Chapter Text
Alina felt a furious power bursting out of her. She was not burning in the fire, she was the fire, the sun itself incarnate. Her body flared up and shone with a scorching light, forcing the men holding her to let go, screaming in pain. The cross on her neck and the ropes holding her burned in the furious flames. The villagers recoiled in horror.
"Witch!" one of the locals shouted, but she did not hear them.
The girl stared at her hands. They were burning with light, but this light did not burn her. What was happening to her? Was she a witch now? Had Aleksander really done this to her?
"Grab her!" Ana Kuya shouted, throwing a torch at her. The fire touched her naked skin, but did not burn.
The old woman's action instantly brought her to her senses. No time to think, Alina was free, free to run into the forest, away from the people of Keramzin, to run away from the semblance of life to him, to her Aleksander.
“Don’t let her get away! Catch the witch!” the priest shouted after her.
She ran as fast as her exhausted body would allow. The stones dug painfully into her bare heels, and her lungs burned from lack of air, but she didn’t care. Fear spurred her on. Faster! Straight into the forest! To Aleksander! Suddenly something wrapped around her legs, and she fell to the ground. She reached for the ropes that wrapped around her legs and tried to burn them with her newfound light, but it didn’t work.
“This rope is blessed, you can’t burn it with your magic,” Mal said as he approached her.
“Mal,” Alina begged.
The boy only grimaced in disgust. “I didn’t want to believe it,” he shook his head. “When they whispered about you in the village, I didn’t believe it. Even when your guardian said that it was you who brought the evil spirits to us, I protected you to the last. But now I see your true nature,” Mal hooked his fingers into her whitened hair. He pulled it hard, forcing her to throw her head back. “Witch!”
“Please, let me go. I have done nothing wrong,” tears welled up in her eyes.
“Don’t even think about trying to make me feel sorry for you, servant of the evil spirits,” the boy tied her hands behind her back. Her light went out, and she was left in the darkness, surrounded by an angry crowd.
Mal grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and dragged her along with him.
“Kill this creature, what are you waiting for, boy?” Ana Kuya asked, coming out of the crowd. The other residents unanimously supported her.
Alina clenched her teeth. “This creature has a name! I am Alina, Alina, whom you raised!” the girl exclaimed with a fit of righteous rage.
“Shut up, you scoundrel!” the old woman barked at her.
“She will appear before God's judgment, — said Mal. — Isn't that right, batushka ?
“Of course,” the old priest rubbed his gray beard. “Only the Lord can decide what will happen to this soul. She was baptized, perhaps it will still be possible to pray for her, to drive out the demonic power from her.”
Alina shuddered. She did not know what kind of power she had acquired when she swore allegiance to the pagan Gods, but for some reason she was sure that this witchcraft could not be torn from her being. The Light was now a part of her, and she would not be able to give it up. Trying to rid her of this power would surely kill her.
“And at the same time, we can extract everything she knows about volkolaks from her. Perhaps we will finally be able to find out their weak spot,” the young man bared his teeth.
In the end, she was dragged to the church basement and locked in an old rusty cage. Alina quietly sobbed in the loneliness of her prison. She was alone again. Everyone abandoned her, and if the betrayal of Mal and Ana Kuya did not surprise her, then the betrayal of her past and present faith stung more painfully than a swarm of bees. Aleksander promised that the new faith would save her, but in the end, it only worsened her situation. For what? Why is she suffering so much? Aleksander... Oh, Aleksander, where is he when he is so needed?
Suddenly, her vision blurred, and she again found herself in that ill-fated clearing. Aleksander turned to face her. “Alina? Alina, where are you?” he asked, looking worried. “I can’t smell you.”
“You promised,” she whispered, lowering her eyes.
“What? “Aleksander walked up to her and took her by the shoulders.
“Bastard, you promised!” the girl exclaimed, slapping him. “Promised that if I accepted the pagan faith, it would save me! And in the end, it only made things worse!”
“Calm down, milaya, and explain what happened?” he rubbed his flushed cheek.
