The movie begins during the 13th century, in the Carpathian Mountains, in the village
of Tukhlia, where Rada Berkut gifts her youngest son, Maksim, an amulet.
She tells him it symbolizes their family, as her husband, Zakhar, watches them nearby.
Rada tells her son to go hunting with his father and catch something for dinner.
Zakhar trains his sons, Maksim and Ivan, for hunting until they grow into two strong men.
They return to the village and greet their friend, the local blacksmith, Petro.
Maksim tells him that they will go hunting after the festival.
Meanwhile, an old man is talking to Zakhar, the village chief.
The old man tells him about the Tugar Volk and how they have been killing his sheep and
burning his horse stables.
Zakhar tells him that he cannot exile the Tugar Volk without calling him to the council.
Knowing him, he most likely will not go to the council meeting, and the old man leaves
dejectedly.
When Zakhar sees his sons, he gets an idea.
He tells Maksim that Tugar Volk needs a guide to help him hunt a bear.
He orders Maksim to lead the hunt and to use the opportunity to ask him to come to their
next town meeting.
Maksim believes he isn't the most appropriate person for the job and suggests Ivan, but
Zakhar's decision is final, and Ivan will go with him.
Later, Ivan goes to his wife, Rosana, and tells her he will go hunting tomorrow.
Their son, Bochan, also wants to go hunting, but he still needs to be bigger, and he promises
to bring him a gift back.
During the hunt, Tugar's right-hand man, Gard, voices his concern to Tugar about the help
they are getting with the search.
Suddenly, a girl on a horse rides ahead, startling Maksim.
Ivan tells him that she is Tugar's daughter, Myroslava.
Myroslava rides ahead of the group; she shoots an arrow at a bird, hitting it successfully.
She unexpectedly falls into a hidden pit, so she blows a horn to call for help from
the others.
Maksim and Ivan hear this, and Maksim runs to its source while Ivan calls the others.
In the pit, Myroslava hears a growl and sees the bear.
She immediately hides behind a big rock as the bear approaches.
She prepares her axe, which pounces around the boulder, surprising her.
Thankfully, Maksim arrives and stabs the bear with a spear, and Myroslava hits it with her
axe, killing it.
As the two gasp for air, they introduce themselves to each other.
He tells her he is there to help his father by inviting Tugar to the town meeting in Tukhlia.
Ivan helps them out of the pit, and Tugar calls for his daughter and tells her to leave
the others as the hunt is over, and Tugar asks what Maksim wants as a reward.
Maksim initially denies the reward, but Myroslava reminds him of his father's task.
Tugar is reluctant but eventually agrees to go to the meeting.
Maksim and Ivan go home and inform their father of the successful task and hunt.
Their mother greets them, and Ivan tells her that Maksim has met the boyar's daughter and
teases him that he has already fallen for her.
As Ivan greets his wife and son, Rada asks if he likes the boyar's daughter, Myroslava,
but he says it doesn't matter as she is a nobleman's daughter.
Rada reminds him of the problematic courtship between Ivan and Rosana.
Still, they are happy together now, saying that finding love is worth the risk.
In Tugar's fortress, Myroslava prepares to go outside because she wants to pick some
berries, but Tugar stops her, telling her that the servants can do it, but she wants
to do it herself.
She argues that he never allows her to go anywhere and has yet to hear of Tukhlia.
Tugar explains that the people of Tukhlia are fighting him for his land, and if they
let their guard down on them, they might get hurt.
So, he orders her to go to bed, and she reluctantly does so.
As Myroslava goes to bed in her room, she shrieks in shock when she sees a man hiding
there, but the man quickly reveals himself to be Maksim.
He explains that it was the only way to get past her servants.
Maksim explains that he is there to invite her to the festivities that night; it's a
beautiful celebration for Perun.
Myroslava agrees to come by, asking how they will get out of there without her protective
father seeing them.
He grabs some new cloaks from the guards and uses them as disguises so they can escape.
