CHAPTER 7: A Crown’s Eyes

[Scene: Capital City — Dawn — Sky filled with bells and banners]

FX: DING—DONG! The Capital's Grand Bell Tower rings out the morning chime. 🏰🔔

FX: Horses trotting, market sounds rising. 🐎🧺

[Visual: Elara and Kaelith walk through the eastern gate of the Capital. Both are hooded. Their cloaks are frayed. Their eyes sharp.]

Elara (thinking):

"It feels strange. After so long… being somewhere normal."

[Kaelith] (quietly):

"Don't let your guard down. The court hears everything."

They pass a merchant selling spell-scrolls.

A child chases a wooden bird across the cobblestones.

For a moment… Elara smiles.

[Scene: Capital Inn – Night – Room 7]

FX: Candle flickers. Papers spread across the table.

[Kaelith] (unrolling a map):

"We'll need to leave before sunrise. The northern army will be searching the ruins by now."

[Elara] (staring at her hand, still faintly glowing):

"I felt it again. When I used the soulblade… it spoke."

[Kaelith] (looks up):

"What did it say?"

[Elara] (softly):

"It said… 'She is no longer yours.'"

Elara (thinking):

"But if I'm not bound to Kaelith anymore… what am I?"

[Scene: Royal Palace – Same Night – Throne Room]

[Visual: The Crown Prince sits upon a raised golden seat. Cloaked knights kneel at his feet.]

[Royal Mage]:

"The girl has awakened the Blade of the Soulforge."

[Crown Prince Lucien] (eyes narrowed):

"And the seal?"

[Mage]:

"Broken, my lord."

Lucien rises.

[Lucien]:

"Then summon the Blight Division."

[Mage] (nervous):

"But they are forbidden by treaty—"

[Lucien]:

"Elara is no longer a girl. She is a relic. And relics… belong to the Crown."

[Scene: Back at the Inn – Midnight]

FX: SCRATCH — Elara draws circles into the wood table with her fingertip, mind lost in thought.

[Kaelith] (softly):

"You're quiet."

[Elara]:

"I don't know who I am anymore."

[Kaelith] (leans forward):

"You are Elara. The girl who chose to break her chain. Who faced the man who created her. Who spared him."

She looks at him.

[Elara]:

"…Even if I change more?"

[Kaelith]:

"Even then."

[Scene: Inn Rooftop – Just Before Dawn]

FX: Wind brushing across tiles 🌬️

Elara stands atop the building, cloak dancing behind her. The city glows gold under the first sun.

She sees it first.

[Visual: A black airship, shaped like a sword, floating toward the palace. Soldiers in dark armor rappel down into the city.]

Elara (thinking):

"…They've come for me."

[Scene: Streets Below — Chaos Erupts]

FX: BOOOOM! — A magic cannon blast hits a building two blocks away.

Civilians scream and scatter.

[Kaelith] rushes out the inn.

[Kaelith]:

"Elara!"

[Elara] (dropping beside him):

"The Crown sent the Blight Division."

[Kaelith] (furious):

"Of course they did. You're too powerful now. And they fear anything they can't leash."

[Scene: Battle Begins – Narrow Street Combat]

[Visual: Black-cloaked elite knights surround Elara and Kaelith]

[Blight Commander]:

"Stand down, relic. Return to royal containment and we will not destroy the city."

[Elara] (eyes narrowed):

"Relic…?"

She takes one step forward.

[Elara]:

"Wrong word."

FX: BOOOOM! — Her power explodes outward, but unlike before, it doesn't burn hot — it freezes time for a breath.

Kaelith blinks — everyone else pauses mid-motion.

[Kaelith] (quietly):

"…She's evolving."

[Scene: Back in Motion — She lifts her hand. The soulblade forms midair, summoned without motion now.]

She dashes through the first two knights — not killing — but disarming them with pinpoint precision.

FX: FLASH! FLASH! — Blades fall. Enemies stumble. No blood. Just shock.

[Commander] (staggering):

"She's not just controlling power. She's rewriting it."

Kaelith fights beside her — blade-to-blade with a royal knight using cursed flame.

FX: CLANG! SPARK! ⚔️🔥

[Kaelith]:

"Elara! We can't win if we stay!"

[Elara] (closing her hand — the blade vanishes):

"Then we run."

[Scene: Alley Escape – Moments Later]

The two duck behind shattered crates. Elara breathes hard, sweating.

[Kaelith] (wiping blood from her brow):

"Next time, warn me before you freeze time itself."

She chuckles weakly.

[Elara]:

"Not time. Just… possibilities."

Elara (thinking):

"I didn't just gain power. I'm beginning to bend fate itself."

[Scene: Royal Palace Balcony – Later That Night]

Lucien watches the city burn in isolated fires.

[Lucien]:

"She didn't kill them."

[Mage]:

"No, my prince. She spared them."

[Lucien]:

"Which makes her even more dangerous."

He turns.

[Lucien]:

"Send the Oracle. I want to know exactly what she will become."

[Final Scene: Elara and Kaelith hiding in an underground crypt. Torchlight flickers.

She looks at her hand again.

[Elara] (softly):

"I was made to be a tool… Then I became a sword…"

She looks at Kaelith.

[Elara]:

"…What if I'm becoming something worse?"

[Kaelith]:

"No."

He gently takes her hand.

[Kaelith]:

"You're becoming you. And I'll walk beside you until the end."

[TO BE CONTINUED…]