A dreadful day it was, as if the sun had suddenly gone out and night had fallen. A veil descended over the people’s eyes, clouding their minds and binding their tongues.

All who lived where the Whisperer lived died but somehow also stayed alive. What a terrible punishment for breaking an oath to Dolya! An indescribable price for compromising the world’s balance!

They say Dolya is just and dearly loves humankind, but not more than she loves her father Veles’s creation, with all its beasts and plants. To save it, she will not hesitate to sacrifice the lives of greedy men and women.

All people were struck by the Great Curse as they stood. Their bodies died, but souls remained trapped inside, frantically flailing their limbs. Like moths to a flame, they circled the artifact, still in the Whisperer’s hand. Like gray smoke, they drifted over the ground scorched by frightening power.

Seeing this, Svarog and Žmij retreated, amazed by the artifact’s strength, for had they come closer, they too could have been struck. Having lost many of his Whisperers, the Snake Prince knew it was no hoax, so they both left, leaving the cursed tribe at eternity’s mercy.