"The Seal of Twilight" by Sergei Lukyanenko and Ivan Kuznetsov, summary

This book is a direct continuation of the cult series about the Others. The text expands the magical universe, co-authored by two writers. The work was published in 2014. The most remarkable detail of the novel lies in the description of the original concept of the Twilight mages. These Others are born directly in the magical layers of reality. Such creatures remain forever prisoners of their dimension.

First steps in the Twilight

The life of ordinary office worker Alexei Romanov changes dramatically late one evening. On his way home, he is attacked by street thugs and a mysterious woman. She suddenly grows long fangs. The world around him loses color. Everything becomes completely gray. Alexei narrowly escapes death, waking up in his own bed. At first, the night’s incident seems like a bad dream, but later in the day, he notices a strange bluish dust on his colleague Lera’s work computer.

Returning from work, Alexey encounters a Day Watch patrol. The group is led by the plump mage Arkady. The dark mages are attempting to arrest the young man for the murder of a vampire girl from a nightmare. A Night Watch operative, the athletic shapeshifter Konstantin, comes to the rescue. A scuffle ensues, involving magic, and Arkady casts a net spell on Alexey, causing him to fall into the Twilight.

Alexei wakes up in his mother’s apartment, where he finds his cell phone completely burned out. Outside, he’s greeted by a mysterious blind girl named Anna, who smells of lavender and wears dark glasses that cover half her face. She teaches Alexei to consciously find his shadow to enter the Twilight. Anna directs the newly converted Light mage to the Night Watch office, promising support.

At the Light’s headquarters, Alexey meets the wise Maxim Maksimovich and reconnects with Konstantin. Soon, Yuri, a powerful mage and deputy head of the Samara Day Watch, arrives for interrogation. The Dark One suspects the boy’s memory has been blocked by an unknown patron. Yuri decides to use Alexey as live bait to capture his secret ally.

Yuri takes the Light newcomer out of town in a Japanese official SUV. In a deserted area, they are attacked by an unknown entity woven from a thick, dirty-gray fog. The Dark Mage unleashes his most destructive spells, including the deadly Transylvanian Mage. The fog monster easily repels the attacks and nearly destroys the enchanted car. Yuri narrowly escapes, having first frozen Alexei with the Freeze spell.

Meanwhile, the Night Watch leadership from Moscow sends the High Mage Anton Gorodetsky, who is hiding under the assumed identity of Kyiv resident Anton Posadsky. Gorodetsky spends several days with Alexey, patrolling the city’s schools in search of potential Others. Anton tests the Samara newcomer’s moral principles and is convinced of his strong character. The High Mage approves the young man’s candidacy for service and safely departs for the capital.

Death of a Geometer

A strange murder occurs in the city: Igor Solovyov, a sixth-level Light Mage, dies under the wheels of a ghostly tram. Yuri arrives at the crime scene with Arkady and Alexei Romanov. While searching the victim’s apartment, investigators find a map of Samara with strange markings. The deceased was a practitioner of the unpopular geometric magic.

The Others’ trail leads them to a commercial university where the Dark Witch Lydia Vedeneyeva works. Yuri deduces the nature of her magic: the witch hid magical batteries under the marble slabs of her classrooms and has been collecting students’ energy for years. Solovyov accidentally discovered this secret using Crowley’s pendulum, for which he paid with his life.

Pressed against the wall, Vedeneeva panics and dives into a pre-prepared twilight portal. The passage leads directly to the deadly fourth layer of the Twilight. A powerful explosion occurs, and a wave of Force destroys the walls of the office. The guards presume the witch dead and plan to file the case away.

Alexey Romanov refuses to believe the official version. The young watchman asks Night Watch leader Yevgeny Yevstakhovich for a warrant and searches Lydia’s apartment. He finds a second portal inside a wardrobe, which leads the investigators to an ordinary garage. Inside is a bag containing rare occult ingredients — Vedeneeva definitely survived and was preparing to perform a global ritual.

During another lesson in the Twilight, Alexei questions Anna about the situation. The sorceress becomes visibly nervous at the mention of the murdered geometer mage and asks to see the location of Solovyov’s death. That night, on a snowy street, Alexei uses a locator spell to unearth a tin box containing a foul-smelling catalyst. The search area turns out to be a rare anomaly — the Trace of Hermes. Anna attempts to destroy the evidence with white flame, but the process is interrupted by the arrival of Yuri.

