[Scene 1 – Solareth Stronghold, Just After Sunrise]
The warm light of morning crept through the arched windows of Solareth's inner hallways. The wind outside had softened, but inside, the silence felt like something brittle — as if one wrong step might break it.
Zagan walked alone through a quiet corridor, fingertips brushing the smooth stone as if searching for grounding. Last night's conversation with Kris still echoed in his mind.
ZAGAN (internal)
He's hiding something. Not just memories. A truth. A burden. Maybe even a weapon.
His hand tightened unconsciously around the hilt of his blade. Not out of anger — but resolve.
---
[Scene 2 – Solareth Library, Upper Tier]
The upper tiers of the castle's library rarely saw visitors. The air here carried the scent of dust, paper, and a silence earned by time. Floating orbs of soft blue light guided Zagan between aisles of ancient texts and sealed archives.
He moved with precision — not the reckless curiosity of a hunter, but the careful calculation of a soldier searching for the outline of a threat.
He passed scrolls about the kingdom's founding, arcane lineage records, then — finally — a symbol caught his eye: two mirrored blades. One glowing blue. One fractured and inked in red.
He pulled the scroll down and unraveled it. The text was old… but not unreadable.
> "The Blooming Destroyer. A gift from the divine. A curse from the forgotten."
> "When light blooms, so does ruin. One cannot live without the other."
> "The bearer will fracture time... and trust."
ZAGAN (internal)
He's not just carrying a weapon. He's carrying a paradox.
---
[Scene 3 – Solareth Courtyard, Mid-Morning]
Kris and Jessica stood by the edge of the training arena. She was sharpening her arrowheads; he was stretching his shoulders, rotating his arm from an old injury. Neither spoke much until Zagan rejoined them.
KRIS
(straightening)
"You look like you've read something dangerous."
ZAGAN
(flatly)
"Maybe I did."
JESSICA
(sipping water)
"You always talk in riddles after reading. Can't tell if it's a trauma response or just your personality."
Zagan didn't smile. He looked at the castle tower in the distance — where Vinam likely was — and kept quiet.
---
[Scene 4 – Vinam's Quarters]
Vinam stood in front of a floor-length mirror, his blade unsheathed and laid across both palms. The Blooming Destroyer looked still, but something in its metal shimmered restlessly — like restrained breath.
He studied his reflection — not his face, but his eyes. Eyes that had seen too many broken timelines. Eyes that carried the kind of weight words couldn't explain.
VINAM (softly)
"I won't let it happen again."
There was no one to hear it, but he said it anyway. Some promises didn't need witnesses.
---
[Scene 5 – Archive Courtyard, Late Afternoon]
The group was summoned for magical conditioning drills. Vinam stood at the center of the field, cloak billowing gently in the wind.
VINAM
"Today's training: illusions drawn from your own fears. Adapt. Trust nothing."
He struck the stone with his blade — and the world distorted.
They were surrounded by chaos: burning skies, ash rains, shadowy enemies. Jessica's bow fired instinctively. Kris called out a warning. But Zagan did nothing. He stared directly at Vinam.
The illusions didn't fool him.
ZAGAN
(sharp)
"This magic… isn't Solareth's. This isn't royal tech or standard illusion runes."
VINAM
(not turning)
"Good. Then question it."
ZAGAN
(stepping forward)
"I already am."
---
[Scene 6 – Hidden Chamber Beneath Solareth]
Later that night, Zagan wandered toward a forgotten section of the castle — an old chapel built long before the current royal line. He traced steps worn from years, descending deeper.
A sigil on the floor glowed faintly under his boots: the same twin-blade crest. He knelt. Whispered magic hovered around it — unstable, ancient.
A flash of memory surged — not his own. Someone else's.
---
[Vision Sequence]
A battlefield torn by time. Vinam, alone, his eyes hollow and blade drenched in red. The Blooming Destroyer, but corrupted. The sky fractured. His hands shook. His expression was torn between grief and fury.
A second figure — vague and divine — hovered in the air behind him. The presence was familiar, yet distant. Neither friend nor foe.
A voice whispered.
Whispered Voice
"You were supposed to control it. Instead, you let it define you."
---
[Back in Reality]
Zagan gasped and stumbled back, his hand hitting the cold stone wall. The vision vanished like smoke.
ZAGAN (internal)
That wasn't a spell. That was real — a memory, a fragment buried in the sword's history.
---
[Scene 7 – Tower Top, Windy Night]
Kris stood beside Vinam at the top of the tower. The moonlight pooled around them in silence.
KRIS
"I'm not asking you to explain everything. But I need to know… you're still with us."
VINAM
(quietly)
"If I wasn't, you wouldn't be alive right now."
KRIS
(cheerful)
"Not a lie to be honest. But you are like my small brother and a mentor!"
That wasn't comfort. It was fact. And somehow, it chilled Kris more than a threat would have.
---
[Scene 8 – Zagan's Room, Midnight]
Zagan leaned against the window, his hand curled into a fist.
ZAGAN (internal)
He's trying to hold something back. Something that doesn't belong in this world. Not anymore.
He glanced at his blade. It pulsed faintly — not with magic, but warning.
---
[Scene 9 – Cliffside Again, Pre-Dawn]
Same place. Same wind. But this time, Zagan wasn't just thinking. He was preparing.
Kris joined him, wordless at first.
KRIS
"You found something, didn't you?"
ZAGAN
"I found a piece of the truth. Not the whole story… but enough to know we're in deep."
KRIS
"Then we stay sharp. We don't pull away. Not until we know who — or what — he really is."
Zagan nodded slowly. The sun began its rise, and in the silence of that pale light, something unspoken passed between them — not fear. Not hope. But readiness.
---
END OF CHAPTER 10