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## **Page 1 – The Falling Omen**
The sky above the floating kingdom of **Astraea** burns crimson as a star crashes beyond the mountains.
In a quiet village below, a silver-haired girl grips a wooden sword.
**Kael (thought):** *The elders say the stars are gods… So why do they fall?*
A deafening tremor shakes the earth. Villagers scream.
From the smoking crater rises a towering armored figure with wings of shattered light.
**???:** "I am **Seraphel**, Herald of the Last Star. This world will return to ash."
Kael steps forward despite trembling legs.
**Kael:** "Not while I'm still breathing!"
Seraphel's hollow gaze turns toward her.
**Seraphel:** "Then you will learn what it means to defy the heavens."
*Cliffhanger panel: Kael's wooden sword splinters as a shockwave explodes outward.*
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## **Page 2 – The Mark of Cinders**
Kael awakens in ruins. The village is silent.
A mysterious wanderer in a ragged cloak kneels beside her.
**Wanderer:** "You survived the Herald's awakening. Interesting."
Kael notices a glowing sigil burned into her palm — a star cracked in half.
**Kael:** "What did he do to me?!"
**Wanderer:** "That is the **Cinder Mark**. Proof you were chosen… or cursed."
Seraphel's voice echoes in the sky like thunder.
**Seraphel (voice):** "Find the vessel. The Star Heart must be reclaimed."
The wanderer's eyes sharpen.
**Wanderer:** "If he seeks you, child, then you hold something even the heavens fear."
Kael clenches her marked hand, eyes burning with grief.
**Kael:** "Then I'll make him regret it."
*Final panel: The Cinder Mark ignites in crimson flame.*
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## **Page 3 – Blade of the Forgotten**
Deep within ancient ruins beneath Astraea, Kael trains under the wanderer.
**Wanderer:** "My name is Orion. I once guarded the Star Temple… before Seraphel fell."
Kael swings a reforged blade — forged from fragments of the fallen star.
**Orion:** "Steel cannot cut him. But starlight can wound starlight."
Seraphel descends upon the capital city above, wings eclipsing the sun.
Citizens flee as radiant spears rain from the sky.
**Seraphel:** "Return the Star Heart, vessel!"
Kael bursts from the ruins, blade blazing.
**Kael:** "If you want it—come and take it!"
She leaps impossibly high, propelled by the Cinder Mark's flame.
*Double-spread panel: Blade and radiant spear collide, shattering the skyline.*
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## **Page 4 – Truth of the Last Star**
Midair, Kael and Seraphel clash in a storm of light.
**Kael:** "Why destroy everything?!"
Seraphel hesitates — his cracked helmet revealing sorrowful eyes.
**Seraphel:** "The Last Star is dying. Your world was built from its corpse. When its heart fades… so will reality."
Kael falters.
**Kael:** "Then why not save it instead of burning us down?!"
Seraphel's wings flicker.
**Seraphel:** "Because only one flame remains strong enough to reignite it."
His gaze falls to her glowing mark.
**Seraphel:** "Yours."
A beat of silence.
Kael grips her blade tighter.
**Kael:** "Then I'll choose how it burns!"
She channels the Cinder Mark, not as destruction—but as warmth.
Golden light replaces crimson fire.
Seraphel shields his eyes.
**Seraphel:** "Impossible… That light…"
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## **Page 5 – A New Constellation**
The sky fractures like glass — revealing a void of dying stars.
Kael stands at its center, suspended in light.
**Orion (whisper):** "She's rewriting the Star Heart…"
Kael presses her palm against Seraphel's cracked armor.
**Kael:** "You don't have to carry this alone."
The Cinder Mark splits in two — one half transferring to Seraphel.
His wings reform, no longer jagged, but radiant.
The void begins to glow with newborn constellations.
**Seraphel (softly):** "A shared flame…"
The sky restores itself. Astraea floats peacefully once more.
Kael collapses, exhausted but alive.
Seraphel kneels beside her, no longer a herald of ruin — but guardian of rebirth.
**Seraphel:** "The Last Star has risen again… in two hearts."
*Final panel: Kael and Seraphel looking up at a new constellation shaped like a broken star made whole.*
**TO BE CONTINUED…**