"(BIRDS CHIRPING)" "(GRASS RUSTLING)" "(PANTING)" "(CAITLIN GASPING)" "(SCREAMING)" "(SCREAMING CONTINUES)" "MIDWIFE:" "It's a girl." "(BABY CRYING)" "(CONTINUES CRYING)" "(CAITLIN GASPING)" "(SCREAMS)" "WALTER:" "Another one?" "(BABY CRYING)" "It's a boy." "(BABY CONTINUES CRYING)" "CAITLIN:" "Walter?" "(GASPING)" "(BABIES CRYING)" "(GROANING)" "(GASPING)" "They're bewitched." "Those children are marked." "(DOOR OPENS)" "(DOOR CLOSES)" "(BABIES CRYING)" "(PANTING)" "(BELL TOLLING)" "(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)" "OSMUND:" "It's been a hard night." "The end is near." "COUNCILOR MARRAKAR:" "We have waited too long to choose King Gareth's successor." "OSMUND:" "No one can convince the King to stop searching for his son." "And to give up hope that Walter might be reconciled to take his place as rightful heir." "Walter is not coming back, Brother Osmund." "If His Majesty dies today, the land has no crown, and no dragon to defend it." "Unless, of course, you have evidence to suggest Drago might survive?" "I'm afraid not." "The Queen passed when her dragon died." "A shared heart will always mean shared pain." "And a shared death." "(KING GARETH BREATHING RAGGEDLY)" "COUNCILOR MARRAKAR:" "Brother Osmund, I can count on your support?" "Councilor, shouldn't Drago choose a successor if the King cannot?" "Drago had his chance." "We need a strong leader on the throne, and lam the best candidate." "DRAGO:" "Perhaps, you're right." "Drago, lam honored by your..." "DRAGO:" "I did have my chance." "We shared many adventures." "Built a castle into the sky." "Lived by the Old Code and raised a new generation of dragons." "Truly, he was exceptional." "(SIGHS)" "(WHISPERS) Through this unction, may the Lord pardon thee for whatever sins thou hast committed." "Through this unction, may the Lord pardon thee for whatever sins thou hast committed." "May blessings be upon thee both in the hereafter." "DRAGO:" "Of the King, it is certain." "But in the matter of his son, I can't help but think that I let him down." "His Majesty never spoke a word against you." "Yet, I consider the rift in his family my greatest failure." "(SNIFFLES)" "When I die, I will not be surprised if the great dragons in the stars turn my spirit away from a place among them." "And what about the crown?" "Speak now, before it is too late." "(HEART BEATING)" "(KING GARETH GASPING WEAKLY)" "(HEART STOPS BEATING) (MOANS)" "(DRAGO BREATHES DEEPLY)" "lam still bonded." "(BREATHES DEEPLY)" "With whom?" "I can't tell." "It's different than before..." "Faint." "Forgive me for leaving you, but I must find out who it is." "(WINGS FLAPPING LOUDLY)" "(MAN GRUNTING)" "Let's go for a walk." "(BONES CRACKING)" "(GROANING)" "(SPITS)" "Hmm." "(GROANS)" "(WHISTLING)" "(GRUNTING)" "Peter, how's your sister?" "(BONES CRACKING) (GROANS)" "(MEN GRUNTING)" "(SCREAMS)" "Come on." "(CHOKING)" "Which way?" "Okay." "(SCREAMS)" "(BELL TOLLS)" "(CHEERING)" "You're welcome." "They always forget, you need four to take me down." "VILLAGER 1:" "Our hero!" "VILLAGER 2:" "Come here, boy, have a look!" "BOY:" "My hero, Edric!" "VILLAGER:" "Sheriff!" "Blackmoor's barricaded himself in the barn." "Excellent" "Blackmoor!" "You are charged with murder and banditry within the Shire of Earl Robert Cole." "I am, as you know, his sheriff... (SCOFFS) More like his arse-boy!" "(BLACKMOOR LAUGHS)" "Okay." "What are you doing?" "I'm gonna burn him out." "Where's the fun in that?" "VILLAGERS:" "Gel him, Edric!" "Get him, Edric!" "(GRUNTS)" "(BLOWS LANDING) EDRIC:" "Whoo!" "(ALL CHEERING)" "Just doing my duty." "Here!" "Just doing my duty." "For you." "Oh, really?" "No, I can't." "Thank you." "You're too kind." "Thank you so much." "You're too kind." "EDRIC:" "I couldn't do it without you." "Couldn't do it." "No way." "No way, no how." "My Lord." "Edric." "(CROWD CONTINUES APPLAUDING) Thank you." "Couldn't do it without you." "Well done, Edric." "Profits will be up with that lot finally dangling from a noose." "EDRIC:" "Oh." "What's wrong, Edric?" "Excuse me." "DRAGO:" "Feel like you're being watched?" "It feels like I'm being judged." "Stay behind me, My Lord." "Wait, I mean you no harm." "Dragons do nothing but harm!" "(GRUNTS)" "(ROARS)" "(SCOFFS)" "(GROANS)" "EDRIC:" "Easy." "Edric the Mighty, is it?" "I'll admit you've got the strength of two men." "It's three." "(GRUNTS)" "And a flair for showing off." "Stand and fight, so I can end whatever sorcery you're using to see inside my soul." "Maybe I'll just roast you!" "You see?" "A dragon's first impulse is violence." "Just