preface

The world is not merely what we perceive with our waking senses. Beneath the veneer of the tangible, a tapestry of souls shimmers, woven with threads of memory, emotion, and the echoes of lives lived and lost. Some, born with a rare and perilous gift, can perceive these threads, can even manipulate them—they are the Soul-Weavers.

But such power comes at a terrible price. For within the heart of every Soul-Weaver lurks a shadow, a parasitic entity that feeds on the very essence they command. Each manipulation of the soul-thread leaves a residue, an emotional echo that the parasite devours, growing stronger with every act.

Elara is one such Soul-Weaver, burdened by a legacy she never asked for. She walks a tightrope, balancing the need to protect the living from the encroaching horrors of the "Echo-Tide"—a rising swell of spectral anguish—against the ever-present threat of the darkness within her.

This is a tale of souls bound by fate, of shadows that whisper in the corners of perception, and of a young woman who must confront the darkness both within and without to save a world teetering on the brink of oblivion.

For in the depths of despair, where the echoes of the forgotten converge, a malevolent entity stirs, a "Silent Choir" composed of the anguish of ages, yearning to break free and consume all that remains.

This is the story of Elara, and the perilous dance of the Spellbound Souls.