Beyond Worlds, Beneath the Star God

[Scene 1 – The Village Beneath the Grasslands]

Morning came late to the village of Veora, nestled on the edge of the vast grasslands where Kun had first opened his eyes in this world.

Children chased wind-birds in the open fields. Farmers gathered dewfruits. Life, simple and fragile, carried on.

Then the sky cracked.

Not thunder.

A tear—ripped open by force.

From it descended six figures in obsidian armor, wreathed in cold flame. Their leader wore a wolf-shaped helm and held a banner marked with three downward-pointing eyes—the Heralds of Kael.

The villagers paused.

One brave man—Harun, the blacksmith—stepped forward.

"This is sacred ground. You don't belong here."

The lead Herald raised his hand.

Flame surged.

Harun turned to ash in mid-sentence.

Screams followed.

The attack began.

The Heralds moved with surgical cruelty—no wasted motion, no words. They weren't here to conquer.

They were here to erase.

---

[Scene 2 – Skygrave Cliffside]

Kun's hands trembled.

He had dropped to one knee, his eyes wide, jaw clenched.

> "They're there. I felt it."

Orlan froze. "Where?"

"Veora. They're attacking the village."

Elira's face went pale. "That's where you—"

"It's where I became me." Kun rose. "We have to go."

Rhea narrowed her eyes. "That's two days on foot."

Orlan pulled a scroll from his sleeve. "Not if we cheat."

He slapped the scroll to the ground. A runic circle of transposition flared beneath them.

Rhea cursed. "That's unstable!"

"I know!" Orlan shouted.

The spell triggered.

With a snap of wind and a howl of light, they vanished.

---

[Scene 3 – Village Center]

The old temple burned.

Statues of forgotten gods crumbled as a Herald dragged a child by the arm. The elder priestess, tears streaming down her face, begged on her knees.

The lead Herald—Maelis the Unseen—removed her helm.

She was beautiful. Pale, sharp-eyed, and utterly hollow.

"Kael sends his regards," she whispered, and brought down her dagger—

—only for it to meet steel.

Kun's blade blocked the strike mid-air, white-gold fire erupting in every direction.

Behind him, Elira rolled into a crouch, slashing a second Herald across the back. Rhea fired a bolt of silver energy into the air, catching a third off-guard. Orlan raised a wall of stone to shield the villagers.

Maelis hissed. "Starborn. I was hoping it would be you."

Kun's eyes burned.

"You came for ashes?" he said coldly.

"Then drown in fire."

---

[Scene 4 – Battle of Veora]

The clash was brutal.

Kun danced with fire, his blade a blur, now glowing with both gold and silver light. The villagers rallied behind his return. Even the frightened youths grabbed farming tools to defend their homes.

Elira fought like a storm—nimble, precise, unstoppable.

Rhea moved through shadows, striking at weak points, dismantling enemy formations.

Orlan—his face calm but fierce—used spells not to destroy, but to protect, keeping barriers up as villagers evacuated.

Maelis proved a fierce match. She wielded Noctis Flame shards, flickering with the power of forgetfulness. Her strikes made memories vanish—Elira briefly forgot her sword's name mid-fight, Orlan staggered with visions of lost days.

Then she faced Kun one-on-one.

Maelis: "You carry the sovereign fire."

Kun: "I carry all of it."

He unleashed his full force.

> Starfire Art: Blinding Requiem.

A burst of pure, memory-infused flame exploded outward—not to destroy, but to restore. Villagers remembered lost names. Children cried out the names of missing parents.

Maelis screamed.

Her own identity—the face Kael had given her—shattered.

And she ran.

The remaining Heralds followed, fleeing into a veil of shadow, vanishing without another word.

---

[Scene 5 – Aftermath]

The village smoldered.

Half of it had been lost.

But the other half stood.

Kun stood silently in front of the blacksmith's ashes.

A child approached him, holding a half-burned toy.

"Did we win?" she asked.

Kun looked at the horizon.

"No," he said softly. "But we didn't lose."

Rhea came up beside him. "They'll be back."

Kun nodded. "Let them."

He looked to the sky.

"The flame remembers. And so will we."