SONGS OF WAR Season 3 Episode 1

SEASON 3, EPISODE 1

The scene opens in The Great War, but unlike the Season 1 opening, it does not cut away. The battle rages on.

The camera moves in and begins following a Netharan in the action, and he witnesses the Nether king, Chronos, rally the army.

Just then, an Enderdragon flies overhead and kills the Wither nearby. The Wither falls to the ground dead. Chronos hurries over to the Wither, and puts his hand on it, saddened by its death.

The Enderdragon lands, and the Enderking, King Rendor, dismounts.

Enderblade against Netherblade, the two kings fight. Rendor gets the upper hand and knocks Chronos down.

The Netharan that the scene had initially been following runs out from the crowd towards Chronos, but stops as Chronos puts up a hand.

Chronos staggers back up as Rendor beats him down again. Rendor is about to kill Chronos when suddenly a blur of energy erupts between them and the Deathsinger appears. He quickly fights back Rendor and attacks the Enderdragon.

While they are confused, he picks up Chronos. As he turns to leave, the Enderdragon breathes fire onto his back, burning him despite his attempt at shielding himself with another Song. He quickly warps away to safety with Chronos, and now the Nether army closes in on Rendor, who mounts his dragon and flies up over the crowd, then swoops down and ignites a lot of the Nether army as well as some Voltaris.

The Deathsinger watches as some Voltaris burn, then looks up to see Rendor pointing his sword down at the Deathsinger threateningly, then flies off.

The Netharan hurries over to Chronos, and the scene fades to later. Voices can finally be heard, slowly fading in and sounding echoey and out of focus.

CHRONOS

I won’t have the rest of my people slaughtered fighting thismeaningless war, Ingressus.

DEATHSINGER

We have an alliance, Chronos. If you break that agreement we will both perish.

CHRONOS

We cannot defeat the combined strength of the Enderknights, the six kingdoms, and the Ardoni. We mustretreat.

Suddenly a Pythus’ voice breaks in.

PYTHUS

If we retreat, you will bring shame upon our lineage and draw question upon your right to the crown.

Chronos considers it for a moment.

CHRONOS

I would rather save the lives of our people, and of you Pythus, and you Vulcannus…

Chronos addresses the viewer directly, and it shows the Netharans acknowledging. Pythus looks angry still, and grips his axe tightly.

Fades into the Nether. Vulcannus is alone in a throne room. He turns around again and sees Pythus confronting Chronos on the throne, a few Netharans and Wither skeletons behind him.

Suddenly Pythus stabs Chronos, and Vulcannus wakes from his dream abruptly.

VULCANNUS

*gasps awake*

Vulcannus stops and looks around him. The music is quiet and slightly foreboding.

He gets out of bed and walks across the room. He passes a sleeping baby Ghast, who opens her eyes and looks up at Vulcannus passing.

Vulcannus walks out onto the balcony, and the camera slides back revealing Crown Peak.

The city is full of lava, netherrack, and wither skeletons patrol the streets.

Scene moves around between various cities of Ardonia. All the capitals are in equally bad states (except Tartarus which isn’t shown.)

Shows some people being ushered through nether portals and being taken into the nether to work as slaves and mine for ores.

Back to crown peak, Deathsinger walks up the stairs leading to the throne, and stops before Pythus, who is with a few other Nether soldiers.

PYTHUS

I now sit upon the throne of not only one… but two dimensions. Once I have had my fun with the Overworld and expunged whatever resources it has to offer me, I think I will visit the End. I will conquer that dimension as well and defeat the girl who calls herself “queen.”

DEATHSINGER

I am pleased to know that you have everything we agreed upon.

PYTHUS

Oh I have a lot more than what we agreed… but you? Still only two Prime Songs. You know I could help you, but the sooner you get the Prime Songs, the sooner you’ll no longer need my help…and what then?

Pythus looks up at Deathsinger, who squints as he tries to detect if Pythus is questioning their allegiance.

DEATHSINGER

I assure you, King Pythus, I have no desire to sit on thrones or to rule Ardonia.

Pythus stands up from the throne and paces around.

PYTHUS

Of course not! That’s what they all say… until they’ve been given a taste of power. I like you Ingressus, you’re wiser than most,but do not mistake this alliance as even the slightest form of friendship.

Pythus returns to his throne. Deathsinger turns to leave to avoid further argument.

Cuts to the Redstone Academy. Wither skeletons guard the area, and for the most part it’s empty.

An engineer is working on a large redstone contraption in the lower levels of the academy. He’s flipping switches and running redstone wires everywhere.