“Don't calm me down!” Alina pushed him away. “It's your fault that I was sung in the cage!”
“Alina, listen,” the young man approached her again.
But she did not listen, continuing to jabber, “If you hadn’t chased me, if you had told me to jump through the flames, I wouldn’t have become a witch! The people of Keramzin will tear me to pieces because of you!” the girl beat his chest with her fists, tears flowing uncontrollably from her eyes.
“So, they still grabbed you,” Aleksander frowned. “Damn it! Do you know where they are keeping you?”
“In the church basement,” the girl muttered between sobs.
“This is bad,” he clenched his teeth. “I can’t get you out of there, I can’t set foot on sacred ground.”
“Why didn’t you come for me?” I needed you so much,” she buried her head in his chest.
The young man squeezed her in his arms. “Forgive me, milaya, but I couldn’t.”
“Why?” Alina looked into his gray eyes.
“Volkolaks cannot set foot on lands outside the forest in daylight. This is our curse,” he explained, rubbing circles on her back. “But you can take it off.”
“How?”
Aleksander opened his mouth to answer, but then suddenly their connection was broken.
***
“Wake up, witch,” Mal doused her with a tub of water, waking her up from her sleep. You will tell me everything.
Alina gasped from such a sudden awakening, the icy water soaked her shirt. She was shaking, her teeth chattering from the bone-chilling cold.
“Get up,” the young man grabbed her by the scruff of the neck like a kitten and pulled her along with him.
“W-Where are you taking me, Mal?” she muttered, still shivering from the cold. “Please let me go.”
“Don't try to make me feel sorry for you. It's useless. My mentors warned that such brats as you can use sweet-talking lies to save themselves. You may look like a fragile girl, but inside you are a vile creature.”
“I am Alina!” the girl exclaimed, feeling the rage rising. “Alina, with whom you played as a child, with whom you dreamed of exploring the forest, the girl to whom you swore to return when you left for training, the girl to whom you lied!”
“ You lied to me!” he tightened his grip on her collar. “You pretended to be my friend, but in reality, you tried to protect me from my destiny, from eradicating the evil spirits from these places, the evil spirits with whom you are in cahoots!”
“I didn’t lie to you,” Alina sobbed offendedly. “I didn’t have this power before, and I didn’t communicate with evil spirits! I didn’t want you to leave, because I couldn’t stand loneliness, how can you not understand?!”
“A lie!” the young man slapped her.
The girl closed her eyes in pain. It wasn't the first time she had been beaten, but Mal's hand was heavier than Ana Kuya. Alina spat out blood from her bitten tongue.
“Your parents were pagans, servants of the Evil One! You are one of them, you have always been one of them! You've been lying to me, leading me by the nose all this time!” Mal threw her into some damp, dark room.
“I didn’t know,” the girl tried to get up, but her arms and legs were still tightly tied.
“You knew everything. You won’t deceive me again, witch,” he said, and a terrible grimace appeared on his boyish face. This was not the boy she knew. Did Alina even know him? Mal went to the dimly lit table in the corner of the room, took a whip from there and approached her, saying, “Now you will tell me everything.”
“W-what are you going to do?” Alina asked with growing horror. Goosebumps ran down her spine when the boy smirked sarcastically in response to her question.
“I'm going to whip you. However, I will spare you if you tell me everything you know about volkolaks.”
“I don’t know anything, let me go!” the girl clenched her teeth. She was shaking from fear, cold and, unexpectedly, anger. She found herself wanting to break her bonds just to scratch out her former friend's eyes herself. This was wrong, she should not feel anger.
“So, you prefer to remain silent? Fine, as you wish,” Mal freed her hands, only to tie them to a rope that he hung above the ceiling. He pulled the rope taut and Alina hung like a dried fish. In this position, it was hard for her to breathe, and the ropes on her wrists were taut and burned with the slightest movement.
“Mal, this is madness! Let me go!” she begged.
The first blow of the whip was her answer. The girl screamed from the sharp flash of pain, she felt how the whip cut the tender flesh of her back with one blow. Hot blood gushed from the wound. Tears immediately appeared in her eyes.