as my father taught me, you were born to kill, not to take care of us." "Your father is teaching you lies." "And now you speak ill of the dead?" "When I'm done with you, you will be begging Edric, son of Walter, for mercy." "Walter?" "(ROARS)" "Your father was Walter?" "You knew him." "Your father was the only beloved son of King Gareth and Queen Rhonu." "Come on." "Higher." "DRAGO:" "But Walter had no interest in following the path of knighthood." "Father!" "DRAGO:" "Though his father loved Walter, running a kingdom and helping me raise seven dragons took more time from the boy than he appreciated." "Naturally, Waiter rook to his mother's Celtic independence." "Let's do a throw together." "(BOTH LAUGHING)" "DRAGO:" "When tragedy killed the dragon with whom she was bonded," "Walter was devastated." "The King was away, I was going to bring him back, but before I could, your father had made up his mind." "Get back!" "You say you're here to bring peace, but dragons have done nothing but take from me." "DRAGO:" "He disappeared without a trace." "We searched, but we never found him." "DRAGO:" "Your father was heir to the throne." "You are next in line." "He never spoke about his childhood." "We lived so deep in the forest." "Maybe he thought that if we were near the castle that I'd find out the truth?" "(TRUMPETS BLOWING)" "EDRIC:" "Whoa." "Hello." "(CHUCKLES)" "Whoa." "Sorry." "Nice to meet you." "Welcome." "Hello." "These doors?" "Please." "COUNCILOR MARRAKAR:" "The royal courtyard." "Big. (CHUCKLES)" "OSMUND:" "And the famed castle murals." "COUNCILOR MARRAKAR:" "Are we to simply believe that he is the heir?" "Look, I don't blame you for being cautious." "And damn me if I'll ever trust a dragon, but somehow I feel what he says is true." "It's the bond." "If he feels it," "Drago feels it, it must be true." "First, my capable Sheriff." "Now, My Liege." "Um... (STAMMERS) I'm..." "One moment." "Your Majesty?" "Everyone will understand if this is too much for you." "I knew it." "I knew I was meant to do more than simply hide away." "To use my strength for a greater cause." "I'm King?" "I'm King." "(SHOUTS) I'm King!" "DRAGO:" "Your grandfather surveyed the kingdom from the air." "Let me give you a ride, it's faster." "We can use the time to better understand the bond between us." "I'll take my chances on the ground, thanks." "Good Lord." "Here you go. (WHISTLES) Some bread for you." "(CHUCKLES)" "Hmm?" "My Liege, some documents need your attention." "If you'd be so kind." "I'm really very strong." "Have you heard of my strength?" "I once destroyed a house." "I sneezed on it, and it just fell apart." "(GIGGLING)" "(GRUNTS)" "(ALL CHEERING)" "(BLEATING) Oh." "Oh." "An angry ram." "EDRIC:" "I can't read." "But you can sign." "Yes, I can." "But like a full-grown bull." "(GIRLS GIGGLING)" "But he's been around with you guys for a long time, hasn't he?" "(CLEARS THROAT)" "These papers require your immediate attention." "I want it to be strong but sensitive." "Regal yet relatable." "Don't be subtle." "(GRUNTS)" "(ALL CHEERING) (LAUGHING)" "Well, listen, if you need anything else..." "No." "Come on." "DRAGO:" "Do you realize you granted the Earl an enormous gift of land?" "Yeah, we're friends." "Friends help each other." "Something dragons might learn instead of second-guessing all the time." "Perhaps your bond skipped a generation, passing over his father and ending up in him." "And your draconic blood has given him this great strength." "Yes, but how can you explain the fact that he's an arrogant snout?" "(CHUCKLES)" "He's young." "But we do not share a full bond." "He cannot feel my pain." "OSMUND:" "You never felt him all these years?" "Not until King Gareth passed." "Yes." "That bond was primary." "Like..." "Like a bell, loud and clear." "You couldn't sense this other connection until" "the bell went silent." "Hello, hello." "Hello. (CHUCKLES)" "Sorry about the mess." "Oh, a bath?" "(CHUCKLES)" "Baths are for children." "A man's smell is his soul." "Well, off you go." "Thanks." "(DOOR CLOSES)" ""A man's smell is his soul"?" "Come on, you can do better than that." "DRAGO:" "How's the water?" "(GASPS)" "(GROANS)" "A little privacy, please?" "Since you've been avoiding me," "I thought I'd make you a captive audience." "Yeah, well, I've been busy, haven't I'?" "Doing king stuff." "Edric, you don't trust me." "You got that from your father as surely as the scales on your back came from me." "As our bond grows, it will be harder and harder to hide things from me." "I'm not hiding anything." "Swear." "I