ELVEN RUINS - Unknown destination
They were walking in silence since their last conversion. They didn't want to talk to each other. They both were thinking about what they said. Mostly questioning everything, especially Gabriel. Ciri was walking in the front and Gabriel was couple meters behind her. They entered into some huge hall. Ciri didn't wait on Gabriel's permission to continue and she continued further without him. She suddenly heard something.
"Did you hear it?" she told him uneasily.
"What?" he told her still behind her. The noise started to be stronger.
"Listen."
Gabriel narrowed his ears.
"You're right. There is something.."
"I told you."
The noise started to be more clear when they were getting closer. The sighs were bouncing of the high walls.
"It sounds like two people fucking.." Gabriel laughed.
"Don't be ridiculous." Ciri rolled her eyes.
"Why not? Maybe some lovers are hiding here so they could be finally united properly.." he told her teasingly.
"Only in your dreams you pervert."
"You don't like the idea? Don't you?" he was smiling like a peacock.
"Is there any minute where you don't only think about sex?" Ciri smirked. "Because you.."
Suddenly Gabriel put hand on her mouth so strong she couldn't make any sound and pressed his body towards her back. Ciri enjoyed his presence maybe five seconds when she came back to mind and she elbowed him into his stomach. Gabriel stifled a painful sigh and pressed her body towards him even stronger.
"Don't speak. Scolopendromorphs are here.." Gabriel whispered to her ear. Ciri started moving and tried to escape from his arms.
"Cirilla, we need to be quiet." he told her seriously. She tried to move again but he stopped her by squeezing her arms properly.
"Look at the ground, it shakes slowly. I'm not making this up."
Ciri protested with moving but after couple of seconds she gave up and started looking at the ground. The ground was shaking as Gabriel told her. But only experience witchers were able to see that little shaking. She was again surprised how good he was. She didn't notice it at all.
"We need to be quiet if we don't want to provoke them.." he released his embrace a bit.
"And those weird sighs from the other side are not helpful right now. We should.."
"Ouch!" Gabriel almost screamed when Ciri bit his fingers. He pulled away his hand from her mouth and Ciri used his inattention to escape from his arms.
"Are out of your mind? The Scolopendromorphs could hear me!" Gabriel looked at her angrily.
"You shouldn't have cling me the way you did. Maybe then I wouldn't had to bite your hand." Ciri crossed her arms when she turned to him.
"Just speak quietly, alright?" he frowned.
"I'm not the one who is screaming here like a little girl." she faked her smile. Gabriel's anger started boiling inside him. In that moment he wanted to kill that woman.
"Come" he came to her and angrily caught her arm. "Try to walk like me and don't protest this time. I'm not really in mood to have fight with Scolopendromorph." he started pulling her with himself. Ciri frowned but didn't say a word. She followed his moves.
"Who has teach you all of this?" she asked him quietly while they were walking. She only read in books about Scolopendromorphs but never met any of them.
"Who do you think?" Gabriel said angrily then he paused. "Coën.." he said in more softer way.
Ciri didn't want to ask more. She knew it wasn't the right time to talk about so sensitive topic for him.
They were walking in silence again.
"How are you feeling?" Geralt softly kissed her cheek.
They were sitting on the ground. Yennefer was leaning over to his chest and witcher had wrapped arms around her.
"Happy, weird, worried and tired.."
"Explain to me." the witcher caressed her hand.
"I don't remember when we were so intimate as today.. I felt so connected to you. We were truly making love.. and it was amazing." Yennefer smiled.
"That was beautiful explanation. I'm happy I could be part of it." Geralt said a teasingly.
"Geralt, I'm trying to be emotional and you just making fun of it." she frowned.
"No, I'm not." he laughed. "No, really continue. I want hear more."
"You made me forget on everything for a while. I could finally turn off my head and just be with you on some time. Just you and I that's all what I wanted.. What I needed it."
"I needed it too. Only you. Your presence without thinking about the past or a future." the witcher smiled.
"But you know this haven't solve anything? Just delay our current problems?" Yennefer laughed a bit.
"Yen, don't ruin this moment."
"Don't use my own words witcher." she turned to him. "We should go." she kissed him on his lips and then stood up.
"I thought were gonna have a second round."
"Geralt."
"Fine, I'm coming."
He had to try it.
