Never Surrender

6

One of the witches said, "if you want to know more about Ciri, your wolf must give up her shapeshifting ability and must allow herself to give it to us." I gingerly appeared and a growl erupted deep within, lips lifted over teeth. Geralt just looked at me.

"It will kill me if I hand it over," I told him.

"I know that's why I am not going to ask you to. You witches have given me enough information," he answered. "But I now understand why Ciri wanted to kill you, simply because you wanted to kill her."

"We'll come back and kill you," I snarled. Geralt and I proceeded to walk away, he mounted Roach and I walked silently next to him. I caught Ciris's scent I pressed my nose into the ground. I ran ahead of Geralt.

"No come back," he yelled but I didn't listen I kept going, I caught my foot in a bear trap and howled loudly. Geralt rushed to me but a group of hunters found me first. I panicked and attempted to pull my foot free but it wouldn't budge.

"Go, go find Ciri I'll be fine," I told him.

"No," he answered sternly.

"Geralt even if I got out of this, I would be gravely injured and only slow you down. I've accepted my fate now go," I told him, a hunter approached me and I snarled aggressively attempting to stand up, I watched as Geralt departed, I allowed one final farewell howl to escape me till a hunter knocked me out. I woke up to intense pain and it's not my foot. I heard chanting and I realized they are removing my shapeshifting ability. I fight in order to keep it but I soon weaken and they soon snatch it from me. I look up and see the three witches, they share the essence of my shapeshifting ability between them and they turned into haggard wolves.

I lost my healing ability too and since my red hair was the symbol of a shapeshifter, it turned ebony and my eyes emerald green, I lost my immortality and I was nothing but a human which form I had to get used to for the last few minutes of my life. "Finish her!" One of the witches ordered.

I was dying anyway but a blade was thrust into my side I screamed loudly. I watched as my blood cascaded from the wound, I could feel my eyes grew heavier and heavier till finally they closed and the darkness took me all sound faded and I was left with silence. But my soul appeared in the room where my corpse laid, my face wet from tears, I had died crying. I thought that I would have been killed by a griffin but no I was finished by witches. I watched as they slit my throat for good measure and left my body in the cabin before leaving.

I sat next to it and stared at it, there was no way I could come back from this they had cut one of the most vital lifelines and it would take a powerful sorcerer to bring me back. I wandered the forest alone, nothing or no one could see me but a few days later I heard Geralt and Ciri calling my name, I headed back to the cabin and I saw their reactions as they entered through the door.

"That's not Phoenix!" Geralt exclaimed.

"Yes, it is," Ciri answered slowly approaching me. They would only know from the scar across my stomach that Geralt had given me when he tried to kill me. Ciri lifted the bottom half of my shirt up and I was lucky that the hunters and witches hadn't slit my stomach open because there sat the scar.

"What happened?" Geralt asked walking closer to me.

"Well, who ever did this took her shapeshifting ability," Ciri answered, she knelt next to me. Geralt took my torso in his arms and wrapped me in a hug, if only I could come back, I would wrap my arms around him. 

"Couldn't Yennefer bring her back?" Ciri asked wiping the tears from her eyes.