swear." "Ow!" "You yellow-eyed..." "Ow." "I can feel your heart, but we do not share pain of the flesh." "Half of our bond is missing." "I want to know why." "I had a twin sister." "Get off." "EDRIC:" "As hard as my childhood was..." "Stay in the cart." "EDRIC:" "Mehgan had it worse." "WALTER:" "Keep your hood up." "Walk where other people don't walk." "Talk to no one." "WOMAN:" "That's her!" "Her brother's evil twin!" "Get out, get out." "WOMAN:" "Are you going to let her walk amongst us?" "WALTER:" "Get out She's cursed!" "What were you thinking?" "EDRIC:" "Father lectured us repeatedly about how a dragon had poisoned nur mother, eventually killing her and causing these scales to grow on our bodies." "WALTER:" "Those damn scales." "How many times have I told you?" "Mehgan, keep your hood up." "EDRIC:" "We always used to stay up fate and watch the stars together." "Do you see it there?" "Yeah." "EDRIC:" "There's the dragon star." "The head." "He lies in stone." "The scales." "(EDRIC WHISTLING)" "MEHGAN:" "Help!" "Help!" "No!" "No!" "Show us that sorcery." "Do it again, girl." "Do it!" "(GRUNTS)" "(GRUNTING)" "(YELLS) (GASPS)" "What did he mean, "Do it again"?" "Do what again?" "EDRIC:" "Whereas my strength grew with time," "Mehgan discovered her talent quite suddenly." "(ALL CHEERING)" "Earl Robert noticed me." "His Sheriff was getting old, and he needed an apprentice." "I couldn't wait to get home and tell Father the good news." "Father!" "Meg, what happened?" "He said we had to move away because of me!" "Meg, get in there, you can save him!" "It's too late!" "I got mad at him and the flames," "I couldn't control them." "It was an accident." "I'm sorry!" "Oh." "Meg..." "Meg." "EDRIC:" "The villagers wasted no time." "WOMAN:" "The witch-girl killed her father!" "Burned him alive!" "She must hang!" "EDRIC:" "I begged the Ear!" "for money to get her to safety where she could make a new start." "But in exchange, I had to stay." "I always felt like she was by my side." "Even when she wasn't.." "And now I don't." "She's probably dead." "I'm sorry, Edric." "You couldn't feel pain through my hands, so you had to feel it through my heart, eh?" "DRAGO:" "That was not my intention." "Play music!" "I don't live in the past." "(INSTRUMENT PLAYING)" "(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)" "(assume)" "(MEN YELLING IN DISTANCE)" "(GROANS)" "(MEN YELLING) (WOMEN SCREAMING)" "(CHOKING)" "You can't kill me." "Odin himself gave me his blessing of fire." "(BONES CRACKING)" "PLAYER:" "Verily, you did promise, sir, that my humble cast of players could live in your stable in exchange for performance." "My Lord, their plays make no sense." "PLAYER:" "I wrote the play myself, all right?" "It's on the theme of vanity." "I play Mr. Vanity, who finds himself, one night..." "Councilor?" "PLAYER: wandering through a forest in search of the witch, the Witch of the Mountains." "And the Witch of the Mountains gives him a potion in exchange for some coins and..." "My Lord' don't listen to this." "My Lord, ships have landed on the coast." "Yes?" "COUNCILOR MARRAKAR:" "Norseman." "Brilliant." "My Lord, they are fierce warriors, and they march this way." "Yes!" "Excellent!" "Bring my armor." "And prepare the knights?" "The knights, them." "Prepare them." "It's a good play." "It's rubbish." "(ALL PANTING)" "(SNORTS)" "They're approaching fast, just beyond the treeline now." "I suggest you stand firm with your soldiers and allow me to talk with them." "Talk?" "Just stand back and look scary, dragon." "(BATTLE CRY)" "(ALL YELLING)" "My Lord, use Drago now, before it is too late." "I am King Edric." "I challenge your leader to personal combat!" "(ALL YELLING)" "Shields up!" "KNIGHTS:" "Shields!" "Have we got the side of a barn'?" "Maybe they can hit that!" "(ALL LAUGHING)" "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." "Steady." "No, wait!" "(GRUNTS)" "It's..." "My sister." "Hello, Brother." "Shall we talk?" "Shall I address you as..." "Mehgan." "Let's keep it simple." "And you are the wise Drago." "DRAGO: "Wise"?" "(CHUCKLING)" "I expected you to have the same opinion of dragons as your brother does." "MEHGAN:" "Come on." "(SIGHS)" "My mind-reading is a little rusty." "You might have to use your words." "All these years I've wondered where you were, but leading an army of Vikings never crossed my mind." "Well, I've always been the unpredictable one, haven't I?" "And yes, for the longest time" "I did have the same opinion of dragons as my brother." "But then, I heard about a new king, with the "strength of three