Uther and the Secret of the Dragon

by David William Kirby



  UTHUR

  And The secret of the

  Dragon

  by

  David William Kirby

  Uthur and the Secret of the Dragon

  ©Copyright David William Kirby 2013

  The Dogbreaths Publishing

  2013

  The dogbreaths publishing

  UTHUR

  and the secret of the

  Dragon

  in memory of Phillip.P, a good friend. 6th July 2013

  Scene one. Ext. Day

  Albion 25.00BC late Neolithic

  The sound of crows.

  The scene unfolds around a series of round houses set into a hill on a promontory. High above them a round stone tower within a wooden fort provides a backdrop. It is a fortress set upon the stony hill which falls down a steep incline to the sea which crashes upon either side of the place; the last of Albion’s land before the seas separate it from its nearest neighbour .

  All around the roundhouses fires burn and people work. Some have skins in wooden frames and they are working the leather to make hides for clothing. Others are napping flints into arrow heads and axes. Children play as women cook animal remains over open fires, or boil herbs in clay pots. A young girl GWEN makes a necklace from seashells as her father, ULAN naps flint into a KNIFE.

  UlAN

  That’s very pretty, my child.

  GWEN

  I hope to wear it on my wedding day, if UTHUR remains true

  and our two families are joined as arranged.

  I am unsure if I want to bare his children and swear love to

  no other; even if my oath brings peace to our land.

  it’s a big commitment for someone of my age.

  But if his word is true, if he can be trusted, my

  Feelings may grow.

  ULAN

  You are both young, so there is time for love to blossom.

  between you both. This union doesn’t have to be the product of

  adults and our wishful thinking; in time you will understand.

  Anyway, I think we can trust him and his family;

  his commitment to you will be witnessed by the whole Royal Court.

  Okay, UTHUR’s father may see

  union with our clan through your marriage only as the last step our

  people towards a lasting peace. But I know UTHUR has

  feelings for you. I’ve seen it in his eyes and the way he

  acts when you and he are together.; and I trust his

  judgement too. You will not find a better mate in all Albion

  and if we are to confine the clan battles of the past to history

  only one family can lead us. Lead us out of the misery of warfare

  and into a peaceful future. UTHUR’s father and I trust this union

  will be the foundation for a great and prosperous nation.

  It was foreseen, our clans will be joined.

  GWEN

  Why must we wait, surely if desire exists

  in our hearts , why wait?

  ULAN

  Because you are both children, that is why. When your body

  develops, develops enough to bear a child, the time for

  union will come. Time will soon pass; you’ll see.

  Before you know it you’ll take your place beside your

  husband up there in the fortress. Till that time, help

  your mother, make your wedding jewels; sing and be

  happy. Time will soon slip by.

  GWEN

  So much can happen. Our tribes may be at peace at the

  moment but there are stories of others who would come

  to cause chaos in our green and pleasant land. I fear monsters

  and sorcerers from across the seas.

  Only the other day I heard of men

  on horseback who attacked the village yonder, they had

  the sun for heads and carried bolts of lightning in their

  hands. Their magic killed people...

  ULAN

  Hush now, (giggles) Take no heed of the wild and

  fanciful tales of old women.

  Unless I see these men for myself I will not believe it.

  I too hear stories, on moonless nights when we gather

  around the campfire; but they are stories, nothing more.

  I don’t believe them and neither

  should you.

  GWEN

  Hark Father; I hear the sound of horses approaching.

  The two look down the path that leads from the village and see the KING, (UTHUR’s father) approaching with outriders carrying his flags and colours. The horsemen come to a standstill kicking dust into the air as the King addressed the men.

  KING

  Quick! You women and children, drop what you are

  Doing, and take refuge in the tower. Make hast, evil approaches.

  The women gather up the small children and rush up the hill towards the safety of the tower. ULAN shoos GWEN away and she too follows the women.

  Men, gather your spears and shields. We must

  form and defensive line here cross the path.

  Set these logs on fire. Make it

  blaze well for we need a wall to keep the

  demons back.

  Quickly, we have little time.

  ULAN

  Who leads these evil ones Master, who are they?

  KING

  I’ve heard they serve a beast called Erick

  the Boneless. They are not human I tell you; we must

  work swiftly if we are to save the women and children.

  The men erect a barricade of logs and faggots which they set fire. Then, setting up behind a wall of wooden shields they poke their spears through and a platoon of archers form another line of defence. They will provide a sky full of piercing death.

