"The Master of the Swamp" by Dakha Taratorina, summary Automatic translate

This book is a rural fantasy, written in 2022. The story tells of a girl who chose a forest monster over a forced marriage to a rapist blacksmith, and of the monster who waited a hundred years for the opportunity to take revenge on humans.

Escape to the swamp

Willow, a young resident of the village of Klyukvinki, flees in despair at night into the deadly swamp. Her relatives, Lelei and Krep, have conspired to marry her to the village’s foremost craftsman, the blacksmith Bran. But Willow keeps a secret: on a harvest night, Bran forcibly possessed her, ignoring her tears and pleas. The girl begs the Master of the Swamp to take her and make her his lifeless bride.

A terrifying monster, woven from black ooze, rises from the swamp. It mocks her, calls her "bride," leaves a dirty mark on her cheek, and vanishes. In the morning, Willow wakes at the edge of the forest and discovers that a lock of her hair has turned permanently green.

Returning home, Willow is confronted with unwanted courtship preparations. During the ceremony, she refuses to marry Bran in front of everyone, openly accusing him of violence. The neighbors openly laugh at her words, Bran’s mother, Pryna, engages in a fight, and the blacksmith himself denies everything. In desperation, Willow challenges Bran to an ancient divine judgment by water. To everyone’s astonishment, a pale stranger named Aïr emerges from the crowd and offers to act as Willow’s intercessor, risking his own life.

The trial takes place on the fast-flowing Klyuchinka River. At the command of the Nore chief, Ayr and Bran are lowered underwater in wooden cages. Underwater, Ayr reveals his inhuman nature: his body sprouts black tentacles that terrify Bran. The blacksmith surrenders and pulls the life-saving bell. The court finds Bran guilty. The Nore chief declares the blacksmith must leave the village. Ayr, emerging on dry land, asks Willow to sew him a wedding shirt with family embroidery as a reward for his miraculous rescue.

Marsh root

Soon, the clear water in the river and the village wells turns into a rotten swamp. The village girls begin to tease Iva, calling her a mavka because of her green hair. At the river, Iva sees the Master of the Swamp, who is searching among the people for someone from his distant past.

Meanwhile, Bran falls gravely ill: he vomits black filth, becomes covered in sores, and slowly dies in his bed. His mother, Pryna, blames the green-haired Willow. The girl realizes that Aïr cast a spell on him. She asks her fiancé to cure the blacksmith, but he flatly refuses. Aïr explains that Willow herself asked for protection and suggests she find a magical swamp root at the bottom of the bog.

Willow fearlessly dives into the deadly swamp. Underwater, she is nearly devoured by toothy monsters, luring their victims with illusions of shining gems. Air rescues his bride, kisses her, and helps her pick a scarlet flower. This root heals the sick and kills the healthy. Willow secretly sneaks into the blacksmith’s house, places the healing plant in his mouth, and forgives the offender. Bran quickly recovers.

The Festival of Light and Shadow is approaching in the village. Iva invites Air, and he accompanies her, wearing a gifted linen shirt embroidered with frogs. During the traditional girls’ dance, Iva amazes everyone with her skill, and Air struggles to contain his own jealousy at the attention of others.

The celebration is suddenly interrupted. Willow’s friend, the awkward Enya, publicly tells the mayor that Bran is hiding his recovery. Enya confesses that the blacksmith dishonored her too, leaving her with an unborn child, which Pryna cruelly forced her to abandon. The mayor of Nohr is adamant: Bran must leave. A show of fistfights between Aïr and Bran also ends in a crushing victory for the stranger.

Revealing secrets

That night, Iva meets Air by the fire. They dance, and the girl feels her fear gradually give way to genuine affection. However, she asks her fiancé about the one he so desperately sought in the river. Air pulls away and admits that the girl only bears a superficial resemblance to his old lover, who has long since departed this world.

The exiled blacksmith retreats into the forest, where Aïr catches up with him. The swamp lord forces Bran to swallow a swamp root, which acts as a deadly poison for a healthy person. The blacksmith dies in agony. Yenya watches this scene secretly from the bushes.

The next day, Air gives Iva a bouquet of water lilies and completely purifies the river. She formally invites him to the family dinner. Iva’s parents, as well as her brothers Boyko and Ranko, welcome their unusual guest. The family goes to the hut of the blind grandmother, Alia. It turns out that Alia is the younger sister of Air’s deceased lover.

About a hundred years ago, Aïr and Alia’s sister were deeply in love. But the girl was married off to another man. Fearing her strict father, she lied that Aïr had taken her by force. Local men beat the young man to death and threw his body into a swamp. The girl, overcome by the overwhelming guilt, drowned herself. Aïr, meanwhile, became a vengeful monster, forever bound to the swamp.

Alia, recognizing Air by his voice and strength, refuses to accept him into her home. She has spent her entire life defending the village from swamp monsters with iron stakes. Air promises to destroy all life in Klyukvinki to avenge his long-ago betrayal and his own painful death.

Clash at the Marshes

Iva and her friends secretly gather at night to see Sala off — she’s eloping with the visiting merchant Sych, out of mutual love. The girls bathe in the moonlit path of the river. Sala is attacked by transparent swamp creatures, but Iva loudly orders them to retreat, and the evil spirits obediently obey the word of the Master’s bride.

Willow returns home, where a distraught Pryna awaits her. Bran’s mother stabs Willow, but a house spirit in the form of a black cat deflects the fatal blow, and the blade merely tears the fabric of her sarafan. The mayor of Nore locks Pryna away, planning to smuggle her away to a sanatorium in the city.

Enya runs to Iva and tells her that Aïr poisoned Bran. A devastated Iva rushes through the wet wheat field into the forest and accuses Aïr of the brutal murder. He denies his guilt, claiming he kept his word to protect her from any harm. Iva tears off her wedding headband, painfully burns Aïr with an iron amulet, and runs off to hide with a blind woman.

Air sends a thick, poisonous fog toward Alia’s hut. The deadly haze seeps through the cracks, and Willow realizes the Master of the Swamp will not retreat. She steps out onto the porch and agrees to voluntarily marry Air if he spares her family. Air carries Willow into the swamp. There, he confesses his desire to complete the ritual. He must force her to surrender voluntarily, then he will gain unlimited power, cease to fear fire and iron, and be able to destroy Cranberry.

Meanwhile, Enya frees Prina from the village elder’s cart. Prina flees into the forest to avenge her son. Enya, Nor, Alia, the village elder’s son Star, and local workers from the fields follow to rescue Iva. In the swamp, they find Iva and Air. The swamp’s master immediately unleashes transparent corpses on the Klyukvinians. The village elder collapses with a heart attack, and the men desperately fight back with sickles. Prina lunges at Iva with a blade, but Air’s tentacles quickly drag the distraught woman to the bottom of the swamp.

The headman’s son, Star, holds a sickle to Willow’s throat and demands that Air surrender to the people. The swamp’s master instantly falls to his knees, ready to accept death to save Willow, to whom he has become truly attached. Blind Alia raises her iron scythe over him, preparing to break the centuries-old curse. But Willow breaks free of Star’s grasp and shields her fiancé with her body. She confidently declares that she loves him and will not betray him, despite all his past atrocities. The power of Willow’s pure love and her willingness to sacrifice her life break Air’s curse. The swamp is completely cleansed, turning into a clear forest lake. Willow and Air are left to live together in peace and harmony.