The Last Wish (book)

"The Voice of Reason" (Głos rozsądku) Part I - In Ellander's Temple of Melitele, a wounded Geralt is awakened from his slumber by Iola, a mute servant. The two make love, and fall asleep together, with Geralt dreaming of his fight with the powerful monster who wounded him.

The King of Temeria, Foltest, has offered a reward to anyone who can lift the curse on his daughter, Adda (the result of an incestuous union with his late sister, also named Adda), who was born as a striga, and now terrorizes the town every night. Foltest insists that his daughter not be harmed, but reluctantly grants Geralt permission to kill her if Geralt decides that Adda cannot be returned to human form. A more difficult question, to which Geralt can give no certain answer, is whether Adda, who has been a monster her whole life, can live as a "normal" human even if the curse is lifted.

Geralt spends the night at the old palace, which houses the striga. Lord Ostrit, a magnate from Novigrad, arrives and tries to bribe Geralt into leaving without confronting the striga. Ostrit wants to use the striga as proof of Foltest's inability to rule, convincing Temeria's people to support Novigrad's usurpation of rule from Foltest. Geralt refuses and knocks out Ostrit to use him as bait for the striga.

Geralt fights with the striga and soon overcomes her, despite the striga's resistance to silver, which normally easily defeats monsters. Unable to subdue the striga, Geralt seals himself into its crypt, forcing it to spend the night outside its lair and thus lifting the curse. In the morning, Geralt approaches the seemingly-restored Adda, only for the girl to lunge at him and savagely claw his neck. Geralt binds his wounds and faints, but regains consciousness in the temple, being told that Adda is being cared for by the King and Geralt has earned his reward.

"The Voice of Reason" Part II - In the morning, priestess Nenneke awakens Geralt and Iola, and insists Geralt take part in a trance with Iola, which would show them Geralt's future. Geralt refuses.

While traveling through a forest, Geralt comes across the corpses of a man and a girl with strange wounds. Tracing the corpses' path, the Witcher arrives at a seemingly deserted mansion. Before entering the premises, he notices a woman in the forest line watching him, but she runs away once he notices her.

Geralt approaches the house and its owner, a large bear-like beast named Nivellen, attempts to scare him away, without success. Nivellen allows Geralt to enter the house, which supernaturally obeys Nivellen's every command. Nivellen relates that, as the reluctant leader of his late father's gang of bandits, he raped a priestess of a temple, who cursed him to be a beast before killing herself. The priestess told him how to lift the curse, but he has forgotten her exact words, only that it had something to do with a kiss from a woman.

Returning to the mansion, his family home, he invited the daughters of local villages to stay with him, rewarding their families from the mansion's treasury. None had any effect in lifting his curse, and eventually he gave up, settling for enjoying their company. Before departing, Geralt warns Nivellen that his newest relationship, named Vereena, may actually be a monster. Nivellen insists that he and Vereena are truly in love and is now hesitant to break his curse, unsure if she would still love him if he was just an "ordinary" human. Geralt notices his horse acting strangely, but dismisses it and leaves.

Along the road, Geralt realizes why his horse acted strangely and returns to the mansion. He is greeted by Vereena, whom Geralt identifies as a bruxa, a vampire-like monster with telepathic abilities. She truly loves Nivellen, but she has also been sating her appetite for blood on his other female companions, including the girl and her father that Geralt found in the woods. A fight ensues. The bruxa overwhelms Geralt, but Nivellen joins the fray and impales the monster on a pole. The bruxa confesses her love for Nivellen telepathically just before Geralt finally kills her. The confession breaks Nivellen's curse and he returns to normal. Geralt confides that the old stories about a kiss from a maiden lifting a curse like Nivellen's are mostly myth, but contain "a grain of truth": there has to be true love for the cure to work.

"The Voice of Reason" Part III - Two knights of the Order of the White Rose, Count Falwick and Sir Tailles, arrive. They are ordered by the prince of Ellander to chase Geralt ("the Butcher of Blaviken") out of town. Geralt promises to leave in three days. Insulted, Tailles challenges Geralt to a duel, and the knights promise to return.

