The night had fallen over the Girth Fortress. Above on the surface, the corpses of the defeated laid to freeze in the open. Once their weapons collected and their cloths gathered it had been decided that there would be no burial, for the frozen ground was solid as the stone, and they didn't had the time. Instead, they would burn the bodies in the morning.
For the moment only their campfire was burning, the smoke evacuating through an ingenious systems of chimney pipes, leading to the outside. They sat silently, eating the rations of the mercenaries, waiting for Drake to begin his story.

"So! He started. I guess I should start at the beginning. Like everyone here, except for grumpy granpa, I'm not exactly from this world. Of course, I didn't understood until a few days after I appeared, naked, in the middle of this fine example of civilisation and courtesy that is Gorneum."

"I... I have no idea what you're saying! Where the hell am I?"

But all his flailing was in vain, as the mob was surrounding him, backing him against the well. They were all speaking at the same time in a language that Nathan was too disoriented to try to recognize. He had went to sleep in his warm, warm bed and had been woke up by the freezing temperature of whatever village at the far end of the world he ended up to.

Naked.

The crowed was shamelessly eyeing him, with a mixture of fear and mockery.

"What kind of nightmare is it, school anxiety?... Ok... Is anyone here speak english? Habla espanol?

-Czy jesteś czarodziejem? Czy pijany?

-W... what?"

The woman who had spoken louder than the rest was looking at him in the eye. She was tall and strongly build. And had a medieval sword at her belt. Nathan was still ordering his thoughts when she grabbed a coat off the man beside her and threw it to him. It was stinking of smoke, cinder and fat, but it felt like heaven on his exposed body.

The crowd brutally stopped its deafening gibberish. Never a good sign. Nathan looked around, to see what had change and saw an old man in strange clothing. While the villagers were wearing warm clothes against the cold and the wind, the stranger very openly wore but a simple shirt above a green linen trouser. Yet looking at him, you'd swore it was the middle of summer. The villagers stumbled on each other not to touch him as he approached Nathan.

The latter wasn't reassured.

In utter silence, the man inspected him with the eyes of a doctor and the gentleness of a bear peeling a banana. He even smiled the all time, as if he the naked man was his long awaited Christmas present. Nathan didn't push him away though, maybe because he was still a bit disoriented, or maybe because he had noticed that some people in the crowd were grasping their weapons tightly, eyeing him with disgust and hatred.

Ha... the countryside...

Finally, the creepy guy turned around and spoke to the crowd. Whatever he said didn't seem to convince them, but they still let him drag the newly arrived out of the mob without incident. Nathan just had the time to thanked the woman who covered him before being taken into what seemed to be an inn. It was deserted, but the man, without slowing a moment, took him up the creaky stairs to one of the room.

The explorer was a bit taken aback. The room was vast and coloured. The shelves were filled with leathered books, the tables covered in parchments and ink, and the warm perfume of flower coming from the candles were just out of place with harsh climate outside. It felt … good. He then realized that the man had left him on the doorstep and was now trying to make room on the floor, putting piles of books in the corner. Nathan hesitated a little, then took a deep breath and walked in directly to the strange man.

"I... he said designated himself. I, am Nathan. Drake. It's my name."

The other one raised an eyebrow, then, still a book in hand, place a finger on his chest.

"Jestem... Isas. Then, pointing at him. Jestes Nathan Drake?

-Yes... smiled Nathan. Jestem Nathan Drake."

"Turns out their language is some bizarre form of Polish. Well, Polish from where I come from. Do you have a Poland in your world?

-There is, said Ezio with a smile. A powerful country deep in Europe, facing numerous enemies. I went once or twice in my days, and some of my friends considered it their home.

-There is one too back home, said Shepard. But I never learned the tongue.