“Speak,” the young man swung again.
“I don’t know anything!” Alina cried out in pain when the whip touched her back again. Her whole body contracted from the force of the blow.
“I’ll continue until you speak!” the whip whistled in the air again. The girl shuddered, with each blow the pain became more and more intense. Mal beat her, knowing no mercy.
She didn't know how long it lasted. Minutes? Hours? Days? Sticky blood flowed down her back, her wounds stung mercilessly, her wrists were covered in calluses and bleeding, but the young man did not stop his attack. He hit and hit harder. At some point, her tormentor apparently realized that this was not enough and began to rub salt into the bleeding wounds. Alina howled and began to convulse. Her voice was hoarse from screaming.
"Well? Will you talk, witch?" Mal asked, grabbing her by the hair.
"I will tell you. I will tell you everything, just stop torturing me!" and the girl told everything she knew. She told about the meeting with the Black Heretic in the forest, about the feasts to which the werewolves invited her, about the walks through the night forest. The only thing she didn't say was that werewolves couldn't walk in daylight and that Alina was the key to solving this problem. She knew that with these words she would be signing her own death warrant.
“And that's all?” her tormentor was indignant. “You’re not telling me, witch!” he swung at her again. “Speak!”
“I don’t know anything else, I swear to God!”
“Who do you swear by, witch?! Maybe this will make you talk?” Mal walked up to the table and took a bucket from there.
“W-what is this?” the girl asked, her voice hoarse from screaming.
The young man smiled maliciously and answered, “Holy water. It works without fail on creatures like you. Now speak!” he poured the contents of the bucket on her.
Alina felt her skin melt. The water felt like it was made of fire, the pain was unbearable, but Mal didn't stop there, continuing to torture her with the whip. Part of her wanted him to just kill her, while another part of her wanted revenge. Gradually, the girl fell into a comatose state, her mind wandering between reality and sleep, and only short flashes of pain prevented her from completely plunging into oblivion.
On the edge of consciousness, the girl saw a couple running from someone. From whom? They were saying something, but she did not hear them. Alina did not see their faces, the two figures were just silhouettes, but she knew for sure, she felt that they were her parents. Matushka hid her at the edge of the forest and told her to lie low. Alina pulled her skirt when her mother began to retreat from her. Where was she going?
“Don’t let them know, my sunshine,” said matushka , kissing her forehead. Then she was gone. “Know what?” Alina thought, losing consciousness.
***
“Alina,” someone’s voice called her. “Alina, wake up! What did these non-humans do to you?” someone's hand gently ran over her cheek. The girl opened her eyes. She was back in that ill-fated clearing, Aleksander leaning over her.
“Aleksander. Aleksander, I can't take it anymore, save me,” she howled in despair, clutching his black clothes with her last strength. “My body, it can't take it anymore! Mal, he'll kill me! I'll die, I'll die right there, in that torture chamber!”
“Don’t be afraid, milaya, I’ll get you out. These savages will pay, every single one,” with these words he kissed her. Alina tasted blood on his lips. The last thing she saw were his glowing scarlet eyes against the backdrop of Ana Kuya's burning hut.
***
She came to on the floor of her damp prison cell. Her whole body was in merciless pain, and her arms and legs were still tightly tied. The girl overheard a quiet conversation.
“Old woman Kuya is dead. The volkolaks tore her apart and burned her house to the ground,” Mikhail whispered to his friend Dubrov.
What? Ana Kuya is dead? She remembered her last vision. Alexander. He killed her guardian and burned her house. “Serves it right!” Alina thought. The old woman deserved what happened to her and even worse! However, behind the anger there was a deep-rooted sense of guilt. Did she have the right to judge her guardian? Who was she to do this?
“It’s all because of her, isn’t it? Because of that witch!” Dubrov spat out with hatred, glancing sideways at her. “The old lady showed kindness to the girl, and this is how she responded. It is true what they say, pagans bring nothing but trouble, they know no gratitude.”
“And why didn’t Mal kill this creature?”
