Medieval Film (Untitled) - Excerpt

Note : Due to size limitations, this script has been divided into two parts. Likewise, the formatting looks a little awkward on the website. However, the formatting is correct in my version of the script.

Note to my readers : This excerpt is taken from a feature length family film I have been working on. It is still a work in progress, although the storyline is complete and the screenplay is at about 90%. I have yet to come up with a suitable name for the film, as well as the Evil Wizard character. So, no, his name isn't actually Evil Wizard, I assure you I can be a little more creative than that. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy reading this delightful little journey to the land of Camelot...

EXT - THE WATERING HOLE - DAY

Bartleby the Squirrel walks over to the small lake, finding a shady spot to relax and enjoy his acorn.

He looks around as he takes a bite.

Across the lake, under a small cliff, there is a deer. She’s getting a drink of water.

Thinking she heard something, she looks up, her ears perked. She decides she was wrong and goes back to drinking.

A few seconds later, a pebble splashes into the water next to her head. She looks up again, startled.

                             ALISTAIR
                   (O.S.)
         Do you really think you’re any
         match for the likes of me?
         
Several more pebbles begin to rain down, most landing in the pond, some bouncing off the deer’s head. She gets annoyed.

                             CID
                   (O.S.)
         Give me your best shot, Knight!
         
                             ALISTAIR
                   (O.S.)
         You wouldn’t survive my best
         shot.

                             CID
                   (O.S.)
         Try me.

                             ALISTAIR
                   (O.S.)
         You asked for it!

There is a brief moment of silence. The deer finds herself getting curious.

                             CID
                   (O.S.)
         Wait, hold on. What are you -

Cid SCREAMS, and soon comes falling from above, landing in the pond, splashing the deer. In Cid’s hand is a small, wooden battle axe.

He looks sheepishly at the angry deer.

                             CID
         Sorry.

She snorts, upset, and runs off.

Bartleby is amused.

Alistair screams his WAR CRY as he leaps off of the ledge, a wooden sword held above his head in attack position.
                   

IMAGINATION

Both boys are in full armor, with real weapons.

Alistair lands in the pond, bringing his sword down on Cid’s head. Cid blocks the attack with his axe, and the two lock eyes.

                             ALISTAIR
         Surrender!

                             CID
         Never. Camelot will be mine!

Cid puts a foot in Alistair’s chest and shoves him off. Alistair falls onto the grass.

Cid stands up, water pouring out of his armor.

Alistair glares at him, embarrassed and angry.

                             ALISTAIR
         I will never let Camelot fall
         into the hands of filthy pond
         scum like you.

Cid looks grossed out.

                             CID
         Pond scum? That’s nasty.

Alistair lunges to his feet, swinging his blade.


REALITY

Several yards from where the boy’s are battling, a girl named MORGAN sits on a boulder, watching. She dresses like a gothic fairy princess, and has a sarcastic, almost menacing look in her eyes.

Seated next to her is her pet dragon, STUZZ, who is currently distracted by a passing butterfly.

                             MORGAN
         Look at those morons Stuzz.

Stuzz looks away from the butterfly, turning his attention to the boys. They are battling with their wooden weapons, in regular clothes.

                             MORGAN
         That is not normal.

They watch as Cid takes a swing with his axe, missing and falling to the ground.

Morgan rolls her eyes.

                             MORGAN
         Idiots.


IMAGINATION

Cid gets to his feet and swings his axe at Alistair’s neck.

Alistair ducks and thrusts his sword into Cid’s abdomen.

Cid looks at him in disbelief.


REALITY

Morgan watches Cid hold the sword to his side, pretending he was stabbed.

He grunts and stumbles in an overly dramatic display.

His feet are getting close to the edge of a hill.

                             ALISTAIR
                   (arms up in victory)
         The mighty knight of Camelot
         vanquishes his foe yet again!

Cid steps on some loose dirt, his foot slips. He feels himself falling backward, holds his hand out to Alistair.

                             CID
         Ally, help!

Alistair reaches for him, but he’s too slow, and Cid falls backward, down the hill.

Cid falls end over end down the hill, grunting as he bounces off a boulder.


UP THE HILL

Alistair rushes to the hill, nervous, looking for his friend.

                             ALISTAIR
         Cid!

He scans the forest, but the trees are too thick to see anything.


DOWN THE HILL

Cid is still rolling down the hill, but he soon reaches the end, where he comes to a stop face down in a puddle of mud.

He doesn’t move.


UP THE HILL

Alistair is still scanning, Morgan and Stuzz come up behind him, also concerned.

                             ALISTAIR
         Cid! Are you okay?

