[Chapter Size: 2000 Words.]
Third Person POV
Cintra, northern kingdoms.
...
...
There were flames burning all over the place, the smell of burnt flesh was strong in the air, while the smoke from the fires almost took over the blue sky, there were bodies everywhere, large holes in the ground made by very powerful impacts, there were boats in the middle of the place amidst the melting ice against the fire, even though this ice was in the middle of this land that seemed all arid.
"This ice isn't natural..." This was Cirilla's first thought, walking through the place while looking around.
She was walking in a sea of corpses, there were all kinds of people there, monsters, humans, dwarves, and elves, even some elves inside armor with a sinister appearance with ice on it.
"What happened here?" Cirilla wondered, she strangely wasn't scared, even seeing numerous dead people, as she walked, she had no choice but to continue through the flames and corpses as she moved forward to try to get out of the place, since she simply appeared in the middle of that battlefield.
"Hm? What is this?" Cirilla murmured to herself, her attention captured by a peculiar glimpse on the horizon. Among the dense curtain of smoke rising from the devastating fires, a pulsating blue light caught her attention, like a solitary beacon shining through the fog of a fierce storm. Intrigued and driven by an uncontrollable curiosity, she decided to head towards that mysterious brightness that seemed to defy the chaos around her.
With each step, Cirilla sped up, her feet barely touching the ground marked by ashes and debris. She maneuvered skillfully among the rubble, her eyes fixed on the distant glow that promised answers or perhaps new enigmas. The smoke, thick and suffocating, tried in vain to obstruct her path, but she persisted, driven by an inner force that not even she fully understood.
Finally, crossing the last barrier of smoke that rose like a wall between her and that light, Cirilla emerged into a clearing where the blue light bathed everything in an ethereal aura. What she saw left her breathless, her eyes wide in pure disbelief.
"This...?!" Cirilla exclaimed internally, as she felt like an ant now, in front of her, with her insignificant size against that thing, there was a giant so tall that not even the castle of Cintra could reach his knee, a blue giant taller than a mountain and Cirilla looked up with a pain in her neck, while she was close to his feet.
"WHAT IS THIS BLUE GIANT?!" She shouted stepping back, never having seen anything like it and natural fear arose within the girl. However, that fear soon went away a few seconds later and she let curiosity emerge.
The giant was strange unlike anything she had ever seen, he wore a strange armor, all made of blue light and seemed to have wings with 4 hands, one of them carrying a giant sword.
"Why does he have such a pointed nose...?" She murmured seeing the blue nose like a small line in the sky.
As she continued to ponder and study the giant, suddenly she felt a tremor and saw that the giant was starting to move.
"What is he doing?!" She shouted.
She saw him lifting one of the hands holding the sword and removing the hilt with the other, as soon as he removed a part of the sword slowly, he pulled it with force and she saw the entire terrain explode to that side, she should have flown with the explosion, but her body did not seem to follow the rules of physics as the debris passed by her and she watched with dazed eyes the devastation in front of her, even moving two mountains on the horizon as the giant's attack destroyed everything.
She woke up at that moment in her bed in the castle of Cintra. Quickly looking around and looking at her hands thinking about the dream she had had. "This dream... I've been dreaming about it lately..." She thought, it was a very recurrent dream, but she hadn't shared it with anyone because she found it quite strange.
The 7-year-old girl then got out of her bed and stretched before changing her pajamas, she looked at the wardrobe and saw several dresses that her grandmother insisted she wear. "No dress today." She said and began to pick out more casual clothes, however, the door was knocked at that moment.
"Princess, are you awake?" A servant appeared.
"I am, come in, Vanda." Cirilla spoke to the young woman who was her servant.
"Princess Cirilla, good morning. What are you wearing?" The young woman asked, seeing Cirilla wearing clothes that the queen would certainly disapprove of.
"I'm wearing what I like!" Cirilla murmured.
The woman sighed. "You know your grandmother will send you to your room and back with a dress if she sees you like this..." The woman spoke, crossing her arms.
The girl just lowered her head in defeat and turned to get ready. After putting on a tight dress, looking quite comical, she left with her servant for the first meal with the queen.
She walked through the castle with her servant and a royal guard as they approached the family's exclusive place, there were Calanthe and her husband eating, "Cirilla! Come, join us." Eist said with a smile.
"You're late..." Calanthe spoke in a sharp tone.
"Sorry, I wanted to wear different clothes, but I had to change..." Cirilla spoke.
"Good that you changed then." Calanthe spoke.
So she sat down with her family and began her first meal of the day while Calanthe talked with her husband about certain kingdom matters, Cirilla continued eating until she heard something interesting within that boring conversation.
"So the boy accepted those contracts? Mousesack told me he went to see the boy these days." Eist Tuirseach spoke.
