Chapter Summaries

Gustav, He Shenyan, and Geralt searched Wyzima's sewers for Gustav's sister, following traces left by Botchlings. They found an Ekimmara nest, and He Shenyan compelled seven Ekimmaras to search for her while Gustav feared for her safety.

• Gustav arrived at the sewer entrance in new leather armor, and He Shenyan and Geralt joined him before they descended into the darkness.
• Geralt found that Gustav's sister had covered her tracks and followed the Botchlings' marks to continue the search.
• Geralt discovered signs of another Ekimmara nest, and He Shenyan conjured a whistle that summoned seven Ekimmaras.
• Gustav saw the monsters and worried aloud about his sister living among them, while Geralt described how dangerous they were.
• He Shenyan ordered the Ekimmaras to find Gustav's sister without alerting her and then kill themselves, and they disappeared into the sewers.
• He Shenyan chided Geralt for frightening Gustav, who looked close to fainting.

He Shenyan and Geralt found Gustav’s sister Anna in the sewer, but her reaction to Gustav revealed that his account had hidden something about the La Valette family. As the Botchlings prepared to attack Gustav, Geralt drew his silver sword and charged in.

• He Shenyan questioned Gustav about whether he hated or loved the La Valette name while Ekimmaras searched the sewer for Anna.
• He Shenyan and Geralt reached a platform where Anna lay unconscious, surrounded by Botchlings, and He Shenyan removed the Ekimmaras.
• Gustav approached Anna and woke her, but she recoiled from him in terror while the Botchlings grew hostile.
• He Shenyan told Geralt he suspected Gustav’s story was too perfect and questioned why a decorated, uninjured soldier had retired.
• When Gustav identified himself as Gustav La Valette, Anna screamed that he still would not let her go, and Geralt rushed to fight the attacking Botchlings.

After Geralt and He Shenyan defeated the Botchlings, they exposed Gustav as a member of a vast human-trafficking organization and learned that he had sold Anna. They arranged help for the rescued woman, while He Shenyan warned Geralt that the organization’s reach would keep them busy.

• Geralt killed the Botchlings while Gustav watched, then He Shenyan confronted Gustav and demanded the truth.
• Gustav admitted he was a la Valette noble and a scavenger for an international human-trafficking organization that retrieved escaped slaves.
• Geralt held a sword to Gustav’s throat as Gustav tried to excuse himself and offered He Shenyan money, research materials, and contacts in exchange for his life.
• He Shenyan questioned Gustav about Anna’s origins, and Gustav did not answer.
• Geralt left the cleaned, sleeping woman and complained to He Shenyan about Gustav’s horrifying death.
• He Shenyan introduced Andrea as his apprentice and asked her to help Anna, then told Geralt they would pursue the trafficking organization.

He Shenyan and Geralt met Regis at the Big Barrel Tavern, where Geralt told them how he had helped a mermaid and Duke Agloval reconcile. He Shenyan said they were leaving the next day, shocking Zoltan.

• Andrea examined the rescued woman and found her unharmed apart from malnutrition and mental trauma, while He Shenyan withheld what he had learned from Gustav's memories.
• He Shenyan corrected Andrea that he and Geralt planned to kill people across the world rather than travel it.
• At the Big Barrel Tavern, Regis admitted he had given blood to an old friend to repay a favor, explaining why his complexion had paled.
• Geralt recounted how he had helped Duke Agloval and Sh'eenaz communicate and prevented a war with an undersea race.
• Geralt said Sh'eenaz had transformed herself into a human and accepted Agloval's proposal, pleasing Regis and Zoltan.
• He Shenyan declined Zoltan's offer to pay their tab because he and Geralt were leaving the next day, leaving Zoltan astonished.

He Shenyan, Geralt, Regis, and Zoltan shared a farewell drink in Wyzima that ended with three of them spending the night at the guards’ camp. The next morning, Geralt went to say goodbye to Triss while He Shenyan and Regis left with Zoltan.

• Zoltan opened a barrel of Mahakam dwarf liquor and toasted his friends before they drank and sang until dawn.
• Geralt, Regis, and He Shenyan were caught by the guards after drunken mishaps, while Zoltan escaped.
• The guards released the three men after letting them sleep in their beds, and Zoltan met them outside the camp.
• Geralt went to say goodbye to Triss, while He Shenyan and Regis stayed with Zoltan and joked about frightening women.