“Well, she's pretty pretty for a witch.” Dubrov opened the cage and slowly approached her. His pungent smell mixed with alcohol hit Alina in the nose, and she grimaced in disgust. “Look at those legs,” he ran his disgusting sticky palms over her bare ankles, and then moved higher. “Maybe we could...”
The girl felt her soul sink into her heels. No, no, please, not this!
“Take your hands off her,” Mal ordered, approaching them.
Dubrov immediately pulled away from her. Alina relaxed. Thank God Gods.
“Come on, Mal. I just wanted to have some fun, what's wrong with that?” this semblance of a human immediately began to justify itself.
“Would you fuck a dog?” the young man asked in a sharp tone. “But no, it’s even worse, dogs at least know loyalty, but this creature knows nothing human,” he kicked her in the stomach. Alina once again suppressed a flash of anger.
Dubrov looked ashamed. “You're right.”
“Leave us,” Mal said, sending his friends out. When they disappeared, he pulled her hair sharply again. “Wake up, I have questions for you, witch.”
“I told you, I don’t know anything,” the girl said quietly in a hoarse voice.
“Stop lying!” the young man slapped her again. “The volkolaks attacked tonight. They killed your guardian Ana Kuya and left a message. Your friend promised to kill one villager every day until we give you to him, and I want to know why. Why is the Black Heretic personally interested in your release?”
“I don't know,” Alina said, already preparing to take another beating. But, surprisingly, no blows followed.
“Malyen, that's enough,” said the priest who had come up.
" Batushka, " Mal bowed his head.
“Oh, Alina, my daughter, what happened to you?” the priest approached her and lifted her to her feet. “Why are you so selfish? The Black Heretic will kill so many innocent people because of you. Think about the women and children of Keramzin for a moment, do they deserve the wrath of the volkolaks ? If there is any good left in you, tell us the truth. Malyen is the messenger of God, and he does not like torturing you.”
Alina gritted her teeth, anger humming inside her. The girl suppressed it again. “Then let me go!” she exclaimed. “Let go and the deaths will stop!”
“Do you seriously believe that this messenger of the Evil One will keep his word?” the priest looked at her with condescension. “That he will spare us? Have you forgotten who the Black Heretic is? How much evil did he and the volkolaks bring to Keramzin? Have you forgotten the stories I told everyone in the city about the unclean? Has he really confused your poor head that much?”
Alina hung her head. The priest was right. What did she know about Aleksander? She remembered their kiss, realizing now that it had been manipulation. He didn't want her to know the truth about her visions and what she did to him at night. In the end, he turned out to be as much of a liar as Mal. Now she saw the truth. Aleksander was nice to her, but only because he needed her power. But would he show mercy to the innocent people of Keramzin? He had killed Ana Kuya without the slightest hint of remorse and promised to kill one resident every day. And all because of her. It was all her fault, and hers alone. As always. The girl exhaled, her shoulders slumping in defeat.
“He said I was the key,” she whispered softly, knowing she was signing a death sentence for herself.
“The key?” Mal asked. “The key to what?”
“The volkolaks , they cannot walk in daylight outside the forbidden forest. Al… The Black Heretic said I was the key to lifting this curse.”
“Then your fate is sealed, child. We cannot allow the werewolves to leave the forbidden forest,” the priest said in a dispassionate tone. “I will pray to the Lord for your soul,” with these words, he left her prison, leaving her alone with her tormentor.
“You will burn in fire right before the night of the full moon, witch, and then I will personally kill the Black Heretic,” said Mal, locking her cage.
Alone, Alina let the tears flow. This is how her life would end, alone, used and betrayed by everyone.
***
She found herself back in that ill-fated clearing. It was quiet, and the fire that had been burning earlier had gone out. The girl looked at the sky. It was getting dark. Her time in this world was coming to an end.
“Alina,” Aleksander, who found himself behind her, called her again.
“Go away, I don’t want to see you,” the girl closed her eyes, trying in vain to drive away the obsession.
“Why?” the young man asked, slowly approaching her.
“You used me, played with me, I will die today because of you! Because you bit me, poisoned me with your skverna, gave me this power, made a witch out of me!” she screamed, full of anger.
