The village burned as Rowan ran, the flames licking at his heels. The air was thick with smoke, and the screams of the dying echoed in his ears. He clutched his father’s broken sword tightly, its weight grounding him as the world around him dissolved into chaos.

  “Run!” his father’s voice bellowed from the inferno. “Rowan, go!”

  But Rowan didn’t move fast enough. He turned, his eyes wide with terror, as the raiders swarmed the village square. They were a blur of steel and fire, their laughter carrying over the cries of his people.

  He froze when he saw his mother. She was standing at the edge of the square, her hands outstretched, trying to shield his sister from the advancing horde. Rowan shouted, but the roar of the flames drowned his voice. The raiders struck her down in a single, brutal motion.

  Time slowed. The world narrowed to a single point: the grief and rage that tore through Rowan’s chest. He staggered forward, his body trembling, until the voice stopped him.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “Do you seek vengeance, child?”

  The voice was a low hum that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. Rowan turned, his tear-streaked face meeting the crimson gaze of a shadowed figure. It loomed over him, its form shifting and indistinct.

  “I… I want them to pay,” Rowan whispered, his voice trembling.

  The figure extended a hand, its long fingers wreathed in smoke. “Power has a price. Are you willing to pay it?”

  Rowan didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

  The Riftwood stretched endlessly around Rowan, its twisted trees and glowing pools pulsing faintly with the hum of magic. He crouched by a stream, his reflection barely visible in the rippling water. His face was leaner now, his eyes colder. The boy who had knelt in the ashes of his village was gone, replaced by a man shaped by shadow and loss.

  Rowan rose, the faint pulse of the shard in his pocket drawing his attention. It had been his guide through the Riftwood for a decade, its light leading him through labyrinthine paths and deadly trials. The forest whispered around him, its voice a constant, unsettling presence.

  But Rowan wasn’t alone.