[Chapter Size: 2200 Words.]
Third Person POV
Northern kingdoms.
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"Hrh!" Eithné continued vomiting as the Dryads watched with concern due to their leader's repeated behavior in that state.
"COUGH. COUGH. COUGH." Eithné kept coughing as she vomited more until she felt her stomach empty.
'What is happening... what is this and how am I back here...' She had countless questions in her mind; what she had just experienced was terrifying, horrifying, desperate, dreadful, confusing, and disturbing.
'Brokilon was completely destroyed... The Dryads, my people, were all killed without being able to defend themselves...' She thought about everything she had seen, herself awaiting death, able to hear the cries of despair and pleas for help as her people were sucked into the sky, the animals, the forest, along with the very ground, the rivers, and the trees... everything was sucked away.
Her tears began to fall without her realizing it, trembling with fear, something she had never felt before, and certainly most people in this world had never felt such despair just by witnessing their death caused by something so colossal, something she couldn't imagine any living being in this world doing, only some kind of god, or a demon...
Eithné looked at the one who had caused all that destruction, looking calmly at her with those scarlet eyes, still fixed on him while the girl beside him seemed confused. It was obvious that the boy himself also knew everything she had seen, unlike everyone else here.
"..." Eithné couldn't say a word, while her tears continued to flow from her eyes. "Was that an illusion, was that my future along with Brokilon?" She murmured in a pitifully low tone.
The Dryads, still confused, looked at their leader, still wanting to understand what was happening there, but seeing how Eithné was crying and with a feeling of fear, looking directly at the boy whose eyes they all had seen change color, they quickly deduced that the boy was doing something to their leader, and they began to draw their bows to the limit, nearly firing at him and the girl.
"He did something to our leader, prepare to kill him!!" The Dryads around Xanturia exclaimed as they all nodded, glaring at Madara, ready to kill him on the spot.
"NOOOOOO!!!!" Eithné's voice came out louder than her throat could handle as everyone turned their gaze to their leader, shocked by her sudden and almost desperate scream.
"Leader...?" The nearest Dryad didn't understand.
"UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES... DO NOT SHOOT, LOWER THOSE BOWS NOW!!!" She exclaimed, still crying, as her head turned towards Madara, trembling.
"What you showed me... was that our future?" She couldn't help but ask, while the Dryads and Ciri were all confused.
"Yes... That's what our conflict will result in..." Madara replied calmly.
"Leader..." The Dryads, lowering their bows, still looked confused. "What did he do to you...?"
"Listen... He's some kind of demon... I saw... I saw him destroy all of Brokilon Forest!!! We cannot fight him at all..." Eithné murmured, looking at her trembling hands.
She began to stand up with some difficulty as the Dryads helped her, with all the others waiting for Eithné's orders.
"Do you intend to destroy us?" She couldn't help but ask Madara, who shook his head.
"If you don't give me a reason to, I won't do anything to Duén Canell." Madara said.
"I apologize for everything... please... don't destroy Duén Canell and Brokilon as a whole... If you want to kill me in exchange for everyone else's lives... I will accept... My greed brought us to destruction, so I must pay with my life." Eithné declared, to the surprise of everyone watching her at that moment.
"Leader... you can't be serious! What happened?" The voices of the Dryads rose around her, but Eithné only looked at Madara as she kneeled. She had grown greedy for Cirilla and her blood, but who could have counted on the size of the monster that would protect her.
"Why is she like this... what did you do to her?" Cirilla was as stunned as the Dryads, while Madara took a step forward, ignoring her question. He looked as if he had expected this from Eithné. After all, anyone in this world would be in the same state after witnessing a planetary devastation wiping out a large part of the continent.
"I don't intend to kill you, Eithné. Even though you are a treacherous woman, and I despise you for that, you are more important alive. I will spare your life in exchange for a favor, and one day, I will collect it. So, it's best for you to stay alive until then." Madara spoke, more as a threat than anything else.
"..." Eithné couldn't respond, still on the ground looking at Madara, as she nodded without much thought a moment later. "Alright... I'll do anything, as long as you don't harm my people." She murmured, still with a fearful tone.
Madara simply nodded, and in the end, the Dryads began to calm down with this development, no longer perceiving any danger to them.
Meanwhile, in the distance... Some Dryads, unaware of what was happening in Duén Canell, were heading to find the group that was in the forest, constantly searching for Madara as they entered the woods.
As they neared the area, the sounds of battle began to be heard not far away. One Dryad looked at another before they started running toward the source of the noise. After all, this shouldn't have been happening, and they went to check what was going on, especially since Madara was supposed to be in the capital, Duén Canell.
As they arrived, they found the bodies of fallen Dryads on the ground, already lifeless, slain by blades, while others, still alive, shot arrows at a group of men in leather armor, wielding heavy swords, moving quickly and even using magic as they drew signs in the air. They moved faster than an ordinary Dryad.
"What is this?" They asked themselves, stunned, as they watched those men killing their sisters easily and without mercy.
"Quick, let's help!" Another one exclaimed, and they began to ready their bows, shooting arrows at the group and joining their still-living companions, telling them they had arrived and started attacking.
