Krull Page #7

BARDOLPH, OSWIN, and RUHN nod their agreement. The sixth

robber, SWEYN, back away.

SWEYN:

I follow the man who follows gold.

He who follows glory travels without

me.

TORQUIL:

Go then, and let greed be your

gravestone.

Sweyn moves off into the forest. An angry oink causes the

others to look up at the snare, which holds a small pig by

its foot; as usual, Ergo's magic has boomeranged.

TORQUIL:

What have we here?

(prods the pig with his axe)

Roast pork for dinner.

The pig squeals his objections. Torquil signals to drop the

snare, and picks the pig up under his arm.

COLWYN:

He needs his book.

Torquil finds the open spellbook and kneels, allowing the

pig to read it. Pop, and Torquil is holding a gyrating cloud

under his arm, replete with squeals and yells and pieces of

pig and Ergo; pop, and the cloud disappears, leaving Ergo

under Torquil's arm.

ERGO:

Put me down, you lout!

TORQUIL:

(sets him down)

You had better manners as a pig.

ERGO:

(haughty)

I am Ergo the Magnificent, and I do

not travel with thieves and robbers.

He takes two steps into the forest, then glances around

anxiously.

ERGO:

(backing out of the forest)

Except when necessary.

EXT. HILL OVERLOOKING VALLEY - SUNSET

As the band nears the crest of the hill, Colwyn stumbles.

Torquil reaches out to steady him.

TORQUIL:

When did you last sleep, boy?

COLWYN:

(shaking off the help)

I'm all right.

They top the hill and look out over the valley, dotted with

plumes of smoke from burning villages.

TORQUIL:

They burn many villages. Even walled

cities fall to them.

COLWYN:

(angrily)

Why do they burn the villages?

There's nothing to gain.

YNYR:

There's terror to gain. Their wealth

is fear:
they get it with fire, they

spend it to rule.

EXT. FOREST CLEARING - NIGHT

The band has stopped in the middle of the clearing. Colwyn

is swaying, barely able to stand.

TORQUIL:

We'll stop here to hunt. Even those

who don't sleep must eat.

Colwyn folds his arms across his chest, tries to stand up

straight.

COLWYN:

(eyes drifting shut)

I'm not hungry.

TORQUIL:

(folding his arms across his

chest)

Not sleepy, either?

COLWYN:

(eyes almost closed, swaying)

No.

Torquil purses his lips and blows at Colwyn, who falls

backward into the arms of Kegan, who lays him gently on the

ground, fast asleep. Torquil covers him with his cape. The

other robbers string their bows and prepare to hunt.

ERGO:

Bring me a deer! No deer, no supper.

EXT. FOREST CLEARING - AN HOUR LATER

Torquil and Ynyr talk to several PEASANTS at the edge of the

clearing while, in the center, Ergo tends the cooking fire,

beside which Colwyn lies asleep. Ergo's face lights up when

he sees Kegan arrive with a stag across his shoulders, and

he snick-snacks his carving knife in anticipation. But

Torquil has Kegan turn over the stag to the peasants, which

nearly gives Ergo apoplexy.

ERGO:

(galloping across the

clearing)

What are you doing with my dear?

Stop! Thieves!

TORQUIL:

(restraining him)

Many villagers are hiding in the

forest. They need food.

ERGO:

And do you think I live on air?

TORQUIL:

We have plenty of hares.

ERGO:

(snorts)

Food for crows.

TORQUIL:

Surely a sorcerer of the sauce pan

can make rabbit taste like venison.

ERGO:

I am being exploited! Where are you

going?

TORQUIL:

(moving off with Ynyr)

I must take the old man to see some

sick children. Kegan will guard

you.

But Kegan spots a hare and creeps into the forest after it,

leaving Ergo and Colwyn alone in the clearing.

Suddenly, Ergo hears ominous noises. He peers into the dark

forest and his jaw drops as he sees a pair of red eyes

staring out of the gloom. He snatches up a carving knife and

a frying pan and backs toward Colwyn, holding the pan as a

shield. The red-eyed thing moves toward them through the

trees, and poor Ergo is unmanned by fear: he drops his knife

and ducks his head behind the frying pan in sheer terror.

But he hears the thing stop short and raises his head to

look behind him, where a CYCLOPS stands with trident poised

to throw. The little man assumes that both creatures are

trying to kill him and faints dead away. But the trident is

aimed at the red-eyed thing, which has no desire to do

battle with the Cyclops. The thing retreats, the red eyes

fade. The Cyclops comes over to Ergo and kneels to listen to

his heart. Then he enters the forest after the Dark One.

EXT. FOREST CLEARING - LATER THAT NIGHT

The band, including Colwyn, is gathered around Ergo, who is

telling his story.

ERGO:

(indicating positions)

One with red eyes, the other with

one eye, both trying to kill me.

YNYR:

The one with red eyes was a Dark

One, the other was a Cyclops, and it

was not you he meant to kill.

ERGO:

He was aiming a huge spear right at

me!

YNYR:

If that were so, you'd be dead now.

He was aiming at the Dark One, for

there is ancient hatred between

them. Once his race had two eyes,

like other men, until his

forefathers bargained with the Dark

Ones:
they gave up one of their eyes

in return for the power to see the

future. But they were cheated, for

the only future they were permitted

to see was the time of their own

death.

COLWYN:

They know when they're going to die?

YNYR:

(nods)

Everyone of his race is born knowing

the day of his death.

TORQUIL:

Knowledge I wouldn't want.

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