There is no response.

                             MORGAN
         Where did he go?

                             ALISTAIR
                   (irritated)
         I don’t know. Down there. What
         kind of stupid question is
         that?

Morgan can’t believe her ears.

                             MORGAN
         Did you just call me stupid?

Alistair snaps his head to look at her, about to say yes. Then he realizes how foolish that would be.

                             ALISTAIR
         No. I’m saying the question was
         stupid.                              

                             MORGAN
         Yeah? Well I’m not the idiot
         that knocked his best friend
         down a hill, am I?
                   (rolls her eyes)
         I’m not the one that thinks
         he’s some kind of legendary          
         knight.

                             ALISTAIR
         I never said I was legendary.
                   (beat)
         Yet.

                             MORGAN
         I can’t believe you believe in
         all that Camelot nonsense. It’s
         not even a real place.

                             ALISTAIR
         It is real. And one day I will
         serve on the Round Table. But
         right now -
                   
He turns his attention back down the hill.

                             ALISTAIR
                   (continuing)
         I have to go find my friend.


DOWN THE HILL

Cid stirs, and lifts his face out of the mud. He is in a lot of pain, and it takes him a second to get to his hands and knees.

Spitting mud back into the puddle, he wipes it out of his eyes and looks around. He is very disoriented.

                             CID
         What happened?

He looks around at all the trees as he slowly gets to his feet.

                             CID
         Ally? Alistair?

He listens for a response.

                             CID
         Morgan? Anybody?

He looks around, there is no sign of his friends.

                             CID
         Where are they?

He rubs his head as he begins to make his way through the trees.

                                                   CUT TO:


EXT. FOREST - DAY

Bartleby is following along the braches, high above Alistair, Morgan and Stuzz, who are searching for Cid.

                             ALISTAIR
         Just because nobody has seen it
         doesn’t mean it’s imaginary.

                             MORGAN
         Well then where is it?

                             ALISTAIR
         I don’t know! But it’s out
         there somewhere.

Morgan is just teasing him at this point.

                             MORGAN
         How do you know?

He stops, getting upset.

                             ALISTAIR
         I don’t know. Just drop it.

He storms off. Morgan looks back at Stuzz.

                             MORGAN
         That kid’s weird.

Stuzz snorts, nodding.

                                                   CUT TO:


EXT. ELSEWHERE IN THE FOREST - DAY

Cid is walking around, exploring the forest. He climbs over a boulder, between a couple of trees, and arrives at a clearing.

The is a small cabin there. Cid looks at it curiously.

                             CID
         That’s strange.

He slowly walks up to the cabin, looking around for the owner.

He gets to a dusty window and looks inside.


THROUGH THE WINDOW

The cabin is completely empty.


BACK TO SCENE

Cid seems confused.

                             CID
         What? Nobody lives here?

He looks around, but there is nothing around to suggest an occupant.

He suddenly gets very excited.

                             CID
         Nobody lives here!

He rushes around to the door and opens it.


INSIDE THE CABIN

Cid walks in, looking around, mouth hanging open. He crosses the living room slowly.

                             CID
         Wow.

He wanders into the bedroom, which is also empty. He walks across the room to a closet door and opens it.

Inside the closet there is a LONG, DARK stairway leading deep into the ground.

Cid’s eyes widen.


                             CID
         What is this?
         
He starts down the stairs. He is nervous, but his curiosity is stronger.

The further he goes, the darker it gets. Soon he is in complete darkness.

There is a sudden CRASH, and the earth SHAKES, as if something very heavy just fell from the sky.

Cid puts his hand on the wall for support, scared.

There is a second thunderous CRASH.

                             CID
         Whoa! What’s going on?

He listens, and after a moment there are FOOTSTEPS coming from upstairs. Cid looks up at the ceiling, and very nervously starts backing down the stairs, deeper into the darkness.

                                                   CUT TO:


EXT. FOREST - DAY

High angle view of the forest, scanning for Cid.

Alistair hangs HIGH above the ground, clutching to the top of a very tall tree. He is looking out over the land, and the further he LEANS, the more the tree BENDS.


ON THE GROUND

Morgan is looking up at him.

                             MORGAN
         Ally, get down here right now!

He’s ignoring her, she is getting angry.


A FEW FEET AWAY

Stuzz has turned his attention on a WORM that’s inching its way across a leaf.

                             MORGAN
                   (O.S.)
         Don’t make me come up there!

Stuzz licks his lips as he gets ever closer to the Worm. Stuzz’ mouth begins to open.

The Worm sees him and SCREAMS in terror, it’s eyes widening. It tries to squirm away.

