Scene 3: Plunge into the Deep
The journey toward the Khanty settlement had become strangely quiet. After leaving the deeper forest behind, Ruslan and Nay continued across a broad stretch of land lying between the two rivers, where the trees grew farther apart and the ground became softer beneath their feet. The morning mist had not completely disappeared, lingering in thin white layers above the grass and low marshes, while the distant sound of running water followed them almost constantly. Ruslan had grown accustomed to Nay walking a few steps ahead of him, occasionally looking back to make sure he was still there. She never openly admitted that she was checking on him, but every time their eyes met, she quickly turned away and pretended to be studying the path.
Ruslan found it somewhat amusing, though he decided not to tease her about it. He understood why she was cautious. She had been running from her own people only hours earlier, had watched them behave like strangers, and had been forced to place her trust in someone she had never met before. Considering everything that had happened to her, the fact that she was willing to walk beside him at all was already a sign that she was beginning to believe his promise.
Nay suddenly stopped.
Ruslan nearly walked into her.
"What is it?"
She raised one hand and pointed ahead. "We're close."
Ruslan looked toward the faint shapes beyond the mist. At first, he could see nothing more than scattered trees and patches of tall grass, but then the outline of wooden houses gradually emerged through the white veil. The settlement was spread along the water rather than clustered tightly together. Timber houses stood on slightly raised ground, their roofs built to withstand the heavy northern weather. Wooden racks stood outside several homes, and bundles of fishing equipment rested beneath covered shelters. Decorative patterns had been carved into some of the posts, and Ruslan noticed the familiar Three-River Mark worked into belts, wooden objects, and pieces of woven cloth.
"This is your village?"
Nay nodded.
"It looks peaceful."
"It usually is."
There was something in her voice that made Ruslan look at her.
Nay's eyes remained fixed on the settlement.
"Usually?"
She hesitated before answering. "Our people live with the river. We fish, travel through the wetlands, and follow the old paths when we move between settlements. The river gives us almost everything we need. But it also has to be respected. My people have always said that water remembers what happens to those who live beside it."
Ruslan glanced toward the river.
"After everything I've seen since leaving Pskov," he said quietly, "I'm starting to believe the old stories more than I used to."
Nay gave him a brief look. "You should. Some stories are warnings."
Before Ruslan could ask what she meant, a sound came from the village.
A low, distorted murmur.
Nay's expression immediately changed.
"That's not right."
Ruslan's hand moved toward his weapon.
"What is it?"
"My people."
The two of them moved forward cautiously.
At first, there appeared to be several villagers standing near the center of the settlement. Their bodies were still, their heads lowered, and their movements strangely unnatural. Then one of them slowly raised his face.
His eyes were vacant.
Another villager turned toward them.
Then another.
Nay took a step backward.
"They're like the others."
Ruslan understood immediately.
The same unnatural possession.
The same empty expressions.
The same presence that had infected Otyr's village.
"Stay behind me."
Nay frowned. "I can fight."
"I know."
Ruslan drew his weapon.
"But I'm still going first."
The villagers suddenly rushed toward them.
Ruslan moved to intercept the first attacker, knocking his weapon aside before striking him hard enough to send him sprawling into the grass. Another came from the side, but Nay stepped forward before Ruslan could react. She placed one foot against the wet ground and released her Zhivava.
The moisture beneath her feet trembled.
The ground itself seemed to answer her.
"Ripple Sense."
A faint ripple travelled through the damp earth, revealing the movements of the villagers around them. Nay immediately turned toward one approaching from Ruslan's blind side.
"Behind you!"
Ruslan twisted just in time to block the attack.
"Thanks."
"Don't thank me yet."
Nay swept her hand through the air.
The mist surrounding them gathered.
Thin strands of water condensed into nearly invisible threads, their pressure increasing until they became sharp enough to cut through the air.
"Surface Tension!"
The pressurized threads struck the ground around the attacking villagers, forcing them to stumble and lose their footing rather than cutting them directly. Ruslan understood what she was doing immediately. She was controlling the battlefield rather than simply attacking.
