[i]Some time later, Lyria Autumn, sometime in the 13th century[/i] It was probably jarring to anyone unattuned to the arcane, to be instantly transported from a small peasant town to the scenic meadows of Lyria in as short a space of time as Valker and Avery had been. The two places were as different as fire and ice. While Blackbough had been bitten by the chill of autumn, Lyria was holding on to warmth. Flowers were blooming, the grass was incredibly green, and the path was practically made of gold. It was almost to be an assault on the senses after having them dulled by Velen and the severe grey that seemed to be its entire atmosphere. The sky was visible, a bright blue with nary a cloud in sight. Perhaps it felt extra beautiful having just stepped through the portal. Out of the frying pan and onto a rug by a hearthfire… At least that was how Avery felt, and her expression and entire energy had changed exponentially. She was even dressed as a Lyrian - or more accurately, as herself. An infamously revealing shirt had replaced her huntress gear. Soft silks adorned her curves now - hugging and pinching in exactly the right places. Of course, such a shirt was tucked tightly into her bottoms - high waisted and striped with silver thread. Painted onto the contours of her hips and thighs. Scandalous, really. But she liked to make an entrance. This was her domain, and she was relishing at the thought of dragging Valker through it, as evidenced by the devilish smirk she gave him before clicking her tongue again to have Midnight gallop over the empty path. As she crested the hill that she brought them on to, the city came into view. It’s long white wall was like a line of bright white chalk - topped with the homely orange sloping rooftops and the welcoming peaks of the towers around the defenses. Beyond that, Lyria’s buildings were all lined up, squashed together in blocks. She could even make out the town square and the clock tower from her point. It was entirely picturesque and beautiful. So very unlike Velen and Blackbough. She was home. “Fucking hell,” Valker hissed to himself as the world changed and the sun blasted its light across the painfully vibrant landscape. He squinted and blinked repeatedly to get his eyes to adjust and fell silent at the sight of Lyria in the distance; a welcome one indeed. Turning to Avery, he was once again struck mute, his gaze incorrigibly traveling up and down her body and her curves. Her new clothes were even more salacious than what he remembered from their encounters in Kraeg’s Hill and Novigrad. After their almost-moment of intimacy the night before her body was practically a black hole for his eyes, drawing them in with no chance of escape. The way she moved as her horse galloped beneath her did absolutely nothing to alleviate that and Valker followed closely behind her, blind to the world around them. “Lady Vexx, you’ve returned,” announced one of the guardsmen as they approached the gates and she slowed down, giving him a friendly bow of her head. “He’s with me,” she replied nodding in Valker’s direction. “He’s a friend, he’ll be with me while he’s here,” she added reassuringly. The guard narrowed his eyes and glanced sidelong at his partner, who had a similarly concerned expression. “Now now, don’t you trust me and the people I bring through these walls?” she asked in an overly feminine tone, looking down at them both from her seat on the horse. “Must I fetch her to vouch for me?” That did it, they gave up any resistance there and then and allowed the two to pass through the gate. Once they had moved out of the earshot of them, Avery addressed Valker quietly. “Sorry about that, things can sometimes be tense here, they’re wary of me. Like to throw their weight around...” The encounter with the guards had been enough to finally drag Valker’s attention away from Avery’s shape. “That’s alright, I’m used to distrust,” he reassured her and smirked, casting his gaze across the city streets that they entered beyond the gate. Lyria was just as pleasant as he remembered and his eyes wandered from one finely dressed citizen to the next. “I quite enjoyed seeing you demonstrate your importance, actually.” “Where we’re headed, we won’t be bothered by anyone else,” she replied as they moved through the streets, people were generally affable enough to simply make way with little protest. It was a nicer atmosphere to be in. “Sure beats Blackbough doesn’t it?” she asked, casting a glance over at him with a smile. It didn’t go unnoticed that he looked quite disheveled indeed. Out of place. It didn’t bother the sorceress, in fact she rather liked the look of him like this. The slightest streaks of dirt on his clothes and face, the way his hair had been ruffled about by the wind. He looked as much like himself as he should as she did. “You remember my cats, don’t you?” she remarked, changing the subject and looking away lest she begin to undress him with her eyes. “You’ll get to see them again soon.” “Indeed,” he agreed. He was looking forward to some time alone with Avery, even if nothing… well, either way, he enjoyed her company. “Yes, I remember them alright,” Valker said in response to her comment about her cats and he shook his head to himself. He had no idea anymore what the one inquisitive bald cat was called, but he had found the creature hard to forget. Without thinking about it, he lifted a hand to try to style his hair back into shape a little. He could use a bath, he realized. He looked at Avery again. A bath with her would be -- [i]stop that,[/i] he chided himself. She chuckled at his response, she remembered that he hadn’t been too taken with them the last time. She laughed again as she remembered plucking Winifred from his box of belongings. The memory of it amused her for the rest of their ride back to her dwellings. It was as modest and quaint looking as her last home in Kraeg’s Hill. Built in the careful style of Lyria. The bricks were straight and painted white, the roof as sloped as all the others - only with a skylight window right in the centre. With excitement she dismounted Midnight, fastening her reigns to a block by the door. She fumbled for the key, her body jittering as she swung it open only to be greeted by a slightly fatter, and older looking Lorne. His nose was peppered with greying hairs now but he’d heard his mistress and had mustered up the energy that he could to greet her. Still unable to properly meow. She plucked him up into her hand and stepped inside. No sign of the other two yet, but they were far more aloof than her youngest. “Make yourself at home!” she called out to Valker, for now, he was playing second fiddle to the adored cat in her arms who was purring away. Just like her room in Kraeg’s Hill, her home here was littered with trinkets - perhaps more organised now and spread out due to there being more space. She still had a taste for the Ofiri style, as evidenced by the plush furnishings in vibrant shades of turquoise, magenta, and topaz yellow. Throw