“Geralt! Back in Riverwood, are you?” – Lena embraced her brother. “I thought you were building a house on the moor?”

“It is being built” – Geralt nodded. “I don’t have to supervise though. I’m a witcher, not a builder” – he winked. “And there are monsters here in need of my attention.”

“Monsters awakened by the Oblivion gates – we’ve heard” – Lena nodded. “Werewolves and trolls and such.”

“As well as rampaging ice worms and mammoths” – chimed in Garrus who was watching Geralt with rapt attention.

“That’s just wild life spooked by the fighting” – Geralt turned to him. “I try not to fight wild life.”

“‘Try to’ being the keyword here” – grinned Hauk. “We tried too, but that mammoth was set on trampling us to death.”

“You’ve got to calm it first, of course” – Geralt smiled. “I thought you mages knew the spell… Oh wait – you’re a battlemage.”

“Touché!” – laughed Hauk. “I never thought of calming it…”

The tavern was getting loud with tales of hunting the mammoths while avoiding being trampled to death by the rest of the herd. After a while, Lena got up and tugged on Geralt’s sleeve.

“We need to catch up – in private” – she shot a glance at Hauk – you know this already. Hauk nodded in understanding.

“Well, there’s always Sven’s mother’s house – she gave me the attic, says it’s good to have a man around the house again. I don’t think Sven likes this very much” – he grinned. “Let’s go.”

“Isn’t she talking your ear off with her praise of Sven?” – asked Lena on the way.

“She is, but he’s still a little boy to her, she doesn’t see him as a grown man, you know” – Geralt shrugged. “I wouldn’t exactly call him mature either, but he’s not a little boy.”

“Is he still trying to impress Camilla with his poetry?”

“Not after you put a stop to it” – Geralt grinned. “It’s open rivalry now between him and Faendal, to everyone’s amusement – neither of them can fight, although Faendal is a fine marksman. Trouble is, it’s no use in a fist fight.”

Lena was glad to see that Riverwood was still a lively place.

Sven’s mother’s attic was set up as a large guest room not just with a bed but also with its own dining table, and Lena had to admit that aside of having to listen to Hilde’s praise of her boy, this was a very comfortable place to stay. Geralt got drinks out of the cupboard and gestured her to the table.

“You look like you are about to burst with all the things you want to tell me” – he said, grinning. “So let’s hear it, little sister.”

Geralt didn’t wear heavy armour, but he was sitting across the table from Lena, and was thus protected from sudden punches under the ribs. Lena had to settle on glaring at him instead.

“I found a letter from our father – to both of us. I found the fortress where he was stationed. He might still be alive. Lucien and I… I don’t know what exactly… but I chose him. Also, I am pregnant.”

“Whoa! Slow down!” – Geralt sat back in his chair. “Yes, I see the need to catch up. Who’s the father?”

“What?”

“Who is the father of your child?” – Geralt grinned, knowing full well that his question was confusing.

“Oh… I am not sure” – Lena blushed. “Hauk or Lucien.”

“Well, that’s not too bad. I’m glad you finally admitted to yourself that there has never been anyone else for you besides Lucien. It wasn’t really a choice, was it?” – he looked at her with his penetrating gaze.

“But when we were at Lake View…” – Lena hesitated. “You told me to leave him alone!”

“I told you not to toy with him, that’s not the same. Also, I asked you about your feelings, and you couldn’t answer.”

“That’s also what Hauk said…” – Lena nodded. “It is strange really that he and you and possibly even Lucien should understand my feelings better than I…”

“Nothing strange about it – happens all the time” – Geralt shrugged. “The same as me and Yen.”

“Have you heard from her? She isn’t here yet, I take it?”

“She isn’t here yet, no, but I’ve had a raven” – Geralt smiled. “No messages – or rather the raven itself was the message. Sent through a portal – it was reeking of magic. Yen herself will have to travel by ship though, and that takes months and months.”

Lena nodded – she made the journey to the Northern Realms and back herself. The Great Maelstrom in the Middle Ocean was unpredictable – not only could it swallow ships whole, but because of the time dilation around it, you never knew how long the journey would take, assuming you survived it. It was not surprising therefore that such journeys were rare, and so Yennefer could not be expected to arrive in Skyrim quickly.

“So, to the other news then” – Geralt changed the topic. “Our father. Tell me.”

“Delphine gave me some old papers – in exchange for services still to be rendered – and I followed up on them, looked around and found the fortress where our father was stationed. Wolf Asgarsen, Commander of the Second Legion charged with protecting the border crossing into Cyrodiil. I found it, found the fortress and inside it found some papers. It’s not far from here – we should go and you can see it for yourself.”

“Just like that?” – Geralt was amazed. “I think there’s more to tell, sis.”

