Darkling Woods (chapter)/Script

Chapter Narration
''According to legend, the Sacred Stones have sealed evil away from the world. Four of the five stones have been destroyed, leaving only the last stone intact. The last stone must be protected to stave off the Demon King's restoration. Eirika/Ephraim and company challenge the demons of Darkling Woods. According to legend, the original possessors of the Sacred Stones defeated the Demon King in Darkling Woods. His foul blood seeped into the land, corrupting every seed and every root. The once-pristine forest was transformed by the flood of disease and venom. Legend says the Demon King's corpse lies there still, not dead but dreaming. Dreaming of when the last stone is crushed, and he will rise from his bed of rocks and worms and return to the surface. Within Darkling Woods, hideous fiends roam in increasing numbers, as if responding to some unheard call...''

Opening Scene (Ephraim's Route)
(Scene opens in Darkling Woods) (Scene transition to Ephraim's group) (Scene transition to Lyon and Riev by the Black Temple)
 * Lyon: ...The time grows near.
 * Morva: ...Hold.
 * Lyon: Huh?
 * Morva: What are you doing here, human? You should return to your own kind. This is no place for you to tread. This is darkness's domain... This is desecrated land.
 * Lyon: That's why I've come. I have the power of the Demon King. I will save us all.
 * Morva: You... Evil grips your heart... No--you've given your heart to evil.
 * Lyon: .......
 * Morva: What a tragedy... Human flesh cannot contain the demon. It cannot control him. You think yourself safe, but already, your control slips. I see the madness eating at you. I see the beginning of the end.
 * Lyon: You're wrong. This... Ah...urg... I do this of my own will... I will save Grado's people.
 * Morva: .......
 * Lyon: I had a vision. I saw my life traveling two roads. Down one, the Demon King conquers both my body and soul. Down the other, I master the Demon King, and with that power...urg... With that power, I avert disaster. I gave the people a better future... I resist the Demon King's attempts to wrest away my will... I saw this, and I made my decision. I walk the second road.
 * Morva: You fool... The Demon King has blinded you to his true wish. How can you not see it? He's had you since the moment you first held the Dark Stone. He has been hiding within you, luring you deeper into the shadows of his heart. He commands you and remakes you to suit his dark design.
 * Lyon: ...You're wrong...
 * Morva: You think yourself unchanged? You think yourself the master? I see only more evidence that the Demon King commands you now. Can you not sense--
 * Lyon: It's not true! I... I will save everyone.
 * Morva: Think back! Remember! Are you truly the man you used to be? Would you justify war and murder to bring about peace and justice? Remember who you were, and tell me if you are still yourself!
 * Lyon: .......All of this matters not. I know the Demon King has claimed me. It is not important... Not if I can save the world. My own soul is irrelevant.
 * Morva: ...It is as I feared. You will not give up this madness. I am Morva, the dragonkin who guards the entrance to these woods. I do not have the ability to save you. All I can do is destroy the demon that coils around your heart. To prevent the further damnation of your soul... I can only grant you eternal sleep.
 * Lyon: I cannot sleep. I have not yet--There is no taboo I will not break, no sacrifice I will not make... I...
 * Morva: ...You are beyond reason. Therefore I, too, must do what I was born to do. As it was in that ancient battle... You will die here, Demon King.
 * Lyon: .......
 * Ephraim: This awful darkness...
 * Eirika: I know... I can feel it too.
 * Seth: This is Darkling Woods... It was here the heroes met the Demon King and with the Sacred Stones defeated him. I've heard the lingering energies of that battle are the source of the monsters. But I never imagined it would be as bad as this...
 * Myrrh: It's worse than before... It's grown so much stronger. Simply standing here is a struggle... But we don't need to worry. My father is here. He'll take care of everything.
 * Eirika: Your father?
 * Myrrh: Over there. On the other wise of that swamp is the Black Temple of the Demon King. My father stands guard near it. This is where my father and I have lived for as long as I can remember.
 * Ephraim: I see. So this forest is like a home to you.
 * Myrrh: Uh-huh... My foster father leads the dragon tribe. In the last great war...both of my true parents were killed. Morva took me in and raised me as though I were his own child.
 * Ephraim: So that's how you came to live here...
 * Myrrh: My father holds back the monsters that are born in Darkling Woods. He's so strong, and so very gentle. One day, I hope to be like him... .......Oh!
 * Ephraim: Myrrh, what is it?
 * Seth: Princess Eirika, Prince Ephraim, we're under attack. A horde of those foul beasts is headed straight for us.
 * Myrrh: .......
 * Ephraim: Myrrh, are you well? If you're ill, we should get you to--
 * Myrrh: No, no... It's nothing. I'll fight with you. I'll fight, and we'll drive back the dark children.
 * Lyon?: Ha ha ha ha... Riev... I'm leaving this to you.
 * Riev: Heh heh heh... As you wish. Please proceed with the rites of resurrection, sire.