- Geralt takes on another Witcher's unfinished business in a kingdom stalked by a ferocious beast. At a brutal cost, Yennefer forges a magical new future.
- A pained young voice talks of a monster which comes out on a full moon. The young man speaking is mortally wounded, mauled by the monster he describes to the Witcher, a wolf who crosses a maiden's grave who dies before her baby is born, the baby continues to grow and becomes a monster. The Witcher is a black-haired and grizzled warrior, another Witcher; he demands a high price to find the Vukadluk, the beast which hunts on the full moon. The young man dies, his father inconsolable by his bedside.
The black-haired Witcher follows a blood trail into the village butcher shop, hunting his quarry. He unsheathes his sword, but too late - he's taken by surprise...
Geralt lies sweaty and thirsty after three days with a prostitute. She explores his scars, singing Jasker's songs as she recognizes each one. Geralt isn't greatly responsive to her attempts to draw him into conversation. Frustrated by his lack of interest, she talks of another Witcher who just last month stopped with her on his way to Temeria. Geralt is now alert, what was the other Witcher's reason for going? She says the other man took the miners' coin, then ran instead of taking care of their "pest problem". Her pimp interrupts, demanding Geralt pay up or leave, Geralt leaves Roach with the man after getting directions to Temeria.
The miners assemble to talk about their problem. The grieving father talks about Nilfgaard, "The Usurper" rallied the people to take back their country, and he suggests the Temerians do the same. Geralt is listening, he scoffs: they can't kill the monster, so they'll kill the King? He offers to help for 1/3 of the price his compatriot demanded, and only after he does the job will he exact payment. Fatalistically, he offers he will die if he cannot kill the Vukadluk, so they won't lose money this time.
King Foltest's troops arrive to break up the miners' meeting. They try to rally, but then they submit. The leader, Lord Ostrit, orders Geralt to leave. At the border the guards following Geralt pass out, and a sorceress, Triss Merigold, steps out of the shadows. Geralt is dubious, she's employed by King Foltest, they exile Geralt, but then try to enlist him into saving the beast, not kill it? Triss explains she thinks the beast is not a Vukadluk, and she asks Geralt to help. In her examination room where she has the victims (including the Witcher whom no one knows was killed), Geralt confirms the baby is a Striga, a child born after Princess Ada was cursed: the curse turned her daughter into the monster ravaging the countryside. Geralt is resigned, it's another princess he may have to kill.
In the Tower of the Gull, Yennefer and Istredd make love before an audience of mages. Istredd is disturbed by the illusion Yennefer has created, especially when she makes them applaud Istredd's orgasm. He ponders how many more times they'll be able to be together this before they Ascend. Yennefer teases Istredd about being a "dashing explorer", and he returns the favor: her appointment will be at the court of Aedirn and King Virfuril is supposed to be a very handsome man. Yennefer suggests maybe she'll be able, as King's Mage, to convince Virfuril to let Istredd explore Aedirn's ruins. Then she broods: all the other girls are so certain what they want for their enchantments. Istredd tries to encourage her, but she is derisive, HE does not have to change anything about himself, meanwhile the girls' enchantments are cosmetic. Istredd asks, "What do you want?" She responds she wants to return to Aedirn and never be who she was again.
In the studio, the Mage Giltine tells Yennefer he'll turn her into a "Living Work of Art". She is delighted by the fancy dresses and all the baubles he shows her. She selects a dress, and Tissaia enters - she dismisses Giltine and tells Yennefer she sees only her flaws, but she amends: everyone sees only their own flaws. Mages, however, are flawless, free, no longer victims of their own weakness. She helps Yennefer see herself as the strong and stunning woman she is.
Lord Ostrit berates Triss in the King's chambers while his Majesty eats distractedly. Triss defends Geralt, Lord Segelin, another member of the Guard, reminds Triss they've been calling the Striga the daughter of Ada, that makes her a Princess. He and Ostrit trade words, and Geralt suggests Ada's lover may have been the one to curse her and subsequently her child. This further incenses Segelin, and in the escalating argument, Foltest interrupts, dismissing everyone from his presence. They file out, but at the last moment Geralt pushes the door shut behind the others and bolts it. Foltest is sanguine, he is a King, he's unimpressed, but Geralt pushes, he's mentioned Princess Ada was murdered, but now that there's a question of her baby's father... why has the King never married? Why is he allowing this revolt to even occur? Who is the Striga's father? Foltest does not respond, instead he tries to get a rise out of Geralt.