On the eve of a market festival, Geralt rides into the town of Blaviken with a monster carcass in tow. He seeks out Caldemeyn, the town's alderman, to try to get a reward for killing the monster. Caldemeyn refuses, but one of his guards mentions that the town wizard might find value in it.

They head to the wizard's tower, who is uninterested in the carcass but wants to meet Geralt nonetheless, alone. Geralt steps into the tower and discovers the wizard is Stregobor, a mage he has met previously. Stregobor explains why he is in hiding and why he wished to meet with Geralt: a young, supposedly cursed woman wants to assassinate him and Stregobor wants Geralt's protection. Geralt refuses in disbelief and leaves.

Meanwhile, the described assassin, named Renfri, has entered Blaviken along with her band of mercenaries. Geralt meets her in a local tavern, and she explains to Geralt and Caldemeyn that she bears a letter from a king that she is under his protection, which Caldemeyn confirms. That night, when Geralt withdraws to his attic room at Caldemeyn's home, he finds Renfri. Renfri explains that Stregobor had previously tried to kill her for no reason other than a superstition, and encourages the witcher to kill Stregobor instead. Geralt, again, refuses, and pleads with Renfri to forgive Stregobor to prove the superstition wrong. Renfri refuses but implies she will leave town peacefully before spending the night with Geralt.

In the morning, on the day of the market festival, Geralt realizes that Renfri lied, and won't be leaving town, but will in fact massacre the people of Blaviken to draw Stregobor out of his tower. Geralt races to the marketplace and finds Renfri's mercenaries. Although they show no immediate indication of causing harm in the market, Geralt attacks and swiftly kills each mercenary. When Renfri arrives, Geralt defeats her as well.

After the fight, Stregobor approaches the Witcher, intent on performing an autopsy on Renfri's body to prove that the curse had physically affected her. Geralt refuses to let him touch her body. Stregobor leaves, and the townsfolk, believing Geralt had just murdered a group of innocent men during the festival, begin hurling rocks at the Witcher. Geralt protects himself with magic until Caldemeyn tells the villagers to stop, but demands Geralt leave Blaviken and never return. Geralt's actions have now earned him the nickname "the Butcher of Blaviken."

"The Voice of Reason" Part IV - Geralt tells Iola his history as a Witcher.

Geralt (under an alias) is at the castle of Cintra at the invitation of Queen Calanthe, attending the betrothal celebration for Crown Princess Pavetta. Suddenly an uninvited knight with his face covered enters, introduces himself as Urcheon of Erlenwald and claims Pavetta's hand in marriage, promised to him before Pavetta's birth, by her father, King Roegner, whose life Urcheon saved. Calanthe admits that he has a claim, but does not want to marry her daughter to a stranger. She orders him to remove his helmet, and to everyone's shock his face is that of a furry beast.

Geralt asks Pavetta whether she will agree to marry Urcheon, and to the outrage of the other suitors, she says yes. The suitors attack Urcheon, but he is defended by Geralt and the King of Skellinge, Eist Tuirseach, who brought his nephew to the feast to court Pavetta but who himself loves Calanthe. The attack provokes Pavetta to reveal her latent magical powers, which threaten to destroy the castle until Geralt and Eist's druid councilor, Mousesack, manage to subdue her. When the princess approaches Urcheon, he transforms into a man named Duny. Pavetta and Duny admit that they have been seeing each other for over a year, and fallen in love. Calanthe agrees to their marriage, and, touched by Eist shielding her from the destruction of Pavetta's magical outburst, finally agrees to his proposal of marriage. Thanking Geralt for saving his life, Duny offers him whatever he asks. Geralt, invoking the same law which gave Duny his claim to Pavetta's hand, reveals that Pavetta is pregnant and asks that the child be raised as a Witcher.

"The Voice of Reason" Part V - Dandelion, a poet and Geralt's friend, soon arrives. They discuss how the Witcher profession is losing profitability in modern times.

Geralt and Dandelion fail to find work in Upper Posada, Geralt dismissing the locals' tales of monsters as superstition rather than real work for a witcher. Moving on to Lower Posada, they are overtaken by a local carter, Nettly, who promises there is work for them. The village elder, Dhun, tells of a "deovel" whose mischief has become a problem, but under no circumstances should the creature be killed. In the countryside, Geralt and Dandelion confront the "deovel", which resembles a goat walking on two legs. Dandelion and the "devil" exchange a few words, which provokes the devil to hurl iron balls at the pair, driving them away.

