20s south of Kyrgyzstan. Platoon commander Abysh Isaev arrives at the military garrison. His task, together with the red commander Valentin Ugryumov, is to stop the bloodshed and destruction perpetrated by Shaanazar’s Basmach detachment, and to return the farmers to their homes.
1734. In the north of the Urals, in the impenetrable forests of Orthodox Russia, one of its small nationalities lives — the Voguls, who have preserved the rituals and customs of their ancestors. Like any nation, the Voguls have their own history, traditions and gods, the main one of which is the golden goddess, the patroness of the Voguls. Once upon a time, many centuries ago, she stood on the top of a mountain, and anyone could come and ask for her help.
Teenager Mukai spends most of the year in a remote Kyrgyz village with his grandmother while his parents work in a secluded mountain area. At thirteen, he is considered an adult by local standards. Mukai helps adults with logging, visits his father in the mountains, takes his grandmother to Lake Issyk-Kul where she first met Mukai's grandfather, herds horses to the dock, and interacts with city visitors at the lake.