Witchers of Nifelheim - Part 2

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Rain wrote:"Squiggles! Dont eat my soul at all! Now that I think about it im probably very sour... what does my soul taste like?"

"Tastes like food, nyahaha!" a tiny voice rang in your head.

Rogue wrote:"You didn't need our magic for the pillars? So was it's loss from our world just an unfortunate side-effect?" Rogue asks

"Wait... you could use magic... without a parasite?" Ursula asked, her eyes growing wide:
"But.. How? Humans can't use magic. Only a Witcher with a parasite can.

And there's no parasites in the Machine World."

She looked down, thinking: "..you're saying.. you had some kind of magic.. that worked, without a parasites help?
I've never heard of such a thing"

Ursula looked up at you: "I'm sorry, I don't know what to say. I don't know what happened to your world. The pillars were only supposed to create a portal, that's their only purpose.
If you had some different kind of magic and it stopped working, I.. don't know why it could have happened..

You must understand, I am a very young Witcher, I don't know all the ins and outs of this. Perhaps if we visited Lieselotte, our capital city, maybe we could find someone that knows more"
Ursula looks at you with regret.

Rogue wrote:"And you said there were nine pillars, does that mean one was built later as a replacement for the one lost at Ashra?

"N-no.. I was referring to Ashra.." Ursula looked away: "...the city was obliterated by the Machine Folk... no replacements could be made.
It takes years to gather the precious metals, for a pillars construction. We had to press on with what we had left...

The other 8 cities"

Rogue wrote:Another thing, you still think we're at war with you, so what'll happen when you do all go back to our world, will there be bloodshed?"

"That will depend on the Machine Folk" Ursula coldly said, looking at the horizon:

"They have banished us to this hellhole and left us to die. But we refused to die. And for centuries, they sent their armies here, to finish us off. Each invasion, taking dozens, hundreds of our innocent lives.
If that wasn't enough, they burned Ashra, some 18 years ago. A civilian city."


Ursula scowled at the horizon:

"Nifelheim cannot sustain human life for much longer. We will escape its grasp and return to the Machine World, no matter what.
And we will defend our right to exist. No more. No less.

If the Machine Folk will choose to attack us, upon our arrival... we will repay them in kind."

Radiance wrote:"You said we'd be able to see things naked to the invisible eye. My own eyes haven't worked since I was born. Would it be that we could see them once we go through with this? Or is it more that their existence becomes physically tangible?"

"Both" Ursula nodded: "You will be able to see them, hear them and make physical contact. In other words, punch parasites in the face.

On our own, the humans have no defense against them.
But as Witchers, we can face them on equal footing"

Twilight wrote:"Hey, prepare me one more shot to fire at my will, for our survival in the long run."

"The spell I showed you is very basic. There's no need for preparation. Just concentrate on the spell and fire. It should be instantaneous" the young voice said in Twilight's head:

"Magic is very taxing however. We can only fire it once more, before I'll need rest. Please use it sparingly"

Twilight wrote:"Maybe a harsh idea, but what if we destroy the car with the suits inside? I know it sounds harsh, but the less machines we have on ourselves the better. Plus, if others find it without context, they will track the ones who this machine belongs to, which is our powerless to unskilled group. But if it's destroyed, it might be seen as that the machine invaders have been dealt with."

"I agree" Ursula nodded, then looked at Rogue:

"You were absolutely right. We use different flares to signal different warnings.
The flare I used meant - 'Machine World Invasion Has Started'.


Its not used casually and not used often.
The last one was several hundred years I believe, the Machine World invaded with hundreds of men and machines.

By now, the news of the invasion would have reached Lieselotte, the capital of Nifelheim."



Ursula looked at you grimly: "Which means... sooner or later, a Witcher Strike Team will be sent to this area... to track an eliminate the Machine World threat.

The Witcher Strike Teams are elite. If we run into one now, we'll have no chance of survival.

Which means we'll have to cover our tracks and get rid of anything that may give you away as Machine Folk."