Alistair can be HEARD SCREAMING as Stuzz chomps down on the Worm. Just before he gets it, Alistair falls from above, landing on the dragon. They both go to the ground.

The Worm stops running when he sees this and starts laughing.

Stuzz sits up, hurt and embarrassed, looking at the ground.

Alistair just sits there, pouting angrily and rubbing his head.

The Worm is laughing so hard it’s crying.

Morgan backhands the Worm and sends it flying into a tree. She rushes to comfort her dragon.

                             MORGAN
         Oh Stuzzy, are you okay?

He looks up at her and nods with a grunt.

She kisses his forehead and he cheers right up.

She glares at Alistair, who gets defensive.

                             ALISTAIR
         What? I slipped?

She continues to glare.

                             ALISTAIR
         Hey! I fell out of a tree! I’m
         hurt too!

She continues to glare. Alistair crosses his arms in a huff.                 

                             ALISTAIR
         Humph. Stupid dragon.

                                                   CUT TO:


INT. CABIN - DAY

Back UPSTAIRS, a SPIDER is walking across the floor. It suddenly looks up in terror and makes a weird little SQUEAK noise as DANTE, a quick, mean, evil looking BAT flies down and eats it.

He chews his food as he glides back up through the air, onto the shoulder of the EVIL WIZARD.

The Evil Wizard’s tall, thin frame is very snake-like, and his eyes have the look of pure evil and extreme intelligence.

As he makes his way across his cabin floor, he gets the feeling he is not alone. His lips curl in anger as he moves toward his secret stairway.

He gets to the open closet door.

                             EVIL WIZARD
         Odd. This door wasn’t open when
         we left, was it Dante?

Dante shakes his head slowly, an evil grin spreading across his face.

Evil Wizard gets an evil grin of his own.

                             EVIL WIZARD
         Good.

He walks to the open door.

                                                   CUT TO:


INT. CABIN - BASEMENT - DAY

IN THE BROOM CLOSET

Cid is crouched in the dark, hiding behind a scattered stack of books.

He peeks nervously through a crack in the door, listening as the FOOTSTEPS echoing down the stairwell grow louder.

                             CID
                   (whispering)
         Alistair, where are you?

There is a LOUD SHRIEK, causing Cid to lean up against the wall, frightened.


OUTSIDE THE CLOSET

The basement is a CREEPY, occult lair, with an altar adorned with skulls.

Dante flies though the doorway of the stairwell and swoops around the room, looking for the intruder.

The Evil Wizard follows him through the door and stops, his eyes carefully scanning the room.

Dante lands on his shoulder. He perks his ear up and listens carefully.

                             EVIL WIZARD
         Show yourself.


INSIDE THE CLOSET

Cid remains still, terrified, trying not to even breathe.


OUTSIDE THE CLOSET

Evil Wizard starts across the room, his eyes still searching.

                             EVIL WIZARD
         I know you’re here. I can feel
         your fear.

Dante looks around, determined to find the intruder, but it seems like nobody is here.

                             EVIL WIZARD
                   (to Dante)
         Maybe he’s gone.

Dante looks around, angry.

                             EVIL WIZARD
         I know you’re disappointed.
         Here.

He reaches into his pocket. He pulls a big fat bug out and tosses it across the room.

It hits the floor near the closet.

Dante gives chase while Evil Wizard grins and watches the door, he knows somebody is in there.


INSIDE THE CLOSET

The bug runs into the closet, chased by Dante.

Cid is terrified to watch the bat fly right in front of him, but Dante doesn’t notice him.

Dante tackles the bug and the two roll into a bunch of cans, knocking them over and making a lot of noise.

Dante sits up, holding the bug by the neck. He smiles hungrily and opens his mouth, the bug scared to death.

Cid closes his eyes.

In the darkness, a horrible CRUNCH is heard.


OUTSIDE THE CLOSET

Evil Wizard is at his altar now, looking through a giant book filled with ancient text and terrifying pictures of demons and skeletons.

Dante walks out of the closet, happy and rubbing his fat belly. He halfway walks, halfway flies over to his master, then flies up, perching on the edge of the book.

He looks down at the pages, and although he has no idea how to read, but he can tell it’s evil, and he smiles.

Behind them, across the room, the closet door moves a little.

Dante doesn’t notice, but Evil Wizard does, and a smile spreads across his face.

Cid crawls out of the closet, staying low and desperately trying not to get caught. He keeps his eyes on the man.

He stops quickly, his pant leg caught. He turns to look and sees it’s stuck to a horn coming off of the face of a monster carved onto the leg of a table. He kicks his foot to get loose and turns to continue.