pillows, blankets, and rugs everywhere. At least the cats would always find somewhere comfortable to lay their heads. In the far left corner, by a window overlooking a herb garden was her desk - covered in magical tools and crystals. Strangely, a half full jar of some kind of candy too. A long bookshelf stretched the length of a wall too. Most of the offerings being fictional novels, but there was a number of shelves dedicated to magical tomes - and there was section that appeared to be the start of a new collection. The first book being one about werewolves, another about the properties of silver, and finally one about simple folklore. It had clearly been tended while she was away. Fresh flowers in vases were spread throughout, most notable on her dressing table beside perfumes and glamyres. There was not a single speck of dust to be found. “Valker?” she called out, realising she’d already made her way through her home and kicked off her shoes without even checking that he was off his horse. Valker followed Avery inside after a minute or so of rummaging through his saddlebags until he found the soap he was looking for. Despite everything, the witcher was quite particular when it came to certain things. In opposition through Avery’s whirlwind return he took his time and only entered the main living space after a thorough inspection of the hall. “Yes, I’m here,” he said and raised his hand like a schoolboy being called for attendance. “Do you mind if I take a bath? I don’t want to make your home dirty again,” he explained as his eyes fell on the cat in her arms. The witcher and the feline regarded each other warily. Avery watched as he came through to the main space, offering him a smile, but taking a step back. She remembered that while Winifred had taking a liking to Valker, the other two had absolutely not. She felt the purring stop, and so placed Lorne down on the desk so he could scarper to a safe spot. “Of course… Upstairs, it’s just one room…” It occurred to her that Valker would be in her bedroom - and just as she had done seven years ago, she hoped that she hadn’t left anything peculiar lying around, certainly not any underwear. Or, maybe she did -- [i]No…[/i] she thought, turning her face away. “There are fresh towels up there… I can get you a candle or two if you’d like,” she commented with a giggle. Regaining her composure, she took the amulet from her satchel and held it in her hand. “But really, this may take time, so do whatever pleases you.” That was quite an inviting statement but Valker ignored the surely unintentional implication. “Thank you,” he said and responded to her giggle with a smile. “That won’t be necessary. You should focus on that amulet.” He inclined his head respectfully and retreated from the room to make his way upstairs. The bathroom that greeted him was nice -- very nice, in fact. Avery’s touch was evident in the interior here as well and he laughed at the ornate mirror on the wall. “I’d look in the mirror often too if I looked like that,” Valker murmured to himself and began drawing the bath. He undressed while the bathtub filled up slowly and inspected the injuries he’d sustained in Velen. Avery’s enchanted needle had done good work and there was no sign of infection anywhere. Satisfied, Valker ran his hands over the towels and marveled at their softness. It had been entirely too long since he’d been among high society like this, he mused. Aside from all her other pleasant qualities, it was nice that Avery was a window into that world as well. After the bathtub was finally filled with warm water the witcher stepped in and lowered himself into it, groaning in satisfaction as his sore, weary muscles immediately felt relief. The water steamed pleasantly and Valker took a few minutes to just relax before he would set about to scrubbing himself clean and he closed his eyes. Silently, from behind a large vase, the hairless cat Winifred made her appearance. Having already stalked Valker up the stairs - showing no signs of excitement towards Avery as Lorne had. In the seven years she had not changed much at all. Still rebellious and aggressive, although strangely not in the presence of the witcher. With her head tilted in a calm curiosity, she padded over the floor to the tub - gracefully scaling it in a single leap - landing with a perfect balance on the rim. Her huge green orbs fixated on Valker as he lay back relaxing. She moved slowly around the rim to where he had planted an arm to dangle over the side. Her head tilted in the other direction. Her tail flickered and touched the tips of his fingers with such a softness that it could have been a feather. Valker almost leapt out of his skin. Water sloshed over the rim of the bath and he gasped, eyes shooting open wide, hands uselessly reaching for a blade that was no longer on his back. “Fuck!” he cursed as his eyes fell on Winifred and her unwavering emerald gaze. “You scared the shit out of me, stupid cat,” he hissed. They were one of the very few creatures silent enough to be able to sneak up on a witcher and Valker certainly hadn’t expected to be ambushed here. “What do you want?” Downstairs, while setting up her apparatus, Avery could have sworn she heard something… Meanwhile upstairs, while Valker had almost leapt out of his skin, Winifred sat as steady as a rock in hers. Just watching him. She knew that he'd been startled and so offered a light chirp in apology but remained where she was. Only now, she delicately and deliberately raised a front leg and began to lick her paw. Her tail continued to flicker, and she was not going to move. “Hmph.” The witcher sank back and did his best to relax again, but the sound of the cat licking her paw was an incessant annoyance in his ear and he could feel the cat’s gaze on him still. He stared back. The cat stared back. Neither of them moved. “How am I supposed to relax with you sitting there?” Valker asked Winifred. “Don’t you know it’s rude to stare at strangers when they’re naked?” A thought occurred to him. What if Avery was actually puppeteering the cat and using her as a second pair of eyes? What if that’s how she was secretly spying on him precisely [i]because[/i] he was naked? Valker narrowed his eyes. There didn’t seem to be anything unusual about Winifred and his medallion wasn’t humming. Unlikely. Valker raised a wet hand and flicked it in Winifred’s direction, splashing the cat with droplets. “Shoo.” Sat in her chair, Avery couldn't help but think of Valker in the bath. The hot bath. Naked. Surrounded by steam. In the bath. The amulet was in one hand, and her other hand was resting on her thigh. As her thoughts continued to distract her from her task, the fingers of that hand began to stroke backwards and forwards against the fabric of her trousers… The water splashed Winifred, and that she [i]did not[/i] enjoy. As much as it pained her to do so, she gave a defensive hiss at the witcher and plopped down back to the floor again, strutting away from the tub to leave him to his business. Maybe