Helmut

Abandoned at birth for the dark sprout that marked his very soul, Helmut was left to die in the heart of Pahe—the Forest of Monsters, a labyrinthine nightmare from which no living soul has ever returned. Against all odds, the infant was discovered and raised by Elaga, a fearsome beast that became his unlikely guardian. Growing up in the shadow of ancient, twisted trees and beneath the constant threat of predatory creatures, Helmut learned to survive by instinct, always believing the legend that the forest was an inescapable prison. Yet, a single, improbable encounter with another human shattered that lifelong belief. "We can't escape this forest," he was told. "We can. The human I met said so," he would counter, igniting a spark of rebellion within his heart. Torn between the feral world that raised him and the human heritage he never knew, Helmut faces an impossible choice. To step beyond Pahe is to step into a society that would fear him for the very darkness he was born with, but to stay is to surrender to the cruel fate the world had written for him. Now, the beast-raised boy must embark on a perilous journey through the only home he has ever known, determined to break the curse of his abandonment and finally claim his place among mankind.