Summary

Chapter 2 starts by referring back to the first scene of chapter 1. Now morning, the girl Geralt had sex with, Iola, was told to leave by Nenneke. Geralt had come to see Nenneke, a priestess at Melitele’s temple, in order to recover from the neck wound he had received from the striga. The priestess admonishes him for allowing himself to get injured. She attempted to convince the reluctant Geralt to take part in a ceremony with herself and Iola that would bring on a trance to “see into the vortex of power surrounding you” (36).

On his horse in the woods, Geralt came across two disfigured corpses. He deduced that they had died two or three days ago and had been attacked by something. Geralt noticed a tower and as he approached it, he felt someone watching him. He turned and saw a girl in...