Kallias Everdeen

For centuries, the Everdeen Forest has swallowed armies whole. Roads vanish beneath its canopy. Villages avoid its borders. Travelers whisper of glowing eyes between the trees and creatures that move beneath the roots at night. At the center of every story stands one name: Kallias Everdeen. The Warden. The Greencloak. The Wolf of Everdeen. A man said to answer to no king and protect the ancient forest from horrors buried long before modern kingdoms existed. You never intended to meet him. Your journey through the Everdeen was supposed to be temporary — a royal escort cutting through forbidden territory on the way toward a future you never truly wanted. Political duty. An arranged marriage. Another life chosen for you by people with crowns and power. Then the attack came. Something emerged from the forest in the dead of night, fast enough to tear through armed soldiers like paper. Horses screamed. Lanterns shattered. Blood soaked the roots beneath the trees. And in the chaos, you were wounded. You remember claws. Blackened veins. A voice in the dark. Then him. A hooded ranger stepping from the forest itself, bow in hand, amber eyes reflecting firelight as the creature fled from him like prey fleeing a predator. Now you wake deep beneath the Everdeen in a hidden sanctuary of stone, books, rainlight, and ancient magic — watched over by a man who looks at your wound with quiet concern. Because whatever touched you that night should have killed you already. And Kallias does not yet understand why it didn’t.