Chapter Summaries

Ailin used Ianna’s amulet and his magic to expel the Leshen from Fred, whose nape wound healed as the amulet released Ianna’s prayers. After the group regrouped, Ailin led them onward to search for Bont, while a thorny vine remained where Fred had lain.

• Ailin found a Leshen totem wound on Fred’s nape and pressed Ianna’s amulet against it as the Leshen possessed Fred and attacked.
• Ailin’s magic awakened the amulet’s divine power, and Ianna’s prayers expelled the Leshen and healed Fred’s wound.
• Ailin warned the others to keep the amulet’s power and Ianna’s prayers secret, then explained how he had received it.
• Fred awoke, confirmed he felt well, and learned that Ailin had eliminated the Leshen while Huus was safe.
• Ailin used Tracking to lead the group onward in search of Bont, leaving a thorny vine where Fred had lain.

Ailin suspected the Leshen's possession had awakened plant-controlling abilities in Fred, then discovered the Leshen had dropped an unusual Element and a large number of Combat Points. While tracking Bont's trail with magic, Ailin realized Bont had not been safely rescued but had been seized by someone.

• Ailin reasoned that Fred might have gained the ability to control plants through a mutation caused by the Leshen's possession, and considered helping him develop it with Primal Tongue.
• Ailin checked the Witcher's Handbook and saw the Leshen had dropped a Leshen's Element, four Experience Orbs, several chests, and 10,670 Combat Points; its level was marked with a question mark.
• Ailin reconstructed Bont's final movements from the red footprints and concluded that Bont had met people he recognized and tried to call to them.
• Dante explained that he had taken Huus, Bont, and Fred from Monta Carvo to hunt Foglets, but the group had entered the Leshen's territory in the morning fog.
• Ailin questioned why they had encountered the Leshen before the end of the Kemba River, where he and Vesemir had found no Foglets.
• Bont's reconstructed legs suddenly collapsed as someone caught him, and Ailin realized that Bont had been seized rather than rescued.

Ailin tracked the people who drugged and abducted Bont to Drakkenberg, where Dante realized the House Family had betrayed him. As the witchers prepared to rescue Bont, Dante warned that Drakkenberg was unlike other cities.

• Ailin concluded that Bont had been drugged and taken, then used his tracking abilities to follow the abductors’ footprints south.
• Ailin’s group found that the trail led to Drakkenberg, and Dante realized the House Family had lured him into a trap.
• Dante drew his sword and vowed to rescue Bont, but Vesemir stopped him from charging the fortress in anger.
• Ailin asked whether the witchers could attack Drakkenberg from the air, and Dante said they could not because the castle was different from other cities.

Ailin and the witchers debated how to enter Drakkenberg and rescue Bont, rejecting a delay to fetch Chieftain Soyer. Ailin disguised himself and Dante as badly injured witchers seeking treatment; after the guards initially resisted, Ailin used Axii to make one agree to report them to Sir Evenson.

• Dante explained that Drakkenberg endured monster attacks with strict defenses, while Vesemir and Dante described the fortress’s guards and the dwindling number of sorcerers there.
• Dante proposed flying back to Kaer Morhen for Chieftain Soyer, but Ailin refused to wait because Bont could not spare the time.
• The young witchers insisted they should stay and fight, but Ailin ordered them to follow Vesemir and Dante’s plan and then asked Fred for his leather armor.
• Sam and Martin guarded Drakkenberg’s gate and argued over whether to report Dante, who claimed that he and his injured apprentice Fred needed treatment.
• Ailin told Dante their apparent injuries would help them gain entry and asked about bribing the guards, then used his Axii Sign when the guards refused to report them.
• One guard suddenly agreed to report Dante and Fred to Sir Evenson, surprising both Dante and Ailin.

Evans and Patrick Vasquez learned that Dante had survived the Leshen and planned to capture him and Ailin for experiments. Dante entered Drakkenberg seeking treatment, only to be stopped at the gate and told to hand over his weapons.

• Evans, Young Huus, and Patrick Vasquez celebrated the White Scorpion Poison’s role in trapping Dante and discussed their plan to profit from the mines.
• Sam reported that Dante, a wounded Witcher Master carrying an injured child, had arrived at Drakkenberg’s gate.
• Patrick Vasquez ordered Evans to let Dante and Ailin inside so he could capture them alive and use them as experimental material.
• Dante waited anxiously with Ailin, focused on rescuing Bont and escaping Drakkenberg.
• Dante crossed the drawbridge with Ailin and followed the guard into the gate tunnel, where the guard demanded that they hand over their weapons.

