The story and characters are drawn from Slavic folklore, centering on a young man who embarks on a magical adventure to save his beloved from a wicked sorcerer.

The young man encounters an old magician who reveals that the village was attacked by the hordes of Koschei the Immortal, who kidnapped the beautiful maid Maria Morevna [ru] to be his bride.

Nikita decides to rescue Balut, putting on the invisibility cap, he frees Bulat; together they grab the magic carpet and fly away.

Nikita and Bulat fly to and stealthily enter Kashchei's castle, where they find Maria lying lifeless on a bed.

Locked in brutal combat, Nikita manages to behead Koschei twice with each time the sorcerer regenerating and continuing his attack.

Nikita takes the opportunity to slay the sorcerer, his death reverses all the spells and returns Balut to normal.

In 1941, filmmaker Aleksandr Rou began the development of his next fantasy project, Ilya Muromets based on Slavic folklore.