Chapter Summaries

Arwen subdued Keltullis and moved her to the Kestrel Mountains, where Kikimores built her a cave and brought her food. Back in Mahakam, Galka Ferenc demanded that Brouver relinquish power and accept Ivar of Thyssen’s offer of a new settlement, just as the hall doors opened for the returning dragon-slaying hero.

• Arwen frightened Eyck, Eckhart, Rodney, and their companions into fleeing, then convinced Keltullis to cooperate and took her hoard.
• Arwen transported Keltullis to the Kestrel Mountains, where he ordered Kikimores to carve her a cave and provide food while she recovered from her pregnancy.
• Galka Ferenc confronted Grand Elder Brouver, arguing that dwarves should be free to leave Mahakam and accusing Brouver’s leadership of favoring the Fox Clan.
• Ivar of Thyssen offered the dwarves a settlement in the Dragon Mountains if Brouver accepted Galka’s terms, but Brouver rejected the proposal as a dangerous scheme.
• Galka demanded Brouver step down and rallied the young dwarves, then the hall doors opened as he announced the returning dragon-slaying hero.

The dwarves learned that Galka had poisoned Keltullis’s tribute sheep, provoking the dragon’s attack on the Ferenc Clan, and Brouver had him arrested. Brouver then accused Ivar of helping Galka and ordered him to surrender the [Lead Ring] and leave Mount Mahakam with the Margraviate of Talgar and the Thyssen family.

• Rodney and Eckhart reported that a grayish-white mutated dracolizard had driven them away from Keltullis’s cave and destroyed their heavy crossbows.
• Ivar urged the dwarves to return to the mountain and kill the dracolizard and the wounded red dragon, and Galka rallied warriors to follow him.
• Brouver summoned Blake, who identified a potion as dragon poison containing an abortifacient, then tricked Galka into revealing his guilt.
• Brouver accused Galka of poisoning Keltullis and causing the Ferenc Clan’s deaths, and ordered the guards to take him to Black Rock Dungeon for trial.
• Ivar tried to distance himself from Galka and offered weapons and manpower, but Brouver accused him of supplying the poison and demanded the [Lead Ring] before expelling him and his associates from Mount Mahakam.

After Ivar cheated Eyck out of his pay and drove him away, a draconid attacked the Targo caravan, leaving Ivar desperate to escape. He fled into Arwen, who revealed his identity by showing Ivar a ring bearing his coat of arms.

• Ivar withheld most of Eyck's promised payment and forced him to leave the caravan on foot, while the caravan's mistress secretly gave Eyck a few coins.
• After seeing blue fire in the distance, Eyck turned back toward the caravan, while Raven and Arwen watched him go.
• A draconid attacked the caravan, killing knights and servants as Zerika and Ivar hid in their carriage.
• Ivar ordered Marcus to find Eyck, but Marcus fled and the draconid caught him; Ivar then shoved Zerika toward the monster and escaped on a horse.
• After his horse stumbled, Ivar ran into Arwen and begged him for help, then recognized the witcher's resemblance to Istredd.
• Arwen showed Ivar a ring bearing a white arm on a red field, and Ivar realized he was Arwen.

Arwen killed Ivar after learning that he had been abandoned as a child to secure Istredd’s claim to Kovir, then rescued Zerika and heard why she had traveled to Mount Mahakam. Zerika asked Arwen to escort her back to Targo, and he stopped to consider her request.

• Arwen confronted Ivar about abandoning him in a farmhouse as a child, then had the Dracolizard Golem kill him.
• Arwen used Axii on Eyck to alter his memories and returned to the Targo convoy, where he found Zerika unconscious in the snow.
• Zerika awoke at an inn in Temeria, learned that Ivar was dead, and explained her mission to obtain dwarven aid and weapons for Istredd’s restoration of Kovir.
• Zerika told Arwen that she disliked war and had accepted her role as a political bride, then asked him to escort her home to Targo.

Arwen traveled to Mount Mahakam to claim the dwarves’ help forging a weapon, and summoned Ida Emean to identify a mysterious meteorite as a powerful star core. After seven days of planning, Brouver began forging Arwen’s greatsword in the volcanic forge, but the star core had not yet fused completely.

• Arwen agreed to escort Zerika’s caravan to Targo and took all its cargo before setting out for Mount Mahakam.
• Brouver welcomed Arwen, credited him with resolving the threats at Fox and the Davor Bottomless Pit, and agreed to activate the volcanic forge under their bargain.
• Arwen showed Brouver a star core, and Ida Emean identified its immense chaos magic and gravity magic before agreeing to help plan the weapon.
• Brouver and the dwarven leaders finalized a design combining Arwen’s greatsword with six meteorites and the star core in a seven-star configuration.
• Brouver began forging the weapon in the volcanic forge, but after the meteorites fused with the blade, a small gap remained around the star core.

Arwen harmonized the star core with the greatsword and began coating the blade in mithril, proving himself an alchemy grandmaster. A massive monster tide attacked during the forging, and Arwen summoned Keltullis as the dwarves fought to hold the line.

