"Not bad." "But not good enough to live." "Mind if I sit down?" "I don't have your energy." "Fight with your head." "Not your heart." "Straight." "Better, Einon." "But you're still dead." "Purpose, not passion." "No one ever found victory in the dirt." "The peasants are revolting." "They've always been revolting, Prince." "But now they're rebelling." "King Freyne wants his son to witness his noble victory." "There's nothing noble about crushing desperate men." "They're traitorous scum!" "The king commands!" "Bring him!" "You can come, too, nursemaid." "Die, you dog!" "I wish we were down there." "No, you don't." "Yes, I do." "Just to see you in action, Bowen." "Yours would be the finest blade on the field." "My blade was not made for your father's slaughter." "He is my father, Bowen, and he is the king." "Yes." "But when you are king, remember today and the difference between battle and butchery, and remember the Old Code." "Then you'll be a greater king than your father." "I promise, Knight," "I will be greater." "Freyne!" "Now, Hewe, now!" "He's trapped!" "Einon!" "Einon, no!" "Enough!" "Enough!" "The battle's out there!" "Father?" "Die!" "It's mine!" "Einon!" "Einon!" "I'm here, Einon!" "I'm here, my king." "Dead, Madame." "King Freyne, your husband, slain." "In here!" "In here, on the bed." "Einon!" "Get out!" "Out!" "Out!" "Brok, out!" "You stay, Bowen." "Forgive me, Queen Aislinn." "There's nothing to forgive." "His father's tyranny brought him to this end." "He's beyond all help." "Not all." "A knight is sworn to valor." "Sworn to valor." "His heart knows only virtue." "Virtue." "His blade defends the helpless." "His might upholds the weak." "You must stay awake, my son." "You must stay awake." "Repeat the Code." "The Code." "His might upholds the weak." "His word speaks only truth." "His wrath..." "Undoes the wicked." "Brok, stay there." "Lord!" "Great one!" "Your song is sad!" "Are the stars shining tonight?" "No." "No bright souls glitter in this darkness." "Leave us." "Go." "Aislinn, daughter of the Celts." "Whose people loved your kind and called you friend." "Yeah, the king's son, cruel and full of trickery." "Is this why you've come, dragonslayer's wife?" "Dragonslayer's widow!" "This boy is not his father." "This knight here is his mentor." "He has taught him the Old Code." "I need your help." "The wound is deep." "You know what you ask." "I will teach him your ways." "He will grow in your grace." "He will grow just and good." "I swear." "No!" "The boy must swear." "Give me your sword, Knight." "Your sword!" "Do not be afraid." "He can save you." "Now listen to me, boy." "Swear that your father's blood lust and tyranny died with him." "Swear that you will live and rule with mercy." "Come to me and learn the Once-ways." "Now swear!" "I swear." "Einon!" "He's dead!" "Peace, Knight of the Old Code." "Witness the wonders of an ancient glory." "Half my heart to make you whole." "Its strength to purify your weakness." "Live, and remember your oath." "I served the father only for the sake of the son." "All my hopes rest on him." "Forgive a doubting fool." "Call when you need of me." "Ask what you will of me." "My sword, my service are yours." "Only remind him always of his vow," "Knight of the Old Code." "Brok." "Your Majesty?" "The Romans built this great fortress." "I will rebuild it, and mine will be greater." "It will take many men, my Lord, to rebuild this ruin." "Yes." "Yes, it will." "Not so rebellious now." "You should thank me, boy." "It was my stroke made you king." "No, Brok, I want no martyrs." "Death should be a release, not a punishment." "Look good, dog." "I'm the last thing you'll ever see." "Burn the insolence out of his eyes." "No!" "No!" "Not my eyes!" "No!" "Father!" "Run!" "How dare you defy me!" "Einon, you're unwell." "You've been bewitched." "Look at this!" "It's madness!" "Remember the Code!" "The king is above the Code!" "Have you forgotten everything I taught you?" "No one is above the Code." "Especially the king." "Dragon, I loved that boy and you changed him!" "You tricked me, Dragon!" "No matter where you fly, no matter where you go, I will find you!" "Today I make a new vow!" "I will spend the rest of my life hunting you down!" "Avalon, oh, Avalon." "For you I quest each day, the resting place of Arthur and the Old Code of his way and when I find