"Can't we just.. cancel the warning flare?" Kaylee asked: "Send a different flare that says, 'All Clear' or 'False Alarm'?"


Ursula shook her head: "...it wouldn't change anything. The threat of a Machine World invasion is too grave to neglect. A Strike Team will be sent here regardless. And no Witcher would fire a flare like this without good reason.
Everyone understands the gravity of survival in Nifelheim..." Ursula grimly said:



"We should leave your machines behind and set them ablaze. It may keep the Strike Teams away from our trail, at least for a little bit"

Rain wrote:She looks to her daughter, "Forgive me for shooting you by the way. Lets leave before we... ya know... die?"

"I can hardly blame you" Ursula weakly smiled: "We were in combat after all"


She stepped through the gates of the village. Beyond, you could see a long, grassy plain, slightly covered by snow.
A wooden carriage stood by the gates. Next to it, was a giant 2 meter tall fox with blue fur. It stood on all fours and chewed on something that laid on the ground. It had four red piercing eyes that immediately locked onto you, as soon as you went passed the village gates.


The 'fox' slowly raised its head and looked at you. It was pretty clear the thing was carnivorous. The massive fangs in its mouth left little room for doubt.


"...this is Hadedashi" Ursula said with a wistful smile, calmly approaching the creature and petting its neck:
"They cannot speak, but they can sense your emotions. And they can project their emotions to you, so you'll know what they're feeling"

She looked at you and smiled:

"They are our friends, our allies. We help them. And in return, they help us. They're not our pets by any means. They only help us, because they want to"


The giant fox rested its head on Ursula's shoulder for a moment, Ursula smiled:


"Let me know when you're ready, and we'll set off at once"

"Armies, invasions? We never sent any of those, and we didn't banish your people here either" Rogue says "One day, an entire city of our people just vanished without trace, and from the looks of it their descendants seem to be you lot, you just seem to have misinterpreted some things over the millenia. We don't know who it is that sent them here, or who is attacking you, but they don't represent our world."

"Not only am I going to face you, but I am going to break you. Enjoy your stay while it's free" 


"What makes it even worse is that as that city vanished less than a year ago in our world. And the 18-year-old destruction of Ashra for you was 3 days ago for us." Radiance adds in

Radiance wrote:"Not only am I going to face you, but I am going to break you. Enjoy your stay while it's free" 


"What makes it even worse is that as that city vanished less than a year ago in our world. And the 18-year-old destruction of Ashra for you was 3 days ago for us." Radiance adds in

"Oh yes, there's a time dilation effect when travelling between our two worlds, so the ancient ancestors of these people're still very much alive and in mourning for their loss back home in our world" Rogue nods.

Rain frowns, "Wack." She smiles at the big fox, "So... Squiggles." she thinks to herself as she reaches out to the fox hoping to give it a pet, "What can you provide me with? Powers like twilight and radiance? I need to know just in case its needed and we need to defend ourselfs in a sticky situation."

"Hmmm..." Twilight began to take off the hardsuit, revealing her normal clothes underneath.

"While I'd love to elaborate on the new information and cultural exchanges right now, especially unicorn magic, we're kind of pressed on time. Both from an army and parasites eating us from within. Let's do what we must before we sit down and relax."

She clears her throat. "Everyone, let's make our way back to send our old ride to the afterlife."

Disgruntled purple wrote:"Hmmm..." Twilight began to take off the hardsuit, revealing her normal clothes underneath.

"While I'd love to elaborate on the new information and cultural exchanges right now, especially unicorn magic, we're kind of pressed on time. Both from an army and parasites eating us from within. Let's do what we must before we sit down and relax."

She clears her throat. "Everyone, let's make our way back to send our old ride to the afterlife."

"I still think we should just hide it in a cave where no-one'll find it, rather than destroy it. We might need it in the future?" Rogue says "The natives won't be that familiar with our vehicles and technology, so we could just remove the doors and any other unnecessary components, and only destroy those bits, with the Witchers none the wiser? If questioned, Diana/Ursula/Rainy Rain McRain the Second can just say she vapourised the rest of it or something?"

