Part 21
(Aryan 27 – The quiet year. The throne begins to eat itself.)
FADE IN:
INT. SPIRE – PRIVATE CHAMBER – DEEP NIGHT
Only one candle. Flame ordinary orange. Aryan sits on floor — back to wall, knees drawn up like the boy who once fixed hares.
No crown. No cloak. Just tunic stained with old sweat and older blood.
In his fist: a small, cracked locket — the one Kavya wore the night he was born. Inside: one silver strand of her hair, one gold thread from Vikrant's old battle braid.
He closes fist tight. Knuckles white.
ARYAN (inner voice)
Why does holding the past feel heavier than ruling the present?
He opens hand. Hair and thread lie still. No power answers.
A soft knock.
Captain enters — hesitant, older now.
CAPTAIN
High Custodian…
The eastern mines report sabotage again.
Not rebels this time.
Miners themselves.
They're… singing old lullabies while they work.
The ones your mother used to hum.
Aryan's fist tightens again. Locket creaks.
ARYAN
Let them sing.
Captain waits. Expects fire. Gets nothing.
CAPTAIN
They say… the Awakener has gone quiet.
They think you're dying.
Aryan looks up. Gold eyes duller — almost human.
ARYAN
Maybe I am.
Captain leaves. Door closes soft.
Aryan presses locket to forehead.
ARYAN (inner voice, whisper)
If I'm dying…
why does it feel like waking up?
FADE OUT.
Part 22
(Aryan 27 – The whisper campaign. Maya plants seeds of doubt in the tyrant's garden.)
FADE IN:
EXT. UNDERGROUND MARKET – NIGHT – TORCHES FLICKER
Crowded tunnels beneath the outer veins. Smugglers, deserters, widows, children.
Maya moves among them — hood low, voice low.
She stops at a cluster of miners. Holds up a small carved wooden hare — leg twisted wrong, then deliberately straightened.
MAYA
He fixed a hare once.
When he was six.
It died anyway.
But he tried.
Miners lean closer. Hungry for something other than gold.
MAYA
The Awakener isn't a god.
He's a boy who lost his parents.
Who learned to burn before he learned to grieve.
She places hare in old miner's palm.
MAYA
Pass it on.
Let them remember the child…
before they remember the king.
Miner closes fingers around hare. Eyes wet.
MINER
And if he hears?
MAYA
Then maybe he'll remember too.
She vanishes into shadow.
CUT TO:
INT. SPIRE – OBSERVATION BALCONY – SAME NIGHT
Aryan stands alone. Wind cold.
In distance: faint singing rises from mines — lullaby, fragile, defiant.
He closes eyes. Hears his mother's voice inside it.
ARYAN (inner voice)
Why does kindness hurt worse than betrayal?
He grips railing. Stone cracks under fingers — small, silent.
FADE OUT.
Part 23
(Aryan 28 – The trap within the trap. Ravan's last gift surfaces.)
FADE IN:
INT. VAULT – DAWN – DUST MOTES DANCE IN GOLD LIGHT
Aryan descends alone. Hasn't come here since the night he killed Ravan.
Tome still open. Pages untouched for years.
He places palm down — no flare this time. Just warmth.
A hidden compartment clicks open — small black box Ravan must have placed years ago.
Inside: one final vial. Darker than the others. Label in Ravan's hand:
"For when the bridge wants to forget."
Aryan uncorks it. Smells — bitter almonds, nightshade, memory.
He almost drinks.
Stops.
Pours it onto the tome instead.
Pages hiss. Ink runs. Words dissolve.
But one sentence survives — burned into the leather cover:
"The cruelest thing you can do to a monster… is show him he was once loved."
Aryan stares.
Fist clenches. Locket inside palm digs into skin — draws blood.
ARYAN (inner voice, raw)
You bastard.
Even dead… you still know how to twist the knife.
He walks out. Leaves vault open.
For the first time — no guards posted.
