[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
Third Person POV
Northern kingdoms.
...
...
Geralt continued north while the woman clung to his back, holding on as if she might part from him at any moment after all that mess with men trying to rape her, she did not want to live through that terror again.
They had left the capital a few days ago and since Geralt could not be as fast as Madara, he was still exiting the country, after all the chaos. Following the forest to the north of him and heading towards the border of the northern countries.
Geralt continued to guide the woman through the forest, stopping only to eat and feed while he stopped to hunt something or kill some monster along the way, but nothing too difficult to deal with.
"Can these things kill us?" the woman asked fearfully as she looked at the bodies of necrophages left by the witcher.
"They can, but with the war... they are spreading everywhere wanting to grab bodies from the battlefield, so it's easy to deal with them until the end of this country, encountering only 1 or 2," Geralt spoke in his indifferent tone while cleaning his sword, before starting to move on.
His initial plan was to leave the capital and go to Skellige in search of Cirilla, but since he ended up finding this woman, he headed north, giving up the idea of going to Skellige initially, but still keeping the idea of sailing there, wanting to meet Mousesack, his acquaintance, and try to find clues about where that Madara took Cirilla, before waiting for them in Kaer Morhen.
"Do you have any relatives... in Temeria?" Geralt asked, since it was his goal before heading to the coast, where he would not need to deal with black soldiers.
"I have an uncle... in a village to the south... My mother was from that village... but she married a man from the capital of Cintra and went to live with him... I can only say the name... I don't know where it is..." She commented while Geralt nodded, as this information was enough for him.
"That is enough... let's go there," he said, since he ended up being responsible for this young woman, as they continued forward.
Meanwhile, it was already night in the capital of Cintra, while the emperor once again found himself in Calanthe's audience room, looking at his men kneeling before him as they passed some reports, all watching him cautiously.
"So..." he began, looking at the man in front of him with a wound on his chest, kneeling with a defeated and frustrated look on his face. "You're saying they escaped? That the boy managed to deceive you and took Calanthe's granddaughter away?" He spoke in a calm tone, but everyone could feel the man's fury behind those words.
"Yes, your highness... I was so close, but I couldn't catch the princess because the boy used those unknown tricks transforming into a knife," he said with a tone of shame.
"You're saying the boy hid transformed into a knife?" Emhyr could not help but raise his eyebrow at that, questioning if his man was sane.
Everyone had strange looks towards the man, wondering if he had any idea what he was talking about, while Francesca had a cautious look, believing what she heard, despite seeming absurd, but after what she saw on the battlefield... she could not doubt with the others.
The mage archer kneeling in front of the emperor was angry with himself after trying to reach the princess, and when he believed he would finally catch her as Emhyr wanted, he was surprised, he had to return defeated, even more so when he had spoken about finding the princess traveling to Verden after they found her in the coastal city.
General Hyuuir Ysiuty, who was commanding the forces of the capital, stepped forward before kneeling in front of Emhyr. "Emperor Emhyr, if it is your wish, I will send troops of a powerful force to go after the princess, I will invade Verden by sea and land and find her," Hyuuir spoke in his perfect Nilfgaardian.
"And how do you expect to find a boy who could be anywhere in this country, even already leaving it a few days ago??" Emhyr growled at the irrational thought. "Not to mention we have to conquer Verden, and if you still remember, we are at war against Sodden and we will have a bit of difficulty now that Cintra has cost us so many men..." He spoke, while the man lowered his head, having no answer for that.
"He is now to the north, fleeing, and we have no way of catching him after what we've heard about him, that Madara can easily escape an army... but they can't run for the rest of their lives..." Emhyr continued to speak in a dark tone.
His gaze fell on the elven mage. "You said the boy might have red eyes, right?" he asked.
"Yes, Emperor Emhyr, the boy can change his eyes. When he was on the battlefield, his eyes were redder than blood itself or fire..." Francesca spoke cautiously.
"I see. I want all the mages of the empire to be after them... Create a bounty for the entire north, any sighting of a boy with red eyes must be reported and rewarded, I want to know exactly where he is. But the information that he is with Cirilla, must not be passed to anyone," he spoke, and looked at the elf once again.
"I want you to summon your people to help... you've always said they are good trackers... let's see if they are useful..." Emhyr spoke in a tone that left no room for discussion and Francesca nodded, although this was not in their agreement.
