[Chapter Size: 2500 Words.]
Third Person POV
Skellige.
...
...
Just as the group had gone to Skellige, they were all now returning by ship, heading toward Vedem as the easiest point before continuing on to Temeria.
"You know, I still wonder why we didn't just open a portal and go straight there," Yennefer was on the ship's deck beside Geralt and commented, while breathing in the sea breeze.
Geralt looked at her before sighing. "You know I hate traveling through portals," he said. "But that's not the main reason we're exactly here, is it?" He had a tired expression as Yennefer nodded upon hearing him.
"Well... our pregnant daughter is more emotionally dependent than we could have predicted, isn't she?" Yennefer replied, exchanging glances with Geralt.
The main reason they hadn't used a portal, even though Geralt hated traveling through them, was that he would have done it if it meant Ciri's safety. He would accept any discomfort if it was to protect her. However, it was Ciri herself who refused the idea. She wanted to enjoy every moment of the journey — because it meant being with Madara.
The girl had been stubborn enough to insist that she would not accept any other option. Ciri wanted to enjoy her last days with her husband, knowing she would not see him for the next few months. How could she simply cross a portal and arrive at their destination on the same day, when the other choice allowed her to have weeks by his side?
She had even declared that they could travel for an entire year if that meant she would have time to give birth and help Madara in his search against their enemy.
Geralt merely nodded and sighed as he thought back on the discussions of the past few days.
"I'm going to take a look and see how they are. They've been inside the room for days, maybe they're with the others," the witcher said finally.
"I'll go too. It's quite boring out here," Yennefer said.
They went inside the ship, finding the group of sailors playing Gwent together with Zoltan and a Dandelion whose arm was bandaged. When the Wild Hunt had invaded the castle, he had been attacked and gravely wounded, and his own lute had saved him from losing the limb when he used it as a shield against that black-armored soldier.
Madara had arrived some time after and massacred all the enemies whom Zoltan and the others were still fighting, while Dandelion was desperately trying to survive.
In the end, the bard began bragging, telling heroic stories about his "battle" against monsters and warriors of the Wild Hunt, trying to charm young women who fell for his tales. He was ten times more irritating than usual, showing off his injury in a thousand different dramatic ways, saying that he wouldn't be able to play an instrument for a while.
Geralt approached the table. Dandelion and the others were cheering while Zoltan played against a sailor.
"Have any of you heard anything from them?" Geralt asked directly. It was already mid-morning, and there had been no sign of Ciri and Madara.
Dandelion shrugged. "They didn't show up like always, and they probably won't show up," he said.
Geralt and Yennefer exchanged a look.
"Once again they're going to stay inside the room all day... It's already the third day they've been in there. Are they having sex like rabbits?" Yennefer muttered, dissatisfied, while Geralt grimaced.
"We could knock on their door," Geralt suggested, and Yennefer nodded.
They left the hall, still in the middle of the games, and went to the cabin where Madara and Ciri had been for three days without showing their faces.
"Ciri? Madara?" Geralt approached, knocking on the door, but all he heard was silence.
"Ciri, are you in there?" Geralt repeated, but there was no answer.
"We should check this. It's strange," Yennefer stated, in a serious tone. Geralt seemed hesitant — they didn't want to interrupt... whatever they might be doing in there.
"It's too quiet. And I don't sense any spatial magic traces to block sound. I'll go first. If there's something, I'll close the door immediately," Yennefer suggested.
Geralt said nothing. The sorceress used a spell and began to unlock the door, opening it carefully. She entered first, stretching her neck to look around the room. Geralt remained right behind her.
He saw Yennefer fully step inside the room without hesitation and look back at him. "Come here, Geralt," she said, serious.
He stepped inside. The room was tidy, the bed empty. And there were three clones of Madara sitting on the floor in lotus position, all motionless, eyes closed, breathing rhythmically. No sign of Ciri. And if any of those clones were the real Madara, it was impossible to tell. Not even Eira, who had been with Ciri the whole time, was here.
