Larisa could barely keep her eyes open, her body so weak that every step she took was like crossing an ocean of heavy sand. The house, his home, seemed like a distant world, and the love he had once thought he possessed was fading like the sun at the end of a hopeless day. Gleb looked at her with false concern, his expression filling with coldness with each passing second.

“Come on, darling, we’re almost there,” said Gleb, with an eerie calm.

But Larisa could do nothing but follow him. Every time his mind tried to hold on to an illusion of hope, his body responded with a stabbing pain. The hut before her was something of a nightmare, with its sloping walls and its appearance of ruin forgotten by time.

“Are you sure the healer lives here?” Larisa asked, her voice trembling with fear and exhaustion.

Gleb smiled with a strange satisfaction on his face.

– Sure, my dear, here it is. Just a little more…” he urged her as he pushed her onto the rickety porch.

Larisa collapsed on the wooden bench with a momentary sigh of relief. The shadows of the hut seemed to devour the light, and the air was permeated with dust and moisture. He looked at Gleb, who was standing beside him with an expression that no longer hid anything of his true nature.

“Gleb… No one lives here—” he whispered, his voice barely audible.

“That’s true!” He laughed, his laughter sounding empty. “No one has lived here for years. And if you’re lucky, you’ll die a natural death… and if not—” He paused, enjoying his power. “The wild animals will find you.”

Larisa couldn’t believe her ears. She was so exhausted that she couldn’t even get up from the bench to confront him. How had he gotten to this point? A marriage that began as an illusion, turned into a nightmare where betrayal and greed had begun to corrode every corner of her being.

Gleb, whose presence had always been so magnetic at first, had made his contempt clear. The only thing Larisa represented to him was a means to wealth, and now that he had achieved everything he wanted, he no longer needed her.

“And my money doesn’t disgust me?” Larisa muttered, her mouth parched with fear and disbelief.

“It’s MY money!” Gleb shouted, as he began to walk around the cabin like a caged animal. “If you had registered everything in my name, we would be somewhere else now. But you were stubborn…

Larisa closed her eyes, unable to take it anymore. She knew that Gleb had not only destroyed her life, but had now condemned her to die in that lonely place. The sense of betrayal was so great that she felt like the air was no longer reaching her.

That’s when he heard the creak at the door. Something changed in the air, and a shudder ran down his spine. She opened her eyes with difficulty, and there, in front of her, a little girl appeared. He was no more than seven or eight years old, with a jacket too big for his small body and his eyes shining with a mixture of curiosity and sweetness.

– Don’t be afraid! The girl said, sitting down next to her.

Larisa, surprised, tried to sit up.

“Where are you from?” How did you end up here?

The girl smiled mischievously.

“I’ve been here before. When Dad brings me, I hide. Let him worry! She said with a spontaneity that made Larisa forget her agony for a moment.

“Is it hurting you?” Larisa asked, her voice breaking.

“No! It just forces me to help! If I don’t listen, he makes me wash the dishes. Quite a mountain! The girl stretched out her arms in frustration.

Larisa, despite the painful situation, couldn’t help but smile faintly.

“Maybe he’s just tired. If I had my dad… I would do everything for him…

– Did your dad die? The girl asked.

Larisa nodded, a tear streaming down her cheek.

— Yes… “A long time ago,” he whispered.

The girl was thoughtful, then, with a wisdom strange for her young age, she said:

“They will all die…

Larisa, surprised by the girl’s solemnity, tried to ask more, but the girl interrupted her with a determined expression.

“No, no!” I’m going after Dad! I’m going to help him! He heals everyone in the village. Only he couldn’t cure Mom!

Larisa, almost out of breath, murmured:

“How is that?”

The girl got up and headed for the door, looking back one last time.

– My dad is a sorcerer!

Larisa looked at her, incredulous. A sorcerer? At that moment, grief and despair were replaced by a spark of curiosity.

“Honey, there are no such things,” Larisa said with a forced smile, although her soul trembled.

– Yes, they exist! Your husband said it, that you believe in them. Well, don’t be sad, I’ll be back soon! said the girl before disappearing into the shadows of the forest.

Larisa stared at the closed door, the wind rustling through the trees. Could he really be a sorcerer? Her thoughts swirled, but there was something about that girl that made her believe that anything could be possible.

In the lonely cabin, Larisa’s future was intertwined with an unexpected destiny. Was that girl, or the sorcerer, his only hope?

— My life… it’s not finished, not yet…” Larisa thought, a faint glimmer of hope shining in her heart as darkness surrounded the place.