those holy stones," "I'll pray, I'll pray, I'll pray." "Oh, Avalon, bright Avalon, think me not a fool." "My quest is not for vanity, my quest is spiritual." "Spiritual!" "Merlin, spiritual!" "Whoa!" "Merlin!" "Everyone's a critic!" "Dragon, dragon." "Yes, I know." "Where?" "There, there." "Get back here, horse." "You coward." "Marvelous!" "Heroics befitting the days of Arthur and the Round Table!" "Never have I seen such skill!" "Then you must have lived the sheltered life of a monk." "Why, yes." "A scribe, scholar, historian and poet." "Your servant, sir, Brother Gilbert of Glockenspur." "My humble life is in debt to your exalted prowess, your dauntless courage, and your superb, swift sword." "You have the poet's gift of exaggeration." "Sir, you should read my histories." "But you belittle your talent." "Modesty as well as valor." "The Code of ancient Camelot still lives." "Hardly worthy of Camelot." "Still, it's one less dragon." "Well done, Knight!" "Congratulations." "Our gratitude, mine and King Einon's." "You can keep your gratitude." "I'll take the gold." "Yours or the king's." "Gold, Knight?" "We made a bargain, remember?" "One dragon put down, one bag of gold." "Your honor has a price, Sir Knight?" "It has expenses." "Honor won't feed my belly nor shoe my horse." "The priest is right." "It is your duty to protect King Einon's vassals as a knight of the realm." "Not of this realm." "I bend no knee to Einon." "I should have known." "Foreign riffraff!" "Well, be gone, vagabond, before I arrest you!" "Back to work, you scum!" "If King Einon's wheat isn't cut before the rain," "I'll do a little cutting of my own!" "Sir Knight!" "Sir Knight, wait!" "Sir Knight!" "Hear me out!" "I'm on a pilgrimage." "Might we travel together?" "The road's still free, unless Einon's taxed it." "A road tax, King Einon, hmm?" "A road tax." "They are your roads, after all." "People really ought to pay for the privilege of using them and those that can't pay will have to work it off." "Ingenious, Felton." "Only you could keep such a good brain under such a bad hat." "That's very good, "bad hat"." "Out of my way, peacock." "Brok, some are good at hunting men, some are good at hunting money." "Both have value for me." "Kara?" "Kara, I told you..." "I told you not to come here anymore." "I'm a disobedient child." "Go on, take a drink." "Go on." "Magnificent shot, Your Highness!" "Care to double the wager?" "Yes, happily." "Shall we say the water bucket?" "Stand still." "Stand still." "Superb!" "Double again?" "Double again." "Why not?" "I say." "A moving target." "Peasant scum." "You've got a nerve, interfering with the king's sport!" "There's no sport in tormenting a sick, old man." "I beg Your Majesty, let him go." "It's been 12 years." "Your castle is built." "He can do you no more harm." "For God's sake, release him." "Father!" "I've always said death is a release, not a punishment." "Go." "Kara." "I've decided to compose The Ballad of Bowen." "How do you prefer I should write this?" "Far away!" "Oh, don't concern yourself with my safety!" "I mean verse, meter." "Shall I spice it up with a poetical flourish?" "Or just the cold, hard facts?" "If you do not be quiet, you and I shall be the only things that are cold and hard around here." "I mean, it's all very well to go hacking and whacking at dragons." "But if a dragon falls in the forest and nobody gets to hear about it, does it make a thud?" "Brother Gilbert." "What?" "The quill is mightier than the..." "The quill is mightier than the..." "That's all that's left of the last dragonslayer who tangled with me!" "If I were you, I'd quit while I was ahead." "Is that the best you can do?" "Catch!" "You know, I've got quite a collection of victims in here." "I won't be added to it!" "I've given you my final warning." "Into the mouth of death he strode." "Into the gringy gloom." "Into the pit of fear unknown, perhaps to court his doom." "That was good." "What did I say?" "A little damp for fire, isn't it?" "Why must you knight-errants out to make a name for yourselves always pick on us dragons?" "I don't need a name and I have a collection of my own!" "Yeah?" "You're one who kills dragons for money." "It's honest enough work." "One must earn a living." "Oh, yes, one must live." "Well, since you seek a profit, we might as well begin." "Oh, don't flatter