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Picture from The Official Witcher Wiki
Prompts: Ghoul, Blood-curdling cry, Run, Growl
Chapters: 18/18, Words: chapter 12: 3148, story: 58299 Rating: Mature, Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Characters: Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg, Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Rience (The Witcher), Isengrim Faoiltiarna, Ihuarraquax (The Witcher), Jaskier | Dandelion, Maria Barring | Milva, The Rats, Zoltan Chivay, Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff-Godefroy Additional Tags: Spoilers for The Witcher (TV) Season 2, Spoilers for The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski, Thanedd Coup, Major Character Injury, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, early beginnings of The Hansa, The Hansa | Geralt's Company (The Witcher), Cahir Whump, furious Ciri, murderous Geralt, caretaker Milva, eyehead, Ghouls, Sickfic, caretaker Regis, Enemies to Friends, fish soup
Published: 2022-08-05 Completed: 2023-04-08 Summary: This is the story of how Cahir comes to join Geralt's company (Cahir's POV)
Excerpt from Chapter 12: Of monsters and moonshine
The stars are just beginning to fade when Cahir suddenly hears another ear-splitting scream. It sounds exactly like the one made by the monsters earlier. The blood-curdling sound is followed by a strange sort of whinny and a desperate cry for help from the direction Cahir is headed in. Is a rider chased by a ghoul along the path and coming directly at him? Bloody hell, exactly what he needs tonight on top of it all! Quickly, Cahir jumps into the bushes by the side of the track for cover, his mind reeling. Aren't ghouls afraid of light? If it is just a single one, he could perhaps save the person by attacking and delaying it until the sun rises? No, not very likely considering that he is just so able to stay upright on his legs and walk. Trying to fight a ghoul for longer than a few minutes in his current state would be suicide. What about fire then, ghouls are affected by it, too, right? Cahir reaches for his belt pouch. Luckily, everything he needs to start a quick fire is in there and dry twigs and branches are more than abundant in the underbrush. Hopefully it will not be too late. From a dry, arm-length branch and a ripped off piece of his cloak - poor quality like the sword, but at the moment this is an unexpected advantage - Cahir fabricates a torch and lights it as swiftly as he can manage. A brief moment later he leaps out of the thicket into the middle of the track just between the rider and the closely following monster, shouting and waving the burning stick. The monster freezes barely more than two paces in front of him. Cahir's heart almost stops at seeing the hideous visage so close to his own face. This specimen is not as pale as the ghouls from earlier that night. It is distinctly bigger and broader, too. Baring its pointed fangs, the creature snarls dangerously. Spit drips from its teeth onto its muscular, bare chest. The stench of rotting cadavers emanating from the monster's maw is so overwhelmingly disgusting, it takes Cahir's breath away, and quite literally so. The monster seems irritated by the fire and enraged. But is it afraid? What if it is not scared at all of the flames? What if it is just some stupid superstition that fire can harm or drive away ghouls? What if this creature is not a ghoul but something else entirely?
Growling deeply in its chest, the monster lunges at the torch with one of its claws ...
Read the complete chapter on Ao3:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/40814940/chapters/114781960