Legend

1EXTERIOR FOREST NIGHT

Huge trees taper upward like columns supporting the roof of heaven.

Moonlit dewdrops spangle a delicate spiderweb. The setting is

tranquil and utterly majestic.

Over the brow of a distant hill, a pair of brilliant light beams

scintillate in an etheral ballet.

Numerous small animals gather to behold this wonder. They stand on

the hillcrest, staring down as if at the Nativity.

Squirrels, quail, hedgehogs, mice, pheasants and badgers, natural

enemies untied by the radiant LIGHT.

A magnificent stag watches, numbers of tiny songbirds perched in his

branching antlers.

1A EXTERIOR FOREST NIGHT

PULL BACK:
from the hilltop, through ferns and brambles to a steep

embankment where umbrella-sized toadstools cluster.

A snarling face APPEARS under a mushroom cap. This is BLIX a brigand

goblin hunter. Clad in decrepit armor and slung with savage weapons,

he is a terrifying figure.

Blix WHISTLES. The SOUND is unexpectedly lovely, a nightingale's

call.

Further back, three other goblins return the BIRDCALL. They bristle

with weaponry. POX is a pig-faced fop wearing tattered lace and

flithy brocade. Tiny BLUNDER and TIC are both masked by grotesque

helmets. Swarms of gnats drone above their hidden heads. They creep

forward to join Blix.

1B GOBLIN'S POV : HILLTOP

The distant animals silhouetted by dazzling LIGHT.

1C EXTERIOR FOREST NIGHT

Blix signals an advance and the goblins creep through the forest

towards the hilltop.

A moth lands on a twig two feet from Tic's head. He turns. His

incredibly sticky tongue uncoils from within the helmet seizing the

moth and retracting with it, quick as a flash.

As the goblins near the hilltop, the fantastic LIGHT gradually

illuminates their hideous features. A tiny mouse runs out of the

eye-slits on Blunder's helmet, circles the crest, and runs back in

on the other side.

Blix signals silently for the other goblins to spread out.

The goblins crawl separately through the underbrush.

Pox comes snout to snout with a wild piglet. Terrified, the little

shoat SQUEALS and scampers off.

2 DELETED

2A CLOSE :
ANIMALS

Alerted by the NOISE, they face the impending threat. The startled

animals run for cover down the hillside.

3 DELETED

3A EXTERIOR FOREST NIGHT

Blix charges forward, brandishing his crossbow.

BLIX:
Kill. . . . !

Blix runs over the top of the hill and down into the gully beyond,

closely followed by Tic, Pox, and Blunder. Brilliant clumps of

forget-me-nots are everywhere, like disgarded jewels.

3B GOBLIN'S POV : DISTANT FOREST

The pair of shining LIGHT BEAMS race away between the trees.

4 DELETED

5 DELETED

5A EXTERIOR FOREST NIGHT

The goblins watch the LIGHT BEAMS disappear. Blix GROWLS in

frustration.

BLUNDER(musing):
. . . . Fast as a hound dog with his ass on fire. .

. .

Blunder spots a SHINING silver hair caught on the bark. He reaches

up and plucks it free.

POX:
What's that . . . . ? L-l-let me see, old chap.

BLUNDER:
No! It's mine!

Blunder hides the hair behind his back, but Pox quickly grabs the

other end.

POX:
Give it to m-m-m-me!

Both goblins pull on the hair. Miraculously, it does not break, but

stretches between them like spun steel.

BLUNDER:
Turn loose, anus features!

POX:
Hard cheese!

A furious tug of war. Pox pulls his knife and tries unsuccessfully

to cut the hair.

BLUNDER:
It's mine you rectum! Mine! Mine!

Blix marches up and furiously bangs their heads together. Pox and

Blunder fall dazed to the ground.

Blix holds the silver hair shining above his head and studies it.

BLIX:
Disgusting and pure, like a prayer. . ..

There be magic in this hair.

The beast ran off, faster and faster.

We must take this to our Master.

6 EXTERIOR VAST LANDSCAPE NIGHT

An incredible landscape, fantastically contoured hills rise above

the monnbright mist. The four goblins dismount, tie up their devil

steeds, and disappear over the brow of a hill.

6A EXTERIOR HILLSIDE NIGHT

The goblins scramble down a steep hillside towards a desolate

wasteland below. A mysterious malevolant shape looms on the far

horizon.

7 EXTERIOR SINISTER EVERGLADE NIGHT

A miasmic Jurassic swamp. Stunted trees rise like amputated limbs

from the fetid water.

The goblins pick their way across the bog towards a distant island,

stepping from submerged logs to crumbled chunks of masonary to

floating lily pads.

A cracked marble plinth juts out of the water. The goblins creep by

a towering skeletal statue playing a bone violin.

7A EXTERIOR BOG NIGHT

A v-shaped ripple undulates past them like the wake of a submerged

crocodile.

Blix unhooks a dead rat from his game belt and tosses it from his

game belt and tosses it onto the scummy surface. There is an angry

swirl and it is gone.

Blix waves the goblins on and they climb onto a huge root twisting

out of the water like a petrified serpant.

The ominous wake cruises back and forth like a shark. Blunder

follows its progress with fear-widened eyes.

BLUNDER:
Wish i was still a leprecaun. . . .

Stay clear of nasty places

like this and do nothing all day but

sing and dance and guzzle wine in the sunshine. . . .

Furious, Blix turns on him, his finger to his lips.

BLIX:
Shhhh!

Unchastened, Blunder whirls on Pox and repeats the gesture:

BLUNDER:
Shhhh!

Pox follows suit with Tic:

POX:
Shhhh!

Not to be outdone, Tic turns to silence whoever might be behind him.

TIC:
SHHHHH!

7B EXTERIOR BOG NIGHT

HAIRY MEG MUCKLEBONES rises out of the bog, huge and hideous. The

water hag is half corpse, half serpant. She seizes Tic and

disappears beneath the foul surface. The goblin's final CRY trembles

in the chill night air.

7C EXTERIOR BOG NIGHT

Blix, Pox, and Blunder are terrified. They scramble over the twisted

root in a wild panic, leaping onto a floating log.

BLUNDER:
Run. . . . ! Panic. . . . ! Emergency. . . . ?

The log rolls beneath their frantic feet. They barely keep their

balance.

POX:
Frog spit!

BLUNDER:
Snail Sperm!

BLIX:
All together. . . .now or never!

The goblin co-ordinate like tiny lumberjacks, running in unison. The

rolling log drifts forward.

POX:
J-j-jolly good! Team spirit and all that!

The log runs against the island and the goblins hop ashore.

8 EXTERIOR GREAT TREE NIGHT

An enormous blasted tree crowns the ruins of a forgotten castle.

Tangled roots grip the anicient stones like the tenacles of a

malformed sea monster. An atmosphere of eternal evil hovers over the

site.

The goblins stare back across the bog.

BLUNDER:
Poor Tic. . . .

BLIX(growling with anger): Forget Tic! Less is always more.

POX:
Better we spilt three ways than four!

Blix hurries up the crumbling steps. Pox and Blunder follow.

The steps lead under gigantic twisting roots. Blix finds a small

opening and slips inside.

Pox and Blunder like this less and less but follow their leader

without complaint.

9 INTERIOR GREAT TREE NIGHT

The three goblins tumble down a steep slope. The giant tree is a

vast hollow stump, open to a moonlit sky, surrounding a smaller tree

transfixed by a curved bronze horn, an instrument of unspeakable

evil.

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