Ashborne – Episode 4: "The Choir of Blades"
Dark Fantasy / Action / Dialogue Script Format
📍**[EXT. BLACK WASTES – NIGHT]**
[Kael and Ira move through the jagged remains of a battlefield. The sky churns with unnatural clouds. Scars in the earth glow faintly — leftovers of divine warfare.]
IRA(shivering)"This place… it feels like it remembers pain."
KAEL(eyes scanning the horizon)"It should. A thousand cursed died here to kill one saint."
[He stops. Kneels. Brushes dirt away from a half-buried helm. It's scorched, cracked — still humming with residual malice.]
IRA"You fought here?"
KAEL(quiet)"No one fought here. We survived long enough to call it a fight."
📍**[EXT. NEARBY RIDGE – SAME TIME]**
[Figures dressed in ritualistic armor—slim, silent, perfect formation. Each wears a smiling porcelain mask. They move like shadows. Thirteen total.]
CHOIR COMMANDER(whispers)"Eyes on the Ashborne. Blade hymn begins in thirteen."
CHOIR (in unison, soft)"O Ashborne, cursed of ash and flame… we come to collect your name."
📍**[EXT. BATTLEFIELD CENTER – MOMENTS LATER]**
[Kael pauses. His hand twitches toward Ashbreaker.]
KAEL"They're here."
IRA"Who?"
KAEL(grim)"Assassins. The Choir. Each one's a curse given flesh."
[A dagger hits the dirt inches from Kael's boot.]
CHOIR VOICE (from nowhere)"Ashborne. Relinquish the Oracle and be unmade with honor."
KAEL(cracking his neck)"I forgot how dramatic you guys were."
📍**[COMBAT SEQUENCE – "THE BLADE HYMN"]**
[The Choir moves as one. Their blades sing when drawn — literally. Sound-based curses erupt with every motion. One leaps for Kael — he blocks the blade, but the note behind it throws him back.]
IRA(covering her ears)"Their blades sing—!"
KAEL(picking himself up)"They call it the Hymn. Each strike's a verse."
[He twists Ashbreaker in his hand. It hums back — disharmonious and deep.]
ASHBREAKER (within)(growling)"Let me ruin the melody."
[Kael grins.]
KAEL"Go ahead."
📍**[THE BATTLE – FAST, DEADLY, CHAOTIC]**
[Kael meets the Choir head-on. One goes for Ira — the orb blinks, and a ripple of anti-sound shreds their mask mid-strike.]
[Kael moves like a storm — disarming one, disemboweling another. But they're coordinated. One Choir member stabs him through the side. He doesn't flinch.]
CHOIR MEMBER(shocked)"...You should be dead."
KAEL(eye twitching)"Yeah. I get that a lot."
[He headbutts them into the dirt.]
📍**[EXT. EDGE OF THE FIELD – LATER]**
[Only Kael, Ira, and two remaining Choir members stand.]
CHOIR COMMANDER(calm)"You protect the girl. But she is already lost. Hollow Reign is blooming."
[The orb pulses violently. Ira stumbles, grabbing her chest.]
IRA (strained)"Kael—! I can't hold it—!"
[Kael stands over her. Blood running down his side. The Choir closes in.]
KAEL(whispering to Ira)"When I say 'drop' — you drop. Got it?"
IRA"...Got it."
[Kael turns to the Choir.]
KAEL (loudly)"Hey. Choir boys."
[The sky rumbles.]
KAEL"Time for an encore."
📍**[INT. BURNED ORACLE SANCTUARY – FLASHBACK]**
[A much younger Kael, bleeding, standing before a chained girl. The orb is smaller then — newer. Her voice echoes.]
YOUNG IRA(distant)"Promise me… if it wakes… you'll end it."
YOUNG KAEL"...I promise."
📍**[BACK TO PRESENT — SILENCE]**
[Kael drops his blade. The ground beneath them erupts in ashfire. Choir members scream as the flames consume everything in a spiral.]
[Kael grabs Ira, shielding her with his cloak as the hymn burns to static.]
📍**[AFTERMATH – FIELD OF SMOKE]**
[Ira coughs, still shaking.]
IRA(soft)"You promised."
KAEL(quietly)"I remember."
📍**[INT. BLACK CITADEL – SAME TIME]**
[A figure in bone robes approaches a massive chained door. Beyond it, something breathes.]
HOODED FIGURE"They've killed the Choir. Shall we release the next?"
ELDER VOICE (booming)"No. Not yet."
[The chained door begins to crack open on its own.]
ELDER VOICE (cont'd)"It heard her voice."
To be continued…