Dante is right in his face, and he lets out an awful SHRIEK.

Cid SCREAMS and jumps up, his flailing arm knocking a bunch of stuff off of the shelves.

                             CID
         Get away!

He swings his arm at Dante, but the bat dodges his hands and flies around his head.

Cid twists and blocks, trying to swat the bat away.

Cid gets all turned around and finds himself face to face with the Evil Wizard.

Cid screams.

The wizard laughs.

                                                   CUT TO:


EXT. FOREST - DAY

The search party is still wandering through the forest.

                             ALISTAIR
         Cid!

                             MORGAN
         Cid, where are you?

Bartleby is up in the trees, looking around too.


POV

from something lurking in the trees, slowly moving toward them.

                             ALISTAIR
         Cid where are you?


BACK TO SCENE

Alistair turns to Morgan.

                             ALISTAIR
         Where is he?

Morgan looks ahead, lost.

                             MORGAN
         I don’t know. This forest is
         huge.


POV

It’s getting closer.

                             MORGAN
         Maybe he went home.

                             ALISTAIR
         You think so?

                             MORGAN
                   (shrugs)
         Maybe?


BACK TO SCENE

Ally looks at her, upset she isn’t more certain. He looks around, squinting to see as far as he can.

Bartleby, whose gaze begins to wander, sees something that causes his blood to run cold. He can’t take his eyes off it.


POV

Stuzz sees it too, and he’s frightened. It’s coming closer, and he tries to warn his friends, but all he can manage to do is make these strange gasping sounds.

                             ALISTAIR
         Yeah, I suppose.


BACK TO SCENE

Stuzz is desperately trying to warn Morgan about the BONY HAND reaching out to grab her shoulder, but he’s still too frightened.

The hand touches her.

She turns to see who is touching her, and looks right into the DARK, EMPTY eye sockets of a SKELETON.

She SHRIEKS and jumps into Stuzz’ arms. He does his best to look protective, but he’s not a very good actor, and his fear is obvious.

Alistair puts himself between his friends and the skeleton, his wooden sword drawn in true hero fashion.

Nobody seems to notice that the skeleton is dressed exactly like Cid.

                             ALISTAIR
         Back off, vile fiend!

The skeleton seems amused and confused at the same time.

                             SKELETON
                   (Cid’s voice)
         Vile fiend?

He takes a step toward Alistair, but gets the tip of the sword pointed right at his neck when he does.

                             ALISTAIR
         I’ll slice your head right off
         if you take one more step.

The skeleton doesn’t seem too scared.

                             MORGAN
         You are aware that thing’s made
         out of wood.

He shoots her a nasty glare, as if she spoiled some big secret.

                             ALISTAIR
         Shut up!

The skeleton pushes the sword away and steps toward Alistair.
         
                             SKELETON
         Ally, knock it off. I have to
         tell you what I saw!

Alistair is suddenly very confused, as are Morgan and Stuzz.

Bartleby looks like he figured it out.

Morgan slowly walks away from the protective arms of her pet, and approaches the skeleton slowly, cautiously.

                             MORGAN
         Cid?

                             CID
                   (confused)
         Yeah, what’s going on?

                             ALISTAIR
         Cid? What happened to you?

                             CID
         That’s what I’ve been trying to
         tell you, but you keep sticking
         your sword in my face!

                             ALISTAIR
         Well I’m sorry if I didn’t
         recognize you but under the
         circumstances I think it can be
         forgiven!

                             CID
         What are you talking about?

                             ALISTAIR
         What am I talking about? Your
         flesh is missing! You’re telling
         me you haven’t noticed?

                             CID
         My what?

Cid nervously lifts a bony hand up in front of his face, and for the first time realizes what’s become of him.


INSERT

Jeffrey the rabbit is in his rabbit hole, sitting down to a nice, relaxing cup of tea. He’s about to take the first sip when a terrible, blood curdling SCREAM echoes throughout the forest, scaring the bejeezus out of Jeffrey. He jumps out of his seat, his cup of tea flying across the room.


BACK TO SCENE

Cid is in shock.

                             CID
         What did he do to me?

His friends are staring at him, still unable to believe their eyes.

                             MORGAN
         Who?

                             ALISTAIR
         Yeah Cid. Who did this to you?

                             CID
         I don’t know, some creepy old
         guy… in the cabin… with a bat…

                             ALISTAIR
         Where is this man? We’ll hunt
         him down and make him turn you
         back to normal.

                             MORGAN
         Well, not normal, but Cid.

                             CID
         I don’t know where he is. In a
         cabin around here, somewhere. I
         don’t know.

