Keira fights the dragon, mostly

Chapter 5

Keira followed the directions to the mines she had been given, quiver on her hip, bow in hand, sihil on her back, grumbling to herself. The trail the miners took was very clear, with cart ruts that would have announced how important this area was even without her own prior knowledge. The mines here were currently the biggest source of income for the village, so being blocked from one was a big deal. The standard of living was going up thanks to recent discoveries in the mines and she had little doubt that she would be paid well for the job.

No, what got her was the fact that she had not expected to see her father, let alone the sister that her mother had been carrying when she had been taken to the Aerie. Life had been crazy and she hadn’t exactly forgotten them but her life was so far removed from that village and those people it was almost as if she didn’t live in the same world anymore. And how the hell would she explain the fact that she was female? Telling her father that magic had changed Kade into Keira would surely get turned against the Aerie and that would be bad.

That the village was her own was nearly enough to make her flee. If her father and sister were there that meant more of her family and she wasn’t sure she could handle that. If it weren’t for the fact that the village headman said that messengers had been sent to the Aerie for assistance she would have just left. Well, she would have tried to leave. Could she really leave her family to the attacks of a Draconic creature? Fuck, she shouldn’t have come this way home, but after that fight she wanted an easy ride.

Snorting in irritation, Keira realized that this was not going to be easy. The Swallow may have eased the pain but it didn’t actually cure things per se. Maybe she had rushed a bit more than she should have, desperately wanting to get away from her father and sister. Memories of her family and how there was no way they would accept her as she was now hurt. It was easier to look forward and concentrate on her hunt, rather than deal with any of that. She needed to be smart not maudlin, and get her mind focused on the hunt. Forktails were dangerous and without being ready it could be disastrous.

Recalling the trail signs the various miners had told her, she could see she was nearly there. Crouching down in the lengthening shade of a tree, Keira applied Draconid Oil to the blade of the sihil, making sure that the blade oil would add that little bit of extra damage that would be helpful. Once the blade was coated, she applied it to the points of her various arrows. The increase in damage was not immense, but any little bit helped.

Checking her potion bandoleer, Keira rechecked her potion load. Two vials of Swallow were at the top for fast healing, Golden Oriole was next for the poison spines that were possible on a Forktail, Thunderbolt to ensure she hit harder, and Tawny Owl to help her stamina if the fight went on too long. At the bottom she had a White Honey potion, in case the potions grew too toxic to her system. Too many and even her potion tolerant system would collapse. Then there was the extra Thunderbolt she planned to take just before things started. In all honesty, she was as ready as she could be.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Keira started back up the trail, measuring her steps more carefully to avoid any untoward noise. Surprise was always an effective weapon against drakes. The trees began to this and she could see through some of the branches the mine entrance. The beams holding the cover over the entrance were thick, holding racks with various gear. There were a few mounds of excess rock and dirt, an upside down mine cart and of course the bodies.

Knocking an arrow equipped with Grapeshot, Keira crept closer to the mine’s entrance, eyes scanning the ground and the skies. The scent of spoiling meat was evident, which was likely from the dead miners but she was so familiar with that smell that it no longer fazed her. She saw the gnawed upon bodies and focused on any slight movement from the mine. The bite marks were rather substantial making her realize that it was a rather large beast.

Noticing the burned body, something bothered her about the sight. It didn’t look right. The burns seemed to only be on half the remaining body, as if the flames hadn’t come from spilled oil, but that couldn’t be right could it? Forktails did not breathe fire and it was likely are Forktail. She moved closer, hoping for a better view.

Before she could near too much, there was a screech from inside the mine and something moved rapidly out of the dark. Keira drew her bow to full length and waited. What she saw rush out caused her to curse under her breath and release the arrow a moment too early. The arrow missed the head and blew out a support beam of the awning overhanging the entrance. Dirt and wood fell onto the broad head of the mottled grey slyzard, distracting it for a moment, allowing Keira a chance to duck behind a tree.

“A fucking Slyzard! Fuck! Right… think…” Her thoughts raced back to her classes under Margarethe, the head of the Kestrels. The lecture ran through her mind as she pulled free another Grapeshot arrow. Right, if you’re caught out and find yourself facing a Slyzard or Dracolizard, know you’re not completely fucked. Yes they are nearly Dragons and strong and fast. Yes they breathe fire and have a sonic blast. Yes they have venomous spines in their tail. But they sure a hell aren’t as smart as Dragons. Don’t try anything fire on them, as it doesn’t do anything. Aard can knock them from the sky if you catch them right, so focus on your timing. And use Quen as often as you need. Most armor isn’t designed to take that sort of damage and neither are you, so the added protection can be what saves your life. Be smart, use range, and when they can’t take off any more, close for the kill. And if you’re really really lucky you just might manage a shot into the mouth with Grapeshot right when it is getting ready to breathe fire. That is one explosion you want to duck, unless you want to get knocked ass over tea kettle by flaming slyzard bits.

Right, she could do this. She was still armed and had the tools she needed. More arrows would be better but this was what she had. She was committed to this hunt and besides, what was she going to do, run and let a pissed off fucking slyzard go down to the village and kill everyone?

After a quick Quen, Keira rolled around the trunk of the tree, bow fully drawn, and aimed for the head. The arrow screamed through the air and slammed right between the beast’s eyes. When the smoke cleared, Keira could see some blood but mostly rage in its eyes. Well, she was in for it now. A broadhead arrow followed up the Grapeshot, hoping to punch a hole into the head. The arrow hit and imbedded but did not penetrate the thick skull.