"I can see where you come from, but I feel there might be one or two things you've missed in this." Twilight says with some exhaustion. "If hidden but found, they might wonder how many other such machines are hidden in this world by the machine people. And where the machine people are. Are they dead? Or have they slipped into the crowd..."

She frowns. "We've raised the alarms with coming here. Given their hatred of us, they won't stop until we're dead. If they don't find confused machine people, they'll look at other suspicious folks. Like that group of unregistered witchers that don't speak the language."

"We have to be thorough here, Rogue. Especially on what little time we have. Now get moving, we can discuss this later." With that, she turns away to the gate with the car.

“Hey head parasite? Can I give you a name? I was thinking Laylah, after my ex-girlfriend. Anyway, you better not go rooting around to much in my head, right?” Mist frowned before turning to the others, starting to walk back to the car as she did so.

“I say we just blow it. We can figure out something when it comes to it.@

Radiance grabs the pile of armour from the ground and ties his coat around it. Creating a makeshift bag, he hefts it over one shoulder. As he walks to the gate it's now that you notice the massive tattoo of a Phoenix covering most of his back.

Rogue Fire wrote:"Armies, invasions? We never sent any of those, and we didn't banish your people here either" Rogue says "One day, an entire city of our people just vanished without trace, and from the looks of it their descendants seem to be you lot, you just seem to have misinterpreted some things over the millenia. We don't know who it is that sent them here, or who is attacking you, but they don't represent our world."

Ursula turned on her heels and frowned at you. She seems upset:

"...walk around the snow planes, north of Rakshata. You can still find the remains of your war machines, rusting among the snow.
When hundreds of machine powered soldiers, appeared in Nifelheim, pillaged and burned our settlements to the ground. How would you interpret that?
When dozens of flying machines appeared in our skies and rained fire on us, how would you interpret that?
When a continuous, non stop barrage of fire, came out of the pillar and raised Ashra to the ground, taking 10,000 innocent lives in the process, how would you interpret that?"


Ursula frowned, stepping closer:

"And you know what all those Machine Folk had in common?" she pointed at you: "...they all wore the same machine suits you did.
So to me, it seems you all represent your world."



Ursula straightened up, speaking in a cold voice:

"We are at war with the Machine World. A war you started.
You banished us, you left us here to die. And when we refused, you sent your armies here to exterminate us.

Our lands still bear the scars of your invasions! So don't talk like it didn't happen!
The Witcher's who gave their lives, trying to save our people from your world, don't talk like their sacrifice didn't happen!

It happened! It all happened!


And so long as I draw breath, I won't let your world destroy mine!" She turned on her heels and walked toward the carriage, beginning to prepare it for movement.


The giant fox that stood nearby, letting Rain pet her, nervously began shuffling its paws, wearily digging up the ground. It seems to be sensing Ursula's negative emotions, becoming affected by them in the process.

Radiance wrote:"What makes it even worse is that as that city vanished less than a year ago in our world. And the 18-year-old destruction of Ashra for you was 3 days ago for us." Radiance adds in

Rogue Fire wrote:"Oh yes, there's a time dilation effect when travelling between our two worlds, so the ancient ancestors of these people're still very much alive and in mourning for their loss back home in our world" Rogue nods.

"...so..." Ursula quietly said, staring at the carriage, briefly pausing her work:

"...the people who banished us, are still among the living?..." she harshly fastened one of the straps on the supplies in the carriage, the movement seemed aggressive.

Rain wrote:"What can you provide me with? Powers like twilight and radiance? I need to know just in case its needed and we need to defend ourselfs in a sticky situation."

"...I know a spell that allows you to run on water" Squiggles said after a moments hesitation: "Is... is that good?"

He paused a bit, seemingly thinking things over:

"Hey why don't we ask the other Witchers to teach us some new spells at the stronghold? I bet they know a lot!"

Mist wrote:“Hey head parasite? Can I give you a name? I was thinking Laylah, after my ex-girlfriend. Anyway, you better not go rooting around to much in my head, right?” Mist frowned before turning to the others, starting to walk back to the car as she did so.