He moved through the openings she created, striking weapons from hands and knocking possessed villagers away from one another so that they could not surround them.
Nay moved beside him now instead of behind him.
"You really don't know when to stop, do you?" she shouted.
Ruslan blocked another attack. "I've been told that before."
"By your friends?"
"My family."
Nay smiled faintly despite the situation.
"Then they must know you well."
"They do."
The fight ended only after the last possessed villager collapsed. Ruslan and Nay tied their hands and secured them inside one of the larger houses, making sure they could not hurt themselves or anyone else if they regained consciousness.
When it was over, Nay stood outside the house and stared at the rest of the settlement.
She had been determined when they entered.
Now she looked frightened.
"Come on," Ruslan said gently. "We need to find your tribe head."
Nay nodded.
She led him toward the largest house in the settlement.
The structure was different from the others. It had been built with greater care, with carved wooden panels along the entrance and woven decorations hanging beneath the roof. Inside were hunting tools, fishing equipment, ceremonial objects, and carefully preserved garments. Several symbols had been carved into the walls, and among them Ruslan again noticed the Three-River Mark.
Nay stepped inside.
Then she froze.
"Mother?"
Ruslan looked at her.
Nay moved farther into the room.
"Mother!"
There was no answer.
She checked the adjoining room, then another. Her movements became increasingly hurried until she finally returned to the main chamber.
"She isn't here."
"Maybe she escaped."
"No."
Nay shook her head.
"She wouldn't leave the village without telling me."
Ruslan watched her face.
The stubbornness that had defined her since their first meeting had suddenly disappeared. She looked much younger now.
"Who is she?"
Nay remained silent for a moment.
Then she lowered her head.
"My mother."
Ruslan hesitated.
"Your... mother?"
Nay nodded.
"Not my real mother. I never knew my real parents."
She looked toward the doorway.
"I was an orphan. When I was little, she was the one who took me in. She was the tribe head, but she never treated me like I was some child who happened to live in her village. She raised me. She taught me our traditions. She taught me how to read the river, how to move through the wetlands, and how to understand the water before stepping into it."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"The villagers helped too. Everyone did. I never had to wonder where I belonged because they made sure I belonged here."
Ruslan said nothing.
Nay wiped her eyes quickly, almost angrily, as though she disliked the fact that she was becoming emotional.
"So don't tell me to leave them behind."
"I wasn't going to."
"She may still be alive."
"She probably is."
Nay looked at him.
"You don't know that."
"No," Ruslan admitted. "I don't."
He stepped closer.
"But I know something else. I've already seen what happened to the people of this village, and I've seen the same thing happen somewhere else. Whatever is doing this hasn't finished yet."
Nay clenched her fists.
"Then we have to stop it."
"We will."
"You say that like you're certain."
Ruslan smiled faintly.
"I've spent enough time around Avi to learn that sometimes you have to believe you'll succeed before you know how you're going to do it."
Nay studied him.
"You really trust him that much?"
"He's like a big brother to me."
Ruslan's expression softened.
"And when someone is your family, you don't abandon them just because things become impossible."
Nay looked away.
For the first time since they had met, she seemed to understand him completely.
"You're stubborn too."
Ruslan laughed softly.
"Probably."
Nay took a slow breath.
"That's why I have to become strong."
Ruslan looked at her.
"My mother chose me as her successor. She gave me something that belongs to the next tribe head. I wasn't supposed to use it until I was ready."
She turned toward one of the storage areas.
"There."
Beneath a carefully folded piece of cloth lay a long wooden shaft.
Nay lifted the cloth away.
Ruslan's eyes widened.
A heavy multi-pronged weapon rested beneath it, its barbed points carefully forged and its long shaft made from polished, water-resistant cedar. It looked like a weapon designed for the river, something capable of striking through water or ice while still being powerful enough to stop a large creature.
Nay reached out and touched it.
"This is the Ostrog."
Ruslan looked at her.
"Ostrog?"
She nodded.
"It belongs to the successor of the Khanty tribe head. My mother gave it to me because she chose me."
Ruslan studied the weapon.
