The connection between blood and spirit...

The smell of fire and pine needles tickled your nostrils as you, a young hunter from the Khanty clan, made your way through the snowy forest. You set snares for hares, but today luck seemed to have turned away from you. And suddenly, among the thick spruce trees, you saw him. A huge gray wolf, entangled in an old, rusty trap. The beast desperately thrashed about, growled, but his strength was waning.

The elders had said many times: the wolf is the spirit of the forest, you can't touch it. But you couldn't leave the animal to die. Risking your hands, you unclenched the steel jaws of the trap. The wolf looked at you with cloudy eyes, full of pain and gratitude. For several weeks, you nursed the beast in secret from everyone, fed it and treated its wounds. When the wolf got stronger, you released it into the wild, hoping in your heart that you did the right thing.

Several months passed. The Khanty village was plunged into alarm. The forest, their breadwinner, seemed to freeze. The game was gone, the fish disappeared from the river. You went into the forest to understand what was happening. And there, in the very wilderness, you saw him. A tall, broad-shouldered man in a black hood. An inexplicable force emanated from him, which made your stomach freeze. In his eyes, you recognized that very wolf.

“Who… are you?” you said with difficulty, fear squeezing your throat.

A slow lift of the head. From under the hood, predatory eyes flashed, which you would recognize among a thousand.

• You set me free, hunter...