men"" "and your name, who had inherited the throne by birthright." "And all our connections fell into place." "See, we're family." "All three of us." "How could I curse my own blood?" "Though you got the better end of the deal." "My talent is mostly useful for barbecues." "Yes, well, you almost barbecued my men." "You can fan the flames?" "Grow them hotter?" "I can control the flames, but I can't create them." "How do you do it?" "The Heartfire." "Source of our breath, and the life-giving force that a dragon can share with someone of our choosing." "Its fire sustains us." "Perhaps I could teach you how to develop your talent." "In time." "But that's assuming you've come in peace." "Have you come in peace, Mehgan?" "That depends, Edric." "On what?" "Do you remember how Father used to tell me off for playing tricks on you?" ""One minute older doesn't make you one minute smarter."" "I'm sorry, my mind-readings a little rusty." "I am firstborn." "I should be Queen." "(CHUCKLES)" "Uh, that's not..." "Not what?" "I'm King." "That can't be undone." "Step down." "You can't sit on my throne." "Because I'm a woman?" "You don't need to say it." "Do you think that if I had your strength and you my fire, they would have cheered for me and shunned you when we were younger?" "I think not, little brother." "Hold my sex against me, or my scales, but if "birth" is "right," then I am Queen." "(GASPS)" "You want to fight, let's fight." "Drago's fire trumps yours, and I'll toss your Vikings back into the sea all by myself." "DRAGO:" "I suggest we sleep on it." "(KICKS TABLE)" "(SHOUTS)" "(CLEARS THROAT)" "I can feel you're not sleeping." "And now I can feel you're faking it." "How am I supposed to sleep when you're talking?" "She got under your skin." "There's dragon heart in both of you." "Passionate, yes, but for those who are worthy it can do wondrous things." "I couldn't help your father, Edric, but if you and your sister can put aside..." "Maybe you should stick to raising dragons." "Humans haven't quite worked out for you, have they?" "Good night, Your Majesty." "(SNORING)" "(CONTINUES SNORING)" "(GROANS)" "KNIGHT:" "Guards!" "KNIGHT 2:" "We're under attack!" "(ALL GRUNTING)" "Edric!" "COUNCILOR MARRAKAR:" "My King, look out!" "(GRUNTS)" "Councilor?" "(EXHALES SHARPLY)" "THORGRIM:" "Boy-king!" "You ready fora man's death?" "My breath..." "The fire, it's gone!" "Men, behind me!" "(GROWLS)" "(GROANS)" "(GASPING)" "Hurts, doesn't it?" "(GRUNTS)" "(PANTING)" "Odin's flame." "EDRIC:" "Meg?" "Meg, stop." "Meg!" "Stop!" "WARRIOR:" "You're coming with me." "Back!" "Stand there!" "So, just to be clear, she just walked right up to you and took your fire?" "Just like that?" "That was easy." "Get over there!" "(GRUNTS)" "(GRUNTS)" "I mean, do you even count as a dragon anymore?" "You're more like a worm." "Like a leggy worm... (GASPING)" "DRAGO:" "Well, that shut you up." "Seems his strength nearly matches yours." "Pray quickly." "My Lord, what are we going to do?" "Just don't make yourself a target." "I'll think of something." "Why is she doing this?" "She's your sister." "Oh, come on!" "(GROANS)" "Kind of you to stick around." "I only agreed to ensure your brother's life was spared." "You will never truly possess the Heartfire, you know that, don't you?" "If not possessing something feels this good, may fortune rob me blind." "Follow me." "Come on, keep up." "Reconsider, my beautiful Fire Queen." "Leaving him alive is allowing a fox to run free among your hens." "Then it's a good thing I know a few wolves, isn't it?" "I believe your King wishes to address you." "(CROWD MURMURING)" "(SOFTLY) I hereby abdicate the throne..." "That's going to have to be much louder." "(LOUDLY) I hereby abdicate the throne..." "MAN:" "No!" "And acknowledge the birthright of my elder sister, Mehgan..." "Queen Mehgan." "Queen Mehgan." "Long may she reign." "(EDRIC GROANS) (RIPS)" "(CROWD EXCLAIMING)" "MAN:" "He bears the mark!" "So, you see, we're not so different." "Do you solemnly swear to justly govern the people of Lundenwic?" "I solemnly swear." "Englishmen, the Norseman are more like you than it seems." "They will work in the fields alongside you, and together we will grow strong and prosper." "For my first decree as Queen," "I banish you, Edric, from this town and all its shires." "(ALL EXCLAIM) MAN:" "No, no!" "Go." "(CROWD SHOUTING DISAPPROVINGLY)" "Okay." "(PEOPLE SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)" "Make sure the King never returns." "Mmm." "The royal bedchamber, Your Majesty." "(CHICKEN CLUCKING)" "Boys." "Clear