1st book of the series. More than 2000 years ago, the world of Sangomar merged with the semi-material world of demons and gained magic. Now in these harsh lands, people and numerous demons are trying to coexist with each other, and in an attempt to adapt, they have acquired a variety of forms. A naive and good-natured young fisherman, who in childhood, by chance, connected his soul with the old demon of Sleepy Lake - Kelpie, finds himself in a series of twists and turns. Personal happiness is crumbling, the mother’s long illness hangs like a shadow over the family, and a pack of ghouls, hungry over the winter, wanders around a mountain village. And even help, which seems like a blessing and a gift, in the cruel world of Sangomar may turn out to be just a perverted form of another curse.