  As they wait the unearthly sound comes from beyond the barricades. The clinking of metal upon metal and the stomping of armoured troops.

  Suddenly the men see a group of helmeted men wearing bright bronze breastplates and carrying bright bronze swords. The sun reflects from their helmets, breastplates and swords into the eyes of the men behind the barricades making the oncoming troops shimmer in the distance.

  The archers let of a volley of arrows which fill the sky with a black cloud. As it rains down on the oncoming troops the arrows appear to bounce off the troops armour.

  ULAN

  What are these demons?

  KING

  Steady men; let these beasts run themselves upon the

  tips of your spears.

  The troops approach and with one swipe the bronze swords cut through wooden spear poles. Someone tries to batter one of them with a stone axe only to lose his arm under the blade of the sword.

  ULAN

  The men are not human. We cannot win against them today,

  Master save yourself and your son, go to the fortress

  before it is too late.

  KING

  I am the King of this land and I’ll die defending

  it. Where is my man, Merlain?

  MERLAIN

  Here master.

  KING

  Go to the fortress and find my son. Take him to the boat

  and get away from here, keep him safe until we can defeat

  these beasts.

  Will you do that for me?

  MERLAIN

  I’d rather die here at your side Sire.

  KING

  I have no intention of dyeing today and your loyalty is

  not in question either,. Go, save my s
on in case the

  beasts over-run us, get to the boat now my friend.

  MERLAIN

  If that’s your wish Sire, I shall go, but we will return,

  when the boy is a man and able to take back

  his seat beside his father.

  KING

  Go, quickly, I put my trust in your hands; do not

  fail me.

  MERLAIN

  Your trust is safe master, you will see us return

  And, when we do, we shall rise up and

  destroy these beasts......

  SCENE 2. EXT DAY

  On board the boat, manned by ten of his father best seamen, UTHUR and MERLAIN look back across the choppy waters and up the staircase the led to the top of the hill, at smoke rising around the stone fortress. The young boy, just ten years old grips the old man’s hand tightly as he sees flames lick the top of the stone structure. MERLAIN turns the boy away and shouts at the crew.

  MERLAIN

  Set sail around Gaul into the Southern Sea.

  There we will head to the east and find a way to

  defeat these monsters. When we return we must be

  triumphant or all today’s sorrow will be for nothing...

  SCENE 2a EXT DAY

  We see Ulan and Gwen looking at the bodies of slain men on a battlefield. The find the body of the KING and wrap it carefully in his flag.

  As the sun sets over the tower the build a funeral pyre and set it ablaze, standing with women and wounded villagers as the body is consumed by fire....

  SCENE 3 EXT DAY

  The boat sails through the Gibraltar straights and into the Med, onward until the Greek Islands rise up in the distance, eventually they pass a sailing boat and pull up beside it.

  MERLAIN

  Hello friend, tell me are these ports safe for

  craft to moor?

  FISHERMAN

  We are an enlightened race, petty squabbles are a thing

  of the past in these lands; you’ll be safe here providing

  your manners are good and you have things to barter.

  (He smiles a toothless grin)

  MERLAIN

  Thank you, good fishing to you.

  (He turns and addresses the crew)

  Let’s make for the port yonder and find our land legs

  Perhaps we can stay for a while or get supplies

  to travel further.

  Sometime later MERLAIN and the boy are walking through a stone city in bright sunshine, there are stalls everywhere and sellers of fine fabrics and cloth, Others sell pots and earthenware urns while the smell of food cooking on small grills fill the air. They stop by a stall and examine small gold discs which MERLAIN picks up and examines.

  What are these for?

  STALLHOLDER

  Hair... (She shakes her hair and Merlain sees the gold

  discs have been folded around the girl’s dreadlocks,

  they sparkle in the sunlight)

  MERLAIN

  They are very beautiful, like the delicate flower that

  wears them. Tell me friend,

  in my land we find this element in the rivers and

  use it for barter. Is it so here?

  STALLHOLDER

  Yes Sire, it is greatly valued in this land.

 

  MERLAIN

  We call this material alum, what is it called here abouts?

  STALLHOLDER

  We call it Gold; some call it Alum too, but because it is the

  colour of the sun, we also know it as Gold.

  MERLAIN

  And where does this material come from?

