---
[Scene Opens: A Silent Forest — Duskwater Pines]
Branches draped in frost sway in rhythm with a cold wind.
Arav and Elara make their way through the ever-darkening forest, guided only by the compass imbued with the Concord shard's light. The trees seem too quiet. No birds. No crunch of animals underfoot. Just... breathing.
Not theirs.
A distant snort, a shift of air, and the forest seems to shudder.
Elara (frowning):
"You feel that?"
Arav:
"It's like something's watching us… but from inside our heads."
Suddenly, the compass light dims — flickering like a candle about to die.
(Background: Whispers. Distant, unintelligible. Familiar names fade in and out.)
Then, the fire comes.
---
[Scene: The Flame That Forgets]
Out of the trees, he emerges.
A rider cloaked in cobalt fire. No horse. No feet touching the ground. His body floats slightly above the soil, flame trailing behind him like tattered robes.
A mask — faceless, featureless — hides his identity. But his presence speaks louder than any voice.
With one breath, trees behind them catch fire — not red… but blue.
The fire consumes bark and leaves, but more dangerously — thoughts.
Arav feels a pull.
Arav (stumbling):
"Wait… what were we doing again…?"
Elara:
"Arav! Don't let it in—"
Too late.
---
[Scene: Inside the Forgetting]
Arav's vision darkens.
He's standing… in his childhood room.
His mother is alive, humming.
His little brother, laughing.
The war never happened.
The sword never came.
But something's wrong.
The mirror in the room shows only flame behind him. Blue flame. Slowly wrapping around the reflection.
The Rider stands inside it.
Rider (voice like a memory):
"Stay in the peace you never had. Forget. Rest."
---
[Scene: Elara's Collapse]
Meanwhile, Elara battles the same hallucination — but in her mind, she's back in the Academy. Her twin sister is alive. The sky is unbroken.
But Arav is gone.
She can't remember his name.
Then, she hears a voice.
It's a whisper from deep inside her — the oath she made at the Shattered Chapel.
Elara's voice:
"I vowed… to walk beside him… even when the path was lost."
She bites her own hand — draws blood — and remembers.
---
[Scene: The Break of Flame]
Elara screams:
"ARAV! WAKE UP!"
She rushes into the flames.
The blue burns her skin, her armor melts at the edges, but she doesn't stop.
She slams into Arav, pulling him out of the memory dreamscape.
Elara (tears streaming):
"You are Arav. We fought together in the ruins of Iros. You stood with me against the Hollow King. And I—I love you."
The flames scream.
The Rider jolts.
---
[Scene: Confrontation]
Arav blinks.
Eyes glowing faintly from the shard's magic.
He draws his blade — the one that once spoke back to him — and it answers again.
Sword (in his mind):
"You remembered."
He strikes the air.
The flames disperse.
The Rider retreats.
But before fading, he speaks.
Rider (voice echoing):
"This is the first. Six more will come. Each darker than the last. And when the final one arrives…"
"…even love will forget itself."
---
[Scene: Aftermath — Broken Forest]
The trees are blackened. The compass is cracked.
Elara clutches her side, wounded.
Arav helps her to sit, their eyes locking.
Arav (softly):
"You dragged me out of a dream I never wanted to leave."
Elara:
"You saved me from mine… without even knowing."
They sit in silence.
The shard glows faintly again.
Still functioning.
Still guiding.
But the path ahead… promises no peace.
---
[Scene: Far Away — Shadowed Throne]
A council meets in silence.
Six figures stand, each in elemental robes.
Fire. Ice. Stone. Wind. Blood. And one draped in nothing — only shadows.
The Rider kneels.
Shadowed Figure:
"Failed?"
Rider:
"They are bonded."
The figure nods slowly.
Shadowed Figure:
"Then break the bond."
A map unfurls.
The next shard lies… beneath the City of Echoes.
Where voices repeat until they vanish forever.
---
[End of Chapter 27]
Next Chapter: Chapter 28 – City of Echoes
> As Arav and Elara descend into a city where every word spoken returns a thousand times — they must guard their thoughts, their secrets, and their guilt. But what happens when the echoes begin to speak truths they never said aloud?