-Well, continued Nathan, I already knew the basic, so I learned pretty fast how to speak and read it. Isas turned out to be an interesting character. He was what they call a "czarodziejem", a sorcerer, although he'd call himself a Disciple of the Art. To me it was all the same, I was a wreck. I mean come on, one evening I'm in my apartment, the morning I'm in some ice world with wizards and flash mobs. But Isas was pretty patient. For the next five months, he took me under his wing. Apparently, he was thoroughly interested in my sudden appearance, almost as much as me, so I became his hobby. He was also the "court mage" but I use this word loosely. Gorneum may have a court, and a mage at its service, but as you noticed Lord Olrik isn't the most civilized person. Anyway, after six months, I was pretty much part of the background. I had a job as Isas's assistant, looking for herbs down in the mountain and making transactions with the merchants for special tools. The folk were still a bit wary of me, but I think I won them over with my personal charm."

The crowd cheered again as the captain of the guard raged away, grasping his card in hand as if he was trying to choke it. The tavern was full, as the hunt had been very good for the time of the year, and the hunters had decided to celebrate it. Their companions accompanied them, and soon nearly everyone was in.

Plus, Nathan had returned from Pont Vanis, the summer capital of the Kingdom, with all the packages that Isas and the Lords of Gorneum had asked for. He was bringing gold, stories and a new card trick.

"Come on Kornel, one more. Let's up the stakes, this time, I'll guess two cards. If I win, that's three crowns for me. If I lose, all ten are yours."

The public liked the audacity, and Kornel's gambling addiction wasn't going to let him get away with it. The big man sat down and threw three crowns on the table, and the people cheered again. He took the cards, shown two to the crowd and shuffled them all expertly. The veteran of the third Nilfgardian war had gone through hell and back during his days in service. He began playing to keep his mind away from it all and had become a fearsome card player, so much than Nathan never once beat him, even by cheating. But this card play was beyond him.

The cards back in his hands, Nathan put them down seemingly at random. Then, he started to build a little castle with what was left. The silence was absolute. The scoundrel bumped the base of his castle, letting the cards fall on his hands. And he suddenly rose them up, spouting a fountain of cards, grasping triumphantly two of them, one on each hands.

The crowd went mad and Kornel swore words he didn't even know.

The door opened, letting the cold in and making the customers growl like disturbed beasts. It was Isas, and he was visibly tired.

"Nathan, come with me.

-What? Wait I just got back.

-It's important. Lord Olrik is asking for us."

For us. That was very strange, and Drake knew in his guts it wasn't good at all. Throughout the months, Olrick had tried to have Nathan expelled or interrogated as a spy. Maybe at first it was genuine concern, but it had grown to be spite, since he and Isas were battling for influence among the people of Velhad. Isas wasn't exactly a nice guy, but he never cheated or lied on his abilities. This blunt approach, bordering contempt for people less sophisticated than him, had won him the reputation of disliked but effective. On the other hand, Lord Olrik was more of a reformist, trying to get the best of the poor local resources with new ways and new trades. It had made him all the more unpopular that his methods had yet to bear any fruit.

Nathan had naturally become a pawn in their battle. The more Nathan was integrated, the better people felt about Isas, making him an obvious target. And all of Olrick's henchmen were not as easily manipulated as Kornel. Leaving the crowns to pay for a round, Nathan nervously followed Isas outside.

They walked through the city of wood and stone, protected from the evening's wind by the natural barrier of the forest not far. The whole town was near the mountainside. While only a couple of trade route went through it, it had a source of warm water coursing through it, making it the ideal place for a settlement. Well, as ideal as building a settlement near the Dragon Mountains could be.

Nathan had heard many explanations on why it was decided that Gorneum would be placed here while the territory of Velhad had a border with the Great port of Lan Exeter, who was also the winter capital. The locals said that the original founder received a blessing from a lost god at the condition he would build the centre of his power there. Outside, the merchants were more convinced by the tale of an idiot founder wanting to prove his virility. At any rate, the region wasn't rich enough to displace its capital now, and people had grew accustom to it.

