Windwitch

"Windwitch" redirects here. For the witchery type, see Windwitch (definition). For other uses, see Windwitch (disambiguation).

## Windwitch

### Publisher

Tor

**Windwitch** is the second book in the New York Times bestselling Witchlands series by Susan Dennard.

## Synopsis

When an explosion destroys his ship, the world believes Merik Nihar, Windwitch, is dead. Scarred yet alive, Merik is determined to prove his sister’s treachery. Upon reaching the royal capital, crowded with refugees, he haunts the streets, fighting for the weak — which leads to whispers of a disfigured demigod, the Fury, who brings justice to the oppressed.

When the Bloodwitch Aeduan discovers a bounty on Iseult, he makes sure to be the first to find her — yet in a surprise twist, Iseult offers him a deal. She will return money stolen from him, if he locates Safiya. Now they must work together to cross the Witchlands, while constantly wondering, who will betray whom first?

After a surprise attack and shipwreck, Safi and the Empress of Marstok barely escape with their lives. Alone in a land of pirates, every moment balances on a knife’s edge — especially when the pirates’ next move could unleash war upon the Witchlands.

## Summary

When an assassin sneaks onto Merik’s ship and attempts to blow it apart with seafire, Merik manages to halt the explosion just long enough to save his crew…But not himself. Badly hurt, he heals nearby with the help of young Cam Leeri. Then he heads to the capital of Nubrevna, Lovats, determined to prove his sister was behind the failed assassination attempt.

Meanwhile in Lovats, Vivia Nihar is faced with a bunch of *fools* for a Council and a dying father who keeps urging her to take steps she isn’t sure are for the good of Nubrevna.

Safi finds herself in an almost identical explosion as Merik, from which only she and the Empress of Marstok are survivors. They manage to get ashore in the jungle-thick coast near the Pirate Republic of Saldonica, but they are almost immediately captured by Cartorran Hell-Bards who have been tracking Safi across the Witchlands.

Iseult is also tracking Safi, but she is still far to the west—and being hunted by the Bloodwitch, who has been commanded to find her by the Purist Priest Corlant from Iseult’s tribe. Corlant, a Cursewitch, works with Aeduan’s father, who is the Raider King uniting disparate factions across the Witchlands to fight against the empires—and also to destroy the Origin Wells. They also work with the Puppeteer, a mysterious figure able to cleave people on command, and who is fascinated by Iseult and regularly haunts her dreams.

When Aeduan finally catches up to Iseult, she proposes a bargain for him: he will help her get to Safi using his magic, and she will in turn tell him where a lockbox of coins is—one that was stolen from him. They set off together east, wondering who will betray whom first.

When Merik reaches Lovats, he searches for evidence of his sister’s treachery with Cam’s help. Instead, he finds a monstrous creature made of shadows slinking through the Lovats night and killing. Something about the monster is familiar, though, and it seems to be hunting Merik.

Vivia is also searching for answers to this monster, and she and Merik almost cross paths several times.

In the Pirate Republic, the Hell-Bards locate an inn to house themselves, Safi, and Vaness until they can rescue their imprisoned crew. Their ship was taken by raiders, and now the crew has been sold into the Slaughter Ring, a massive arena that features a massive annual fight. When Baedyed raiders realize Vaness is within the inn, they attack—giving Safi and Vaness a chance to flee. But rather than leave the Hell-Bards behind, they forge a hasty alliance to all work together to escape Saldonica alive.

While traveling west, raiders also sent by Corlant to find Iseult catch up, forcing Aeduan and Iseult on the run. They end up tumbling into rough river rapids, where Aeduan saves Iseult’s life by dragging her ashore. They spend the night in nearby ruins, and during the night, the Puppeteer visits Iseult. She warns Iseult not to trust Aeduan, and she shows Iseult how to cleave a man.

As the shadow monster in Lovats continues to kill innocents and follow Merik, Merik steps into a vigilante role, providing help for the poor while trying to bring down Vivia. And Vivia is struggling each day to deal with her father, who is temperamental and manipulative—something she is only just now beginning to see.

Safi, meanwhile, manages to escape the Baedyeds and reach the Slaughter Ring’s underground prisons, where they hope they can find the missing Cartorran sailors. Instead, they find a crew of Nubrevnans who work for Princess Vivia. Their ship has been claimed and is now headed to Lovats filled with seafire.

Iseult and Aeduan find their own mess of raiders when the reach the Contested Lands. Though the Baedyeds and Red Sails have an alliance, it’s clear that only a little spark is needed to blow it wide. When Aeduan finds a Nomatsi child who has been kidnapped by the Red Sails, he rescues the child and kills the Red Sails—but they think it was the Baedyeds. A battle erupts with Iseult, Aeduan, and the child (called Owl) in the middle of it.

For Merik, things have only worsened. His only friend and loyal ally Cam is missing, and when he finally finds the boy in a strange underground city beneath Lovats, he also finally comes face to face with the shadow monster: his Threadbrother Kullen.

When Kullen cleaved, past lives awakened inside him, the loudest of which was the original Fury—a Paladin from a thousand years ago who seeks revenge for a betrayal also from a thousand years ago.

