Excerpts from the book:
...With the advent of faith in Logos, the raids only became more frequent. And now the Order of the Golden Cross has decided to subjugate the vast Slavic lands.
The bitter experience of attack taught the Slavs in ancient times to keep a small but reliable number of kmets in an outpost or sloboda.
Jaromir and his detachment, hiding, stood behind the trees. Suddenly, the sound of a battle horn was heard — a kmet from the highest watchtower noticed the approach of enemies and informed the Bodrichi about this. The hearts of the kmets standing on the sloboda wall began to beat faster — an army of well-trained warriors clad in iron, fighting with the Byzantines themselves, was moving towards them.
The other day, Kolot ordered the small children to be taken into the forest under the supervision of the Priest. The harvest can also be hidden there. Women and teenagers, armed, along with men, prepared to repel the enemies.
The iron army was slowly approaching the sloboda. Kolot peered into the distance and noticed some mechanisms. The blacksmith, famous in the sloboda for his skill and intelligence, immediately guessed that the Saxons had come with throwing mechanisms. The battle will be cruel and bloody...
And the blacksmith was not mistaken: before launching the assault, the Landmeister ordered the fortification to be fired upon with catapults. And then, under the cover of siege towers, hastily built during the landing, take possession of the sloboda. The inhabitants of the sloboda had only two options: either to be able to defend their land with honor, or to be captured.
The warriors took an oath to fight to the death. They were joined by women and teenagers...
A large bird with silver plumage appeared in the sky, singing sacred hymns in a human voice. Looking up, the inhabitants of the sloboda saw a beautiful female face on the bird.
"Sirin! Sacred bird Sirin! The gods are with us!" the unanimous cry of the Bodrichi filled the sloboda.
The headquarters of Landmeister Hogerfest is located a mile from the sloboda. Marshal Kurt of Saxony was preparing assault troops. Meanwhile, the Landmeister and Grandmeister Voltingen were developing a further plan of action.
The Grandmeister had high hopes for this campaign, because the treasury of the Order of the White Cloaks was noticeably depleted. The Grandmeister's appetites and thirst for luxury were immeasurable, as was his love for women. And maintaining a whole army of Voltingen's mistresses cost the treasury a considerable sum. Moreover, he intended to give a substantial dowry for his daughter Eva.
The Landmeister unfolded a map of the Slavic lands on the camp table.
"We are here now!" he pointed to the map with a confident gesture.
Voltingen intended to understand from the map how long it would take to reach Velegosh, when the canopy of the camp tent opened — an adjunct, a young Dane, entered.
He bowed respectfully to Hogerfest, acknowledging him as the head of the allied forces, and then to the Grandmeister himself.
"Speak," Voltingen allowed.
The adjunct hesitated a little and, lowering his eyes, said:
"A huge silver bird flies over the settlement of savages. She sings in a woman's voice... And the advanced detachments report that that bird has a woman's face..."
The Landmeister and Grandmeister looked at each other meaningfully.
"Where is my telescope?" Hogerfest yelled, grabbed the device from the camp table and rushed out of the tent...