Calanthe was about to respond when she saw her granddaughter's strange movement, stopping eating and looking at her waiting for her to continue the conversation. "Well, maybe we should continue talking about this another time." Calanthe spoke.
"Ahh! Why won't you continue, grandma? Is it about Madara?!" She said excitedly. Madara had become a role model for Cirilla and Calanthe did not like this influence, especially when her court wizard spoke about the destiny the boy has with her granddaughter.
"I've told you, girl, you should not touch on this subject." Calanthe spoke strictly.
Cirilla was frustrated, but her grandmother knew how to be strict and she gave up while eating.
After that, she had lessons with Mousesack, where she tried to find out everything about Madara and his latest actions. On this day, she found out that Madara was working for the royalty, doing some jobs like Geralt would do as a Witcher, something that Cirilla was fascinated by.
'Maybe he could use my help!' She murmured, believing she could be useful, since Geralt didn't want to take her to Kaer Morhen, Madara could become her partner as they hunt monsters.
She had the idea to run away from the castle, Mousesack was one of the few who could catch her escaping, but he had gone out in the afternoon to see this business of disappearing children that Cirilla heard about and would use one of the castle's secret entrances that she knew to get into the city. It didn't take long to say she was ill and would be staying in bed to her servant, then she put on ordinary clothes looking like a boy after hiding her platinum hair with a cloak and leaving through a secret entrance in her room.
She passed through the dark corridors of the castle until finally exiting onto the street through a hidden manhole. She quickly followed through the city after closing the place and walking through Cintra, it wasn't the first time she had done this, but it would certainly be going further than she had ever gone, leaving the vicinity of the royal castle and entering the city center.
'Where can I find him...?' Cirilla thought, she left without any idea how she would find Madara, but she also felt that she would be successful, she didn't know, but thanks to her power, which always gave her the best path and choices in her life, she felt a pull going towards a direction in the city, feeling drawn to it, she went exactly in that direction.
Cirilla lowered her head and dove into the labyrinth of alleys and streets that made up the city of Cintra. Her billowing cloak and the hood over her head gave her the appearance of a street boy – looking just like another in the city full of them.
As she advanced, the buzz of urban life enveloped her. She had entered an area she had never seen before. Merchants proclaimed their goods with loud and persuasive voices, trying to attract the attention of passersby. "Fine fabrics from Nazair, perfect for the upcoming season!" announced one seller, while another, with a pile of exotic fruits in front of him, promised flavors that "would dance on the tongue and delight the palate."
Cirilla wove her way through the crowds, still following the pull that attracted her, her eyes catching snippets of conversations. "Did you hear about the caravan that came from Novigrad last night? They say it brought spices from across the continent!" a citizen commented to a friend, clearly excited about the news. Guards patrolled the streets with watchful eyes, maintaining order, but rarely casting more than an uninterested glance at the hooded figure who skillfully dodged through the crowd.
In a moment of inattention, a passerby bumped into Cirilla, nearly knocking her down. "Hey, watch where you're going!" exclaimed the man, not realizing the real identity of whom he considered just another reckless boy. "Sorry," murmured Cirilla, her voice disguised in a higher pitch, before quickly moving away, blending back into the crowd.
Lost in her thoughts, she barely noticed the gradual change in the environment around her. The vibrant shops and the cries of the sellers gave way to silent and abandoned structures. The streets, once full of life, were now marked by quietness and abandonment. She had arrived.
Before her stood an old building, whose doors and windows were sealed with boards from years ago. "This must be the place," she whispered to herself, a mix of anticipation and nervousness coloring her voice.
"But it's all sealed with wood... But I feel it's here, I can find Madara up there!" She said with determination, but all the entrances to the building were sealed, so she did what she had to do, started to climb the beams of the place, even though it was quite dangerous, Cirilla had a determined and brave personality and soon reached the top of the place with some difficulty, but smiling when she finally set foot on that floor, she saw that it was open, she looked through the window and saw a bed with folded clothes next to it and some books on the headboard of the bed, then she knew it belonged to Madara.
"Finally found you!" She shouted and entered the place, walking carelessly, while by luck or choice of fate itself, she walked past several traps made by the boy, even just a few millimeters away from triggering them, Cirilla managed to go through the entire place without activating any of them.
She approached the bed and looked curiously, "He sleeps on an old bed?" She thought looking at the furniture. Then her attention went to the clothes and her hands went to the books.
"Hm? What is he doing..." She thought while looking at the books with some scribbles, even some drawings for some words, finding it quite funny, however, her attention returned to the sound of the floor being stepped on and she saw Madara looking at her with red eyes, setting aside her book, she seemed quite joyful.
"It's you!!!" She said pointing at him, "I knew I would find you, I knew it!" She celebrated while Madara just raised an eyebrow wondering what she was talking about.