Legend Page #11

63 INTERIOR GREAT HALL DAY

Blix and Pox kneel nervously before the Throne of Darkness. A huge

fire blazes in the hearth.

POX:
Hail m-most great, and d-d-darkest

of the dark!

BLIX:
Though we be nothing in your sight,

We bow before your strength and might!

We hear Darkness speak, but see only his bat-winged shadow spread

like an inky cloak across the two kneeling goblins.

DARKNESS (os):
Can you fawning sycophants

do more than grovel? What of the task I set you?

POX:
D-d-done, Lord. We have the

m-m-m-m-m-m.... the unicorn.

DARKNESS(os):
Where is she?

BLIX:
In the dungeon like a treasure,

Awaiting your darkest pleasure.

DARKNESS (os):
Very good.... You two are not

entirely devoid of talent.

POX:
There's m-m-more, Sire....

BLIX:
Though unworthy of your magnificence,

Trifles without consequence,

We present with all due deference....

A gift.

DARKNESS (os):
Gift....? What sort of gift?

BLIX:
This thing you once called innocence.

DARKNESS (os):
Innocence...? I must behold this

wonder....

Darkness stares into the fire.

As Darkness grimps the arm of his throne, his fingers start to melt,

dripping to the dank stone floor.

64 INTERIOR DUNGEON DAY

Darkness bleeds through the groin vault ceiling, speading like a

stain across the curving stones.

Below, the unicorn is locked in a steel halter, a woven steel cable

binding her to an iron windlass.

The Princess paces the dark and dripping cell. Her dress is in

tatters, her hair tangled. There is something wild and free about

her now, and yet she has never appeared more alluring.

The melting shadow of Darkness drips from the ceiling, forming a

small demonic shape as it falls.

We hear the BEATING of Darkness' heart in time with each evil drip.

The sound grows LOUDER and LOUDER until the echo reverberates within

the vaulted chamber.

Lili is terrified. She looks frantically around as the pulsing rhytm

continues. The Princess sees nothing and hugs the unicorn's neck for

comfort.

64A INTERIOR GREAT HALL DAY

Darkness contemplates the raging flames, his heartbeat THUNDERING.

65 EXTERIOR HILL ABOVE GREAT TREE BOG DAY

Jack and the faeries stare out at the tree-crowned ruin and

surrounding bog.

65A EXTERIOR BOG DAY

Jack and the faeries wade forward through the drifting curtains of

mist.

JACK:
Legend says the Dark Castle stood

in olden days when evil anarchy

ruled the land.... The wicked still

come here to sacrafice.

GUMP:
They worship the demon....

SCREWBALL:
It's ugly! I hate it!

GUMP:
Good! You shall go first....

65B INTERIOR GREAT HALL DAY

CLOSE ON:
Darkness. For the briefest instant, we see the smouldering

eyes of the demon GLOWING in anitcipation out of the shadows.

65C EXTERIOR BOG DAY

Although Jack is in no trouble, the water is rapidly growing too

deep for the faeries. Gump urges Screwball forward:

GUMP:
Go on! Hurry up!

SCREWBALL:
All the time me.

Same old story.

Screwball clibs up onto a floating lily pad.

An undulating v-shaped wake moves through the water alongside as

they step from lily pad to lily padf and clamber onto a long,

twisting root.

Without warning, an emaciated green arm shoors out of the water and

grabs Screwball. He is gone under the surface with a scream.

BROWN TOM:
Screwball!

JACK:
What was that?

GUMP:
Big trouble!

Jack grips the hilt of his sword and rushes to the spot where

Screwball disappeared.

JACK:
We've got to do something.

Before Jack can finish, Meg Mucklebones rises out of the bog behind

him. She tosses Screwball aside and hauls Jack into her cadaverous

embrace.

MEG:
Foul tasting faerie.....! Come to

me, juicy boy!

Jack YELPS in horror.

MEG (cont):
Who be this tender morsel

disturbing Meg Mucklebones' rest?

JACK(terrified):
They call me Green

Jack ma'am.

The faeries watch in dismay.

BROWN TOM:
Our champion's a goner, he is.

The fearsome hag pinches Jack with her wicked talons.

MEG:
What a fine fat boy you are....

JACK:
You don't mean to eat me,

do you ma'am?

MEG:
Oh, indeed I do....

JACK:
That would be a shame, Miss Meg.

You're so lovely. You deserve far

better than scrawny little

me....

The flattery gives Hairy Meg a pause; she simply can't resist it.

MEG:
Hmmmm....think me fair, do you, Jack?

JACK:
All the heavenly angels must

envy your beauty.

MEG:
Ooooo....what a find meal you'll make,

be the rest of you as sweet

as your tongue.

JACK:
Let me go and I'll sing songs

of praise to you.

MEG:
Let you go? Don't be daft. I've

had naught but muskrat and snakes

all this month.... bit of rancid

goblin, too....

JACK:
But....but....don't you like

my words?

MEG:
Words are little help in

filling an empty stomach....

JACK:
Then fill your soul with loveliness.

Look into your glass and feast on

beauty.

MEG:
There's no looking-glass here....

Sometimes, when the moon is full,

I'll chance to see my reflection

in the bog.

Jack glances at the shield hanging over his shoulder.

JACK:
My shield would serve you well.

Meg Mucklebones takes Jack's shield, partially releasing him from

her clammy clutches.

MEG:
What a splendid idea!

You be so clever, Jack.

Hanging onto Jack with one hand, Hairy Meg bends over the shield.

JACK:
Your radiance is the alchemy

that makes rusted steel shine like

silver.

Meg primps and preens: an obscene parody of a pretty maiden at her

vanity table.

MEG:
Oooo! That's nice! I be the envy

of any princess in the land.

While Meg is pre occupied with her grotesque reflection, Gump

catches the Jack's eyes. The cunning elf silently mouths the word:

'sword', pointing to his waist at the same time.

JACK:
Better, you are a queen without

a peer.... a reigning angel.

Jack nods to Gump and silently draws his sword. Meg doesn't notice

thing.

MEG:
You have such discerning taste

for so young a boy....

Meg turns to face him with a fearful pucker of her tattered lips.

MEG (cont):
Come, Jack....give us

a kiss before dining.

Jack petrified with fear.

GUMP(shouting):
Give her the kiss of

cold steel, Jack!

Jack swings blindly with his eyes closed. It is a lucky stroke, Meg

Mucklebones' head flies from her shoulders.

JACK(astonished): I did it!

The decapitated hag sinks back beneath the scummy surface.

GUMP:
Like a chmapion, Jack.

BROWN TOM:
Bravo!

JACK:
How's Screwball?

SCREWBALL:
Chewed, but not disgested....

Jack points his sword at the hollow tree.

JACK:
Then on to victory!

FAERIES (all together): On to victory!

65D INTERIOR GREAT HALL DAY

A huge fire blazes in the gaping hearth. Darkness stands before it,

almost a shadow in his midnight cloak.

DARKNESS:
I've been an exile for too long....

banished by the sun.... forced to

hide in the bowels of the earth....

On the eve of my greatest victory, this....

child of nature appears.... It has been an eternity

since I felt such desire.... I could know

her in an instant. She is helpless.... and yet....

(anguished)

What is wrong with me, Father?

A VOICE IN THE FIRE answers Darkness; majestic and sepulrchral; the

flames billow out as it speaks:

Rate this script:2.8 / 4 votes