Where the Dark Stands Still

Published in 2024, A. B. Poranek’s Where the Dark Stands Still is a young adult dark fantasy romance novel that draws on Slavic folklore to reimagine Beauty and the Beast. The story centers on Liska Radost, a teenage girl from a small village who fears her magical powers and subsequently strikes a desperate bargain with the Leszy, the demon warden of the spirit-wood, offering a year of servitude in exchange for a wish. As she navigates her new reality, Liska must confront her powers and the darker elements of her world. The novel explores themes of The Quest for Belonging and Redemption, The Magic of Self-Acceptance, and The Enduring Relevance of Myths and Folktales.

Citations in this study guide refer to the e-book edition released by Simon & Schuster in 2024.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide contain depictions of domestic violence, deaths of parents and spouses, suicide, and sexism.

Plot Summary

The people of Stodoła believe that Liska Radost is a witch because she possesses magic and can see spirits. People like her were once revered as czarownik, but they are regarded with fear and suspicion now. While the rest of the village celebrates Midsummer Night, Liska searches for the fern flower. Legends say that the rare bloom grants wishes and grows in the Driada, a forest ruled by the demon Leszy. After Liska loses her way in the spirit-wood, a majestic white stag guides her to a ruined manor, where the fern flower blooms in the courtyard. The stag transforms into the Leszy, and he offers to grant Liska’s wish to be rid of her magic in exchange for a year of service. She accepts the bargain.

The Leszy leads Liska inside his enchanted manor, the House under the Rowan Tree. He is responsible for maintaining order among all the demons in the spirit-wood. The Leszy wants Liska to use her magic to assist him, but she cannot control her powers at present. When a demon injures him, Liska saves his life. To thank her, he creates an enchanted garden for her. A few days later, Liska finds a letter written by a man named Florian. She learns that Florian lived at the manor and that the Leszy let the estate fall into disrepair after Florian’s death, which he blames himself for.

A spirit escapes the Driada, abducts a human, and kills him in the forest. Liska helps the Leszy identify the victim’s home village, and the corpse turns into a demon and attacks her. The Leszy saves her, and Liska finds herself falling in love with him. He believes that demons are breaking through his wards because she threw the Driada out of balance. To atone and protect her village, she asks him to teach her how to control her magic. The Leszy gives her a spellbook, a dagger, and self-defense training.

Tired of the Leszy’s secrecy, Liska reveals that she knows about Florian and demands answers. He tells her that Florian was his apprentice 200 years ago. They had an argument, and Florian left the manor and was killed by something in the Driada. The Leszy admits that he loved Florian and then storms away. The next day, Liska apologizes for their confrontation. The Leszy theorizes that he can use a soul-reading spell to find her locked-away magic, and she agrees because this could be her best chance to restore balance to the Driada. The spell stirs up Liska’s memories of her father’s death, which was caused by her magic. The Leszy must break the spell before he can unlock Liska’s power.

About a month into Liska’s time at the manor, demons attack the village of Wałkowo. While the Leszy and a czarownik named Kazimiera fight to save the village’s men from a group of rusałki (shapeshifting water spirits), dozens of strzygoń (female, vampire-like demons) attack Liska and the women. Liska defeats the strzygoń by unleashing her magic, but one poisons her. To save her life, the Leszy absorbs the poison into himself. When Liska awakens, she realizes that he isn’t a demon after all, and he admits that part of him is still mortal. They nearly kiss, but he abruptly leaves to inspect his wards.

Kazimiera tells Liska the story of how the Leszy came to be. Originally, he was a czarownik named Eliasz Kowal who possessed a deep understanding of magic but little strength. After making a pact with an old god named Weles, he gained tremendous power, which he used to create the Driada. Although Eliasz and Florian were together for only three years, Kazimiera credits him with much of the positive change in the Leszy’s character. Weles killed Florian because he jealously viewed the Leszy as his property.

When the Leszy returns to the manor a week later, Liska grows angry with him and lashes out with her magic. Frightened by her power, she begs the Leszy to take her magic from her. He offers her a new bargain: If she tells him about the day her magic disappeared, he’ll make one last attempt to free it. He promises to grant her wish if he fails. Liska confesses that she killed her cousin’s husband. The man caught her working magic and would have exposed her as a witch to the village authorities. She panicked, and her magic crushed him with a tree. Facing these painful memories unlocks Liska’s magic, and she becomes the Leszy’s apprentice.

One night, Liska and the Leszy work together to save a human who was lured into the spirit-wood. After the rescue, the Leszy asks Liska to stay with him. She agrees to this third bargain and asks for a kiss in return. They share a passionate embrace before returning to the manor. The Leszy suffers terrible pain, which is Weles’s way of punishing him for kissing Liska. The old god dwells within the Leszy’s heart. Liska resolves to find a way to break the pact between Weles and Eliasz without sacrificing the Leszy’s powers.

Liska summons Florian’s ghost. He leads her to Weles’s shrine and reveals that the Leszy sacrifices a czarownik to the old god each century in exchange for another 100 years of life and power. Florian says that Liska is the only one who can break this curse and free Eliasz. After Florian’s ghost fades away, the Leszy finds Liska at Weles’s shrine and admits that he planned to sacrifice her when they first met. She accuses him of never loving her and leaves. Liska goes to see Kazimiera and tells her about the sacrifices. The older czarownik urges Liska to break the curse on the Leszy, and the young woman returns to the manor.

Together, Liska and the Leszy concoct a plan to stop Weles. Liska attempts to use the soul-searching spell to destroy the old god’s hold on Eliasz, but Weles takes over the Leszy’s body. Liska lures the old god to his temple deep in the spirit-wood and sets the structure on fire with her magic. Because the temple is the old god’s stronghold, its destruction weakens him. Eliasz kisses Liska and shares his power with her, making her the warden of the Driada. When Weles begins to overtake his body once more, he stabs himself in the heart. With Weles gone, Eliasz regains his humanity, and he dies feeling at peace.

Liska buries the Leszy and goes back to Stodoła, where she reconciles with her cousin. She returns to the House under the Rowan Tree, assumes her duties as the Driada’s warden, and adopts a little girl named Basia, who has magic. One night, Liska encounters the Leszy in the form of a white stag.