Krull Page #13

EXT. OPPOSITE EDGE OF THE SWAMP - DAY

The band emerges from the Swamp, which laps at the foot of

the Widow's Mountain. Ynyr faces Colwyn and Torquil.

YNYR:

From here, I must go alone.

COLWYN:

You will tell me her name and we

will go together.

YNYR:

(with peculiar emphasis)

You must never know her name.

(pause)

If more than one approaches, she

will certainly kill them. Alone I

may have a chance.

TORQUIL:

(hand on Colwyn's shoulder)

Each to his fate, lad.

YNYR:

(nods)

Each to his fate. Wait for me at the

inn. If I am not back by dawn, you

will know my fate, and you must go

on without me.

He turns and starts up the mountain.

At the rear of the group, the Cyclops heads toward a forest,

carrying Titch on his shoulder.

ERGO:

Where are you going?

CYCLOPS:

We'll meet you at the inn.

ERGO:

(hurt)

Can't I come, too?

CYCLOPS:

No.

The Cyclops moves off with Titch.

EXT. FOREST - DAY

Titch rides on the Cyclop's shoulders, straddling his neck.

He holds a small crossbow at the ready.

CYCLOPS:

(whispers and points)

Over there.

Titch takes aim at a great stag, bracing his arm against the

top of the Cyclops's head.

INT. INN - NIGHT

Kegan, Oswin, and Rhun are downing flagons of sack and

dandling pretty INN-GIRLS on their knees. Torquil eyes them

enviously from the fireplace across the room, but can't

bring himself to leave Colwyn, who takes no comfort from

wine or women.

COLWYN:

Go, join them.

TORQUIL:

What kind of friend do you think I

am?

COLWYN:

The best. But my unhappiness is not

made lighter by adding your's to it.

TORQUIL:

Well, it is true that if I received

a royal command I couldn't very well

disobey it, could I?

COLWYN:

(little smile)

Go. I command you.

TORQUIL:

(grins)

Yes, my lord.

He strides across the room, seizes a pair of Inn-Girls by

the waist and swings them around.

Ergo, sitting near Colwyn, stares despondently into the

fire.

ERGO:

Try your tricks on me and I'll turn

myself back into a snake and bite

you.

COLWYN:

You and I will guard the fire.

ERGO:

What else is left for a man without

friends.

Colwyn glances out a back window and sees the body of a stag

being carried past on someone's shoulders.

EXT. WIDOW'S MOUNTAIN - NIGHT

Ynyr climbs toward the hourglass opening of the Widow's cave

above, lit by an eerie light from within.

INT. WIDOW'S CAVE - NIGHT

A gigantic web of crystal stretches across a vast, domed

cavern, shimmering in the luminescence from below. At the

center of the web is a domed cubicle, made of criss-crossed

ribbons of mirror glass. Light flashes off the mirrors in

such a way that it is impossible to see, through the

openings, who or what is within.

The blinding effect does not occur inside the cubicle, so

that a POV SHOT from inside shows the entire web clearly. It

also shows, reflected from hundreds of facets on the inside

of the structure, the face of the WIDOW, the old woman who

sits at the center: a hideous crone, grotesque and

distorted. She sees Ynyr standing at the edge of the web.

WIDOW:

(low)

Someone comes here.

She picks up an hourglass, containing only a handful of

sand, and turns it to start the sand running out.

WIDOW:

This is his time.

Ynyr is shouting at her from the edge of the web.

YNYR:

(shouting)

I am Ynyr. I seek the Widow.

But sound does not pierce the cubicle. From inside it, one

can only see his lips moving.

Ynyr steps onto the web and starts toward the center. When

he's halfway across, he turns to see a giant black widow

spider made of crystal, entirely translucent except for a

red hourglass in the center of its crystal abdomen. As the

spider approaches Ynyr and prepares to attack, the red color

expands, filling the abdomen first, then spreading through

the rest of the body.

Ynyr holds up his glaive. The spider stops, begins moving

sideways; the redness fades. Inside the cubicle, the

hourglass sand has almost run out.

The spider twitches a crystal strand, throwing Ynyr off

balance and causing the glaive to fly from his hand. It

sticks in a crystal strand, too far to reach. Ynyr is

helpless. The spider advances, reddening.

YNYR:

(desperate shout)

Lyssa!

This name has the power to pierce the soundproof cubicle:

the Widow stands as she hears the name, ECHOED by the huge

cavern.

WIDOW:

(calls)

Who speaks that name!

YNYR:

(shouts)

Ynyr!

She watches as the spider looms over Ynyr. Then she reaches

behind her and turns the hourglass, just as the last grains

of sand run out. This causes the spider to back away,

turning translucent again. Ynyr retrieves the glaive and

makes his way to the domed cubicle.

He enters the cubicle to find the Widow facing away from

him, though he can see her hideous face reflected back by

the mirrors in front of her.

WIDOW:

It is fifty years since I heard that

name.

YNYR:

It is fifty years since I spoke it

to you.

WIDOW:

I was beautiful then.

YNYR:

The most beautiful woman in the

world.

WIDOW:

But you would not stay with me.

YNYR:

Could not. Could not betray the girl

to whom I was betrothed.

WIDOW:

She was not as beautiful.

YNYR:

No, she was not as beautiful.

WIDOW:

She bore you many children?

YNYR:

We had no children.

WIDOW:

You had a son.

YNYR:

(staggered)

You said nothing. You told me

nothing.

WIDOW:

You had left me! I kept silent out

of rage.

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