Whoever saw Žmij did stop as though they did turn to stone and did lose their soul from sheer terror!

Humans then set their Fire against Žmij and did surround him with a blazing circle. But the fiery tongues licked Žmij’s scales in vain. Veles’s general, The Serpent Prince, put out the fire with but one shake of his tail that blew at the torches as the wind blows at reddened leaves in the autumn.

O’ how great was Fire’s defeat! His humiliation and fury! Veles did see his greed and passion, for he was familiar with both and knew what to feed to them. So, he visited Fire and did start to whisper unto it. He did tell it of the taste of power, the smell of victory, and the most sweet melody of dread and worship. And Fire did listen and did turn red in excitement, whilst fever did heat him as a hen heats the chicks nestled in their eggs.

But ‘twas not a hen that was sitting on the egg! ‘Twas the Lord of the Underworld, the Father of the Žmij, and so when the shell broke, a deity of madness and conflict did emerge, and his name was Svarog.