He Shenyan, Geralt, and Regis were ambushed on the road to Lower Sodden by a child serving the Xarthisius cult. After He Shenyan forced the attacker to reveal the cult’s secrets, the child died, and Geralt learned that the cult had abducted and trained him.

• Geralt warned He Shenyan and Regis that Amelia had poor public order and many gangs as they rode through the forest.
• Geralt’s medallion reacted to a magically created stream, and He Shenyan stopped the attackers’ thorns while crows descended on Geralt.
• He Shenyan burned the crows, Geralt knocked down the child who stabbed at him, and Regis disarmed and restrained the attacker.
• He Shenyan examined the attacker’s cursed beast-bone dagger and made the child speak about Xarthisius before killing him.
• Geralt explained that Xarthisius was a false god worshipped by a cult that abducted children and trained them to kill passersby.

After discovering the cult’s murdered victims, He Shenyan burned the cultists with Sin Fire, and the travelers continued to Lower Sodden. There, Geralt fought off a gang that surrounded them while He Shenyan and Regis watched.

• Geralt, Regis, and He Shenyan found the bodies of the cult’s victims in a clearing and resolved to wipe out the cult.
• He Shenyan used the Bone Dagger to summon Sin Fire, which burned the cultists for three hours.
• The three travelers reached Lower Sodden before the city gates closed and rode through its crowded streets.
• A gang surrounded the travelers, and Geralt dismounted and punched the leader, then fought off the attackers.
• Regis offered to help while He Shenyan declined, asking them to finish quickly so he could take a hot bath.

After Geralt and his companions reached Amelia, a man from the Iron Sword Company paid Dailos for information about the white-haired Witcher. Dailos warned Geralt that ruthless men were coming for him, leaving Geralt and He Shenyan ready for a fight.

• Dailos and his thugs discussed their defeat by Geralt and Regis before a man from the Iron Sword Company approached him.
• The man paid Dailos eighty Oren and learned that Geralt traveled with five companions, though Dailos claimed not to know where they had gone.
• An inn attendant told Geralt that a soaked thug wanted to speak with him, and He Shenyan placed a magical shield around Geralt before he went downstairs.
• Dailos warned Geralt that dangerous men were coming, admitted he had lied to the Iron Sword Company, and said he planned to flee Amelia with his companions.
• Geralt asked who the Iron Sword Company were, then watched Dailos run off and told He Shenyan that he wanted to kill something.

Olf and the Iron Sword Company waited to carry out a nighttime attack, but He Shenyan and a white-haired Witcher struck first and killed all seventeen gang members. The next day, He Shenyan challenged an Eternal Fire preacher who claimed the gang’s destruction as the religion’s achievement, leaving the preacher unable to answer his questions about evil and poverty.

• Olf returned to the Iron Sword Company's base, where he and his companions waited for two in the morning to strike.
• He Shenyan tore the roof from the base with magic, and a white-haired Witcher entered as the slaughter began.
• A barber discovered the Iron Sword Company's ruined base, and the patrol found all seventeen members dead.
• A crier credited the Eternal Fire with destroying the gang and invited He Shenyan onto his platform.
• He Shenyan called the crier stupid and questioned how an all-powerful Eternal Fire could permit evil and poverty.
• The crier failed to answer He Shenyan's questions about why the gang had operated for years and why so many people lived in poverty.

After condemning the Eternal Fire in public, He Shenyan shared dinner with Geralt and Regis and discussed their next journeys. A passerby warned them that Nilfgaard had reached the gates of Cintra, and He Shenyan’s smile disappeared.

• He Shenyan regretted speaking too far ahead of his time after his denunciation of the Eternal Fire spread as far as the Skellige Isles.
• Geralt warned He Shenyan that Lower Sodden’s calm response to the Iron Sword Company’s deaths and the auction of its headquarters made the city feel unsettling.
• He Shenyan told Geralt that the goddess Melitele truly existed, and Regis praised her priestesses for helping the poor.
• Regis planned to visit the Skellige Isles, while Geralt and He Shenyan planned to travel toward Cintra, where He Shenyan hoped to see Ciri.
• A passerby warned Geralt, Regis, and He Shenyan that Nilfgaardian troops had crossed the Yaruga and reached Cintra’s gates, wiping the smile from He Shenyan’s face.