Aleksander, however, did not even flinch from her anger. He touched her cheek and lifted her chin, forcing her to look into his gray eyes. “I didn’t give you power. You were always one of us, Alina, the power of light was yours from birth, it simply slumbered in you until the initiation ceremony.”
"You're lying," the girl denied, unable to believe her own ears. He claimed that she was born a witch?
"Your parents were pagans, and you were born a Volkhv with the gift of light, they tried to bring you to us, but they were caught by the hunters of evil spirits," the young man said, not taking his eyes off her.
"They were killed because of me?" a wave of burning guilt washed over her again, hot tears rolled down her cheeks, blurring her vision.
“They gave their lives for you,” Aleksander wiped away her tears, pressing her to him. "For all of us."
"But how did you know that? You can't leave the forest in daylight. Explain yourself," she demanded. She needed to know the truth.
The young man sighed. “Thirteen years ago, I had a vision of a girl who controlled the light. The Gods said that you would soon be brought to me. But the locals found out that your parents were pagans and handed them over to the hunters of evil spirits, who burned them in the square. I thought that you died with them. However, when you entered the forest and found the sanctuary, I realized who you were.”
“How?” She looked into his eyes.
“You see, only the Volkhvs and the pagans can set foot in this forest without experiencing the wrath of Veles,” he explained. Suddenly, his words from their first meeting made sense. “When I looked at you, I immediately realized that you were suffering from a debilitating illness.” -
“Wasting illness?”
“Our strength is an integral part of us, when we do not use it, we begin to get sick. We get a hunger that cannot be satisfied with regular food, we become weak and lethargic, we dry up, as if from a lack of food and water.”
“So that's what kind of illness has been tormenting me all these years,” Alina realized. Now everything fell into place. She was a Volkhv, so the volkolaks accepted her with open arms, so she felt better with them. They were her people.
“Yes, but that’s in the past,” Aleksander hugged her tighter, burying his nose in her whitened hair. “You won’t have to hide your nature anymore; the time has come to fulfill the prophecy.”
“What are you talking about?” She pulled away. What prophecy?
“I am the envoy of Morana, the one-of-a-kind Shadow Summoner, my shadows once protected our people from extermination, and you are my opposite, the prophesied envoy of Dazhbog – Sun Summoner, I have waited for you for centuries, my Alina.”
“For what?” the girl frowned. “What do you really want from me?”
“It is you who will lead our people out of the shadows, and together we will overthrow the Lantsovs, becoming the head of Ravka, as I predicted four hundred years ago,” the young man looked at her intently.
Alina gasped. So, the Heretic did not abandon plans to overthrow the ruling monarchy, and she was the key to starting the coup. “And what will happen to the common people? Will you kill them? Kill them, like you killed Ana Kuya?”
“I will not touch those who will not interfere with me and accept our faith,” Aleksander assured her.
“And the rest?”
“They will die,” he answered, his face not wavering for a second. Aleksander was serious, he was ready to destroy hundreds and thousands of lives for his goals. The girl was horrified by his bloodthirstiness.
“But you said that every life is valuable!” Alina exclaimed, feeling betrayed again.
“I really think so,” he nodded. “But this is war, I will not spare those who stand against our people,” his quartz eyes at that moment were cold and cruel.
She sharply pushed him away from her. “No, I won’t participate in this, I refuse!” Alina backed away.
“So what, you’re going to let these pathetic little people kill you?” - Aleksander clenched his teeth, slowly advancing on her. “Will you become a martyr, hoping that someone like you will be posthumously rewarded?” His eyes flashed scarlet.
“I don’t want to kill people, Aleksander! I am not an executioner or a judge to do this!” the girl shrank under his intense gaze.
“And they will gladly kill you and others like you. They killed your parents,” he began to press, his human face was distorted, with every word the young man became like the monster with which she was scared in childhood.
“Stop!” she begged. The truth of his words was crushing her, the anger at the people of Keramzin who had killed the people closest to her was rolling in waves. The girl bit her lip until it bled, so as not to feel this rage. This is wrong!
