Where the Dark Stands Still

“‘I have been alone for so long, little fox. Watching over this wood consumes my waking moments. So I offer you this: serve me for a year, and when you are done, I will grant your wish. Even if’—he chuckles softly—‘even if it is the most ridiculous wish I have ever heard.’”

In this passage, the Leszy offers Liska the bargain that defines the plot. Poranek draws inspiration from Beauty and the Beast, which also involves a bargain. However, Liska establishes the bargain herself whereas Beauty’s father agrees to the Beast’s bargain in the original fairy tale. The Leszy’s dialogue offers insight into his character. For example, her wish seems “ridiculous” to him because he sacrificed everything, including his humanity, to gain power.

“‘Well, you have your answer now. I can’t do magic.’

‘Not yet,’ the Leszy agrees, visibly bothered by the realization. ‘But you will. Mark my words, fox: anything can be repaired, even this arcane affliction of yours. I will find a way to fix it soon enough.’”

The Leszy’s resolution to repair Liska’s relationship with her magic advances the plot and eventually helps her achieve self-acceptance. Near the end of the novel, she learns that the Leszy needed her to have magic so that he could sacrifice her to Weles, which explains why he is “visibly bothered” that she can’t control her power yet.

“Get out get out get out. The unearthly snarl grates against her chest, her very bones. Get out before he wakes.”

Mrok the ghost hound intensifies the novel’s suspense. His ominous message foreshadows Weles’s wakening and the great danger that Liska is in. Although the spectral hound has a frightening appearance, he is loyal and protective, and his positive traits contribute to the story’s overall subversion of the villagers’ belief that the supernatural is evil. 

“She turns back to the Leszy, and she cannot help but smile. For the first time since her arrival, she feels truly awed by his magic, without an underlying edge of trepidation to ruin it.”

Parallelling the story of Beauty and the Beast, Liska saves the Leszy’s life. This passage describes her reaction to the enchanted garden he grows to express his gratitude. In keeping with the conventions of dark fantasy, a romance slowly blooms between the Leszy and Liska, and this scene shifts their relationship and her views on magic. Unbeknownst to Liska, this is the moment he begins to fall in love with her and reconsider his plan to sacrifice her to Weles.

“She thinks of the wardrobe, the abandoned clothes. ‘Was there—was there someone before me?’

He hesitates, and his expression becomes overcast. ‘Yes,’ he admits. ‘I’ve had other…companions before you.’”

In a key instance of foreshadowing, the Leszy confirms Liska’s suspicions that he had “other…companions” before her. As hinted at by the ellipsis, the taciturn Leszy is withholding information. In time, Liska learns that “the abandoned clothes” belonged to the previous apprentices who were sacrificed to Weles, including Florian and Jaga.

“[E]nd it was inevitable, you know it was. I ask only that you do not hate me for leaving you like this. It was always to be my fate. Live well, my love. Forget me once I am gone. —Florian”

The letter Liska finds during her first visit to the sealed-off library offers an important clue as she struggles to unravel the manor’s mysteries. Florian’s mentions of his “fate” and “inevitable” end refer to his death at Weles’s hands, and the way he addresses the letter’s recipient as his “love” foreshadows the revelation that he and the Leszy had a romantic relationship. Even though he’s been dead for 200 years, Florian exerts a significant influence on the plot and the Leszy’s characterization.

“The Leszy is far closer than she thought, his face inches from hers, sage-colored eyes like beacons in the dark. His brows are drawn low, his lips parted slightly, and the long shadows of his eyelashes paint his cheekbones like streaks of ink. Their eyes meet, and it feels like the world tilts.”

This passage captures the moment that Liska falls in love with the Leszy after he saves her from a demon. In keeping with the conventions of young adult romance, the narration catalogs the love interest’s handsome features.

“Mama is more important. Stodoła is more important. And they are all in danger because she upset the spirit-wood. She forces herself to look up, to grab the Leszy’s gaze and hold it steadily. ‘You wanted me to serve at your side?’ she says. ‘Very well, then. Teach me.’

‘Your magic…’

‘You said you would find a way to free it. Do it, and I will help you set things right.’”

In a key development for the themes of The Quest for Belonging and Redemption and The Magic of Self-Acceptance, Liska decides to learn how to control her magic. At this point in the story, she still sees her power as something wicked, but she thinks she could use it for a good cause, which represents progress compared to her prior refusal to use her magic. Ironically, Liska wants to protect her mother and the other villagers of Stodoła even though they do not accept her. In time, she recognizes this discrepancy and develops a self-acceptance independent of the village’s approval.

“‘Panie Prawota,’ Tata says coolly, ‘even Pani Młynarczyk understands that children do silly things and is angry at no one but the branch that snapped beneath her daughter’s foot. Anyway, since your son was not there, I do suspect that this matter is none of your business.’”