later he would appreciate her company. “Another monster defeated,” Valker hummed to himself and allowed himself a smile at his own joke. With Winifred having left his side, he closed his eyes again and sank into the water until his ears and his face were only just above the surface. “I really needed this…” The amulet was truly nothing remarkable - a simple golden pendant in the shape of a sun. It was giving no magical energy. Not that it mattered right now, the sorceress felt too hot to really take it in. The sudden change in climate? She placed it down into a clamp and began to tighten it so that it could be held in place. Slowly she turned it as her fingers gently stroked the handle from top to bottom, while with her other hand she continued to grasp at her thigh. She thought of Valker again and even glanced upwards to where she knew the tub sat. “Oh God…” she whispered and let go of the brass to fan herself with her hand. Now that Winifred had left him alone, Valker found his mind wandering -- but not very far, as it immediately turned to Avery and the fresh memory of her bouncing up and down in the saddle. The form-fitting silk had left little to the imagination. The water was hot, no doubt about it, but Valker felt another type of heat in his body. “Shit,” he whispered to himself. He wasn’t sure where exactly sitting in someone’s bathroom while fantasizing about them ranked on the rudeness scale, but he was confident it was fairly high up. That said, it wasn’t [i]really[/i] his fault. Avery had wilfully transmogrified her outfit into something so provocative. This was a game like she liked to play, evidently. “Two can play that game,” he grumbled to himself and sat up straight, reaching for the soap. His mind continued to wander over Avery’s curves while he cleaned himself and he had to remind himself of what he was doing several times. Under the table, she was bouncing her foot on her heel, her leg shaking with it. She couldn’t block the thoughts of him from her mind - coupled with the events of the night before… The way that he’d touched her, how he’d [i]almost[/i]... She’d known him for seven years now, could he be? She released her hand from her thigh, a sensation of relief flooding over her as it became apparent how hard she had been gripping. The thought of him naked upstairs was enjoyable, but frustrating. It was too frustrating and she had work to do. She reached for the candy jar and removed a square of chocolate and brought it to her lips quickly. Eating something would help, eating more of that same something would keep helping - and so she continued to eat the chocolates one by one. She upbraided herself internally for it, and began wondering if he’d be quite so interested by her if he learned that she had never been fully intimate. That was enough to quell it for now, and so she fell back into the work. After Valker was finished scrubbing himself, he stepped out of the bath and dried himself off with one of the towels… but not too thoroughly. A faint glistening remained on his dewy skin and he wrapped the towel around himself, adjusting its height until it was [i]just so[/i], covering anything inappropriate but revealing the chiseled shape of his abdomen and hips. He scooped up his clothes and belongings from the ground and, with them in his arms, made his way back downstairs. Valker descended down the steps as quietly as he could and slipped into the main space silently. Avery was at her desk, presumably hard at work, though it looked more like she was stuffing herself with chocolate at the moment. The witcher smirked and placed his stuff on the couch before he spoke up. “Any progress?” That gave her a start, and she jumped in her seat before turning around to face him. “Oh…” she said in a girlish sigh, her posture relaxing as the very sight of him like… [i]that[/i]. It almost caused her to melt in the seat. Her eyebrows raised as her eyes were drawn to the outlines created by the towel, her hand gripped the brass handle of the clamp again. “I…” she began uselessly before painfully tearing her eyes from -- and following his body up to his eyes. Those [i]eyes[/i]. “I, no… not yet. I don’t think it’s magical. I gave it a good rub and nothing happened.” Avery turned away and looked at the amulet, as he could no longer see her face, her lips formed a small circle and she near silently exhaled an aroused and shuddered sigh. The ‘climate change’ taking over again. A childish sense of victory almost made Valker break out into a proper laugh at seeing Avery’s reaction to his current state of dress, but he maintained his composure and resisted the urge to say [i]“Now you know what that feels like.”[/i] That sensation was short-lived as he realized that Avery was looking as fiendishly attractive as before and he was not dressed to hide his reaction to that, should his body be rebellious and have a mind of its own. Like most men, it often did. “Ah, well, keep at it,” he said and tore his gaze away to look at the bookshelf. He pretended to peruse the selection while his mind pictured the deep cold of Skellige’s winters. She was thankful immediately that he got to occupying himself - she could hear him shuffling around, probably looking at things. He had always been so interested in her, her powers, her life… Maybe she could leave him to get some answers as she worked. The thought amused her, all of her strange bits and bobs could barely tell him the story of her life but maybe he’d make one up in his mind. She let go of the clamp now and let her hand hover over the amulet, a magical energy pulsating from her against it. Nothing was happening, but even just attuning herself to whatever energy it did have might help. She closed her eyes meditatively as she focused on it. “There is… probably some food if you’re hungry…” she said to him as she continued with what she was doing. “Just… make yourself at home… I don’t know how long this will take…” That seemed like a good idea. As Valker pretended to look at the books he eventually noticed that they were divided into sections and that the last section, the new collection, seemed to be about topics related to a witcher’s life and enemies. That made him smile. He’d really made an impression on her. It strengthened his conviction that there might be something there, something real, with her, if he managed to maintain his patience. Valker cleared his throat and checked to see if Avery was looking at him -- she wasn’t -- before he gathered his belongings and scampered off to the kitchen, where the first thing he did was getting dressed again, feeling rather sheepish about the whole thing. He opened one of the kitchen windows and let the breeze cool him down a little. Satisfied, Valker rummaged around until he found a loaf of bread and a jar of jam that looked good to eat. Now armed with something to munch on, Valker returned to the living room and pottered about some more. The amount of fantasy novels did not escape his notice. Nothing wrong with a little light reading, he knew, but