Chapter Ten: Field of Graves
Open on a black screen and the sounds of chaos. People are screaming and running.
An explosion fills the screen. Show magical light silhouetting a city street. People are burning.
The light fades. In the back a green arc of lightning fills the sky.
Show green fire at the edge of the screen on one of the buildings in the distance. A yellow beam of light hits a nearby building and melts it.
Show a sphere of water floating in the air. It is surrounded by dark blue light.
The water falls onto a nearby building and smothers the flame.
Show Diando. His hands pulse with dark blue light. Villagers sprint around him.
He turns to the crowd.
Diando: “Take cover in the forest; keep low and quiet. We need to disperse, make it harder to find us.”
An arrow catches him in the shoulder.
He falls to a knee. A group of Fionan soldiers approach from behind him. Three swordsmen lead an archer who is stringing another arrow.
The archer lets the second arrow fly.
Diando conjures a dark blue shield and deflects the arrow.
He turns with his bloodied hand and throws a torrent of blue flame down the street.
The flames swallow the Fionan soldiers. They scream in agony.
Show Diando standing, holding his bleeding shoulder in a haze of blue light.
Show him from behind, standing and facing the flames. Green light shines from above. Fionan soldiers enter from the side streets. Their blades gleam.
They approach cautiously.
They stop as they hit a white wall of light.
Remi approaches from behind Diando.
Remi: “Are you hurt?”
Diando: “I’m pissed!”
Diando’s hands writhe with blue flame.
Remi: “Must we?”
Diando: “They live, they kill more innocent people.”
Remi sighs.
Show the soldiers. The shield fades.
Hold on the soldiers as a current of blue flame engulfs the area and spills down the streets.
A white light follows and smothers the flames.
Diando kneels. He is panting and sweating. His right arm is dark with blood.
Remi kneels at his side and grabs the arrow.
Remi: “This will hurt.”
Diando: “Do it.”
Remi pulls the arrow out. Blood gushes from the wound. Diando grits his teeth.
Remi puts his hand to the wound. His hand glows white.
Diando relaxes.
They stand together.
Diando: “Thank you.”
Remi nods.
Remi: “You’re very welcome. We should move now.”
Diando: “But the villagers…”
Show Diando and Remi standing side-by-side. Their cloaks flutter in the heat and the wind. Show the airship floating above in a smear of green light. Show the city burning around them.
Show Remi’s frowning.
Remi: “Those that could escape have, and those that couldn’t…”
Show Diando’s face. He has tears in his eyes.
He wipes his face.
Diando: “You’re right. The city’s lost. Let’s go.”
Diando stands while Remi turns away.
Show Diando staring at the hill in the distance. It is still night but light is creeping over the hills. Silverthrone smolders.
Diando turns.
The screen goes black.
Open on to the forest by night. Show it from a distance. The sky is dark and moonless, but the stars sparkle in the sky. A light wind blows and rustles the branches.
Show Silvaran soldiers move through the underbrush.
Show some looking over a hill. Before them shines a Fionan camp.
Show the Fionan camp, which is empty save for a few soldiers. They have torches on the perimeter of the camp and a few guards. The guards carry swords at their hips.
Show a fire burning at the center of the camp. It is large enough to illuminate the entire camp.
Show the camp from a distance. Dawn is just behind a hill and looking over. The light of the camp is dim there. Sir Thomas, Remi, and Diando are at her sides. They are surrounded by Silvaran soldiers.
Dawn kneels down into her cover and looks at Nick.
Dawn: “They’re here?”
Remi: “Supposedly. They’re supposed to be kept in the center-most tent.”
Dawn peeks over the hill again.
Show the Fionan guards standing in front of the camp.
Show a view of the camp just right of them.
Show a view of the camp just to the left.
Dawn kneels back down and looks at Sir Thomas.
Dawn: “The defenses are light.”
Thomas: “Too light.”
Diando: “It just makes it that much easier.”
Dawn looks at Remi.
Remi nods.
Dawn looks at her soldiers.
Show the Silvaran soldiers waiting.
Dawn: “We’re moving. Spread the word.”
The Silvaran soldiers disperse.
Dawn: “Let’s move around to the other side, see if it’s more lightly guarded. If we can, I’d like to get in unnoticed.”
Diando, Remi, and Sir Thomas move to inform their own groups.
Dawn grabs Sir Thomas.
Dawn: “Does any of this feel off to you?”
Thomas: “All of it. We can turn back, if you like.”
Dawn looks at the Silvaran soldiers in the distance.
Show them spread out and gathering up.
She sighs.
Dawn: “No, we’re already here, I just can’t shake this feeling.”
Thomas: “You’re fine, you’re just feeling the weight of leadership.”
Dawn: “Yeah, I guess.”
Thomas: “You’ll be fine. Now, we should move before Diando charges in and sets the camp on fire.”
Dawn: “He does seem a bit more head-strong than usual.”
They laugh as Sir Thomas helps Dawn to standing.
