Kingdom of Arelat. An amazing world, so similar to medieval Europe. A world in which brutal wars have temporarily subsided, heretics are burned less and less, and magic seems to remain only in fairy tales and children's horror stories. Now calm times have come in Arelat, but under the external serenity there are intrigues, vices and gloomy secrets. The main characters, a company of boys, live their usual lives: they fall in love, fight, try to earn extra money - but unexpectedly, Ancient Evil is declared on the streets familiar from childhood. With a mysterious find in the ruins of an old fortress and new mysterious residents next door, black witchcraft inevitably creeps into the quiet outskirts. The heroes will have to make a choice: turn to adults in the hope that they will believe them, report on the entire Inquisition, without any solid evidence, or stand in the way of shadows that live in dark corners... The first book of a new exciting cycle in the genre "dark fantasy" from the recognized master Alexander Bushkov! An amazing fusion of Mark Twain, Stephen King, Robert McCammon, Marjorie Rawlings and Vladislav Krapivin. A book that will not leave indifferent any reader.