Legend Page #2

Pox and Blunder stare up like open-mouthed tourists. Blix is

impatient.

BLIX:
Boost me. . . . ! Hurry. . . . ! We must sound the summons

before the dawn. . . .

The three goblins form a teetering ladder with Blix wobbling at the

top and Blunder crushed at the bottom.

Blix blows into the horn with all his might. Nothing happens.

Suddenly, he breaks wind!

Pox and Blunder grimace.

Blix blows again into the horn.

There is no sound. Dead leaves and dust puff out of the bell,

followed by three SQUEALING bats.

The supporting goblins wobble. Pox steps on Blunder's head.

Blix blows a third time into the great horn.

The unholy SOUND reverbarates like the wailing of all the doomed

souls in Purgatiory.

10 EXTERIOR FOREST(VARIOUS ANGLES) NIGHT

As the evil SOUND moans, the forest creatures react with terror.

Squirrels, rabbits, and mice dart fearfully for cover. Birds flock

to their nests. Only the night creatures, the wolves, weasels, and

owls perk up thier ears to listen.

11 INTERIOR GREAT TREE NIGHT

The three goblins cower terrified among the gnarled roots.

BLUNDER:
Now what. . . . ?

BLIX:
We sit. . . . We wait. . . . That be our fate!

11A EXTERIOR GREAT TREE NIGHT

The goblins wait up on the upper platform of the ruined castle. Blix

sits apart from the others, staring out across at the bog. The light

of a campfire casts their shifting shadows against the huge trunk of

the hollow tree.

Blix plays with the silver hair.

BLIX(to himself): Moving silent like the breeze.

Soft as shadows, still as trees,

Darkness be in all we sees.

He lives in silence, he lives in fire,

He lives in all that's dark and dire.

A mysterious floating shape approaches out of the distance. It is a

black cloak, wafting through the mist like an airborne manta ray.

12 EXTERIOR BOG NIGHT

The flying cloak wraps about the statue of the skeletal fiddler. The

wind presses it tight, revealing the skull through the cloth.

Suddenly, the statue's head turns to look at the great tree.

13 EXTERIOR GREAT TREE NIGHT

Blix walks to to the edge of the platform, peering into the night.

BLIX:
Look in the gloom, search out the tomb.

That be where you find our sire.

The pedestal is empty. The statue of the fidder has vanished!

Blix gets down on his knees, genuflecting, toward the the open bog.

The black shadow of the LORD OF DARKNESS falls across him.

Darkness towers over the ruined castle platform, a huge horned

figure drpaed in bacl cloth. An awesome silence ensues.

Blunder and Pox kneel, heaping ashes and dirt upon thier heads.

BLIX:
Hail O great One. . . . divine and dark!

Strong like a lion, swift like a shark.

Blix offers the silver hair up to Darkness.

BLIX:
Though I'm not worthy of the task Great Lord, I found this for

your amusment.

Blunder leaps to his feet and grabs the hair from Blix.

BLUNDER:
Don't listen to them mealy-mouthed lies boss. . . . I'm the

one who found it. . . . Me! Blunder the Bold!

There is a bight FLASH OF LIGHT. Blunder HOWLS with pain.

Blunder stares at his arm in dismay. His hand is gone, magically

replaced by a grotesque birdclaw.

BLUNDER(stunned): Thank you, Lordship . . . .

Blunder experimently clenches and unclenches his new bird claw.

POX:
Quite stylish, actually. . . .

Darkness dangles the shining silver hair in front of him.

DARKNESS:
Where. . . . ?

BLIX:
In the woods, six leagues back,

'Tween Twin Oaks and the Dragon's Track.

DARKNESS:
Did my bold hunters chance to see quarry which

cast this spoor?

BLIX:
I stalked it, Sire, but much too slow,

What beast it be I do not know.

DARKNESS:
This hair is from an angel of light. . . It comes

this way rarely. . . I must have this creature!

BLIX:
Oh Divine Dark One, teach us how to catch this

creature.

POX:
Your instruction would be m-m-most

ap-p-preciated.

BLUNDER:
Amen! I wants to learn! I craves knowledge!

DARKNESS:
No trap of yours will work. . . . There is only

lure for such disgusting goddness. . . .one bait which never

fails. . . .

BLIX:
Name the bait, Lord. . . .

DARKNESS:
Innoncence!

14 EXTERIOR COTTAGE MEADOW DAY

A beautiful flower-spangled meadow alive with songbirds.

Baby rabbits frolic in the tall grass where industrious squirrels

forage for acorns and nuts.

A delicate fawn gambols under the watchful eye of the doe. Clouds of

multi-hued butterflies swirl overhead.

Waist-deep in flower, a young princess skips SINGING across the

meadow. Her name is LILI. She wears splendid brocades and carries a

bouquet wrapped in a lace napkin. Like these blossoms, she is

beautiful and fresh and innocent.

Tiny birds fly down and land on her head and shoulders. She laughs

as a warbling wren takes a seed from her lips.

LILI(singing):
Come down sparrow, sing me good morning.

Rise up sun, light the arch of the sky.

Living river, turn light to diamonds,

When I look in my true love's eyes.

Lili runs towards a distant thatched-roofed cottage.

15 EXTERIOR BOULDER AT EDGE OF WOODS DAY

Blix, Pox, and Blunder hide behind a boulder, watching the girl.

BLIX(whipering):
Darkness say the perfect lure Always be a virgin

pure. . . .

15A EXTERIOR COTTAGE AT EDGE OF WOODS DAY

The WOODCARVER'S WIFE is hangin up the washing when Lili sneaks from

behind the cottage.

Grinning micheviously, Lili unfastens one end of the clothes-line

and lets it drop.

The laundry flutters onto the new-mown grass, A sheet drpaes around

the outraged wife.

WIFE:
Dad-blamed faeries!

16 INTERIOR COTTAGE DAY

The cottage is snug and homey with smoke-blackened beams and hand-

pegged furniture. A WOODCARVER sleeps by his bench surrounded by

wood-shavings and roughed-out toys.

Lili steps into the sunlight streaming through the open doorway. Her

beauty is etheral, an angel descending.

Finches peck at newly-made tarts laid on a trestle table to cool.

They rise to the rafters as at Lili's approach.

The Princess peeks around the room. She tiptoes to the hearth and

lifts the stewpot lid, dipping a finger in for a taste.

Spying the tarts, she grabs one and eats it hurriedly, leaving a

telltale crumb on her upper lip.

The clock tolls the hour. A carved wooden maiden piroettes from the

interior, pursued by a skeletal fiddler playing a bone fiddle. Lili

is fancinated.

The Woodcarver's Wife enters. She curtsies to the Princess.

WIFE:
God Bless Your Highness. A royal visit is ever a joy.

LILI:
I've not come to visit, Nell

WIFE:
Won't you stay for a tart?

Nell pulls a tray from the oven.

WIFE(cont):
They're fresh-baked.

LILI:
I've no time today.

WIFE(teasing):
The Princess must have a sweetheart waiting.

LILI:
Nonsense!

WIFE:
Surely the king forbids such folly

LILI:
What my father doesn't know won't hurt him.

WIFE:
The wilful heart invites despair,

Like blind men creeping in a dragon's lair.

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