[Scene Opens: Southern Edge of the Wildlands – Morning Fog]
Arav and Elara stand before a wall of tangled trees — blackened bark, veined in red, with thorns like obsidian needles. No path. No light inside.
Elara (staring):
"This is it. The Forest of Thorns."
Arav (quietly):
"It looks alive."
Elara:
"It is. It remembers every soul that's entered. And every lie they told inside."
[The Compass spins wildly. Then… stops.]
Elara (tense):
"The shard is deep. Past the Whisper Hollow."
Arav (gripping sword):
"We don't stop until we reach it."
They step in.
The forest breathes.
---
[Scene: Deeper in the Forest – Daylight fades within minutes]
The further they walk, the more the light thins. Sunlight is a myth here. Only the dull red glow of the thorns.
The forest starts whispering.
Forest Voice 1 (in Arav's head):
"She will forget you. Like she forgot Zoran."
Forest Voice 2 (in Elara's head):
"He only needs you until the next shard. Then he'll leave… like everyone else."
Elara (stumbling):
"Did you… hear that?"
Arav (grim):
"They're lies."
Elara:
"Are you sure?"
They push on.
Thorns shift behind them. The forest reknits, hiding the path back.
---
[Scene: The Mirror Grove]
A small clearing appears — a pool of dark water in its center, still and silent.
Elara kneels beside it.
She looks in — and gasps.
Elara's Reflection (smiling cruelly):
"You should've left him to die."
Arav steps forward — sees his own reflection.
Arav's Reflection (whispering):
"She loved your brother more. She still does."
Arav (clenching fists):
"This place feeds on doubt. Don't listen."
Suddenly, thorny vines shoot from the trees and wrap around Arav's legs.
Elara (screaming):
"Arav!"
She grabs her dagger and slices the vines.
But the pool is no longer still — it's boiling.
From it, a creature rises — shaped like Arav, but with burning eyes and a mouth that bleeds black mist.
---
[Scene: Battle with the Hollow Form]
The Hollow Arav lunges.
Elara:
"That's not you! That's what the forest wants you to become!"
Arav (dodging):
"Then I'll show it I'm more than my guilt!"
He strikes.
But the creature mirrors every move.
Elara closes her eyes.
Elara (softly):
"You said you remember your mother's lullaby… even if it's fading."
She hums.
The melody drifts through the grove.
The creature falters.
Elara:
"Sing it, Arav. Even if you make it up now."
Arav (breathing hard):
"I… can't remember…"
Elara (firmly):
"Then create a new one. With me."
He closes his eyes.
He hums.
And in that moment — the creature dissolves into black ash.
The forest shudders… but does not collapse.
---
[Scene: The Whisper Hollow]
Further in, the trees grow taller, thinner, more skeletal. Here, every whisper they speak is twisted.
They pass a dead traveler, tangled in thorns — his journal still open.
> "I forgot her name. I forgot why I came. The trees took my truth."
Elara (cold):
"If we stay too long… we forget each other."
Arav (quietly):
"Then let's speak our truth now."
Elara:
"I love you. Not because you're a warrior. Not because you saved me. I love you because you let me see your wounds."
Arav (voice rough):
"And I love you because you never ran… even when you should've."
They kiss — soft and brief — before the forest can take that memory too.
---
[Scene: The Heart of the Forest – Thorn Throne]
At the center lies the shard — floating above a massive twisted throne made of thorns.
The price?
One memory they both share.
Forever erased.
A voice (from the throne):
"One shared memory must be sacrificed. Only then will the shard release."
Arav (tense):
"We don't have many left."
Elara (determined):
"We give it the first time we kissed."
Arav (startled):
"No—"
Elara (firmly):
"We'll make new firsts."
They step forward. The throne pulses. A thorn pierces both their palms.
Their memory of that first kiss — the cave after the fire, the touch of trembling lips — vanishes.
The shard drops.
They catch it. Together.
---
[Scene: Escape]
The moment the shard is claimed, the forest howls.
Branches whip. Roots rise. But this time — the compass glows bright red.
A burst of light surrounds them.
They are flung out — into sunlight.
---
[Scene: Cliffside Outside the Forest – Night]
They lie together, breathing hard, bleeding.
Elara (dizzy):
"Did we get it?"
Arav (holding the glowing shard):
"Yes."
But something's missing.
They look at each other.
Something…
Forgotten.
---
[Scene: Elsewhere – The Hollow Table]
The chained woman nods.
Chained Woman:
"They gave up a kiss… but the next shard will ask for a name."
Shadowed Leader:
"Then we will watch them forget what binds them… one truth at a time."
---
End of Chapter 29
Next Chapter: Chapter 30 – The Temple Without a Name
> Arav and Elara travel to a sacred site lost to time, where no one remembers who they were — and the only way to enter is to forget who you are.