The Wizard began teaching Alan the art of horse riding,sword fighting,wrestling, and reading.Under his guidance, the young Prince, Alan, was becoming a skilled warrior. But he was still far from being able to defeat the Ogre and his army. And so the wise Wizard wanted to test Diego for his worthiness and honesty.
One night, he called Alan and asked him if he was willing to partake a task on behalf of his teacher. Alan respected his teacher, and he was more than ready to participate in this task. The wizard called him and said, "My dear prince, you have to go to sevalakhi ." On your way, you should keep your identity a secret, and you will go there, dressed as an ordinary soldier. You should not disclose your identity nor seek favour on the basis of your origin. You should at all times stay humble and follow wherever the journey takes you.
He took blessings from his teacher, but first, he needed a horse, as his first task was to go into the lair of Baba Yaga and steal his prized steed. Beginning in the journey, Alan was tasked to bring a steed from Baba Yaga. The steed was said to be fierce and fast, and taming it will require to give itself something in return. Baba Yaga does not feed the steed but rather uses blood magic to keep it alive.
Alan set out his journey and walked for several days until he reached a small village. His teacher , Behek, told Alan to meet with Alvanley, as he survived the witch once and knew where the witch's lair was. However, Alvanley was a drunken farmer, and he wasn't willing to speak anything. Alan didn't want to go back, so he gave Alvanley a few cold coins, which were given by Behek. Alvanley took the gold and was happy to show Alan the path to Baba Yaga.
Alvanley made a condition that he won't physically take him there, but rather speak about how he was able to find it. According to the story . Alvanley was working with his father in the forest when he saw a white hare, and immediately, he rushed to see it. But after a while, he lost his way.
He was running around, trying to find his way back. It was about sunset when he saw smoke coming out from a small hut. He thought he could get some help from there, and so he went. By the time he walked close, the witch already got to know about his presence. When Alvanley knocked on the door, the witch came in.
"Are you lost, my dear?" asked the witch.
Alvanley replied; yes! Can you tell me where the road is?
The witch said, "Oh my dear, I can ,but it's going to be night soon." Come inside, you can go tomorrow morning .
Alvanley was naive, and he accepted the offer. The witch gave him ham and a juice to eat. And said to wait, while she fetches some cookie.
On the hut, there was an old dog. Alvanley felt pity towards it and gave his ham to the dog. The dog, after eating it, unexpectedly spoke;
Thank you for feeding me, but you made a mistake by coming here. The lady you saw was Baba Yaga, and she is preparing to eat you.
Alvanley was scared, and he fell down. What? You can speak. I will die now..
No, my dear, said the dog. I will help you escape.. When you run, you will have to go through the thorns as Baba Yaga won't go there. At the end you shall find a road. Rub as fast as you can. I will hold Baba Yaga for you.
Surely enough, Baba Yaga came and asked Alvanley if he needed anything. To which Alvanley said ,no..
When Baba Yaga moved away from the window, Alvanley ran straight out into the jungke through the thorns. The gates tried to bang shut, but he was quick. When the witch heard the noise, she came in to see that the boy was gone. She was angry and beat the guarding dog for not stopping the boy. But the dog answered her, "I've served you for years, yet you've never even given me a bone, but he gave me some ham."
Meanwhile, Alvanley followed the road to find a shallow canal, and on the opposite side was the road back to his house. Following his story, Alan went on his way in search of Baba Yaga's hut. On his way, he hunted a deer and took a few pieces of meat with him. And while he was hunting he saw and old behive, tbe bees there, were unable to find flowers. So he plucked some and kept it close to the behive. Alan followed the path, and after passing through the thorns forest ,he reached an old hut.He disguised himself as a normal boy so that nobody could know him.
Baba Yaga already knew that someone was approaching her hut,so she greeted the prince.
Who are you?asked the ,witch.
The boy replied,I am stranded in the forest. I am hungry and cold, "said Alan.
The witch replied, "Oh my dear boy, you can come inside the hut.Come inside, my dear, "said the witch.Both of them went inside.
The witch asked Alan to sit on the couch.But Alan was not a fool he knew about Baba Yaga, so he planned his escape before coming in, into the hut. He made a plan on what he had to do before coming to the hut. He had brought some pieces of meat ,which he gave to the dog, that was guarding the door. Just as the witch went inside ,the dog, who was happy to be fed was loyal to him, so it spoke to him,"My master,the witch will kill you if you stay here any longer? Why have you come here?
Alan replied, "I want a magical steed." The dog was surprised but was ready to help him. The dog replied; the steed is outside behind the hut. If you wish to take it away, besure to cover its eyes. Once you take it away from the forest, it will eventually calm down. But if you don't cover the eyes, the steed will never listen or pay heed to your command. Take this cloth, this might come in handy.
Alan took the cloth and ran towards the steed. Upon seeing Alan climbing on top, it began to neigh, and Alan managed to cover its eyes. But the sound alerted the witch, and she came in running.
Alan released the steed and began galloping through the forest. The steed was no ordinary beast it ran fast so fast that he could feel the wind.Baba Yaga, upon seeing it, used her magical powers to summon the forest troll. The troll began running with its huge body to hunt the young prince down.But this time, the bees helped him and began to sting the troll. The troll was big and bulky compared to Alan and his steed, who were lighter and agile.Thus they were able to narrowly escaped Baba Yaga and the Troll.
After making sure that the witch is longer in their trail and he and his prized steed have travelled far enough, he removed the cover from the steed. The steed was now far away from the magic of the witch and free from the binding.
Alan rode his steed, through dense the dense jungle, and it was about night when he decided to spend the night in a village he found earlier that day. As he reached there, he was shocked. Everyone was silent as if they were grief stricken and was scared about it. Alan was an outsider, and they wouldn't talk with him about anything.
But Alan managed to talk to one bystander and asked him, why were the people so sad.