A battle rages. In the midst of it, Jaskier does his best to avoid being killed. He is muddy. His hands are bound. He’s panicking. He stumbles and falls. A Temerian soldier in plate armor swings his ax to kill him but freezes mid-swing.

Jaskier gets up. All the combatants are frozen although the fire continues to crackle.

He calls to see if there’s anyone around. Suddenly, he is greeted by a clean, calm, and hatted version of himself. Jaskier guesses at the newcomer’s nature, calls him a doppler. The newcomer touches a sword and it begins to blossom. Flowers burst forth from the frozen soldier’s mouth too. The newcomer explains they have many faces.

Jaskier is transported out of the battlefield. Into a winter forest. The newcomer now wears the visage of a female elf. She tells him she needs him to sing a story back to life. She looks to an altar in the center of a circle of standing stones where Jaskier’s lute lays.

She promises him a tale that tells of warriors who take on an unstoppable empire, bring humans and monsters to the world via the Conjunction of the Spheres, and create the first version of a witcher. He’s excited to learn that the first witcher was an elf.

The story begins twelve hundred years ago. Six strangers are destined to be bound together in a blood quest: Fjall of Dog Clan; Scían of Ghost Tribe; Brother Death; two mages, Zacare and Syndril; Meldof and her vengeful hammer, Gwen. The seventh will lead them, known as the Lark.

At Inis Dubh, on the Far Northern Seas, the Lark gives alms to an injured soldier and asks where she can play her music. While she’s performing a song called The Black Rose, and anthem for the working class, an unruly patron assaults the young server. Her mother intercedes, saying Ithlinne has fits, offers to let him and his friends drink for free if he leaves her alone.

He knocks her to the ground in response and grabs Ithlinne again. A knife finds his leg, thrown by the Lark from the stage. In short order, she’s dispatched all his friends as well, apologizing to the rest of the audience, stating she can’t abide bad manners.

The barkeep raises a toast to the Lark, echoed by the others. The Lark resumes her song, with the audience joining in.

In the south, in the city of Xin’trea, King Alvitir and his sister are attacked by assassins but Fjall Stoneheart and Dog Clan protect them. Princess Merwyn is given a blade to protect herself and has killed a man when the fighting is over.

Back at the palace, she is in shock and when Fjall comes to provide her with a weapon again, she reminds him that they were intimate before and she needs him now. She kisses him and he takes her to bed.

Fjall’s father and another Dog Clan leader find the princess’s room unguarded and burst in, finding Fjall and Merwyn having sex.

Fjall is found guilty of betraying his duty and banished from Xin’trea and disowned by Dog Clan and his father, the chieftain.

At the palace, Alvitir visits Merwyn and finds her reading the Solryth Sagas that chronicle the exploits of the founder of Xin’trea who drove out the dwarves to build the city. She insists that their history is their future.

She offers to be his advisor to half make elfkind great again. Instead, he offers to marry her to the king of Pryshia in order to secure peace between the clans. She agrees.

In the Valley of Lost Souls, Scían looks for answers to strange omens. She gets no answer from her ancestors. The omens are due to Chief Sage Balor tearing the veils between worlds using the monoliths, opening portals to other dimensions where he consults with a powerful being about his attempt to assassinate King Alvitir.

He asks for help to take the power of the kingdom.

In Inis Dubh, Ithlinne asks the Lark about where she learned to fight. The Lark shares that she was born into Raven Clan, protectors of King Midir and the Pryshian royal family. She admits to being the daughter of Lady Cethlenn of the Knives. The Lark tells her she chose to be a bard after learning to play the key harp her sword master introduced her to.

Ithlinne shares that her visions and fits scare the townspeople. The Lark comforts her with the fact the ignorant are jealous of those with gifts.

The town guards pound on the door, having been called by the patrons the Lark beat up. She is arrested and thrown into a holding cell with a sleeping Fjall.

She recognizes his Dog Clan tattoos. He wakes and recognizes her for Raven Clan. She names him, reminds him that he took her cousin’s eye in the Battle of Brokilon, and promises to kill him for her cousin. He tells her his Dog Clan days are done and why.

The guards return to tell Fjall he’s free to go. The Lark attacks him before he can get out, claiming she’s going to take his eye for her cousin. He fights her off and the guards warn her to stay back.

In Xin’trea, Alvitir informs his advisors he plans to end the war and strike a peace with Pryshia and Darwen by marrying Merwyn to King Midir and by granting the Xin’trea mines in Sliabh Liath to Queen Neera of Darwen.

Fjall is hailed by Shen of Dog Clan who paid the bribe that freed him. His father sent Shen to bring Fjall back for the peace treaty signing. Fjall declines and goes to find a brothel.

At the brothel, he discovers his pendant is gone and realizes The Lark took it when she attacked him in the cell.

