The Last Wish

Dandelion and Geralt are fishing for breakfast. The two are reeling in what feels like a giant catfish; however, they pull too hard and the line snaps. On their other line is an old pot that contains a very angry djinn. Dandelion makes two wishes, but before he can make a third, the djinn tries to strangle him. Geralt fights off the djinn, grabbing a brass seal from the dirt. The djinn disappears, but Dandelion is gravely injured.

Geralt and Dandelion travel to the town of Redania, but when they arrive, despite Dandelion’s injuries, the guards refuse them entry. The town’s law is that no one enters at night. The pair must stay in a nearby building until dawn. In the building are three other men—two elves and a knight. Geralt discovers that wizards boycott Redania because the king taxes them heavily. However, a sorceress named Yennefer lives in the city, flaunting the rules and paying no taxes, drawing the ire of the city’s governance. Geralt doesn’t like the idea of getting involved, but he realizes he will have to if Dandelion is to get the help he needs.

Yennefer lives at the house of a connected ambassador. The doorman initially refuses Geralt entry, but Geralt hits him with his heavy coin-purse and enters anyway. He finds his way to Yennefer’s room, and after an initial confrontation, the two talk while Yennefer bathes. Geralt keeps his story vague, but Yennefer guesses correctly that they encountered a djinn.

Yennefer asks if Dandelion still has the brass seal; Geralt pretends to be unsure, asking whether it’s important. Yennefer chastises him, but then softens her tone and asks where Dandelion is staying. Since Yennefer is an outlaw, she can’t openly walk in town, so they travel by portal, which Geralt hates.

At the inn, while Yennefer heals Dandelion, Geralt talks with the elves, Errdil and Chireadan. Chireadan warns Geralt not to trust Yennefer, who uses her charm and beauty as weapons. Geralt detects a slight blush and realizes that Chireadan is in love with Yennefer.

Yennefer finishes and tells Geralt that Dandelion will fully recover. In the room, Yennefer has set up a magical trap to summon demons—she intends to trap the djinn and force it to serve her. She knows Geralt has the seal and demands it as part of his payment. Geralt gives it to her in good faith, but demands to take Dandelion to safety before she summons the djinn.

However, mid-speech, Geralt falls paralyzed—Yennefer put a spell on him while he was talking. She is going to summon the djinn to get what she wants before leaving Redania; for Geralt’s insolence and disrespect, he is going to pay her debts.

Geralt awakens in prison, with Chireadan by his side. As it turns out, Yennefer’s “debts” were revenge against town officials. Under Yennefer’s spell, Geralt attacked a pawnbroker and an apothecary, and was on his way to do the same to the priest when he suddenly fainted. Chireadan protected Geralt from attacking guards, so they arrested him also.

Apothecary Laurelnose sends guards to rough Geralt up. As they beat him, they mockingly ask if he has any wishes while he’s imprisoned. Geralt wishes for the guard to burst, which the man does.

Geralt and Chireadan are brought before Mayor Neville. Krepp, the priest Geralt almost attacked argues that this is the work of Yennefer. Geralt and Chireadan tell their story to Neville, who is confused. Krepp explains that if Yennefer controls a djinn, she will become enormously powerful.

While they discuss djinns, Dandelion bursts through a portal, wishing for them to believe that Geralt is innocent. Neville, angered, asks what he’s talking about; Dandelion admits that he doesn’t know what’s going on, but that a black-haired woman threw him through a portal and ordered him to state those exact words once he was through. Krepp realizes that Yennefer made Dandelion express his last wish.

Outside, Yennefer has trapped the djinn above Errdil’s tavern; however, the djinn is exceptionally strong, and their fight is destroying the town. Krepp casts a spell to stabilize the portal so Geralt can get back to the tavern and help Yennefer. After he lands, Yennefer creates a portal so Geralt can leave for his own safety, but he refuses to leave without her. He grabs her and pulls her through the portal with him, and they land in the middle of a ballroom. Yennefer tries to jump back through the portal. When Geralt tries to stop her, they go through the portal and emerge just beneath the ceiling of the tavern, falling to the ground.

Geralt figures out what is happening: The djinn is fulfilling Geralt’s wishes, not Dandelion’s, which is why it’s still fighting so hard. Yennefer demands that he make his last wish so she can bottle the djinn, but Geralt refuses, knowing that the djinn will kill her in revenge first. He then has an epiphany and makes his wish. The inn explodes and the djinn escapes; however, despite the destruction, both Geralt and Yennefer suffer no further injuries. Yennefer is astounded by Geralt’s wish, but she tells him that she isn’t sure that it’s possible. They embrace and kiss. 

Dandelion and Geralt leave the temple grounds only to run into the knights, who have returned to demand that Geralt answer for his previous insults. Geralt cannot refuse the duel; and, since Sir Tailles is the prince’s favorite, Geralt must allow Tailles to pin him. In the duel, Geralt blocks one of Tailles’s attacks with such force that Tailles renders himself helpless with the recoil of his heavy sword. Sir Falwick tries to arrest Geralt, but Cranmer, the captain of the prince’s guards, points out that Tailles injured himself.

Geralt agrees to leave quickly, but not before posing a hypothetical question to Falwick—does Geralt now have the right to challenge him to a duel? Frightened, Falwick backs away and remains silent. Geralt warns Falwick that if any knight bothers Nenneke or her temple, he’ll kill him.

Geralt and Dandelion briefly return to Nenneke to gather their things, including Geralt’s most important elixirs. Before they leave, Iola touches Geralt’s hand and sees unspeakable horror; she drops to the ground in shock, and Nenneke has her taken away to be cared for. Nenneke asks Geralt about the vision and begs him to stay. However, he declines, saying that he must go on, as “there’s no point in looking over your shoulder” (319).