Dony confronted Torres Valoris, who revealed his plan to use Dony as a pretext for conquering Cintra and the North. As Nilfgaard’s army reached Cintra, Calanthe asked Kratos for help, and he agreed before setting out to face the enemy with He Shenyan appearing beside him.

• Dony demanded answers about Pavetta and learned from Torres Valoris that he intended to conquer Cintra, using Dony’s connection to the kingdom as justification.
• Dony warned Torres that the North’s allies would oppose him and claimed Torres did not know who stood behind Cintra.
• Calanthe summoned Kratos and asked for his help against the Nilfgaardians, while admitting she believed he had feelings for her.
• Kratos agreed to help Calanthe as a friend, then went to the city wall carrying an axe and prepared to attack the Nilfgaardian camp.
• He Shenyan appeared beside Kratos and teased him about Calanthe as Kratos prepared to leave the wall.

He Shenyan used moonlight and the stars to warn the Nilfgaardian army to retreat from Cintra or die. Torres witnessed the impossible message in the sky and was left shaken, while Dony mocked him from inside the tent.

• He Shenyan teased Kratos, then revealed that he had found the Nilfgaardian commander.
• He Shenyan explained that killing the commander would not stop Nilfgaard’s expansion and prepared an unconventional warning.
• He Shenyan arranged the stars into Nilfgaardian words telling the army to leave.
• Torres struck Dony, who called him a shameful usurper and a rat.
• A panicked officer summoned Torres outside, where he saw the stars spell a threat to retreat or die.
• Torres was overwhelmed by the display as Dony laughed and demanded to know what he had seen.

Dony and Pavetta were released after Torres agreed to honor the treaty and let them leave safely. He Shenyan visited Ciri’s tower, read her writings and drawings, and left her a magical portrait as a gift before departing.

• Pavetta reunited with Dony, and Torres agreed to let the couple go in exchange for Dony’s assurance that the Black-Robed Mage would allow Nilfgaard’s army to withdraw safely.
• Dony defended Cintra against a Nilfgaardian soldier and left with Pavetta for the stables.
• He Shenyan entered Ciri’s tower unseen and read her journal, which described her wish to become a swordswoman and her thoughts about Geralt and He.
• He Shenyan looked through Ciri’s portraits of people she knew and saw that she had drawn only his eyes in his own portrait.
• He Shenyan used moonlight to paint Ciri as a young swordswoman, left the words “Good evening, Ciri,” and departed as she smiled in her sleep.

Geralt and He Shenyan continued their work of killing those responsible for human cruelty, then entered Brokilon Forest, where the Dryads welcomed He Shenyan. A Dryad rebuked Geralt for insulting her people and insisted He Shenyan was different from the men they used to reproduce.

• Geralt explained that he had caught a deer in a rabbit trap and shared breakfast with He Shenyan.
• Geralt and He Shenyan continued their work until October, and Geralt was shaken by the abused people they found imprisoned in a cellar in Brugge.
• He Shenyan explained that Regis was human, then described the Dryads and their long conflict with humans.
• A vine lowered a cup of water for He Shenyan, who drank it and thanked the Dryads.
• Geralt warned He Shenyan that the Dryads might see him as a breeding tool, and a Dryad told Geralt to watch his tongue.

Geralt and He Shenyan entered Duen Canell after dryad Cessna welcomed them into Brokilon Forest. There, Cessna recognized Geralt as Gwynbleidd from a prophecy, and a silver-haired dryad arrived to greet him and the black-robed man.

• Cessna confronted Geralt about He Shenyan’s actions against the Lion-headed Spider cultists in Amelia Forest, then introduced herself to He Shenyan.
• Cessna led Geralt and He Shenyan through Brokilon Forest to Duen Canell, trusting He Shenyan’s promise that Geralt would keep its location secret.
• Cessna welcomed them to the Heart of the Oak and recognized Geralt as Gwynbleidd, a Witcher named in a prophecy alongside Swallow and the black-robed man.
• A silver-haired dryad approached and welcomed Geralt and He Shenyan to Duen Canell, and He Shenyan found their meeting interesting.

