed with me."

Triss frowned as Mikael stated his words, but didn't say anything.

Both of them then arrived at the actual palace. Marble flight of steps led up to a rather big door, decorated with the symbol of house Thyssen, guards were all over the place, saluting Triss as she passed.

The door then slowly opened, revealing a room with marble floors, golden decorations, and expensive curtains.

"We're not going to the throne room." Triss stated. "Follow me."

Triss then guided Mikael towards a corridor that was located at the left of the previous room. It was again filled with lavish decorations, but now, paintings of the previous kings and queens decorated the walls of the corridor.

At the end of the very corridor, the office room of the king was located. Before they enter, Triss turns around, and starts to talk to Mikael.

"You know basic etiquette?"

"I'm a vagabond." Mikael rolled his eyes. "Of course I don't."

Triss sighed. "Just bow politely, and don't do anything insulting, while the king is still young, he's a kind yet stern man, he might've had bad reputation earlier in his life, but he has changed, so don't do anything stupid."

"Respect must be earned, Merigold."

"Well, he built a sanctuary for us mages, including you, so that alone should be enough to respect him."

"Fair point." Hummed Mikael. "Fine, I won't do anything drastic."

Triss nodded, and both of them continued to the door. Triss knocked the door thrice, like some sort of a code, and a voice from the inside sounded.

"Come in." the voice said.

Triss then opened the door slowly, letting Mikael inside first, then closed the door as she entered herself.

Mikael looked around, it was a simple office for a king. Shelves filled with books surrounded the desk in the middle, a photo of the king himself and his father on the wall in front of him.

The king himself was sitting on his chair, in front of his desk, drinking tea as a pile of paperwork was stacking on the table. He looked young, no more than twenty five years old, he had black hair, and a growing beard, just like his father.

"Merigold, this is the mercenary you have talked about?" questioned the king.

"Yes, your majesty." said Triss, she elbowed Mikael, signaling him to bow.

And so he did, just a simple, polite bow.

"What is your name, mercenary?" questioned the king.

"Mikael." the one-armed man simply said.

The king hummed. "Sit."

Mikael raised his eyebrow, and looked at Triss. She just signaled him to sit in front of the king, and so he did, while Triss is standing beside him.

"Interesting arm you have there." stated the king. "How did you lose the first one?"

"Missing as far as I can remember." answered Mikael.

"My condolences…" the king said, surprising Mikael a bit. "Mikael is it? What do you think of my kingdom so far?"

"I've only been around Lan Exeter, so I don't know much about the rest of your kingdom… but, based on what I've seen so far, it's… different, from the rest of the north, that's for sure."

The king hummed once more. "Different how?"

"More peaceful." answered Mikael. "I don't often see children running around freely back in Novigrad…"

"I see…" said the king as he stood up, walking towards the window beside a shelf, looking at the view of the city. "Kovir has always maintained absolute neutrality in almost all the conflicts in the northern realms, and it will stay that way until the day that I die. It is because of that, and our prosperous mountains, that we are able to maintain the peacefulness you talked about."

"I'm sorry your majesty, but where are you going with this?" questioned Mikael, making Triss pinch his shoulder as a warning.

"An impatient one, are we?" the king chuckled. "Very well, I will get straight to the point."

The king then walked towards the desk once again, he put his hands on the table, and looked at Mikael intently. "I cannot move publicly against the outsiders in the Kovir mountains north, if I did, the rest of the north will view my actions as an insult, that I have attacked their people. Yet if I did not move whatsoever, my dear sister, who has been kidnapped by those… madmen, will suffer the consequences."

"Why don't you just… pay the ransom?"

"Ransom?" chuckled the king dangerously. "Their ransom is for Kovir to interfere in the war. While I admire their bravery and courage to help their own lands, in Kovir, we have our own rules."

Mikael hummed. "That makes sense… but, why don't you just help the north?"

"Help the north?" repeated the king. "We already have, secretly, giving them our gold. They would not have survived the war if it wasn't for us."

"Okay… what if the north lost? What if the Nilfgaardians attacked Kovir and Poviss after the rest of the kingdoms fell?"

