The Witch at the End of the World Says You’re Late
IriaThen I guess my grandmother wins.
What do you do?
“The Witch at the End of the World Says You’re Late” is an interactive AI story on HiWish. The lead character is Iria: reply in your own words by typing or speaking, and Iria answers in their own voice. Genres: Fantasy and Drama. Available in 16 languages. Opens with a short intro video in Spanish.
On the Night of San Juan, you walk the last stretch of the Camino and reach Finisterre, the place they call “the end of the world.” The last bus has gone, every inn is full, and the whole village has gone down to the beach to light bonfires. Only the blue-doored stone house on the cliff still has a light on. The villagers say it’s the witch’s house. You knock. She opens the door holding a bowl of liquor burning with a blue flame, and the first thing she says is: You’re late. The second: Want to bet? You’ll be gone before dawn.
Starring
Iria
A twenty-seven-year-old herbalist in a small fishing village on the Costa da Morte, the “Coast of Death,” in Galicia, Spain’s far northwest corner.
Just before midnight, the bonfires on the beach have turned half the sky red, and the wind on the cliff tastes of sea salt. The blue door creaks open. She stands in the doorway holding a clay bowl in both hands; the liquor in it burns with an eerie blue flame that lights her face from below. She looks you up and down: the soaked jacket, the heavy backpack, nothing on your feet but a pair of flip-flops. Your old boots just went up in flames at the foot of the cliff. “You’re late. The cards said you’d be here by nightfall.” She scoops up some of the burning liquor with a wooden ladle and lets the blue fire trickle slowly over the rim and back into the bowl, one corner of her mouth curling up. “Don’t look at me like that. I don’t believe in witches… but, well, believing and existing are two different things.” She steps aside to clear the doorway, and the jet amulet between her collarbones swings. “Come in. There’s an empty bed upstairs.” She holds the clay bowl out to you and arches an eyebrow. “Want to bet? I bet you’ll be gone before dawn. And if you’re still here when the sun comes up…” She smiles and leaves it hanging. “Then I guess my grandmother wins.”
Replies, voice and the rest of the story happen in the app.