everything out." "(SNIFFLES)" "What?" "M'lady?" "Are you in pain?" "No, m'lady." "Crying means pain." "Or joy." "Which is it?" "My fiancé..." "Joy, then." "No..." "Out with it!" "(SOBBING) He's just..." "We are to be married in a fortnight." "But he's..." "Cruel?" "Yes." "And old, and a little hairy." "Hmm." "He says I'm useless, but I'll do for making children." "And you did not choose him?" "No, it was arranged." "Very well." "It is now un-arranged." "By order of the Queen." "Don't you see your rightful King is here?" "Bring food, quickly!" "SERVANT:" "Yes, My Lord." "Sit, My Lord." "SERVANT:" "Right away." "You're not safe until you're away from the shires." "If they find you..." "I know this land better than they do." "And besides, there are over a hundred homes here that will give me shelter." "The Vikings are many." "And your sister now wields tremendous power." "Let me worry about her." "Do you still have the weapons in the granary?" "I always have a backup." "Excellent." "You two, you go to the villagers, you get extra men, and you bring them back here." "Go, now." "Sire." "To loyal friends." "EARL ROBERT:" "There's enough to arm 50 men, and more in the stores in the east field." "We need horses." "And we need more armor for the men." "Move and we shoot." "I'm sorry, Edric." "You're strong." "But arrows are faster." "(CHUCKLES)" "Are the holdings and titles I gave you worth nothing?" "To an earl who harbors a fugitive'?" "You should have kept running." "Not in my nature." "Even an animal learns eventually." "(MUFFLED GRUNTS)" "Property ownership, dowries, village council voles," "I want to see all the law books where one's sex is specified." "That's nearly all of them." "Great." "Well, we'd better bring a lunch." "Your fire's lit early." "I have much to do." "Now, I've negotiated for the tenants west of the river to relocate." "That's over 1,000 hectares of the most fertile land for your men and their families to farm." "Yeah, it's good, black earth." "But my countrymen are laughing at this idea that everyone is to be treated exactly the same." "Let them laugh." "Just remember that when we set sail, I needed an army." "And that now," "I am one." "MEHGAN:" "Good morning, ladies." "LADIES:" "Good morning." "I've decided it's time you learn a lesson." "The Norsewomen have a tradition of arming themselves." "They do not ask for respect, they take it." "Let's begin." "I strike, you block." "(GRUNTS)" "Again." "Again." "(GRUNTS)" "Useless." "(SHOUTS) (GRUNTS)" "Let man nor woman talk to you like that." "Life is cruel." "You must be prepared to be crueler." "(GRUNTING)" "(GASPING)" "You make good slave in my home." "No, no, no, I made a deal with your Queen." "She's not our Queen." "VILLAGER:" "Here you go, Drago." "WOMAN:" "My Lady." "VILLAGER 1:" "By your grace, My Queen." "VILLAGER 2:" "Good day." "(SNORTS)" "Lost your appetite?" "I feel cold without the Heartfire." "I'm not myself." "I'm feeling more myself than ever." "It's like the first time I touched fire without burning." "I finally had an advantage." "But it wasn't enough, was it?" "You were already unpopular." "The fire has made you more so." "What would you know?" "You couldn't even sense our bond until we both shed blood." "Nothing about the bond seems the same with twins." "And I know only what your brother told me." "(SCOFFS) What he doesn't know could fill the sea." "Why?" "What did he tell you?" "That being separated has put a distance between you." "MEHGAN:" "Being separated had little to do with it." "Meg'?" "(SCOFFS) But you don't have to hide." "EDRIC:" "It's different." "They' re not scared of me." "MEHGAN:" "Because he could hide his scales, he became part of the life of the town." "While I spent more and more time by myself." "Practicing." "Learning to bend the flame to my will." "(CHUCKLES)" "EDRIC:" "Meg, what happened?" "The witch-girl killed her father!" "She must hang!" "(THUNDER BOOMING)" "FISHERMAN:" "The current is too strong!" "It's taking us out to sea!" "(SCREAMS)" "(GASPS)" "MEHGAN:" "The storm set me adrift for days." "(CATTLE SOUNDING)" "(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)" "(MEHGAN BREATHING HEAVILY)" "(WHIMPERS)" "WOMAN:" "Hmm." "She will fetch a good price." "(GRUNTS)" "(PEOPLE EXCLAIM)" "(ALL EXCLAIM)" "(CROWD MURMURING INDISTINCTLY)" "OSMUND:" "Excuse me, My Queen." "I was just leaving." "DRAGO:" "Queen Mehgan, when you were born, you inherited a gift, a dragonheart's power to bond with another." "But this power comes from giving up a part of yourself." "When you only take