To Heal A Lonely Heart

O' Valley of Plenty

I woke up to shouting. My head hurt as I opened my eyes. I was in a cave. And I was tied up, laying on my side. A sudden movement caught my eye. It was Geralt. He had woken up and lifted his head, eyes darting around the room, alarmed. He grunted, fighting against his restrains.

"This is the part where we escape." The bard had woken up.

"This is the part where they kill us," grunted the witcher through gritted teeth.

"Who's they?" asked the bard.

Just then an elf woman came into the room, kicking the bard in the face.

"Beast!" she yelled at him in Elder.

I... I recognized her face. But I couldn't remember her name...

"Elves," Geralt grunted.

Another elf entered the room, grabbing the bard's lute.

"Oi, that's my lute. Give it back."

But the elf didn't listen. Instead he started plucking some strings. It sounded awful.

"Quick, Geralt. Do your-your witchering-" the bard complained.

"Shut up," the witcher commanded as he was kicked by the woman. He groaned.

"You shut up!" she spat at him in Elder.

"My Elder speech is rough. I only got part of that," muttered the bard.

"Humans, shut up," she said, now finally in common speech.

Now the bard was speaking Elder. "Ah, got it, thank you so much."

"Do you wanna die right now?" the elf woman threatened.

"As opposed to later?" Geralt grunted.

She kicked the young man in the stomach just as he was yelling at the other elf. "No, please, not the lu-"

"Leave off! He's just a bard."

This caused the woman's attention and she went over to Geralt, slapping his face.

"You don't deserve the air you breathe." A hit. "Everything you touch you destroy." Another punch. She grabbed the witcher by the hair and kneed him into the face. Groaning he let his head fall.

All the while the other elf was breaking apart the bard's lute.

"Leave them alone!" I finally spoke up, "They've done nothing wrong!"

The woman walked over to me. "Traitors don't get to speak," she spat, sitting me up roughly by the hair and punching me in the lip. I tasted blood.

"I didn't betray you! I would have died by your side! My father got me out!" I yelled at her. She kicked me in the stomach and I groaned. She would have done more if it hadn't been for the bard speaking up.

"You hide in your golden palaces. You beat a bound man too scared to even look him in the eye!" he yelled.

In front of me Geralt lifted his head. Blood was dripping from his lips.

"Do you like my palace? Hmm?" the woman said. She made her way back to Geralt, lifting his face by his chin. "Does it live up to the tales you humans tell?"

Geralt took the proximity of her face and head-butted her in the nose. She fell back, coughing.

The bard laughed out loud. "Yeah, take that, pointy," he mocked. But when she didn't stop coughing he grew concerned. "Wait, what's-what's wrong with her?"

Another elf entered the room, along with the sylvan.

"She's sick," hissed the elf. I knew that voice!