yourself." "It's not the profit." "It's the pleasure." "Perhaps less pleasurable and more costly than you think!" "Bowen!" "Bowen, take care!" "He went that way!" "Take care, Bowen!" "You can't fly forever!" "Neither can you!" "Slow down!" "Come, visit the woods!" "Look out!" "Well done!" "Pity." "That must have hurt." "Yeah!" "Again?" "And again?" "How do you like the ride so far?" "We're earning our money now, aren't we?" "Now, is there somewhere you would like me to drop you off?" "The sword against the fang and claw." "The flame against the shield." "Blah, blah, blah, which one would win?" "Blah, blah, field, shield, wield." "Whose flesh from bones be peeled." "Oh, no." "Whose fate would soon be sealed." "Whose fate would soon be sealed?" "Whose fate would soon be sealed!" "Oh, you're good." "Haven't had this sort of challenge in some time." "Nor likely to again!" "Drat!" "A little overconfident, aren't we?" "Hardly." "But if you win, you'll be out of work." "I will not stop until I've rid the world of every last one of you." "I am the last one!" "You're just trying to save your scaly hide with tricks." "Haven't you noticed the pickings are rather slim these days?" "I got me one just the other day." "So it was you who killed the Scarred One." "She and I were the last." "Must've been a proud kill, warrior." "How much gold did her tattered carcass put in your purse?" "That's none of your business." "Couldn't have been very much." "And you'll kill me for sport?" "And when there are no more dragons to slay, how will you make a living, Knight?" "Shut up!" "If your teeth come down, my sword goes up, right into your brain!" "If your sword goes up, my teeth come down!" "Into the moonlit night the titans dueled, in mortal combat bound." "Oh, who'd the fatal false step make?" "Whose blood would stain the ground?" "Oh, good Lord." "Sir Eglamore." "Oh, thank you very much." "It's been stuck down there for months." "Can you get your buttocks off my tongue?" "Why should you be comfortable?" "My armor is rusting in your drool, and your breath is absolutely foul." "Well, what do you expect, with old knights rotting between my molars?" "Oh, God, my mouth is so dry." "No, no, no, stop!" "No, stop!" "Sorry about that." "It seems we're in a bit of a stalemate, wouldn't you say?" "But I can go three days without sleep." "I can go three weeks." "I'll stab you before I nod off." "And I'll chomp you." "Marvelous, we'll kill each other." "What do you suggest?" "A truce." "Get out of my mouth and let's talk face-to-face." "How do I know I can trust you?" "I give you my word." "The word of a dragon." "It's worthless." "Stubborn lout!" "I should have known!" "Go on, kill me!" "I don't want to kill you!" "I never did!" "And I don't want you to kill me!" "How do we gain?" "If you win, you lose a trade." "If I win, I wait around for the next sword slinger thirsting to carve a reputation out of my hide." "And I'm tired of lurking in holes and skulking in darkness." "I'm gonna let you up now and if you insist, we can pursue this fracas to its final stupidity." "Or you can listen to my alternative." "What's the alternative?" "Father, Father, look!" "Dragon!" "Out of the way!" "Out of the way!" "Out of the way!" "Pesky critters, dragons." "You!" "Like big rats." "You never seem to get rid of them." "Unless you pay me two bags of gold in advance." "Come on, Dragon." "Yes!" "Hello." "Twenty-eight, twenty-nine..." "Most profitable, dragon." "I should have met you a long time ago." "There is much gold in the world." "Perhaps when you've had your fill of it, you'll no longer need me." "I am a Knight of the Old Code." "My word is my bond." "No compunctions then?" "About what?" "Well, such deception hardly befits a Knight of the Old Code." "Fleecing Einon's lackeys." "That's a service to mankind." "Is it?" "When you squeeze the nobility, it's the peasants who feel the pinch." "That's not my concern." "Why should I stick my neck out for people afraid to risk their own?" "Don't clutter up a clever scheme with morality." "So be it, Knight of the Old Code." "If I wanted my conscience pricked," "I would have stayed with the priest!" "And what does a dragon know of the Old Code, anyway?" "His blade defends the helpless." "His might upholds the weak." "His word speaks only truth." "Shut up!" "I remember." "That's all it is, a memory." "Nothing