[EXT. ABYSSAL FORTRESS – NIGHTFALL]
The army of darkness stood in silence.
Thousands of twisted beasts — malformed shadows, corrupted creatures, and cursed warriors — formed perfect rows.
And in front of them floated Nyxara, the second blade of Zyren's rising empire.
She didn't speak.
She simply lifted one hand.
The air rippled.
The entire front row — hundreds of soldiers — collapsed screaming.
No wounds.
No flames.
Just terror.
---
[INT. MENTAL DOMAIN – SOLDIERS' MINDS]
Each fallen soldier found themselves locked in their own nightmare.
Some saw their flesh melt.
Others relived their last death.
Some faced their own loved ones, twisted and screaming.
One screamed:
> "MAKE IT STOP—PLEASE—!!"
Nyxara smiled gently.
> Nyxara (softly):
"No. If this breaks you, you were never mine to begin with."
---
[EXT. FORTRESS EDGE – VEYDRIN WATCHES]
Veydrin stood still, arms crossed.
Even he, hardened by centuries of blood, felt something cold behind his spine.
> Veydrin (murmuring):
"She doesn't test strength.
She destroys identity."
Behind him, Zyren watched silently.
> Zyren (coldly):
"She forges blades… by breaking the hilts."
And Nyxara — smiling — moved on to the next row.
---
[INT. SCHOOL OF LIGHT – ALTAR CHAMBER – SAME NIGHT]
Far below the surface of the School of Light,
a chamber glowed with celestial fire.
Ten students stood before a radiant pool — the Divine Altar of Trial.
Elarion stood at its center, clad in white-gold robes etched with ancient glyphs.
> Elarion (calm, focused):
"This is not a trial of your fists.
Nor your magic."
> "This is a test of self."
> "You will each enter the divine flame… and walk through your own truth."
> "Fear. Doubt. Failure. Memory. Vision.
Whatever awaits — you will face it alone."
> "If you emerge whole — you will be ready for the war to come."
He raised a hand.
The altar flared open — ten beams of light arcing to each student's chest.
They gasped — and their bodies dissolved into light.
Their minds fell inward.
---
[INT. LYRION'S MIND]
He stood on a battlefield of ash.
All eight of his closest friends… were dead.
Veloria's body lay at his feet, her hand reaching toward him even in death.
He dropped to his knees.
> Lyrion (choking):
"No… no… I was supposed to protect them…"
Then—
a shadow appeared.
Zyren.
Smiling.
Mocking.
> Zyren (echoing):
"Your father failed.
Now so will you."
Lyrion gritted his teeth — hand glowing.
> Lyrion (low):
"Even if I fall a thousand times…
I will rise a thousand and one."
The battlefield began to rewind.
His friends stood again.
Veloria's hand found his.
Light surged from within him — burning the illusion to dust.
---
[INT. VELORIA'S MIND]
She stood alone… in a world frozen in time.
Everything moved except her father — the Time God — locked in crystal.
She screamed, but he couldn't hear.
> Veloria (whispering):
"You said time bends to us…
but now I can't move it."
Tears fell.
Her glyphs glowed.
> Veloria:
"If I can't control time for the world…
then I'll control it for you."
She stepped forward — light spiraling from her feet.
The crystal cracked.
Her father opened his eyes.
And the illusion shattered.
---
[INT. RAY'S MIND]
He stood back in the forest clearing.
Age two.
Krevaz's boot pressed against his chest.
He couldn't move.
He couldn't breathe.
> Krevaz (laughing):
"You're still that weak little thing…"
Ray's body trembled —
then stood.
> Ray (softly):
"No. I'm the one who survived you."
> "And I'll make sure no child ever sees your kind again."
He struck —
and this time, the shadow shattered beneath his fist.
---
[INT. RIKA'S MIND]
She stood in the training chamber — but she was alone.
The others were nowhere. No sound. No breath. No light… except for the flicker of her own magic, weakening in her palms.
Then she saw them —
the silhouettes of Lyrion, Veloria, and the others. They stood far away — shining, radiant, unstoppable.
She ran to them.
But no matter how fast she moved, they didn't turn.
> Rika (desperate whisper):
"Wait… I'm still here…"
> "Don't leave me behind…"
The shadows whispered around her — reflections of doubt and truth.
> Whispers:
"They were born of gods.
You were born… to observe."
> "You will fall first.
And they'll still rise."
Her hands trembled. Her magic faltered.
She dropped to her knees.
Then, from the ground beneath her… came another voice.
Her own.
> Rika (steadying herself):
"I am not them.
And I don't need to be."
> "I was chosen too."
> "Even if I walk behind them —
I walk with purpose."
Light surged through her hands — her magic solid, sharp, beautiful.
The illusion shattered around her.
She stood tall.
---
[INT. SIDE TRIAL GLIMPSES – OTHERS]
Kairo saw fire consuming Syleria — his guilt burning with it.
Syleria relived her own isolation, her control slipping again.
Sylion faced silence — a world where Aria was erased.
Aria saw herself forgotten, lost to healing others but never seen.
Auron faced a version of himself laughing as Cyra bled.
Cyra heard the voices of nonliving things call her hollow, empty, purposeless.
Each of them fought.
And each of them overcame.
---
[INT. ALTAR CHAMBER – RETURN TO REALITY]
One by one, the ten students emerged — stumbling, gasping, quiet.
No words needed.
They looked at one another.
Stronger.
More open.
More alive.
Elarion watched silently.
Then finally, he spoke.
> Elarion:
"You have passed the first gate."
"The next will not be so kind."
---
[EXT. ABYSSAL FORTRESS – DEEPER LAYERS]
Veydrin approached Zyren.
> Veydrin:
"The army is reshaped.
Those who survived Nyxara's trial… are silent, ruthless."
Zyren nodded slowly.
Then — something shifted in the darkness.
A third figure approached.
A man.
Clad in armor that looked like obsidian flame.
Eyes completely white.
No mouth.
He floated — not walked.
> Nyxara (smiling faintly):
"He came?"
> Zyren:
"He heard the call."
> Veydrin (stiffening):
"What do we call him?"
Zyren looked into the pale voids of the new arrival's face.
> Zyren (coldly):
"He doesn't speak.
He only kills."
> "Let the world know his name — Nihros.
The Silence of Oblivion."
---
TO BE CONTINUED...