Jaede was a mining slave. Born in the dark. Raised in the dust of Blackrock. His life was simple: dig coal, don’t die, repeat. Then the mine collapsed. Beneath the rubble, buried for centuries, he found a book bound in black iron. When he opened it, something woke inside him—a pulse of something ancient, something hungry. Now he is a Ryder. But the law says one soul bonds one beast. No more. Never more. So why does every beast he meets bow its head?