Opening Scene: The Weight of the Crown
Setting: Aetheria's Starlight Spire, where Lyria stands atop the highest tower, testing her new Fairy Form. Her gilded wings shimmer as she balances the Crown of Embers on her palm—its ghostly flames casting long shadows.
(Marina watches from below, arms crossed. Vesper leans against a pillar, pretending not to be impressed.)
Marina (whistling):
"Okay, now you look like a royal pain."
Lyria (grinning):
"Takes one to know one."
(She flips the Crown into the air—it explodes into a ring of fire, reshaping into a delicate hairpin. She slots it into her locket, and her wings dissolve back into golden light.)
Vesper (muttering):
"Show-off."
(Suddenly—a scream echoes from the gardens below!)
SCENE 1: SHADOWFALL
Setting: Aetheria's Moonbloom Gardens, where students flee as Shadowlings swarm like locusts!
(Lyria and the others race down—just in time to see Kael, bruised and bleeding, collapse at the gates. He grips Lyria's wrist, his voice ragged:)
Kael:
"Malrik's... starting the Eclipse Ritual. He's going to—"
(A black spear of shadow PIERCES his chest from behind! The attacker? A mind-controlled Seraphina, her eyes glowing violet.)
Seraphina (monotone):
"The Shadowforged sends his regards."
(She vanishes in a whirl of dark mist—taking Kael's unconscious body with her!)
Lyria (horrified):
"NO!"
(Her magic erupts in a shockwave, blasting nearby Shadowlings to ash. The ground cracks beneath her feet—her emotions are destabilizing her power.)
SCENE 2: THE COUNCIL'S SECRET
Setting: The Emerald Sanctum, where Aetheria's elders debate in hushed panic.
(Headmistress Orla slams a fist on the table, silencing the room.)
Headmistress Orla:
"Malrik has Seraphina and Kael. And with the Eclipse Ritual, he'll drain their magic to break the veil between worlds."
Professor Gale (grim):
"Worse. He's after the Starfire Vault—the sealed well of Lyria's ancestral power."
(Lyria freezes. All eyes turn to her.)
Elder Faelan (accusing):
"This is your fault. Your bloodline's power is the key. You should never have come here!"
(Lyria's locket burns cold. The room erupts in arguing—until Marina slams a water bubble onto the table!)
Marina (fierce):
"Enough! Blaming Lyria won't save anyone. We stop Malrik. Together."
(Vesper, surprisingly, nods.)
Vesper:
"Ugh. Fine. But someone owes me new boots after this."
SCENE 3: THE ECLIPSE GATE
Setting: The Obsidian Wastes, a shattered realm where the sky bleeds violet. Jagged crystals hum with trapped screams.
(Lyria's team sneaks past petrified fairy statues—victims of Malrik's earlier experiments. Vesper's lightning shorts out as anti-magic pulses in the air.)
Vesper (gritting teeth):
"Something's eating our magic here."
(Ahead, Seraphina floats in a cursed trance, channeling her magic into a massive eclipse gate. Kael dangles above it, his wings bound in shadow chains.)
Lyria (whispering):
"We need to—"
(A laugh cuts her off. Malrik steps from the darkness, his cloak woven from stolen wings.)
Malrik:
"Ah. The Starfire heir arrives just in time for the sacrifice."
(He SNAPS his fingers—the ground opens beneath them!)
SCENE 4: WINGS OF SACRIFICE
(Lyria plummets into a pit of writhing shadows—but her Crown hairpin blazes to life! She transforms mid-fall, her wings slicing through the darkness.)
Lyria (yelling):
"Marina—distract him! Vesper—get Kael!"
(Marina floods the ritual circle, disrupting the spell. Vesper lightning-dashes to Kael's chains—but Malrik intercepts her!)
Malrik (smirking):
"Predictable."
(Lyria tackles Malrik—their collision explodes in golden light! For a split second, she sees his memories: A younger Malrik, kneeling before Lyria's mother, begging for mercy—
Flashback! Queen Solara (gently):
"You were my student, Malrik. There's still light in you."
—Then the vision shatters as Malrik BACKHANDS Lyria across the ruins!)
Malrik (roaring):
"ENOUGH!"
(He stabs his shadow blade toward her heart—when Kael THROWS himself in the way! The blade pierces his wing instead, and he SCREAMS—)
Kael (gritting):
"Lyria... run..."
(Malrik kicks Kael into the eclipse gate—his body starts to dissolve into light!)
CLOSING SCENE: THE PRICE OF POWER
(Lyria dives after Kael, grabbing his hand—but the gate's pull is too strong. Her Crown supercharges, and she makes a choice...)
Lyria (tearful):
"I won't lose anyone else!"
(She RIPS the Crown from her locket and slams it into the gate—BOOM!* The explosion blinds everyone...
When the light fades:
The gate is destroyed.
Malrik is gone.
Kael lies motionless, his wings burned to stumps.
And Lyria's locket... is shattered.
(Marina and Vesper rush to her side as Lyria collapses, her Fairy Form flickering out. The last thing she hears:)
Kael (weakly):
"...You idiot."
(Fade to black.)
TO BE CONTINUED…