“Wake up!” – a shock spell zapped Lena. “Up, up, on your feet now!” – a voice shouted in her head. She’d heard this voice before.

“What?!” – she got angry. “I’m warm and well fed, and the cushions are soft, what do you want from me? I’m not going anywhere! I am done!” She fell back onto the cushions, her anger fizzled out.

“Up, I said!” – the voice shouted, a shock spell zapping her again.

“Aaww! Get away from me!” – Lena rubbed the singed spot and went back to sleep.

“Now!!” – the voice bellowed and a rather more powerful shock zapped Lena.

“Hey!!” – she was on her feet. “I’ll show you! Get lost!!”

The zapping continued, coming from the Ether itself, it seemed, as Lena could not see her opponent. She ran out of the tent.

The land around the tent was barren – not icy, not covered in snow, not even rocky. It was just grey, dull, stretching in all directions as far as the eye could see. She turned around to go back to the tent, ready to forget this interruption – there was obviously nothing to come out for. Zap! A lightning bolt got her to whip around.

“This way!” – a voice said and another lightning hit a bit further on. “March!” Zap.

“Ok, ok, I’m going” – Lena mumbled. This was the easier thing to do. Go see what the voice wants, then get back to the tent and sleep.

The voice led her for a while, showing the way with lightning bolts and zapping her into obedience.

“How much further?” – Lena complained. “What do you want from me?”

“I want you to find yourself!” – the voice replied. “Surely, the Sloth could not have sucked all of it out yet?”

The Sloth… The man with cat eyes? The nice tent to rest for as long as she wanted… Yes, the Sloth Demon… “‘He’ll make you forget everything you knew, you’ll sleep in his domain forever – be watchful'” – Jowan’s voice sounded in Lena’s memory. “‘Friends? What friends?'” – she recalled the man with cat eyes. “What have I forgotten?” – she thought with horror.

…

The landscape changed in the distance. Lena no longer needed the lightning to show her the way, she went towards the change. Swamps. Overcast skies. Stench. Corpses everywhere – soldiers. A battlefield. She looked around – she was in the middle of it.

She saw fire in the distance. Not a steady burning campfire, but flashes of it, as if someone was using fire spells. She walked towards it. A different stench mixed into the stench of corpses – rotten flesh. Walking rotten flesh. Ghouls. One man was fighting a whole pack – a witcher.

He was successful. He stopped, turned the last ghoul over with his boot. Looked around, found the nest, put a bomb inside. “Filthy beasts” – he muttered. Then fell to his knees, exhausted. He was bleeding. White hair, amber eyes. Cat eyes. Wolf medallion.

“Geralt!” – Lena remembered the scene, remembered finding him there, pouring a potion down his throat.

“Hello, sis” – he had said.

She rushed to him now, she’d do it all over again, she grabbed his shoulders… he wasn’t there. The vision faded away like smoke. The land around her was barren and grey again.

…

“He made me forget my brother!” – Lena was getting angry at the Sloth Demon. “But that wasn’t all. What else?”

“Don’t get caught out again, if you want to return” – a voice said in her head.

“Return? Return where?”

Wait, this was important. If she had to return, she first needed to remember why she had left, and where she was now. Because she must have had a purpose… Do something and return.

The voice was silent. She had to work it out on her own. At least she didn’t need to be zapped into doing it now.

She started walking, doesn’t matter which way, she already figured out how this place worked, whatever it was. You walked, things appeared.

…

She saw a fort in the distance. A crumbling wall around it, but the tower still intact, like any old fort in Cyrodiil or Skyrim. She entered. Something was different, but she didn’t know what.

“Here we go again” – she thought. “What kind of demon now?”

She went through some passages and entered a large well-lit chamber. A strange contraption occupied most of free space: three tripods with mirrors and crystals, focussing a beam of light in the centre. A dark-haired woman in black and white was fiddling with it.

“No, he isn’t there” – Lena heard her mutter. “Perhaps Philipa would know?”

She cast a spell and an image of another woman appeared where the beams crossed.

“Gosh, you look dreadful” – was her greeting.

“And nice to see you too, Philipa” – the woman in black and white said. “Do you know where Geralt has gone to?”

“Why would I?” – she looked indifferent. “I’m not the one who’s desperate to sleep with him. Swallow your pride and ask Triss.”

“I have” – the black-and-white woman answered. “She doesn’t know. And I checked – he isn’t with her.”

