ЖАНР: РОМАНТИЧНЕ ФЕНТЕЗІ

Once every four years, during the Mermaid Week, mermaids and mavkas—forest nymphs and dangerous mystical creatures—emerge from the forest's Dark Lake to hunt people with impure souls. In their belief, all humans are like that: traitors, liars, murderers, or thieves. For six days, they drag people to the bottom of the lake, and their life energy is converted into energy for the mavkas and mermaids themselves. The power accumulated over these days allows them, on the seventh day of Mermaid Week, during the Short Night, to perform a ritual: to the singing of the mavkas, they drag all the people in the forest into the lake. Mermaids, possessing inhuman beauty, rule over the mavkas. They are demonic creatures, the higher caste in the mystical world of the Dark Lake, keeping the mavkas bound to them by invisible ribbons. Mavkas are drowned girls from different eras who have forgotten who they were and what happened to them in their past lives. The mavkas have turned into vengeful and cruel tools of the mermaids with beautiful, magical voices capable of casting spells on people. Mavka, as usual during Mermaid Week, goes out to hunt. But on a forest path, she accidentally gets hit by an SUV. The driver is Lukyan, a biology student who has set up a scientific expedition in the forest. Lukyan wants to take the girl to a doctor, but she refuses and, exhausted, stays with him at the camp. While Lukyan's friends think about how to help her, Mavka heals herself and watches the boy, who she is sure smells of women's tears—betrayal of a loved one. Mavka decides to come back for him later. Lukyan indeed has a complicated relationship with Khrystyna, his classmate, who is part of the expedition group and immediately starts getting jealous of the strange stranger. But feelings unexpectedly arise between Mavka and Lukyan—Mavka fails to bewitch Lukyan on her second attempt, and the more they talk, the more Mavka admires him. Mavka is surprised that the boy protects the forest from poachers and draws her attention to the beauty of nature, which Mavka had forgotten how to see, just as she had forgotten how to do good. Their true closeness is hindered by the insidious plans of the mermaids, who sense danger from the boy. Moreover, Mavka is held back by her dark side as a forest creature, which still has power over her. Eventually, passion consumes both of them, and Mavka is ready to surrender to love. Upon learning of Mavka's mystical origin, Lukyan is ready to accept and love the girl as she is. But the mermaids and Khrystyna interfere in their relationship; Khrystyna herself becomes a mavka and seduces Lukyan, casting a spell on him. On the Short Night, the mermaids hold an unprecedented coven in the forest, where people fall under the power of the forest's demonic forces. Mavka learns of Lukyan's betrayal, but she does not crave revenge; on the contrary, it hurts her just as it did in her past life. She heads to the lake, where she wants to spend the rest of eternity in the Afterlife. But once at the bottom, she feels a touch—it is Lukyan who manages to reach her. He saves his beloved, and Mavka receives a second life among people.