They walked all day. The unicorn, which she had named Little Horse, lead the way. It was a strange horse. Biting and chewing weeds that a normal horse would not touch not even the hungriest of goats. And when he discovered a column of ants walking on a rock, he began to eat them. Ciri at first regarded him with astonishment, then joined in the feast. She was hungry.
The ants were terribly acidic and they made her want to avoid vomit. There were a lot of ants and she could exercise some control. The unicorn ate a lot of the ants until he’s stomach was content, spitting out the touch chitinous shell fragments.
They walked on. The unicorn found yellowing patches of thistles and ate them with gusto. The time Ciri did not join him. But when Little Horse found another batch of lizard eggs in the sand, she ate them all while he watched. Sometime later, Little Horse called her attention to a large black scorpion with a tail at least half an inch long. Ciri crushed it with her boot. Seeing that she was not going to eat the scorpion, the unicorn ate it himself, and soon after he pointed out another lizards nest.
It turned out to be quite a tolerable collaboration.
* * *
They kept walking.
The mountain range was getting closer.
When night fell, the unicorn stopped. He fell asleep standing up. Ciri who knew horses, initially try to force him to lie down, so she could try and sleep on him and take advantage of his heat. But it was no good. Little Horse glanced at her and walked away, maintaining a constant distance. They did not behave this way in the classical way, or as they were described in the books of scholars. Apparently he had not the slightest intention of putting his head in her lap. Ciri was full of doubt. She did not disregard the accounts in the books about unicorns and virgins, but there was also another possibility. The unicorn was clearly a unicorn foal, maybe as a young beast, he had no damn idea that she was a virgin. She dismissed the possibility that Little Horse was able to perceive and take seriously those strange dreams she had dreamed. Who could take those dreams seriously?
* * *
The unicorn disappointed her a little. They had walked for two days and two nights, and although they were looking they found no more water. Several times he stopped, shook his head and waved his horn, then trotted through a rocky ravine which he scraped in the sand with his hooves. He found ants and ant eggs and larvae. He found lizards nest. He found a coloured snake, which he skilfully stamped to death. But he found no water.
Ciri realized that the unicorn plainly did not hold to a straight line of march. She had a reasonable suspicion that he did not live in the desert. He was simply lost. Just like her.
* * *
The ants, which began to be found in abundance, contained an acidic moisture, but Ciri began thinking more and more seriously about returning to the spring. If they went much further and didn’t find any water, she would not have enough strength to return. The heat was still terrible, draining them while they walked.
She already had intentions to start explain this to Little Horse, when suddenly he gave a shrill whinny, waved his tail and galloped down between some jagged rocks. Ciri quickly followed, as she ate ants.
A large space between the rocks was covered with a layer of sand and in its centre was a clear recess.
‘Ha!’ Ciri cheered. ‘You’re a very smart horse, Little Horse. You found another spring. There must be water down there!’
The unicorn snorted sharply and trotted around the cleft. Ciri approached. The cleft was large, at least twenty feet in diameter. It was a precise and neat circle, resembling a funnel, it was so regular that it looked as if someone had left a giant egg in the sand. Ciri suddenly realized that a regular shape such as this could not have been created by itself.
But it was too late.
Something moved in the crater and a violent storm erupted flinging sand and gravel into Ciri’s face. She jumped back, fell and saw that she was going down.
A shooting fountain of gravel that had hit her also hit the edges of the crater and the waves started to drag her downwards. She screamed and started waving her arms like a swimmer, trying unsuccessfully to find support for her feet. She immediately realized that thrashing around only worsened the situation, force the sand to collapse faster. She rolled onto her back and spread out her hands and feet. The sand at the bottom of the crater started to move and ripple, there emerging from the sand were bronze coloured pincers, more than half a fathom long ending in hooks. She screamed again, this time much louder.