Cid looks around, lost.

                             CID
         I was in the cabin, then I was
         just… here, in the forest.

                             ALISTAIR
         Well come on! We’ll find it.

Alistair starts walking, trying to get his buddy’s spirits up.

                             ALISTAIR
         It’s around here somewhere.

                             MORGAN
         Where?

Alistair stops and looks at her, impatient.

                             MORGAN
         We’ve been searching this forest
         for hours now. I haven’t seen a
         cabin.

Cid is uncomfortable with the whole idea.

                             CID
         Don’t worry about it.

                             ALISTAIR
         We must make him change you
         back!

                             CID
         What do you expect to do if we
         find him, Alistair? Threaten him
         with your wooden sword?

Morgan laughs.

                             MORGAN
         I know!
                   (making fun of
                    Alistair)
         Let’s go to Camelot and see if
         Lancelot can help us!

She laughs, as do Cid and Stuzz, but Alistair LOVES the idea, a giant smile on his face.

                             ALISTAIR
         Of course! That’s brilliant!

Morgan gets nervous, regrets saying it already.

                             MORGAN
         Um, I was joking.

Alistair doesn‘t hear her.

                             ALISTAIR
         Why didn’t I think of it
         sooner?

He scans the forest, wondering which way to go.

Morgan turns to Stuzz, scared.

                             MORGAN
         He does know I’m joking, right?

Stuzz shrugs.

                             ALISTAIR
         So it’s decided!

He walks up to Cid, puts his hands on his friend‘s shoulders.

                             ALISTAIR
         Don’t worry my friend! We’ll
         have you back to normal in no
         time!

Alistair struts away, confident.

Cid looks at Morgan, very nervous.

                             CID
         You had to go and mention
         Camelot, didn’t you?

He walks away, following Alistair. Morgan looks at her dragon.

                             MORGAN
         You knew I was joking, right
         Stuzz?

Stuzz nods. She watches the guys walk off.
         
                             MORGAN
         Do you really think it exists?

                                           DISSOLVE TO:


EXT. FOREST - DAY

The group is making its way through the forest,

Bartleby still following from the branches above. He is leaping from tree to tree, but his attention is too focused on the kids, and he doesn’t notice the branches stopped coming.

He freezes in midair, feeling around for a branch, too frightened to look down.

Finally he peeks, and shrieks in fear as he suddenly plummets.

The kids walk through the last few trees and come to a large clearing. They walk a couple steps away from the trees, looking around.

Bartleby falls in the b.g., hitting the ground with a thud. The kids don’t notice.

They are on the bank of a pretty wide stream. As Alistair surveys the stream, he spots a bridge about fifty yards away. There is a MAN IN ARMOR sitting on a boulder next to it, and he looks pretty BORED.

                             ALISTAIR
         Look, we can cross there.

Cid looks nervously at Man In Armor.

                             CID
         I don’t know, Ally. That guy
         doesn’t look too friendly.

Alistair seems confused.

                             ALISTAIR
         What, him?

He double checks, in case he missed something.

                             ALISTAIR
         Nah, he doesn’t look so tough.

Cid looks at Morgan, nervous. She rolls her eyes at him and walks away, followed by Stuzz. Cid looks embarrassed and follows.

Bartleby, dizzy and rubbing his head, follows them, stumbling a lot.


A MOMENT LATER

The Man In Armor rises to his feet as the group approaches. He is a GIANT man, FIVE TIMES the size of Alistair.

Alistair doesn’t seem to care, he walks right up to the man and looks him right in the eyes.

                             ALISTAIR
                   (very rudely)
         You want to step aside, sir?
         We’re in a hurry.

Man in Armor chuckles. Alistair waits, but Man In Armor doesn’t say anything. Alistair looks back at his friends.

                             ALISTAIR
         Who is this joker?

They shrug.

                             ALISTAIR
                   (as he turns back)
         Look friend -

The Man grabs him by the collar and LIFTS him off of the ground, bringing him to eye level. Alistair scowls at him.

                             MAN IN ARMOR
         Nobody crosses my bridge without
         paying the toll.

                             ALISTAIR
         Toll?
                   (he laughs a little)
         You want me to pay a toll?

                             MAN IN ARMOR
         If you want to cross my bridge.

                             ALISTAIR
         Who do you think you are

                             MAN IN ARMOR
         I think I’m the owner of this
         bridge.

                             ALISTAIR
         Well, if you don’t release me
         soon you’re going to be the
         owner of a splitting headache
         as well!

The Man In Armor starts to LAUGH, releasing Alistair’s shirt. The boy falls to the ground, landing flat on his backside.