"It suits you."
Nay looked at him suspiciously.
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"
"It is."
She smiled slightly.
Then her expression became serious again.
"Otyr and Icha are successors too."
Ruslan looked at her.
"Otyr?"
"Yes. The Mansi tribe head chose him. And Icha was chosen by the Selkup tribe head."
Ruslan frowned thoughtfully.
"So the three of you were chosen by your people."
"Yes."
"Does that mean all three villages have children being prepared to become their next leaders?"
Nay nodded.
Ruslan looked at the Ostrog again.
He thought about Otyr.
Then Icha.
Three children.
Three tribes.
Three different territories.
And now three settlements were suffering from the same strange phenomenon.
His expression hardened.
"Then this isn't happening to your village alone."
Nay shook her head.
"Otyr's village was attacked too?"
"Yes. That's how I found him."
Ruslan's thoughts raced.
"The same thing happened in the forest. Your people were acting strangely. Otyr's people were acting strangely."
Nay, slowly understood.
"The Three River Circle."
Ruslan nodded.
"All three villages."
He looked toward the river outside.
"And if all three are being affected at the same time..."
Nay finished the thought.
"Karachun."
The name seemed to change the atmosphere inside the house.
Ruslan remembered the stories he had heard, the strange events surrounding the Three River Circle, and the connection between the ancient Guardians and the winter spirit they had once sealed away.
He tightened his grip.
"If Karachun is behind this, then your tribe head may have gone looking for the answer."
Nay immediately looked up.
"She did."
Ruslan turned toward her.
"You know where?"
Nay nodded.
"She knew something was wrong before the village was completely taken. She told me there was something she had to do."
"What?"
"She went to the source."
"The source of what?"
"The hidden stream."
Ruslan's eyes narrowed.
Nay carried the Ostrog carefully as she explained.
"There is a hidden stream beneath our village. It enters the pond here, but the water doesn't begin here. It comes from somewhere much farther away."
"Where?"
"The Pskova River."
Ruslan stared at her.
"The Pskova?"
"Yes. My mother is one of the few people who knows the old route. The stream travels underground before it reaches the pond. The source is hidden, and the path to it is known only to the tribe head."
Ruslan suddenly remembered the white bear that had appeared in the mist and guided him toward the river.
The memory returned with startling clarity.
The white fur.
The river.
The feeling that something had been deliberately leading him.
He looked at Nay.
"I followed a white bear to the Pskova River."
Nay's eyes widened.
"The River Guardian."
"Asiki?"
She nodded slowly.
"Asiki is the Guardian of the river."
Ruslan looked toward the pond outside.
"Then perhaps the river wasn't simply guiding me to you."
Nay tightened her grip on the Ostrog.
"It was guiding you here."
Ruslan nodded.
"And your mother went to the source."
"Yes."
"Then that's where we're going."
Nay looked toward the pond.
Ruslan followed her gaze.
"You said the hidden stream ends there."
She nodded.
"Then we don't need to find another entrance."
Ruslan walked toward the pond.
Nay followed.
When they reached the edge, Nay stopped and studied the water carefully. The pond looked completely ordinary at first glance, its surface almost perfectly still beneath the lingering mist. She crouched near the edge and looked beneath it, searching for some kind of opening, passage, or hidden channel.
"So... where exactly is the entrance?" she asked.
Ruslan crouched beside her.
"I don't know."
Nay looked at him.
"You don't know?"
"I was hoping you did."
Nay gave him an unimpressed stare.
"You're the one who said we were going."
"I know."
She turned her attention back to the pond.
"Maybe there's a submerged passage somewhere beneath the rocks. Or perhaps the current becomes stronger at a certain point. My mother told me the stream enters the pond, but she never showed me where."
Ruslan narrowed his eyes and looked deeper into the water.
"Wait."
Nay glanced at him.
"What?"
"Look there."
He pointed toward the middle of the pond.
At first, Nay saw nothing. Then, beneath the surface, a faint bluish glow appeared between the rocks. It was barely visible, almost as if the water itself were shining from somewhere below.
Ruslan leaned closer.