The storm of gravel that was showering suddenly ceased. On the opposite side of the crate the unicorn was supported by only its hind legs, he neighed like a demon, as the edge of the cleft started to sink under his hooves. He tried to break free of the sand, but was in vain. He sank in more and more rapidly, slipping towards the bottom. The horrible claws snapped sharply. The unicorn snorted desperately, flailing, striking the crumbling sand impotently with his front hooves. His hind legs where completely trapped. When he slid to the very bottom of the crater, the monster hiding in the sand snapped it horrible claws.
Hearing a wild shriek of pain, Ciri screamed wildly and threw herself down into the crater, drawing her sword from its sheath. Once she reached the bottom, she realized she had made a mistake. The monster was hiding deep in the sand, where the sword could not reach. To make matters worse, the unicorn held by the monstrous claw was being dragged into the sand trap, the pain was making him go crazy screaming and hitting blindly with his front legs, which threatened to break her bones.
Her witcher training and tricks were worth nothing down here. But there was a fairly simple spell. Ciri conjured Force and launched a telekinetic blow.
A cloud of dirt flew into the air, revealing the hidden monster that had grasped the leg of the unicorn. Ciri screamed in horror. She had never seen anything so disgusting in any illustration in the books of the Witchers. She could not even image something so awful.
The monster was a dirty gray, dull and squat like a bug sated on blood, sparse bristles covered the narrow segments of its barrel-shaped body. It seemed that it had no legs at all, instead it had claws which were almost as large as she was.
Deprives of sandy cover the creature let go of the unicorn and immediately began to burrow with fast, jerky movements of its huge body. It did this with extraordinary skill and the unicorn, trying to escape the crater, helped by pushing down waves of sand. Ciri was seized by rage and a lust for revenge. She threw herself on the now barely visible abomination and thrust her sword into its back. She attacked from behind, cautiously keeping away from the snapping pincers of the monster, as it turned out it was able to reach pretty far back. She struck again, but the creature burrowed at an amazing pace. But it did not bury itself in the sand to escape. It did it in order to attack. He had no more than two more seizures before he was hidden from them again. Once hidden, it launched a wave of gravel at Ciri which buried her to mid-thigh. She struggled and tried to step back, but there was nowhere to flee to, it had turned into a crater of quicksand, every movement dragged the closer to the bottom. The sand bottom stirred and formed a wave directed at her, a wave that contained snapping claws, ending in sharp hooks.
Little Horse saved her. Charging to the crater floor, striking his hooves on an area of sand that was bulging, which betrayed the hiding place of the monster. His wild kicks revealed a gray back. The unicorn lowered his head and stuck his horn into the monster, into the joint of the torso, were the claws couldn’t reach. Seeing the pincers of the monster hit the ground helplessly clawing at the sand, Ciri jumped and using the momentum drove her sword into its body. She pulled it out and struck again. And again. The unicorn pulled his horn free and put his hooves onto the barrel-shaped body.
The monster did not try to bury itself anymore. It was not moving at all. The sand surrounding it was wet with a greenish fluid.
With difficulty, Ciri climbed out of the crater. Ciri took a few steps, and then fell limply onto the sand, panting and shivering as waves of adrenal
ine pounded in her temples and throat. The unicorn walked around her. He stepped awkwardly, a wound in his thigh was pouring blood, flowing down his leg in sheets, leaving red stains on the sand. Ciri got up on her hands and knees and vomited violently. After a while she got up and stumbled towards the unicorn, but Little Horse would not let her touch him. He moved ran further away, after which he threw himself on the sand and rolled around. He then cleaned his horn by stabbing it several times into the sand.
Ciri also cleaned and wiped the blade of her sword, looking uneasily from time to time at the nearby crater. The unicorn stood up, whinnied and approached her at a walk.
‘I’d like to examine your wound Little Horse.’ Little Horse whinnied and shook his horned head.
‘If not, no. If you can walk, we’d better go. We had better not stay here.’
