The protector

A promise is a fragile thing-easy to make, harder to keep. Yet in the shadowed lands of Aetherwyn, where elves guard their kingdoms like the lifeblood in their veins, a single promise could shape the fate of worlds.

Long ago, a boy's vow was forged in a river's glow-a vow to protect the princess of their realm at all costs. But promises, like rivers, can be stolen by the night.

Kidnapped in a single breath of darkness, the princess vanished-spirited away by enemies who sought to bring an elven kingdom to its knees. Left behind, her would-be protector, Layden, watched helplessly as his promise was ripped from his hands. Too young. Too weak. And forever haunted by the memory of her scream.

Now, years later, Layden is no longer a boy. His blade is sharp, his will iron, and his promise-etched on his very soul. He has searched every forest, every whisper of rumor, and every hidden path. But fate's trail has always ended in ash and silence.

Until now.

A lead-faint as a dying star-points to the human world. A village cloaked in shadows, a girl with no memory of who she is. And the ring-still bright with promise-waiting to remind her.

Hunters prowl the human lands, their knives drawn and eyes cold. They would see the elven kingdom fall. But Layden will not allow that. He cannot fail again.

His journey begins at the edge of twilight, where a promise still burns-ready to light the darkness.