Back in the village, passages from an ancient tome identify the "devil" as a sylvan. During a second confrontation, Geralt and Dandelion are knocked out and taken to the mountain hideout of Aen Seidhe elves, with whom the sylvan, Torque, is taking refuge. The elves' leader, Filavandrel, orders them executed, but the legendary Queen of the Fields makes a spectacular entrance. While Filavandrel communicates with her (telepathically), Torque cuts Geralt and Dandelion free. Filavandrel releases them, declaring that he and Geralt will meet again it battle, and he hopes Geralt does not let him down when that happens. Geralt assures him that he'll do his best.

The story ends with Geralt, Dandelion and Torque sitting around a campfire, wondering where to go next.

"The Voice of Reason" Part VI - After, Geralt talks to Nenneke about Yennefer, wishing to give some of his payment from defeating the striga to her. He recounts how he met Yennefer at Nenneke's request.

One morning, while trying to catch fish for breakfast, Dandelion and Geralt instead haul up an ancient, sealed amphora. Dandelion, ignoring Geralt's warnings, tries to open the vase. During a struggle between the two, the vase falls to the ground and a large cloud of red mist escapes — a genie. Geralt dives for cover, but Dandelion feels he knows exactly what is happening and held his ground, beginning to recite his list of three wishes. The genie does not fulfill even the first one of the bard's wishes (that his rival die of apoplexy), opting instead to strangle the bard.

Geralt rushes to his friend's rescue, and after a seemingly fruitless fight, decides to use some folk knowledge he had always considered to be nonsense. The Witcher seizes the ampora seal which has fallen to the ground and shouts out an exorcism. The genie releases the bard and disappears across the river, but Dandelion is far from well. It seems his throat and larynx have been seriously affected by the genie and he needs help desperately.

After a day's ride, they arrive at the gates of Rinde, but are told that no one may pass through the gates between dusk and dawn without a letter of safe conduct from the king or proof of nobility. The guard offers them the gatehouse until morning, pointing out that Dandelion will fare better there than out of doors. Having no other option, the Witcher agrees.

Waiting for the dawn to break, Geralt makes the acquaintance of two elves Chireadan and his cousin, Errdil and a half-elf knight, Vratimir. They inform him that there are heavy duties and penalties for spellcasting within the city, and the mages are boycotting Rinde in return. There is one though, who continues to work her magic within the city limits and generally flouts the law: the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg, residing in the sanctuary provided by the Novigradian merchant-ambassador, Beau Berrant.

When dawn breaks, Geralt enters the city to find the sorceress. Arriving at Berrant's home, he is greeted by Cerberus, the doorman of sorts. After a fruitless discussion, Geralt decides that perhaps gold might open the door, and knocks the oaf unconscious with his money purse. Once inside, he drags Cerberus into an open room where one of the female staff is happily snoring. The Witcher then proceeds to the basement where he meets a very inebriated Berrant. The ambassador, it seems, is on a mission to get apple juice for his guest and asks Geralt for help. Geralt fetches the juice only to find Beau unconscious.

Noticing a staircase nearby, the Witcher climbs up to what turns out to be Yennefer's bedchamber. The sorceress, partly surprised by Geralt's appearance, appreciates his offering of juice—though she does not appreciate Geralt's sarcasm in response to her questions. The sorceress summarily fires a bolt of lighting at Geralt, who absorbs the attack with Heliotrope. Afterwards, Geralt is able to convince Yennefer to help Dandelion, right after a bath. While Yennefer takes a bath, Geralt is amazed by her beauty, but also realises that it is probably a spell, as most girls who become sorceresses are ugly or malformed by nature. He puts these thoughts aside, and decides to just enjoy her beauty, as they talk over Dandelion's condition. Once dressed, Yennefer opens a portal and the two set out for the tavern where Dandelion is laid up.

Back at Errdil's inn, Chireadan and Geralt sit downstairs waiting to hear about the bard's condition and chatting a little about Yennefer over a cup of herb tea. Chireadan tells Geralt in no uncertain terms that Yennefer, while beautiful, is not to be trusted.

