STORMERE
Season 1, Episode 4: "The Knight, The Sorceress & The Thief"
EXT. MOUNTAINSIDE – NIGHT
Rain. A campfire struggles against the wind. The group sits in silence, still marked from their encounter with the Ashen Veil. No words, just exhaustion.
Hunter pokes at the fire. Kael sharpens his blade. No one meets anyone’s eyes.
Aleric’s hand trembles slightly as he stares at his reflection in his sword.
SMASH TO TITLE: STORMFALL
Chapter I: THE KNIGHT
EXT. CASTLE COURTYARD – YEARS AGO – DAY
Sunlight bleeds gold over shining armor. Aleric stands among other knights, proud, young, loyal. The Banner of the Crimson Crown flutters above them.
CAPTAIN (booming): You swore an oath to serve the realm! To protect it, even from itself!
Aleric nods, then glances toward the balcony, where a young girl, the princess, watches him with trust and admiration.
INT. CASTLE THRONE ROOM – LATER
Aleric kneels before the King, his armor still smoking from battle.
KING: The rebellion was your doing, was it not? You chose mercy for the weak… when I demanded blood.
Aleric looks up, defiance in his eyes.
ALERIC: They were farmers, not soldiers. They didn't deserve to die.
KING (cold): They were traitors. And I AM YOUR KING. You do as you're told. Now, I sentence you to exile. You're no longer a Knight of the Crimson Crown. Leave this instant.
Aleric’s sword is stripped from him. The royal seal is branded from his armor.
The princess tries to run to him, guards hold her back.
ALERIC (softly, to her): Stay kind. Even when they call it weakness. That's your strength. We'll meet again.
Aleric leaves the room.
Aleric rides through the woods that border the kingdom.. He looks down, his new "ragtag" sword trembles in his hands again.
BACK TO PRESENT:
The fire crackles. Aleric blinks, pulled back to now. He wipes his blade clean. A tear runs through his face.
No one sees. The silence remains heavy.
Chapter II: THE SORCERESS
EXT. ABANDONED TOWER – YEARS AGO – DUSK
Ariadne stands over a spell circle, her hands glowing violet. Around her, books float, ink swirls, magic hums.
A voice interrupts her concentration.
VOICE (O.S.): You think the world will forgive what they doesn’t understand?
She turns. An old mage, her mentor, steps from the shadows.
ARIADNE: They’ll have to see. I can help them, heal them.
MENTOR (bitter): You can’t heal who doesn't want to be healed. They’ll burn you for even trying.
INT. VILLAGE SQUARE – NIGHT
Torches. Screams. Ariadne stands before villagers, her mentor tied to a stake.
VILLAGER: A Star-seeing Witch! She cursed our land!
The mentor looks at her, no anger, just resignation.
MENTOR (soft): Run, child. Live.
Flames rise. Ariadne hesitates. Her magic flares in panic, and in a burst of uncontrolled energy, everything goes white.
When it fades, the villagers lie still. The fire’s gone. The tower’s gone. Only ash remains. She looks down to her hands, seeing and understanding that she accidentally just massacred an entire village, including her mentor.
EXT. FOREST – NIGHT (PRESENT)
Ariadne sits alone, fingers tracing the blue glow in her palms. A tear runs down her cheek.
Lyra glances at her, eyes soft. She doesn't reach out to her but she looks with an understanding glaze.
Chapter III: THE THIEF
EXT. CITY ROOFTOPS – YEARS AGO – NIGHT
Lyra sprints across the rooftops, laughing as guards shout below. A pouch of stolen coins jingles at her belt.
She leaps the final gap, lands beside a small child hiding behind a chimney.
CHILD: You got it?
LYRA (grinning): Told you I would. Dinner for a week. Maybe two.
She tosses the coins to the child, who beams.
INT. BACK ALLEY – LATER
Lyra sneaks into a rickety shack. The child’s asleep beside a candle. Lyra tucks in a blanket, and spots a wanted poster on the wall. Her own face.
Reward: Dead or alive.
Her smile fades.
EXT. CITY GATES – DAWN
Guards block the exit. She turns, the child stands behind them, tearful.
GUARD: She sold you out, thief. It's over.
The betrayal cuts deeper than any blade. She looks to the child and starts running. Lyra fights her way through, fast, desperate, precise, but the sheer number of guards overwhelms her.
They drag her down. Shackles snap around her wrists.
The child looks away.
INT. PRISON CELL – NIGHT
Lyra sits in darkness, bruised, bleeding, staring at the faint moonlight through iron bars.
She pulls a single locket from her pocket, a tiny drawing of her and the child. Torn in half.
She laughs quietly, but it sounds more like a sob.
LYRA (whisper): Guess I can't blame her. I would've done the same thing.
BACK TO PRESENT – FOREST CAMP
The fire burns low. The rain’s stopped, but the night feels heavier. Aleric, Ariadne, and Lyra sit in silence, their "ghosts" now sitting beside them.
Kael sharpens his blade in rhythm with the crackling wood. Hunter watches the sky. Soren, for once, doesn’t have a joke ready.
SOREN (quietly): ...Tonight was one hell of a night, to be honest.
A small moment of almost-laughter between them, short-lived but real.
ARIADNE (looking up at the stars): Maybe that’s what Stormfall really is. Not a place. Not a treasure. Just... the hope that it can bring people together through these journeys.
KAEL (under his breath): Then we’d better hope Nox never finds us. Cause it'll eat out all that hope.
A cold wind sweeps through the campfire. The flames flicker, for a second, the smoke shapes into a face. Watching.
SMASH CUT TO BLACK.
END OF EPISODE.