The Silent Binds

• Print length: 486 pages
• Language: English
• Age group: Upper young adult (with content warnings)
• Publisher: Starmist Entertainment
• Publication date: July 8, 2025

The Metalwood Saga is an intense, high-energy story that takes place in a brutal, post-apocalyptic world. Different factions in this world have different levels of intensity, and different books in the series contain different triggers. Going into this world, you can expect to encounter:

- Intense violence
- Sexual situations
- Strong language

While the tone and writing style tend to feel "young adult," the content level is likely inappropriate for all but the oldest of teenagers. Please read first before giving to your child.

Monsters.

There were monsters up ahead. Elanil had been walking for an hour, not feeling tired or hungry or anything other than angry and afraid. She wanted to find a way out of this terrible place. Or, failing that, she at least wanted to learn more, to understand. So she had walked over one hill after another, hoping to find something, anything, new.

But she hadn’t been expecting monsters.

There were millions of them arrayed out in front of her, milling about aimlessly. They were vaguely humanoid, but they looked a lot closer to wolves—big wolves, standing upright on their two hind legs. They had fur all over, and long muzzles, and big, sharp claws that extended and retracted as she watched. They were snarling to each other, growling in guttural tones that almost approximated a language of some kind.

BEAUTIFUL, AREN’T THEY?

The Twins were speaking to her.

Again.

THEY TOOK LESS...EFFORT TO ACQUIRE. EASIER THAN THE HUMANS. THEY WERE FAR TOO EAGER TO LEARN ABOUT POWERS THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE MEDDLED WITH.

“What are they?” Elanil asked. She found herself afraid, even from her vantage point high up on this hill. The beasts below could rip her to pieces without a second thought, she knew.

THEY ARE THE SOULS FROM ERYN.

RYLAK, THEY ARE CALLED. A VICIOUS RACE, WITHOUT EVEN WRITING OR GOVERNMENT. A PRIMITIVE PEOPLE, BUT THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL IN THEIR OWN SAVAGE WAY.

“There are so many of them,” Elanil said. “Is this the entire planet? Eryn, you called it. Did somebody soulsunder them?”

Nelenor’s laughter rippled out to her across the purple sky.

THEY BROUGHT IT UPON THEMSELVES! THEY WERE GREEDY, FOOLISH. THEY KNEW NOT WHAT THEY DID. ALL IT TOOK WAS A HINT IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION—AND THE PROPER TREES, OF COURSE, GIVEN SO READILY BY THE ELVES. AND THEN! MORE SOULS FOR THE TAKING. OUR ARMY GROWS, LITTLE ONE. THESE RYLAK HAVE BEEN WAITING A VERY LONG TIME TO BE OF USE.

It seemed the Twins were now interested in divulging information, without even getting any in return. Elanil swallowed, suddenly afraid that perhaps they had plans for her, that she might never escape this place.

Then another thought struck her.

“Elves?” she asked. “There were elves on Eryn, too?” How could they have survived with these terrible rylak? The elves would have been subjugated, enslaved. Or killed outright.

THEY DID NOT LAST LONG. IT WAS NOT EASY FOR THE ELVES. THE RYLAK ARE NOT A PEACEFUL PEOPLE. THEY ARE NOT GIVEN TO EASILY UNDERSTAND SOFTNESS, GUILE. THEY ARE BRUTES—BUT ONE CANNOT ARGUE WITH STRENGTH AND CLAWS.

“But why were elves there at all? Where is this planet Eryn? Why are you gathering souls?” None of it was making any sense.

THE ANSWER TO ALL YOUR QUESTIONS IS THE SAME. WE WILL NOT BE IMPRISONED AGAIN. WE ARE GATHERING THIS ARMY IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT FACT. THE IMPRISONER STILL LIVES. WE WILL HAVE OUR REVENGE.

WE WILL NOT BE SLAVES AGAIN.

YOUR PRIME MAGIC IS YOUR LIFEBLOOD, YOUR BACKBONE, YOUR AWAKENING. BUT DID YOU EVER STOP TO QUESTION FROM WHERE SUCH POWER CAME? DID YOU EVER WONDER IF THIS POWER MIGHT NOT BE YOURS?

AMBARHAL WAS ALWAYS OURS.

BUT THE IMPRISONER WANTED IT FOR HIMSELF. HE THOUGHT HE WAS CLEVER, BUT WE ARE CLEVERER STILL. AND WE ARE PATIENT. WE HAVE HAD A VERY LONG TIME TO LAY OUR PLANS.

THE TIME IS DRAWING NEAR.

Elanil didn’t understand much of what the Twins were saying, but she could feel the anger in their voices. Fear rippled through her yet again, not just because of the terrible rylak down below, but also for the enmity, the chaos she could hear behind the words the Twins had said. They were angry—angry at having been imprisoned.

Elanil wondered who this Imprisoner could possibly be.

The Metalwood Saga is a sweeping YA dystopian science-fantasy epic set in a fractured future where metal, magic, and memory collide.

High above a ruined Earth, the floating city of Newfris shines with power—but beneath it, in the dark chaos of the Under, former assassin Phoenix is on the run. Branded a traitor and hunted for her forbidden magic, she joins the Gearheads: rebel outlaws who race through the mechanical underworld to survive. But her journey uncovers a truth more dangerous than any gang war—Newfris is a prison, hiding secrets that could shatter not just the city, but the world.

Magic is awakening. Ancient elven powers—the Eldrim and their twisted kin, the Cothellon—manipulate humanity from the shadows. And at the heart of it all lies the Metalwood, a force so powerful it has shaped galaxies... and it’s stirring once more.

As war ignites across planets, Phoenix, her son Rylan, reluctant rebel Trey, and elven archer Arra are swept into a battle spanning realms, legacies, and destinies. Each must choose: survive the storm—or stop it.

The Metalwood Saga is a 10-book thrill ride of found family, forgotten history, and a last chance to save a collapsing universe.