---
[Scene Opens – The Edge of the Shattered Realm]
The sky was wrong now.
Where once there were stars, there was only a yawning crack of black — the void left behind after the First Warden's collapse.
Arav stood at the edge of the ruined land, watching the horizon drip like melted steel.
His right eye still glowed faintly — flickering between blue and silver.
Elara (approaching quietly):
"It's still in you, isn't it?"
Arav (nods):
"Pieces of him. Pieces of Kalo. Pieces of something older."
Naerys (looking out):
"That was not the final Eye, Arav. You know that, don't you?"
Arav didn't answer. He just stepped forward.
The Ground Beyond lay ahead — a place spoken of only in whispers.
Where even time was rumored to sleep.
---
[Scene: Memories in Ash]
Narrator:
They camp that night on the bones of Krael.
The wind carries whispers. Ghosts that drift, not to harm — but to remember.
Elara finds an old tome, buried under rubble. It's bound in dragonhide. Burnt sigils glow across the cover.
She opens it slowly.
Inside: sketches of the Eyes. Maps. And a note.
> "To rewrite destiny, one must first forget it."
Elara (softly):
"This… this belonged to the Scribe of the Last Flame."
Naerys (reading):
"There's a place beyond the Gate. Beyond even the Warden. The Eye That Sleeps."
Arav:
"Then that's where we go."
---
[Scene: The Path of Echoes]
The trio enters the Path of Echoes — a canyon of crystal and wind.
Each step triggers voices from the past.
Zia's laughter.
Kalo's screams.
Arav's own cries as a child.
The stones remember.
At one point, the path splits into seven.
Each way marked by a word:
"Power"
"Pain"
"Peace"
"Prophecy"
"Pride"
"Past"
"Purge"
Naerys (whispers):
"What does it mean?"
Elara:
"It's a choice. Only one path leads to the Eye. The others… to madness."
Arav closes his eyes.
He sees fire. He hears Zia whisper.
> "Choose not for you… but for what must end."
He walks toward the path marked "Purge."
---
[Scene: The Land That Dreams]
Beyond the path lies a place untouched by war.
Trees grow upside down. Rivers flow backward. Gravity forgets to work.
They walk for hours — or days — time has no rules here.
At the heart lies a stone temple — The Temple of the First Flame.
Inside, an altar shaped like a closed eye.
The Eye That Sleeps.
But it's not an object.
It's a being.
A girl — or something like one — lies curled on the altar. Her body pale as bone, hair like threads of shadow. One eye half-open, the other stitched shut.
She breathes once every hour.
And with every breath, the realm shifts.
---
[Scene: The Eye Speaks]
Suddenly, the sleeping being's voice rings in Arav's head.
> "You killed my brother. You broke the Gate. Why have you come?"
Arav (aloud):
"To end this. To stop the Eyes. To stop… you."
The Eye lifts her head slowly.
> "Then you must know… I was not the one who watched. I was the one trapped."
She waves her hand — and shows a vision:
The First Warden and Kalo were puppets.
The true architect sits beyond even her — in the Thirteenth Realm.
A realm built entirely from forgotten stories.
> "You want to destroy prophecy? Then you must walk into the place where every unwritten tale… waits to be written."
---
[Scene: The Choice]
The Eye offers Arav a shard of her own essence — a silver flame trapped in ice.
> "Take this, and you can reach the Thirteenth Realm. But it will burn your name from the world. You'll be forgotten. Even by Elara. Even by Naerys. Even by Zia."
Naerys (gasps):
"No… there must be another way."
Elara (tears welling):
"If he takes it… we lose him."
Arav (silent, then smiles faintly):
"Maybe… I was never meant to be remembered."
He takes the shard.
It burns.
He screams — and light pours from his chest.
The world begins to dissolve.
---
[Scene: The Departure]
As Arav fades, Elara rushes forward.
Elara (grabbing his arm):
"I'll go with you."
Arav (weakly):
"You can't. I need you here… to remember me."
Naerys (crying):
"We'll find you. Somehow… in every realm, in every war… we'll find you."
Arav smiles.
And steps into light.
Gone.
The Eye closes her lid again.
The land folds in on itself.
And silence falls.
---
[Closing Scene – The Echo of His Name]
Back in the mortal realm, a girl is born — with silver eyes and no shadow.
They name her Zariel.
She hums a song no one taught her.
A song Zia once sang.
A song of a boy… who defied death.
---
End of Chapter 39
Next: Chapter 40 – The Realm of Forgotten Stories
> Arav steps into a world where the dead dreams of gods wander… and his final test awaits — not in battle, but in choosing what to become.