The festivities begin that night, with the people singing and dancing to the music while
Maksim introduces Myroslava to his parents, Zakhar and Rada, who both welcome her wholeheartedly.
As they sit down to eat, Myroslava is visibly impressed by all the festivities, and Maksim
invites her to dance with him.
Later, Rada gives her a headband and tells Myroslava to be kind to her son.
By dawn, Maksim returns Myroslava to her home by horseback.
Maksim arrives back in his village just as his mother, Uncle Korhun, Rosana, and Oosta
are preparing to leave for Korhun's village.
Later, Maksim, Ivan, and Petro go on a hunt.
Suddenly, a frightened Oosta appears behind a boulder; she explains that when they arrived
at Korhun's village, it had been burned down, and nothing was left.
Oosta barely escaped.
Ivan asks her to go to Tukhlia and find their father, to tell him what happened.
They run to Korhun's village and see multiple dead bodies and the burned remnants of their
homes.
They find their uncle Korhun, who is severely injured but can only relay a few words.
With his last breath, he said they took Rada and Rosana but could not say who took them.
Maksim tells Petro that there is no time to burn the bodies, and they run to find the
culprits of the massacre.
They eventually find them in a village and discover the Mongolians attacked.
They sneakily approach the village and find Rada, Rosana, and other women locked up in
a cage.
Ivan orders Maksim to go after their mother, while Petro and he will get Rosana and the
others.
Rosana distracts the guard, and Ivan takes the opportunity to kill him from behind.
They free the women, and Ivan asks Rosana to go with Petro to get the women to safety
while Maksim knocks down the man attempting to shoot at his mother and Bohun.
The man gets up and fights them, injuring Rada, but Maksim manages to kill him unknowingly,
leaving his amulet.
Ivan brings their injured mother to a cave while Maksim continues to fight and distract
the Mongols.
Maksim and Bohun make it to the cave, and Bohun wants to go out and kill the Mongolians.
Still, Maksim tells him he will be killed if he goes alone, and he reluctantly agrees.
Maksim finds the dying Rada as she says her last goodbyes.
The next day, Burunda Khan, a powerful Mongolian general, arrives at the village and sees his
dead son; he grieves and finds the amulet of Maksim.
Meanwhile, Ivan and the others return to Tukhlia with their dead mother in his arms.
They mourn their losses and burn their dead.
On the other hand, Burunda orders Merke, his right-hand man, to find out who the amulet's
owner is.
During the town meeting, Zakhar tells the people they will solve the dispute with Tugar
Volk, as they need to unite with him and his army to stand firm against the Mongols.
Then, Tugar Volk and his men arrive.
Zakhar and Tugar negotiate a duel; if Tugar's man wins, Tugar can stay in Tukhlia, and they
will follow his rule.
Zakhar's sons will be his servants.
Still, if Zakhar's man wins, Tugar will gather his men and fight with them against the Mongols
as equals.
Maksim convinces his father to choose him to fight, and he agrees.
Ivan gives him his amulet as he gives Maksim advice to use his size as an advantage.
With Gard as Tugar's warrior, Maksim and Gard fight, each with only one weapon.
Maksim wins the duel, but Tugar doesn't want to honor the agreement, making Zakhar call
him a coward.
He eventually agrees to fight with him against the Mongols.
After the duel, a cloaked Myroslava approaches Maksim; she offers her condolences to him
for his mother, but he is grateful she got to meet her.
She promises to meet him soon.
The Mongolians are planning how to attack the valley as Merke arrives.
He informs Burunda that it is a man from the village of Tukhlia, up along the mountainside.
Burunda decides to go to the mountains and orders Merke to search the villages and find
the men responsible for killing his son.
Later, Merke and his men search the villages, looking for the amulet's owner, killing and
terrorizing the village folk.
Burunda goes to Tugar Volk's home, interrogating him about the amulet.
Meanwhile, a bloodied Gard escapes and arrives in Tukhlia.