Arrows flew toward them, but the witchers made signs to protect themselves. One of them, a Quen specialist, created a barrier around them as they advanced with a smile, shielding themselves from all the arrows. Before the first Dryad could flee, unable to hit any arrows on him, the witcher simply cut her down in front of everyone. With a scream of pain, she fell dead to the ground, and he moved on to the rest of the group.
Even in greater numbers, the Dryads were at a disadvantage and began to fall one by one. The witchers, using their signs to protect and attack, summoned flames, with Igni burning many of them. It didn't take long before all the Dryads lay dead, cut by swords, pierced by arrows, or killed by signs like Aard and Igni.
"It seems it's over." One witcher, covered in blood, murmured without showing any emotion in the face of the corpses.
"Yes..." the leader said, before looking at a few of them who were injured, pulling out arrows from their bodies that they hadn't been able to block or dodge.
"Ah, those witches, that hurt!" One of the injured witchers said, frustrated and angry, kicking one of the dead Dryads.
"Just take a healing potion, and let's keep going. You can handle it." Another witcher replied.
"Let's find the place they came from." The leader of the witchers said, after all, they all knew about Brokilon Forest and its records, led by the Dryads, and almost no one made it to their capital, known as Duén Canell. Only a few managed to reach it, and the Dryads were careful not to reveal the way, blindfolding those they guided.
"Well, we'll be the first to attack that place openly... since our targets seem to be heading there... so I hope it's worth our effort. Let's just follow their tracks. The Dryads will regret ever coming to this forest..." the leader said, and they all nodded, starting to track the footprints with their sharp senses, as they advanced deeper into the forest.
Back with Madara, he was back at the leader's house, with Cirilla by his side. The woman, Eithné, no longer had her air of arrogance in front of the children, as she looked submissively at the boy. Madara despised this, but he despised even more those who believed they were above him.
"What do you plan?" Eithné asked after a silence fell in the room. They had come here after Eithné thought for a long time, calling him to talk and try to align things, for Madara to explain what he expected from her. After all, she was deeply shaken by what she had seen and wouldn't dare go against his words.
She didn't know if what she had experienced was merely some kind of illusion or deception, but the boy seemed confident the entire time, as if he was waiting for them to truly become enemies, as if he were anticipating the first arrow to be fired to start all the chaos. Whether it was true or not, Eithné didn't want to take the risk, so she would never do anything to awaken the wrath of what she believed to be some kind of demon that shouldn't exist in this world.
"We're not staying here any longer," Madara responded in a calm tone. "We'll head east, then north. After all, the Nilfgaardian armies continue to invade these northern lands."
"You don't seem to be in favor of the Empire from the south. With your power, you could destroy them easily..." she murmured. It seemed like a rational question.
"You're right, but don't worry about that. You'll hear about me as soon as news from the east arrives," he said simply.
Madara knew that, despite Brokilon Forest being quite secluded, there were still many Dryad spies trying to gather information about what was happening in the world, especially when they heard about an army of southern men, which posed a danger to Cintra and the north.
"I see... and about Morenn. Is she really out of your control?" Eithné asked, since Morenn had appeared under Madara's control, then was kept in captivity when she awoke, as they couldn't trust her easily and even planned to take her to a sanctuary for that purpose. But now, seeing Madara's powers, Eithné had some doubts.
"Yes, she's free. You don't need to worry about that," he replied. "Just keep in mind that one day, we will meet again." He said as he began to stand.
Madara looked at Cirilla, who still seemed confused while sitting. "Let's go. We have nothing left to do here," he said. After all, he had already gotten everything he wanted. It was time to continue the journey.
Cirilla also began to stand, and Eithné just watched them, not wanting to oppose them in any way, only praying they would leave as quickly as possible.
However, at that moment, someone entered the place with an urgent expression. "Leader Eithné, something is happening in the forest. Some scouts saw flames, and we went to investigate. We discovered that the entire group of Dryads, at the edge of the forest, were all found dead. And it happened recently," she said in a sad tone.
Eithné looked at Madara, cautiously seeking answers.
"It seems we were followed here, which is no surprise after leaving the hideout," Madara said before turning his gaze back to Eithné. "Well, it seems we can't continue without dealing with this group. After all, I hate people who think they can chase me," he said with a dark tone and continued.
"I'll leave Cirilla here, but you'd better not try anything, understood?" Madara spoke in a highly threatening tone as he began to release his chakra, generating a blue aura around his body that spread in all directions, causing everyone present to try to shield themselves. Ciri already had a kunai with one of his clones transformed, but he really didn't want to have to burn Duén Canell, even without using his trump card. He didn't expect Eithné to be foolish again.
"I can help," Cirilla exclaimed beside him.
"No," Madara shook his head. "Better not. If this group managed to take down a group of Dryads, they must not be ordinary..." he said, recalling that in the story, Emhyr had witchers working for him. So, it was quite possible this group was composed of them.
It had been a long time since Madara had fought against a witcher, so it was time to see how his abilities would fare against an entire group. Even knowing that with his current strength, they would be nothing more than ants.