Alistair scowls up at the man, ready to teach him a lesson.

Cid steps up, upset.

                             CID
         Hey, man, what’s your problem?

The Man In The Armor holds up a sword bigger than the boy, and Cid quickly stands down, running to hide behind Stuzz. The Man flashes an arrogant smile.

                             MAN IN ARMOR
         It seems to me you’re the one
         with the problem.

Alistair gets back on his feet, and gets right back in the man’s face (or waist, I suppose).

                             ALISTAIR
         We are on a very important
         mission! We must get across
         this bridge.

                             MAN IN ARMOR
         I’ll tell you what, kid. You
         beat me in a fair fight, I let
         you and your friends pass.

Alistair grins, pulling his little wooden sword.

The Man In The Armor laughs at the sight of it, uncontrollable, hysterical laughter.

Morgan puts her face in her hands, embarrassed.

                             MAN IN ARMOR
         Alright, then. Let’s begin.

The Man is trying unsuccessfully to regain his composure.

Cid peeks out from behind Stuzz.

                             CID
         Hey! That’s not a fair fight!

                             MAN IN ARMOR
         Quiet kid!

Cid quickly gets back behind Stuzz.

                             MAN IN ARMOR
         This is between me and your
         little friend here.

He gives Alistair a rude little push, knocking the kid back a couple steps.

Alistair gets right back in the man’s face, showing no fear.

Morgan looks impressed.

                             ALISTAIR
         What’s your name, sir?

                             MAN IN ARMOR
         Shut your stupid mouth, that’s
         my name.
                   (beat)
         Now are we going to fight or not?

Alistair sneaks in a quick swing, catching the Man off guard. He hits him right upside the helmet.


POV - MAN IN THE ARMOR

Everything is VIBRATING, there’s a loud RINGING sound.

The VIBRATION slows down, and the double vision goes away, and Alistair is grinning.


RETURN TO SCENE

The Man In The Armor is very angry. He punches Alistair right in the gut, and the boy falls to his hands and knees.

Alistair GASPS, trying to breathe.

The Man is LAUGHING hysterically.

Stuzz and Cid look terrified, completely useless.

Morgan decides she’s had enough. She steps right up to the Man, a dark, eerie glimmer in her eyes.

His arrogant smirk fades as she gets closer, as he looks into her eyes, terrified.

                             MORGAN
         Now you listen to me you
         overgrown, pathetic pile of
         rusted tin.

She uses Alistair as a stepladder so she could get face to face with the Man.

                             MORGAN
         Here’s what you’re going to do.
         
She jabs an index finger right into his chest.

                             MORGAN
         You’re going to apologize to my
         friend and get out of the way,
         or else I’m gonna find out if
         your face is able to squeeze
         into the business end of my
         dragon over there!

She points at Stuzz to illustrate her point. The dragon seems confused, and looks to Cid for clarification. Cid leans in to whisper something into his ear, something the dragon is not pleased to hear.

                             MAN IN ARMOR
                   (very quickly)
         You can pass.

He steps aside, clearing the way to the bridge.

                             MORGAN
                   (sweetly)
         Thanks.

She hops off of Alistair’s back and skips onto the bridge.

The Man extends an arm to Alistair.
                   
                             MAN IN ARMOR
         Sorry.

Alistair looks up at the man in disgust, unwilling to accept his help.

He slaps the man’s hand aside, and it hurts a lot.


ACROSS THE BRIDGE

Alistair, Cid and Stuzz catch up to Morgan several feet later, and the young girl is quite pleased with herself.

                             ALISTAIR
         You know, I had everything
         under control back there.

                             MORGAN
         Yeah, whatever.

She flashes a sarcastic grin.

                             MORGAN
         I just didn’t want to be there
         all day.

                             ALISTAIR
         Just stay out of my business
         next time.

He walks ahead, angry.

                             MORGAN
         You’re welcome!

He holds up his hand.

Morgan gets a shocked look on her face.

Stuzz and Cid are shocked as well, Stuzz quickly covering the boy’s eyes.

Alistair walks into the forest.

                                                   CUT TO:


EXT. FOREST - LATER THAT DAY

The quartet is traveling through the forest. Bartleby is still following, watching them from the branches above.

They are filthy, covered in mud and grime. They look absolutely exhausted, and Morgan has a displeased scowl on her face.

                             MORGAN
                   (muttering)
         This is ridiculous, the forest
         is no place for a lady, that’s
         for sure. My clothes are ruined,
         my feet are sore, -

The boys roll their eyes as she speaks. They’ve obviously been listening to this for a while.