He stops for a moment to gauge his work. A Wither Skeleton approaches to inspect his work.

FREDRIC

Uh yeah you might not want to touch that! It’s very expensive and you might damage it. Oh and it also might kill you.

The Wither Skeleton stops and backs up to his position guarding. As he does that, a few Skeletons hurry past, and the Wither Skeleton follows. Fredric is left alone.

FREDRIC

Uh, does this mean I’m free to go?

Fredricmoves to the top of the Redstone Academy. The Wither Skeletons are formed up behind the main door.

Suddenly a bang is heard on the outside of the door. All the skeletons are tense.

Another bang. Fredric is looking worried and squats down for cover.

Another bang, and the lock holding the door falls to the floor with a clang, and the doors slide open.

Light pours in and the skeletons shield their eyes from the light. The doors opening reveal Hubris and Grek.

Hubris fires a volley of energized projectiles from a Song, and Grek rushes in after the confusion and begins hacking away at the Wither skeletons.

Hubris cuts a Wither skeleton’s arm off, but it continues to fight.Grek turns from where he is fighting as he notices Hubris struggling.

GREK

Hubris, you gotta go for their weak spots!

Hubris fights a bit more and stabs it through the ribs which does nothing.

Grek is fighting with his back to his enemies, more focused on watching Hubris. He manages to take at least two Wither Skeletons down.

GREK

The weak spots Hubris.

HUBRIS

They’re skeletons, Grek! They don’t have any weak spots!

The Wither Skeleton knocks Hubris down and back. Hubris grabs his sword to defend himself as the Wither Skeleton is about to strike him.

Suddenly Greks hands can be seen ripping the skeleton’s head off.

GREK

This seems to always do the trick for me.

He holds the head up as the body falls over limp. He then tosses the head at a nearby skeleton who was attempting to get back up, injured. The skeleton plops back down. Grek holds his hand down to help Hubris back up.

HUBRIS

Ria’s going to kill us when she finds what we’ve done.

GREK

You mean she’s going to kill you. It was your idea to go against her orders and sneak out on this secret mission.

HUBRIS

And you came along.

GREK

Only because I knew you’d need my help.

Grek pats Hubris’ back.

HUBRIS

Just help me find the engineers.

Hubris picks back up his weapon as the fight ends. Fredricreveals himself on the edge of the balcony and looks down at them.

FREDRIC

If you’re looking for engineers you’ve come to the right place! Well- actually you didn’t… because the Nether came first and took everyone- everyone but me that is.

They speak to Fredric as he approaches them.

HUBRIS

We heard the Deathsinger is attempting to create a redstone device to locate Prime Songs.

FREDRIC

Technically the Deathsinger isn’t creating any such device… I’m sure he doesn’t even know how to wire a piston to a lever.

HUBRIS

But a device is being made… is it not?

FREDRIC

Only an experienced engineer like myself could create such a device. My name’s Fredric, I was top of my class here at the Redstone Academy.

Hubris glances towards the entrance.

HUBRIS

We’re not here to stay. Are you able to take the device with you?

FREDRIC

Do you have any idea how large a triple T-flipflop hexadecimal redstone gyroscopic triangulator is?

GREK

Look kid, we don’t know anything about your triangle redstonating whatever, but we need to leave with it now.

FREDRIC

Alright… uh… I suppose wecan just extract the core and rebuild the rest later.A lot of work down the drain…

HUBRIS

Hurry then. We’ll prepare for our departure.

Fredric hurries back into the Redstone Academy. Hubris and Grek walk towards the door.

GREK

Still think this mission was a good idea?

HUBRIS

It’s for the best, whether the Captain agrees or not.

Grek squints into the distance as they stand outside the academy.

HUBRIS

What is that?

GREK

What is what?

HUBRIS

Something’s coming.

GREK

What’s coming?

HUBRIS

You don’t see it? I thought Jags had good eyesight?

GREK

Hubris, we don’t need to see beyond the reach of our sword to kill an enemy.

Hubris keeps looking, then gets worried.

HUBRIS

It’s a Wither! Get back inside!

They hurry back inside as Fredric returns from the depths of the academy carrying a strange compass.

FREDRIC

I brought the core, but it still needs more work.

HUBRIS

No time, there’s a Wither coming- we have to leave now. Is there any other way out of the Academy?

FREDRIC

Not any more, the Nether sealed the subterranean railroad to prevent us from escaping.

Hubris turns towards the opening. He looks frustrated and determined.

HUBRIS

Go- now!