it was still amusing to picture Avery being swept up by the romance books like a young girl. Perhaps that was why she’d taken a liking to him in the first place. He thought back to their conversation in the swamp earlier that day and remembered the look on her face when she spoke of death. For a sorceress, there was an innocence and naivety about her that surprised him. Or at least, there had been. Maybe her encounters with him had been enough to dispel those qualities. He picked up one of the books, intrigued and amused by the painting on the cover that depicted a very sculpted man and a very voluptuous woman in an almost comically exaggerated embrace, and leafed through it. His eyes fell on several words immediately and he then noticed how well-worn the pages were. “My, my,” he mouthed to himself, stealing a glance at Avery to make sure she hadn’t heard him. Now he knew where she got the ideas for her outfits from. It was cute, but it was also… frustrating. If she was so into these sorts of stories, he didn’t fully understand why she’d rebuked him the night before. Characters in these novels engaged in all manner of [i]extracurricular activities[/i] while they went about their adventurers. What had given the Avery the idea that it would risk their professional relationship? He wasn’t going to find out by reading more of the novel so he put it back down and made himself comfortable on the couch instead while he finished his toast. The sorceress was well into her work now - but nothing had really come up, even from feeling her way over the item with magic. She tapped her fingers over the desk and opened her eyes again, staring out into the garden, and at some herbs that were boxed in the planter on the sill. Maybe the answer was something alchemical? The smoke of a herb could perhaps crack the code. She stood up from her seat, forgetting that she had company having been so focussed on her mission. Avery then reached across the desk to open the window, bending across to flip the latch. After a few attempts and wiggles it came loose and she managed to push the pane open. She pulled back to grab a small knife from her desk and resume her position of leaning across the polished walnut surface so that she could take cuttings from the plants in the window. She soon also realised that the soft and cooling breeze was very pleasant, it seemed to carry through the delightful scents of Lyria, unlike Velen which just smelled rather a lot like sulphur. The comparison elicited a quiet chuckle as she worked. The thought to let her know that he was still there crossed his mind but Valker quickly decided against it, and watched in silence as Avery bent over and stretched herself out to reach into the garden. He felt his hands ball into fists and he had to work to stop himself from breathing in too fast, like a bull seeing red. She was absurdly sexy. Valker bit his lip and, at a loss for what to do with himself, crossed his arms. He’d always considered her attractive, of course, but it was like she’d only become even more beautiful and voluptuous over the course of the past seven years. Had he ever felt so strongly about a woman? He tried to look away and distract himself by thinking back on the women he’d been with but Valker didn’t last more than a few seconds before he inadvertently turned his head back to look at Avery’s shapely buttocks, the arch of her back, the silk of her revealing shirt brushing against her breasts while she cut the plants… Satisfied with the cuttings, she removed herself from the desk and dropped back into her seat with a content sigh - entirely unaware of the effect such a simple thing had on Valker. She cleared her throat and reached for another chocolate. She began arranging the cuttings, trimming away at any of the excess leaves, and fibres of the stalk. The room was completely silent save for the trimming and clipping at the desk, and the occasional sound of a cat moving around somewhere. Finally, she tied the bunch off with a short piece of twine - turning it in front of her face to check that it was correctly bound. This was hardly magic, really. It was more the work of Druids to use nature like this. But the method of burning the herbs was said to cleanse energies. It was worth a try, anything was worth a try. Avery ran a finger over the top of the bunch, letting a flame flicker. She had half expected the thing to catch fire completely but to her surprise it just began to smoke. A thin wisp began to pour from the herbs - the smell strong, but not obnoxious or nauseating. It just smelled… Clean. The entire process must have taken fifteen minutes, swirling the herbs over the apparatus and the clamp that was housing the amulet. Feeling suitable optimistic about it now, Avery placed her hand once more on the amulet - expecting to feel that something was different, but there was nothing. It felt like the last straw and she groaned at first, a groan that turned her face to a scowl as she drooped over the desk with her hands running through her hair in frustration. “Damnit…” she muttered quietly. “Damnit!” she spoke louder, voice laced with irritation. Before he himself even really knew what he was doing, Valker had gotten to his feet, walked over to where Avery was sitting and placed an arm around her shoulders while he sank down on his haunches next to her. “Hey,” he said and gave her upper arm a squeeze. “It'll be alright. How can I help?” How could she possibly stay annoyed at the amulet, when Valker was beside her? His eyes were so soft and he felt relaxed. The arm he’d placed around her was relaxed. When he was this close, it did not go unnoticed how good he smelled. “I just need to take a break. Or find another angle. I don’t know…” She looked at him, and then back to the amulet a few times. “It’s been a while since I’ve had such a challenging task…” Whether it was still the feeling of the anger at the amulet, or [i]something else[/i], she could feel her heart beating faster. Valker leaned in and kissed her. He knew she didn't want to ruin their working together, or whatever reasons she had, so he kept it at that. “There,” he said and smiled. “That ought to refresh your system.” It was only then that the reality of what he'd just done set in and his expression quickly turned sheepish. Should he pull his arm back? He wasn't sure. With bated breath, he waited to see how she would react. All she could do was stay silent in the shock of the moment. There was a tension between them now, and he had taken her by surprise, whatever she had been thinking before that had gone. [i]What amulet? Velen? Blackbough...