Now or Never - The Witcher 3

Novigrad was once famed as a place of tolerance and the rule of law. That is why it attracted mages from all over the world, those persecuted by Radovid and Emhyr alike. The Free City did not live up to their hopes, however, and rather than being a safe haven it became their slaughterhouse.

Triss Merigold, with whom you, dear reader, are already well acquainted, decided to evacuate all mages still alive to a place far removed from the front lines - Kovir. This was no simple task, and so the sorceress asked the witcher for help. Geralt agreed out of concern for the persecuted mages' fate - and Triss' fate most of all...

When it seemed the mages were finally safe and would set sail for Kovir's snow-covered shores, witch hunters swarmed over the docks and attacked their ship. Like setters who track down hares in even the deepest burrows, they had picked up Triss' trail despite her painstaking efforts to cover it. Luckily, Geralt stood in defense of the mages - as did, surprisingly, Dijkstra, for whom "love thy neighbor" had never been a guiding principle, nor the fate of the mages a matter of particular importance.

With the witch hunters taken care of, the time had come to say goodbye. Though much had bound Geralt and Triss in the past, on this black day, on the blood-slicked planks of the Novigrad harbor, their paths parted. Witcher and sorceress would, true enough, meet again on several occasions, but only ever as friends. Their flight from the Eternal Fire had been the last flicker of the fires of their mutual affection.

With the witch hunters dispatched, the time had come to say goodbye. Geralt sensed his heart accelerate as he realized he might never see Triss again. The thought was unbearable, so before it could overwhelm him, instead of bidding her farewell, he asked her to stay. Though the circumstances on the blood-spattered docks were decidedly unromantic, in that instant all the feelings between Geralt and Triss came rushing back in full force.

Nevertheless, Geralt was forced to abandon his friend in a moment of need, for other, more urgent tasks desperately needed his attention. If he later inquired after the subsequent fate of the mages of Novigrad, I doubt he learned much - the subject became a very sore one for Triss.