"Sure! Laylah sounds like a cool name! Just like me!" a cheery female voice rang in your head:

"Don't worry, don't worry, I won't harm you. We're gonna be BEST FRIENDS and kill many many parasites together and EAT THEIR SOULLLSS!!! AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!
I'm sorry. Am I loud? I can be quiet. Er. Quieter. Ehehe.. Did you like my Ice Spell?
Its really unique! Others will say they can cast the same spell, but only I can put flower carvings on our ice spikes! Do you like carvings?"

Twilight wrote:She clears her throat. "Everyone, let's make our way back to send our old ride to the afterlife."

Kaylee and Johan neared the humvee and placed their hard suits inside.

Johan wearily looked around and asked: "So.. are we hiding the car or torching it?"


"Whatever you do, you have to do it now" Ursula called: "We must leave at once"

Rain blinks, "Water walking might be... cool? Sorry I was expecting something a bit more... Offensive?"

"I say we torch it..." she gives the fox a few more strokes before turning around, "I can hear the malace in your voice Ursula." Rain says quitely before turning around, "Im not going to sit here and tell you that your wrong... But..." she pauses, "We have no knowlage of any attacks happening apart from the ship shells which were three days ago our time." She looks to her with honest yet firm eyes, "If there was an attack, It was happening under the table without the consent of our government and the other countrys." She steps up to ursula, "The entire machine world isn't out for your blood... Ursula on our side it seems like you guys..." She places her index finger on her daughters chest, "...are trying to fuck us with some kind of crazy insanity magic all the while magic is being drained from our world in its entirity." She glares at her, "The moment the pillars appeared its been nothing but trouble. Familys slaughtering each other, people jumping off of buildings..." she points to kaylee, "This woman watched a village slaughter their neigbors and then drown themselfs in an ocean because of your worlds pillars."

Rain seems to be getting a little heated woth her daughter, she steps back and takes a deep breath, "I think... there is a much larger issue at hand. And that issue being malicious intent."

“I think my head parasite is a bit crazy? Are they supposed to laugh maniacally?” Mist frowned, rubbing the side of her head with a metal hand.

“Anyway, I say we grab our gear and torch the car.” She shrugged, proceeding to cross her arms. “I have all my stuff on me.”

Mist wrote:“I think my head parasite is a bit crazy? Are they supposed to laugh maniacally?” Mist frowned, rubbing the side of her head with a metal hand.

"Ehhh.. some of them do.." Ursula said, unsure: "The parasites are very unique, each one is very different from the other"

Rain wrote:"I can hear the malace in your voice Ursula." Rain says quitely before turning around, "Im not going to sit here and tell you that your wrong... But..." she pauses, "We have no knowlage of any attacks happening apart from the ship shells which were three days ago our time." She looks to her with honest yet firm eyes, "If there was an attack, It was happening under the table without the consent of our government and the other countrys." She steps up to ursula, "The entire machine world isn't out for your blood... Ursula on our side it seems like you guys..." She places her index finger on her daughters chest, "...are trying to fuck us with some kind of crazy insanity magic all the while magic is being drained from our world in its entirity." She glares at her, "The moment the pillars appeared its been nothing but trouble. Familys slaughtering each other, people jumping off of buildings..." she points to kaylee, "This woman watched a village slaughter their neigbors and then drown themselfs in an ocean because of your worlds pillars."

Rain seems to be getting a little heated woth her daughter, she steps back and takes a deep breath, "I think... there is a much larger issue at hand. And that issue being malicious intent."

Ursula looked back at you, she seems surprised, frightened:

"No... that's impossible." she turned and walked off a few feet away: "Nononono, we took every precaution. The suppression obelisks work, our people aren't affected. This... this can't be happening..

This wasn't supposed to happen!" Ursula screamed into the horizon, stomping her foot on the ground. She seems frightened, horrified.