Not Lord Olrik though, who had tried to gather the funds to greatly change the position of Velhad on the chessboard of politic and commerce. He and his wife were residing in the local castle, a construction half buried in the root of the mountain itself. It wasn't colossal or grandiose, it was build with a military mind and a keen knowledge of the mountain. Once inside, nothing, nor man, nor beast, nor the fiercest tempest could enter. At the deepest part were the apartments of the lords. Nathan had never go that far, only to the "court room", where he and Isas were going right now.

The room was also a dinner room, as the heavy stone table showed. But behind it, Lord Olrik had made built two humble thrones before which they were brought. Lord Olrik was sleek as a snake, well dressed in white and light blue, the colours of the coat of arm of Velhad. It was a clear contrast with his tanned skin and black short hair. He pierced the court mage with the eyes of a hawk as soon as he entered. Beside him, his wife, Lord Lithunn, the nose-less. The rumours were that she was from a foreign land and had travel to meet the one she was to marry but got lost in a storm. A patrol found her nearly frozen, and she had lost her nose, and whatever beauty she may have ever had. Nathan had found difficult to look at her at first, but now he just tried to ignore her entierly. It was easier.

"My lord, I am here at your behest.

-That I see Isas, thank you for not making me wait. I'll be short, your little pet must leave."

The contempt in his voice was palpable. He really needed to relax.

"My lord, is there anything wrong? Or are you trying to force the issue.

-Do not believe it didn't occurred to me Isas. But apparently he decided to make my life easier. He broke the law in Pont Vanis while buying the services of clerks.

-What laws?

-He haggled, and stole."

Lithunn took a paper on her side and began to read. It was the list of expenditure detailing the amount that was trusted to Nathan for the different good and services he was to purchased. The paper clearly showed that he had haggled down the prices of several service below the standard fee. As the declaration went on, the sorcerer face began to show dismay.

"Come on! Drake protested. I made you win money. What's wrong with that?

-What's wrong, said Lithunn, is that in haggling in our name, you sent the message that we didn't consider ourself fit to pay the same price as the other lords, you tarnished our reputation. It is not the kind of humiliation a kingdom founded on commerce and riches takes lightly.

-Ok, maybe, but I didn't steal anything.

-By negotiating a price below, you stole from the kingdom and you forced us to pay back, with an apology."

Drake wasn't believing his ears, but the court wizard was clearly taking it seriously. He intervened with the most honeyed voice he could muster.

"I am profoundly sorry for this mistake. I shall take responsibility and apologize myself to the royal administration. But surely there is no need to punish the messenger whose only fault was to try to help you the best he could.

-There is no need for begging, answered Lithunn with a harsh tone. The fate has been decided.

-Nathan Drake, you are hereby exiled for a period of a year from Velhad under penalty of death. However, since you were sincere in your action, there'll be no fine nor prison.

-How generous...

-Do not push my patience..." warned the lord.

The stranger in this world was surprised and a bit unsure of what to do. He had scouted the regions around, as a precaution should he ever decides to leave the frozen place. But Isas had always been his best chance to ever return home, and while he had learn that the kingdom was far more welcoming of mages and sorceresses than the others of northern kingdoms, they weren't exactly running the streets helping the helpless either.

"In that case I'm going too."

The sudden declaration left the assistance speechless.

"W... Isas, you can't just leave. You're court mage.

-And as such, I use my prerogative and leave your service. My debt has been paid in full.

-Wait, pleaded Lord Olrik, strangely moved. You can't just leave for this... stranger.

-My liege, said calmly the sorcerer. I enjoyed our rivalry very much, and I'll miss dearly the warmth of a bed and the assurance of your protection. A feeling, I'm sure, I'll find ways to make Drake here pay for. Nonetheless, no matter what you think, there are more important things than where your ass sit in this world. Or what you do with it"

And he went away, Nathan running after him soon after, leaving the nobles behind.