The Dark Mage takes the box of reagents, and Anna escapes through her own pearlescent portal. Yuri forces Alexei to reveal the whole truth about his secret training. For his unauthorized actions, the head of the Night Watch suspends Alexei from his duties, and he is sent on an unscheduled two-week vacation.

Preparing for a breakthrough

Yuri falls victim to political intrigue: the head of the Day Watch dismisses him, stripping his deputy of all official powers. The dark mage continues his work alone. Yuri meets with Vedeneyeva’s husband, deceives Oleg with disinformation, and the mathematician flees to his wife. A hidden magical spy unerringly leads Yuri to a high-rise building under construction.

Meanwhile, Alexey Romanov returns to duty. Together with Konstantin, he tracks down a group of feral shapeshifters who have been hunting people during nighttime city car quests. The Light Ones neutralize the pack outside the city near a water tower, where Alexey incinerates the leader with a well-aimed fireball. After a successful operation, the young man rescues a kitten stuck in a garage and reunites with Anna.

The girl reveals the terrible truth: Alexey is a Twilight Other. His real mother died giving birth to him within the magical layer. Anna is also a prisoner of dimensions. She begs the boy to temporarily abandon magic, otherwise he will hear the call of the Twilight and lose his shadow. Soon, Vedeneeva contacts Alexey and arranges a meeting at the empty university. The witch stuns the young man with a stun gun and binds him with tape, using him as a living conduit for a powerful spell.

The Curse of Inferno and the Ending

Yuri arrives at the university building, leaving his ally, Lenochka, in the car. The Dark Mage discovers Alexei bound and a gigantic vortex of the Inferno curse looming over the building. Vedeneeva admits the process is irreversible. Yuri frees the sentry and sends the boy outside. The Dark Mage himself enters the first layer of the Twilight, where a battle with the creator of the curse begins.

A hurricane of energy rages in the center of the hall. Yuri comes face to face with a misty monster that resembles a withered, blind man. The creature confesses its paternity. Twenty-five years ago, Alexei’s father attempted to escape the Twilight, leading to the deaths of thousands at a chemical plant in Bhopal, India. Now the monster intends to try again, so that his son can take his place in eternal captivity.

A brutal magical battle ensues. Yuri pierces the monster’s defenses with a combat artifact — an iron stiletto reminiscent of a Japanese sai. Suddenly, Aliya appears — the same Anna, Yuri’s former lover from the distant past. The sorceress tries to dissuade the monster from the deadly ritual. Lenochka bursts into the room next and throws a silver noose around Aliya’s neck. The Light One cuts the bonds with the White Sword and knocks her opponent out. The monster takes advantage of the interruption and kills Lenochka with a blast from a smoke spear.

Yuri realizes the loss of a loved one and gathers all his remaining Power for the final shot. Aliya rushes to intercept the monster, shielding it with her body. A white flash ends the Light Sorceress’s life forever. The creature erects new barriers, hoping to hold out until the gates fully open. Yuri pushes through the defenses with physical force and plunges an ordinary steel blade into the enemy’s heart.

The wounded monster throws the Dark Mage against the wall. The outcome of the battle is changed by the sudden appearance of Alexei. The young sentry strikes the monster in the back with a fireball, and the creature falls dead. The Inferno vortex begins to spiral uncontrollably inward. Alexei rushes at Yuri, shields them both, and pulls the Dark Mage back into the real world. A muffled explosion destroys the marble auditorium, averting global catastrophe. Vedeneeva disappears without a trace.

The Light and Dark Ones descend onto the street. The building is cordoned off by Night Watch officers. Soon, Day Watch patrol vehicles appear, led by the current commander. The Dark One leader attempts to publicly humiliate the wounded Yuri, baselessly accusing the mage of treason. Yuri defends himself with dignity. The Dark One rank-and-file silently abandon their cowardly commander, acknowledging the moral victory of the true leader. Alexei returns to the ranks of the Watch, accepting the full weight of his life’s journey.