Cut to the Anthem mansion at night. Mary is sitting in a room alone. She is sewing while staring out the window. The city shines in the foreground.
Elsea enters the room.
Elsea: “Miss Mary, have you seen the princess?”
Mary: “Not as of late, darling. Surprising, as you are often at her heels, no? Now, now, don’t you be hurt by that, it is merely an observation, no judgment involved. After all, isn’t it your duty as a handmaiden to be there?”
Elsea: “I suppose, but the way you phrase things at times…”
Mary: “I do offer my sincerest apologies if I have offended.”
Elsea: “Accepted.”
Mary: “All of that aside, I wouldn’t worry overmuch about the princess. She is a capable girl in her own right, and hardly has the inclination toward trouble of our favorite prince.”
Elsea: “Yes, I agree, but still, it would be nice if she were to tell me when she has wandered off.”
Mary: “Wouldn’t it just. She has been rather curious as of late, as well, and seems somehow taken with the chapel.”
Elsea: “I had noticed as well.”
They go quiet. Mary hums while sewing.
Elsea takes a seat across from her.
Elsea peeks at Mary.
Elsea: “Excuse me, Miss Mary, but are you sewing?”
Mary: “I am doing something of the kind, though I am sure you’re far more accomplished in the art.”
Elsea blushes.
Elsea: “No, no, you seem quite fine at it.”
Mary: “You’re a poor liar, good lady.”
Elsea: “Miss Mary.”
Mary: “Yes, yes, you wouldn’t ever dare to utter a falsehood on your life. Why, it would ruin your pretty skin with worry-lines and guilt, wouldn’t it?”
Elsea: “What is it that you’re sewing?”
Mary: “Another eye patch for when Zelos returns. Can’t very well have him going off and shining like a beacon whenever we find a moment of respite, can we now?”
Elsea: “I suppose, but if I were to be completely honest, and I mean no offense, he didn’t seem very fond of the last one you made.”
Mary: “Young boys hardly know what is good for them.”
Mary holds up the fabric and looks at it.
Mary: “Besides, his dissatisfaction was part of the fun. All of that considered, however, that last one was made from scraps and thrown together. This one will be made with fine, fashionable Anthem silks and the like. Why, I dare to hope he may even take a shine to it.”
Elsea: “Yes, we can hope.”
Mary: “I will be glad to have him back whatever the case. Just as you are with the princess, it is nerve-wracking to have that boy away, and might I add that he is a sight less capable than she in terms of the real world.”
Elsea: “He can be lost in the clouds at times, but that’s what makes him—him.”
Mary smiles.
Mary: “It very much is, isn’t it, good lady?”
Cut to the Fionan camp interior. The area is brightly lit. The fire in the center blazes.
Show Silvaran soldiers sneaking through the camp. They move silently pass a few tents.
Show a view facing the tents and Silvaran soldiers moving in the background, passing between two tents. Show two Fionan soldiers looking out into the night. Torches burn beside them.
Fionan Soldier7: “Hey, I’m going to grab something to eat. You need anything?”
Fionan Soldier8: “Nah, I’m fine. Just hurry back. This night feels wrong.”
Fionan Soldier7: “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”
Fionan Soldier7 stands.
As Fionan Soldier7 turns an arrow hits him in the neck and he is downed.
Fionan Soldier 8 looks back and grabs at his sword. An arrow hits him through the visor.
Show Dawn peeking down the tent with another arrow ready.
She gestures soldiers forward.
Sir Thomas leads three Silvaran Soldiers forward.
Sir Thomas checks a tent.
Show Dawn and Silvarans looking into a tent.
Show Diando and Remi checking the interior of an empty tent.
Show the camp from above. Silvaran soldiers are walking along out in the open. There are no other Fionan guards save for the two.
Show an empty tent interior.
Show Dawn standing near the center, beside the flame. Diando approaches her from behind.
Diando: “What in the world is going on? An empty camp, watched by two soldiers?”
Dawn: “Yeah, it’s weird.”
Remi: “Perhaps they moved them just before we arrived?”
Diando: “Why would they? How would they have known? Dawn, where did we get this information?”
Dawn and Sir Thomas exchange glances.
Dawn: “Nick, but…”
Show the shadows surrounding the camp thicken.
Dawn: “We have no reason to doubt him. Why would he help us out of the city and then betray us now?”
Diando: “Bah, traitors do whatever they have to.”
Thomas: “Be careful, mage. I’ve had just enough of your talking down to everyone, especially the princess.”
Diando: “Oh yeah, big man?”
Diando steps up into Sir Thomas’ face.
Remi takes Diando’s hand.
Diando looks back to find Remi looking away wide-eyed.
Diando: “What?”
Remi: “We need to run.”
A tent explodes in a surge of shadows.
The shadows spread and grab hold of two Silvaran soldiers.
Black tendrils spread through the Silvaran’s soldiers’ legs.