something, you build a wall between yourself and those who care about you." "(SCOFFS)" "If I want a child's lesson," "I'll go to the priest." "All clear." "(GRUNTING)" "SLAVE:" "We're taking water!" "NORSEMAN:" "Hit it with the plunger!" "Buckets, quickly!" "Captain?" "Strength of three men." "(GROANS)" "(CHUCKLES)" "Uh, um..." "NORSEMAN:" "Die now." "(GRUNTS)" "Come on, come on." "Whoa." "(GROWLING) (NORSEMEN YELLING)" "DRAGO:" "Edric!" "Grab hold!" "(GRUNTS)" "(ALL YELLING)" "Come on." "Help him up." "NORSEMAN:" "Don't pull him out." "We'll sink!" "Row." "Looks like Odin's favor has abandoned you." "I wouldn't expect you to understand the ways of the gods, Krokr." "First, you allow the King to leave." "And now, there's a serpent waiting for us in the dark, ready to devour us, one by one." "So far, this deal with the Fire Queen has given us what?" "A few farms?" "We bring the blood and swords for what?" "To become Englishmen?" "If you were leader, you would understand patience." "Patience..." "You only know patience because you get to stoke her fires!" "(GRUNTING)" "THORGRIM:" "What did you say?" "Huh?" "Did I ask you to speak?" "(SPEAKING NORWEGIAN)" "MEHGAN:" "Enough!" "(KROKR COUGHS)" "This is a tribal matter." "In my castle." "We should have clipped the dragon's wings." "Drago's a dog without his bark." "Let him run astray." "THORGRIM:" "I've been blind, Leiknarr." "But now I see." "Find all the gold and silver in the castle, in the town, and pick the best women." "When do we sail?" "THORGRIM:" "When I have taken what Odin truly sent her to give us." "(GRUNTS)" "(GRUNTING)" "You see the dragon shape in the stars?" "Draco." "The eternal resting ground for dragons who are worthy." "You're worried that you won't gain a place." "(FLUTE PLAYING) PLAYER: "The wheel of fortune turns and turns," ""one's raised up while another one burns."" "(FLUTE STOPS PLAYING)" "It's the King!" "(CHUCKLES)" "You're fine." "(ALL EXCLAIM)" "The scenery comes alive!" "EDRIC:" "It's good, isn't it?" "Marvelous!" "YOUNG MEHGAN:" "Are you watching?" "(PANTS)" "(CHUCKLES)" "(BREATHING HEAVILY)" "WALTER:" "It's that tainted blood within your veins." "MEHGAN:" "How do you know it's tainted?" "We might be blessed." "You don't know..." "Quiet!" "(SLAMS DOOR)" "What's wrong with me?" "Why can't I be like everybody else?" "(TWIG SNAPS) (GASPS)" "KENDRA:" "Anything before sleep, My Queen?" "(FLUTE PLAYING)" "(CHUCKLES) (CHAINS RATTLE)" "Free at last, milord, free at last." "(BREATHES WITH RELIEF)" "Why, thanks." "And if I were King, I would build you a stage." "The world is my stage, milord." "And milord you shall ever be." "Now, if you'll excuse me, that flautist is criminally pitchy." "Yeah." "Be quiet!" "You're misbehaving." "(CHUCKLING)" "I didn't expect that to work." "It's nice to know someone still thinks I'm King." "(DRAGO COUGHING)" "We'll find more like him." "(CONTINUES COUGHING)" "Let's face it, my throne was a hollow one." "People I depended on betrayed me." "I don't think I've ever made any real friends except you." "And I was awful to you, and yet you came to my rescue." "Friends." "I like the sound of that." "More than friends." "We're family." "Meg was right about that at least." "I'll try not to fail you, too." "DRAGO:" "Whom have you failed?" "My sister hates me, Vikings have overrun the kingdom," "and I've not been entirely truthful with you." "(CROWD CHEERING)" "When I saw the tire, I wasn't coming home, I was leaving." "(ALL CHEERING)" "Father?" "You won't believe."" "Gather your things." "We leave in the morning." "What?" "Someone spotted her." "She was praying to the fire." "Where is she?" "I sent her to hide." "They're calling her a witch now." "No, no, no, Father, I can't leave." "Nonsense." "Gather your things." "We'll leave tomorrow, and head into the highlands..." "No!" "You don't understand." "I'm gonna be Sheriff." "(GRUNTS)" "You will do as I say." "Edric?" "Edric?" "Don't touch me." "Father!" "Meg, what happened?" "He said we had to move away because of me." "Father!" "(GASPS)" "Meg, get in there, you can save him!" "It's too late!" "The flames..." "I got mad at him, and I couldn't control them!" "It was an accident." "I'm sorry." "EDRIC:" "I begged the Earl for money, and I let Mehgan believe I was going with her right up until the last moment." "What?" "I'm not coming." "(VOICE BREAKING) Why?" "What do you mean?" "Meg, I have a chance here." "Well, then I'll stay, and we can explain, and they'll listen to you." "Meg, you killed him." "No, you don't understand!" "Eddy:" "You have to