The flashback reveals that Tata died while defending his daughter from Panie Prawota’s accusations. Liska blames her magic for this tragedy, which explains why she goes on a quest for redemption. His death also marks a turning point in Liska’s life because he was her greatest defender, and she made a concerted effort to conform to the villagers’ expectations afterward. Additionally, this incident reveals that the lives of the Radost and Prawota families are tragically intertwined, foreshadowing Tomasz Prawota’s death.

“‘You’ve endured so much for us,’ Liska whispers.

‘It’s my duty,’ he says.

‘Thank you.’ She holds his hand until his shoulders loosen, until he knows she means it. ‘Thank you.’ The way he looks at her, it is like she has spoken absolution to a man condemned.”

The simile comparing the Leszy to “a man condemned” who has received absolution conveys the weight of the guilt he carries on his quest for redemption. The narrator’s observations about his expression are important because this character rarely verbalizes his emotions or speaks about his past. The gratitude and sympathy that Liska feels for the Leszy in this scene contrasts with her initial fear of him, illustrating how their relationship has changed.

“Remember what you did last time? her mind whispers. If you free it, you will truly become a monster. ‘Fine,’ Liska hisses, blood leaking down her arm. ‘Then let me be a monster.’”

Liska deliberately uses magic for the first time since the novel began to protect the women of Wałkowo from the strzygoń. Her belief that this action makes her a “monster” shows that her view of magic is still steeped in the judgment of her religious upbringing. This poses an obstacle between her and The Magic of Self-Acceptance. Her willingness to become a monster if it means saving others parallels the choice that Eliasz made in becoming the Leszy. In addition, the suspenseful reference to what Liska did “last time” foreshadows Tomasz Prawota’s death and the subsequent rupture in Liska and Marysieńka’s friendship.

“‘That’s impossible,’ Kazimiera cuts in. ‘The poison corrupts the soul and the body at once. No one can take from another’s soul.’

‘I have to try,’ he says, voice fraying.”

The Leszy is usually aloof, so his “fraying” voice betrays his romantic feelings for Liska. His ability to absorb the strzygoń’s poison and save Liska offers a clue that they are twin souls. This revelation has important implications for the central love story, and it paves the way for the novel’s climax, in which the Leszy gives Liska his powers.

“Kazimiera purses her lips. ‘One day, you are going to have to face this demon of yours, Eliasz.’

He laughs, mirthless. ‘If that day were to come, I would fall, and the Driada along with me. Judge me as you please, Kazimiera, but I will not let one intrepid, doe-eyed girl ruin seven hundred years of stability.’”

The conversation that Liska overhears between the Leszy and Kazimiera explains the inner conflict that restrains him from pursuing a romantic relationship with her. The description of Liska as an “intrepid, doe-eyed girl” alludes to her courage and compatibility with him, especially because one of his guises is a stag. However, the “demon” that Kazimiera speaks of is literal rather than metaphorical, and the Leszy’s guilt and sense of duty lead him to dismiss Liska as a potential partner in both romance and his struggle against Weles. Kazimiera’s sound advice in this passage characterizes her as a wise mentor figure.

“‘There was a tree outside the barn,’ Liska whispers faintly. ‘A great old linden. Stood there for over a hundred years, I’m told. It collapsed onto the barn, and it—and I—killed Tomasz Prawota.’”

The revelation that Liska killed Tomasz Prawota is a plot twist because clues in the narration implied that she killed Marysieńka instead. Tomasz’s death is closely tied to the theme of The Quest for Belonging and Redemption. Liska panics and kills him because he intends to expose her secret, which would make her an outcast in her village. Her guilt over his death locks away her power, so confessing what she did frees her magic. This marks a major development for the plot and the theme of The Magic of Self-Acceptance. Liska’s willingness to disclose such painful memories to the Leszy speaks to the strength of their relationship and his importance in her journey toward self-acceptance.

“‘Very well, then, Eliasz; I will stay. But this is a bargain, and I ask something in return.’

‘What is that?’ She takes his face in her hands, curls her fingers in his down-soft hair, and kisses him.”

Because bargains play a key role in the Leszy and Liska’s relationship, their first kiss should be part of their third bargain. The Leszy named the terms in their previous bargains, but Liska voices her desires and initiates the kiss in this scene. Her growing agency underlines the shift in their dynamic and shows that she is taking on more of an equal role compared to her initial position as a servant. This romantic moment is also important for the theme of The Quest for Belonging and Redemption because it reveals that Liska now sees the manor and the spirit-wood as her home.

“‘He is the source of my power. Even if I did find a way to banish him, he would take everything with him…including the Driada.’ He presses a hand to his mouth, wiping away the last of the blood shining on his lips. ‘The wood must always have a warden, Liska Radost. Managing him like this is the best alternative.’”