After a while, Yennefer summons Geralt upstairs; Dandelion is happily, safely asleep, and there is only the question of price to be discussed. Geralt first wants to take Dandelion to safety, and offers a price to guarantee his return. Yennefer wants her price right away though and reveals that she has in fact trapped Geralt in the room. The Witcher is completely paralyzed. After a rather fruitless argument, Geralt passes out and the next thing he knows, he's sharing a cell with "honest thieves", an innocent old man, and Chireadan.

The elf tells Geralt the reason for their presence there; under the influence of Yennefer's spell, Geralt went rampaging through the town, punishing anyone who had ever insulted Yennefer. The local apothecary Laurelnose was actually publicly spanked by the Witcher for his "crimes". As the two men reflect on their situation, their musings are interrupted by the entrance of three guards. One of them starts taunting Geralt while his friends hold the Witcher still, then proceeds to repeatedly punch Geralt in the stomach. Seeking to get out with the least injuries possible, Geralt tries to goad the man into rendering him unconscious. He expresses the wish that the guard simply burst, and to everyone's surprise, the man does so.

Later, the Witcher and the elf are brought before the town's mayor, Neville and the priest, Krepp. The mayor is not happy with the situation but before he can reach a verdict, Dandelion suddenly drops into the room from a magical portal which suddenly appears on the wall. The bard shouts with a fully restored voice that he wishes everyone present to believe that the Witcher is innocent. He was instructed to do this by Yennefer, who sent him through this portal, and wanted to clear Geralt's name.

Dandelion has hardly had time to explain himself when a roaring commotion is heard outside, loud enough to be heard over the current thunderstorm. Rushing to the window, the group sees that Yennefer has lured the genie to the town, and is trying to capture it to gain its amazing powers. The genie is much stronger than expected though, and despite Yennefer's spells binding it to Errdil's inn, the genie is destroying the town.

Geralt ushers everyone else to safety and asks Krepp to stabilise the trace of the portal Dandelion just fell through. After a few protests, the priest obliges and the portal reappears. Geralt jumps through, intent on saving the sorceress. Yennefer does not want to be saved though, she is not done trapping her genie and resists Geralt's help, even opening a portal to get rid of him. While he falls into the portal, however, the witcher grabs Yennefer, and the sorceress is dragged into the portal with him. When they exit the portal, they land in a formal banquet and the two have not been invited. Yennefer immediately shakes off Geralt and goes back through the portal, with Geralt following her close behind.

Outside, the people gathered are watching in terror as the genie continues to rampage through the city. After a scuffle between Yennefer and Geralt, with waning powers, the sorceress traps him. The Witcher tries to talk some sense into her head, but she will not listen.

Then, Geralt realises that the genie was fulfilling his wishes, since he was the one holding the seal last. His first wish was the incantation he used on the genie and his second was the wish for the guard to burst, and thus the genie is still awaiting Geralt's third wish. Because the genie still has to fulfill his master's wish, he is not yet freed, and is not able to be captured by Yennefer. While rethinking his possible last wish, he also realises what Yennefer looked like before she became a sorceress - she was a hunchback. Then, he decided upon his last wish.

The next moment, the genie tears free, the inn collapses and silence descends upon the village. Under the rubble of the inn, Yennefer finds herself in Geralt's arms, close and intimate. Just moments later, Yennefer and Geralt begin to make love in the remains of what was the beginning of a stormy relationship.

Finally, Geralt and Dandelion leave the temple, but are stopped by Falwick and Tailles and a company of soldiers. They are accompanied by Dennis Cranmer, the dwarf captain of the prince's guard. The knights outline an unwinnable situation to Geralt, in which he must accept Tailles' earlier challenge but not harm Tailles, or else he'll be killed. Geralt accepts, but avoids punishment by causing Tailles to injure himself. Dennis accepts the loophole and permits Geralt to leave, sincerely hoping to meet Geralt again in the future.

Before Geralt leaves, he accidentally touches Iola's hand, inducing the trance. Geralt, Iola, and Nenneke see a bloody and violent vision of Geralt's future. Geralt dismisses the vision, claiming to have seen it before, and says goodbye to Nenneke.