They all hurry outside and dash towards the nearby trees. They stop behind them once there and catch their breath.

FREDRIC

*catching breath*

The Wither is shown behind them, passing between the trees, heading towards the Redstone Academy.

Hubris motions for them to follow, and they begin sneaking away. One of the Wither’s three heads turns towards them, and the Wither sees them and moves to attack.

GREK

What now?! We can’t kill a Wither, it’s too powerful!

HUBRIS

I thought you’d relish in the opportunity!

GREK

I mean I’d love to fight a Wither! I just… don’t want to… right now.

HUBRIS

Yeah whatever. I’m afraid we don’t have a choice. Come on!

Hubris fires his offensive song again which hurts the Wither slightly, who in turn fires a volley of projectiles back. Hubris evades them as Grek runs forward to attack.

The Wither backs up enough to evade Grek’s attack, then presses forward on Grek until Hubris attacks him from behind.

The Wither turns two of its three heads and begins attacking Hubris and Grek simultaneously.

Both are shrouded in a mist, and Hubris’ eyes dilate. Grek however appears unaffected by the Wither effect, and simply swats the mist away.

He turns to see Hubris looking at him, approaching.

GREK

What’s wrong with you?!

Hubris draws his sword up and prepares to attack Grek.

GREK

Great, now I gotta fight you too?!

Grek stands off against Hubris and the Wither skeleton, Fredric hiding at a safe distance behind. The Wither appears to be utilizing all of its focus on controlling Hubris, as it’s unable to fight at the same time.

They fight for a bit, then Grek knocks Hubris down.

GREK

Ha, I always knew I could beat you in a fight.

Hubris gets back up and continues to engage Grek.

GREK

Oh come on! It ain’t fair if I can’t kill you!

They continue fighting for a moment until a rumbling growl is heard, and an Enderdragon lands with a heavy thud on a nearby rock. Camera tilts up to reveal Thunderdome, with Denny on top. Denny draws his sword, and now faces off against the Wither, which releases Hubris.

The Wither rushes towards Thunderdome and fires a few projectiles, causing Thunderdome to jump off his rock and soar downwards to gain speed. The Wither pursues him.

Thunderdome is speeding between tall pines and plateaus, followed closely by the Wither who is continuously firing upon them.

Denny draws a bow and fires backwards at the Wither, injuring it. Thunderdome uses this to spin down and backwards and come upon the Wither from below, breathing fire at it. Denny slices it with his sword just after.

The Wither, now severely injured, begins backing up. Thunderdome sweeps forward, but a volley of projectiles hits Thunderdome and knocks Denny off.

Thunderdome dives down and catches Denny as another volley approaches. Thunderdome raises his wing around Denny to protect him from the volley.

Thunderdome looks up, angry, and charges towards the Wither. Another volley narrowly misses Thunderdome as he flies overhead and grabs onto the Wither with his hind legs, ripping two of its three heads off. The Wither skeleton howls in pain and begins flying away. Thunderdome swoops down and grabs Denny as they pursue it. Denny fires another arrow which hits the Wither’s final head in the center, killing it with a loud burst of energy as a Nether star falls from the sky.

Thunderdome flies beneath the Nether star and Denny catches it.

Back to Hubris and Grek.Grek helps Hubris up and he looks around.

HUBRIS

Wh- what happened…?

GREK

Not much. We fought eachother… I won… as expected. What happened to you?

Thunderdome lands nearby with Denny on top. Hubris and Grek turn towards them.

HUBRIS

We owe you our thanks Abbigail, but before you reprimand us for-

Denny takes his helmet off, not really noticing Hubris’ mistake, and speaks to them.

DENNY

You guys alright? You could have gotten yourselves killed!

Grek snickers and nudges Hubris.

GREK

*snicker* Hey Hubris, who needs better eyesight now?

HUBRIS

I assumed it was Abbigail…

GREK

Abbigail’s the one with the long hair.

Hubris ignores Grek’s pestering.

HUBRIS

Denny, did Ria send you?

DENNY

What? No, I was heading to Felora before the attack- figured I’d take a detour and see if you two were alright.

Grek and Hubris look at eachother.

HUBRIS

The attack?! Already?

GREK

I don’t suppose you can give us a ride back?

Denny puts his helmet back on.

DENNY

Hey, you guys got yourself into this, you can make the trip back!

With that, Thunderdome flies off, and the scene cuts to Felden.

A convoy of humans are being escorted into the city. They pass through a zone of clear-cut forest, which has been replaced by pools of lava and netherrack.

The camera pans back to reveal Lucan and Niika watching.

