Excerpts from the book:
...A faint dawn began to break through the dense crowns of trees, and Wulf woke up. But he did not rush back to his father's castle. He wanted to be alone in the forest, to breathe deeply. Feel complete freedom. And he decided to continue his journey.
As a result, the young hunter did not appear in Hammaburg for several days in a row. He ate prey and slept on the bare ground, getting great pleasure from it. He completely forgot that his father was waiting for him at home, incredibly worried. The only thing that existed for Wulf then was the desire to hunt and be in the forest, driving away all other thoughts.
One night, when the boy was tracking his next prey, he suddenly clearly felt someone's presence. Young Hogerfest took a deep breath. The smell struck him: both wolf and human.
Wulf became concerned, raised his dagger and readied his dart. It seemed that his vision and hearing were strained to the limit, trying to find the mysterious guest in the thicket of the forest.
Soon the bushes growing a little to the side began to move, and a young wolf appeared before the eyes of the alarmed boy. The beast looked attentively at the young hunter, sniffed the air and barked peacefully. Then, without signs of any aggression, he lay down peacefully on the ground, continuing to look at Wulf with humanly intelligent eyes.
The boy looked at him in surprise...
Wulf, driven by curiosity, but still looking at the beast with wariness, cautiously approached him a step. The wolf, showing peaceful intentions, continued to lie on the ground, wagging his tail. Periodically he made peaceful sounds.
"Are you tame?" Wulf asked. The young wolf seemed to look at him in amazement, continuing to lie calmly and make peaceful sounds.
The boy looked at the animal in surprise. Something told him: the little animal is actually very smart. But how to talk to him? What if he should talk to the wolf in the Slavic language that his mother taught him as a child?
The boy once again (his tongue did not obey him) repeated his question, now in Slavic:
"Are you tame?"
His mother's language was difficult for the hunter, but the wolf seemed to understand everything and, as if in confirmation, barked.
***
The Knyaz of the Pomeranian lands, Cheslav, from his youngest years, dreamed of visiting Jaromargrad and the famous Temple of Svetovit in order to pray to the god and worship the iron Rarog. In addition, he heard rumors that during the battle of Stargard, the gods themselves came to the aid of the Lutici on Rarogs and chariots, striking the enemies with fiery arrows.
This news surprised Cheslav a lot, and he immediately remembered the Rarog on the island of Rügen, about which people talked so much. A daring thought immediately entered the head of the Pomeranian Knyaz...
Cheslav ordered to prepare everything necessary for the journey to Jaromargrad and collect rich offerings for the Temple. Leaving the rule of the lands to his associates for a while, he, together with a detachment of reliable warriors, set off on the road. At first they thought to go by water, along the Alster River, but there was a risk of meeting Saxon ships near the end of the journey. Therefore, they decided to go overland, through the Slavic lands, at the end of the journey, by the sea, hiring ships.
The official purpose of the visit was to worship Svetovit and the Rarog in order to ask for their blessing and protection of the Pomeranian lands from the Saxons. In fact, the Knyaz wanted to get something completely different. Namely: the secret of creating the Rarog.