                             MORGAN
                   (continuing)
         - you guys are really starting
         to stink and…          and…
         
She trails off, her focus now on something else, something shocking.

The boys notice she’s distracted, and follow her gaze to something amazing. A huge smile spreads across Alistair’s face.

                             ALISTAIR
                   (in awe)
         Camelot.

Ahead, in a giant clearing in the trees, a giant, majestic castle stands there like it owns the place.

Bartleby rubs his eyes in disbelief.

Morgan is cynical about it. Cid is just uncomfortable with this whole situation. Stuzz just stares, jaw wide open.

                             CID
         That could be any castle.

                             ALISTAIR
         But it’s not. It’s not just any
         castle.

                             MORGAN
         Look, I don’t care if it is!
         I’m cold, I’m wet, and I’m all
         slimy. All I care about right
         now is a bath.

                             CID
         And some food. I’m starving.

His friends look at him, confused.

                             ALISTAIR
         Cid. You don’t even have a
         stomach.

Cid looks down at himself. Apparently, he forgot.

                             CID

         Oh yeah.

Morgan is already halfway through the clearing, walking toward the castle, Stuzz nervously following. He seems to sense something.

                             MORGAN
         Well let’s go then!

The boys head after her.

                                                   CUT TO:


EXT./INT. CAMELOT - SECONDS LATER

The castle is absolutely massive. It’s giant stone front is so big, in fact, that they are unable to see the rest of the castle from here.

They arrive at the ridiculously tall doors and stare up at them in awe.

                             MORGAN
         It’s so big.

                             ALISTAIR
         It’s glorious.

Alistair reaches for the door. Cid seems nervous.

                             CID
         Hold on. I’ve got a really bad                             feeling.

                             ALISTAIR
                   (dismissive)
         A bad feeling? Come on.

Alistair pulls open the giant door.

                             ALISTAIR
         This is Camelot, my friend. We
         are completely safe here…

As Ally finishes his sentence, his expression changes to that of disbelief and his voice trails off. Then he stops completely, just staring. His friends come up behind him, sharing his expression.

                             MORGAN
         What happened here?

For the first time we see the inside of the castle, and it is in ruins. It looks as if a massive earthquake struck the castle. Walls have crumbled, stairs have fallen, everything is destroyed.

The kids look around the room in shock.

                             ALISTAIR
         Hello!
                   (beat)
         Is anybody here?

They look around the silent room, waiting to see if he’ll get an answer. He doesn’t.

                             ALISTAIR
                   (very concerned)
         What’s going on?

                             CID
         Maybe it’s not Camelot. Maybe
         it’s just some old, broken
         castle.

                             ALISTAIR
         It is Camelot. I can tell. Look
         around you. It’s just like the
         legends. I’ll bet you the Round
         Table is around here somewhere.

Alistair starts searching frantically.

                             CID
         If it is Camelot, than where is
         everybody? The Knights would                                     never have let this happen.

                             ALISTAIR
         Don’t you get it? Something is
         wrong. Something truly terrible
         has happened here, and I’m
         afraid Arthur and the Knights
         are in trouble.

                             GUINEVERE
                   (beautiful, angelic
                    voice, O.S.)
         It’s true.

Alistair whips around to see where it came from, and can’t believe his eyes.

GUINEVERE stands atop the broken stairs, her elegant white dress torn, a bleeding wound on her forehead just beneath her crown.

Without even realizing it, Alistair has gotten down on one knee, his eyes locked on this woman.

                             MORGAN
                   (nervous)
         L-Lady Guinevere?

                             GUINEVERE
         It all happened so fast. Dragons
         from the north brought evil to
         our door. There were terrible
         blasts of fire. Men were getting
         injured everywhere. Arthur…

She drops to the floor, sobbing.

Morgan rushes to her side, comforts her while looking to Alistair for a plan.

Alistair tries to look tough.

                             ALISTAIR
         Don’t worry my lady. We’ll
         rescue them.

                             MORGAN
         What?

                             CID
         What!

Stuzz makes the sound one would make if they couldn’t talk, but wanted to say “What?”.

                             ALISTAIR
         Yeah. We can do it.

                             GUINEVERE
         You are kind, but you don’t know
         what you’re up against. This man
         has powerful evil. He will
         destroy you.

                             ALISTAIR
         I am not afraid.

                             CID
         I’m pretty afraid.

                             MORGAN
         Yeah, I’m not loving this plan
         either.

                             ALISTAIR
         It’ll be fine. We’ll have the
         element of surprise. He’ll never
         see it coming!

                             GUINEVERE
         I’m afraid I must agree with
         your friends. This is far to
         dangerous. I can’t allow you to
         do this.