* * *
Soon they came across a large sandy shoal dotted with craters, which reached to the edge of the rocks around it. Ciri looked at in apprehension – some of the craters were twice as large as the one which not long ago they had been fighting for their lives in.
They dared not cross the shoal dodging crater. Ciri was convinced that the craters were traps for unsuspecting victims and that monsters were hidden beneath lying in wait with their large claws waiting for victims to fall in. By taking care and keeping away from the pits, the sandy terrain could cross the without fear that any of the monster would leave the pits and pursue them. She was sure that there was no risk, but she wished to avoid testing her theory. The unicorn was of the same opinion, he snorted, whinnied and ran around about then away from the shoals of sand. They decided on a lengthy path around the dangerous territory, remaining on the firm and rocky terrain, in which none of the beasts would be able to bury itself.
As they walked, Ciri did not take her eyes off of the craters. Sometimes she saw the deadly traps firing jets of sand into the air – the monsters deepening and renewing their burrows. Some craters were so close to each other that the gravel thrown by one monster fell into the other holes, alarming the creatures hidden at the bottom, which then began a terrible cannonade and for a few minutes the sand rained and whistled around like hail.
Ciri wandered what the sand monsters hunted in the dry and lifeless desert. The answer came a moment later. From one of the holes closest to her a dark object flew in a wide arc and fell not far from them. After a moment’s hesitation, Ciri ran from the rocks onto the sand. The object that had flown from the crater was a dead rodent that resembled a rabbit. At least the fur did. It was a shrunken corpse, hard and dry as chips, light and empty as a bladder. Not a single drop of blood remained in it. Ciri shuddered. Know she knew what the monsters hunted and how they fed.
The unicorn gave a warning snort. Ciri raised her head. In their vicinity there was no crater, the sand was even and smooth. But suddenly, before her eyes, the smooth sand began to swell into a lump and started moving in their direction. She left the dry little body of the rodent and jumped back up to the rocks.
The decision to avoid the shoal had proved to be the correct one.
They walked on, avoiding even the smallest patches of sand, stepping only on solid ground.
The unicorn was walking slowly, stumbling. Blood was gushing from his injured thigh. But he would still not allow Ciri to approach and examine the wound.
* * *
The shoal narrowed considerably and began to meander. Fine and loose sand gave way to gravel and heavy boulders. Since they no longer saw craters, they decided to walk along the path indicated by the sandbank. Ciri although again tortured by hunger and thirst, began to move faster. There was hope. The rocky shoal was not a shoal. It was the bed of a river flowing towards the mountains. The river was dry, but it would lead to the source, the water was too weak and inefficient to fill the trough, but there would probably be enough to drink.
She walked faster, but had to slow her pace. The unicorn had slowed down. He trotted along with visible effort, stumbled, entangling his legs. When evening came, he lay down. He didn’t stand up when she approached him. He allowed her to examine the wound.
There were two wounds on both sides of the thigh, swollen and hot. Both wounds were bleeding, along with the blood a sticky smelly pus flowed.
The monster had been poisonous.
* * *
The next day was even worse. The unicorn could hardly walk. In the afternoon he lay down on some rocks and refused to rise. When Ciri knelt before him and touched his wounded thigh, he whinnied. In that whinny was pain.
The pus flowed more strongly now, the stench was sickening. Ciri drew her sword. The unicorn with a shrill bleat, tried to rise but fell to his haunches on the stone.
‘I don’t know what to do…’ Ciri sobbed, looking at the blade. ‘I don’t know… I probably have to cut the wound to remove the pus and poison… But I don’t know! I could cause you more harm!’
The unicorn tried to lift his head and whinnied. Ciri sat on the rocks holding his head in her hands.
‘I haven’t been taught how to heal,” she said bitterly. ‘they taught me to kill, saying that this was the way to save lives. It was a big lie, Little Horse. A Lie.’