[/i] She slowly blinked - knowing she had to do something, [i]anything[/i]. Or else he was going to… To what? Leave? She didn’t want that. She didn’t want it at all and so she allowed something else to act for her. Her hands found their way to his shirt which she grabbed at - to pull him back to her. This time, it was Avery who kissed him. An immense wave of relief washed over Valker and he relished the kiss she returned with every fiber of his being as seven years of tension was resolved in an instant. It felt like his heart was going to burst. He'd never felt an emotion like this before -- how could he? He was a witcher. Valker pushed the thought aside and placed cupped her face with both of his hands, his thumbs brushing against her cheeks. “Avery,” he stammered when their kiss finally broke. “I know what you said, but I -- I needed you to know how I feel.” That familiar tingle… It brought a smile to her face and eyes. Or had it been the kiss? Or what he said? She wasn’t sure, she only knew one truth in the moment. “I feel… Show me again… I--” Avery decided not to wait for him, especially since words were not coming to her. She took the opportunity to lead the way by kissing him again. A feeling of regret washed over her for not having kissed him last night, and at the banquet. She wanted to have those kisses now. As she pulled back from the kiss again, she bit her lip. “Sorry I… Is that too much?” The look on her face was both adorable and irresistible. “Not at all,” Valker purred. He placed one arm around her waist and pulled her forward until she was sitting on the edge of the chair. Their bodies touched as Valker pulled her into a proper embrace and he kissed her again, more passionately this time. She'd wanted him to show her again, he was going to let her feel it too. She was taken over by a delightful feeling of ecstacy at the sensation of Valker’s tongue on her lips - she gave in to it and her mouth opened while her own hands found the back of his neck. She let her tongue brush over his and it was then that she felt how agonising it had been to have held herself back for so long from intimacy with him. There was an electrifying feeling to being this close to him. “I should have done this years ago,” she mumbled against his lips in between breaths, using a deliberate repetition of his own words. Valker smiled at that. “But now we have,” he said and pulled her even closer against him, his hand slipping beneath the fabric of her shirt, fingers trailing up her spine. His tongue found hers again but slowly this time, savoring every second. She was a delight in every sense; her mouth tasted of chocolate and she smelled of flowers. He wanted to move his hands and his tongue, to feel and taste every part of her, but she had been decidedly not ready the night before. He pulled back from the kiss and the hand that had been on her cheek brushed down against her collarbone, his fingers struggling against the temptation to go lower. “Is this okay?” he asked softly, his other hand sliding down to her lower back. She'd kissed men before. In fact she'd kissed a lot of men, and yet with Valker - it was like any past experience was forgotten. This was different, he was intense, the magic that ran through him amplified her senses and so for Avery, this was a first kiss. She was so close to him, she had felt his heartbeat and the vibrations of his medallion on her skin. The sorceress knew he was holding back, last night had made him cautious… But his fingers on her bare skin, the way they trailed there… She bit her lip, feeling a fire within her. A deep longing for more of him. “It's very okay…” she whispered, closing her eyes to lean in to his lips again. Everything he was doing was so soft and gentle, but she knew that he was holding back from his real desires. Those whispered words were like music to his ears. The witcher wrapped his arms around her and lifted Avery up with great strength, continuing their slow, deep kiss while he did so. He carried her to the beautiful Ofieri sofa and sat them both down on it -- now they had much more room to work with than on that chair by the desk. He looked her deep in the eyes and saw that she wanted him, her burning desire for more of him… perhaps even all of him. One hand moved down from her lower back and onto her buttocks, grasping at the flesh through the fabric of her pants with splayed fingers, while the other slipped into her shirt and cupped one of her breasts, gently squeezing and gripping, his thumb drawing circles on her nipple. Feverish heat burned in his mind and his body and his kissing intensified, his whole body moving against hers with the motions of his tongue. It felt so special to be here with him, alone. It wasn't like Blackbough, the room next to the stables - empty and bare of anything luxurious. But here she was home. She grabbed at his shirt again, to pull him down with her as she let herself fall slowly back into the sofa. The searing pleasure she felt as his fingers caressed her breast was euphoric and she arched her back against him in response, that yes, this really was more than okay. “Valker…” She moaned out at him between their kisses, feeling something of an unfamiliar ache in her loins as she continued to become aroused by him. While their passionate embrace continued, Winifred made her way across the room and towards Avery's desk. Not before stopping to watch her mistress and her witcher engage in whatever it was they were doing. She clambered up and hissed at the amulet and began wildly swatting at it - powerfully enough to send it flying with the apparatus, alongside numerous crystals from the desk and to the floor with an almighty crash. After that, she simply sat on the edge and nonchalantly raised her paw again, as if to make out that she'd simply been cleaning herself the whole time. Valker leapt to his feet and cursed up a storm at the sight of Winifred licking her paw besides the mess on the floor. That blasted cat had startled him today more than anything else had in the past year combined. He looked back at Avery after the fact, suddenly aware of the vulgar tirade he’d just spewed. “Sorry about that,” he breathed and rolled his shoulders. “I don’t take well to surprises. I didn’t mean what I said, I’m sure she’s a very nice cat…” He trailed off as his eyes fell on the amulet. It had split open and revealed something inside of it -- something silver and shiny. “What the hell?” he said and knelt down to pick up the piece of metal. It looked like a piece of a witcher’s medallion. Not of his own School, Valker realized immediately, but the School of the Bear. What were the odds of two witchers that had nothing to do with each other being involved in the same mystery? Valker could only assume that the witcher that this medallion had belonged to was also dead. Parting willingly with one’s medallion was unthinkable. He returned to the sofa and sat down next to Avery, all thoughts of passion momentarily forgotten. “Look at this,” he said and held the piece up for her to inspect. As the sorceress sat up, she tucked her feet underneath herself and looked at the treasure from within the medallion. Unlike Valker she could not recognise what it was, but it did indeed seem to be familiar to him. She could tell based on the way his features changed. Suddenly, Avery shot an annoyed glance at the cat on the desk before turning back to the witcher. Carefully she