“They have been killing pagans and magicians for centuries, Alina, and you want me to spare them?!” Aleksander asked in an inhuman voice, his wolf muzzle froze an inch from her face. “Ask yourself if they deserve mercy, milaya. Call me when you get an answer,” with these words the whole world around her darkened.
***
Aleksander's words haunted her. Alina couldn't help but think about the correctness of his words. What had the people of Keramzin done for her, except insult her and ignore her for years? They are responsible for the death of her parents! Did they deserve to live? Did they deserve to die? She thought about it right up until the moment her cage was opened.
"I hope you're ready, witch, your hour has come," Mal said. His silhouette in the light of the dying candles looked frightening.
“Don’t you feel an ounce of regret as you lead the girl you played with as a child to execution, Mal?” Alina asked, suppressing her anger once again.
“Don’t try to confuse me, witch,” the young man waved her off. “I will never feel remorse for ridding the world of creatures like you!”
“I didn’t do anything wrong!” she clenched her fists.
“Your very existence is evil. I will rid the world of merzost like you,” he grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and dragged her along the damp, dark corridors, lifted her up the old ramshackle stairs and threw her onto the road under the gaze of an angry crowd.
“Perish, witch!”
“She brought evil spirits into our house, let her burn!”
“Brat!”
“A creature unworthy of life!” the angry crowd roared.
Alina raised her head. Her gaze darted frantically in search of at least one person who would show her mercy, but there were none in the crowd. Everyone: men, women and even children looked at her with undisguised contempt and disgust. How she... hated them all! At that very moment, surrounded by vile, vicious creatures that were hiding behind human guises, the girl realized that she no longer wanted to be the pathetic Alina, on whom these inhumans had wiped their feet for years, the insignificant Alina, who for years had been instilled with a feeling of guilt for something of which she was not guilty. Instead, she wanted nothing more than to drown this damned village in blood.
When they dragged her to the fire pit and began to tie her to the post, she mentally called out to her beloved monster. “Aleksander.”
And he answered, he always answered. The picture in front of her blurred, and Alina again found herself in a field immersed in the setting sun. “What is your answer, Alina?” asked the young man, approaching her.
“You are right. They are not worthy of living, none of them!” She hissed, finally allowing herself to release at least a little of the furious anger that had lived inside her since Ana Kuya had "caringly" taken her under her wing.
A smile, more reminiscent of an evil wolf’s grin, crossed Aleksander’s beautiful features. “And what do you want to do?” He asked another question, his eyes sparkling in the semi-darkness like rubies.
“I want to take revenge on them, every single one of them! Just tell me how!” Her own grin matched his.
He closed the remaining distance between them and whispered sweet venom into her ear, “All you need to do now is to cast aside the remnants of your humanity and let go of the anger that you have been accumulating within yourself for years. The light of the full moon will transform you.”
“Transform? In what sense?” She did not understand.
“Come to us, Alina, it’s time for you to become who you really are,” he kissed her forehead, and gradually the vision began to disappear. “Show these mortals who you are, my light.”
The girl opened her eyes, finding herself in a square, tied to a pole surrounded by a pile of firewood that was about to be set on fire. She should have been afraid, begging for mercy and salvation of her soul, but all she felt at that moment was rage. Aleksander told her to reject humanity? Great, she will destroy her to the roots, burn her out with fire, the same fire in which the inhabitants of Keramzin wanted to burn her alive.
“Last word, witch?” Mal asked her kindly, approaching her with a torch in his hand. Behind him, the priest was reading a prayer for the salvation of the soul. Soon, they would all need this salvation.
Alina looked up at the sky, where the full moon shone palely, and for the first time in her life she felt alive, free. Her eyes flashed a beautiful amber color. She smiled and said, “You did not show pity for me, so punishment will befall you all.”