He informs Zakhar and Maksim that the Mongols have taken Tugar Volk and Myroslava; they
resist so far, but they only have a short time.
There are about twenty or more Mongols, so Zakhar orders Maksim to get his brother and
go to them.
They arrive quickly but soon find it is a trap as Gard makes a signal.
Later, Myroslava berates her father for betraying his people and not honoring his promise.
Tugar argues that sacrificing one family will save thousands more, which is what a true
leader does, while she says he is a coward for doing it.
At the same time, Gard's men, whom they thought were dead, were faking it, and they ambushed
Maksim and his men.
They try to fight them off, but there are too many, so Maksim orders them to retreat
into the house.
Outside the fortress, Burunda and Tugar wait for the defeat of Maksim's people.
Burunda says Tugar will never have his desire for power, as he's obviously weak by easily
surrendering to him.
He allows Tugar to save his home.
Tugar tries to talk to Maksim's men to try and make them surrender, but they won't, as
Bohun shoots at him.
So, Tugar agrees to burn it down, and his men shoot flaming arrows into the house.
Maksim plans to use the smoke as their cover while they attack Tugar's men.
A battle ensues as Maksim and Gard fight, with Maksim killing him.
Ivan manages to convince some of Tugar's men to fight with them against the Mongols, and
they agree.
They escape the burning fortress, but Maksim finds Burunda in the forest and runs to attack
him while Ivan tries to stop him.
Amused, Burunda prepares his poisoned arrows, and Maksim throws his axe at Burunda, but
his soldier shields him from it, while the arrow only grazes Ivan's neck.
Burunda orders Tugar to bring their heads to him.
Tugar orders to fire flaming arrows at them, but most of them escape as the appearance
of Myroslava makes Tugar order to stop the arrows.
Soon, Maksim and the others arrive back at their village, and they inform Zakhar that
Tugar is allied with the Mongols.
Then, Ivan collapses, and they see that he has been struck with poison.
Rosanna and Bochan arrive as he takes his last breaths.
As Maksim goes outside, he finds Myroslava waiting for him.
He is initially distrustful of her, but she explains her father is only frightened of
Burunda.
As she is about to leave, he stops her, hugging her tightly at the loss of his brother.
After that, Zakhar tells the village that the entire Mongol army is coming and informs
them of a plan to flood Tukhlia by breaking the dam so they to escape the Mongols.
Maksim will lead a group of men by the entrance to hold them off so the people can escape.
So, they prepare their weapons and are ready to break the dam.
Later that night, Maksim professes his love to Myroslava, and they make love under the
moonlight.
The next day, a group of men led by Maksim fought off the oncoming Mongols while Myroslava
led the archers.
They defeat the first wave of the Mongolian army, and they get word that the Tukhlians
have evacuated the village.
Meanwhile, Burunda receives word that the Tukhlians are fighting bravely and they must
retreat.
So he orders Tugar to go and destroy the village.
In the village, Petro and Maksim find a kid who was left behind, so Maksim orders Petro
to go and bring the kid while he fends off the Tugar and the Mongols.
Maksim manages to kill some of them, but he gets captured.
Petro arrives by the dam carrying the kid, but there is no sign of Maksim, so Zakhar
orders to destroy the dam.
The Mongols burn down the village while Burunda taunts the captured Maksim.
Burunda orders Merke to ride ahead to see how many villagers are left.
Merke finds them and orders his men to let the villagers bring down the rock.
Bohun and Myroslova join the fight as the others try to break the dam.
Many of them are killed, and only Petro is left, but he manages to bring down the rock
that breaks the dam.
Burunda, Tugar, and Maksim manage to get on higher ground.
Tugar stops Burunda from killing Maksim and uses him to negotiate with Zakhar.
Tugar decides to free Maksim and kills Burunda's guards, but Burunda kills him.
Maksim fights with Burunda and eventually kills him with his sword.
The movie ends as Zakhar succumbs to his wounds, and Maksim and Myroslova look at the people
they will be leading.