took it between her own fingers, the way metal felt was similar to his own medallion and at that she gave him a knowing look, “did this belong to your brother?” she asked quietly, handing it back to him. Her mind already working at what she could possibly do with the piece to gauge any information. “No,” Valker said immediately. “Look at the design. It’s the lower half of the face of a bear. This belonged to a witcher from a different School. So either Urszula has turned killing witchers into a hobby, or she stole this from the one who did… maybe it came after her and killed Domren. I wonder why he was with her?” He was thinking out loud now and ran a hand through his hair. “Is there anything you can learn from this?” “She left it there for me to find… She knows that I am,” Avery paused and looked into Valker’s eyes, away from the medallion, “she knows that I am acquainted with a Witcher. I think this is why she had me follow a trail to Velen.” This all seemed a lot like the coincidences that Valker had been considering, and she began to feel bad about having let momentary passion take over what was clearly an important task given to her by the mentor. “As for what I can learn. I can use aeromancy to find out any information, that will be much easier than trying to solve the mystery of the necklace…” She sighed, and if Valker hadn’t been in such a serious mood all of a sudden she may have allowed herself to laugh at the ridiculousness of it just being a breakable outer shell. “It’s not too dangerous of a spell, whatever happened to the witcher who wore that, I can show it to you.” There was a split second’s moment of hesitation as Valker’s eyes fell on Avery’s shirt, still loose from where his hand had been, that offered a tantalizing view of her cleavage. If the cat had waited just a little while longer with solving the puzzle for them, who knew what would have happened? But Domren was dead, they had a new clue, now really wasn’t the time for that sort of thing anymore. [i]Later.[/i] “Yes, please,” the witcher said and leaned forwards in his seat, elbows on his knees and hands clasped together, eager to see what Avery would do -- and to distract himself from missed opportunities. With the necklace fragment in her hand, she began to utter her incantation under her breath. It wasn’t a particularly taxing or difficult spell, and within moments it appeared to be working. The piece levitated from her hand, and a gust formed around it that moved it away from the two as they sat. Her hands began to glow with a pale, otherworldly green and the movements that her hands made was like those made when unfurling a scroll. Before their eyes, a portal opened around the floating jaw of the bear. It was different to a portal, in that it appeared more as a floating image - a window into a moment past. As Avery focussed her words, the picture became clearer for them both to see, and as sure as she had said there would be, there was a masculine figure in the centre of what appeared to be another cave, the walls were highlighted and streaked with blue and violet - the rocks were coated in moss, and there was a body of water running across the ground. The witcher in the picture must have been wading knee deep through it. “Do you see?” She asked, now that the spell was in effect. The sorceress was unable to remove her eyes from the scene as it played out, slower than it would have in reality so that they could take in every detail of the event. So far, just a witcher with his Bear Medallion wading through water in a cavern. Valker nodded and narrowed his eyes at the mirage, trying to identify the species of moss that grew on the rocks in an attempt to divine anything concrete from the image. It was hopeless -- this cave could have been most anywhere. One of his feet began to tap on the floor while they waited for something to happen. He was short of height, but very muscular. His hair was clipped short, and unlike Valker he had no beard but his face was scarred. She began to feel a ringing in her ears, just faintly but enough to be noticeable. It did not deter her from looking deeper, pushing further with her spell. Her hands moved again and brought out more of the image, gave clarity to what had been there. The face of the witcher began to turn, frame by frame as something clearly appeared in his vision. Bit by bit his eyebrows raised and eyes widened, it didn’t take too long for his lips to part into an open-mouthed scowl - as if he was terrified but wanted to appear as menacing as a witcher should. Whatever he was looking at, the shock on his face indicated he had never seen such a thing before. Avery was desperate to know what he was looking at, and only she had the power to do so - Valker was simply an observer of the mirage. It was her connection to it that made it materialise, he could not interact as she could. She whispered more of the incantation, but nothing happened and the moment of the Witcher’s death continued to play out until finally she caught a glimpse on the surface of the water of a shadowed figure growing larger and larger. A reflection, it was not too dissimilar to the shape and form of the werewolf that she and Valker had hunted down years ago. Could it have been a werewolf that killed Domren? Surely not. They were not common creatures, but she could not think of a reason that a witcher would not recognise one. The ringing in her ears grew louder to the point of distraction, and the mirage flickered in front of them, breaking up and knitting itself back together. She looked closer at the reflection of the beast on the water's surface, instinctively she reached for Valker’s hand and wrapped hers around it, squeezing him. “There,” she said, although her voice was pained. “The water, look,” the woman continued as she struggled with the way the spell was beginning to hurt her. It was the same feeling she’d had when she’d tried to push back the wraiths. She did not tear her eyes away, soon there would be nothing left to see and the scene would end, but they were in luck. Two bright green orbs flashed open, the creatures eyes… Such big eyes, so bright, and harbouring such a burning rage. Then it happened. It was when she was studying the eyes that they moved, the stare meeting hers abruptly. This was… Unheard of. How could it be possible for any kind of being to detect her via aeromancy. It was impossible, and yet the creature was indeed looking at her and just like that the pain in her head grew until she could not take it anymore. It felt as though her brain was melting, as though knives were being thrust into her. Sharp, jabbing pains that she recognised immediately as an incredibly potent blocking response to magic of the mind. She had been blocked in the past, but it was a simple buzz… This was agony. Blood began to stream from her nose and she shut her eyes tightly so as not to have to look at the image any longer. Her hands trembled, as the blood continued pouring from her nose to her chin and down her front. “M-move