can bring it back." "You sound like one who tried." "And failed." "So I no longer try to change the world," "Dragon, I just try to get by in it." "Yes, it's better than death, I suppose." "Oh, is it?" "I should think you'd welcome death." "You know, the last of your kind, all your friends dead, hunted wherever you go." "Do you delight in reminding me?" "Yes, Knight, I do long for death." "But fear it." "Why?" "Aside from your misery, what's to lose?" "My soul." "Finish him, Brok!" "Well, are you a man?" "Should he continue, Mother?" "Oh, the field belongs to the apparently inexhaustible Sir Brok, my son." "The quarry!" "First you beg mercy for your father's fate, then you try to avenge it." "Now, you'll share it." "In your kingdom, Einon, there are worse fates than death." "I'll think one up for you." "Take her away." "No!" "No!" "He killed my father!" "No!" "He killed my father!" "I remember you now." "I remember you." "Your hair, like fire." "You gave me this scar." "Didn't you?" "I owe you." "I can..." "I really can." "Sorry, Bowen." "I hope you like it well-done." "You must have hated us very much." "I hated one of you." "These I killed because I wanted to kill him." "But I never found him." "I never will." "If you're the last, he must be dead." "Oh, yes." "Tell me, what was he like, this dragon that you hated?" "He only had half a heart." "But even that was enough to pollute an innocent boy." "Einon was no innocent!" "He polluted the heart!" "How do you know that?" "How do you know that, Dragon?" "All dragons know that story." "What was to be their hope became their doom." "A spoiled, ungrateful child was given a great gift, and destroyed it!" "No!" "I knew Einon." "I was his teacher." "I taught him the ways of honor, of right." "Then he betrayed you just as he betrayed the dragon whose heart he broke." "That's a lie, Dragon!" "Stop calling me "Dragon"!" "I have a name." "Well, what is it?" "You couldn't possibly pronounce it in your tongue." "Try me." "It's..." "Next time stab more flesh, less cloth." "I'll pierce your heart!" "You already did." "A very special heart, like no other." "A black, withered thing without pity." "Then teach me." "Pity me." "I'll give you everything." "Even power." "You're so beautiful." "Even power." "Even a throne." "Oh, dear." "Thank you." "It's passed now." "What was it?" "An old complaint that acts up now and again." "Forgive me if anything I said, if I upset you." "It wasn't you, not you." "Don't be afraid." "I won't let you suffer the same fate as me." "I've come to help you." "This will bring you out well below the castle walls." "Thank..." "You." "Have you been watching over me all night?" "I've been thinking." "Yes?" "About what?" "Many things." "Mostly about what to call you." "I think I've found you a name." "You say that as though you reached up and plucked it from the sky." "I did." "Up there." "Do you see that group of stars?" "I know those stars very well." "Do you see the shape that they make?" "Mm-hmm, a dragon." "Yes." "They call it "Draco"." "It means "dragon" in the scholars' speech." "So instead of calling me "Dragon" in your tongue, you'll call me "Dragon" in some other tongue." "You're right." "It's silly." "No." "No, I would be honored to be named after those stars." "I..." "I truly would." "Thank you, Bowen." "Draco." "Throw off the yoke of Einon's oppression!" "We must start to fight back!" "Your father sang that sour tune once, and we did fight back." "And once was enough!" "We'll not dance to it again!" "No, Hewe, just cringe like a dog under Einon's boot." "At least a cringing dog's a live one!" "Hey!" "Why waste good food on bad rhetoric?" "I speak the truth." "Truth?" "It's rarely inspiring, lass." "And it never wins rebellions, but it will stretch necks, if there is a neck underneath that little mud pie." "Ready or not, here I come!" "Dragon!" "It's Draco!" "About time." "It seems you people are in need of a dragonslayer." "Where is the lord responsible for this village?" "Brok lives in a big house about six miles away." "But he'll only blame any damage on us and pluck our pockets to pay for it." "I won't pluck them as deeply." "I'll make you a fair offer." "Take it, or leave him!" "It's enough you people grovel to Einon." "Will you be bullied by some broken-down, blackmailing knight as well?" "That's right, you don't