A fantastic legend about war, love and resurrection from the dead. In ancient times, from which only castles and legends remain, a carpenter and his wife lived in a city on the seashore. Their son Actaeon became a knight and defender of the city. The Moors lay siege to the city. Old Archimedes uses fire throwing machines. The battle was brutal: the hands, cut off by the mercenaries, continued to stab and clutch swords. Actaeon's father fights in the vanguard of the knights. The Moorish fleet burns off the coast of Tsar Grad. The Crusaders ask the Tsar to become their ally. Actaeon promises his parents and his beloved to return from the campaign. The Magic Serpent reveals to the young man the secret of immortality.