"The sorcerer left his comfort for you, asked Ezio raising an eyebrow. I am sceptical. People of power do not simply abandon it like that

-Yeah, well, it wasn't an act of pure goodness. Living on the road made him harder and far less pleasant than he was before. It was clear that my apparition was in his eyes the event of the century. He kept working on it, day and night, and we travelled to many places he thought were important. For a year, we travelled the northern kingdoms, exploring, researching. I learned at his side how magic worked, in theory, and we investigated a lot of ruins and abandoned villages. A several point, he was sure a similar event as my apparition had taken place, but there was no lead. Maybe we even visited where you appeared.

-And how, monotoned Geralt, is that getting us any closer to what this curse is, and why your lord tried to have us killed?

-I'm getting to it. Long story short, Isas died. We had been cornered by drowners on a raft and I was the only one to make it to the bank. I heard him cast a spell, there was some big explosion, and then both him and the raft were on fire. Since a year had nearly passed, I decided to come back to Gorneum. Isas had once told me he hid many books near the walls and I thought I'd need them in order to continue the research. But as soon as I crossed the gates, I got... well... snatched.

The screams of pain echoed through the stone as the torturer pierced Eirir's foot in front of Nathan. The elf was a smith in a village a bit west from the capital, and was now tormented as punishment for his crimes. Bound, kneeled and forced to watch, the returning adventurer was facing the pain inflicted to the elf with as much stoicism as his inner rage was allowing him to have.

"Our young smith stole from his employer and tried to run away. But before that, he hid his treasure. We'll soon know where. Said Olrik

-You're sick!

-I do what I must."

Nathan had no idea why he had been dragged to the dungeon. He knew his exile had been over for several weeks and even asked around to make sure. Nonetheless, Kornel fell upon him like a hammer, pretending he was violating the terms of his exile, and illegal sorcery. The lord of the place was waiting for him in front of the barred cell where a masked man was inflicting suffering with clinical precision. Olrik didn't seems to enjoy the show, but it added a hint of truth to the threats he then made on the returned exiled.

"Tell me where Isas is.

-He's dead!

-I don't believe you.

-For fuck sake believe me, he's dead! That's why I came back, I needed some books he left behind!"

Olrik looked at Nathan in the eyes, as if he was trying to drill through the lies. Eirir screamed several time before he broke the gaze.

"What did he do to the village?

-What do you mean what did he do? He left, we left around a year ago.

-I know Isas did something! And I know that you would have noticed!"

He seemed like possessed, furious. For the first time, Nathan feared for his life.

"Tell me!

-I don't know ok? I don't think he did anything.

-If you tell me, if you lift the curse, I'll just exile you. But if you dare lie to me...

-What... what... wait wait wait. I... I... Listen... I... If you just explained to me..."

But the explorer was stumbling on his words. Eirir had passed out, and now the torturer was cleaning his wounds. For a moment, he himself could feel the sharp knife cutting away the peeled flesh off his feet. Nathan couldn't keep his eyes off him, couldn't think of anything. So he took refuge in audacity.

"I'll help you.

-I already know that.

-I swear to you, I'll help you. I know, I mean I think I know what he did. I just... I'll need his books if you want it to work it out.

-You are going to undo the damage he caused? He ask with insistence.

-I swear to you, I'm going to make this problem just... go away."

It was pure bluff. He had no idea what Isas did, in fact he was pretty sure Isas did nothing. His companion was bitter to leave the city, but he wasn't at all spiteful against it. Every time he felt the ground too hard, the cheese too old or the rain too wet, he took it out on Nathan. Not once had he mentioned his old town.

But if Olrik wanted results, he was going to get it. That, and the explorer would try to sneak away as soon as he could, even if the lord wouldn't let that be easy. He was brought to a lone cell as a guardsman was to recover the books in the hidden spot Nathan indicated. He had travelled around the northern kingdom for a whole year, explored ruins, talked to mysterious figures, accomplished strange rituals, and now he was in a little prison of stone where no one could hear him. He took a moment to remember all the times he had been in such a situation.

