The Witching Sun

On the Yamal peninsula—inhabited by dinosaurs and magicians—Cossacks hunt for golden idols of local tribes and take the young sorceress Mita-yuki captive. However, the witch has no intention of surrendering: using cunning, knowledge of the language, and magic, she gradually subjugates her abductors in order to turn them into a tool for seizing power.

1582. The dashing ataman of a hundred, Ivan Yegorov, son of Yeremeyev, as part of Yermak’s army, sets out to conquer the Siberian Khanate. The forces of Khan Kuchum are defeated; the wealthy cities—Kashlyk and Chingy-Tura—are seized and plundered. With fierce fighting, the Cossacks break through toward the Ob… And only then do the paths of Ivan and Yermak diverge: the young ataman learns from local residents about a country of eternal summer and terrifying dragons somewhere in the upper reaches of the Ob, whose rulers—evil sorcerers sir-tya—possess an unimaginable amount of gold. The road to that land is guarded by a vast golden idol, to which the sorcerers bring bloody sacrifices.

To take the gold! To capture it, to transport the idol, to destroy pagan sanctuaries, to free the prisoners destined for sacrifice—these desires make Yeremeyev’s hundred turn north, setting off by sea toward the distant ocean, toward the land of the sorcerers, called by the Nenets living nearby “Ya-Mal”—“The End of the Land” or “The Land of Evil Sun.”

And there is such a sun there—another light, kindled by ancient sorcery, with still unclear purposes.