EDIT: (18th Aug. 2016) I added the full story summary to the end of this script. That'll learn ya!
-----------------------------------
Redemption’s
Fire
by Iain (Embra) Lowson
A limited series comic book set in an Ancient China
that possibly never existed.
PAGE ONE
PANEL ONE
EXT: Old Volcano, lower slopes, near village, day
The extinct old volcano can be seen
reflected oddly in the hour-glass pupil
of a goat.
PANEL TWO
EXT: Old Volcano, lower slopes, near village, day
The goat bleats, alarming the others in its small herd. All of them
are painfully thin. A few flies buzz around. The ground is black
volcanic soil, a few rocks, and some scrubby vegetation.
SFX (GOAT) >mehhh?<
PANEL THREE
EXT: Old Volcano, lower slopes, near village, day
An Old Farmer was dozing against a fallen tree, his stick and water gourd beside him. The tree clearly never got up to much and is thin and straggly, much like the man leaning on it. The Old Farmer starts and wakes,
bleary-eyed, as the goats bleat
worriedly.
SFX (GOATS) >mehhh!< >mhehhhh!< >mehh?<
OLD FARMER …hmf?... Huh? Whass
up? Hmmm?
PANEL FOUR
EXT: Old Volcano, lower slopes, near village, day
The Old Farmer is looking around and
muttering. He has his stick in one
hand, as though he might have been considering using it in self-defence. The goats are still distressed. There is
clearly no one around, and we can
see all the way to where the village nestles,
screened by healthier looking trees. A little smoke trickles up from a few of
the houses.
OLD FARMER Hmf! No one
there, huh? Damn goats.
SFX (GOATS) >mehhh!?< >mhehhhh!< >mehh!<
PAGE TWO
PANEL ONE
EXT: Old Volcano, lower slopes, near village, day
The Old Farmer is uncorking his gourd, muttering all the time.
OLD FARMER Infernal
creatures! Can’t even let an old fellow get some shut-eye.
Bad as those darn kids of Tien’s, whoopin’ and hollerin’
all hours.
SFX (GOAT, OFF) >mehhh!<
SFX (EARTHQUAKE)…rrrrrummmmmblllllle…
PANEL TWO
EXT: Old Volcano, lower slopes, near village, day
The Old Farmer has tipped the gourd to his lips and is drinking even
as the rumbling grows louder. His eyes are wide with puzzlement and alarm
as he hears the rumbling for the first time.
SFX (EARTHQUAKE)…rrrrrrrrrrrrummmmmbllllle…
SFX (GOATS, OFF) >mehhh!< >!MEHHH!<
PANEL THREE
EXT: Old Volcano, lower slopes, near village, day
The quake hits,
and the Old Farmer is rattled, choking and spilling water down himself
as he drops the gourd.
SFX (EARTHQUAKE)…rrRRRUMMMMMBLLLLLE…
OLD FARMER >kaf!<
PANEL FOUR
EXT: Old Volcano, lower slopes, near village, day
The Old Farmer is looking confused as the
quake suddenly shuts off, the way earthquakes don’t. He is standing looking a
little like a surfer, and very silly.
SFX (EARTHQUAKE)…RRRUMMM >!<
OLD FARMER …?
PANEL FIVE
EXT: Old Volcano, lower slopes, near village, day
The Old Farmer looks to the right.
OLD FARMER Huh?
PANEL SIX
EXT: Old Volcano, lower slopes, near village, day
The Old Farmer looks to the left.
OLD FARMER Eh?
PANEL SEVEN
EXT: Old Volcano, lower slopes, near village, day
A goat bleats.
GOAT >mehhh?<
PAGE THREE
PANEL ONE
EXT: Old Volcano, lower slopes, near village, day
The Old Farmer and his goats beat it back to the village. A few people can be seen at the edge of the trees, looking to each
other for answers.
SFX (OLD FARMER)huff…huff…huff…huff…
SFX (GOATS) >mehhh<…>mehhh<…>mehhh<…>mehhh<…
PANEL TWO
EXT: Old Volcano, lower slopes, near village, day
Turning a little
away from the previous shot, the volcano
is now left to its own devices. It looks unchanged.
SFX (GOAT, OFF) >mehh!<
PANEL THREE
EXT: Old Volcano, middle slopes, near village, day
The view moves up
the volcano slopes a little. The soil here is largely fine and black and
volcanic. It should be rich with vegetation, but it isn’t. Why? Well…
PANEL FOUR
EXT: Old Volcano, lower slopes, near village, day
Closer in on an
otherwise unremarkable patch of volcanic soil.
PANEL FIVE
EXT: Old Volcano, lower slopes, near village, day
A remarkably
circular patch of soil, about 20 feet across, suddenly sinks about a foot into
the ground. A few stones roll away. The tree
splits in two, with half leaning now over the circular hole.
SFX (SOIL) >flumph<
SFX (TREE) !KRAK!
PANEL SIX
EXT: Old Volcano, lower slopes, near village, day
The circle in
the soil begins to smoke very slightly.
SFX (SOIL) >…ssssssssssss...<
PAGE FOUR
PANEL ONE
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
This is a very traditional Chinese tea house. Refer to
the Jackie Chan film Young Master,
or Donnie Yen’s Iron Monkey, or
Sammo Hung’s Encounters of a Spooky Kind
(and many others) for reference. This upper floor is well stocked with birds in cages for the customers
to borrow. The tables are simple but not crude, which is a good
general description for the whole of the tea house. There are benches at the bigger tables, four legged stools at the smaller ones.