The Silvaran soldiers’ bodies explode outward in a spray of blood. They are replaced by dark spires dripping with blood.
Show the party from the front. Behind them, shadows are smothering the fire.
Remi: “Go!”
Remi shoves Diando ahead.
Show Dawn. Shadows land around her, leaving deep gouges in the earth.
Sir Thomas steps in to protect her and raises his shield.
Dark blue light surrounds them and bulges out, widening the gaps between the shadows.
Show Diando with his hands glowing.
Diando: “Come on! Move already!”
Sir Thomas leads Dawn away.
Show the party running. A nearby tent bursts open. Shadows swirl and spike out, tearing the fabric to bits. Standing amongst the chaos is Thanatos.
Show the writhing shadows around it. It growls.
Show a group of Silvaran soldiers running.
Show the Silvaran soldiers seized by shadows and impaled.
Show a torch lying on the ground.
Thanatos’ steel boot crushes the torch
Show Niva running through the camp. She passes a tent.
The tent explodes behind her and shadows encircle her.
She trips and screams.
White magic surrounds her and pulls her.
Shadows stab into the earth where she was.
Remi helps Niva up.
Niva: “Oh, gods, I thought I was…”
Remi: “Don’t think, dear, just hurry.”
Cut to a hill overlooking the camp. Dawn is at the crest panting.
She hops down into hiding.
She peeks over.
Show the camp in the distance. It is dark now. Shadows cling to everything.
Dawn sits down. She is surrounded by her royal guard, Sir Thomas, Niva, Remi, Diando, and the remainder of her troops.
Thomas: “We need to leave.”
Dawn: “We can’t let it follow us to the base.”
Thomas: “We can’t let it find us, either!”
Niva: “What is it?”
Thomas: “It doesn’t matter. Whatever it is, we need to survive it.”
Diando: “For once, I agree.”
Dawn: “Fine, fine, let’s go back then.”
Dawn stands stooped.
Show Dawn from the front. Shadows surge behind her, fanning and pointed, like teeth prepared to bite. She can feel them and stares ahead wide-eyed.
Show Diando and Remi preparing runes while soldiers scatter. Niva screams.
Show Dawn turning. Blood sprays across her face.
Show Sir Thomas standing before her. He has his shield up but the shadowy teeth have broken through it easily. They stick out of his arm and dig into his shoulder. Blood runs from his mouth.
Dawn: “Thomas!”
Thomas: “Go!”
Dawn: “But…”
Silvaran Royal Guard3: “Go, princess, we’ll handle this.”
Dawn looks at Silvaran Royal Guard3 as he prepares his sword.
Another guardsman stands beside Sir Thomas and jabs his weapon into the shadows.
Silvaran Royal Guard2: “This is our duty to you, and it is a matter of personal honor for ourselves.”
Dawn: “But—But you’ll all…”
Remi grabs Dawn.
Remi: “Come, princess.”
Dawn: “Thank you, thank all of you. You—You’ve made Silvara proud!”
Sir Thomas smiles.
He swings with his sword and cuts a tendril off. It dissolves into the night.
He leans into Royal Guard2
Thomas: “Good, then I’ve done myself proud.”
Remi leads Dawn and Niva away.
Sir Thomas grabs Diando.
Thomas: “Listen, she’s more important than you, than all of us. You protect her, or so help me I will come back from this shallow, unmarked grave, and I will…”
Thanatos howls off in the distance.
They both look.
Diando nods.
Cut to the forest outside of the resistance base. Show Niva kneeling in the dirt. She is clutching Remi’s cloak and crying.
Show Remi’s pale face as he stares in wide-eyed horror. Diando curses beside him. His face is smeared with blood.
Show Dawn. She is stoic and bloody.
Show the cavern mouth. The trees in front are lined with dead bodies.
The soldiers behind Dawn murmur.
Niva struggles for breath.
Niva vomits. Remi kneels beside her and pats her back.
Dawn turns and takes a dagger from a nearby soldier.
She walks away.
Show Remi soothing Niva.
They both look up.
Show Dawn atop a branch. She is cutting a soldier down.
The body falls and hits the ground with a crunch. Blood bubbles out of its blackened skin.
Dawn leaps down and looks at them.
Dawn: “Come on. We’ve got graves to dig.
Cut to the forest by daybreak. The sun is peeking over the mountains. Show Dawn standing over dozens of fresh graves. She is covered in dirt and dried blood, and she looks exhausted. Diando is with her and is in the very same state.
He touches her shoulder.
Diando: “Listen, I—I’m no good at stuff like this. Normally Remi would—Well, he’s with the girl right now, so. So just tell me how to comfort you, and I’ll do it. What can I do?”
Show Dawn standing in the graves.
Show the graves stretching out around her.
Show Dawn’s tired face staring bleakly forward.
Dawn: “Nothing.”
Diando: “Princess?”
Dawn: “There’s no comforting me, Diando. There’s just…this.”
Dawn walks away.
Show Diando standing alone in the graves.
Cut to black.
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