Exiled to a primordial forest for his crimes, a man named Jonhe discovers an ancient power that transforms his very soul. As he masters the flame within, he unknowingly awakens the forest's oldest guardians in a high-stakes tale of survival, magic, and dark consequences.
A man named Jonhe was sent to a forest for killing eight men and two women. The guards dragged him deep into the wilderness, far from any road or village. They cut the rope from his hands, shoved him forward, and left without looking back. The message was clear: the forest would finish what the law had started. The forest was old, older than the kingdoms beyond it. The trees were massive and twisted, their branches blocking much of the sky. Strange sounds echoed between the trunks—distant growls, rustling leaves, and the low hum of something unnatural. Jonhe wandered for hours, hungry and angry, until he reached a clearing where a huge dead tree stood like a black skeleton. Its roots were split open, and between them something glowed. It was a crystal, bright orange like a frozen flame. The light pulsed slowly, lighting the clearing with a warm glow. Jonhe stepped closer. “Worth something… maybe,” he muttered. He reached out and touched it. The moment his fingers brushed the crystal, it cracked with a sharp sound. Light burst outward, and the crystal dissolved into glowing sparks that rushed into his hand. Jonhe stumbled back, shouting as heat rushed through his arm. For a moment he thought he was burning alive. Then the heat settled. Jonhe looked down at his hand. A small flame flickered in his palm. He shook his hand in surprise, but the fire stayed there, moving like a living thing yet never burning him. Slowly, he focused, and the flame grew brighter. Jonhe laughed. “Looks like the forest gave me a gift.” He pointed his hand toward a fallen branch and pushed forward. A burst of fire shot out, striking the wood and setting it ablaze. The flames crackled loudly in the quiet forest. Jonhe realized something important in that moment. He was no longer helpless. But as the fire burned, something deep in the forest awakened. Miles away, hidden beneath ancient ruins and buried caves, other crystals began to glow—blue, green, violet, and black. Each one pulsed softly, reacting to the power that had just been claimed. The forest was not empty. It was a place of old magic, forgotten secrets, and creatures that had guarded those secrets for centuries. And now a murderer with fire in his hands had just become part of it. Jonhe didn’t know it yet, but the orange crystal was only the first. And something in the darkness was already coming to find him
