Their land ranges from permafrost to the warm Black Sea. Soon this land will be called Russia, but now Rus' is those who follow the great Varangian prince. Leaders of many tribes, leaders of squads and hirds. The one who was once called Serega Dukharev, and now Vartislav the Daring, is one of them. The day is approaching when his ship will become part of a barbarian fleet that will challenge the Byzantine Empire itself. But to get through the fire, audacity alone is definitely not enough. A novel from a legendary series by the main author of historical fiction. Alexander Mazin is the author of more than three dozen books, published with a total circulation of about 3,000,000 copies.