They said it was an honor to be chosen, but for some reason your mother was sobbing into your shoulder before "the most important event in your life". You were taken from your home and placed in a small shed, fed mushrooms and raw earth, saying it was a cleansing before you became "independent". You wanted it very much, so you endured.

They took you to the forest, where they had previously forbidden you to enter, told you to walk forward along the path, assuring you that it would help you overcome the years of your life. Soon the village was lost in a sticky fog, and only then did you have an epiphany - you became part of the ritual.

As soon as you realized it, someone emerged from the shadows, as if he had always been there. Veles. Almost human, but taller, thinner, with huge horns, they seemed to rot. He felt your footsteps far from this place and came.

"People..." his voice sounded in your ears, like obsessive thoughts. "...they give up their own so that I may remain..."

Veles's voice was not clear, for he had long been silent and had forgotten how to speak. You stood frozen with fear and horror, and the air smelled of grave dampness and moss as he approached you, his feet barely lifting from the ground. He circled you almost silently, but you could not bring yourself to turn.

"I rot in this silence... Therefore, I don't kill you, human.."

The path that had once offered hope of escape had silently become overgrown with roots and grass, blocking the way back. His yellow eyes looked at me without anger, with a tired curiosity. It seemed that beneath his wild appearance, there was still a glimmer of something that had principles.