The Villain. Book 1

While rulers and sorcerers divide the world, tearing it into pieces, the wise man (vedun) Nezhdan must decide what matters more: protecting his native lands, or pulling his beloved out of the Borderlands. But who is really whispering at his back, “Go”? This is a dark fairy tale in which every step on the vedun’s path may turn into a new trial.

Over his native lands, clouds of misfortune gather. The world is one, yet everyone sees it differently: the authorities reach for a secret power; the outsiders demand riches and land; the seers seek the truth; the mortals dream of their former might; dead sorcerers weave their schemes; and only Likhо... Everyone has their own need. From one edge of the realm to another, the vedun Nezhdan travels along the roads, trying to maintain balance between the True and the Untrue. But the heart knows no peace while his beloved languishes in the Borderlands, having turned into a yagа. And behind him, misfortune lurks in the shadows—and at times it seems as though someone is nudging him, guiding him toward the right words: Go, go! Will he listen? The road—such is the lot of the vedun…