"We should start looking for the treasure." Ciri told him quietly while they were walking.
"Screw this treasure. We need find the way out from this labyrinth without getting killed." Gabriel stated.
"We came here because of that. You want to give up so easily?"
"No, Cirilla, I want live. If you want to get killed then you're welcome to go alone." he told her angrily.
"Fine, then stay here. Bye." she started going away. Gabriel got surprised first but then his anger hit him. He went after her.
"What the the hell are you doing?" he angrily stopped her with his hand. She turned to him.
"You made pretty clear you don't want to go with me." her face was so calm. He was still holding her arm.
"Why you have to always do the exact opposite things I tell you." Gabriel growled.
"Because your ideas are stupid." she smirked.
"I'm trying to keep us alive and you're just making everything worse!" he raised his voice and then his eyes went dark. "You really starts to annoy me." he squeezed her arm more.
"Gabriel stop, you're hurting me!" the pain started puzzling in her whole arm.
In that moment he came back to mind and he released his press. Ciri immediately used this moment to hit him into his chest and pushed him away from her.
"Are you out of his mind?!" Ciri looked at him with fear in her eyes.
"I... I don't know.." she interrupted him.
"You can't take out your anger on other people!" she was serious.
"Ciri.. I.." he wanted to caught her hand but she stepped back.
"Do not touch me." she warned him.
"Ciri, I'm sorry. I've stopped controlling myself." he lowered his voice.
"I saw that Gabriel." she calmed down a bit. "Do you know what I also see? Cockyness. Cockyness which is masking fear."
"I'm not scared." his face went totally emotionless.
"Yes, you are. You're scared.. and you're angry. I don't know what happened to you in the past but those emotions which you have inside of you won't solve anything. It will make everything worse. You will scare everyone away from you if.."
"I did scare everyone away from me."
"And do you want to scare me away?" she looked straight into his eyes. He was silent longer than Ciri expected.
"No. I want you to suffer like I did."
Ciri stepped back when he said those words.
"Then I want you to hit me for what I've done." he made one step closer to her. Ciri hesitated. "I want you to hit me so much that I would lose consciousness."
"Gabriel.." she stepped back again.
"I want you to caressed my face.." Gabriel did another step closer to her. Ciri didn't move this time.
"Then I want you to hit me again.." he stepped right in front of her. He could feel her breathing. She looked at him.
"I want you to stop the pain.." Gabriel caressed her face with a thumb. Ciri wanted to pull away but she waited.
"I want you to stop me.." he paused." Because I'm fucking monster.." his voice failed.
"You was.." she slowly caught his hand on her cheek. Gabriel looked at her broken.
"No." his eyes got darker." I've never stopped being one."
"I don't see a monster." she told him calmly but her heart was almost beating in her throat. She knew Gabriel wasn't emotionally stable right now. Every word could provoke him to do something which he may regret later.
"Cirilla, stop lying to me." Gabriel started fighting with himself again. She caressed his hand on hers cheek. She hoped this will stop his raising anger inside him.
"Fine, you're a monster. Did you want hear this instead?"
He didn't answer.
"I thought so." she pulled away his hand away from his cheek but she didn't let his hand. "Tell me what happened."
"No." Gabriel clenched his teeth.
"Tell me."
"No, I don't want to." he started almost trembling.
"You can tell me, I won't judge you."
"I said I don't want to tell you!" he raised his voice. But Ciri put a fingers on his mouth and shaked her head. Gabriel immediately understood.
Scolopendromorphs.
"We can talk quietly or get eaten by a Scolopendromorphs. Choose." she squeezed his hand which she was still holding.
"I told you I don't want to talk about it." he lowered his voice. He was almost whispering.
"Gabriel, I'm your friend." Ciri was surprised she said that but she couldn't take it back. Now she could only wait on his reaction which she couldn't read from his face and it was making her a bit frustrated.
Gabriel froze in that moment. Nobody has ever told him that before. Thousands of thoughts started rolling in his head.
Ciri thought he will faint soon but he broke his silence after a while. Ciri got a relief but she didn't show it on herself.
"I'm aware of that." he told her without emotions.
"And a friend usually knows when his friend is hurting." Ciri told him honestly.
"What do you want to hear? That I cared about Rose?! That I'm upset? Well, I didn't care and I'm not." he pulled away her hand.