FADE OUT.
Part 24
(Aryan 28 – The night the singing stops. Emotion breaks the surface.)
FADE IN:
EXT. CENTRAL VALLEY – MIDNIGHT – FULL MOON ON GOLD VEINS
Aryan walks alone through empty paths. No cloak. No flame.
He reaches the place where the house once stood — hidden valley long since claimed by mines.
Only foundation stones remain.
He kneels. Touches one stone.
From shadows — Maya steps out. Alone. No weapon.
MAYA
You came.
ARYAN
You knew I would.
MAYA
The singing stopped tonight.
They're waiting to see what you do next.
Aryan looks up. Eyes wet — first time in years.
ARYAN
I don't know what to do next.
Maya kneels — distance between them. Not close. Not far.
MAYA
Then stop doing.
Just… be.
Aryan laughs — broken, small.
ARYAN
I don't remember how.
Maya reaches out. Slow. Places hand over his fist — the one still clutching locket.
MAYA
Then let someone remind you.
Aryan doesn't pull away.
Moonlight catches tear on his cheek — turns it silver and gold.
ARYAN (inner voice)
Why does letting go feel like falling forever?
He opens fist. Locket falls between them — open.
Hair and thread catch light.
Maya doesn't speak.
Neither does he.
They sit in silence.
Singing starts again — faint, distant, hopeful.
FADE OUT.
Part 25
(Aryan 29 – 25% of the end. The bridge begins to choose.)
FADE IN:
INT. SPIRE – THRONE ROOM – DAWN
Empty.
Aryan stands at throne — not sitting.
In hand: simple iron key to the vault.
He places it on seat.
Turns.
Walks out.
CUT TO:
EXT. LAND OF GOLD – RIDGE OVERLOOK – MORNING
Aryan stands at edge. Maya beside him — not touching. Just there.
Below: clans gathering. Not in fear. In curiosity.
ARYAN
I'm leaving the key on the throne.
Let them fight over it.
Or let them share it.
I don't care anymore.
MAYA
And you?
ARYAN
I'm going to find the boy who fixed the hare.
See if he's still in here somewhere.
He looks at her — really looks.
ARYAN
Come with me?
Maya smiles — small, real.
MAYA
Only if you promise not to burn anything for at least a week.
Aryan laughs — soft, surprised.
ARYAN
Deal.
They walk down the ridge together.
Behind them — first rays hit the spire.
Key glints on throne — waiting.
No one rushes to claim it.
Yet.
FADE OUT.(Aryan 29 – The slow bleed of memory. The throne room feels smaller every dawn.)
FADE IN:
INT. SPIRE – EMPTY THRONE ROOM – PRE-DAWN GRAY
The key still lies on the seat — untouched for weeks. Dust has begun to settle on it like forgiveness no one wants.
Aryan stands in the doorway. Hasn't entered fully in days.
He watches the key the way a man watches an old wound that refuses to scar.
ARYAN (inner voice)
I left it there so someone else could carry the weight.
Instead it keeps calling me back like a child I never wanted.
He steps forward — one step. Stops.
From the corridor behind: soft footsteps.
Maya appears. No hood. Hair loose. Eyes tired but steady.
She doesn't speak. Just stands beside him.
Together they look at the key.
MAYA
You haven't touched it.
ARYAN
If I touch it… I might not let go again.
Maya reaches out — slow — and brushes his knuckles with her fingertips.
No flame answers. No power surges.
Just skin on skin.
MAYA
Then don't touch it.
Touch this instead.
She turns his hand over. Places her palm against his.
Aryan stares at their joined hands like they belong to strangers.
A single tear escapes — falls onto their fingers. Turns the dust dark.
ARYAN (inner voice, cracking)
Why does something this small feel like it could break me more than any blade ever did?
He doesn't pull away.
They stand like that until the first gold light creeps through the high windows.
The key remains alone.
FADE OUT.