"Where are they? Where is she?" Geralt murmured, scanning the room. There were no clothes out of place, no missing luggage — nothing indicating escape. But there was also no sign of Ciri on the ship, even though she should have been there up until three days ago!
"I think none of these are the real one," Yennefer murmured, snapping her fingers in front of the faces of the Madaras. None of them reacted, remaining in deep focus.
"So they weren't on the ship this whole time..." Geralt muttered, displeased.
"You know them, Geralt. No one controls those two. But they could have at least warned us," Yennefer huffed, a little irritated.
Meanwhile, far to the north, in a land beyond the reach of humans, elves, and dwarves, Madara landed atop an enormous tree. Ciri was hanging onto his back, with Madara holding her thighs and she had her arms around his neck. They were traveling through a forest in a region with no civilization at all.
The view before them was magnificent — green forests, mist-filled valleys, and lakes with a massive mountain in the center. The place was real, like a magical kingdom surrounded by snow-covered mountains.
Ciri opened a gentle smile, resting her chin on Madara's shoulder. "It's incredible... Is this the Land of Dragons?!" she said, enchanted.
"Yes," Madara replied, with a faint smile as he held her.
The trip by ship had become boring — when they weren't making love several times a day, Ciri insisted on exploring the continent, seeing and getting to know places. And now that the immediate danger of the Wild Hunt had diminished, there was no reason to avoid her powers as before, when they were constantly on the move.
Besides, it would be good for her — to use her powers in different places, without fear, without hiding for now.
They had an opportunity to throw off their pursuers at this moment. They knew the Wild Hunt would not be willing to chase them now, after the failure at the castle and on the island of Skellige. None of the members they had sent had returned, which would certainly alarm their leaders in Aen Elle.
They had launched attacks in two places at the same time, and neither of the groups survived. It was too suspicious to ignore. They would be cautious for a while.
And now, in the last few days, Ciri had been using her powers to take Madara with her to different places across the continent while the ship continued its journey with their friends. They explored, traveled, and had fun. Ciri claimed with conviction that this was their real honeymoon — and she wanted to enjoy it to the fullest before they separated for a few months.
The trips had begun in ruins, hideouts and ancient fortresses, exploring places that certainly weren't pleasant at first glance — especially those where the worm kept prisoners and conducted experiments. The laboratories still carried traces of the horror that had happened there.
But soon, that gave way to a series of lighter explorations. Ciri found it incredible how they crossed a river on a small raft in Kovir with Madara, herself, and Eira, when, theoretically, they should still be on the ship with their friends, locked in a cabin, "too busy" to be disturbed.
Sometimes they camped in peaceful forests. They had no desire to hunt monsters on those days, and the unicorn always followed them. They visited small towns and villages, or simply walked through nature. Madara, in fact, began to take the initiative to bring her to different places that were famous or that he knew/had heard about, always hiding their identities with hoods. Ciri was loving all of it — and Madara, clearly, did not mind it in the slightest.
Ciri had expressed her strong desire to see the Land of Dragons. Madara had already explored the place once, tired of seeing these memories only through another mind, she asked him. He agreed to take her.
They used Toto to fly between frozen northern mountains until they reached that region again. They stopped the griffin at a safe distance, and continued by jumping through the trees until they reached where they were now.
"Oh… how many dragons are here…" Ciri murmured, enchanted, observing small shadows in the sky. Some creatures flew between the mountain peaks. Others moved at the base, where the valley stretched. Dragons landed, rested, ate.
Madara had already explained: the oldest, wisest and most powerful dragons — especially the ancients and the golden ones — lived at the top of the mountain, where it seemed to be the upper part of the kingdom and the air seemed to glow with strong magic. The younger and weaker ones lived at the lower part. Ignavros was one of them and lived at the lower region as well.
"Do you think we can find him here?" Ciri asked, curious.
"Probably. But that could become a problem. I'm sure he'll recognize us and draw the attention of the others. I don't want a pack of dragons chasing us," Madara replied.
