Present
Freya:
“No sudden movements. Blink twice if you’ve fought one of the warped before.”
Geralt’s whisper cut through the horrifying growls of the creature, startling me.
I did not move. I did not blink. I could barely breathe.
“Can you reach your weapon? Blink once.”
I still could not move, my entire being focused on fighting the rising panic and overwhelming fear the creature’s presence had summoned. Images were pulled to the surface of my mind as if some invisible hand had reached inside of me and was shifting through every memory I had ever had.
I could not understand what it sought, as each memory played through before it was discarded and quickly replaced with the next, each more awful and painful than the last.
Suddenly, I was seven years old and crying over my skinned
