### ** sinner **
** [scene: Clearing forest - before dawn] **
*(The wind is crushed by trees carrying the last whisper of Isolde's presence. Elara stands motionless, Isolde's words still repeated in her mind. Dlumil.)*)*) **)*) **) **) **) **) **) **) **) **) **) **)*
** Lucian: ** (quietly) "Elara…"
** Elara: ** (Whispering) "comes for me."
** serraphine: ** (lifting the eyebrows) "Well, it was*obliged to become sooner or later. The villains tend to have taste for dramatic entrances."
** Lucian: ** (warning) "Serraphine".
** serraphine: ** (Innocent) "What? I just say."
*(Elara takes a deep breath, his hands clenched into his fist. She lifts her view of Luciana and set out to blink in her blue eyes.)*
** Elara: ** (firm) "I need answers."
** Lucian: ** (nod) "Then we get them."
** serraphine: ** (grinning) "I love good hunting information. We do it in an easy way or*fun*on the way?"
** Elara: ** (looks at her) "Define*fun*."
** seraphine: ** (playful) "Oh, you know.
** Lucian: ** (dry) "We take*easy*way."
** seraphine: ** (false disappointment) "boring".
* (Elara ignores them, her mind race. If her father really returned, then she needed to know why* - and what's more important, how to stop him.)*
** Elara: ** (determined) "Silver Guard Order. They were those who fought against my father, right?"
** Lucian: ** (nod) "Yes. My predecessor led charges."
** serraphine: ** (grinning) "And they*really*don't like people with cursed blood lines. You'll be*so popular."
** Elara: ** (ignores it) "Where are they now?"
** Lucian: ** (hesitating) "scattering. After the fall of the kingdom of your father, the order was hidden. Some believe they still act in secret and prepare in case the darkness ever rises again."
** seraphine: ** (tilts her head) "which is fair, exactly what's going on."
** Elara: ** (thinking) "Then we have to find them."
** Lucian: ** (grim) "Maybe you may not welcome you."
** Elara: ** (calmly) "I don't care."
*(Lucian studies her for a while before sigh.)*
** Lucian: ** (reluctantly) "Maybe I know someone who can lead us to them."
** serraphine: ** (grinned) "Oh, it should be*fun*."
** Elara: ** (Look at Lucian) "Who?"
*(Lucian hesitates before the answer.)*
** Lucian: ** (clenched teeth) "My father."
*(Silence.)*
** serraphine: ** (grinning) "Oh, I love*family meeting."
** Elara: ** (Carefully) "Help us?"
** Lucian: ** (grim) "There will be no choice."
---
** [scene: Fortress on cliffs - midnight] **
*(Fortress emerges forward, built into jagged cliffs overlooking the sea. Air is thick salt and tension when these three get towards gates. They flash along the stone walls and cast long shadows.)*
** serraphine: ** (whistling) "nice place. Very*welcomes*."
** Lucian: ** (quietly) "Stay close. Guards are under strict commands."
** Elara: ** (lifting eyebrows) "Strict orders to do what?"
*(Before Lucian can answer, open gates creaking.
*(Lord Aldric. Lucian's father.)*
** Aldric: ** (cold) "Lucian."
** Lucian: ** (firm) "Father."
** Aldric: ** (View of Ela) "A*This*must be Forsaken Princess."
*(Elara solidifies on the title but meets his view without a crack.)*
** Elara: ** (calmly) "I need answers."
** Aldric: ** (lifting your eyebrows) "And why would I help you*?"
** Lucian: ** (clenched teeth) "Because if the sinner returns, then*you have*."
*(Flashing something - maybe the Code - covers Aldric's face, but it's immediately gone. He studies Elara, his look illegible.)*
** Aldric: ** (slow) "inside. Now."
*(Watching it into the fortress, through stone corridors lined with ancient banners of silver guards. Aldric leads them to a matt -lit chamber where maps and old scrolls cover tables.)*
** Aldric: ** (firm) "talk".
** Elara: ** (steadily) "Oracle showed me a vision. My father is not dead. Awaiting me*."
*(Aldric sorely exhales and rub his jaw.)*
** Aldric: ** (Mumble) "Damn it all."
** Lucian: ** (tense) "You knew."
** Aldric: ** (grim) "I provided myself. The darkness he dominated ... It has never been fully defeated."
** Elara: ** (demanding) "How do I stop him?"
** Aldric: ** (studying her) "You wear his blood. This means you also wear his curse."
** Lucian: ** (sharply) "What does that mean?"
** aldric: ** (quietly) "means the power that*it*did what it is… can be inside*."
*(Elarin breath catches. Instinctively touches the wrist where the skin persists under the skin.)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)
** Elara: ** (Whispering) "No…"
** serraphine: ** (grinning) "Well, that's dramatic."
** Lucian: ** (warning) "Serraphine".
** Aldric: ** (watching Ela) "You'll have to choose, princess. When time comes, you will accept your power ... or destroy it?"
*(Elara clenched his fists. The idea of controlling the same darkness as her father scares her. But if it's the only way to stop him ... What option does it have?)*
** Elara: ** (determined) "Then tell me how."
** Aldric: ** (nod) "There is a place. The ruins of the old kingdom. The answers you are looking for are there."
** Lucian: ** (tense) "So is*he*."
*(Followed by severe silence.)*
** serraphine: ** (grinning) "Oh, I*I love*road trips."
** Elara: ** (quietly) "Then we leave for dawn."
** [Continue…] **