Episode 31 – "Echoes of the Lost Flame"
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Scene opens – A shattered temple deep in the Ashen Wastes.
Wind howled through jagged pillars as sand swirled in violent spirals. A harsh land once ruled by arcane monks, now reduced to ruins and ghosts.
At its heart, Felix knelt beside a cracked stone slab, brushing dust off faded glyphs. Tunde stood upside down on a floating rock, holding a fireball between his hands like a squishy toy.
"I think I found something," Felix said.
Tunde dropped the fireball. It exploded into smoke. "Unless it's the spirit of a grilled chicken, I'm not impressed."
Felix shot him a look. "You've been saying that for hours."
"I'm hungry!"
"No one told you to set your snacks on fire while practicing dark spells."
"I was trying to toast marshmallows with a shadowflame!" Tunde raised both hands dramatically. "I'm reinventing camping!"
Felix sighed and focused back on the slab. "This is serious, Tunde. This inscription—'The heart of the soul, once shattered, may rise anew through the ink of the ancients.' It's a clue."
"Is it saying what I think it's saying?"
"Yes," Felix whispered. "We need the Scrolls of A'mirak."
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Cut to – Lana's room in their hideout, curled under a velvet blanket.
She stared at the ceiling, her eyes blank. A candle flickered beside her, casting light over the pyramid-shaped locket she wore around her neck—a replica of Kael's crystal tomb.
Rhea entered softly, holding a bowl of hot stew.
"Still not hungry?" she asked gently.
Lana didn't respond.
Rhea sat beside her, placing the bowl down. "I found an old book of jokes. Want me to read you a few?"
No reply.
Rhea flipped the book open anyway. "What do you call a mage who can't cast spells?" She waited. Nothing. "...A wand-erer."
Silence.
Rhea's smile faltered.
But then Lana whispered, "That's terrible."
Rhea's face lit up. "So bad it's good?"
Lana turned her face toward the wall. "Not even close."
But her lips trembled. And for the first time in days… she blinked back something wet that wasn't grief.
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Meanwhile – In the ruins of a forgotten keep in the Valley of Teeth.
Felix had activated a map rune. A glowing trail began to snake across the paper.
Tunde stared at it. "That thing just blinked at me."
Felix nodded. "It's leading us to the next piece of the scroll. There are five fragments. The first is rumored to be guarded by a creature that speaks only in screams."
Tunde clapped. "Great! I speak fluent panic."
They packed up and started walking.
Tunde held his spellbook tight. Inside were scribbles—half-correct chants, doodles of demons, and a note that read: "Try not to explode today."
"Felix," he asked as they trekked forward, "what if none of this works? What if Kael's just… really gone?"
Felix didn't answer right away. "Then we'll keep trying. Until the end of the world."
Tunde grinned. "Then I better learn how to destroy one."
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Flashback – A brief moment before Kael's death.
Kael's voice echoed in Lana's memory.
"No matter what happens, don't stop fighting. If I fall… make sure it wasn't for nothing."
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Back to present – Lana joins Rhea in the training field.
"I want to help," she said, tying her hair back.
Rhea's eyes widened. "You sure?"
Lana nodded. "Kael didn't give up. So neither will I."
Together, they trained. Spell after spell. Lana's shadows whipped through the air, tinged with emotion, cracking trees in half. Rhea deflected them, smiling with pride.
For the first time in days, Lana's magic didn't feel like grief—it felt like purpose.
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Felix and Tunde – Nightfall near the Whispering Lake.
Campfire crackling. Tunde practiced illusions, creating glowing images of Kael's goofy face, which kept sticking its tongue out.
Felix looked at it, then at Tunde. "He'd love that."
Tunde nodded. "He was more than our leader. He was our weird, stubborn, flame-headed best friend."
They stared into the fire.
Tunde suddenly pulled out a strange dagger. "Hey… I stole this from a corpse in the Vaults. Think it's cursed?"
Felix jumped back. "WHY WOULD YOU BRING THAT HERE?"
"It had cool markings!"
"YOU—okay, give it. No more looting haunted bodies!"
Tunde shrugged. "You're no fun."
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Final scene – Felix, Lana, Rhea, and Tunde gather at the edge of an obsidian cliff.
The map glowed again. A new dot appeared in the mountain range ahead.
"The second fragment," Felix said. "We're getting closer."
Lana held the replica pyramid tightly. "We'll find them all."
"And bring him back," Rhea said.
"No matter what," Tunde added, flames dancing between his fingers.
Above them, the sky crackled. Far off, in the distance, a storm brewed.
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Somewhere beyond the realms, far beyond death…
A voice—soft, ancient, dark—whispered.
"The Chosen sleeps. But his story is not yet over."