Ostrit and Segelin finally break in, but the king merely banishes Geralt.
Tissaia meets with the other council leaders at Aretuza to discuss the political situation in the surrounding kingdoms around the Continent. They talk of King Dagored of Cintra, who may be dying, and his young daughter Calanthe, who by all accounts is even more stubborn - and mistrusting of mages - than her father. They speak of Nilfgaard, where Fringilla will go and help calm the situation. Stregobor has little faith in Fringilla, he suggests Yennefer should go, not Fringilla, but Tissaia reminds the council they had already appointed Yennefer to Aedirn. Stregobor brings up her part elf ancestry, saying it will be an insult to other nobles who are offended at the thought of elven blood. Learning of Yennefer's blood line, the others start to yield to Stregobor - Tissaia finds herself overruled by Stregobor's machinations.
Yennefer fantasizes in front of a mirror. Giltine brings her a new dress, a red one from King Fergus of Nilfgaard. Yennefer barges into Tissaia's office, demanding an audience with the council. She derides Tissaia's lack of power, but Tissaia is blunt, the council knows Yennefer is part elf. Yennefer feels betrayed, but Tissaia tells her it was not she who told them, it was Stregobor, "divine the rest."
Geralt sits outside an abandoned palace, watching the guards on the ramparts. Triss finds and confronts him, why hasn't Geralt left, she's sure he has a purpose in still being there, she'll help. Together they frighten the guards off and walk through the crumbling building. Passing a painting of Foltest and Ada as children, Geralt tells Triss he believes Foltest to be the father of Ada's daughter. They locate Ada's bedroom, Triss asks Geralt if Foltest is the one who cursed Ada? Geralt is unsure. He smells something in the girl's bed. Triss digs through an old music box and finds a compartment with letters from Queen Sancia to her daughter, demanding she get rid of her baby. They show the letters to Ostrit who is shocked to learn the Queen may have cursed her daughter! Ostrit is distraught that Ada, who confided in him, didn't tell him any of this. He wonders if Foltest actually raped his sister; but Geralt thinks there's something more to Ostrit, he recognizes the scent of Ostrit from Ada's sheets, old smells and new - Ostrit is having sexual fantasies about a dead girl decades after her death. Ostrit becomes outraged, he admits he hates Foltest, he wants the people to revolt and destroy the King. Geralt knocks him out.
Sabrina Ascends, making her pledge to Aretuza. Istredd telepathically asks the others where is Yennefer? Fringilla asks if he hadn't heard? After the ceremony, Istredd finds Yennefer in the cave writing a letter she will make her "father" sign declaring she is his REAL daughter. She and Istredd argue, she knows he betrayed her, he offers he will take her away with him, but she's disdainful, she never wanted a life picking up the dust behind him. Istredd is devastated to realize Yennefer never cared as deeply for him as he does for her. His parting shot to her is that she's lost her chance to be beautiful, but Yennefer retorts she wanted to be *powerful*.
The graduates dance at a party following their Ascension. Queen Sancia scolds her young children, Foltest and Ada, for not being properly respectful to Rectoress DeVries, who compliments the queen on the wonderful pair. Tissaia approaches King Virfuril who is less than impressed by Fringilla: he complains she's not a graceful dancer. Yennefer blasts into Giltine's studio, challenging him to prove he's an Artist. He tries to refuse, he needs to prepare the herbs, she refuses them, she says she can stay awake, she doesn't need to be anesthetized.