need me." "Settle it yourself." "Of course, there are other ways." "Perhaps you'll part with one of your precious daughters, instead of gold." "No!" "Dragons are partial to maiden sacrifices, I hear." "Don't do this!" "Don't do this to me!" "I was born in this village!" "You knew my father!" "You knew my mother!" "Who's the girl?" "A nuisance." "Get rid of her." "Why?" "They're trying to placate you with a sacrifice." "Now, whoever gave them that bright idea?" "Never mind." "Just get rid of her!" "How?" "Eat her!" "Oh, please." "Aren't we squeamish?" "You ate Sir Eglamore, hypocrite." "I merely chewed in self-defense, but I never swallowed." "Improvise." "All right, all right." "He's coming!" "Quick!" "You have a beautiful voice." "Oh, thank you." "We dragons love to sing when we're happy." "Well, you're not like a dragon at all." "Well, how many dragons do you know?" "Well, you're the first." "You should never listen to minstrels' fancies." "A dragon would never hurt a soul, unless they tried to hurt him first." "Really?" "Then why were you in my village?" "Oh!" "The village!" "Yes, the village!" "You remember the village?" "Leave him alone, you bully!" "Run, Draco, fly!" "I'll hold him!" "Pick on someone your own size." "Where have you been?" "I'm truly sorry, Bowen." "I've been distracted." "Bowen, meet Kara." "You should have eaten her." "Oh, don't get angry, Bowen." "Why not?" "You left me high and dry." "I was worried to death!" "Worried?" "About me?" "Yes, about you!" "I had the whacker all set up." "Half the village is out there with me." "We're searching the skies for you, I don't know where you are." "If you're coming back, when you're coming back." "You just..." "Disappear." "Be careful!" "He's coming!" "Well, well, well, it can't be!" "But it is!" "My old mentor." "Still giving carving lessons?" "Get off your horse, I'll give you one." "Time's not been kind to you, Bowen." "You should never have broke with me." "It was you who broke with me!" "And yet you return to me with this girl I lost." "I think she wants to stay lost." "Not her decision, I'm afraid!" "I'm ready for my lesson now, Knight." "That's one lesson you never learned!" "Only expose your back to a corpse!" "You are a corpse!" "You just don't know it!" "Lie down, Bowen!" "You're the sorry scrap of dead worlds and dead beliefs." "No!" "They were your beliefs!" "Never." "Never mine." "You said the words!" "You spoke them from your heart!" "I vomited them up because I couldn't stomach them!" "Because I knew it was what you wanted to hear!" "Lies!" "Liar!" "I taught you!" "You taught me to fight, that's all!" "I took what I needed from you." "You taught me to fight!" "You taught me well." "Who asked you to interfere?" "I had everything under control!" "Here, let me see." "It's knitted well." "You have a healer's touch, Kara." "In a few days, it'll be just another scar." "And what's one more scar?" "To a knight, I mean." "I once knew a knight." "He stood all alone against an evil king, and even saved a rebel leader from blinding." "He must have had many scars." "That knight died of his wounds long ago." "That's too bad." "His kind is badly missed in this world." "That's the way the wretched world is, girl." "Doesn't have to be." "Men like you could lead others." "You could give people courage and hope." "Hope?" "Even if you could raise your army, do you think they'd stand a chance against seasoned troops?" "Last time they tried it was a massacre." "I remember." "I was there." "So was I." "That rebel was my father." "Let others stand with you." "You'll see this time the end will be different." "What are you looking at?" "Myself, once upon a time." "I'll see you in the village, Draco." "That's easy for you to say." "This time I'll collect the money, and you can die." "We can lose no more pigs to this dragon." "Wait!" "This man is a fraud!" "It's her!" "This girl is a wandering idiot." "She babbles nonsense." "I'm telling you, this knight is no dragonslayer." "You're mistaken, my child!" "He's the greatest dragonslayer there is!" "Possibly the greatest there ever will be!" "Brother Gilbert!" "Bowen!" "You're alive." "Praised be the saints." "The saints be blessed." "You're alive!" "And whole." "Brother Gilbert." "You could not put your trust in a better man." "I personally have seen him slay almost two dragons." "Oh, Brother