Athera stared straight ahead, somehow not quite seeing anything. He had been right there! She was settled against the base of a tree with a small family of griffins wandering around before her.

“Doing alright?” a voice spoke up moments after the breaking of a twig announced its presence. Tarquin stepped in front of her. His curly black hair was plastered to his skull from the late afternoon rain and he was watching her with the same look he gave to the elderly back at the village. Or the wounded. Or apparently depressed women who were also soaked from the rain.

“I’m fine,” she said in a not at all convincing voice. One of the griffin kits, Vindyr, ran by with a stick far too large for him in his beak. She’d have to get them to a shelter soon, as kits they didn’t have the weather endurance their parents did.

The kits had ended up being another problem that she hadn’t fully prepared for. They were far too young to be kept in a menagerie. They had solved the problem for one night by simply camping in the woods, but that was hardly going to work for much longer.

“You’re still out here, huh?” a gratingly familiar voice asked.

Athera rose to her feet fast enough that she had to blink black spots out of her vision. The pirate she had chased through the city was standing at the edge of their clearing. Geralt, he was called.

“What do you want?” Tarquin growled.

The pirate raised an eyebrow. “Listen, I already apologized, you don’t need to go biting my head off.” As he spoke the little gray and black kit ran up to him and he scooped it up. It churred happily and nestled into his neck. A problem that Athera had definitely not foreseen.

“Well?” she asked. “What do you want?” Tallis walked over to the pirate and sniffed him curiously. Not a trace of the aggression she had shown in the fight to be seen. The same fight that had come to an awkward, grinding halt after Nestor had fled. Neither the pirates, nor Athera and Tarquin knew what to do after so they had just taken the griffins.

“We need to talk,” Geralt said, uncharacteristically soft.

“You want to talk,” Tarquin snorted. “After everything you’ve done?”

“Skies above, mate,” Geralt said, drawing himself up to his full height. “It’s not like you’ve been the picture of camaraderie either.” Zephyr gave a tiny chirp, apparently annoyed that Geralt had stopped stroking him.

“If I recall correctly, we didn’t raid a village!”

“Oh yes, all Ignis hail the righteous fury of some distressed villagers. I’m so ashamed.”

Tarquin took a step forward and Athera held her hand out to stop him. “Enough. Both of you.” Thunder rumbled across the sky in the distance and the cream colored kit stirred from where she had been curled against Cedar. Cedar placed a protective wing over her and glanced over at Tallis. Maybe the menagerie wasn’t such a bad idea.

“What do you need to talk about?” Athera asked, dragging herself back into her own head.

Geralt glanced back at her and his expression fell for a moment before becoming more guarded. “It’s Nestor,” he said slowly. “He and Sylvie didn’t make it back last night.”

He was hiding from her. The realization struck deep at pain that Athera hadn’t brought herself to fully address in years.

“You pirates don’t have a way to contact each other?” Tarquin snorted.

Geralt glared back. “It’s not that easy, not like I can send him a telegraph whenever I feel like it, is it?” He drew in a deep breath. “Look, I need to find him. He’s your brother, isn’t he? Surely you want to find him too.”

“He might be hiding from me,” Athera admitted. Saying those words out loud hurt. “I did abandon him after all.”

Geralt stared at her, his mouth hanging half open. Then his eyes narrowed. “I’m not sure what vat of self pity you and your brother crawled out of, but I need you to just resist that for this next part.”

“Excuse me?” Athera demanded. Tallis’s ears flicked over to her, responding to her agitation.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Tarquin said in the same instant.

“Yes! Anger! Much better, now listen, both of you. Nestor was staying in an automaton shop in Skystead, I need the two of you to check it out and see if he and Sylvie are still there, or if there’s any evidence of them having been there.” A damp leaf from above fell on his head and he quickly brushed it off with a look of disgust.

“Why can’t you go look?” Tarquin asked. He still glared at the pirate, but his voice had lost some of its edge.

“I can’t be seen,” Geralt said, taking on a pretentious note in his voice.

“What, the city guard finally caught up with you?” Tarquin laughed, but there was hardly any humor contained in the sound.

“What? You think those constables could catch me?” Geralt asked with an incredulous laugh. Athera stared at him and he quieted. “No…it’s, well Sylvie was having some family trouble and I’m worried if they went back her uncle might have done something to them. I can’t get close because I know he’s seen my face before, the two of you though…” he let the thought trail off hopefully in the air.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Athera’s stomach clenched. “You’re trying to say that someone captured him?”

“I mean, not necessarily, but it is a bit strange for him not to come back to the ship.”

Athera drew in a deep breath, unable to hear the pirate clearly through the blood roaring in her ears. Someone had taken Nestor? What would they want with him?

“If we do this for you, you need to do something for us,” Tarquin spoke up. The coldness in his voice did not mention the tawny griffin kit that was trying to pull his shoe off.

Geralt threw his hands up in the air. A little too theatrically. He was angling for something. “What more could you want? You found her brother, you got your griffins back, do you want my undying loyalty? I can promise that you’re not going to get it.”

“Your loyalty is worth less than the dust on my boots,” Tarquin growled, thankfully under his breath, but Athera still elbowed him. “We want information,” Tarquin said in his normal tone.

“Oh? What kind?” Geralt’s eyes were practically slits. This was going to come to blows if Athera didn’t find a way to defuse it.

“You stole something precious from our village. Gold wiring inset with a split ruby and sapphire. We need it back.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Geralt said. He held up his hand and inspected his nails.