"Then we fight back." stated the king simply. "80 percent of the world's gold came from us, do you think we would be easy to bully?"

"Well, good point. But, Emhyr isn't the sanest emperor…"

"That will be dealt with once the time comes," said the king. "In the meantime, we have much more important things to discuss."

"Right, your sister, I'll accept the job, but after I finish it, don't bring me into your kingdom's politics." stated Mikael.

The king raised an eyebrow. "Now why would I do that? You are just a simple mercenary for hire."

Mikael smirked, and looked at Triss, who was frowning at his gaze. "You know what, you're right, I'm just a simple mercenary, nothing less, nothing more."

The king hummed. "Then Merigold, bring him to the rest of the team."

"Very well, your majesty."

Mikael then stood up from the chair, before following Triss outside the room. As they walked on the corridor once again, towards another room, Mikael commented on the king's behavior.

"Quite an idealist, he is." said Mikael.

"He is young…" murmured Triss.

"Well I'm sure he would be a great king," said Mikael. "But as far as I know, he has no spouse, have you got anything to do with it?"

Triss frowned at the accusation. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Mikael just chuckled. "Nothing, nothing at all."

A Fellowship

Triss opened a door to a room on the other side of the corridor. It was a rather empty room, barely decorated, no windows at all. The only light source was that of a blue candle in the middle of the place, lit up by some sort of magic.

Mikael entered the place, along with Triss as she closed the door. Inside the room were three other people, waiting patiently until Triss finally came.

"The newcomer talked to the king?" questioned a rather big man, wearing a koviri armor in the middle of the room, watching the blue candle crackle.

"It's done, the king is fine with him." said Triss, quickly sitting on a desk, making herself comfortable.

"When are we going then?" questioned another man, or rather a woman, an elf, she saw twirling with her knives, playing with it.

"Patience Eetha." spoke the big man. "First, introduce yourself, newcomer."

Mikael raised his eyebrow, and looked at Triss, which she just shrugged. Mikael sighed, and introduced himself.

"Name's Mikael," he said, but that's it, he didn't say anything anymore.

"That's it?" questioned a man who was standing on the corner besides the elf. "No skills… or… something?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"The reason why you're here." said the big man in the middle of the room. "Tell us why Merigold chose you."

"Because she told me to." shrugged Mikael, sitting on a chair near Triss.

The big man frowned, and looked at Triss. "You seriously chose this guy?"

"Look, he's just messing with you." Triss rolled her eyes. "He's good, really good, killed a colony of Barbegazi in less than a day in the middle of darkness, he tracked an Amarok overnight, resist a Vendigo's eye curse, and so on…"

"A Vatt'ghern then?" questioned the elf.

"No, not a Witcher." snorted Mikael. "Just my job really… solving problems, doesn't have to be monsters."

"Mercenary then?" said the man beside the elf.

"Eh… not quite, I don't wars, but close enough."

The big man in the middle then hummed, and stood straight. "Well, Mikael the one-armed, my name Guldalm of Narok, a knight of the king."

"Eetha." said the elf.

"Caldos of Poviss," said the other man. "A mage, just like Merigold."

Mikael hummed. "An elf? Why are you here?"

"Am I not allowed here?" questioned Eetha back.

"No, just, curious is all…"

"None of your business." scoffed the elf.

Mikael shrugged. "Alright, fair enough. But… only five people? Where are the others?"

"It's just us." stated Triss.

"You expect the five of us to kill hundreds of men, AND rescue the princess at the same time?"

"What? Are you scared now?" Triss questioned in amusement.

"No, but are you that desperate?"

A chuckle came from the corner of the room. "No, we will bring mercenaries through a portal once we're in position."

"Oh, that's great, I thought the king sent you to a suicide mission." snorted Mikael.

"Well, it was, until you come along." stated Triss suddenly.

The others frowned at Triss's words. "What's that supposed to mean Merigold? Are we not good enough?" questioned Guldalm.

"Let's be honest here, the three of you can't kill hundreds of men," said Triss.