Larisa stood there, on the wooden bench, staring at the closed door where the girl had disappeared. The air seemed heavy, laden with a strange mixture of uncertainty and something that could be hope. The pain she had felt during the last few days began to attenuate, not completely, but in part, as if the girl’s presence had overflowed something that Larisa had kept trapped inside her.

For a moment, he thought that maybe life hadn’t completely vanished. The girl had spoken with disconcerting sincerity, and though Gleb’s words still echoed in her mind, it now seemed to her that something, somewhere very deep, could still change.

Suddenly, he heard the rustling of trees. Gleb appeared at the doorway, his eyes shining with that cold, empty light that Larisa had learned to fear. He approached slowly, like a predator that knows that the prey is exhausted, waiting for the right moment to attack.

“And what was that?” Gleb asked, looking over to where the girl had disappeared.

Larisa looked at him with unexpected calmness. I was no longer afraid of him. Perhaps what terrified him most now was the idea of dying without a fight, without giving his life one last chance. He got up from the bench with more effort than he imagined he would have, but the weight of determination filled his veins. I was no longer going to be his victim.

“I don’t know what you’re looking for, Gleb, but I have nothing more to give you.” He said, his voice broken but firm.

Gleb frowned, surprised by the harshness in Larisa’s words. But he showed no fear, only an irritation that made him more dangerous. He approached her, but instead of hitting her as he usually did, his eyes shone with a strange greed.

“What have you done, Larisa?” Do you think some insignificant girl will change your destiny? His voice was full of venom.

Larisa stared at him for a long moment, her eyes fixed on his. He knew that the situation was far from over, but something in his heart lit up when he remembered the girl’s words. “My dad is a sorcerer.”

“All is not lost, Gleb. Maybe you’ve decided, but I still have something to lose. I won’t let you drag me to the bottom without a fight. he said, more forcefully.

Gleb let out a sarcastic laugh.

“Fight? You have nothing, Larisa. Nothing. No strength, no family, no friends. You are alone.

But inside, Gleb felt an uneasiness. Something in Larisa’s attitude had changed, and she didn’t like that. He was used to dominating it, to being the one who set the pace of his life. Seeing her resist in that way was uncomfortable for him.

Suddenly, the sound of an engine was heard in the distance. Gleb turned to the outside, but Larisa did not. He kept his gaze fixed on the man he had thought he knew.

“Maybe I’m alone, Gleb,” she said, with a stillness that made her blood run cold. But now I don’t care. I won’t do it anymore. You… You’re no longer the man I knew.

Before he could react, Larisa turned away from him and went out onto the porch. His legs were faltering, but his determination was stronger than his pain. Something in the air seemed different, as if the arrival of that little girl had altered the course of everything that was about to happen.

In the background, among the trees, he saw a figure slowly emerging. It wasn’t the girl, nor Gleb. He was a tall man, with an old jacket and a calm expression. His presence was reassuring, and he looked at her with an intensity that made time seem to stand still.

“Larisa?” The man said, in a deep but gentle voice. “I’m the sorcerer she mentioned.” I have come to help you.

Larisa blinked, unable to believe what she was seeing. A sorcerer. Something that I had always believed only in tales and legends.

“You… Are you a sorcerer? She asked, still hesitant, but something inside her told her that it didn’t matter what she believed anymore. The only thing that mattered was what he was willing to do for her.

“Yes,” he said, stepping forward, his gaze fixed on Gleb with disdain. And don’t worry, Larisa. This man’s fate is already sealed. It comes from a long way back. I have come to change your destiny.

Gleb’s face hardened at the sound of those words. He tried to take a step towards Larisa, but the sorcerer raised his hand. A faint, almost imperceptible glow formed around his finger, and Gleb stopped, as if an invisible force had caught him.

“You won’t be able to hurt him, Gleb. Neither to her nor to me,” said the sorcerer, his voice firmer, echoing through the air like an ancient echo.

Larisa looked at Gleb, and for the first time in a long time, she saw the fear in his eyes. Gleb, the man who had manipulated her, who had led her into this abyss, was losing control. And finally, Larisa felt something she had forgotten: freedom.

The sorcerer advanced to where Larisa stood and looked at her calmly.

“Come on, Larisa. The road isn’t over yet, but now you have a chance. You decide what to do with it.

Larisa looked at Gleb one last time, her face full of pain, but also determination. The time had come to take his life into his own hands. The future was not marked. She could change it.

And with a sigh, she walked away, walking alongside the sorcerer into the darkness of the forest, where a new destiny awaited her, full of possibilities she could not yet comprehend, but which offered her the opportunity to heal.

Gleb was left behind, in the crumbling cabin, trapped in his own ego and despair, as the shadows claimed him.

Larisa’s journey had begun again. And this time, she wouldn’t be the one who would get lost in the darkness.