Broken Bridge

"Griffin - know anything about it?" Geralt asked as he followed the hunter. "Oh, not much. it's not my kinda game." Mislav replied as truthfully as he could. "You're his kind, though. survival instincts alone oughta make you care." Geralt said as he ran behind the man. "I walk silent through the woods. No Griffin can hear me nor spy me." Mislav whispered. Geralt didn't respond to that, so they continued to run through the wilds, their boots hitting the twigs on the floor and snapping them the only way to tell they were there. They spent seven minutes jogging and in silence as they made their way to the attacked Nilfgaardian soldiers, Geralt's head snapped up and he slowed down his pace knowing they'd arrived, the big stain of red blood coating and soaking into the dirt path gave that away.

"Twas here" Mislav said raising his arm. "One lay there, by the stump, headless. The other hung from a branch, guts splayed, stretchin' down to..." he stopped talking, looking at the blood before them, then turned to Geralt. "Watch out for yourself, now." He said, Geralt could barely complain, they were Nilfgaardian soldiers after all. Not exactly people he mourned. "I'll be fine. Not the first Griffin I've dealt with. Not likely to be the last, either." he shrugged at Mislav. "Hope you're right" he responded in a heavy tone. "Good huntin' now." he said his farewells to the Witcher before turning around once again and leaving him.

Geralt knelt down by a circular pool of blood, examining it closely. "Ground's Black, saturated with blood." He continued on, leaving the blood stain to explore the path further. There was a circle of stones in the center, with burnt out wood. "a camp?" He wondered aloud, something to his left on the floor caught his eyes, the corner of it hitting the sun. He walked over to it, a glass bottle, course it was. "Nilfgaardians were celebrating. Griffin interrupted them." he stood up and looked back to the bloodstains, he followed the path in the direction of the way they seemed to point and a bit up the path, past a fallen tree there were prints in the ground. "These prints are older. And deeper" he observed crouching down to look at them more. "Heavily armoured... Nilfgaardians, probably." He followed the deeply set footprints to the end of the patch, jumping down the broken Bridge as he saw some bags below, he rummaged through one getting an Amateurs armour repair kit and 18 Orens. He turned around to the wooden chest, the bottom of the long running ditch filled with water making his boots wet. He searched the chest and gained some linen there wasn't much else. He stood beneath the ledge of the other side of the bridge and jumped up, fingers grasping onto the edge of the broken walkway and hauled himself up.

Immediately the tracks turned left, following a separate path. It led him to another ledge which he hauled himself up on, using his knees and ankles as momentum to climb over the hard rocky edge. As the grassy surface continued along the mountain rocks. so did the prints, Geralt getting glimpses of them here and there. it seemed to be taking him higher, ledge after ledge. but after all. he was tracking a Griffin so it made sense. least he knew he was heading in the right direction. Eventually Geralt reached a huge chasm, a ledge of a rock at the other side. where the prints continued and the path slightly inclined more. He jumped and leaped over the gap, no normal human would have ever been able to cross a gap so wide, not even on horseback. He began walking up the slope. "Griffin's nest. What remains of it, at least." Geralt concluded.

He went to the top of the hill and was immediately met with the sight of a huge dead animal on top of the hill. before him though, right by his feet. a body. he knelt down to examine it, elbows resting on his knees. "Corpse is a couple of weeks old. Still alive when the Griffin brought them here. Took a long time dying." He walked a few paces away from the body and saw a mound of rocks and rubble, scattered among them were bones. "Bones. Horse, dog...human. a few month's worth." Geralt said running his fingertips over one of the skulls. Geralt then approached the huge beast on top of the hill. it's wingspan almost covered the entire hill completely. "Female. Larvae in her wounds have already hatched. Been dead at least a week. Other Griffin must be a male" He said turning his eyes towards the sun briefly. He examined the wounds. "Deep cuts over the whole body. Not a drop of blood on the beak or claws." He said shuffling around a bit in his position to see more. "Didn't defend herself. Crept up on her while she slept" he almost felt sorry for the Griffin. "Beak tip's worn, gray hairs in the coat - ten, twelve years old." he observed. "Griffin's pair off for life when young. male must be about the same age" He came to the conclusion the Griffin was too. "Thick shaft, dense barbs - a royal Griffin." he said leaning closer to the creature, examining it's feathers. "Explains why the make I ran into was so aggressive." he nodded raising a brow. "Hunted the Nilfgaardians down here in the forest first, then started prowling the area." He stood up and shook his head. Geralt went over to the Monsters nest and found Orens, he took them and stuck his fingers in his mouth, whistling, calling Roach. He mounted Roach and rode halfway down the hill before stopping and quickly getting off his horse. "Medallion's humming. Place of power. it's gotta be." He said to himself. It was. and thankfully. there were no monsters he needed to fight or flee from this time. he knelt down and took in deep breaths. knees pressed into the seating grass and closed his eyes. taking in the power. the old stone glowing yellow, warming Geralt's face, the stone had a marking in the side of it. something he'd only just noticed. The marking was carved in the same shape as the Quen sign. He knew his ability to cast Quen had improved. He couldn't wait to see what was new.