NIIKA

*quietly* This is the third convoy this week.

LUCAN

*quietly* And it’s about to be the last.

Lucan confidently starts climbing out of cover towards the convoy until Niika grabs his shoulder and pulls him back down.

NIIKA

*quietly* Lucan!

Lucan looks a bit sheepish. They watch as the convoy passes through the gates, and Wither Skeletons begin scouting around.

NIIKA

Come on. We’ve seen enough for today.

She retreats into the woods, and Lucan follows.

They arrive in a clearing, and climb beneath the roots of a tree to reveal a small base they set up.

NIIKA

They must be herding people from the smaller towns into the capital cities. I’ve heard similar things happening in the other kingdoms.

LUCAN

Ya know, I’ve been thinking…

NIIKA

*teasing* Uh oh.

Lucan looks up, but Niika merely smiles.

LUCAN

I’ve been logically reasoning… the tunnels created by the Necromancers don’t show up on any charts. I bet the Nether don’t even know they exist. That could be our ticket in.

NIIKA

Oh, getting in won’t be a problem… at least not for me. But getting others out? The Nether will notice if we evacuate the entire city through a tunnel, secret or not.

Just then, they hear a roar. They hurry outside to see Thunderdome flying high above the treetops. A bright object falls from Thunderdome and Niika catches it, revealing the Nether star.

Lucan walks over and holds it as well.

LUCAN

This is our way out.

Cuts to Ataraxia. Hubris, Grek, and Fredric arrive. Thunderdome flies overhead and lands off to the side.

Ataraxia has changed drastically since before. It has become militarized and has served as the Knights of Ardonia’s operational base ever since the fall of the capitals.

They walk into the building with the most activity, and are pleased to see the majority of their friends and fellow knights greet them: Galleous, Senn, Abbigail, Ria, and many others. Luna’s head is peering down through a hole in the ceiling.

RIA

Where have you two been?! We were just about to leave for the strike without you.

HUBRIS

Captain, listen! I know you don’t agree, but none of our work will matter without the Prime Songs.

Ria waits for a moment, still angry, but decides not to scold them further.

RIA

Well… do you have them?

GREK

Err… no, but we have the person who might be able to find them.

They stand aside and reveal Fredric. Pause as he was tinkering with a redstone repeater. He looks up and notices everyone looking at him.

FREDRIC

Oh hi… I’m Fredric.

RIA

I hear you can locate the Prime Songs, Fredric?

FREDRIC

Well… not exactly, but I’m working on a device that can. However… it’s not quite finished. In addition,it requires at least one Prime Song to calibrate.

RIA

Finish your device,Fredric. If we find one of the two remaining Primes, perhaps you can help us locate the final. Welcome to the Knights of Ardonia.

FREDRIC

Thank you, ma’am.

Fredric bows slightly, then backs up to the edge of the circle. They continue talking as if they hadn’t been interrupted.

SENN

What about the other Ardoni clans?

VAL

A handful of Ardoni joined us, but for the most part the clans are determined to stay out of this war.

RIA

Cowards…I knew we couldn’t rely on them.

ABBIGAIL

Do you think we’ll have enough forces to take Meridian?

Ria turns towards the Tidesinger.

TIDESINGER

It is difficult to say, but this is the best opportunity we will ever have. Cydonia and K’arthen control the two largest armies of Ardonia. If we can unite them and control the beacon conduits, we could liberate a few capitals before the Nether has time to retaliate.

During the dialog, Grim walks over to Herobrine casually, and looks at him curiously. He slowly reaches out to poke him, but Herobrine turns towards him menacingly and Grim puts his hand behind is head as if he was just scratching himself innocently.

HUBRIS

And at that point, the Nether will have lost their hold. It will be easier to strike at other, less fortified, points.

TIDESINGER

Everything depends on the liberation of Meridian. Tomorrow is going to be a long battle, and it will not end there. You are all dismissed, sleep well tonight.

Camera moves in on the map focusing on Meridian. Cuts to outside, everyone is splitting off in their separate ways.

RIA

Goodnight Senn.

Ria waves towards Senn who answers back.

SENN

Sleep well, Ria.

Senn stands and watches Ria go. Suddenly Grek nudges his shoulder and stands beside him.

GREK

So you and the Captain, huh?

SENN

We’re just friends.

GREK

Friends don’t look at each other that way.

Senn fidgets shyly. Grek punches him on the shoulder again.