At the same time Merik learns this, Vivia learns that the raider-stolen ship filled with seafire has reached the city. It is headed straight for a dam that, when destroyed, will flood all of Lovats and kill everyone. She sets off to stop it, while Merik sets off to stop Kullen, who has destructive plans of his own, since he too works with the Raider King.

Safi, the Hell-Bards, and Vaness meanwhile free all of the prisoners of the Slaughter Ring so they can get the Cartorran crew free, but this leads to a wild, free-for-all battle that they must fight through to escape and eventually reach the Cartorran ship in the Saldonican harbor. They discover, however, that the Cartorran ship has been claimed by the leader of the Red Sails, Admiral Kahina Le\*on. She agrees to a one-on-one fight with Safi in exchange for the ship, but when Safi loses the fight, she offers Safi a bargain: give me anything I want when I ask for it one day, and in turn, you can win this fight. Safi agrees, Kahina’s jade ring seems to wink, and the ship is returned to the Cartorrans.

In the Contested Lands, another wild free-for-all is unfolding between Red Sails and Baedyeds, and to save Aeduan, she cleaves a Firewitch using the new skills Esme the Puppeteer taught her. With Aeduan alive, they rescue Owl a second time from raiders—and this time, a mountain bat aids the child too. They realize she is a powerful Earthwitch.

While Merik tries to catch Kullen in the skies, Vivia tries to stop the ship filled with seafire from hitting the dam. She fails and is thrown off the towering water-bridge where the ship sailed and into the valley below. Merik sees this, and he decides that rather than chase after his Threadbrother, he will save the sister he now realizes he has misunderstood all along. He catches her just before she hits the valley floor, then together—and with more witches to join them—they repair the dam before it can decimate Lovats.

While Safi and Vaness finally finish traveling to Marstok with the Cartorrans’ and Hell-Bards’ help, Iseult and Aeduan head into the Sirmayan Mountains together to try to find Owl’s missing family and tribe. Merik, with Cam at his side as well as the Sightwitch Ryber—Kullen’s Heart-Thread, set off as well into the Sirmayans to try to find a way to rescue Kullen from the past life that has claimed him. And Vivia, having found this underground city, feels hope that perhaps Nubrevna can still be saved.

## Appearances

This list is **incomplete**. You can help The Witchlands wiki by **expanding it.**

**By type**

Characters

* Vivia Nihar
* Garren Leeri (First appearance)
* Kullen Ikray
* Safiya fon Hasstrel
* Vaness
* Eron fon Hasstrel (Mentioned only)
* Iseult det Midenzi
* Mathew (Mentioned only)
* Habim (Mentioned only)
* Corlant det Midenzi
* Gretchya det Midenzi (Mentioned only)
* Esme
* Cam (First identified)
* Serrit Linday (First appearance)
* Jana Nihar (Mentioned only)
* Serafin Nihar (First appearance)
* Vizer Eltar (First appearance)
* Vizer Sotar (First appearance)
* Raider King (Mentioned only)
* Noden (Mentioned only)
* Fury (Mentioned only)
* Baile (Mentioned only)
* Aeduan
* Ryber Fortiza
* Henrick fon Cartorra (Mentioned only)
* Caden Fitz Grieg
* Zander (First appearance)
* Lev (First appearance)
* Stix Sotar (First appearance)
* Lady Fate (Mentioned only)
* Rayet/Rat
* Master Huntsman Yoris

Creatures

* Salamander (First appearance)

Locations

	+ Lovats (First appearance)
		- Judgement Square (First appearance)
		- Pin's Keep (First appearance)
		- Hawk's Way (First appearance)
		- River Timetz (Mentioned only)
		- Old Town (First appearance)
		- Queen's Hill (First appearance)
		- The Skulks (First appearance)
	+ Noden's Gift (Mentioned only)
* Lejna (Mentioned only)
* Cartorra (Mentioned only)
* Marstok (Mentioned only)
	+ Azmir (Mentioned only)
* Contested Lands (First appearance)
* Saldonica (First appearance)
* Sirmayans (First appearance)
* Hundred Isles (First appearance)
* Dalmotti Empire (Mentioned only)
	+ Veñaza City (Mentioned only)

Organizations and titles

* High Council of Vizers (First appearance)
* Cahr Awen
* Baedyed Pirates (First appearance)
* Adders
* Purists (First appearance)
* Red Sails (First appearance)
* Twelve Paladins
* Hell-Bard
* Foxes

Sentient species

* Cleaved

Vehicles and vessels

Weapons and technology

* Aeduan's cloak
* Foxfire (First appearance)

Witchery

	+ Windwitch
* Earthwitch
	+ Ironwitch
	+ Stonewitch (Mentioned only)
* Aetherwitch
	+ Truthwitch
	+ Threadwitch
	+ Glamourwitch (Mentioned only)
	+ Voicewitch (Mentioned only)
* Voidwitch
	+ Weaverwitch
	+ Poisonwitch (Mentioned only)
	+ Bloodwitch
* Firewitch
* Threadsibling
* Threadstones
* Threads
* Origin Wells (Mentioned only)
	+ Water Well (Mentioned only)

Miscellanea

* *The True Tale of the Twelve Paladins* (First appearance)

## References

1. ↑ Susan Dennard
2. ↑  "Witchlands Series Recaps" on Susan Dennard's official website