“Well” – Philipa raised an eyebrow and looked around the room. “Perhaps you need to search somewhere else entirely. Since you’ve left our realm already. Why don’t you ask her?” – she pointed at Lena and disappeared.

Lena was watching it and thinking that surely, she must know who they were… Who the woman in black and white was, at least… Geralt… she was looking for her brother. But why?

The woman in black and white spun around and saw Lena standing there, not recognising her. She zapped her with a shock spell. “Wake up! Remember me!” – her voice was familiar. Yes, somewhat changed, but it was the voice that’s been following Lena around, and the shock spell only confirmed it.

“Stop zapping me” – Lena said. “I know you but I can’t remember.”

“Damned Sloth Demon!” – the woman clenched her fists. “Follow me” – she commanded and walked out. Lena followed.

…

“Well, if this doesn’t work, then I don’t know what will” – the woman gave Lena a steaming potion. “It’s a memory potion. If it works, it will likely overwhelm you, all memories rushing in at once. You’ll faint, but I’ll be there, and when you come to, eventually, you should be all right. And remember everything.”

“Should be?” – Lena didn’t like the sound of it too much.

“Oh, just drink it! What have you got to lose?”

What, indeed? She drank. She fainted.

…

Lena woke up in a bed in a circular chamber, probably a fort. A dark-haired woman in black and white was sitting at a desk with her back to her. A faint scent of lilac and gooseberries filled the room.

“Yen?” – Lena sat up. “Are you a vision?”

“Not a vision, and it’s good to have you back!” – Yennefer jumped up. “You remember me, what else?”

“Geralt is waiting for you” – Lena remembered Geralt’s tired face back in Skyrim.

“But where is he? I searched everywhere…” – Yen broke off. “No, we’ll talk about this later. What else do you remember? Do you know where we are?”

“‘Send me after him! Send me into the Fade!'” – a voice echoed in Lena’s mind, and she saw herself kneeling over Hauk’s body. Now she remembered.

“The Fade. I am here to find Hauk.”

“And not to succumb to demons” – added Yennefer smiling. “But I think you’ve learned a thing or two by now. Come, I’ll help you.”

“Thank you” – Lena took her hand. “Wolf is in Skyrim, he misses you.”

The fort vanished. Yennefer had pushed Lena into a portal.

…

Mountains. Lena stood on a slope of a mountain, she was high enough so that all was white around her, but below, in the canyon, she saw grass and trees in bloom. This wasn’t Skyrim – these were the Jeralls in Cyrodiil.

“Wait, wasn’t it where we got into that fight with the bandits?”

She looked around, yes, it probably was. A figure was standing on a mountain slope further ahead – a man, perhaps? She started towards him.

“Hauk!” – she was close enough to recognise him.

“Hello” – he said, with a blank face. “Nice view from here.”

Lena was taken aback – this wasn’t the reaction she had expected. He didn’t seem to even recognise her, or if he did, he didn’t seem to care at all. Was that another demon? Or was that Hauk after a demon was done with him? She had to be cautious. “Don’t succumb to another demon” – she heard Yennefer’s words in her head.

“Hauk” – Lena started carefully. “Have you eaten? There’s a campsite nearby, I’ve got mutton on the spit.”

She didn’t know if there was a campsite nearby, but she figured it would appear, if she wanted it to. Roasted mutton was Hauk’s favourite, if he didn’t respond, it wasn’t Hauk.

“Whaaa–?” – he looked around, as if seeing her for the first time. “Wolf? What are you doing here?”

“Roasting some mutton, it seems” – she smiled. “Come on.” She took his hand. It was warm.

…

“Wake up, wake up!” – someone was casting healing spells at Lena. The room was spinning. Wait… perhaps she should open her eyes.

A face of a dark-haired young man was coming into focus. “Come on, you’re back, you must be back!” He was pale, but still casting spells.

“Jowan?” – Lena recognised him. “You’ve done it!” – she kissed him. “Hauk?”

“Sleeping” – Jowan looked embarrassed. “He’s been back for a while already… But you… What took you so long? I could barely keep the portal open.”

“But you have” – Lena got up. “I… got side-tracked” – she said, blushing all over. “Demons…”

“Say no more” – Jowan smiled. “I’ve been there, you know. You help someone, you think you’re done, you let your guard down, and that’s when it happens.”

“Yeah…” There was no need to specify which demon got her – again.

“You’re back, that’s what counts” – Jowan said firmly. “The rest stays in the Fade.”