The Lark uses the pendant to pick the lock on the cell and escape. She returns to retrieve her key harp and finds her sister, Niamh, playing it. Her sister’s been sent by their mother to bring her home to guard King Midir as he travels for the treaty signing.

Her sister leaves her, warning her she’ll be gone on the next tide. The Lark sobs quietly alone. Ithlinne checks in on her and hugs her. She suddenly has a fit and speaks a prophecy.

After conferring with Ithlinne’s mother, The Lark bids her farewell and leaves to join her sister.

As they walk out of the village, Niamh is struck through the back by multiple arrows. Arming herself, The Lark screams for the assassins to show themselves. Several masked killers converge on her. She fights nearly all of the off, but Fjall takes out the last three. He’s returned for his pendant.

The Lark holds her sister as she dies.

When they examine the bodies of the killers, they find a Xin’trean soldier, a Pryshian cavalry captain, and a Darwenian infantry. They realize the armies are rising up against the monarchies before the peace treaty can be signed. They agree to travel together to protect each other.

The Lark reclaims her clan name, Éile, now that her sister’s been killed and she’s out for revenge.

In the palace, Merwyn’s maidservant prepares her to meet King Midir. Merwyn is excited to have repaired a planetary orrery, declaring the heavenly signs as an indication there’s hope for her as well.

The monarchs meet in Xin’trea for the peace treaty signing. As Alvitir makes his speech, the respective armies and advisors retreat from the meeting space. The royal protectors notice, but hold their place. Merwyn clutches her stomach and convulses in pain. She claims it’s just nerves and offers to retire to her chambers. Ryl attends her. As they leave, Eredin closes and barricades the doors behind them. Merwyn cuts Ryl’s throat.

A monster flies into the peace treaty space and disintegrates every royal and protector there. The monster is Balor’s, borrowed from the being in the other dimension. Merwyn is hailed the Empress of the Three Kingdoms.

Éile and Fjall sail for Gaylth to avoid sinking in an unnatural storm on the way to Xin’trea.

Merwyn addresses the masses as their empress. Eredin and Balor discuss her role as figurehead for the new Golden Age of Elfkind.

When Merwyn tries to go to see the people, Balor has the guards contain her. She is a prisoner.

In Gaylth, in the former kingdom of Pryshia, Éile and Fjall notice changes and head to the tavern for information.

They overhear locals discussing the overthrow of the monarchs and Merwyn’s ascension. Brother Death is at another table. Soldiers enter and rough up a loud mouth drunk. The guards are looking for Éile and Fjall, show wanted posters for them. Brother Death looks over at their table but they’re gone.

In Xin’trea, elven workers are forced to excavate and raise monoliths to stabilize Balor’s gateways. Balor demands more power in order for them to lead a legion through the gateways. Eredin informs him they are stretched thin due to higher deserter numbers in the Darwenian and Pryshian armies.

Balor purged non-cooperative mages and it’s causing a famine which is sparking riots.

Éile and Fjall discuss what they heard of the monster and the massacre as they camp. Fjall tells Éile of the mage Syndril who found the monoliths and opened gateways to other dimensions.

They swear a blood oath to each other to end Merwyn, the beast, and anyone who stands with her.

In her chambers, Merwyn tells Ket about her dream of civilizing new worlds when her armies conquer new worlds through the monolith gateways. She chafes at Balor’s restraints on her movement and power.

Balor visits Syndril in his prison cell. He orders Syndril to ready the calculations to connect all the monoliths and applauds him for making this all possible.

Éile suggests they seek out her sword master, Scían, who was banished from Raven Clan for introducing her to music.

Scían is the last of Ghost Tribe, the greatest sword masters on the Continent. They refused to fight for Xin’trea and the then-king Darach poisoned their water supply.

A group of refugee elves from Bon Machán wander by. They tell Fjall about the Xin’trean forces conscripting their young people to raise monoliths. One of the refugees recognizes Éile as The Lark. She tells her her songs gave them hope. She begins to sing The Black Rose. Others join in as they walk off.

As they approach Scían’s territory, Éile warns Fjall of pit traps. He avoids one only to fall into the next. As she laughs at him, Scían sneaks up on her and holds a blade to her throat, asking how she survived the murder of the clans.

Balor meets again with the being in the other dimension. He asks her to grant him the power of a god to raise him up as emperor despite being lowborn, Chaos magic. She demands sacrifice in return. He agrees.

Éile asks Scían to join them. She tempts her with the chance to reclaim Ghost Tribe’s sacred blade, Soulreaver.

Fjall warns Éile that Scían will betray her. Éile insists she’s their only hope.

Fjall tells Scían that they can get into the city through a passage he knows of. She goads him into attacking her. Éile joins in. Scían defeats them both with nothing but an empty scabbard. She agrees to join their quest.

Scían sets fire to her dwelling and they leave together.