                             CID
                   (thrilled to hear
                    that)
         You see. We can’t help. Come on
         Ally. Let’s go back to the
         village. Let the grown ups know
         what happened. They’ll be able
         to help.
         
                             ALISTAIR
         They won’t believe us. Nobody
         believes in Camelot anymore.

                             MORGAN
         When they see we have a walking,
         talking skeleton with us, it
         should be fairly easy to get
         them to believe anything.

Stuzz nods in agreement.

Alistair can’t believe his ears.

                             ALISTAIR
                   (mutters in disgust)
         Cowards.

                             GUINEVERE
         It is not cowardice to leave the
         job in the hands of someone more
         capable.

Alistair doesn’t appreciate her choice of words.

                             ALISTAIR
         Capable?
                   
                             CID
         Come on Alistair, we have to get
         home quickly.

                             ALISTAIR
                   (still on Guinevere)
         Capable?

Morgan grabs his arm.

                             MORGAN
         Let’s go. We need to send help.

                             ALISTAIR
                   (still on Guinevere)
         I will be a Knight one day. I
         will show everybody how truly
         capable I am.

He glares at her, determined to prove her wrong.

                                                   CUT TO:


EXT. CAMELOT - DAY

Alistair storms through the door, back outside the castle, his friends jogging to keep up.

                             MORGAN
         She’s right, you know.

Alistair stops short and turns, getting right in her face.

                             ALISTAIR
         She doesn’t know me. She doesn’t
         know what I can do.

                             MORGAN
         Yeah well I do, okay. And I’m
         telling you, she’s right.

Cid gets in between his friends before one of them gets hit.

                             CID
         Come on, Ally. We don’t know who
         this guy is. At least if we go
         home we can bring greater
         numbers.

                             ALISTAIR
         You’re serious? You want to just
         go to the village, and hand my
         glory over to someone else?

                             MORGAN
                   (accusing)
         Glory? I thought it was for
         Camelot?

                             ALISTAIR
                   (freaking out)
         It’s all about Camelot! Don’t
         you get it? This is my chance.
         If I rescue the Knights, if I
         rescue the King! Can you
         imagine? That’s automatic
         knighthood.

                             MORGAN
         You’re nuts. Besides, Guinevere
         told you to go get help.

                             CID
         Yeah! You’re on a royal mission.
         
                             ALISTAIR
         If I do that, all I get is a pat
         on the back, maybe a party.

                             MORGAN
         She forbade you from going!

                             ALISTAIR
         Oh please, she didn’t mean that!
         That’s like, a liability thing.
         Insurance and stuff. Come on, do
         you really think we have that
         much time? They are in trouble,
         and if this guy’s as bad as
         Guinevere says he is, than they
         probably don’t have much time.

                             CID
         And what are we going to do when
         we find him? Do you think he’s
         really just going to hand the
         prisoners over?

                             ALISTAIR
         No, but… we’ll figure that out
         later. Right now, we have to
         find them.

Cid gives up.

                             CID
         Fine. But where do we look?

                             ALISTAIR
         I don’t know.

Alistair looks around the forest, hoping to find a sign or something.
         
Morgan rolls her eyes.

                             MORGAN
         Okay, look. I think this is a
         totally stupid idea, okay. Just
         wanted to let you guys know that.
         Okay? That said, Guinevere said
         that ‘Dragons from the north                                   
                brought evil to our door’.

Cid and Alistair exchange confused glances.

                             ALISTAIR
                   (annoyed)
         What does poetry have to do with          anything?”

                             MORGAN
         ‘From the north’

She looks at them, hoping they will understand. They stare at her blankly.

                             MORGAN
         ‘Dragons… from… the… north.’

More blank stares. She can’t believe it. Then, at the same time, they both seem to get it.

                             ALISTAIR
         Oh, the north!

                             CID
         The north, of course!

The boys look at each other, realizing they are both faking it. They look back at Morgan, lost.

Fury rises in her eyes. lips curl into a twisted snarl.

Stuzz lowers his head, nervous.

                             MORGAN
         Head north, you idiots!

Birds scatter from the trees.

The two boys look at her, shocked.

                             CID
                   (wondering what her
                    problem is)
         You didn’t have to yell.

                             ALISTAIR
                   (snaps)
         Yeah, what’s the deal?

The guys walk away from her, ashamed.

She rolls her eyes and glances back at Stuzz, who is cowering behind a tree, peeking out at her.

                             MORGAN
                   (grumpy)
         Let’s go.

She turns back to the boys, who are still walking off, alone.

                             MORGAN
         You morons are going east!