The revelation that Weles is slumbering inside Eliasz’s heart raises the novel’s stakes. Eliasz endures the pain that results from this arrangement because “[t]he wood must always have a warden.” This mantra underscores his key character traits, such as his self-sacrificial tendencies and sense of duty. This scene foreshadows that the Leszy must die to fully eradicate Weles’s control and that Liska will take up the mantle of warden.

“A czarownik with a tree for a heart, a meddling house-spirit, a rusałka with a newfound conscience, and Liska herself, a mere village girl, all living under the same semi-sentient roof. Each more unlikely than the last, yet they have been strung together like a necklace of rowanberries, threaded by fate or God’s will or something even wilder.”

Liska’s reflection on her “unlikely” found family advances the theme of The Quest for Belonging and Redemption and the protagonist’s characterization. Her understanding of the supernatural has changed significantly since the start of the story, allowing her to feel at home among a czarownik, “a meddling house-spirit, [and] a rusałka.” This change in her perspective indicates that she is healing from her religious trauma. Poranek reinforces this healing when Liska suggests that “God’s will” may have brought the characters together “like a necklace of rowanberries.” Red rowanberries are used to protect against demons, so this somewhat ironic simile underscores Liska’s protective love for Eliasz, Jaga, and Maksio.

“Why be their equal, when you could be better? If you let me live inside you, my power would be yours for eternity. […]

‘I’ll do it,’ the man cuts in. ‘Name your price.’

Your life, says the god smoothly. Your life and your magic in one hundred years’ time.”

The bargain between Eliasz and Weles 700 years ago sets the stage for the novel’s plot. Eliasz summons the old god as part of his quest for belonging among his fellow czarownik, but the god exploits the man’s bruised pride and tempts him by offering to make him “better” than “their equal.” Thus, Eliasz’s hunger for power leads to his tragic downfall and transformation into the Leszy.

“She thought it would feel good to see him defeated. Instead, it feels like roots to the chest, like she has already been sacrificed. She reaches out, touches his face one last time. ‘Goodbye, Eliasz Kowal.’”

Liska and the Leszy’s relationship reaches its lowest point after he admits he planned to sacrifice her to Weles when they first met. Convinced that he never loved her, she leaves him and the Driada. The couple’s breakup adds another source of suspense on top of the danger Weles poses.

“‘I’m not a rabid dog, Mama. I’m your daughter. Yet you acted like I was a monster, and I believed it. I did everything to please you—I cut away every piece of myself you disliked, tried to mold myself into the perfect daughter, but even then, even then—’ Her voice cracks. ‘Even then, you didn’t trust me.’”

Liska achieves catharsis when she finally confronts her mother for the way Dobrawa treated her “like [she] was a monster” because of her magic. The scene highlights how Liska’s experiences with the Leszy have changed the protagonist. The time and distance from her village allow her to realize how she was mistreated, and The Magic of Self-Acceptance empowers her to embrace her full self instead of “cut[ting] away every piece of [her]self [others] disliked” to conform.

“He smells of home. ‘I…,’ he says. She hears his breath catch in his chest, and for a moment she is afraid he won’t say it. But he does. ‘I love you too, Liska Radost.’”

This passage marks a moment of high suspense and romance. Although this isn’t the first time Liska and the Leszy voice their feelings for each other, this scene is significant because it takes place immediately before they enact their plan to expel Weles. The narrator’s observation that Eliasz “smells of home” underlines his importance in Liska’s quest for belonging. Highlighting the characters’ love enhances the emotional impact of the novel’s climax and the Leszy’s death.

“‘Please, Eliasz, please. Tell me how to save you.’ […]

His smile is that of a man complete. ‘I am already saved.’”

Eliasz’s death after the novel’s climactic battle appears to make the story a tragedy. The author reveals that his inner conflict is resolved by describing him as “a man complete.” Eliasz is at peace because Weles is defeated, the Driada has a new warden in Liska, and he’s human again after 700 years. His death develops the theme of redemption; by becoming the final sacrifice, he atones for the six lives Weles took because of his bargain.

“Her home is out there, in the great wide wilderness that lurks and threatens and enchants. ‘I’m going back,’ she decides. The rightness of it unfurls in her chest like a blossom.”

During the novel’s resolution, Liska chooses to leave her village even though she would be allowed back there now that she’s saved it. The simile likening the protagonist’s conviction to “a blossom” calls to mind the fern flower. This indicates that Liska’s wish for belonging has been granted, albeit in a far different way than she expected at the start of the novel. The Quest for Belonging and Redemption is complete because she has made a home for herself where she’s loved for who she is. In addition, her decision to return to the spirit-wood that “lurks and threatens and enchants” rather than live in Stodoła emphasizes her choice of The Magic of Self-Acceptance over conformity.