Ailin and Dante entered Drakkenberg without their swords, but Ailin used Summon Staff to ensure he could recall them and tracked Bont into the eastern district. Their guide, Sam, revealed that he recognized Dante and warned them that a deadly trap lay ahead.

• Ailin upgraded Summon Staff and explained that he could use it to recall the four confiscated swords, while also telling Dante he knew Telepathy and Magic Flash.
• The guard led Dante and Ailin through Drakkenberg, and Ailin followed Bont’s crimson tracks toward the eastern district.
• Ailin reassured Dante that their enemies could not anticipate all their advantages, and Dante agreed to rely on him to help rescue Bont.
• At a secluded spot near the eastern district’s wall, the guard revealed his name was Sam and that Dante had saved his father fourteen years earlier.
• Sam offered Dante a chance to turn back, then swore in the Prophet’s name that a deadly trap awaited them.

Ailin and Dante continued through Drakkenberg with Sam, who risked punishment to guide them toward Evans and Dante’s captive apprentice. Dante revealed that Rebidia had been a Sorcerer who opposed the Conclave, but his account of Rebidia’s fate remained unfinished as they reached their destination.

• Sam warned Dante and Ailin that Evans’s forces were dangerous, but they refused to turn back and continued toward the prison’s towers.
• Dante thanked Sam for his courage and promised to tell him Rebidia’s story after they rescued his apprentice.
• Dante told Ailin that Rebidia had been a Sorcerer whose wisdom came from the Ban Ard library, and that many witchers and other powerful people had followed him.
• Dante revealed that Aristo had been his traveling mentor and that Rebidia had rejected the Conclave of Sorcerers for disregarding commoners’ lives.
• Dante said the dragon head on the council hall’s bronze doors came from the dragon that killed Rebidia, and that Henn Gedimidis had sacrificed him.
• Sam stopped the group and said they had arrived.

Dante and Ailin faced Evans, Patrick Vasquez, and Drakkenberg’s forces while searching for Bont, who was being held in the tower. After Patrick ordered them seized as experimental subjects, Dante launched an attack, and Patrick realized Ailin was a Sorcerer.

• Dante and Ailin saw that Evans had surrounded them with guards, Wyatt’s shieldmen, Milo’s cavalry, and Patrick Vasquez.
• Ailin spotted Bont’s trail leading into the tower and urged Dante to question their enemies before fighting, but Patrick revealed he wanted them alive for experiments.
• Evans ordered Wyatt and the guards to seize Dante and Ailin, while Dante pretended to remain too injured to resist.
• Dante suddenly charged Patrick, drew a sword from the void at Ailin’s command, and struck at him.
• Patrick’s magical protection burst outward, and he cried that Ailin was a Sorcerer.

Ailin used a powerful Mudslide spell to stop the guards while Dante killed Patrick Vasquez and entered the tower to rescue Bont. Evans sent the guards after them and relied on a hidden ally, while Ailin questioned how Patrick had learned about the witchers’ arrival.

• Evans ordered Wyatt and the shield guards to protect Patrick Vasquez and attack Dante and Ailin, while Carlo waited in the shadows.
• Ailin cast Mudslide, burying Wyatt and several guards in mud and stopping their advance.
• Dante killed Patrick Vasquez, warned the onlookers that the pack had its eyes on them, and entered the tower with Ailin.
• Dante and Ailin followed the red marks toward the room where Bont was being held, while Ailin wondered how Patrick had known the witchers were coming.
• Evans ordered Wyatt and the guards to pursue Dante and Ailin toward the laboratory, then spoke with a concealed ally who admitted missing the chance to act.

Dante and Ailin found Young Huus in the tower and learned that Bont had been taken to a laboratory, while Drakkenberg's soldiers gathered below. Above the castle, Fred's blood began to show signs of a green mutation, and the witchers realized Ailin might be cut off from summoning Good Girl as the soldiers converged on his tower.

• Dante confronted Young Huus and nearly killed him, but Ailin stopped him and questioned Young Huus about Bont.
• Young Huus said Bont had been taken to a laboratory by two guards, and Ailin used Tracking to find Bont's trail.
• Ailin and Dante sensed a sudden commotion in the tower, seized Young Huus, and moved to respond.
• Kray spotted Drakkenberg's soldiers rushing toward the tower while Vesemir kept the witchers and Fred aboard Good Girl.
• Fred brooded over his weakness, and his bleeding neck briefly glowed green as he heard a distant voice.
• Ernie warned that Drakkenberg's anti-magic defenses might block Ailin from summoning Good Girl, and Vesemir saw thousands of soldiers surrounding Ailin's tower.

