STORMERE
Season 1, Episode 5: "Destiny"
FADE IN:
EXT. VERITA OUTSKIRTS – DUSK
The fog rolls low across the valley. In the distance, the faint silhouette of Verita's (the kingdom's capital city) tall spires, faint gold lights flickering through mist. The group trudges along a muddy trail, weary but driven.
SOREN (grinning faintly): Almost there. Civilization. Food that doesn’t taste like mud.
LYRA (smirking): You mean you don’t like Ariadne’s “magically enhanced stew”?
ARIADNE (flat): It was edible. Mostly.
HUNTER (quietly): Don’t jinx it. Nothing’s been easy since we left home. Let's not celebrate too early.
Kael stops suddenly, scanning the horizon. His eyes narrow toward a crooked cabin tucked in the fog.
KAEL: That place might have some food or water. It's worth a look, right?
ALERIC: It's a cabin near the capital. I'm sure it's just a guard outpost. They'll have rations they can share with us. C'mon, let's move.
EXT. CABIN – NIGHT
VOICE (O.S.): You’ve come far, but the road ahead will demand more than strength. Come in and see what the future holds for you.
ALERIC: Okay... Maybe, it's not a guard outpost after all. It's looks like one of those fortune things.
The group exchanges wary looks.
SOREN: Let's go in. What's the worst that can happen?
They step inside.
INT. CABIN – CONTINUOUS
Dust dances in the candlelight. Shelves overflow with jars of herbs, bones, and star maps. A woman sits behind a table draped in silver cloth, the FORTUNE TELLER. Her eyes are clouded white, her expression calm, knowing.
FORTUNE TELLER: Sit. All of you. The threads of fate have waited long enough.
The group hesitates, then slowly forms a circle. She runs her hands over the cards and stones before her.
FORTUNE TELLER (to Soren): You hide your heart behind laughter, young wolf. But the dream you chase will cost you everything.
Soren’s smirk falters.
FORTUNE TELLER (to Lyra): You steal what you need to survive. But love, true love, will be stolen from you in return.
Lyra shifts uncomfortably. Hunter glances at her.
FORTUNE TELLER (to Hunter): Your kindness is your weapon... and your curse. The hand you extend will be the one that bleeds first.
Hunter’s jaw tightens.
FORTUNE TELLER (to Ariadne): The dead whisper your name, sorceress. Soon, they’ll speak it louder, and they’ll want answers.
Ariadne’s eyes widen, just slightly.
FORTUNE TELLER (to Aleric): You carry ghosts wrapped in that steel sword of yours. The past you flee from will rise, and when it does, you will betray all you love.
Aleric doesn’t react, but his hand curls around his sword.
FORTUNE TELLER (to Kael): And you… the lost soul. Your destiny is covered in fog. But at the end of all things... it will make sense. Every lie, every wound, every death.
Kael’s expression darkens.
The fortune teller exhales, exhausted, as if the prophecy itself drained her.
FORTUNE TELLER (weakly): Now go. The stars are shifting. The capital waits... and so does your destiny.
EXT. CABIN – LATER
The group exits in silence. Only the sound of wind. Lyra walks beside Hunter, the two steal glances at each other.
LYRA (softly, teasing): Guess you’re doomed to die for being too nice. How tragic.
HUNTER (half-smiling): There's worst ways to go. Helping you and Soren and the group does seem a nice way to go, I guess.
She looks at him, surprised by the honesty, then quickly looks away.
SOREN (calling from ahead): Stop flirting around and move it! We’ve still got a city to reach. And I rather not see my brother attempting "flirting" anymore. That was painful.
They all laugh.
They walk into the fog, Verita’s towers glimmering faintly ahead, beautiful, haunting.
As they vanish down the trail, the cabin lights flicker out one by one.
Inside, the fortune teller’s chair is empty. Only her voice lingers, faint, almost carried by the wind:
FORTUNE TELLER (V.O.): Destiny doesn’t lie... it's coming.
FADE OUT.
END OF EPISODE.