He Shenyan spoke with Eithne about Ithlinne’s prophecy and insisted that the world would not be destroyed, while Geralt entered a vine house with Cessna to hear the Dryads’ story. Eithne remained troubled by the prophecy, and He Shenyan questioned how it could have foreseen his appearance.

• He Shenyan greeted Eithne formally in Elder Speech, and the Dryad Queen was surprised by his fluency.
• Geralt admired the Dryads’ vine houses, and Cessna explained that the Dryads left whenever the forest no longer welcomed them.
• Cessna invited Geralt into a vine house to tell him a long story about the Dryads.
• Eithne told He Shenyan that she now believed Ithlinne’s prophecy was true and described its warning about the White Frost and the Swallow.
• He Shenyan declared that the world would not be destroyed, and Eithne was startled that he sincerely believed it.
• He Shenyan questioned how Ithlinne could have known of his appearance through prophecy alone.

After spending time with Cessna, Geralt learned from He Shenyan that Queen Eithne believed a hidden version of Ithlinne’s prophecy named a black-robed man, Gwynbleidd, and the Swallow as agents of the world’s rebirth. He Shenyan questioned how Ithlinne could have foreseen his arrival from beyond their world, leaving Geralt stunned.

• Geralt left Cessna’s vine hut after two exhausting hours and joined He Shenyan, who teased him about his broken vow.
• He Shenyan explained that Queen Eithne could read minds and believed Ithlinne’s prophecies because she had sensed that Ithlinne was sincere.
• He Shenyan told Geralt that a hidden version of Ithlinne’s prophecy described a black-robed man, Gwynbleidd, and the Swallow granting rebirth to a world facing Destruction.
• He Shenyan conjured hot milk for himself and Geralt, then wondered aloud how Ithlinne had predicted the arrival of someone from beyond their world.
• Geralt realized the implication and stared at He Shenyan in astonishment.

He Shenyan and Geralt reasoned that the ancient elf Ithlinne might have met a future version of He Shenyan in another world, possibly one who had found a way home. After leaving the Dryads’ forest and heading toward Novigrad, Geralt found nonhuman blood on the road and identified it as belonging to a Gliding Lizard.

• Geralt deduced that Ithlinne had come from beyond this world with the Aen Seidhe.
• He Shenyan explained that different worlds could have different flows of time, so Ithlinne might have met a future version of him before arriving in this world.
• He Shenyan considered that the version Ithlinne met might have found a way home, but he set aside the question while preparing for the difficult journey through time.
• Geralt and He Shenyan left Heart of Oak and traveled toward Novigrad.
• Geralt spotted blood on the roadside, examined its smell, and identified it as Gliding Lizard blood.

Geralt and He Shenyan passed through a village while discussing the deadly Gliding Lizard. After He Shenyan noticed a house where captives were being held, they returned that night and confronted the man responsible.

• Geralt told He Shenyan that Gliding Lizards were eyeless, heavily armored monsters that had nearly killed him before.
• Geralt and He Shenyan reached a village whose wary residents warned them about people posing as travelers to rob locals.
• He Shenyan noticed a house at the village’s edge as they rode away, while muffled sobbing came from inside it.
• That night, the village leader entered the house and told five women and three men he had bound that they would be taken away in the morning.
• Geralt and He Shenyan appeared outside the house, and He Shenyan snapped his fingers after hearing the man had killed seven people.

Geralt and He Shenyan discovered that a man from the Iron Sword Company had survived Lower Sodden and killed him, then fought off the company members who attacked them. Geralt slaughtered the attackers and left the survivors’ nature in no doubt.

• He Shenyan told Geralt he had made the Iron Sword Company man die seven times by deceiving his brain, and the man then collapsed with black sand spilling from his head.
• A woman approached them, tried to stab He Shenyan, and died after her dagger broke and pierced her chest; He Shenyan said he had looked at her memories.
• Geralt deflected arrows and killed a man bearing the Iron Sword Company tattoo as He Shenyan raised flames around the Witcher’s blade.
• Geralt charged the attackers, cut them down, and told a wounded man that they were not even as good as beasts.