The Savage Wild: A Metalwood Adventure is an Adventure in The Metalwood Saga.
Set fifty years after the events of The Splinter Soul, the novel shifts the focus back to the brutal jungle planet of Eryn. Magic has returned to the universe, and a new generation of heroes—an ellr demisoul named Lysa, a rylak hybrid named Jascyn, and a young dragon named Aena—must unite when the ancient mage Calarel awakens to forcefully seize control of it.
Synopsis
Escape from Felgr
In the Kalmansa Wilds, an ellr named Lysa has been enslaved by the Felgr rylak pack for ten years. Lysa is a "demisoul," meaning she possesses two warring souls within her, causing her to shift into a male persona named Lys whenever she faces danger or needs to fight. She is frequently bullied by her master, Hrildr, and is forced to hunt alongside Jascyn, the scrawny, constantly berated "runt" of the pack.
When a flock of dragons attacks Felgr, chaos consumes the village. Lys manages to kill Hrildr in a fair fight with a bow, hoping to invoke the Hunt Code to win his freedom. However, Jascyn lies and claims the kill for himself, preventing Lysa from being legally freed.
Both separately flee into the deadly jungle. While starving, Lysa finds a mysterious, purple-speckled dragon egg. She falls into the freezing Kojo River to escape a territorial kabul cat and is rescued by the ellr of Aldaron—a breathtaking, hidden city built directly into a series of waterfalls. The egg soon hatches into a pink agile dragon named Aena. Jascyn, having fled his abusive father Thrombir, inadvertently discovers Aldaron as well. Despite Lysa's initial hostility, the three outcasts form a tightly bonded group known as the "Triad".
The Return of Magic
The Triad journeys south to the Kryptan Mountains to find Aena's missing mother, Mela, and Lysa's parents, who mysteriously vanished ten years prior. While passing through the charred, twisted woods of Lagafel (the Dark Forest), they witness the dead trees suddenly ripple with shimmering light. Magic has officially returned to the universe.
The ancient mage Calarel (formerly known as Cariel/Magona) appears to them and reveals her master plan. She kidnapped Lysa's parents—who are revealed to be the former Legacy City Mayor Rylan and the ellr princess Elanil—and forced them to turn the magical supercomputer Xyclami back on. Because Calarel's soul was fragmented during the War of the Twins, she lacks the sparkthread interface required to Operate the device herself. However, she intends to amass an army of thousands of souls to forcefully sever Rylan and Elanil from Xyclami so she can seize ultimate control of magic. Following the awakening, the Triad discovers their own magical Alignments: Lysa is a forcefinder, Jascyn is a shockstriker, and Aena is a fallfoiler.
The Animal Army
Realizing they must stop Calarel, the Triad splits up to gather forces. Because of his demisoul nature, Jascyn discovers he possesses a unique, gentle magic called "souljoining," allowing him to telepathically communicate with and befriend wild animals. Ranging through the jungle, he recruits a massive animal army, including Kharad (a welak wolf), Fang (a kabul wildcat), Varek (a massive cavek), flocks of venomous sakul birds, and a herd of glowing, semi-transparent deer known as vel (led by Zalander).
Jascyn returns to Felgr and uses his cavek herd and new shockstriker magic to pacify the pack. He challenges the packleader Skond, seamlessly taking over the pack and uniting the historically warring rylak and ellr forces under one banner.
The Battle of Kryptan Fortress
Aena locates her drugged mother, Mela, in an ancient underground city near Aldaron. To unlock her magic, Aena initiates the dragon Ritual of Bonding, but in her haste, she fails to complete the final line of the incantation. Calarel exploits this vulnerability, using mindmaster magic to hijack the incomplete bond. She takes full control of Aena, and through her, mind-controls every single dragon on Eryn. Calarel forces ten thousand dragons to physically and spiritually attack the comatose Operators (Rylan and Elanil) at her Kryptan Fortress to sever their connection to Xyclami.
Jascyn's massive animal army and the unified ellr/rylak forces storm the fortress. To save Aena's mother from being killed by Calarel's dragons, the vel (Zalander and his kin) sacrifice their energy, transforming into devastating beams of solid light to shoot down the hostile dragons. Having expended their power, the vel disappear to recharge for a decade.