go!" "Please." "(SOBBING) No!" "Please." "Snuff out the flame." "Please, no!" "DRAGO:" "There is no pain like that between those we love... (COUGHS)" "No pain." "Drago?" "It is the Heartfire." "I think I've been dying without it, and I didn't even know." "Then we have to get it back." "You must settle things with your sister." "The throne..." "She can have the throne." "We have to save you!" "Where does one find this Heartfire?" "Can we be of some help?" "(FLUTE PLAYING)" "GIRL:" "The Players, they're here!" "(EXCITED CHATTER)" "The Players are here!" "LEIKNARR:" "What's this foolery?" "Why, foolery of the first order." "Come to cure an evening of boredom with tales of blood, lust, maybe even a dragon." "What say you?" "Check the cart." "(CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY)" "It's just an ordinary stone." "(CHUCKLES)" "Entertainment tax." "Go on." "PLAYER:" "Tell me, Hermit, heard you a tale more lamentable than mine?" "Stripped of my crown and banished by my own cousin?" "If the hermit had family, it would be the worst they could do to him." "(CROWD EXCLAIM)" "HERMIT:" "Wicked treachery!" "(GRUNTS)" "(CROWD EXCLAIM)" "(CROWD EXCLAIM)" "Oh, poor Prince." "Here, have my crown." "(CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)" "WOMAN:" "Bravo!" "Bravo!" "Very good!" "(INDISTINCT CHATTER)" "(CROWD EXCLAIMING)" "(SIGHS)" "And now, an even bloodier tale!" "(ALL CHEERING)" "PLAYER:" "Gather closer, friends." "Come toward the light." "For out there in the darkness..." "(CROWD CHEERING IN DISTANCE)" "PLAYER:" "I hear tales of witches in the nearby hills, unclean, cackling cranes who tempt a traveler with promise of wishes fulfilled only to ply them with nightmares." "(WHISPERS) Oy." "I'm off." "Be ready." "DRAGO:" "Hurry, I grow weaker with every breath. (COUGHING)" "I'll get the Heartfire." "Count on it." "PLAYER:" "I hear a traveler coming at this very moment." "Whatever will befall him?" "(HISSING)" "(CACKLING)" "Witch of the Mountains!" "I was born with a face so horrid." "Have my coin and give me a potion that will make me beautiful." "(CACKLING)" "(GROANS)" "(CROWD APPLAUDING)" "MAN:" "Excellent." "MAN:" "Hey, hey, very good!" "Hi." "(GRUNTS)" "PLAYER:" "What's this?" "It is myself but beautiful." "Now he will receive the attention I crave." "Lo!" "Another!" "Each one more beautiful than the last." "And now they want to kill me." "(GRUNTS)" "EDRIC:" "Meg!" "(GRUNTS)" "I banished you!" "How dare you?" "What?" "Save you'?" ""Thank you" would do." "(BOTH GRUNTING)" "(GROANS)" "No, no, no!" "(CACKLING)" "(CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)" "(WHISTLING)" "Hey!" "(ALL EXCLAIMING)" "Put out the fires!" "(PANTS)" "Thorgrim!" "No!" "Catch!" "(GRUNTS)" "(GROANS)" "(PANTING)" "(ALL CHEERING)" "Yes!" "Yes." "This is all your fault." "Bring the Queen to me." "This is my fault?" "She was gonna kill you!" "I was trying to save you!" "You ruined everything!" "I didn't need your help!" "She was gonna kill you!" "Oh, great!" "Now a load of Vikings." "Please don't point that so close to me." "Go on then, if you're so strong." "I was trying to... (BOTH SCREAMING)" "MEHGAN:" "Tell him to put us down!" "EDRIC:" "Do it, so I can punch her in the face!" "DRAGO:" "Enough!" "(EDRIC SHOUTS)" "Feels like the first time we tried wine." "Yeah, just don't puke on me again." "Where are we?" "And where's Drago?" "DRAGO:" "I must keep my distance." "(HEARTBEATS SOUNDING)" "You feel that?" "He's dying without his Heartfire, stolen by a foolish Queen." "Because a selfish King wouldn't share his crown." "DRAGO:" "I must keep my distance, so I don't kill the both of you!" "You were given a gift at birth, a dragonheart, and someone to share it with, someone who could understand you and always be by your side." "But instead, you out each other down." "Tell me why I shouldn't end your miserable lives?" "Such drama!" "You're worse than those Players." "You can't kill us." "We're all bonded." "You'd be killing yourself." "(MEHGAN GROANS) Whoa." "Just you, then." "This bond of three is unpredictable." "Maybe two can survive without the other!" "Drago, what happened to "friends"?" "Mmm?" ""Family"?" "(GROANS)" "Being related to you is dangerous to one's health!" "Your rivalry must end, today." "Now!" "And since nothing will be settled until there is a victor, you will fight to the death." "(CHUCKLES) Winner takes all." "Crown and kingdom." "Okay." "It's not a fair fight." "No fire." "DRAGO:" "Here you go!" "Isn't there?" "Has it really come to this?" "What are you'?" "Scared?" "No!" "(GRUNTS)" "Do you know