Night fell quickly. The unicorn is dying, Ciri thought feverishly. She went and collected thistles and stalks that grew in abundance on the banks of the dry river bed, but Little Horse would not eat. He put his head on the rocks and did not attempt to lift it. Only blinking. From his nose foam started to appear.
‘I can’t help you, Little Horse’ Ciri said her voice choked. ‘I do not have anything…’
Except for magic.
I am a sorceress.
She rose, extending her hand. And nothing. She needed a lot of magical energy, and there was no trace. She was surprise, she had not expected this. After all, water veins are everywhere she took a few steps in one direction, then in another. She began to walk in a wide circle. She made a full rotation.
Nothing.
‘Cursed desert!’ she shouted, clenching her fist. ‘There is nothing in you! No water, no magic! They said that magic is everywhere! That was a lie too! They have all lied, everyone!’
The unicorn snorted.
The magic is everywhere. In the water, on land, air…
And in the fire.
Ciri smacked her fist to her forehead in rage. Up until now there had been nothing but bare stones which would not burn. But now she had dry thistles and stalks at hand, and with what little energy she had left within herself she could manage a little spark…
She gathered more sticks and placed them in a pile then covered them with dry thistles. She cautiously raised her hand.
‘Aenye!’
The little pile flared, and a flame flicked and sprang up, it reached towards the leaves and devoured them shooting higher. Ciri added more stalks.
‘Now what,’ she thought, watching the flames come alive. ‘How do I draw energy from it?’
Yennefer forbade me to touch the energy of fire… But I have no choice! No time! I have to act now The stalks and leaves will soon burn… The fire will go out… Fire… It is beautiful, and warm…
She did not know when or how it happened. She was watching the flames and suddenly felt a throbbing in her temples. She clutched her chest, she felt like her ribs would explode. A pain echoed in her lower abdomen, crotch and nipples, pain the momentarily transformed into a terrifying pleasure. She stood up. No, not stood up. She flew.
The Force filled her like molten lead. Stars danced in the sky as if reflected off the surface of a pond. The Eye burned in the west, and exploded in brightness. She took the brightness, and with it power.
‘Hael, Aenye!’
The unicorn whinnied wildly and tried to stand, leaning on its front legs. Ciri’s arm lifted by itself, her hand moved by itself in a magical gesture, her lips shouted an incantation.
From her fingers came a rippling bright light. The flames of the fire raged.
The light waves that came from her hand touched th
e wounded thigh of the unicorn, focused and then penetrated.
‘I want you to be healed! I want it! Vess’hael, Aenye!’
The Force exploded in her, she was filled with a wild euphoria. The fire shot upwards, brightening. The unicorn lifted his head, whinnied, then suddenly sprang up quickly from the ground, took a few steps, extended his neck and touched his thigh with his nose then snorted as if in disbelief. He released a high, piercing whinny, kicked and swished his tail and then galloped away from the fire.
‘I’ve healed him!’ Ciri shouted proudly. ‘I’ve healed him! I am a sorceress! I managed to draw the Force out of the fire! And I have the Force! With it I can do anything!’
She turned. The fire roared, throwing sparks around.
‘We no longer need to look for a source! We will not have to drink mud! Now I have power! I feel the Force that is in the fire! I will make it rain on this damn desert! Water will burst from the rocks! Flowers will bloom here! Grass! Kale! I can do anything now! Everything!’
She sharply raised both hands, shouting, chanting incantations and invocations. She did not understand them, did not remember when or if she had ever been taught them. It did not matter. She felt the Force, felt the power burning with fire. She was the fire. She trembled from the power coursing through her.
The night sky suddenly erupted with lightning, among the rocks and thistles the wind began to howl. The unicorn whinnied and reared. The fire erupted upwards, exploding. The sticks and stalks that she had collected had been used up already, now the rocks burned. But Ciri paid no attention to this. She felt the Force. She saw only the fire. She heard only the fire.
Andrzej Sapkowski - [Witcher 03] Page 28