Part 27
(Aryan 29 – The lullaby returns. This time it hurts deeper.)
FADE IN:
EXT. MINER'S QUARTER – TWILIGHT – LANTERNS SWAY
Children sit in a ragged circle. An old woman — face carved by years and aurum dust — sings the lullaby Kavya once sang to Aryan.
The same melody. The same words.
Aryan watches from the edge of shadow. Hidden. Unseen.
One small girl (maybe 5) holds a wooden hare exactly like the one Maya once carried.
She rocks it. Hums along.
Aryan's breath catches.
He steps closer — against every instinct.
The old woman notices. Stops singing.
Children turn. Eyes wide.
The little girl stands. Walks straight to him.
Holds out the hare.
LITTLE GIRL
You look sad.
Want to hold him?
He doesn't die when I fix him.
Aryan kneels. Takes the toy.
Fingers tremble.
He turns it over. Sees the leg — deliberately broken, then glued crooked.
ARYAN (soft, almost not his voice)
You fixed him anyway.
LITTLE GIRL
Yeah.
Because he's mine.
Aryan closes his eyes.
A sob escapes — small, choked, ancient.
He presses the hare to his chest.
The old woman starts singing again — softer.
Children join.
Aryan doesn't move.
Tears track clean lines through the dust on his face.
ARYAN (inner voice, shattered)
I killed so many so no one could ever hurt me again.
And this child just handed me the only thing that ever could.
Maya appears at the edge of the crowd. Watches.
Doesn't interrupt.
The lullaby ends.
The little girl pats Aryan's knee.
LITTLE GIRL
It's okay to cry.
My ma says even mountains leak sometimes.
Aryan opens his eyes.
Looks at her — really looks.
Then — slowly — hands the hare back.
ARYAN
Keep fixing him.
She smiles. Bright. Fearless.
Aryan stands.
Walks past the crowd.
Maya falls in beside him.
Neither speaks.
Behind them: the lullaby starts again — quieter, warmer.
FADE OUT.
Part 28
(Aryan 30 – The decision. The bridge chooses to burn — but not everything.)
FADE IN:
INT. SPIRE – THRONE ROOM – MIDNIGHT
Aryan stands before the throne.
The key is gone.
In its place: a single white flame — small, steady, no larger than a child's fist.
He watches it dance.
ARYAN
I thought power was the only thing that couldn't leave me.
The flame flickers — almost answers.
ARYAN
I was wrong.
He reaches out.
Covers the flame with both hands.
It doesn't burn him.
It simply… fades.
Darkness.
He exhales — long, shuddering.
Turns.
Maya waits in the doorway. Holding the locket — open.
She walks to him.
Places it around his neck.
MAYA
You don't have to be the Awakener anymore.
ARYAN
Then who am I?
MAYA
Aryan.
Simple.
Devastating.
He pulls her close.
First real embrace in decades.
No power flares.
No gold veins pulse.
Just two people breathing in the same small space.
ARYAN (inner voice, quiet)
I spent my life running from weakness.
I never knew it could feel this strong.
They stand there.
The throne behind them — empty, ordinary, small.
FADE OUT.
Part 29
(Aryan 30 – The morning after. The land begins to forget the tyrant.)
FADE IN:
EXT. LAND OF GOLD – RIDGE – DAWN
Aryan and Maya walk down the path — no guards, no cloaks of office.
Children run past — laughing.
Miners wave — not in fear, not in awe. Just… recognition.
One old miner stops. Nods.
OLD MINER
Saw you cry last night.
Good sign.
Means you're still human.
Aryan smiles — small, crooked, real.
ARYAN
Trying to be.
They keep walking.
Behind them: no one kneels.
No one bows.
The golden veins glow softer — less hungry.
MAYA
Where to now?
ARYAN
Somewhere quiet.
Somewhere I can learn how to fix things… without breaking them first.
Maya takes his hand.
They disappear into morning mist.
FADE OUT.