Lysa and Jascyn use their own demisoul connection to enter Aena's mind, sharing the crushing mental burden of ten thousand screaming dragons. Bolstered by her friends' love and support, Aena manages to speak the final words of the Ritual, cementing the bond, breaking Calarel's mindmaster control, and freeing the entire dragon horde.
Defeat of Calarel
Outraged by the loss of her army, Calarel attempts to wipe out the dragons with a massive barrage of shockstriker fire, but Lysa performs an incredible feat of magic, generating thousands of forcefields simultaneously to shield the beasts. Jascyn—who learns the horrifying truth that Calarel is his biological mother, making him half-ellr—teams up with Lysa to blast Calarel out of the sky using overwhelming shockstriker magic. As Calarel falls to the ground and desperately tries to heal herself with soulsoothing magic, Jascyn's father Thrombir impales her through the neck with a spear, executing her for her manipulation and cruelty.
With Calarel dead, Ashryn uses soulsoothing magic to heal the Operators, waking Rylan and Elanil from their ten-year coma. Having saved the world, Jascyn peacefully releases his animal army back into the wild. Lysa and Jascyn—having found deep romantic and platonic love in their demisoul connection—vow to lead the new unified society, maintaining the newfound peace between the ellr, rylak, and dragons.
In the epilogue, two beings who reveal themselves to be part of the Xelle, Xaven and Prion, observe the events from a high-tech spaceship. They note that Calarel likely has soul-backups and survived the ordeal. Undeterred, they prepare for an event known as the "Resurgence," eagerly waiting for the "Second and Third" Seeds to reveal themselves in the galaxy.
Key Characters
- Lysa (Lys): A demisoul ellr and forcefinder who was enslaved by the rylak for ten years. The daughter of the Operators Rylan and Elanil, she uses her mastery of archery and magic to save her parents and the dragons.
- Jascyn: The bullied runt of the Felgr pack who discovers he is a shockstriker and a half-ellr demisoul (the biological son of Thrombir and Calarel). He utilizes "souljoining" to command an army of predators.
- Aena: A young, pink agile dragon who bonds with Lysa and Jascyn. Her incomplete Ritual of Bonding is exploited by Calarel, but she ultimately breaks the spell to save her species.
- Calarel (Cariel / Magona): The ancient, immortal antagonist. She reactivates magic by holding Rylan and Elanil hostage, seeking to overwrite their Operator status by assaulting them with the souls of ten thousand mind-controlled dragons.
- Rylan and Elanil: Lysa's parents and the current Operators of Xyclami. They are kept in a drugged coma for a decade by Calarel.
- Thrombir: Jascyn's abusive rylak father. He was seduced and manipulated by Calarel years ago, resulting in Jascyn's birth. He ultimately delivers the killing blow to the dark mage.
- Kila: An ageless storyteller in the ellr settlements, revealed to be the sister of the ancient Twins. She guides the Triad in their fight against Calarel.
- Xaven and Prion: Xelle beings who monitor Eryn from a spaceship, anticipating the "Resurgence".
Magic and Lore Introduced
- Demisouls: Individuals who possess two warring souls within a single body, granting them incredible empathy. Lysa shifts between male and female personas, while Jascyn balances his rylak and ellr heritage.
- Souljoining: A gentle, peaceful magic accessible to demisouls. Unlike the forced enslavement of "soulbinding," souljoining allows a mage to telepathically communicate with and befriend animals through mutual respect.
- The Vel: An ancient, glowing, semi-transparent deer-like species inhabiting the Dark Forest of Lagafel. They defend Xyclami by turning into devastating beams of light, requiring a decade to recharge.
- The Ritual of Bonding: A four-line incantation that dragons use to activate their telepathic connection to the entire dragon species. If interrupted, the open bond can be hijacked by mindmaster magic.
- Operator Defense Mechanisms: It is revealed that the only way to forcefully remove an Operator from Xyclami without their consent is to bombard their souls with the concentrated energy of thousands of living beings.