SENN

*quietly* Ow…

GREK

Come on kid. At least you have someone… I have yet to even meet another Jaggathan… much less a female… and even then she might not be interested in me…

Senn turns towards Grek slowly and surprised, never having really thought much about Grek’s emotional side before.

SENN

Grek… I’m sorry…

GREK

What? Aw it’s fine, Senn! After this war’s over maybe we’ll go on another adventure and find the rest of my kin.

Grek walks off.

SENN

Wouldn’t that be something…

                                     
Senn watches Grek leave, then looks back towards the room they just came from. Herobrine remains, motionless. A silent guardian over the city. He turns towards Senn, then smiles and nods slightly.

Back in the blacksmith, Galleous and the Tidesinger remain.The Tidesinger continues looking over the map, concerned.

GALLEOUS

Gazing over that map all night will not bring you any closer to victory.

The Tidesinger looks up to see Galleous lugging a weapon over to the forge.

GALLEOUS

You should get some sleep, Tidesinger.

TIDESINGER

I seldom sleep these days. I can rest when my work is done.

Galleous places the weapon in the forge and it lets out a sizzle.

GALLEOUS

You donot have to carry all this responsibility on your own. Ria has been leading and inspiring the troops, Abbigail has your side with the Enderknights, and I am always available to lend a hand.

TIDESINGER

And I am very grateful for your support. There are many brave hearts willing to stand up against evil- far more than in my day.

Galleous takes the sword over to an anvil and waits a moment before returning his gaze to the still-distracted Tidesinger.

GALLEOUS

Then what troubles you?

The Tidesinger continueslooking over the map.

TIDESINGER

A great many things… I am afraid. I feel the incessant strain of my Songs clawing at my strength- growing more painful every day. You are aware of this I am sure… Thalleous experienced much worse effects.

Galleous fidgets around with the weapon on the anvil.

GALLEOUS

One reason of many why I stopped teaching Songs.

TIDESINGER

There is also the mystery of Ingressus and how he has been able to elude me. We have seen very few Voltaris in our battles… and Ingressus himself has not been present since the Second Great War began.

GALLEOUS

Supposedly he is still fixated on finding the remaining two Prime Songs.Fortunately that should occupy him… assuming my brother hid them well.

Galleous activates his smithing Song and hammers on the weapon once or twice to correct an imperfection.

TIDESINGER

So long have I spent hunting Ingressus,yet every time we face… I am unsure of my intentions.

Galleous stops his work on the sword and looks over.

GALLEOUS

I hope you intend to kill him… I know of no other who can.

Tidesinger seems a bit uncomfortable and leaves.

TIDESINGER

At our next confrontation… I imagine we will find out.

Fades to one of the sleeping areas in Ataraxia. Masani is trying to sleep. Suddenly she’s rudely awoken by the sound of thumping above her head.

Onyx is on the other side punching the wall repeatedly trying to warm up for the battle tomorrow.

MASANI

Do you mind?!

Onyx stops beating the wall.

ONYX

Masani? I didn’t know you could raise your voice that loud.

Onyx stops beating the wall and goes to the floor and does pushups.

ONYX

Just warming up for tomorrow. I’m going to be around a lot of other Magnorites finally… I don’t want to look weak.

Masani rolls to the side and tries to get comfortable again. They’re in other rooms, but are within easy earshot.

ONYX

So why do you care about Felora so much?

MASANI

That’s none of your business.

Onyx stops doing pushups, goes over to the wall, and leans against it with his back to it.

ONYX

Do you want to know why I’m really warming up? It’s because I’m not the tough Magnorite I pretend to be. I was actually the weakest of my pack… the omega as we call them. I left them because they held me back, and I figured I could strengthen myself better on my own. That’s where Ria found me… just punching away at a house… no wonder humans hate us Magnorites. *chuckle*

Onyx waits for a moment as he thinks about this.

MASANI

I don’t care for Felora… only a person living there: Lira. I haven’t seen her in so long… I don’t even know if she’s still alive.

ONYX

Why haven’t you gone back?

MASANI

Because I was banished from Felden. This will be my first chance back in…

Onyx waits a moment longer, then gets up and moves to the far wall as he realizes she’s going to say no more.

ONYX

Well… I hope you find her again.

He starts punching the far wall to warm up again, when suddenly Grek’s voice calls out.

GREK

Onyx! Don’t make me come over there!

Music rises and it cuts to the morning. Everyone is gathering weapons and putting out temporary fires.

They gather to the edge of Ataraxia and prepare to march out. They line up and pose before the Tidesinger gives the signal to march on, and the army moves out.

Camera pans back revealing the large force heading towards Meridian.

To be continued.