Gilbert." "Almost." "Well, I didn't actually see the death blow of the second, but as Bowen is here, he must have won." "No." "Don't you see?" "He's in league with the dragon." "Hold that there." "And here he comes." "Sink!" "Sink!" "I can't." "It doesn't get any deeper." "Well done, Bowen!" "You've done it again!" "What a brute!" "That's even bigger than the last one." "Actually, he's about the same size." "Meat." "Meat!" "Oh, dear." "Run!" "He's getting away!" "Uh-oh." "What's going on?" "Meat!" "Run." "That's what's going on!" "Run." "Run?" "Kara!" "Kara!" "Peace, brothers, peace!" "Heathens!" "Brother Gilbert." "Oh, good Lord, forgive me, my child." "Liar!" "No dragon, no charge." "Meat." "Meat." "Meat." "We're going to die!" "God help us!" "We're all going to die!" "Calm yourself, Brother Gilbert, we're not going to die, we're just flying." "If you're going to get yourself killed, you might as well do it in the fight against Einon." "I think Kara has a point." "But I'd rather discuss it on the ground." "Draco, what unholy place is this?" "Unholy?" "This is Avalon, the resting place of King Arthur himself." "So it was foretold, and so have I found you, brave King Arthur." "And let the song..." "Valor, virtue, truth." "Oh, yes, truth." "Amen." "Ready now, Kara." "And you, Bowen?" "Bowen?" "This is Avalon, the shadow realm of the Round Table." "It's a divine omen." "Omens won't win battles." "Nor will you." "And you'll find out when you try to raise your army." "You already know the courage in your village." "They're very brave at pelting young girls with vegetables." "It must start somewhere." "Will you wish us luck, Draco?" "Long ago, when man was young and the dragon already old, the wisest of our race took pity on man." "He gathered together all the dragons, making them vow to watch over man always and at the moment of his death, the night became alive with those stars and thus was born the dragons' heaven." "But when we die, not all dragons are admitted to this shining place." "No, we have to earn it and if we don't, our spirit disappears as if we never were and that's why I shared my life force with a dying boy, so I would reunite man and dragon" "and ensure my place among my ancient brothers of the sky." "But my sacrifice became my sin." "It was you." "Your heart beats in Einon's breast." "Yes, my half-heart that cost me all of my soul." "Even then I knew his bloodthirsty nature, but I thought my heart could change him." "My God, I was so naive." "No more than I." "All my life I've dreamed of serving noble kings, noble ideals." "Dreams die hard, and you hold them in your hands long after they've turned to dust." "I will not be that naive again!" "Mm-hmm." "Kara, I will go with you." "So be it." "Farewell, Bowen." "Valor!" "Valor!" "A knight is sworn to valor." "A knight is sworn to valor." "His heart knows only virtue." "His blade defends the helpless." "His might upholds the weak." "His word speaks only truth." "His wrath undoes the wicked." "Now I know you're completely mad." "You want us to follow you and a priest against Einon?" "Yes." "To hell, more like." "But this time we can win." "You don't understand." "I don't want to understand!" "I understand this!" "I understand six years in a quarry!" "That's all I need to understand!" "I know." "Believe me, I know what you've been through, Hewe." "But this time we've been joined..." "Only a fool would join you!" "You're not listening to what I'm saying!" "I've had enough of your mischief!" "Save your strength for the fight against Einon." "There isn't any fight against Einon." "I'm going to start one." "You and what army, Knight?" "You have never fired a bow in your life, in anger or in practice?" "No." "Draw your bow." "Sight along the arrow." "Release." "Beginner's luck." "Try again." "Steady." "Brother Gilbert, you're a natural." "Easy." "Here, widen your stance." "Up, down." "One fluid stroke." "This could cleave a man's skull." "Like a pudding." "Eat." "I need more men!" "It's just a few peasants waving pitchforks!" "I noticed they're all on your land." "You're not too busy hawking in your old age to keep control of your minions, are you?" "Choose me?" "I was just saying that any one of us is worth 100 of them." "My brave Felton, an army unto himself." "Well." "Fool!" "I know this man who leads them, and I will not