• Blake warned Brouver that the star core and greatsword had incompatible rhythms, and Arwen used his alchemy talent and chaos magic to harmonize them.
• Brouver brought up the prepared mithril, and Arwen began coating the fused greatsword.
• A monster tide swarmed the volcano, and the dwarves, Ida Emean, and Blake fought to defend the forging site.
• Brouver explained that the volcanic furnace's magic had attracted the monsters and that Keltullis had previously helped keep them away.
• Arwen opened a portal while continuing the mithril coating, and Keltullis emerged before the stunned Brouver.

Arwen completed and named the mithril-coated greatsword Starfall while Keltullis used dragonfire to turn the dwarves’ battle against the monsters. He rode her to hunt a rock dragon, killed it with Starfall, and installed its mutagen before collecting its corpse.

• Keltullis answered Arwen’s call and burned through the monster tide, shifting the battle in the dwarves’ favor.
• Arwen finished forging the greatsword, named it Starfall, and tested its adjustable weight and destructive power.
• Arwen rode Keltullis toward a rock dragon that had been driving monsters toward the mountain summit.
• Arwen struck the rock dragon with Starfall, killed it, and installed its mutagen, gaining increased strength and stamina along with Stone Spine and Rock Body.
• Arwen stored the rock dragon’s corpse in his spatial ring and eyed Keltullis, who sensed his ominous attention and lowered her head.

After Arwen helped the dwarves defeat the monsters, he recruited Barnabas Beckenbauer to work on his flying machine and traveled with Ida Emean to Dol Blathanna. Francesca welcomed him and asked him to ascend the throne of Kovir.

• Keltullis landed at the crater, and the monsters fled after sensing the rock dragon's blood on Arwen and Ida Emean.
• Brouver honored the fallen dwarves before leading the survivors to collect the monster corpses, while Keltullis ate a forktail and other draconids.
• Blake Beckenbauer introduced his nephew Barnabas to Arwen, who hired Barnabas to assist him with his inventions.
• Ida Emean opened a portal and brought Arwen to Dol Blathanna, where Virona greeted him and Francesca received him.
• Francesca praised Virona's progress in magic and asked Arwen to ascend the throne of Kovir.

Arwen learned why Francesca wanted him to claim the throne: the elves needed a powerful human ruler to secure a homeland, and she offered their allegiance in exchange. After accepting, Arwen returned to Mount Mahakam and set plans in motion to have weapons forged, then went to see Keltullis and Barnabas at Twin Peaks.

• Francesca explained how she had traced Arwen’s identity through destiny, Virona, and the records of the Thyssen royal family.
• Francesca described the elves’ dwindling homeland and asked Arwen to become their protector, promising their support in reclaiming Kovir and Poviss.
• Arwen agreed to accept the elves’ allegiance, and Francesca gave him a shell that held Dol Blathanna’s teleportation coordinates and commanded the elves’ obedience.
• Arwen spent two days in Dol Blathanna with Virona, then returned to Mount Mahakam and asked Brouver to forge ordinary weapons from his iron goods.
• Brouver told Arwen that Keltullis and Barnabas were at Twin Peaks working on a flying machine, so Arwen went there to see them.

Arwen left the Mahakam Mountains with a frost bear cub after helping Bibi glimpse a way to harness steam, then returned to Ellander and agreed to escort Zerika back to Targo. The chapter ended as they set out together.

• Dut tested Bibi’s flying machine, crashed into the snow, and was threatened by a frost bear until Arwen drove it away.
• Arwen demonstrated steam pressure to Bibi, who became excited by the idea, while Dut warned the dwarves that the mother bear likely had cubs.
• Arwen returned Keltullis to Morgraig and promised to stay with her when she laid her eggs.
• Brouver gave Arwen a frost bear cub, and Arwen accepted it before leaving Mount Carbon with the dwarves’ weapons.
• At the Temple of Melitele, Zerika escaped Earl Hereford’s unwanted advances and asked Arwen to escort her to Targo.
• Arwen agreed to leave with Zerika.

Arwen used a portal to take Zerika and their companions from a merchant ship in Ellander to the Temple of Melitele, escaping Earl Hereford’s attempt to detain her. Hereford pursued them aboard the ship, but found a group of Skellige pirates instead and provoked their leader.

• Zerika reunited with Nanasi at Ellander’s docks and boarded the Blueback Sturgeon with Arwen, Bibi, and the others.
• After the ship left port, Arwen opened a portal and led the party through it, while Zerika’s servants gathered their belongings.
• Nenneke confronted Earl Hereford at the Temple of Melitele and denied knowing where Zerika was.
• Earl Hereford learned that Zerika had boarded a ship with a witcher and pursued her aboard the Blueback Sturgeon.
• Hereford searched the ship’s cabin, found Zerika missing, and spotted eight black-robed figures on a small boat.
• The black-robed leader revealed the group were pirates of Skellige and threatened Hereford.

