Author’s Preface

By Ulrich-Denis Schmaus

This book is not fiction.
Every chapter is carved from real moments, quiet battles that almost broke me.
I wrote through tears and exhaustion, through the shame of pretending I was fine.
I wrote because I refused to let my story end in silence.
You’ll see a Shield in these pages, a sigil of a tree with roots ringed by eight stars. It isn’t armour for war; it’s a promise to protect what already matters. After each trial is faced and its lesson integrated, one star ignites.

On November 1, long after midnight, the house finally fell asleep.
Council accommodation, two small bedrooms, one bathroom, a shared kitchen, after a rental scam left us close to the street. I took the first job I could find so we wouldn’t fall behind. I told everyone back home, “We’re fine.”
I wasn’t.
So I made myself a rule: guard what matters (the Shield), then go farther (the Sword).

If you’ve ever looked around and thought, Is this it? Hear me:
You are not beyond repair. You’re still breathing.
There is still time to rebuild.
To rise.
To fight back.
This is my torch.
I pass it to you.
Carry it. Let it light the path ahead.
We’re in this together.

On this page

The Wounds We Carry

Some warriors are praised for victories.
The real ones are marked by the wounds they survive.

A blank page lay in front of me. The room held that tight kind of silence that presses in.
I chased roles across years and borders, learned hard and late, gave more than I had, yet felt less than I was. I called it dedication. Often it was a disguise. The cost was simple and sharp: moments I should have been present for.

The question that haunted me rose again: What do I want to do?
I couldn’t answer. My chest broke open. I slipped into the bathroom so I wouldn’t wake anyone and cried, not neatly, but with the kind of grief that waits too long to speak.

I didn’t pick up the pen to be healed.
I picked it up, to be honest, my hands were trembling.
The first words were names: Doubt. Grief. Fear. Regret. Disconnection.
And the truths underneath: force where I sought worth; self-deception where I called strength; purpose that had drifted off course.

In the story you’re about to read, those wounds arrive as Arrows of Destiny that strike in the quiet after action, forcing an inner trial, and when the lesson is accepted, a Shield star lights.

I built a life that looked right outside but felt empty inside.
I wasn’t unbreakable.
I was quietly broken, and still here.
There was a night when I was there, yet not there, beside my family, yet far away. I knew I couldn’t keep living like that.

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The Knight’s Creation

I didn’t invent him. He found me at the bottom.
That night, I wrote the only vow I could keep: I will stop numbing and face what hurts, daily, before the world wakes.

By morning, with the last of our money, I registered a company. Motiv8 Collections was born, not a shortcut, a commitment. I had no background in design or marketing; I learned from zero. I posted hundreds of products. A year passed with no sales. I kept learning every day. When my wife grew weary of the walls and the chores, we chose a different order: I would carry the home and the children and keep building this work with patience.

The book’s shape came from an older discipline. Years ago, the night before karate competitions, I didn’t prepare to crush an opponent; I prepared to be more true, to get up at 5 a.m., to breathe, to visualise, to do the work no one saw. If I did the hidden work, results would follow. I remembered that.

This book is my map of scars,
And a mirror, if you’re willing to look.

In these pages, the Knight bears a greatsword called RISE UNBROKEN. When he chooses the honest way through, its twin inscriptions flare: “FALL AS MANY TIMES AS NEEDED”, and “RISE ONE MORE”.

The Knight’s Path

If you’ve ever stared at the ceiling at 2 a.m., a stranger in your own life, this path is for you, not to return you to before, but to rise through what was.

Eight realms. Eight lies that break. Eight truths remembered.
You will also hear of the Violet Crystal Core, the soul-key of truth. Its shards aren’t trophies; they’re memories and meanings we learn to name and reintegrate. As each shard is recovered and accepted, the Shield ignites a star, and the sword’s runes gain a new undertone.

I rise for the small hands in the doorway and the woman who held the night.
Along the way, you’ll meet Lumera, who carries the largest violet shard at her sternum. When truth is spoken, it steadies our steps.

The Eight Trials

  • The Maze of the Mind — Doubt → Awareness
  • The Trial of Strength — Force ≠ worth → Restraint
  • The Valley of Broken Hearts — Performed grief → Honoured grief
  • The Light of the Soul — Self-deception → Sight
  • The Shadow of Fear — Fear → Right Shape
  • The River of Time — Regret → Forgiveness (remembering on purpose)
  • The Bonds That Tie Us — Isolation → Connection
  • The Beacon of Purpose — Pain & purpose → Alignment

There’s a cadence to the Arrows: the first strikes by the river and is extracted at the start of Chapter 2; there is no Arrow in Chapter 7; in Chapter 8, twin Arrows arrive before the final alignment. The Shield’s eight stars burn blue by the end.

Some wounds reach deeper than language.
Before our daughter was born, we lost a son to a heart malformation. For years, we carried it in silence. I tried to be “strong,” to hold my wife’s grief and swallow mine. Later, we learned to honour our son’s brief light as a gift, not a ghost, to remember on purpose. That memory shapes every step I take.

What You’ll Take From This Book

  • A daily practice (5–10 minutes before the world wakes): Notice → Name → Choose
  • Language for hard things: eight lies that break into eight usable truths
  • Boundaries you can keep: one sentence to protect what matters, starting today
  • A way to carry grief: remember on purpose with a small, steady ritual
  • A decision check under fear: choose the right shape over the loud one
  • A map for setbacks: fall as many times as needed, rise one more (next-morning restart)
  • Alignment over intensity: tiny honest actions, done daily, beat rare big bursts
  • Keep a simple Shield Log as you go, date, lie faced, truth chosen, boundary kept, next step, and watch your stars light one by one

How to Use This Book

  • Read with a pen. Underline one line that stings; act on it tomorrow morning.
  • Don’t binge. Take one chapter per week; let the work settle.
  • Keep a one-page Shield Log: date · lie faced · truth chosen · boundary kept · next step.
  • Share one line with someone you trust. Ask for one line back.
  • A win, for me now, means keeping a vow when nobody sees.
  • If you’re still here, rise one more and walk with me.

Next: The Prologue

If you’re ready, start at the beginning. The Prologue sets the tone and the stakes.

Read the Prologue