underestimate him!" "Him or the dragon!" "Don't be afraid of the dragon, my son." "I'm afraid of nothing!" "Nothing!" "You understand?" "A mother's gift to her son." "The finest to be had." "The finest what?" "Dragonslayers." "Have you thought beyond tomorrow?" "It's hard to see that far." "Look at the camp." "What do you see?" "What do hear?" "Hope." "Exactly." "Down there you have life, songs and courage." "You have everything you'll ever need." "And now, so do I." "He dares defy me at my own gates." "Look at him!" "Well, today his Code dies once and for all!" "No!" "We're safe here, Your Majesty!" "That rabble couldn't possibly storm the castle!" "By tonight they'll be cold and wet and tired." "They'll probably just limp off home." "We're safe here, Einon!" "Remember your father!" "Gotcha!" "Bear to the right!" "Let's shear them like the sheep they are!" "To the forest!" "Form up!" "Halt!" "Halt!" "Second line!" "Right flank, advance!" "Get in there, second line!" "Charge!" "Scatter or die!" "Go!" "Like a pudding." "Pride goeth before the fall." "Help!" "Help!" "Turn the other cheek, brother." "Retreat!" "Retreat!" "Retreat!" "Return to the castle!" "Retreat!" "Brother Gilbert, it's Einon!" "Stop him!" "Thou..." "Shalt..." "Not..." "Kill!" "The dragonslayers." "Open up!" "It's the king!" "Stop!" "No!" "I want it alive!" "Alive and safe." "Safe for all eternity." "Oh, no." "I go to save the Dragon!" "Who will go with me?" "Come from the shadows, Aislinn." "Come where I can see you." "You know why I've come." "I know." "In giving my heart," "I've taken on every poison stirring in his evil breast." "Even the pain of his death must be mine." "You cannot blame yourself." "Death without immortality?" "That was not the only reason." "I had to wait for a time when mankind would not repeat my mistake and let tyranny thrive." "When there would be those who remembered the Once-ways, remembered that even in the darkness there is still light." "I cannot see." "Are the stars shining tonight?" "Brightly, my lord." "Brightly." "Then let us end it." "Forgive me!" "I know why you brought me the dragonslayers." "You wanted them to kill him because you wanted me dead." "I wanted to correct a mistake made years ago when I saved a creature not worth saving." "How un-motherly of you." "We have to open the gates." "The rest of us are waiting outside." "Go save your dragon, Bowen." "Hurry, all of you." "It's this way." "Well, well, well, what a pleasant surprise." "I expected you, Bowen, but with my bride-to-be as well?" "And with a priest to wed us." "To bury you." "Well, to bury one of us." "Kara, the door, quickly!" "Hurry up, that way." "That way." "Quickly, this way." "This way." "Come on, hurry up." "Now, I don't know how you all got in here, but I tell you this, you are going to get me out." "Hewe, thank you." "No!" "Let me cut it down to size for you." "A girl." "Bowen!" "Lo, I'm immortal." "Yeah!" "Now it's you, Bowen." "It's you that has to do it!" "What are you talking about?" "As the heart binds Einon to me in life, it binds us in death." "That's not true!" "You've seen that it is!" "Through the heart, we share each other's pains and power." "But in my half beats the life source." "For Einon to die, I must die!" "Einon is dead." "He lives!" "It doesn't matter." "Don't you hear it?" "Our rebels have stormed the castle." "Alive or dead, Einon's beaten." "We've won!" "You will never win until Einon's evil is destroyed and to do that, you must destroy me!" "No." "Once you swore your sword and service were mine, to call when I had need of you, to ask what I would of you." "I hold you to your vow, Knight!" "He's coming, coming to stop you!" "Strike before it's too late!" "You are the last." "My time is over." "Strike!" "You are my friend." "Then, as my friend, strike, please!" "I can't." "Then I will make you." "Fight back, dragonslayer!" "Defend yourself!" "Pick it up!" "Move, and she dies!" "What now, Draco?" "Without you, what do we do?" "Where do we turn?" "To the stars, Bowen." "To the stars." "And in the days following Draco's sacrifice," "Bowen and Kara led the people in a time of justice and brotherhood." "As I remember it now, those were golden years, warmed by an unworldly light and when things became the most difficult," "Draco's star shone more brightly for all of us who knew where to look."