Polina and Margarita are ordinary girls who end up in Zarechye— a fairy-tale village where young wizards live in chicken-coop cottages (on chicken legs). Some can tame fire, others control the air, and the third draw power from the earth. Only a few are able to wield the power of water. To become real witches, Polina and Margarita have to learn a lot. So instead of their usual life, natural magic, people-shifters, bewitched forest clearings, and fateful meetings with the offspring of ancient houses await them. They’ll have to figure out many things: what are mentors for? Why absolutely mustn’t you fall in love with Sеva, the wizard—the son of a healer? And what is the Yarilina manuscript that everyone whispers about mysteriously? Answers to all questions can be found only there—on the other side of the river, where fairy tales come alive and prophecies come true!