Kyana Of Cintra

28

Geralt, with his back to the stone bottom of the crypt, groaned loudly. It was only a few hours until dawn, but Kyana was stuck on top of him, the oxygen was depleting quickly, and not to mention it was cold and horrible in the crypt.

"Geralt?" Kyana said when the screaming stopped. He hummed, his eyes closed to concentrate on his hearing. "I think it's dawn." Geralt nodded in agreement, opening his eyes and looking up into hers.

"The rooster just crowed for the third time." He stated. "Are you ready to get out?" Kyana nodded, focusing on removing her magic. "Okay, break the spell in one, two, three!" Both of the Witchers broke their spells, leaving the crypt accessible again. Geralt reached his arms up, allowing Kyana to rest between them, pushing at the crypt lid with all his might. It moved, allowing Kyana access to the world. The air was full of oxygen, which she never thought she could be grateful for until then.

She used the edges of the crypt to pull herself out, giving Geralt a hand when she was safely on the ground. Her muscles ached from fighting, as did Geralt's from being tossed around and staying in that crypt for so long. Sure enough, in the corner of the room, was a young girl. Steam rolled off of her naked body as she lay, unmoving. Upon closer inspection, Kyana realized that she was shaking, not completely still. She was covered in mud, with short hair like Renfri's. Geralt leaned down, attempting to turn the young girl over. The girl held a hand full of claws out to him, knocking him to the floor and biting into his neck so quickly Kyana didn't even register it.

Geralt backed up against the wall, holding onto his neck, while the girl backed up against the wall to his opposite, gripping her own neck as she tried to understand what was going on. Kyana kneeled down next to Geralt, pressing onto his wound frantically to stop the blood. A gloved hand encased her own, eyes wide and begging to live.

"Stay awake, Geralt, don't close your eyes, stay awake, I'll get you back to the kingdom, back to Triss." Kyana spoke just as frantically as her actions, pulling his head onto her lap and applying more pressure to the wound. His artery was torn, that she knew from the blood pooling into her hands.

He gasped and choked on saliva and blood, a droplet rolling slowly from between his parted lips.

"No, Geralt, stay awake." Kyana demanded, shaking him by the shoulders gently to get him to remain conscious. He continued to close his eyes, the long and full eyelashes touching his face lightly.

"Geralt! Don't you dare die on me you fucking prick!" Kyana screamed, taking his face between her bloody, trembling hands and shaking it. He didn't respond. Kyana smacked her ear to his chest, listening for a heart beat in the silence.

There was a faint, weak heart beat. She gulped, looking over to the girl, still clutching her neck. "I'm going to help him and get him somewhere safe, and then I'll come back and help you, okay?" The girl snarled, but backed down, almost as though she understood her slightly.

Kyana readied herself, heaving the huge mass that was Geralt up into sitting position. She grasped his waist, pulling it towards her chest, before heaving up. She used every single particle of strength she had, managing to pull him successfully onto her shoulders. She carried him like this, military style on shaking feet for over half an hour, screaming bloody murder for Triss or a nurse or anyone.

When they had found her, three burly men took him off her back, lifting him with great struggle. They carried him into Triss' workshop, where Kyana was running towards in front of them to give them warning.

The king, along with several guards, came looking for Kyana.

"The princess?" The king asked hopefully. Kyana slumped onto the floor next to the bed, out of breath and heaving in air.

"Is safe in the castle." The king looked hopeful as she carried on, ending her sentence. "Human." He let out half a cry of joy, half a sob, demanding everyone come with him to the castle to retrieve his daughter.

Before Triss could even say a word, Kyana had fainted from exhaustion.

******

When Geralt woke, bandages were being replaced around his neck, soaked in blood. "Geralt." A voice called to him, enticing him back to reality.

"Kyana." He muttered softly, his thoughts drifting in and out of reality. Triss mixed more healing herbs, applying them gently to his neck. Geralt woke up about five minutes later, groaning and clutching his wound. His eyes focused in front of him, seeing Triss leaning against the table of her workshop.

"Your scars." Triss pointed out quietly with a small smile. "You heal quite nicely. Your will to live is strong." His mind wandered straight to the striga.

"The princess?"

"I've arranged for her to stay for a while with the Sisters of Melitele." Triss explained. Geralt's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"But, I, her neck?" Triss smiled forgivingly at him, reassuring him with her kind face.

"She will heal too." Geralt let his head drop back down onto the pillow, his thoughts swimming with the events that had just occurred. "You should know, Foltest issued a statement. The honorable Lord Ostrit gave his life to slay the vukodlak. Miners are gathering ore for a statue." Geralt sighed. Of course they're building a statue for the rapist. That's society these days. Geralt sat up, swinging his legs over to the side of the bed and standing slowly. "Anyone else would've killed the princess. You chose not to."

Geralt, who was fed up of the castle, just asked for the most simple of things. "I'll take my coin now. I need to get back to my horse." Geralt pulled on a boot, noticing a hunched sleeping figure in a chair in the corner. Kyana was sleeping there, waiting for him to wake. Clearly, she was so exhausted, she couldn't even hear him talking with Triss.

"You should be proud of her. She ran with you on her back for nearly five miles." Geralt's gaze shifted to her, absolutely astounded. Kyana was thin and quick, although still strong, but he hadn't anticipated her to be that strong.

"I am. She's a great woman." Silence lapsed over them once again.

"Is this all what life means to you? Monsters and money?" Triss asked, holding an enormous bag of money.

"It's all it needs to be." Triss hummed a laugh, sitting in the chair next to him.

"That is why you murmur her name in your sleep." Triss said to him, gesturing to Kyana. "From what I can tell it is a regular occurrence, one that Kyana would be aware of. You say this is all life is to you, but there is a vortex of fate around all of us, Geralt, growing with each and every one of our choices drawing our destinies in closer." Triss handed him the bag gently. He took it, pulling it towards him and finding it was lighter than expected. He drew the object from the bag, finding Renfri's broach glistening in his hands. He gripped it tightly. "I feel something out there waits for you. Something more." Triss confessed, watching as Geralt's gaze drifted over to Kyana, watching her sleep peacefully with soft, content eyes.

"If there is, it waits for both of us, or neither."