The Warden of the World Tree: The Magical Shard (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798306896496)

The protagonist, Kael, is a humble herbalist with an unusual talent for sensing the tree's emotions-joy when the seasons turn, pain when storms strike. Kael's quiet life is disrupted when they stumble upon an ancient, cracked gemstone buried near the tree's roots. The gemstone pulses with faint life and bears the symbol of the Warden, marking it as part of the Verdant Scepter.

At the same time, the tree begins to decay rapidly, with its roots collapsing into the earth and strange rifts appearing in the sky. Kael is visited by a dying spirit of the tree who whispers a cryptic warning:
"The Warden is gone, but the tree cannot die. Ascend, and find the truth."