"I think that's it."
Nay stared at the glowing patch.
"You think?"
"It looks like an entrance."
"That's not exactly reassuring."
Ruslan stood up.
"Jump."
Nay looked up at him.
"What?"
"Jump."
"Why?"
"Because that's probably the entrance."
Nay blinked at him.
"You want me to jump into a pond because you think there's an entrance underneath it?"
Ruslan nodded.
"Yes."
Nay stared at him for several seconds.
"Did you get hit during the fight before?"
Ruslan suddenly reached down and pushed her.
"Ruslan!"
Nay screamed as she tumbled forward and splashed straight into the pond.
Ruslan immediately jumped in after her.
"Wait for me!"
The moment they struck the water, the pond seemed to come alive.
A powerful current seized both of them and dragged them downward.
Nay's scream disappeared into a burst of bubbles as she was pulled beneath the surface. Ruslan was swept along beside her, the two of them spinning helplessly through the glowing water before the current suddenly caught them and dragged them through the narrow opening beneath the rocks.
Nay twisted around and glared at him through the water.
You pushed me!
Ruslan could only shrug helplessly.
The current carried them deeper.
Nay quickly realized they could not remain like this for long. She gathered her Zhivava and extended it through the surrounding water, manipulating the tension of the river itself. The water around her body began to separate, forming a thin protective layer that created a pocket of breathable air around her.
She immediately reached toward Ruslan and extended the same technique around him.
A transparent bubble of water tension formed around them both, allowing them to breathe even as the underground current carried them farther into the earth.
Ruslan took a deep breath.
Then he looked at Nay.
She was still glaring at him.
"Are you angry?"
Nay crossed her arms.
"Yes."
Ruslan nodded.
"Fair."
She continued glaring.
"You pushed me into a pond!"
"I thought you were going to take too long."
"That is not an excuse!"
"I found the entrance."
"You guessed the entrance!"
Ruslan smiled awkwardly.
"And I was right."
Nay opened her mouth to argue.
Then stopped.
She looked ahead at the glowing passage surrounding them.
Her expression slowly changed.
"...You were."
Ruslan laughed quietly.
Nay rolled her eyes.
"Don't think that means you're forgiven."
"I wasn't planning to."
She gave him one final annoyed look before turning her attention toward the passage ahead.
The deeper they travelled, the more the ordinary pond disappeared behind them. The narrow channel gradually widened until the current carried them into a vast underground river flowing through an enormous natural cavern.
Nay's eyes widened.
Pale aquatic plants grew along the riverbanks and beneath the clear water, giving off a faint, otherworldly glow. Small fish moved between the stones, their bodies reflecting the strange light as they followed the current. Thick roots descended from the cavern ceiling where trees above had grown deep into the earth, while streams of water emerged from cracks in the rock and joined the underground river.
Nay slowly turned her head from one side to the other.
She had lived beside the river all her life, yet she had never known that an entire hidden world existed beneath her village.
Ruslan noticed her expression.
"You like it."
Nay's eyes remained fixed on the glowing plants.
"It's beautiful."
There was genuine wonder in her voice.
For a moment, she seemed to forget that she was angry with him.
Then she remembered.
She looked at Ruslan.
"But I'm still angry."
Ruslan smiled.
"I know."
Nay turned back toward the flowing river.
The current carried them deeper underground, following the hidden path toward its source.
She watched the aquatic plants, the strange creatures, and the ancient stones around them with growing fascination. This was not simply a hidden passage beneath her village. It felt like a part of the river her people had never seen, a world concealed beneath the one they had known all their lives.
Ruslan looked ahead.
Somewhere beyond the darkness, the underground river would eventually reach the place where its hidden course began.
And if Nay's mother had truly gone there, they would find her.
But neither of them knew what else waited at the source.
Ruslan could not yet know whether it would be his answer, Nay's missing mother, or the Guardian who had called him across the river.
One thing, however, had become clear.
The three villages were not suffering three separate tragedies.
They were part of the same storm.
And if Karachun truly had returned, then the Dragon Fury would have to face it before the winter swallowed everything.