"Wait, s-slow down" Johan calmly replied, coming closer: "Start from the beginning"




Ursula sighed, looking at the ground, with her back to you:

"...what you just described... the insanity, the violence, the suicides... you just described an average day in Nifelheim.

See, our minds... they're too vulnerable to outside influences. And the native creatures of Nifelheim seem to be anatomically predisposed to influence us. Project their thoughts, into ours.




Most Nifelheim creatures are docile, peaceful. They have no business wandering around in our minds, so they leave us alone. It is a matter of mutual courtesy.

But... the Glystaria... they're a different story"




She turned back, looking at you over her shoulder, her expression grave:

"Glystaria... the Parasites... they project negative thoughts into your mind, trying to destabilize your psyche. It makes you more vulnerable to their attacks, an easier pray to kill.

In large numbers, they can project a massive area of influence. Sometimes making people go crazy, hundreds of kilometers away.




We have faced this problem ever since we landed in Nifelheim. And came up with several counter measures.
The Witchers are naturally immune to these violent influences. Your own parasites will protect you.


However, the regular folk. They are vulnerable.
So we designed and constructed special obelisks around our cities, to ward off such influences"



Ursula fully turned, facing you:

"The 8 Castle Cities were named that, because they were supposed to be our best strongholds. Each one is surrounded by special obelisks, protecting its citizens from the influence of the parasites.
And the pillars are built at the heart of these cities, well inside the safe zones.

These 8 cities were supposed to be the safest places in Nifelheim. Our people show no signs of insanity, while staying inside the city perimeter. But..."



She looked down:

"From what you just told me... its seems that... somehow... the violent influence of the parasites is leaking through the pillars, and into your world...

It shouldn't be possible. Each pillar is surrounded by a perimeter of obelisks. The obelisks suppress the violent influence.
Our people are unaffected... so why..."



She looked at her gloved, armored palm and firmly collected it into a fist:

"Innocent people were never supposed to be harmed. In your world or ours.
We must deliver this news to the kings of Nifelheim. As soon as possible.

They need to know."

"Let's not get too hasty with telling the Witcher kings." Twilight says. "I'm not saying they won't make right judgements on this, but it would sound rather suspicious if we started to claim this from the side who is, by misunderstanding or not, the enemy. We better get a good name first before we drop such bombs."

After a second of silence, it sunk in what she just said. "I didn't mean it that way, I meant such dangerous information."

While everyone loaded their gear into the car, Twilight looked for the gas tank. Upon finding it, she opens it and creates distance.

"Okay, everyone... Clear from the car! Unless you can heal from such wounds!"

She focussed and made the flame, tossing it at the tank. Then she ran away from it like a coward.

"Your obelisks, how do they project their protective influence exactly? Is it a bubble with the obelisk at its centre, or a reactive system that activates and throughs up disrupting energy only when Glystaria influence is detected? Because it could be that their effective range only covers the area on this side of the pillars, but cannot extend through them into our world, but the Glystaria have the necessary range to make it across, and thus can frogleap over the barrier you put up?" Rogue asks Diana "And I think a closer look at some of this previous machine people equipment might be a good idea, if we can spare the time to take a detour to go look at them? Do you know if they had any flags or logos on them at all by the way?"

He then turns to the others "It's interesting that they are described as having the same suits as us, these are cutting edge and wouldn't be easily available to get, so who else has access to them, and in numbers to equip an army?"

The fireball that materialized was about the size of a basketball. If flew straight into the gas tank, melting right through the armor plate and the metal.

Kaylee and Johan barely had time to hit the deck, as the humvee violently detonated, raising a pillar of fire into the air.