Even so, they continued exploring the lower part. They passed by dragons sleeping, others feeding, some interacting with each other — and also those who were… mating.
Ciri burst into laughter when she saw a dragon mounting another with exaggerated enthusiasm. They were letting out small roars that sounded almost like moans, and she was laughing a lot at it, while Madara only raised an eyebrow.
But she had to be pulled away before her fit of laughter drew the attention of the mating dragons. There were no creatures more dangerous and proud than dragons being watched — much less mocked — while in the height of their intimacy with their partners. Laughing there would be the worst possible offense and they would chase them to death.
The two left the area and, further ahead, they ended up finding an older dragon, the ancient one Madara had spoken to before. He seemed to have already noticed them, just observing from a distance. However, he was still surprised to see Madara — a human — accompanied by a female of his species.
Madara explained that they were just taking a walk, not there to cause trouble. It was just exploration. The dragon, in turn, did not care much and did not seem to intend to alert the others.
Still, he warned Madara and his companion to be careful with the scent. The dragons would soon begin to notice them through the air.
They continued exploring and, as predicted, some dragons began to grumble, noticing a strange human scent in the air. Madara and Ciri then started to move using blind spots, shadows, and the elevations of the rocks.
Ciri soon showed interest in climbing to the top of the mountain. Madara was also curious to see the area where the Golden Dragons reigned — and Ciri was clearly excited.
The climb was easy, except for the moments when they had to hide when a dragon flew close to them.
When they finally reached the top, they saw a vast plain with grass, rivers, and even streams of lava flowing between stones and vegetation.
"This shouldn't be possible..." Ciri murmured. "Vegetation shouldn't survive here alongside rivers of lava..." That was clearly a dormant volcano used by the dragons.
"That's because dragons shape magic," Madara replied when Ciri expressed the same doubt. And she agreed — indeed, no vegetation that alive should coexist with lava, yet there, grass regrew a few seconds after being burned. Dragons dove into the lava as if it were warm water, especially the golden ones, their immense bodies shining like molten gold.
They explored a bit more, encountering various golden dragons, always careful not to be detected by scent.
When night began to fall, they decided to leave.
"Let's have dinner in a restaurant tonight," Madara said as they moved away from the mountain and headed back to the forest outside the valley.
"And where are you planning to take me, husband?" Ciri smiled. "I hope it's romantic. But… shouldn't we return to the ship? By now, they've already noticed our absence. I'm sure father and mother are not pleased at all." Ciri referred to their parental figures.
"We'll return tomorrow. I want to see more places with you. And I want you to memorize these places too, so we can come back whenever we want. But first, we need to get Eira at our home. The unicorn must be upset that we left him behind..." Madara replied.
Ciri opened an eager smile. "If you hold these places in such high regard, they must be incredible. So… where are we going?" she asked, eyes shining.
"Well, the warm southern lands are nice at this time of year, from what I've heard. Let's have dinner and sleep in Toussaint," Madara said.
Ciri raised an eyebrow. "Nilfgaard territory?"
Madara nodded.
"Yes. But we'll go as outsiders. No one would think that the king and queen of Cintra would be strolling in the middle of imperial lands." Madara showed an amused smile. Ciri laughed with him, her mood improving.
"Of course. I've heard you mention this place a few times… if my memory isn't failing," Ciri said with a teasing smile.
"Great. Let's make the most of this night," Madara replied. "And tomorrow we can explore some vineyards. Maybe we'll find something we like to buy — I've already shown interest in purchasing a vineyard in that region... After that, I want to go to that lake on the border of Sodden, where King Foltest granted us the lands. Then we return to the ship. What do you think?" Madara asked, and Ciri nodded.
"Alright. Sounds like a good plan to me," she said, hugging him. "So, where do we go first?"
"Well... I don't think you've traveled through Cintra. So try to place us as far south of Cintra as possible. From there, we fly with Toto, cross the mountains, and reach Toussaint," Madara explained.
Ciri nodded again, still holding him, before releasing her powers. And with a flash of light, the two disappeared from there, traveling to a new adventure.
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