“You’re lying,” Tarquin said through clenched teeth. He stepped over to Geralt, drawing himself up to his full height so he could look down on the pirate. “Where is it?”

“You’re a little close, mate,” Geralt said softly. Almost gently, he set Zephyr down next to Tallis. He leapt, launching his head square into Tarquin’s nose.

Tarquin stumbled back, clutching at his bleeding nose and glaring at Geralt. The grin on Geralt’s face froze in place as Tarquin managed to plant a solid fist just above his navel.

“By Ignis’s…firiest skies,” he choked out. He reached for something at his waist and something inside Athera snapped.

“Tallis, Cedar, catch!” She brought both of her fists down, one pointing at either man. Tallis immediately pinned Tarquin, her talons clasped loosely around his shoulders. Geralt’s eyes widened in alarm, but he was too late. A flurry of red and white shone through the air and in the next instant he had Cedar lying across him. The griffin churred happily, clearly wanting a treat.

“Good griffins,” Athera said softly. Tallis flicked an ear in acknowledgement while Cedar puffed his feathers in pride.

“Athera,” Tarquin said from the ground. “Let me up.”

Athera glared at him. “Both of you need to calm down,” she snapped. “Fighting is going to get us nowhere.”

“Says the lady commanding the giant monsters,” Geralt muttered with a bit of a wheeze. Cedar still sat happily across his chest, his tail flicking across Geralt’s nose.

“Monsters you stole, I’ll remind you,” she said coldly.

Geralt had the presence of mind to look properly ashamed.

Athera drew in a deep breath. She was trying to diffuse a fight, not start one. “If I let you both up, will you stop trying to kill each other?” Both men nodded. “Tallis, Cedar, to me,” Athera said, beckoning at herself sharply. Cedar bounded over, kicking Geralt slightly, while Tallis stood gracefully and trotted over. She patted them fondly. This. This was what she missed.

Across from her Geralt and Tarquin were clambering to their feet. Tarquin still glared at the pirate, but he just brushed himself off.

“Is finding her brother going to be enough payment for you? Or are you still after mystery treasures?” Geralt asked when he caught Tarquin’s eyes on him. “Surely she’s more sensible than you.”

Tarquin folded his arms.

“He’s actually right,” Athera said. “Tarquin, I mean,” she added when Tarquin looked crestfallen and Geralt triumphant.

“Look, I went over everything in our cargo bay when we had to sell for winter supplies. There was nothing there like you’re describing.”

Athera watched Geralt carefully. He wasn’t smirking and held her gaze steadily. Too hard to read. If he didn’t know where the catalyst was, who did?

“You stole an alchemical catalyst,” she said, watching for any flicker of recognition. “Do you know what that is?”

Geralt’s lip curled in momentary disdain before he regained control over his facial expressions. “Of course I know what a catalyst looks like. We’ve taken them before, and trust me when I tell you there was nothing in your village that was worth more than a couple of pounds.”

“Well someone took it, and they’re using it on the city,” Tarquin spoke up, barely keeping the rage out of his voice. “If it wasn’t you, who was it?”

“That little village really rotted your brains, didn’t it? You can’t use alchemy on something as big as an entire city! Even if you could, that would have broken the catalyst. Now. If you want to help me go get Nestor back, I suggest you listen to me because—”

“I am an alchemist.” Athera wanted to take the words back as soon as she said them, but it did shut Geralt up. “I’ve seen the evidence for myself, somebody in that city is using large scale transmutation.”

Geralt opened his mouth to retort, but then something seemed to strike him and he stilled. “How big was this catalyst? How was it packaged?”

“About the size of two fists,” Tarquin said immediately. “It was wrapped in a cloth.”

Geralt seemed to go slightly paler. “All the more reason to find Nestor and get out of this city,” he said with forced brightness. “Like I said, it’s probably broken by now so there’s no point in going after it.” Another sodden leaf landed on his head, but he made no move to brush it off, even when the cold water it held began to trail down his forehead.

“I knew it! You know exactly what we’re talking about. Who did you sell it to?” Tarquin’s words became rushed.

“I don’t know, but why face them? He could have sold it—”

“He?” Athera latched onto the word. “You do know then.”

“No! Not like that! You don’t, I can’t let you—” Geralt trailed off and hung his head. “We targeted your village because of a skeleton treasure—a treasure so valuable that the client will offer extra to keep the identity of both them and their treasure secret from everyone except a ship’s captain.”

“Ok, so we talk to your cap—” Tarquin cut off as Geralt’s eyes actually began to fill with tears. “What…” Tarquin looked at Athera for help.

“The buyer killed the captain,” Geralt said, wiping his eyes. “Took the treasure and killed him with some kind of gas. We’ve been in hiding ever since.” The pirate looked strangely young at that moment. Young and lost.

“I’m sorry,” Athera said. Inside her stomach was churning. This rogue alchemist was willing to kill.

“Hang on,” Tarquin spoke up, his voice suddenly hard. “How do you know how your captain died if everything was so secret?”

Geralt didn’t look angry like Athera expected him to. He looked almost…ashamed. “Nestor snuck in to watch and the buyer saw him.” He said it so quietly the words didn’t fully register for a second.

“Your…your client that’s willing to kill anything in his path saw Nestor spying on him?” she choked out.

Geralt nodded. “So we really need to find him and Sylvie before someone else does. Please, I can’t do this on my own.”

“Alright,” Athera said before Tarquin could protest. “What do we need to look for?”