the piece,” she pleaded, unable to look at Valker, retreating into herself. “Shit,” Valker whispered at the sight of blood and his eyes went wide. So much for a harmless spell. He, too, had been intently fixed on the shadow-shape reflected in the water and its unnaturally bright gaze and it wasn’t until Avery had said anything that he had noticed her distress and injury. What the hell was going on? The witcher did as he was asked and snatched the piece of the medallion out of the air and threw it across the room with enough force to shatter a small jar on Avery’s desk. He paid it no mind and instead turned to Avery, grabbing her shoulders with both of his hands, his normally stoic expression alive with concern. “Are you alright now? Can you stem the bleeding? Do I need to fetch a healer?” Valker had enough means with which he could heal himself but nothing that was suitable for the unmutated bodies of others. As the spell ended, the pain quickly began to subside and she took in several deep breaths in an attempt to steady herself, to bring her back from her panicked state. She could tell that the bleeding had stopped too. The presence was gone. For a while she could not speak and simply dabbed at her mouth, her eyes wide with astonishment. “I don’t understand,” she whispered, finally meeting Valker’s gaze - the distress across his face for her strangely helped her to settle, she wasn’t alone after all. “How could it reach me…?” She asked desperately, eyes flitting around the room to ensure it hadn’t snuck out, it seemed that anything was possible. “It looked [i]at[/i] me,” she breathed out in disbelief. "That confirms that it's not just a monster, at least," Valker said and leaned in a little closer to inspect Avery's pupils. He motioned for her to follow his finger with her gaze. Satisfied that she didn't have any initial symptoms of brain damage, he sat back and rubbed his chin. "Something versed in magic. A shadow only reflected in water… a demon of some kind, perhaps. Their presence in our world is so rare that it didn't cross my mind before." Valker stared at Avery for a bit. "Are you okay?" he asked softly. It took her a moment to answer, to truly come back to herself after the shock, but she knew that the threat had gone for now. “Yes.” She tried to smile at him, realising then that she was still bloodied and it probably looked rather awful. Avery stood up, her legs wobbling just a little as she teetered over to the desk, facing away from the witcher as she gathered what magic she could to clean it away. “Strong mages can block spells of the mind to a similar effect… Not to such a vicious degree but that's all it was. Whatever we're dealing with knew that we would come looking… This is incredibly dark magic, Valker. It scares me,” she admitted, a forlorn expression on her now clean face. She turned back to him with worry in her eyes. “What do you want to do now?” That question would have elicited an entirely different response just ten minutes ago, but the look on Avery's face and the sight of her wobbling on her legs made it clear to Valker that she needed to rest. "The spell weakened you," he said. "You should recover. I haven't tangled with demons before so I'm going to learn what I can. Lyria has at least one temple and an academy, from what I remember. I'll start there." Valker also got to his feet and gathered his belongings. He paused once his swords were on his back again, stepped up to Avery and kissed her with all the tenderness he could muster, cupping her head with one hand. "Take it easy, alright?" he whispered. She felt a relief when he kissed her, but a sense of anxiety knowing he would leave her. Damn it, this was exactly what she'd wanted to avoid - but, she couldn't deny that it was nice. She placed her fingers on the place where his lips had been and smiled, “of course I will.” Avery let her hands fall to her sides and she leaned back against the desk, “be careful — if anyone troubles you then tell them you’re my guest. Avoid the guards if you can,” her voice fell sheepish at the mention of them, “they’re not my biggest fans.” She tried to laugh it off, but he’d already witnessed their apprehension earlier. “I’ll be here, don’t go disappearing if you find the answers…” [hr] Dusk had already fallen over Lyria by the time Valker returned from his quest. He carried a number of scrolls in his arms, dutifully copied for him by the scribes of the academy’s library from an old tome about the various supernatural threats of the world. It was a book that Valker vaguely remembered from his own education at Gwynban but it would be good to refresh his memory, in particular because he had paid no mind to the passages about demons before. The witcher didn’t announce his return and simply entered the house and returned to the living room, deep in thought and his face set in its usual scowl. He placed the scrolls on the desk and it was only then that he thought to look around for Avery. “I’m back,” he said, raising his voice so that it would travel throughout the house. She had been in a state of half-sleep, submerged from the neck down in a bath of her own when his voice rang out. Her eyes opened with a start, the water significantly less hot than it had been when she had entered, the room was still steamed up nonetheless. The fragrance of rose and lychee practically humming in the bathroom. She quickly got herself out, a swift motion of her hand to dry herself off, and a teal and orange robe materialised to cover her form. Her hair was still damp and she ran a hand through it to pull it atop her head, fastening it in place with a clip. All three of the cats had joined her in the makeshift sauna and were just as happily relaxed and sprawled out as she had been. Little evidence of her headache remained. She made her way down the stairs with as much of a spring in her step as she could. “Fruitful trip out I hope?” she quizzed with a smile, her voice more subdued than usual but sweet all the same. “I think so,” Valker said while he unfurled the scrolls and placed paperweights on them. He looked up at Avery and nodded in approval at the sight of her in a robe and with her damp hair in a bun. “You look relaxed. Good. Come, see for yourself.” The sorceress stepped beside him, tipping her head to the side to gaze down at the scrolls - they were covered in text. In [i]very[/i] small text. So small that she had to lean closer to the parchment to make out the neat words. She squinted to read it, releasing a long sigh as she did so. “Demons…” she said aloud, as she made note of the repetition of that word in particular. “Demons?” she repeated as a question and looked up towards Valker. “Makes sense in a way… No run of the mill monster could, well...” Valker nodded. “It’s a possibility. There aren’t a lot of options when it comes to entities that can control wraiths, kill witchers and resist magic. They’re poorly understood and rarely seen in our world. The author talks about some methods he’s heard about, but not in great