At night, Geralt crosses the bridge to the abandoned palace, and is met by the guards - led by Foltest who asks if the Witcher will be able to save his daughter? Geralt gives Foltest Renfri's broach, he asks Foltest to give it to his daughter if he perishes, Foltest realizes Geralt is willing to die trying to save his cursed child. Geralt admits to Foltest he had to kill Renfri. Foltest admits to Geralt he had an affair with his sister. He leaves with his guards, and Geralt enters Ada's bedchamber - where Foltest has apparently tied up Lord Ostrit. Geralt demands Ostrit tell him how to lift the curse. Ostrit is defiant, but eventually tells the Witcher he found a witch in the woods, she sold him a lamb, he had to recite a chant and then bathe in the lamb's blood until sunrise. He can't fully remember the chant, but he realizes Geralt will have to fight the Striga until sunrise to lift the curse. Geralt leaves Ostrit tied up, and drinks a potion from his saddle bags.
Yennefer is strapped in, stripped and ready for Giltane to perform his enchantments. She tells him not to change her eyes or remove her suicide scars on her wrists. He tells her the price for her enchantment: she will never have children. She agrees.
The Striga exits Ada's sarcophagus, and Geralt abandons Ostrit in the chamber where the Striga finds him and kills him. She goes on the hunt for Geralt... and he hunts for her. He drops a long silver rope, and he lassos her with it, but she's able to break free, much to his consternation...
Giltane operates on Yennefer, removing her uterus and ovaries as she begins to groan in building agony, while Geralt and the Striga battle: as they struggle, Geralt breaks the floor from beneath them to gain a little momentum...
Giltane removes Yennefer's now-cooked organs from a pot on the fire, grinding them up to make a potion, while the Striga continues her search for Geralt, while he has found the room with the sarcophagus and enchants a doorway...
Giltane recites a spell in elder while he paints the potion on Yennefer's spine and around the deformity on her face, while Geralt waits in the sarcophagus' chamber for the Striga to return...
Giltane intensifies his recitation while the Striga jumps Geralt from behind and they clash spectacularly...
Giltane repeats the elder chant, Yennefer begins to respond to the pain of her metamorphoses, and the Striga throws Geralt against a column...
Yennefer screams in mounting pain, struggling against her bonds. Geralt gains the upper hand as Yennefer breaks the bindings, and Giltane tries to lend her comfort as her agony increases: her body glows everywhere Giltane has painted her with the enchanted potion...
Geralt throws the Striga across the chamber while Giltane holds Yennefer, but in her anguish she throws him off and falls to the floor...
Geralt is thrown across the chamber while Yennefer's body re-forms itself...
The sun is rising, and the Striga, unable to kill Geralt, tries to escape the dawn into the sarcophagus. Geralt throws her aside, climbs in himself, sealing it shut so the Striga cannot gain entrance, while Yennefer howls in excruciating pain...
The rooster crows, the chamber is silent, and Geralt opens the sarcophagus. Groaning, he sees the princess transformed into a human, naked, wet with mud and detritus from her chamber, he checks to see if she's alive, and discovers she isn't totally transformed back quite yet: she attacks him, biting his throat, and he retaliates, tearing at her as well. Wounded, they stare at one another, she is animalistic only because she knows nothing else, but she remains human...
The graduates continue their celebration at Aretuza, and a fully transformed Yennefer enters, she is truly stunning, straight-backed, her face is flawless, she approaches King Virfuril, introduces herself as one of his subjects, and he tosses Fringilla aside despite Tissaia's attempts to intervene on her behalf. Fringilla is heartbroken as the King leads Yennefer to the dance floor - and then tries to fondle her.
Triss tends Geralt's wounds while he whispers Renfri 's name feverishly. Triss tells him the princess is alive, she'll be cared for by the Sisters of Melitelia, and tells him Foltest has issued a statement Ostrit killed the Vukadlak, the miners, suitably fooled, gather mine for a statue in tribute to his sacrifice. Triss pays Geralt. She tells him all destinies are intertwined. In the pouch with his payment - Foltest has returned Renfri's broach.
Ciri wakes up in a snow-covered forest, she follows a voice calling to her across a field. Dara awakens and tries to follow, calling her desperately, but he is shot with arrows while Ciri walks, entranced by the voice and oblivious to his cries...
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content