The time will come, and Tmutarakan will become part of Rus'. But now it is impossible to hold Prince Oleg of Kyiv, captured by the Rus, Samkerts-Tamatarkha. Several hundred Russians and Normans cannot resist armies of thousands. The only question is who will be able to capture it first: the Byzantines or the Khazars. The former prince-voivode Sergei, and now the princely youth Vartislav, understands this perfectly. And he persistently searches for an answer to the question: why did Oleg need Samkerts? But first, Sergei will have to solve a “simpler” problem: how can they all survive in the impending battle of the titans?