In a world of chosen ones and magic swords, I wanted to tell a story about the brittle, the broken, and the terrified.
In most fantasy stories, the sword is always sharp. The hero is always brave. The fellowship is defined by destiny.
But that is not the world I know. And that is not the world I wanted to write.
I have spent years studying the patterns of The Hero’s Journey. However, when I finally sat down to write my first novel, Guardians Against the Forbidden World, I didn’t want to write about a hero who conquers. I wanted to write about children who survive through willpower.
In this world, destiny does not favor the brave. It favors the weak, the deprived, and those who struggle until they have nothing left. It is only after the world has crushed you that destiny finally notices you.
Redefining the Hero Myth
We often speak of strong characters in fictional stories. We think of warriors who do not flinch or of children who find their courage the moment they hold a sword. However, I think that the title of Hero should be the most difficult thing that a character can earn.
In my work, I do not begin with strength. I start with three children who are left with nothing but pain and despair. I wanted to explore the process of a soul being hammered by sufferings until it becomes hardened.
For me, power is not the skill of a master warrior. It is the terrifying audacity to keep breathing when the world wants you dead. These characters are not heroes because they are brave. They are heroes because they were broken, yet they refused to shatter.
The Concept of Apnaiyat
There is a word in Urdu called Apnaiyat.
It is hard to translate into English. It is more than friendship or consider it a sense of kinship, an idea that someone belongs to you, even if you share no blood. It is the unexplainable feeling of safety you see in the eyes of a stranger when the world has turned against you.
This idea was the pulse of my novel.
In this story, main characters are deprived of their homes, their families, and their dignity. They are not simply bound by a prophecy. They are tied together by the realization that they are the only ones standing between each other and the darkness.
A Unique Magic System
There is magic in this world, but it does not belong to the mages or the druids. In my writing, power is not a skill to be mastered or a formula to be learned. It behaves as a breathing spell that chooses its beholder.
This world has a unique magic system that does not belong to the mages or the druids. In my story, magic is not a skill that can be learnt. It is like a breathing spell that chooses its beholder.
The source of this power is quiet to those who seek it through learning. It rather waits for a rare sign in the eye. In this world, the key to magic is the eye that sees the unseen. It is a slight crack in the eye of the beholder, an indication of a connection so deep that even the heavens feel the tremors when it is discovered.
The one carrying this sign does not struggle with spells. They only inhale it, as if the magic has always been as natural as their own breathing. The rule is simple that magic is not a tool. It is a presence that decides who is worthy.
A Step Into the Forbidden World
I have lived in this world for the past year. I have walked through wet caverns with Sam and felt the brittle anger of Naira. Now, I am about to open the gates for you.
The human world has been terrorized by the Forbidden World for centuries, and they have every reason to be scared. In my journey with three children, I have traveled through forests that are so dense that sunlight is a distant memory. I have wandered around ruins designed by beings much larger than us, and witnessed lakes the color of wine.
In the Seventh World of Ogshun, the land itself seems alive. Often, it seems hungry.
This is more than a tale of escaping a dungeon. This is a tale of the parts of ourselves that we must kill in order to stay alive.
The mist is rising. The forest is silent. It is far too silent.
Are you ready to see what is lurking in the dark?
If you want to know more about the story of these heroes and the mysteries of Ogshun, I invite you to join me on the threshold of this world as its gates open. For more information, please visit https://sfshaw.com/.