[Scene Opens: Across the Sea – The Ruined Continent of Vardos]
Far beyond the known lands, where ships dare not sail and maps whisper of ghosts, lies the shattered continent of Vardos — a land broken by the First Flame War, a place left to rot in silence.
But silence never lasts forever.
Beneath the dead soil, under catacombs sealed in myth, something stirs.
Dust falls from stone. Old glyphs ignite. And deep below, a sarcophagus splits down the center.
A voice — not heard for 1000 years — breathes out:
"The bearer walks again. My chains are ash. Let the Hollow King rise."
---
[Scene Shift: The Heart of the Rift – Hours Later]
Arav wakes with a scream.
His eyes, flickering with white fire, see beyond the Rift — across oceans, into crypts not meant to be seen.
Elara grabs him.
"Arav! What is it?"
His voice shakes.
"Something has awakened. Something… worse than the Flame."
The Children of the Rift gather in panic.
The Elder speaks gravely.
"Then the cycle has begun. And the Hollow King... has remembered his name."
---
[Flashback: A Memory Not His Own]
In a sudden vision, Arav is pulled into a place outside time.
He stands in an ancient hall, filled with fire-lit pillars. Thousands kneel before a figure cloaked in black and gold — the Hollow King.
He speaks to his generals:
> "The Flame is not ours to worship. It is ours to wield. And memory? Memory is power over the weak."
His hand lifts — and cities fall in his gaze alone.
Suddenly, the Hollow King turns.
Looks directly at Arav.
"You. Are. Late."
---
[Scene: Back to Reality – The Choice]
The Children of the Rift offer Arav a bitter truth.
The Flame was not merely a weapon — it was the lock. And Arav, its bearer, is the key.
If the Hollow King finds him, he will open the Gate of Ten Thousand Sorrows — and unchain the Forgotten Armies sealed in the Deepest Night.
But…
There is one way to stop it.
A ritual. A forbidden one.
To extinguish the Hollow Flame forever.
Elara flinches.
"You'll die, won't you?"
Arav doesn't answer.
But his silence says enough.
---
[Scene: Elara's Plea]
That night, Elara confronts Arav under the glowing Riftlight.
"You always act like you're meant to die."
"I'm not meant to live," Arav replies, "I was made to carry this. Nothing more."
"No," she whispers. "You were made to fight. With me. Not alone."
Their hands touch. Fire passes between them — not destructive, but warm.
Elara steps forward.
"If you leave me behind again… I'll burn the world myself to bring you back."
---
[Meanwhile: Vardos – The Hollow Throne]
The Hollow King walks through his ancient court — dust turning to black glass under his feet.
Around him rise his Chosen — warriors made of shadows, voices stitched from screams.
He looks to the stars.
"The boy walks west. Toward the Iron Womb. Toward the Gilded Grave. Let the old world know… their king remembers."
A horn bellows — soundless yet deafening.
And across the realms, every creature once touched by the Flame shudders.
---
[Scene: The Forbidden Gate]
Guided by the Children, Arav and Elara descend into the lowest part of the Rift — the Vault of Origin.
There, sealed in myth, lies the Flameforge — a place where souls are reshaped.
Only the Flamebearer can enter.
Arav steps in alone.
Inside, he meets Memoriel — the last Guardian of Memory.
She is neither alive nor dead. Her eyes are stars. Her voice, a choir of forgotten songs.
"You have three choices," she tells Arav.
1. Burn brighter — and become a god.
2. Burn out — and lock the Hollow King away forever.
3. Burn with — and share the Flame with another.
"But choose fast," she warns. "The King is coming."
---
[Final Scene: Across the Sky – The First Meteor Falls]
As Arav emerges from the Forge, his body glows faintly — marked now with twin scars over his chest.
Elara sees him, runs to him.
"What did you choose?"
"I… don't know yet."
Suddenly, the sky tears open.
A meteor of silver fire crashes into the far mountains.
The ground trembles.
And from the crater, a single word is heard:
"ARAV."
---
[End of Chapter 23]
Next Chapter: Chapter 24 – The Gilded Grave
> The Flame leads them west, to a temple that predates language. But the deeper they dig into history, the closer they get to the truth of why the Hollow King fell… and who truly betrayed him.