"There you go again, pretending to turn it off. Pretending not to feel. Gabriel, you're so close. Don't give up."
"I feel Cirilla. Okay? And it sucks!" Gabriel said with anger and pain at the same time.
"You feel guilty.." she started understand his reaction.
"You want me to be human Cirilla but I'm not, I can't be. I'm a monster. Then go away from me!" he said strictly. He was fighting with his emotions. He tried to hold his anger, he tried to hold his tears. He never told this to anyone and he felt so ashamed because of this.
"Alright, I will go away from you." she stepped back.
Gabriel's face expression changed immediately. It seemed he wanted to pulled her back but he didn't make a move.
"But I will come back." Ciri began to slowly back away.
His eyes got warmer. He didn't let her eyes from her not even for a second.
"And I'll help you.." she told him.
In that moment the ground under her broke, she lost her balance and she started falling down in the hole.
Suddenly some hand caught her fingers. It was him. She looked into his eyes and saw the small hope which appeared in his eyes.
"Gabe.." she told with fear in her eyes. She knew it. He knew it.
He came too late. Suddenly her fingers slipped away from his hand. She fall down to the dark hole.
She wasn't screaming while she was falling, Gabriel realized.
She was so brave even when she could be dying.
But right know nothing else mattered for him anymore. All his emotions boiling in him like a volcano.. has exploded.
He screamed loudly.
And his scream could be heard all around the Eleven Ruins.
Geralt and Yennefer stopped walking when they heard the noise. Geralt immediately pulled Yennefer closer to him and he was ready to protect her. He started analyzing the sound and from where it could came for.
"Am I hallucinating or was it a scream?" Yennefer told him confused and worried at the same.
"You're not hallucinating. It was a scream.." Geralt answered thoughtfully.
"A monster?"
"No, worse. Gabriel."
"Are you sure?" she caught his hand to not to fell down to her knees. She knew what it means. If Gabriel was in trouble, Ciri could be too.
"Hundred percent." Geralt gave her a sad look.
"We have to find them quickly. Something had to happen to them. We have to go now Geralt.." Yennefer started to be frustrated.
"Yen, calm down." the witcher caressed her face. "We're going to find them but we need be more careful now. Gabriel literally woke up everything what was sleeping or hiding here."
"I know I have to be calm and careful, but it's impossible for me in this situation.."
"I've seen you do more impossible things, this can't be much harder." he smiled at her.
"You never stop to surprise Geralt." Yennefer softly caught his face into her both hands and caressed his face.
"And I don't have in plan to change it." he kissed her on her lips and hugged her. Then he looked at her again.
"I promise you we will find her." he caressed her face.
"I know it witcher. How do you think I'm still normally standing on my legs?" Yennefer laughed a bit and then kissed him. "Let's go save our children."
Gabriel was staring into the hole at least fifteen minutes. He had tears in his eyes. He knew he should go after her but he couldn't move since he screamed. It was like something died inside him. Something broke inside him and let all the pain out. But what the worse that he felt everything even stronger. It was like someone pushed the button which destroyed his soul. But the truth was that seeing her falling into darkness destroyed him. And he didn't know if he was able to stand up again.
"Gabriel!"
He heard some voice. But he let go this thought. It was just in his head and he started losing his mind.
"Gabriel, answer me!"
This time he heard it more clearly. He somehow knew this voice. He has heard it somewhere but he couldn't remember where.
"Gabriel!"
Now it sounded like this voice was somewhere close to him. He wanted to turned around and look but his body wasn't listening to him. He gave up. He gave up like everything in his life.
"Gabriel! Gabriel!"
He put his hands on his ears. He wanted to stop this voice. He wanted everything to stop.
"Gabriel!"
He couldn't handle it anymore.
"Stop calling my name!" Gabriel almost screamed.
Suddenly some hands hugged him from behind and pulled him on his legs.
"I would stop calling on you if you would answer me." those hands were helping him to stand straight.
"What happened Gabriel?" another hands caressed his face and wiped away his tears.
Gabriel was trying to recognize the face in front of him but
everything was blurred for him. And he knew nothing was real. This couldn't be the reality.
"Yen, do something with him. He's clearly out of his mind." the man's voice said worried.
Only what Gabriel heard was the woman's voice saying some words then everything went black for him.
Gabriel opened his eyes. He was laying on the ground.