The following gear was stored in the vehicles trunk and was now unfortunately destroyed:

---------------------------------------------------------------------

2x First Aid Kits

1x Wetsuit and pair of flippers.
1x Winter clothing for use in -40°C weather
1x inflatable raft
2x oars
lifejackets for everyone

4x First aid kits

Rations for everyone, will last for 1 week
Water for everyone, will last for 1 week


---------------------------------------------------------------------



"..the obelisks are these tall, rectangular structures, rising dozens of meters into the air" Ursula began:
"They're made from a very rare mineral. Finding it and smelting it into an obelisk is a monumental task that can take years. With the current state of affairs in Nifelheim, its safe to say we won't have the time or the means to construct any more"


Ursula sighed: "Roughly two dozen obelisks are built in a circle, around a city. They create a sort of a perimeter.
Once all of them are in place, they create a safe zone, a.. safe sphere.. of sorts. If you step inside the sphere, the parasites won't be able to send dark thoughts to your mind.


What's more, the obelisks seem to physically repel the parasites.

They cannot get closer than 5 kilometers. If they walk any closer to the obelisks, they suffer immense, disabling pain. Making them easy pray from our Witchers.

That's why, the 8 Castle Cities are the most secure places on Nifelheim"



Ursula looked down: "The obelisks create a safe zone, in the shape of a sphere. It covers the pillar, and our people inside the cities never showed any symptoms.
Your world should be safe. And yet.." she sighed:

"I have no explanation for this...
I agree that the kings won't listen to us easily, but we can't sit on this information too long. They have to know"



Kaylee slowly rose up and dusted her clothes off from the snow:
"...I want see the remains of the previous machine folk equipment as well. If someone came with an army here and committed war crimes.. I want to know who it is.. what happened here"


Ursula nodded: "..its a bit far, several months away from here, but.. maybe we'll have a chance to visit that place. If their machines had markings of their kingdom, the pain would have faded by now. The last invasion was several hundred years ago.

Maybe our libraries have more information.."



Ursula sighed and hopped onto the carriage. The giant fox emitted a low howl, preparing to pull the carriage forward.





The journey through the snow planes of Nifelheim seemed long. The planes changed to a thin forest, then a lake side, then a massive open expanse and there was snow, snow everywhere. The skies remained forever dark, not a single star or a sign of a moon ever came into view. Only a heavy darkness that started to weigh on you after a while.

Early on in the journey, you caught up to the villagers and Ursula's students that ran off earlier. After a brief conversation, the villagers and the students agreed to turn back, reluctantly returning to the village and throwing you mistrusting glances.


The journey continued shortly thereafter. As hours went on, you couldn't help but notice the majestic beauty of wild nature, barely touched by human hand. No heavy smog clouds that typically rose over the cities. No noise of vehicles or dirty streets. Just nature, as far as the horizon goes.



You had the time to nod off to sleep a few times, but the sleep was restless. The headaches began to grow worse and your began aching so hard, it felt like you just ran a marathon.

Eventually, a series of stone towers began to appear on the horizon. The Witcher stronghold.
A sort of a way station for warriors, where they could regroup, share intel and gather supplies, before setting off down their roads again.



Stopping by the front wooden doors, at the base of the structure, Ursula ran off inside almost immediately, saying she had to make preparations for the ritual, without further delay. She mentioned you could mingle outside or go into the stronghold and warm up by the fire, but to remain within earshot, for when the preparations would be complete.

As you scanned the area, you noticed only a half dozen Witchers here. They all looked beat up and tired, slowly hammering out the dents in their armor, or sharpening their green flaming swords.


Most were throwing you some very mistrusting looks, expecting you to lash out perhaps, but none of them said anything. They simply continued their tasks.



"W-what do you think this ritual's gonna look like?" Johan quietly asked, trying to break the silence. He was shivering from the cold, hopping from one foot to the other.

Kaylee absentmindedly leaned on the wall, staring off into space. Whatever she was thinking about, her thoughts seemed to be consuming her quickly. The expression on her face was vacant, scarred.

"I'm not sure." Twilight replies to the question. "The rituals sound to me like something that's mostly mental. A battle of the mind where you make the parasite submit and become a symbiote."

She rubs her chin in thought, looking at the fire. "Guys, if possible, I want a meeting after we get through the ritual. One where we pool all the facts together. Seems there's far more going on then we realize..."