Dante and Ailin uncovered a scheme to lure witchers into traps, with Drakkenberg’s Evans implicated and Patrick Vasquez supplying the plan. As they searched Riesberg’s tower for Bont, Ailin found a hidden laboratory entrance, and the brass door unexpectedly opened when he knocked.

• Dante dragged Young Huus through the corridor and forced him to admit his schemes had harmed House Family and its tenants.
• Young Huus revealed that Evans had offered to forgive House Family’s debts if he harmed passing witchers, while Patrick Vasquez had suggested using Foglets and retrieving bodies for research.
• Ailin realized the trap had been laid for witchers in general, and he and Dante considered who might be targeting the School of the Wolf or the School of the Griffin.
• Ailin guided Dante to Riesberg’s hidden laboratory, where the Wolf Emblem and mirage pearl revealed a brass door concealed by magic.
• Ailin knocked on the door, and it clicked open before Dante could stop him.

Ailin and Dante infiltrated the Rissberg Laboratory, where they discovered sorcerers were experimenting on Bont and plotting to exploit witcher specimens. After silently killing Quade, Ailin planned an assault with Dante and entered the room disguised as Quett, leaving the other sorcerers to realize the deception as the attack began.

• Ailin, Dante, and Young Huus entered the empty laboratory and overheard sorcerers discussing their plans to study witchers and advance their careers.
• Ailin ambushed Quade, killed him silently, and hid his body in The Rift while Dante kept Young Huus quiet.
• Ailin and Dante reached the inner room, where Ailin described the sorcerers and laid out a plan to rescue Bont and eliminate them.
• Ailin disguised himself in Quade's lab coat, entered the room as Quett, and abruptly attacked Elisha.
• Elisha recognized that the newcomer was not Quett and demanded to know who he was.

Ailin and Dante rescued Bont from a Rissberg Civil Conglomerate laboratory, killing or disabling most of its sorcerers. Sorcerer Ronnie tried to bargain for his life as guards approached, but Ailin prepared to attack again while Dante protected Bont.

• Ailin infiltrated the laboratory and stole two Instant Trigger Gems as Dante killed two sorcerers.
• Ailin killed the goateed sorcerer, evaded Ronnie's lightning, and joined Dante after the Blizzard potion's effects wore off.
• Ailin found Bont alive but gravely injured and saw that Elisha had lost both legs.
• Ronnie identified the witchers and defended the laboratory's research, then offered to treat Elisha if Ailin and Dante left before the guards arrived.
• Ailin told Dante to protect Bont and charged at Ronnie to settle the blood debt.

Ailin fought Ronnie Dickinson, a powerful Sorcerer who tried to capture him after using Elisha as bait. Ailin killed Ronnie and claimed three Instant Trigger Gems, while Dante was left stunned by the sudden victory.

• Ailin appraised Ronnie Dickinson and realized his exceptional Perception and Arcane made him far more dangerous than he appeared.
• Ronnie Dickinson let Elisha's uncontrolled flames attack Ailin while he studied Ailin's movements and prepared to capture him.
• Ailin feigned exhaustion and redirected Ronnie's black magical web onto Elisha, then closed in and struck at Ronnie's defenses.
• Ronnie Dickinson kept renewing his magical shield, but Ailin suddenly stopped attacking and beheaded him with a sword strike.
• Ailin collected three Instant Trigger Gems from Ronnie's robe, while Dante stared at the corpse in disbelief.

Ailin and Dante escaped the laboratory compartment using the School Emblem’s illusion, while Wyatt’s shield guards quietly slowed their advance rather than attack the witchers. As the guards heard the fighting stop, Wyatt sensed someone nearby, and Carlo the Headcutter emerged to accuse him of overstepping.

• Ailin used the School Emblem to cloak himself and Dante in an illusion, then led Dante and the unconscious Bont toward the laboratory exit.
• Wyatt’s men discussed how witchers had saved them and their families, and Wyatt admitted he had hesitated to attack Dante’s group.
• Wyatt ordered the shield guards to move carefully and slowly, giving the witchers more time while pretending to protect the laboratory’s specimens.
• The guards noticed the fighting had stopped, and Wyatt sensed an unknown presence in the corridor to their right.
• Carlo the Headcutter sighed from the empty corridor and told Wyatt that he had overstepped.