Arwen used his raven's magic to destroy the Blueback Sturgeon after Rory's pirates attacked it, then continued with Zerika's convoy toward the Margraviate of Talgar. He rescued a patrol from three Noonwraiths and was recognized by Evan when Zerika called out to him.

• Rory captured Hereford and searched room 109 for Zerika, but found only an apple core.
• A raven with purple magical patterns crushed and split the Blueback Sturgeon, while a Temerian royal navy ship arrived to rescue the passengers.
• Arwen left Rinde with Zerika's servants and traveled north toward the Margraviate of Talgar as summer solstice white light scorched the land.
• Three Noonwraiths attacked a Talgar patrol, and Arwen killed all three with his greatsword.
• The patrol captain thanked Arwen in the name of the Targo Goshawk, and Zerika recognized him as Evan.

Arwen arrived at the Margraviate of Talgar with Zerika and confronted Estrad Thyssen, offering him weapons for his bid to reclaim Kovir's throne. The two agreed on a lucrative trade, leaving Arwen poised to supply thousands of swords while concealing his true intentions.

• Zerika brought Arwen to the council chamber, where Kieran insulted him and Arwen subdued the knight with a single blow.
• Marquis Preston welcomed Zerika home, and she recounted her journey and Ivar's actions while keeping Arwen's role mostly quiet.
• Estrad Thyssen offered Arwen a reward, but Arwen revealed he knew Estrad's identity and presented a fine sword from his spatial ring.
• Arwen said he had roughly two thousand weapons to trade, and Estrad offered a hundred and fifty crowns for each.
• Arwen and Estrad shook hands on the deal, and Estrad proposed celebrating in the castle's great hall.

Arwen defeated Kieran in a duel with a wooden sword, impressing Ryan and the nobles watching from a tower. Istredd approved Austin’s plan to use Arwen in an assassination plot against Edi and then brand him a kingslayer, while Preston warned that the witcher could be too dangerous to control.

• Ryan asked Arwen for swordsmanship advice, and Arwen showed him how to swing more smoothly.
• Kieran challenged Arwen to a knightly duel, and Arwen swiftly crippled him with Ryan’s wooden sword.
• Istredd and Preston discussed Arwen’s swordsmanship and the loss of two thousand weapons, while Austin urged them to avoid paying him the full compensation.
• Austin proposed hiring Arwen to assassinate Edi and using the attempt to label him a kingslayer; Istredd approved the plan and said he had invited a powerful sorcerer.

Arwen joined Istredd’s plot to assassinate King Edi, but entered the royal palace alone and revealed himself to the king. As Arwen announced that he had come to kill Edi, the confrontation began.

• Marquis Preston secretly urged Arwen to leave, but Arwen burned the note and stayed interested in Istredd’s plan.
• At the harvest festival, Istredd offered Arwen wealth and an earldom to assassinate Edi, while Marquis Preston tried to give him a chance to back out.
• Arwen refused to enter the city through the sewers with Istredd’s deathsworn, killed one of them with magic, and concealed the body.
• At the palace feast, King Edi ordered Damian to find and kill the witcher believed to be connected to Zerika’s disappearance.
• Arwen appeared in the great hall, identified himself as a witcher, and answered Edi’s question by saying he had come to send the king to his death.

Arwen killed King Edi after defeating Zavist and breaking Stregobor’s illusion, then took Baldwin Thyssen’s former seat in the palace hall. Outside, Istredd and his forces fought their way toward the hall, unaware that it awaited them in eerie calm.

• Arwen froze the approaching guards and killed Zavist with Alzur’s Lightning, while Damian hid beneath a table.
• Stregobor trapped Arwen in an illusion, but Arwen shattered it and left the wizard badly injured.
• Arwen spared Stregobor on the condition that he keep everyone in the hall from leaving, then killed Edi and felt an obsession lift from his soul.
• Arwen sat in Baldwin Thyssen’s former lord’s chair as the nobles remained trapped in illusions.
• Istredd and his forces battled through the city toward the palace while Preston worried that the easy victory and quiet hall seemed suspicious.

Arwen broke Stregobor’s spell as Istredd seized control of the great hall and prepared to take Kovir’s throne. After Arwen killed Istredd’s armored champion, Istredd summoned Grandmaster Ortolan, who intended to dissect the witcher.

• Arwen shattered Stregobor’s magic, waking the nobles and ministers to King Idi’s corpse and the fallen knights.
• Istredd blamed Arwen for the king’s death, claimed Edi had meant to restore the throne to the Thyssen family, and won the support of former retainers.
• Kyle Hunter killed King Idi’s eldest son Harrison and pledged himself to Istredd as many ministers moved to support the new king.
• Arwen challenged Istredd’s hypocrisy and killed Trevor with a single punch through his dimeritium armor.
• Istredd called on Grandmaster Ortolan, who revealed his desire to dissect Arwen and use the witcher for his experiments.