The world has plunged into chaos. Witches hunt people, and people hunt each other. Man to man is no longer a gray wolf, but a mutant Horde. Bakers in provincial towns - even those with machine guns! And in the midst of this disgrace, the brave man Larion and the intelligent talking cat-bayun - Sixpaws are trying, firstly, to survive, and, secondly, to understand what can be done to correct the situation. It seems that one can only hope for children; only with young and pure souls can the revival of the human race begin: “There should be many of them, literate, skillful, capable of believing in ideals, in all that we have lost...”