“There is, plenty more” – Lena nodded. “But it’s best told when we are there. We’ll take Hauk and Garrus as well – there were a lot of Legion papers there too, Hauk will want to see those, and Garrus I expect will just enjoy the adventure.”

“Garrus seems like a steady fellow” – Geralt nodded. “Who sees much, says little.”

“Exactly.”

31 Last Seed

The Pale Pass Fortress was set into the rock on the Northern side of the Jerall Mountains – it was all inside the rock, the only thing visible outside being a heavy iron clad door. Last time Lena was there, she sneaked past the wraiths and skeletons roaming the old halls, but with four people going in, there was no sneaking to be expected – they’d have to fight the undead. But then again, with four people that wasn’t going to be a problem.

The fortress was fairly large and it took them a few hours to reach the Commander’s quarters in the depth of it. The two wraiths that guarded the office put up a remarkable fight, but they too were put to rest, for a while at least. Lena showed Hauk the Commander’s desk filled with Legion papers, and Hauk quickly became engrossed in them. Garrus volunteered to try and rekindle the fire in the kitchen, leaving Lena and Geralt to talk.

“This was the Commander’s bedroom – our father’s bedroom” – Lena led Gerrit into the room behind the office. “There is a safe behind that tapestry where I found our father’s letter. It’s got a blood enchantment on it, and if it is done right, you should be able to open it.”

Geralt didn’t have to be asked twice. He pushed away the tapestry and put his hand on the door of a small safe. The lock clicked and he retrieved a heavy scroll. [1]

…

“So… we have a name now – Wolf Asgarsen” – Geralt rolled up the scroll. “That certainly explains your last name and the choice of the witcher school for me” – he mused. “And you think he could still be alive?”

“He could be” – nodded Lena. “He would be about three hundred years old now. Too much for a regular Nord, but he was – is – Dragonborn, that changes things.”

“Well… but this scroll feels old. The letter was most likely written just after the death of your adoptive grandmother, and perhaps just as the Oblivion Crisis was unfolding. It could have been what prompted him to write it. That was two hundred years ago though, he would have been just pushing hundred then – nothing unusual even for a ‘regular’ Nord.” Geralt wasn’t convinced with Lena’s reasoning. “I think you are giving in to wishful thinking. I too wish he was alive, but I think he’s been dead for two hundred years now, sis.”

Lena was sitting on the Commander’s bed, looking rather forlorn. She so wished their father could still be alive… but she had to agree with her brother’s arguments – it was highly unlikely. Geralt sat down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders.

“Hey, at least we’ve found each other” – he kissed her forehead, pulling her into an embrace. “Or rather you found me” – he smiled, looking into her eyes. “Remember Flotsam? Master Witcher is still at your service.” [2]

“Yes, I remember” – Lena smiled at him. “I also remember that Master Witcher was in need of my healing quite a few times. Remember Velen?” [3]

“Filthy beasts” – Geralt was reminded of the plague of ghouls spreading through the battlefields covered in corpses. “It isn’t easy fighting a dozen at a time, even for a witcher.”

“I want to go to Falkreath to see if there are any archives of the Second Legion” – Lena said quietly, not letting go of Geralt. “In case there are any records of where Father could be buried…”

“I’ll come with you” – Geralt nodded. “But first – what about the wraiths?”

“What wraiths?”

“The two wraiths that were guarding the Commander’s quarters – the wraiths of his two lieutenants that Mother had killed. They need to be put to rest.”

“But we’ve just put them to rest?” – Lena already forgot about all the things a witcher could do, besides fighting monsters.

“No, we’ve just defeated them for now, they will rise again soon enough” – Geralt shook his head. “I want to put them to rest permanently.”

“Oh right – with a ritual!” – now she remembered how it worked. “And you will need an object that binds them to this world… Like what? We’ve got nothing of theirs and nothing of our mother’s that we could use…”

“We can do better than an object – you are here.”

“Me?” – Lena wasn’t sure where this was going.

“You witnessed it… after a fashion.”

“I… Oh! The dream!” Lena remembered a strange dream she had when she fell asleep in this very room last time she was here. “But that was just a dream…” [4]

“Not just a dream – it was a memory. You were there – in your mother’s belly” – Geralt was watching Lena’s face, unsure how she would react. “You were there when Mother assassinated those two lieutenants, you witnessed it all. But to release the wraiths, you will have to relive the memory.”

[1] – 24 Sun’s Height, 4E202 – The letter

[2] – 12 First Seed, 4E195 – Flotsam

[3] – 28 First Seed, 4E202 – The Fade – Memories

[4] – 23 Sun’s Dawn, 3E417 – Pale Pass Fortress