Year: 2170. Humanity survived the terrible catastrophe of World War III, but fate has prepared another test for it. A century after the war, Earth has become a bleak and ruthless place where survivors face a new threat. The humanoid monsters known as plagues are returning from the dark past to fulfill their sinister designs. The protagonist of this saga is the foreman of a group of miners who has lost all his loved ones in the horrors of the post-war reality. His soul is filled with bitterness and the desire for freedom. He decides to rally those who refuse to accept slavery around him and lead a desperate rebellion against the plagues. However, the plagues are not just ruthless warriors. They possess inexplicable power and a secret ancient artifact, the Black Stone, an object of worship and the main source of their power. The book, written 18 years ago (2005) chose Makeyevka, a suburb of Donetsk, as the setting, which is unusually relevant in our time.