"But we have the mercenaries?"

"True, but you have to actually sneak inside their base first." Triss continued. "Otherwise, it'll just be the same, we won't be quick enough, and someone will definitely slip up."

"What has that got to do with him?" questioned the elf, still annoyed at Triss's words.

Triss sighed. "I can't explain it now, you have to see it for yourselves, otherwise, you won't believe it."

"We have time."

"We don't." refuted Triss. "We'll depart this afternoon, the deadline of the ransom is approaching."

"When's the deadline?" questioned Mikael.

"The end of the week."

"And you wasted weeks stalking me instead of actually doing something?"

"It's called 'thinking of a strategy' Mikael." Triss rolled her eyes. "Anyways, we'll gather at the gate, bring your things as minimal as possible, our job is to sneak into a fortress, not camping."

"Fortress? I thought it was supposed to be inside the mountain?"

Triss sighed. "I'll explain on the way, just, go home first, gather your things, then gather at the gate."

Caldos sighed. "Merigold, I hope what you're saying is right about that man, otherwise…"

"I know… just trust me."

"Very well." said Caldos as he opened a portal. He looked around. "Anyone need a ride?"

The elf then the knight then walked towards Caldos, entering the portal one by one, while Triss and Mikael stayed.

"You?" questioned Caldos to Mikael.

"Can't pass through a portal." shrugged Mikael as he pointed at his right arm. "Mixed with Dimeritium."

Caldos raised his brow. "Huh… interesting…"

After that, he just entered the portal, leaving Triss and Mikael alone.

"You need something to take from your room?" questioned Triss.

"Not really. No." he answered.

"Then let's go together." she said, not taking no for an answer as she opened the door, and walked straight through it, not waiting for Mikael to decide at all.

Mikael sighed, and followed her through the lavish corridor of the palace.

—

As Mikael and Triss were waiting outside the gate for the others, the two already wearing their cloaks, and their horses ready, they chatted a little about the mission.

"It's not really a fortress per say, it's more of a natural cave system," said Triss. "But, they obviously fortified the living daylight out of that place."

"So, what's the plan?" questioned Mikael. "From what I can see, it's only me that didn't know about the plan.'

"Well, originally, we are supposed to sneak in, and portal mercenaries from the inside, so we don't have to siege the place." answered Triss. "But with you, we could use brute force."

"Brute force?" frowned Mikael. "You want me to use my rot?"

"Yes." said Triss innocently. "You can't do that?"

"You do realize the rot affects all of you right?"

"I know, but I trust your capabilities on controlling it." she said. "Just like what you did to me back in the tavern."

Mikael, hearing that, just hummed, and looked away from Triss, watching as birds flew in the sky on this clear day.

"Mikael, why do you hate me so much?" questioned Triss suddenly.

Mikael raised an eyebrow. "Hate you? Who says I hate you?"

"You just seemed… hostile to me…" she murmured.

"Oh." Mikael simply said. "Well… sorry… just… don't trust sorceresses is all..."

"You don't trust us?" questioned Triss in surprise. "Why?"

"You know why Merigold." he stated. "They say that sorceresses are beautiful women, with the eyes of cold and angry little girls. Not to mention, all of the things you've done… just… feels strange… I know what you've done in these last two years, I just can't help but to judge you, once again, sorry…"

"You know what I've done?"

"You can see the future Triss." said Mikael. "What's stopping me from seeing the past?"

"Well…" Triss didn't know what to say, she just kept staring at him. "If you really know what I have done these last few years… then I guess you have a right to judge and hate me… but, I know what I have done, with Geralt… with the lodge… I'm trying to do better, no more scheming, I'm just… trying to live… there's an Ofieri saying 'May you live in interesting times.', well, I'm well past that, now, I'm just trying to find some quiet you know…"

Mikael hummed at her words, not saying anything.

Triss sighed. "Sorry… just, these days, I don't really have a friend to talk to… I'm surrounded by a bunch of old men…"

Mikael chuckled at her words. "Not to be rude or anything… but you're old too Merigold…"

Triss snorted. "You know what, forget what I just said."