"Now I am going to my chambers, I hope to hear better things tomorrow and know that our army will be able to move soon." Emhyr spoke as he began to leave.
"Emperor Emhyr!" All those present immediately bowed as a farewell as the man left the place surrounded by guards.
He arrived at a chamber that was with him, as he entered calmly and turned back to his men. "Leave me alone," he said, and the guards closed the door, leaving the man alone in the room.
Emhyr sighed and went to a table, picking up a bottle of wine, as he filled his glass and took a long sip. "Ah..." He grumbled and looked at the contents in the glass, seeing his small reflection with the candlelight, then he clenched it tightly before growling letting his anger finally appear after all, he simply threw the body forward, spilling the wine after smashing against the wall.
"You said she would be easily found... but my daughter has escaped!" he exclaimed angrily, as he looked at the person in front of him who had been in the room the whole time.
"Unfortunately, it did not go quite as planned, Emperor, but she is still alive. We can still capture her." The man who had his gaze towards the night city, much darker than it should be, after all, Cintra was occupied only by soldiers and corpses.
"You just talk, Vilgefortz of Roggeveen, you promised me, I need my daughter to follow the prophecy." Emhyr growled, he was already burdened by hearing his company not being as successful as expected, with Madara being the main cause as he could tell. "I want my daughter and that boy dead..." He said in a dark tone.
"I doubt it will be so easy to catch them... after all, this place was infested with mages and even my assistant couldn't catch him... but I will do my best, I found some trackers... and there is also an interesting group that you will definitely be interested in, Emperor..." Vilgefortz said in a serious tone.
"It doesn't matter! I want that boy caught. I will put all the mages behind them and bring my daughter back," Emhyr said in a serious tone, before raising an eyebrow at the mage. "What group are you talking about?" He asked, as the mage cracked a smile.
"Before coming here, I was investigating a group that was starting to do some peculiar services, things that your kind doesn't usually do... Have you heard of the School of the Cat?" Vilgefortz asked, maintaining his smile.
"A school of witchers?" Emhyr looked at him as if he were an idiot, while recalling a certain Geralt.
"Yes, they can be good trackers. The school is starting to do things that no other has ever done, which is to accept contracts for the assassination of humans... They are quite useful if you pay them well... I heard that the boy defeated a witcher in this country, but can he defeat an entire school after them? I spoke with them and they are interested in working for you, as long as you pay them well. I'm sure it is in the Emperor's interest to review this potential tool for this war. Since Temeria is raising forces, and the way things are here in Cintra, you will be stuck in Cintra for years, before continuing to advance through the northern countries," he said as Emhyr almost cursed him.
"Watch your tongue, mage," Emhyr said before sighing. "But very well, let's do this: if the School of Cat Witchers can help us, then hire them. I want half of them working for me on the battlefield and the other half going north in search of the boy," he said, while the mage nodded and disappeared with a portal.
"Do not disappoint me..." Emhyr said in a frustrated tone, although he often seemed calm, it was a façade, while he actually felt frustrated since receiving the report from Cintra.
Vilgefortz returned to his report and as soon as he entered, his assistant came to speak with him. "Lord Vilgefortz! How are you?" he asked with interest and dedication.
"I'm fine... just got back from a meeting with the Emperor. It seems Madara Uchiha has indeed disappeared with the girl and we need to act quickly," he spoke.
"You mean then you are going to..." murmured the assistant, as Vilgefortz nodded.
"Yes, it's time to see if he is of use. My plan is to capture the princess before the Emperor can, especially now that I had to give him information about the cat school," Vilgefortz spoke. After all, it was no surprise that he planned to act behind the Emperor's back;
He had passed the information about the Wolf school because they were the ones who approached him and if Emperor Emhyr did not know through him, he would have known through another, so he ended up passing that information, but he still had an advantage and sought her, especially with his hunter... someone he would contact, possibly even better than a witcher.
Meanwhile, Geralt found himself aboard a ship, heading to Temeria, across the great river that separated the two realms.
He woke up calmly, while a woman was beside him. After she had offered herself to him the previous night, saying he was her savior and wanted to repay him for everything he had done, Geralt did not mind and slept with the woman.
Days passed and finally, they arrived in Temeria. After passing some guards who also searched for spies from the survivors, they headed to the village where the woman's uncle lived. After delivering her, he sighed as he said goodbye, and then left, with the woman looking at him sadly. But he had other objectives to complete, so he headed for the coast, going to Skellige.