The wind howled through the crooked trees, cold and hungry. Smoke curled in the sky like a serpent dancing above the shattered remains of Oakwood Village. Once quiet and tucked between two forested hills, the town now smoldered its charred bones laid bare.Rashford Oakwood knelt beside the remains of his home, ash coating his fingers as he sifted through the blackened ruins. His breath hitched in his throat. What had once been a warm hearth where his mother brewed bitterroot tea was now a scorched pile of rubble.He should have been here. He should have died with them, The soles of his boots scraped over broken glass and splintered wood. His limbs trembled not from the cold, but from shame.The Awakening Ceremony had called every youth to Silverpine Temple, three days' ride away. An opportunity to spark the dormant Core in one's body. To prove their potential. To earn power. To matter.He had returned with nothing, The priest had declared his Core inert. A rare failure. No magical aff

The sun rose slow over the wastelands of Oakwood, bathing the ruins in gold that did nothing to warm Rashford’s soul.His limbs ached with every movement, but the forge within his chest pulsed steadily like a second heart beating molten fire. Each breath he took carried a weight he had never known before. Power. A strange, intoxicating pressure.He walked through what remained of the village. Ember-crusted stones. Bones charred black. Bent iron tools left where the hands that held them had fallen.He found his mother’s necklace near the well. The chain half-melted, the small oak pendant scorched but intact. He clutched it tightly. Not for strength. But to remember what had been taken.He needed answers. He needed strength. And above all, he needed to disappear before Taren returned with more. There was one place. The only one. Grayvine Cradle.A lawless region of twisting cliffs and monster-filled ravines. It was said no man walked into Grayvine and returned the same. If they returned

Rashford turned to the old man. “You said they were hunting the Soulforged.”“They never stopped,” the old man whispered. “And now… they’re coming for you.”From deep below, a guttural roar rose, Not a man, Not a beast. Something… ancient, The old man paled. “No,” he said.“They’ve brought a Voidcaller.”Rashford’s pulse spiked. “What the hell is a Voidcaller?”The cavern roof cracked, Something began to rise from the gorge below dripping with shadows, eyes like dying stars, its form barely holding together. “Something,” the girl said coldly, readying her bow, “that no one’s survived since the last war.”Rashford stepped forward, sword in hand, forge blazing to life. “Then I guess I’ll be the first. The creature rose from the gorge like a nightmare torn from the pages of forbidden scripture.Twisted. Faceless. Dripping with black flame. The Voidcaller didn’t roar it shivered the air. Its presence alone made Rashford's skin crawl, like his body wanted to reject reality itself.The girl

He stood in a hall of flame and silver, Statues lined the walls each a warrior with a mask and sword. At the end of the hall stood a man cloaked in smoke, eyes hidden behind fire. “You’ve woken the forge,” the figure said. “But have you woken your soul?”Rashford stepped forward. “Who are you?”“Your father. Or what’s left of him.”The figure raised a hand. “The Cradle won’t give you answers. It will give you choices. And not all of them are yours to make.”He woke with a gasp. Morning had come. The fire was cold. Aelira was already packed. Thren stood near the cavern exit, looking west. “We leave now,” the old man said.Rashford stood, brushing ash from his shoulder. “Why the rush?”Aelira handed him the map. Her voice was tight. “Because someone else lit a beacon last night.”He blinked. “What does that mean?”“It means,” she said, eyes hardening, “another Soulforged has awakened.”Rashford’s heart pounded. “Is that good?”Thren’s reply was grave. “Only if they’re still on our side.

They clashed again. Sparks flew. Bone crumbled underfoot, And then the shadow drove a blade deep into Rashford’s side. Pain, Real pain, He dropped to one knee. “You can’t protect anyone without power,” the shadow said. “Without sacrifice.”Rashford’s vision blurred. Aelira’s face swam before him. Lysa’s screams. Oakwood burning, He gritted his teeth. And stood. “I don’t need to become you to be strong.”He drew the blades together one for life, one for death, And forged a third. Balance, He swung. The shadow screamed. And vanished into flame. Rashford collapsed.Light poured around him. “Trial complete. Soul Echo unlocked: Equilibrium Blade.”Then he was falling. He awoke outside the gate. Aelira and Thren rushed to him, He held up the new blade sleek, silver, humming with quiet power. “I faced the worst of myself,” he said. “And I didn’t flinch.”But as the wind howled through the ruin, a new whisper tickled his mind. Lysa was watching. And she had begun her own trial.Far from the C