Andrzej Sapkowski

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The Last Wish - Summary

A Grain of Truth

While travelling through the forest, Geralt comes to the corpses of a man and a woman that seem at first glance to have been killed by wolves, but the wounds tell a different story. Looking closer, Geralt notices that the woman has a blue rose pinned to her dress.

Heading in the direction the pair must have come from, the witcher arrives at a seemingly deserted mansion, in front of which he sees a strange woman who runs from him. The owner of the house, a beast called Nivellen, allows our hero to enter his house, which is enchanted to obey his every whim, and in the end tells Geralt his story: coming from a line of robbers, Nivellen at some point was cursed by a priestess to be a beast in human form until some conditions are fulfilled, something related to blood and love. So for some time, Nivellen has tried to undo the curse by entertaining relationships with different women, all merchant daughters, but to no avail.

Before departing, Geralt warns Nivellen of his newest lady friend, Vereena, who may be a rusalka (water nymph that lures men and children to their deaths). Somewhere along the road Geralt realizes what it was his horse sensed at Nivellen's manor and returns promptly to warn him, but is greeted by Vereena, who turns out to be a bruxa (a vampire-like creature that uses song to knock people out) and a fight ensues.

In the middle of the fight, just when Geralt gets overwhelmed, Nivellen shows up and joins the fight. At some point during the fight, Nivellen impales the bruxa on a pole, enabling Geralt to finish it off. But before the final blow is struck, Vereena confesses her love for Nivellen, which breaks the curse.

The story ends with the key to the curse:

"There is a grain of truth in every fairy tale," said the witcher quietly. "Love and blood. They both possess a mighty power. Wizards and learned men have been racking their brains over this for years, but they haven't arrived at anything, except that-

"Except what, Geralt?"

"It has to be true love."

From Wikipedia



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