She is the tormented ghost of a murdered girl, pitiless spirit of the wilderness, who prevails only upon living souls. And her name is the most dreaded in Russian folklore: Rusalka. Impetuous Pyetr Kochevikov, a fugitive from Vojvoda with a price on his head, has none of the superstitions of his fearful young companion, Sasha, as they flee through the vastness of the forest. But when they arrive exhausted at the cottage of the wizard Uulamets, Pyetr is dismayed to learn that he can mock the spirits no longer.

Once a Soviet rocket scientist, Elena Irinovna now cleans office buildings - until she crosses paths with Ilya Muromyets. An eight-hundred year old remnant of Russia's glorious and fabled past, Ilya is now a heroin addict dreaming of a death that will never come. The two are brought together by a strange artefact Elena has found, which offers a glimpse into another dimension - creating a dangerous breach in a world Elena had thought she knew.....