  STALLHOLDER

  They find it in the rivers, they say the gods of

  the mountain wash their hair in brooks high in

  the clouds and the alum washes out, to be carried

  by the water down into local streams. There we collect

  it as a dust and beat it into what you see. It also gets

  mined out of the ground, in some places there are

  deep seams of it, running through the rock. The people expend great

  effort to collect this metal. That’s why it’s expensive

  MERLAIN looks up and sees the boy wandering off through the crowds. He smiles at the stallholder and runs after the boy. Soon they find a small group of people in an open square being addressed by a man standing on a small Diaz. The boy is intrigued by what is going on.

  MERLAIN

  UTHUR, do not walk off like that; you had me worried.

  UTHUR

  Look at this, the man is asking the people if they

  agree to a road being built yonder, the one there

  dressed in the grey has just outlined reasons for not

  building the road and this one is laying out reasons

  for doing so. I find it interesting that decisions like this

  should be discussed in public.

  MERLAIN

  This land must not have a king. Someone who decides these

  Things for the people. If this is how they make decisions

  it must take years for things to happen.

  An elderly man from the crowd turns to hush the two.

  MAN

  Please keep your chatter down; I am frail and find it

  hard to hear.

  MERLAIN

  Tell me friend, what you call these meetings?

  MAN

  You must be stranger to these parts if you have not

  heard of our system of government.

  MERLAIN

  Oh, so this meeting is part of the land’s government;

  how so pray tell me?

  MAN

  We call these meetings a Think! It’s part of our land’s

  democratic process. We’re having a ‘Think’ today

  to decide over the building of a new road.

  You can see the speaker yonder; he is putting an

  argument for a proposition and the fellow in the

  gray is putting the argument against it.

  When the people have heard both sides

  we take a vote and whoever gets the

  greatest show of hands is the side we take.

  MERLAIN

  It sounds a lengthy and fruitless way of making a

  decision; isn’t there a king who decides for his people locally?

  MAN

  It is neither lengthy nor fruitless. We have a king

  but even he regards our current system far superior

  than the systems of the other lands hereabouts.

  They still argue and fight, make war and kill to decide

  who does what and where. But we, we hear all

  sides and the people decide, in this system we

  have put an end to bloodshed and tyranny.

  Now say it is fruitless.

  The man looks towards the speaker and hushes the strangers.

  Be quiet, they are going to ask for a show

  of hands

  With that most of the crowd hold a hand above their head, including the old man. Someone goes through the crowd and counts the show of hands before an adjudicating officer speaks.

  OFFICER

  With a count of three hundred to twenty the eyes have

  it and the proposition is carried.

  MERLAIN

  Now the vote is cast and the argument carried who makes

  sure the proposition is taken through. I may not know this

  democracy you speak of, but I do know men, and if they

  are against something, they will oppose it unto death.

  MAN (Laughing)

  Perhaps in your land friend, but not here. You see the

  officer there who announced the outcome of the vote?

  Well he represents the king, so once he says something


  has been carried, it must become law.

  No man here is greater than our king and no king is

  greater than our system.

  UTHUR

  It sounds so sensible and right I am amazed that we

  have never seen a system of government like

  this before in our land.

  MERLAIN

  True, but at home our kings IS the law; he can make it,

  break it and decide how it should be implemented.

  This system has served us well for hundreds of seasons...

  UTHUR

  But that doesn’t mean it cannot be bettered.

  MERLAIN

  True young friend. Change is as inevitable as the rising

  of the sun...

  MAN

  You seem enlightened men, my friends; I am Memet

  of Carthage; like you, I am a traveller far from home.

  Come; let me buy you some food or drink.

  They walk off together and after a few stalls MERLAIN sees something that catches his eye. He stops by the stall and picks up a shiny bronze dagger.

  MERLAIN (addressing the stallholder)

  What is this dagger made from?

  STALLHOLDER

  We call it a metal. It comes from across the sea of sand....

  MEMET

  Yes, do you like this, I can see in your interest. We call this

  material Bronze, it is made of two distinct elements and

  they are beaten together to bring this bright and hard

  substance into being. A magical process...

  MERLAIN

  Metal? It is hard and sharp. Where can I obtain these elements

  you speak of and find out more about this metal?

  MEMET

  The girl is right, you’d have to cross the sea of sand,

  It’s a long and dangerous journey. Even at the journey’s

  end you are not guaranteed success because the

  elements themselves must be stolen from the

  mouths of dragons.

  UTHUR

  Surely not? Dragons do not exist.

  MEMET

  Come with my camel train tomorrow to the city of

  Babylon, three days journey across the sand and