He was surprised that he wasn't like in trance anymore. But he was also grateful for that. He managed to sat down.
"Gabriel?"
"Yennefer?" he looked at her confused. "How"?
"Thanks God. You're back." she hugged him and then looked into his eyes. "Why you had the panic attack?"
"Wait? How long I was out?" he stood up.
"I don't know how long you had it before Geralt found you but after using my spell you were unconscious ten minutes."
"Shit.."
"Does it happen frequently to you?" Yennefer said a bit worried.
"No, just when my guilt starts to be stronger than I'm able to control.. which happens quite often." Gabriel lowered his head. Yennefer wanted to ask but she didn't know how. Her heart was scared to hear the answer. Geralt noticed it.
"What happened to her?" Geralt asked it instead of her.
"Firstly I didn't know from where this hole came for. But then I realized it's the corridor which Scolopendromorphs made.. and the floor had to fall through because of that.."
"Why you didn't go after her?" Geralt told him angrily. He understood what happened.
"I couldn't.." Gabriel started to defending himself.
"Why you couldn't?" Geralt came closer to him and caught his collar." Why you couldn't go after her?!" he raised his voice.
"Because! Because I got my own breakdown when I saw her fall!" Gabriel almost screamed those words. Geralt wanted to kill him with his eyes even if he believed what he said.
"Geralt, stop!" Yennefer pulled away his hands from Gabriel's collar. Then she pushed the witcher further away from the young man. Geralt angrily looked into hers eyes but she wasn't the source of his anger.
"That's not his fault and you know that." she caught his hand. "You just want to take out your pain on him. But you're not that person anymore. You don't vent anger on others." Yennefer told him seriously.
Geralt nodded and then tried to calm down.
He looked at Gabriel. "We will find the way how to get inside without getting killed. Now."
After couples minutes of searching they managed to find another corridor which went to down floor. Geralt and Gabriel had their silver swords prepared because they were very well aware of that they entered into Scolopendromorphs's nest. Yennefer was going right after them. They heard how the monsters were making noise. The ground was shaking almost everywhere where they stepped.
"How long?" Yennefer asked them quietly.
"We're close." Geralt answered totally focus.
"Why they haven't attacked us yet?" Gabriel was confused.
"I guess we don't want to find it out now." the witcher was honest. They continue in the walking and after couple of minutes they came into bigger room. They stepped in the middle and started looking around.
"I don't like it here. I feel like they are waiting on something." Geralt stated.
"Waiting on best time to attack us, kill us and then have a perfect dinner? I think this is exactly what are they doing." Gabriel added.
"Have some hope witchers. Having a destructive thoughts won't help any of us right now." Yennefer told them strictly. They both frowned at the same time. They started analyzing the room again.
"I think there is an interaction." Geralt slowly started walking towards it. He really didn't want piss off Scolopendromorphs in the middle of their nest.
He took the stuff on interaction which he had from Keira and used it on the wall. It worked. The wall suddenly turned into a door.
"I thought you left it home." Yennefer stepped next to him.
"I've got a feeling we will need it here." Geralt tried to smile.
"I'm happy you did because this door are our way out."
"We just need a crystal to open the portal." Geralt admitted.
Suddenly they heard a sound of opening door. They both turned that way and they saw Gabriel pushing the wall with his hand.
"Gabriel, what have you done." Geralt's face went white.
"We still need to find Ciri. I need to try every button if it won't open some door which will lead us to her." Gabriel stated.
"Good to hear that but now you just opened a way into our graves.. " the old witcher sighed.
Gabriel didn't need to hear more words because he understood immediately when the whole ground started shaking.
"Gabriel, go find Ciri. I will try to hold them back till then!" Geralt screamed at him. Gabriel didn't wait any longer and he stormed out of the room. The Scolopendromorphs started going out from the ground.
Geralt quickly looked at her.
"Yennefer, try to find a crystal. Immediately!"
"But.." Geralt interrupted her with a kiss.
"Without a crystal we can't get out. Scolopendromorphs are too many. We won't get alive from here. The crystal is our only hope." he kissed her again.
"Try not to die witcher." Yennefer looked at him with love and fear at the same, then she went looking for the crystal.
Geralt turned around. The five Scolopendromorphs were in front of him waiting to kill him.
The witcher took a deep breath and stretched his hands which were holding a silver sword.