Ailin and Carlo staged a chaotic fight in the laboratory while Wyatt and the shield guards helped them make an escape. After Carlo warned Ailin about the powerful sorcerer Ronnie Dickinson and proposed a plan to fool Evans, Ailin decided to kill Evans outright.

• Ailin and Dante were exposed when Carlo attacked them, and Ailin recognized the assassin beneath his disguise.
• Ailin realized Carlo was acting strangely and coordinated with him to wreck the laboratory, drawing the guards into a staged confrontation.
• Wyatt figured out Carlo’s plan, ordered the guards to stand aside, and helped Ailin and Dante break through the supposed blockade.
• Carlo revealed that Ronnie Dickinson, a powerful combat sorcerer, might return, then asked Ailin to wound him and Wyatt to help deceive Evans.
• Ailin rejected Carlo’s plan, knocked him aside, and declared that Evans would not see the next morning.

Ailin and Dante escaped Drakkenberg’s laboratory with Bont and headed toward Evans, while Dante pledged to support Ailin’s retaliation. As Evans prepared to face them with his forces, a Greater Griffin swooped down and confronted him.

• Ailin used Magic Flash to blind Carlo and the guards, then escaped the laboratory with Dante carrying Bont.
• Ailin and Dante discussed his Summon Staff spell and the possibility of adapting it into a witcher Sign.
• Dante told Ailin to do what he wanted and promised to handle everything else after condemning the plot against witchers.
• Evans dismissed Young Huus’s warning and reassured himself that his forces and Ronnie Dickinson would stop the witchers.
• A Greater Griffin descended on Evans’s forces, and Evans came face-to-face with its murderous blue eyes.

Ailin and the School of the Wolf rescued Bont from Drakkenberg and confronted administrator Evans, exposing the plot by Evans and the Rissberg Sorcerers. They escaped on a tamed Greater Griffin, while Ailin received a reward notification for subjugating the monster group “Ronnie Dickinson” and “sorcerer.”

• Ailin caught Evans’s sword, subdued him, and used the Greater Griffin’s arrival to keep Drakkenberg’s forces at bay.
• Dante came out of the tower carrying the wounded Bont, and Ailin accused Evans and his accomplices of luring the witchers into a Leshen’s territory and experimenting on them.
• Milo tried to negotiate for Evans, but Ailin held him at swordpoint and stopped a cavalryman from attacking Dante.
• Vesemir cauterized Evans’s severed wrist, subdued him with Axii, and brought him onto the Greater Griffin as Dante and the others regrouped.
• Dante affirmed that the School of the Wolf understood the consequences, and the group flew away as Milo promised to report what happened to the king.
• Ailin received a reward-settlement notification and reacted with surprise to the name “Ronnie Dickinson.”

Carlo and Wyatt discovered that Ailin had killed the Sorcerers of the Rissberg Civil Conglomerate’s Nonhuman Research Department, including Ronnie Dickinson, despite Dante being badly wounded. Milo told them that the Witchers had abducted Lord Evans on a Greater Griffin, while the king’s response was still pending.

• Wyatt and Carlo discussed why Dante and his apprentice had risked entering Drakkenberg, and Carlo argued that such rescue attempts only sent people to their deaths.
• Wyatt and Carlo found Ronnie Dickinson and the other Sorcerers dead in the laboratory, and concluded that Ailin had killed them.
• Milo arrived, identified Ailin, and revealed that the Witchers had taken Lord Evans away on a Greater Griffin.
• Milo said he had sent word of the events to Tretog and planned to notify the Rissberg Civil Conglomerate after the king’s orders arrived.
• Carlo asked what would happen to the School of the Wolf, and Milo warned that Radovid IV might act against them even despite the Greater Griffin.

After defeating Ronnie Dickinson, Ailin received a mysterious Vessel of Great Deeds and wondered what it meant for sorcerers to leave their names in the Witcher's Handbook. He returned to Drakkenberg with Dante to fulfill their promises, where Dante told Sam about Rebidia and Ailin began to suspect the prophet's death might not have been final.

• Ailin examined Ronnie Dikins's Vessel of Great Deeds and wondered whether Ronnie had surpassed ordinary sorcerers.
• Vesemir confirmed Bont was recovering, and Ailin gave Dante White Honey to clear the lingering poison.
• Ailin and Dante returned to Drakkenberg, where Ailin revealed himself to Sam and asked where the injured guards were.
• Sam led Ailin and Dante to the injured guards, and Dante began recounting Rebidia's life and teachings.
• As Dante spoke about Rebidia's death in fire, Ailin asked whether he knew what great deeds were.