Before heading off Radiance had quickly changed into a set of jeans and an almost white grey hooded sweatshirt. Once at the stronghold, he found a spot on the ground that was relatively dry or clear of any snow and sat down. Cross legs, closed eyes, and a folded hands indicated he was meditating. 

"I think it's best not to worry about what the ritual is going to look or be like. We're going to be fighting in our own mind so I'd say it's best to clean the area first. 

And yes, I agree that a meeting would be an excellent idea."

"I'm just curious to finally meet my parasite, the dude hasn't spoken to me since I was infected" Rogue says, before joking "Should I feel insulted?"

Mist rubbed her head with a hand, wincing as she did so. "My head is pounding and my parasite may or may not be insane. Anything to at least get the headache away is something I'm up for. I don't like the idea of a 'mental trial' though. Sounds dodgy." She shivered a little, rubbing the joints where her metal arms met her body.

Rain nods, "Im gonna step inside... im freezing." She shivers and walks into the stronghold finding a place next to the fire not quite caring for whoever is sitting there, just wanting to get warm. She pays no attention to the stares letting her hands rest by the fire.

"You're lucky" Kaylee quietly replied to Rogue: "Mine won't stop talking"
She was still leaning against the stone wall, staring vacantly into space.

"What does he talk about?" Johan quietly asked. Kaylee didn't reply, you subconsciously note she's been standing like this for a long time.


"...Kaylee?" Johan called after a moment: "Kaylee, are you okay?"


"I think they can see our memories." Kaylee quietly said, staring at the horizon:
"Make you remember things, that you don't want to remember. Make you see things you dont want to see."
She looked down at the freshly fallen snow, studying her worn boots:
"I'm... a real piece of work aren't I.."


"Kaylee-.." Johan quietly said, stepping closer.



A few unfamiliar Witchers, sitting nearby in a tight group, kept looking in your direction and quietly talking. You noticed more than one smirk, as they looked at you. After a while, one of them loudly called out, in broken Soren:

"Daaaaawww, what's the matter princesses? Afraid the mean parasites will chew on your soul?"
The Witchers erupted in barking laughter.



"Hey, listen-!" Johan frowned, turning around, just as Ursula appeared in your peripheral vision, stepping down from the stairs of the second floor.


"The preparations are complete" Ursula quietly called, throwing a sideways glance at the Witchers:
"Come, you don't have much time"

The Witchers reluctantly muttered something, but got up and followed you and Ursula to the second floor.



A long room came into view, lit up by candles on the table and a fireplace by the wall.
Some kind of green liquid was brewing there in a pot, bubbling and filling the entire room with a thick smell of Rose Hips.

On the wooden floor, you saw 7 identical pentagrams, drawn in blue chalk. Their shape seems familiar somehow.


"Please pick a pentagram and sit in the middle" Ursula quietly said, approaching the pot and beginning to pour its contents into 7 small bowls:
"A Witcher will sit next to each one of you. He will spot you, in case something goes wrong"

Rain frowns, "We aren't going to be stabbed are we?" She says taking a seat in the middle, she closes her eyes, "Alright Squiggles... are you gonna fight me or are we just going to accept the fact that your going to be bound to me." She chuckles, "Either way I win."

"And we can trust these guys to do that, right?" Rogue asks Diana "They're not going to hold grudges and things at all against us?"

Rain pauses and looks around, "I know what this is... The murders, the girl that betrayed us. It fits together." She clears her throat, "The witcher back home wasn't murdering for the sake of it as we all know... the bodys were there because they failed... The witcher was trying to save them." She sighs and looks down, "If we fail... we die by the hands of the witchers because it would mean we losy to the parasite." She looks around, "he killed the last two so quickly because we slowed him down, because we let the parasites take over, because we didn't let him do the ritual." She takes a deep breath and sighs, "Well... not like we knew... now we have a parasite walking around our world without any idea on who it is..." she looks to her daughter, "I dont plan on losing..." she says to squiggles, "...Shes right there squiggles..." determination flows through her solidifying her will, "Her, and the rest kf our children. We'll find them and I wont let you be the only wall that stands in my way."