detail, to bind a demon to your will and subsequently banish it. And look at this,” he explained and pointed towards one of the scrolls. “Turns out there used to be a witcher school, the School of the Moth, that were specialists in demonology. The bad news is that they’re all dead and the school was disbanded.” His face was grim and he tapped a finger on the parchment. “I’m not sure what we’re getting ourselves into, to be honest.” “Nor I, but that thing has to be stopped…” she replied, bringing her thumb to her lips while she thought on what Valker had explained to her. A disbanded witcher school was certainly cause for curiosity and she paced across the living room floor, deep in thought on it. “A witcher school, binding, demons…” Even just putting something of a word to the culprit of the witcher murders made her temples ache, and Avery wondered if she was missing something. Had this demon tried to contact her during the aeromancy? A shiver ran down her spine. It was powerful, and that alone scared her. “Do you have any idea of how to fight one? How can I help?” She turned back to face him, staring into his eyes that had a pleasant glow about them in the candlelight, despite his austere expression. “Do you think that we [i]can[/i] fight it?” “I don’t know,” the witcher admitted. Overconfidence was considered a severe sin in their line of work and Valker had no qualms about acknowledging the gaps in his knowledge. “Demons aren’t like the other monsters that crossed over into our world during the Conjunction of the Spheres. It’s not so much a matter of fighting them as it is a matter of controlling them, according to this book. Take away their powers with magic and you can banish them from this plane. That, I’m sure, you can help with,” he added and nodded, as if to empower his own words. “If any two people can defeat a demon, a witcher and a sorceress have to be it.” “We both saw what it did to the witcher — and then to me…” Her voice tapered off and she brought her arms around herself. “I don’t doubt you’re right - but… I want us to be careful, Valker.” Avery began to pace the floor again, heading to the long shelf of books, her finger ran across the spines as she moved. She had books on monsters, sure, but nothing on demons. “We can fight it, we could probably harm it but,” she paused and brought her thumb to her lips and closed her eyes. “We have to accept that we might not be ready.” The sorceress already knew that Valker might not like the implication of what she was saying. This demon was targeting witcher’s, after all. “Controlling them - controlling it would require very strong magic, [i]very strong[/i]...” He sighed. “That may be, but it knows you exist now. It might even know [i]where[/i] you are. We can’t stay here,” Valker said and crossed his arms, thinking. His brow furrowed even deeper and he ran his fingers through his beard. “There is only one place where I can guarantee your safety. It’s just… well... “ He had caught her attention with whatever it was he was about to say. Her head tipped to the side and her eyes flashed open. “Where?” She asked, her tone brittle at the suggestion of the demon knowing her whereabouts. “Gwynban,” Valker said, visibly feeling awkward about the whole thing. “It’s our fortress. Our home. I’ve never brought an outsider before.” He cleared his throat and laughed. “I’ll never hear the end of it if I bring you,” he admitted and then immediately realized how that sounded. “That’s nothing personal, don’t get me wrong, and I love my brothers, but… you know what men are like.” He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Doesn’t matter, of course. Your safety might be at stake.” [i]Stop talking already,[/i] he hissed to himself. For a while she didn’t say anything, and Valker needn’t have worried about the words that followed his first, she was too busy mulling it over to take them in. “I’ve been away from my work too long already…” she muttered quietly, as if it was to herself more than to him. “The Countess relies on me… Her nephew… I was teaching him, I’ve already been gone weeks—“ Avery sighed and pinched her lip between the thumb and forefinger. She remained quiet for a moment more, staring blankly at the bookshelf. “You’re right,” she finally said, having come round to herself once more. “If we’re at this… [i]Gwynban[/i] of yours, we can put our heads together in safety. They know I’m aloof in my work, it’s just… another way of protecting the Continent. By extension, Lyria.” She nodded and began to move around the room again, only this time with purpose. She took several items from shelves and began piling trinkets up in her arms. After all, she was still Avery. [i]She still liked her things.[/i] Before he could say anything about it, she shot Valker a look, “these are important. For studying the magic.” Her expression was dead serious as she lifted the pillow from the sofa and stuffed it under her arm. “Wait,” she said, blinking — Valker’s words finally catching alongside her train of thought, “what men are like? What [i]are[i] they like?” “Nothing,” he said, a little too quickly. “I mean, nothing you have to worry about,” he added and turned to face the scrolls on the desk, busying himself by rolling them up to be put in his backpack when he was ready. “Gwynban is built into the peak of one of the mountains west of Kaedwen. Nobody except us knows where it is or how to get there. I take it you can’t create a portal to somewhere you haven’t been before?” Valker asked, his awkward demeanor forced to make way for pragmatism. She cocked an eyebrow and stifled a chuckle, the realisation that she may be thinking of packing too much dawning on her. “Oh dear… Yes it’s something like that. I can get us to Kaedwen. As close as you can tell me… I’ve travelled it quite extensively. I guess it will be horseback after that…” She began to mutter incomprehensibly to herself after that, putting some of the trinkets back. “Are you going to have to blindfold me on the ride there?” She asked playfully while crouched down, scrambling through a small cupboard for something or other, hiding her sly smirk with the door. “Don’t be ridiculous,” Valker retorted, incredulous. After a second his eyes widened and he turned to face Avery. “Or should I?” he asked, thinking out loud. There was the distinct possibility that old Bram would skin his hide for giving away such a secret to a stranger. Then again, Avery wasn’t the first guest that Gwynban had ever housed. Just Valker’s first. “No,” he realized and went back to work. “No, that won’t be necessary.” “Alright then, I’ll be sure to remember every step of the trek there to tell my colleagues,” she joked with another stifled laugh. It suddenly felt a little ridiculous to be so concerned with the things she wanted to bring with her, they wouldn’t be there long, would they? Most likely not. She rose back up to standing and glanced at Valker. “Ready when you are,” she said as she brought the bag to her side. “We’ll take the horses and be on our way.”