After a few steps to free itself from the mine, the Slyzard took to the sky, rapidly gaining altitude with strong beats of its wings, churning up dust. It dodged another Grapeshot arrow, making her curse. It had been aimed at the membranes on a wing and would have partially crippled the creature if it had hit. It circled the clearing around the mine once, did a wing over and sped down towards her, wings tight to the body. Keira dove to the side as a ball of flame impacted where she had been, nearly singing her hair.

She rolled to her feet, bow drawn and let fly a broadhead at the wings.

The membranes were similar to a bat’s wings, so a decent tear would incapacitate the wing. That would certainly bring it down. The slyzard swerved and the arrow flew wide of the mark.

Another wing over brought it into a dive and as Keira readied an arrow for a mouth shot, the sonic blast tumbled her over and dazed her. The ground shook as it landed, and a tail whip flung her through the air and into a tree. There was a flash of orange as the Quen broke and she got to her feet, dodging behind a tree, avoiding the lunge from the Slyzard, jaws snapping on empty air.

Her deep breaths felt like knife wounds. likely she had a broken rib from the tail strike. Everything ached. She tossed her bow to the side, undid the snaps holding her quiver on her, and dove from another lunge. She rotated during the roll and came up facing the slyzard, drawing her sihil. A swiftly cast Quen would help protect her.

The slyzard circled her, looking for an opening, before leaping for the sky. A swift Aard knocked it from the air and Keira rushed in. Her first strikes were to the creatures left wing, cutting off a chunk of the lower wing, and slicing some muscle, grounding it for sure. She pirouetted for another strike.

A head slam was not something she expected and it slammed her to the ground, the quen shield flaring orange and eventually breaking after stopping a rake from one of the back claws. A swing of her sihil and another aard allowed her to get to her feet, after a quick tumble to get free.
Leaping over a tail swipe, Keira managed to wound the creature’s flank, the magical blade digging in fairly seriously into the creature’s upper thigh. The slyzard’s head snapped her direction as she leapt back and before she could another exploit that wound another sonic blast caught her right in the face.

Flinging her back and into another tree, dizziness nearly made her throw up, and drop her sword but training beaten into her helped her roll out of the way of the follow up attack. In quick order she used the loose rock for cover, drank down a Swallow and a Tawny Owl, the combination helping her regain some stamina and lose some aches. She cast another quen, to add to her protection, though it was harder because of her head spinning.

The slyzard leapt at her, both claws seeking flesh. The quen flashed, blunting the attacks, and only one claw managed to puncture her armor and tear into the muscles of her thigh. Aard mostly shoved it off her and she rolled, right into a tail strike. She screamed as she flew through the air, since one of the tail spines found the hole in her armor, the poison starting to burn through her blood.

Slamming into the ground, Keira rolled uncontrollably for a bit before coming to a stop, gazing up at the sky. She sat up some and saw the slyzard with its mouth open, preparing for a fire blast. Looking down she spotted her quiver and snatched up the remaining grapeshot arrow and hurling it with all her might into its mouth.

The explosion was magnified as the fire blast added to everything. Brains, bone, muscle, blood, viscera of all sorts rained down on Keira, who gagged at the smell. Feeling the poison working on her she drank down a Golden Oriole, feeling it start to work before she just collapsed on the torn-up earth, flicking a glob of something from her face.

Lying there in pain, Keira stared at the remains of the slyzard, blood leaking from the gaping neck. While turning in the head was traditional, maybe they would accept a claw as proof that she had done the job? Yeah, a claw, or maybe a whole foot. She laid on the grass and moaned in pain, the potions burning through her blood helping her heal.

Fucking slyzard.

* * * * *

The sun was setting when Keira limped into the town, one claws hanging from her back as proof of her kill. All work and sound stopped as the gore covered woman with a rough bandage around her thing made her way towards the center of the village. The tavern emptied out making for an even larger crowd to see her in all her wounded glory, wonderful. She spotted the village headman hustling over, eyes wide at the sight of her. “Lady Witcher, are you alright.”

“I have your creature right here. It wasn’t a dragon but a slyzard, which is nearly as nasty. It shouldn’t bother you ever again.” She dropped the claw at the feet of the headman, who stared at it wide eyed.

With voice trembling, he held out a large and heavy looking bag towards her, “Your pay.”

With a nod of thanks, Keira took it, impressed with its heft, and turned, hoping to find somewhere to bathe and sleep, definitely in that order. Lots of hot water to get the damn viscera out of her hair. It was all she could think of at the moment. Horses could be heard heading that way so she turned to face the village entrance, eyes tired but alert. In rode the leader of the Kestrels, Margarethe, armored and clearly ready for battle. Keira smirked at the woman who looked at her in surprise, “You’re late.”

* * * * *

Jaskier was looking at her was a difficult to understand expression. There was something working behind his eyes that she couldn’t quite figure out. “You saved your own village and they didn’t recognize you. Going home and for it to mean nothing, even after that battle. How… sad.”

“You got lucky,” stated Geralt, before she could say anything in response.

“Correction, I got very lucky,” pointed out Keira, well aware just how close she had gotten to death in that fight.

“Hmmmm.”

Jaskier brightened a little, smiling at her in some delight, “Yes, I think I can do something with that. The fight was suitably epic, the stakes higher than first thought, a funny bit at the end. Yes, I can work with that. Thank you, Keira. I shall immortalize you in song!”

Keira was about to say something when Geralt cut in gruffly, “Don’t thank him. It only encourages him.”

Jaskier frowned at Geralt and huffed, riding forward a bit and taking out his lute, beginning to work out some cords and a melody. Keira shook her head in some amusement, looks like she might actually become famous. Look how well that had worked for Geralt.