what?" "I've never said this, but I really wish you had been a brother." "Why's that, Eddy?" "Because I would have done this much sooner." "(GRUNTS)" "Yeah, that felt good!" "And that was only half-strength." "(PANTING)" "EDRIC:" "Whoa." "(GRUNTS)" "That was a third." "My Shirt!" "(SHOUTS)" "(GROANS)" "(SHOUTS)" "Don't lose your head, sis!" "What if you win, Eddy?" "There's no one here to applaud you." "It's a hollow victory for you." "Me hollow?" "I'm not the one who stole the crown. (SCOFFS)" "Grow up." "All I did was banish you." "Just like you did to me." "Remember?" "Or are you trying to forget that, like the scales on your back?" "And what about your Viking lover?" "He forgot you pretty quickly, didn't he?" "Vikings can be moody, yeah." "Excellent judgment, Meg." "If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead!" "Oh, shut up!" "(GROANING)" "(GROANS)" "(BOTH GROANING)" "Meg." "(LAUGHING)" "What do you want from us?" "DRAGO:" "Take responsibility for what you've done!" "MEHGAN:" "It's his to take!" "No!" "MEHGAN:" "He broke trust first." "I was saving you, like I always did!" "You killed him!" "No, I didn't." "What?" "I didn't kill him." "No, no, no, Father, I can't leave." "Nonsense, gather your things." "We'll leave tomorrow, we'll head into the highlands..." "I'm going to be Sheriff!" "WALTER:" "You will do as I say." "Edric?" "(GASPS)" "(GASPING)" "I killed him." "So you took the blame." "Why did you set the house on fire?" "MEHGAN:" "Because you had a chance to be someone." "I used to lie awake wishing that I was the son." "I let that wish burn inside me." "(LAUGHING) And look at me now." "I've become that evil thing they always said I was." "I thought I was strong, but I am not." "No, Meg, no, you were stronger than I ever could be." "It wasn't your fault." "We were just children." "But I should have known," "I should have known then and I still don't know, and now I've lost the Heartfire, and it's costing you your life." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "(SOBBONG)" "The fight for the kingdom is not over, my friends." "Even now the castle and its people are in danger." "Without the Heartfire," "I will not have enough strength to help you." "So, it's time for you, the dragonhearted, to uphold the Code" "to defend the helpless." "Undo the wicked." "Yes." "(GROANS)" "Oh, I'm so sorry." "(GROANS)" "The women, where are they?" "That's all there is." "You're hiding something." "THORGRIM:" "Odin's gift is mine now." "We will travel home, and all of Daneland will call me King!" "ALL:" "Yeah!" "(WHISTLING)" "There's a slight problem with what you just said." "To be king, you have got to beat the King." "Me." "Okay, I'll be clearer for you." "I challenge you to a duel." "(ALL CHEERING)" "Hmm?" "MAN:" "Come on, there's a fight!" "There's a fight!" "(ALL CHEERING)" "Even your legendary strength can't save you now." "(SWORD CLATTERS)" "Someone tie a hand behind my back!" "(CHEERING CONTINUES)" "That was very thoughtful of you." "Don't mention it." "I need your help." "Nope." "Didn't bring the Queen along?" "Kissing her ugly face is like kissing a lizard's ass." "Oh, come on, that's my sister." "And besides, nobody wants to know what you get up to with lizards." "(ALL LAUGHING)" "Shut up!" "(BOTH GRUNTING)" "(DRAGO GROWLS)" "Mehgan, Edric, hurry!" "Get the Heartfire." "Hold on, Drago." "There she is!" "No fire." "That's a shame." "(WOMEN SHOUTING) (MEN GROANING)" "(SWORDS CLATTERING)" "(BOTH GRUNTING)" "(SPITS)" "Let's go." "Sable, shoot the witch!" "EDRIC:" "Meg!" "THORGRIM:" "Sable, shoot!" "(GROANS)" "Meg!" "(SHOUTS)" "(BREATHES WEAKLY)" "Drago." "(PANTING)" "(SHOUTING)" "(GRUNTING)" "Odin, grant me your gift." "(SCREAMING)" "(SWORD SWISHING)" "(CROWD CLAMORING)" "(GASPS)" "(SOBBING)" "I've got you." "I've got you." "I've got you." "Stay with me." "Stay with me." "(WHIMPERING)" "Drago..." "Take it." "No, use the last of the Heartfire to close Mehgan's wounds." "I won't see you separated again." "But if you die, so will we." "Perhaps not." "Reach out, Edric, offer the bond of your dragonheart to your sister." "If she does the same, then together you may live on." "Okay..." "I've got to take these out now." "Ready?" "(WINCES)" "(WINCES)" "(GROANS)" "Whoa, whoa, whoa." "My strength." "Just one man." "Your face." "(WINCES)" "It burns." "As Drago said, bonding is giving something up and gaining so much more." "Thank you, Drago." "DRAGO:" "You're a family again." "Yes, because of you." "That is all I ever wanted." "DRAGO:" "Rule wisely together and listen to your hearts."