Mal laughed and lit the fire. The girl closed her eyes and put her face under the light of the full moon. She felt her blood begin to boil. Alina took a breath, then another, feeling her body heal from all the torture she had suffered at the hands of the man she had once considered a friend. The fire engulfed her, and the remains of her human-self burned away in a raging flame. Her nails turned into claws, her teeth sharpened, her skin became covered in fur, and her girlish face turned into a wolf's muzzle, with eyes sparkling like amber.
Alina freed herself from her bonds, extinguished the flames with one movement of her paw, and let out the first furious roar of her life. No longer a skinny little girl, she had turned into a beautiful white she-wolf.
"A volkolak !" - The residents of Keramzin exclaimed in horror and ran to the scattered. All, except for a few brave souls. Mal took the illuminated arrows in his hands and was already aiming at her, and his friends, Dubrov and Mikhail, were already approaching her with pitchforks. Fools.
Mal fired. The she-wolf jumped, dodging. Dubrov swung his pitchfork at her. Alina swung her paw, and the wooden handle shattered into splinters. Dubrov backed away.
“Get back, monster!” Mikhail exclaimed, poking her in the face with his own pitchfork.
He was shaking like an aspen leaf in the wind. It was too easy: one jump was enough to knock him to the ground. Powerful jaws grabbed his throat with a death grip. Alina felt the life flowing out of the boy’s body along with the hot, oozing blood. He bucked under her once, twice, and then froze forever. She has taken her first life The she-wolf licked her lips victoriously, she liked the taste, the taste of her enemies’ blood.
“Mikhail!” Mal exclaimed, aiming for her head.
Alina bared her teeth, preparing to rush into battle, when something huge knocked the young man off his feet, preventing him from shooting. A huge humanoid black wolf pounced on the young man. Aleksander. She looked at the sky, the sun had already set, plunging the settlement into semi-darkness. The time of the wolves was coming.
“Heretic!” Mal exclaimed, jumping aside at the last moment. He pulled a knife from his belt. "Prepare to die!" the young man rushed at the volkolak .
While Aleksander was dealing with Mal, Alina rushed after Dubrov, who was running away in horror. He was surprisingly fast, for such a clumsy oaf, but he had no chance to escape from her. The she-wolf instantly drove the worm into a dark corner.
"D-don't come near!" Dubrov shouted, holding the remains of a pitchfork handle in his hands.
Alina took her time with him, first scratching his hideous mug, then ripping open his belly and watching him slowly die with his guts hanging out. Only after the life left his eyes did she return to the square, where Aleksander had pinned Mal to the ground, his mouth open, ready to bite through her tormentor's neck.
"Stop!" she mentally addressed the werewolf.
To her surprise, Aleksander stopped, turning his muzzle towards her.
"He's mine!" the she-wolf said, growling warningly. She slowly approached them, not taking her eyes off her former friend, former lover, traitor, liar and just plain sadist.
"Do you want to spare him, my dear?" Aleksander bared his teeth.
"I want him to suffer!" Alina growled, watching the young man thrashing, trying in vain to free himself from the volkolak's grip. And this pathetic boy seriously intended to kill the Black Heretic? The she-wolf could have laughed at him.
“This can be arranged,” Aleksander grinned. “Bite him, leave your mark so that he will remember your meeting for a long time,” he let go of the boy, giving him the opportunity to finally breathe deeply.
Mal coughed, clutching his obviously broken ribs. Alina did not give him a break, immediately pressing him back to the ground with her paw. The young man cried out in pain. He looked into her eyes and begged, “Alina, I know you hear me. Fight the demonic power, you are better than this!”
But the she-wolf only pressed the insignificant worm deeper into the dirt. Mal, of all people, asked her not to give in to the darkness, but he was the reason she turned. Just a few minutes ago, this pathetic bastard had wanted to burn her at the stake and laughed at her misfortune. He would pay. No, she would not kill him, not now, instead, Alina would make his life Hell. With these thoughts, she grabbed his neck, leaving her mark.
***
That night, the volkolaks were freed from the captivity of the forbidden forest, and Keramzin burned to the ground. This marked the beginning of the reign of the Volkhvs in Ravka, led by the mighty Tsar Aleksander Morozov and his Tsarina, the noble Alina Morozova.