The Witcher: Shadow of the Moon

STRANGE NOISES AND LIGHTS FROM CAVE.

A cave near Oxenfurt is reported to have lights and dreadful noises coming out of it. Reward for anyone who discovers and eliminates the source. See captain of the guard.

Geralt of Rivia looked at the notice on the board with interest. All the rest of the notices were about trading or missing items. He took it off of the notice board and read it again. This should be interesting.

Geralt traveled to where the captain of the Oxenfurt guard lived. Two soldiers stood guard at the entrance. One stepped forward. "Oi, what do you want, Witcher?" He spat that last word.

Long used to this type of treatment, he replied coolly. "Came here for the contract,"

The other guard donned a confused look on his face and crossed his arms. "What contract?"

Geralt brought out the flyer. "This one,"

The guard looked over the paper. "Aye, looks alright. You can come in,"

The first guard looked at the second in shock. "Yer not really considering letting this...thing...in, are ya? They steal young'uns!"

Second guard sniffed. "Aye, maybe. But I reckon that the cave holds something worse,"

"How?!"

"Ya haven't seen the cave. Glowing unnatural-like. An' uttering unholy sound. I reckon some real evil is in that cave,"

"Guh, fine. But we'll be keeping an eye on you, Witcher."

Geralt nodded and went inside. The captain was sitting at a desk, going over paper work. He looked up. "Ah, a Witcher. What brings you here?"

"I'm here for the contract,"

"Ah. Suppose ya want the details,"

Geralt nodded.

"Well then. It's like this. There's this cave near the ruins of Est Tayiar. A few days ago, it started glowin' from within. Royal purple in color. Sounds too. Queer sounds, like moaning. And wind tends to howl near the cave. Sometimes the moaning gets so loud people can hear it in the city. It's making folk afraid to farm,"

"I'll look into it,"

"Please do." The guard had a desperate look on his face.

Geralt turned and left, ignoring the glare from the one guard. He left through the Novigrad Gate and called Roach. Galloping away, careful not to trample pedestrians, he made his way to the cave.He left his horse a hundred feet away and continued on foot. True to the captain's word, the wind was howling and the cave was emitting an eerie glow. Geralt was one to almost never get shivers, but when he heard the moans he involuntarily did so. Great evil was afoot, he could tell.

He readied his silver sword. He doubted that humans were there. As he marched his way up the hill that the cave was on, his medallion started humming. Magic. A great deal, too. He reached the cave entrance, and his Witcher senses noticed something on the ground. An imprint in the stone. It looked like a crescent moon in a blob. Strange.

As he ventured into the cave, the air grew as cold as the night. Among the purple glow emanating deeper within the cave was a hint of green. Wraiths. As he rounded a corner, what he saw made him took pause. The room's floor was covered in shallow water with a rock bridge connecting the room's entrance with a raised platform. On the platform was what he knew right away was a portal. Unlike the portals he was used to, which had a black abyss with swirling edges, this was swirling all throughout the portal. And it was purple.

There were five Wraiths scattered around the room. They all turned as one towards him and moaned. He gripped his sword and readied himself. One Wraith vanished and Geralt leaped to the side. He knew this trick well. The Wraith swung its sword downward where he was a moment ago. This led the Wraith open to a counter-attack. Geralt swung his sword, striking the ghost in the chest. It howled and disappeared and reappeared some distance away.

The other Wraiths started closing in. Not wanting to be backed into a corner, Geralt charged forward. The Wraiths tried to strike him, but Geralt dodged and rolled out of the way. He came out of his roll to stab a Wraith in the chest. it howled and dissipated. He noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and brought his sword up in time to parry an attack from another Wraith. This, unfortunately, led him open for another Wraith to slash at him. His Grandmaster Griffon armor took most of the brunt of the attack, but it would still leave a nasty bruise.

He rolled out of the killzone and slashed at another Wraith. He hit it in the head and it died instantly. He turned around and parried another attack. He countered it by closing in and hitting it with the pommel of his sword. This stunned the Wraith for long enough for him to finish it with multiple strikes. He blocked, countered, and dodged his way to victory. He took a few hits on the way. When the last one dissipated, the battle was won. He quickly downed a Swallow potion, sheathed his sword, and gathered the spoils of war and looked back at the portal.

As he stepped closer, his medallion shivered violently. So this is the source of the magic. His Witcher senses allowed him to notice faint tracks on the stone bridge. They looked like horse prints if they were filled in. Almost as if it was wearing fully enclosed shoes. They led to the portal. As he approached he heard sounds coming from it. Woodland area. Birds chirping. He turn around was about to go back to tell what he found when he heard a child-like scream from the portal.

Geralt had always had a soft spot for children, ever since raising Ciri. He turned around and hesitated. This could be a trap. That's when another sound came through the portal. A roar. At this his morals got the best of him at the prospect of a child in danger and stepped through.

The Witcher:

Shadow of the Moon

Geralt's stomach turned as he came through the portal. He felt wind suck his hair back and turned just in time to the portal disappear. Great. He turned back and noticed tracks on the forest floor. Hoof prints. And paw prints. Bigger than dogs. Wolves. With no other lead in sight, he followed the tracks at a fast pace.

Who or whatever he was following, he was gaining on as he heard panting and footsteps. He caught splashes of bright colors between the trees. He saw that he was coming to a clearing. He slowed his pace and carefully came to the edge of the clearing. What he saw was a sight to behold.

What first caught his attention was the wolves. Only they weren't really wolves. For starters, they were composed entirely of wood and leaves. They also had glowing green eyes. Geralt quietly drew his silver sword. What they were hunting was far more odd. Three foals had their backs to a tree and were hugging each other. That was odd. What was more odd was how they looked. Their heads were far too large, with expressive facial features one wouldn't expect from an equine. They were all different colors. That wouldn't have been surprising if they weren't so brightly colored. One was white, another orange, and the last yellow. One had a horn, a unicorn, and another wings, a pegasus. The last one was just a "normal" horse.

Geralt's eyes widened one let out an oddly human scream when one of the wooden wolves stepped closer. The scream I heard earlier. With what looked like only seconds until the wolves pounced, Geralt had to choose fast.

And choose he did.