Silver and Steel - A Witcher 3 story

The witcher stumbled upon a house with several children hiding inside...

"Quiet, wait till he leaves." "Maybe he's got food." ""Even if, he won't give us nothin'." "Come out! I'm not gonna hurt you," Geralt said.

"When'd you last eat?" the witcher asked. "A week back. Half a charred squirrel. And a handful o' berries," the girl said. "Why are you out here alone? Where are your parents?" "Black 'uns killed some of them. Others kicked us out themselves. Too many mouths to fee, they said..." "Here. Be sure to share with the others," Geralt said. "Thank you! Here, for you. For your kindness."

The girl gave the witcher her ragdoll. 

"You're back, finally. Did you get the beast?" "No. Searched the woods, didn't find a thing. Migh've moved on," Geralt said. "That or you're one shite witcher... What're you still doing here? You'll not get any coin - just a kick in the arse, if you're lucky. Get lost!"

"Bloody rodents, better to have stuffed them with poison or crushed them into a pulp with a shovel, but no..." a strange voice said.

"Keira? What're you doing?" he said. "Geralt! You gave me quite a start!" she said.

"... but nay, the mage, he says, Bring me rats! An' healthy ones! Not somethin' the cat dragged in," the voice said. "This the lamp from the elf's hideout? And what's this about rats?" Geralt said. "Nothing important, I'll explain later. Now tell me - to what do I owe the pleasure?" Keira said. 

"Why'd you want the lamp?" Geralt said. "You just witnessed why. To communicate with lost souls," Keira said. "Didn't know you were interested in that kind of magic. Why'd the elf promise you the lamp?" "We traded for it. He needed powerful magic and sensed I was no common wart charmer. I brewed hi a potion. To delay nervous tissue degeneration, stave off memory loss, or some such." "Who'd he want to use it on?" he said. "He didn't say..." "Any news of your sisters from the Lodge?" "None. We can't know too much about one another these days. It's safer that way," she said. "Even tried to contact one another?" "I've wanted to many times. But I've no way of knowing who would answer - or who might be listening." "Bet the old witch who lived here left you a bunch of interesting sundries," Geralt said. "She did indeed. I gather you'd like a look?" "Very much so. So, betcha saw this question coming: what are you doing here?" "Let me think... Enjoying the country air? Admiring the unspolit scenery? Or is it furthering the age-old alliance between the city and its breadbasket. No. I'm in hiding, Geralt. Blind to the state of the world? Don't you see what's happening?" Keira said. "Mean the persecution mages now face?" "Yes, that's exactly what I mean - Radovid's new pastime, pursuing anyone with a whiff of magic. Witch hunters - sound familiar? Murderers scouring the North from end to end. Burning books, hanging soothsayers, torturing herbalists..." "Picked a strange place to hide," he said. "I didn't pick anything. In the North, Radovid's men hunt sorceresses like fish in a barrel. Nilfgaard controls the south. Where was I to flee?" "Emperor does keep mages on a short leash, but he lets them live and ply their trade." "Radovid and Emhyr differ in every respect except one. They share a deep hatred of the Lodge of Sorceresses. And I was a member," she said. "So how's it feel to be the village witch?" "Huh. Horrid." "No joy in having the boundless respect and trust of the local peasantry?" Geralt said. "They'd respect anyone who could produce homorrhoid cream." "Been here a while, haven't you?" "Long enough for rot to set in. You cannot possibly imagine how much I detest this place," Keira said. "Changing the subject... Mentioned you wanted something from me." "I did. And still do. The cursed isle on Lake Wyndamer - you've heard of it, I'm sure. The local peasants mumble incessantly about it, about the wraiths that haunt it. They claim none who go there return." "How'd it come to be cursed?" he said. "That's what I don't know! I must break this spell, yet I've been unable to identify its source." "Gotta know something..." "Scraps. The curse is somehow linked to the tower where Vserad, the lord of these lands, took refuge when Nilfgaard invaded. Claims in the village are that peasants, desperate of hunger, sailed to Fyke Isle to beg for food. Met their end there, it was a massacre. So, will you please help me lift the curse? You're so good at these things," she said. "So the peasants who went to the island for food - this lord had them murdered?" "The villagers say he had them poisoned." "A real gentleman," Geralt said. "Hm... I never met him, but he certainly didn't seem such a cruel man judging by what the mage from the isle told me." "A mage lived on the island? Did you know him? Where is he now?" "We were friends. Sadly, he died that day as well. Very few survived. Yet even those who escaped the isle soon suffered agonizing deaths. Strangely, they did not seem to have been poisoned," Keira said. "Why're you so intent on this?" "I'm not, the local peasantry is. The isle, miss! You've got to lift the charm! You're a good witch, a great witch! There's no end to it." "Uh-huh. See, I thought you didn't care for the locals. The great with you are..." he said. "I fail to lift the curse and they could conclude I'm not so great, not enough to conceal me from the witch hunters and risk getting sent to the gallows themselves." "What others think, your image - that's all you care about." "The point is... Listen, I didn't flee to these wilds just to stupidly get caught because some boor with grit under his fingernails grows anoyed with me," she said. "All right. I'll help." "I knew you'd find it irresisible! Naturally, you'll need to sail to Fyke Isle." "Fine. What then?" Geralt said. "Well, the spirits who wander the isle - you must establish a rapport with them, don't know how. But they could point us in the direction of the curse's source." "Think they'll be willing to chat?"

"Of course, provided you take my magic lamp with you. I shall let you keep it afterwards, in appreciation. You'll find it quite useful, I'm sure," Keira said.

"I shall give you a xenovox. It's a bauble that will let us speak over some distance. You will tell me what you see, and I shall tell you what to look for," she continued. "So, where'd you get a xenovox?" Geralt wondered. "Found it in the mine, along with the lamp. Thought it was part of the lamp at first. Didn't realize what I'd actually found until later." "Think it belonged to the elven mage?" "Clearly. And I didn't even know the elves used them," Keira said. "I need to know anything else before I go?" "No. That's all."

"Geralt? Can you hear me? Where are you?" Keira said. "Almost there! Wait! This xenovox - can I contact you with it, or is it one way?" he said. One way only, I'm afraid. You'll have to trust my female intuition." "Your what?" "My female intuition!" she repeated. "Wonderful."

Using the elf's magic lamp provided by Keira Metz, Geralt was able to catch a glimpse of a scene from the past...

"They left us! Look! All of 'em done went!" "What about all this? I can't leave it! You go. Find a boat and come back for me... if you make it across." "Hah, why wouldn't I? Be back before you know it."