Willow Page #19

RAZIEL:

It does! It does! I will show

you!

Airk impatiently waves the bird away and shoves Madmar-

tigan in the chest.

AIRK:

You gonna be a hero, Madmartigan?

I've lost half my men fighting

Kael, and Bavmorda, and the Nock-

maar army. Now you and this Peck,

and that magpie up in the rafters,

are gonna take 'em on alone?

MADMARTIGAN:

(challenging)

Then come with us.

Airk angrily stabs his finger at the floor.

AIRK:

The war is here! In towns and vil-

lages like this!

Airk crosses his arms and turns his back, looking out

at the burning houses and the suffering families.

AIRK:

You're chasing a dream.

MADMARTIGAN:

Just get me some horses.

Airk glares at him furiously. Then he kicks open the

door and storms out into the street. Madmartigan and

Willow hurry after him.

EXT. MOUNTAINSIDE - VILLAGE OUTSKIRTS - DAY

Airk and his men, plus some villagers, watch as Madmar-

tigan mounts a large horse. Then some villagers help

Willow wiggle up onto a small pony. They sling the

baby over Willow's back and stuff saddlebags with pro-

visions

MADMARTIGAN:

Once again, Airk, we say goodbye.

Sadly and cynically, Airk laughs.

AIRK:

One day one of us willl stand on

the other's grave.

They shake hands ruggedly. Madmartigan nods at Willow

and they head off. Airk watches them go, clearly am-

bivalent about staying behind. They ride up the snowy

slope, Raziel circling above.

WE SEE Cuth. He scratches his filthy beard. He sneaks

off through the village, in the direction of the Nock-

maar army.

EXT. MOUNTAIN - DAY

Snow circles around them as they climb. Then, oddly,

the mountain becomes warmer, and the snow melts away.

They reach a slope of dark vitreous lava.

RAZIEL:

Nockmaar! Nockmaar!

Far away, at the top of the mountain, looms the ominous

Catsle of Nockmaar. The black lava flows from it

like a deadly shadow.

EXT. CAVE OF THE EBORSISK - DAY

Their horses rear up as they approach the mouth of the

cave. Raziel waits for them, circling and cawing.

RAZIEL:

This way! The cave!

They dismount and lead the horses. But the horses pan-

ic, their frightened neighing voices echoing deep in

the gloomy cave, and they break away and run off.

Willow swallows hard. He and Madmartigan follow Raziel

inside.

INT. CAVE OF THE EBORSISK - DAY

Daylight is soon replaced by the orange glow of molten

lava.

WILLOW:

Madmartigan! I can't stand being

in closed-in places.

MADMARTIGAN:

Want me to carry Elora?

WILLOW:

I'm used to her. How's she doing?

Willow wears the papoose on his back. Madmartigan

looks in at the baby's face.

MADMARTIGAN:

She's doing a lot better than we

are, Peck.

Willow and Madmartigan laugh, which breaks the tension.

Then a geiser of steam hisses near them and a bat

screeches somewhere and the tension's back. They keep

going.

INT. DEEPER IN THE CAVE

Hot liquid drips from the ceiling. Hissing steam bub-

bles from the floor. they go single-file along a ledge

over a foaming lava pit. Raziel is squawking way ahead

in the distance.

MADMARTIGAN:

Willow...this may be a bad time to

ask this question but...what if

Raziel's wrong?

WILLOW:

She can't be wrong. She's a very

very very powerful sorceress.

MADMARTIGAN:

She's a bird, Willow.

WILLOW:

That's my fault, not hers. I've

got to keep practicing. I'm still

in the learning stage but magic,

Madmartigan, requires concentration

and--

MADMARTIGAN:

Watch it!

WILLOW:

Ahhh!

Madmartigan lunges and grabs Willow just as he is about

to fall into the lava pit. He hauls him to safety.

They gasp with relief. Then they head deeper into the

cave. They stop. They hear something. Something

strange.

Then, something moves on the wall.

WILLOW:

I hate this.

The cave walls come to life. Down them crawl ugly ROCK

PUFFERS, pillow-sized wall crabs that screech horribly

like bats. Madmartigan fights them off with his sword.

The Rock Puffers bloat themselves up, tripling their

size. Madmartigan stabs one and it hisses away like an

untied balloon.

Suddenly, distant hoofbeats thunder and echo. Madmar-

tigan flashes his sword and turns around, ready to de-

fend Willow and the baby against the army.

MADMARTIGAN:

Go, Willow! Run! Run!

Willow listens as the hoofbeats get louder and louder.

At last he turns and runs deeper into the cave. Mad-

martigan waits.

The Nockmaar soldiers, now increased to eighty, come

charging down the cave. Kael rides in the lead along-

side the turncoat Cuth. As they gallop along the

ledge, Cuth makes the mistake of crowding Kael, who an-

grily elbos him, horse and all, into the boiling pit.

The army tramples over the Rock Puffers, which explode

underfoot. Madmartigan braces himself as they stampede

toward him. But suddenly the horseman all screech

thir horses to a halt. The horses rear and back away.

Madmartigan stands there, wondering. Then suddenly a

shadow looms behind him. He turns.

The EBORSISK roars and the cave shakes and thunders.

It's an enormous two-headed monster that doesn't like

visitors.

MADMARTIGAN:

Willow! Willow!

He looks around frantically. Willow is nowhere to be

seen. Then the baby cries out. Madmartigan sees them,

cowering behind a rock. He runs toward them. The

Eborsisk exhales flames over his head.

KAEL:

Go after them!

Soldiers obey Kael and go after Madmartigan. He fights

them, hacking down a few, while a few others are in-

cinerated by the Eborsisk. Sorsha's horse rears as she

watches Madmartigan battle for his life. Archers shoot

arrows, which pierce the Eborsisk and make it even an-

grier.

Willow digs one of his magic acorns out of his pocket.

A head of the Eborsisk gnashes at Madmartigan. Madmar-

tigan looks to Willow for help.

MADMARTIGAN:

Hurry, Willow! Throw it!

Willow winds up and throws with all his might. The

Eborsisk blasts a flame, which startles Willow, wreck-

ing his aim. Madmartigan's eyes pop open and he ducks

as the acorn whistles by his ear. The acorn bounces

off a rock and flies back, trickles along the ground

and hits a Nockmaar soldier, who is already dead. The

soldier's body turns to stone.

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