Chapter 13: CHAPTER 13: The Crownkiller Cometh
[Scene: Royal Citadel — Sanctum of the Flame — Deep beneath the throne]
FX: Dripping molten stone, the sound of bones cracking 🔥💀
FX: Low chanting in a dead language
[Visual: Crown Prince Lucien kneels before a massive obsidian altar. Blood flows from a silver bowl carved with old gods' names.]
He's shirtless, arms stretched wide. His back is covered in runes — glowing, burning, alive.
[Lucien] (voice low, echoing):
"Elara has broken the seal. The Forge is awakened."
[Voice from the altar – ancient, multi-toned]:
"Then the world must be reforged… in your name."
[Flashbacks flicker through Lucien's mind — Elara's trial, her mercy, her refusal to kill.]
Lucien (thinking):
"She was meant to be a weapon. My weapon. Instead, she chose to inspire."
[Lucien] (smiling coldly):
"If they need a god… I'll give them a monster."
[Scene: Crown Citadel — Throne Room]
FX: Glass shatters overhead as magical lightning strikes the dome 🌩️
[Visual: Lucien stands before his royal court. Dozens of nobles, generals, and High Mages kneel.
He's no longer in royal robes.
Now he wears black armor etched in golden bone, a crown of flame hovering above his head — burning but never consumed.
[Lucien] (commanding):
"Summon the Heralds. Call the Seraphim. Light the Red Banner."
[General]:
"My lord… if we mobilize everything now, we risk collapsing the Gate Network—"
[Lucien] (sharp):
"Elara has moved the people. I will move the stars."
[Scene: Hidden Chamber – Lucien's personal mirror room]
He stands before seven golden mirrors.
Each reflects not his body — but his soul in seven broken forms:
The child he once was
The tyrant he is now
The thing he plans to become
[Lucien] (to himself):
"She doesn't realize… every time she refuses to kill…"
[He touches the mirror — and it cracks.]
[Lucien]:
"…She becomes the perfect martyr."
[Scene Shift: Varos – Temple Library]
FX: Pages flipping in windless air 📖
Elara paces in front of an ancient scroll, her eyes wide.
[Elara]:
"The Red Judge called him a god-killer. What does that mean?"
[Priestess Ilhara]:
"Lucien is not ascending. He's devouring."
Kaelith (watching her):
"She's changed. Her presence is heavier… her questions sharper."
[Auren enters – holding a sealed letter, marked in black wax]
[Auren]:
"It's from a contact in the Capital. We have ten days."
[Kaelith]:
"Until what?"
[Auren]:
"Until Lucien completes the Crownkiller Ritual. When he finishes, he won't need armies. He'll just point — and nations will fall."
[Scene: Royal Observatory – Night – Lightning splits the sky]
[Lucien stands on a platform, robes whipping in stormwind. Below him, cities kneel.]
FX: CHOIR OF DEAD VOICES RISES 🎶
A colossal, ethereal structure — the Celestial Crown — hovers above the palace.
It is forming.
[Lucien]:
"This is not godhood. This is correction."
He raises a single hand.
[FX: The city of Calderon explodes in white fire — no warning. No mercy. Thousands vanish.]
[Scene: Varos — Shock spreads]
[Messenger arrives, breathless]:
"Calderon… is gone. The earth itself turned to glass."
[Elara] (voice barely above a whisper):
"He's started."
[Kaelith] (furious):
"We have to strike now."
[Auren]:
"No. Not yet. We don't have the numbers."
[Elara] (quietly):
"We don't need numbers."
They both look at her.
[Elara]:
"If he's becoming a god… then I'll meet him as what I am now."
[Kaelith]:
"And what's that?"
[Elara] (glowing eyes, soulblade appearing in her hand):
"Not his weapon. Not his mirror."
[Elara]:
"I am his counterweight."
[Final Scene: Lucien sitting on his throne of bone and glass, staring into the flames of a soul-furnace.]
[Lucien] (smiling to himself):
"Come, Elara. Let me show you what happens when the gods stop listening."
⚔️ TO BE CONTINUED…