None of them were pleasant. At least they didn't have any shower here.

The day and night passed, or so he was told. He was like isolated in his black hole in the mountain. The only source of light was a candle only lit because he had to read. In this timeless The noon food came, and as he feared, the books he had were of no use to him. They were in perfect condition but with no way of knowing what exactly happened because he didn't know where to look. He was still lamenting the absence of Sully when his meal came with a bunch of visitors, Olrik among them.

He seemed furious, but tightly contained, as he showed the way of the three visitors.

"What do you want with him?

-Witcher business, answered one of the visitor with a deep gravely voice.

-Well I hope you need him bad. You know my conditions.

-Do not worry Lord Olrik, replied another with an... Italian accent? We will keep our end of the bargain. But is it necessary for him to accompany us?"

The four shapes in the dark stopped in front of his cage. Even in obscurity, Nathan recognized the witcher instantly as the White Wolf, Geralt of Rivia, one of the few witchers in the northern kingdoms. The others were unknown to him, they both looked at him with an interest he found very uncomfortable.

"Yeah... hu... I'm not for sale.

-You're free, Nathan... Those strangers have accepted to help me with a bandit problem against your freedom. You're in their custody now.

-Wait, but I...

-It's decided."

And he unlocked the door. Nathan slowly got up. He heard "Witcher's business", and he didn't like it at all. The woman had a little smile and threw him the heavy coat that had been confiscated to him when he had been made prisoner. She was intimidating, but strangely warm and welcoming.

"Don't worry little guy, she said, we have more in common than you can guess."

"The rest, well, you know. That I wasn't the only one out of place here, that you were trying to go home too. And of course the so-called hostages.

-So, summarized Geralt, Olrik think Isas cursed them, and that you were around when it happened. And when we came for you, he assumed we were in it too.

-This Olrik seems to care for his people, continued Ezio, gazing upon Nathan like an inquisitor. And you say Isas didn't do it?

-Yeah well, I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I don't see why he would. Besides, I know this, I've studied it.

-So you know what this curse is?"

Nathan took a book among the others and opened it, looking for a specific page. In the light of the fire, he showed them several symbols that closely resembled the sign the poor empty men had beneath the ear.

"It's old magic. I mean, it's not used anymore, it's actually very hard to pull off and I don't think Isas was good enough for this trick.

-It's not a trick, insisted Ezio, people's lives are at stake!

-Yeah... well... look. This is a slave glyph."

Without a word, Geralt gently took the book and plunged in it. Drake continued.

"Charming someone is pretty easy, but to dominate him completely, that requires a lot of subtlety and power. The idea was to engrave the commands directly into the mind of the victim. He would then become his slave, receiving any command as his own will. A direct door to his conscience.

-... Horrifying, muttered the old assassin.

-The problem is that it doesn't work. Leaving the door open is making the victim go mad within days. Soon, he has no will of his own.

-So, abruptly Shepard, is it too late?

-Even if it wasn't... I wouldn't know how to break it. What makes me say that Isas couldn't have done it is that it requires an already powerful sorcerer and direct contact with a victim to enchant one person. But... that many? I don't know anyone who possess such amount of power."

The crackling of the firewood filled the silence. Not far from them, the poor victims were eating, answering to their basic need, probably unaware that they were too many for a cage this small. They could have been slowly freezing to death, they wouldn't complain either. The company understood that Olrik had send the cursed in an old fort and asked mercenaries to guard them. He was desperate to find a cure, desperate enough to try and interrogate a witcher. Geralt was still thinking, deeply concentrated.

"We need to go back to Gorneum, he said suddenly.

-What? Why? Protested Nathan. We should run, there's no way to help those people and Olrik will have our head now.

-We have to gather every info we can on this curse. I don't think it's chance it just happened to appear where Nathan was. It actually is our best lead to return you in your respective world."