A balcony with a fabric awning overlooks the wide
street and overhangs the entrance
below. The awning is decorated with
the symbols for life, fortune and health. The stairs up from the ground floor come up through the middle of the
level, and have a screen of well-spaced
bamboo poles surrounding them on three sides that go up into the thatched, wooden-beamed ceiling.
Two
Elderly Gents, their eyes
barely visible in the folds of their wrinkles, are sitting over a game of checkers, their bird cages
on poles to either side of them. They have a small wine jug and two little cups
also on the table. While one talks and makes their move on the board, the other
inevitably drinks, both hands on the cup.
Around the two Elderly Gents, a massive melee is taking place. As the
gents go about their routine, bits and pieces (and people) fly past. This, too,
is part of the routine.
Elderly
Gent #1 is
talking and making a move, while his companion drinks. #1 has wispy hair, #2 is
bald.
BOX TEXT
(TOP LEFT) From extraordinary
events…
…
to very ordinary ones…
ELDERLY
ELDERLY
SFX
(CROCKERY, OFF) >!skesh!<
PANEL TWO
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Elderly
Gent #2 is
talking and making his move, while his companion drinks. In the background, Fighting Student #1 ‘does a Kato’,
flying past in a dramatic leaping kick. He is dressed in simple, light coloured clothes with a darker cloth belt.
ELDERLY
ELDERLY
Fighting Student #1 HIAAAAA!
PANEL THREE
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
As the Gents swap roles again, Fighting Student #1 has been knocked
back into one of the tables.
ELDERLY
ELDERLY
FIGHTING
STUDENT #1 >huff!<
PANEL FOUR
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Fighting
Student #1 is now in
combat with Fighting Student #2. The
second student is dressed in dark clothes with an embroidered lion on the back
and a light coloured belt.
ELDERLY
ELDERLY
FIGHTING
STUDENT #2 Kyah!
FIGHTING
STUDENT #1 Ho!
PAGE FIVE
SPLASH PAGE
PANEL ONE
EXT: Mid-Valley
Village Main Street
Mayhem. The view
is from outside the tea-house. The fight is on both floors (and possibly the
roof), and is clearly between the two groups of students. Oddly, the non-combatants are largely ignoring the
fight. This is an unfortunately normal part of life in the village. It should
be noted that the light-clothed students
are winning over the numerically superior dark-clothed students, as there
are more dark-clothed students in trouble or out cold. That said, the fight has
a way to go yet. The voices of the Elderly
Gents are heard, but they cannot be seen.
TEXT BOX CHEN’S TEA
HOUSE,
MID-VALLEY VILLAGE
ELDERLY
ELDERLY
SFX – various, as appropriate.
CAPTION REDEMPTION’S
FIRE
CAPTION Part One:
Dark Legacy
PAGE SIX
PAGE SIX
PANEL ONE
EXT: Mid-Valley
Village Main Street
Supporting each
other, hugging their bruised bodies, the dark-clothed
students stagger away from the tea-house, muttering to themselves (little
letters). Behind them, the light-clothed
students jeer and wave. The locals are also laughing, glad the
light-clothed lot won.
TEXT BOX Today’s fight yields the usual result…
DC
STUDENT #1 …ooohhh…
DC
STUDENT #2 Why do we
always have to lose?
DC
STUDENT #3 We don’t have
to, we just do…
DC
STUDENT #4 Is our Kung-Fu
that bad?
DC
STUDENT #5 Just yours,
Feng.
DC
STUDENT #6 I wost anower
toosft, buh I foun fwee!
DC
STUDENT #7 You always
were lucky…
PANEL TWO
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Amidst the
devastation, Proprietor Chen is
totting up the bill. He is a thin, well-dressed and practical gentleman with a
tendency to bite his upper lip when he’s thinking. He is followed by Lao, his pudgy, long-haired assistant,
who takes notes.
The victorious students are in the porch
area, still smiling and laughing. The senior student, Big Brother to the
others, Tsui Ping, is in the middle
but oddly separate. His bearing is
regal, proud. He is of a good house, and is destined for an upper-middle
ranked administrative position in the Imperial City. Tsui’s hair is long and black, tied back immaculately. He is,
technically, dressed exactly as his
fellow students are, but the cloth is finer, the stitching better, and the
cut is perfect. He has a fan, about as
long as his forearm, which he poses with. It is both a pointer and a useful
stick with which to discipline ‘his’ students.
The Elderly Gents are leaving, carrying
their bird cages.
All dialogue is
incidental, suggesting normality and acceptance of this situation as normal.
PROPRIETOR
CHEN …two more benches, another table,
six more cups, two small jars of wine, one floorboard.
LAO Repair
or replace, Master Chen?
PROPRIETOR
CHEN Replace,
Lao, always replace.
ELDERLY
ELDERLY
STUDENT #1
(YAM) My crane style is nearly perfect
now!
STUDENT #2 Nah, you
still flap too much.
STUDENT #3 There were
more of them this time.
STUDENT #4
(SHIH) Just as well. Yuen needs the
practice.
STUDENT #5
(YUEN) I do not! I broke four boards today.
STUDENT #6 We weren’t
fighting boards!
STUDENT #7
(CHIN) No, just wooden men!!
PAGE SEVEN
PANEL ONE
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Tsui
Ping does not
appreciate that last comment. He looks
immediately angry, his head snapping around to scowl imperiously at Student #7 (Chin).
BIG BROTHER
TSUI PING Ho!
PANEL TWO
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
At his shout,
the other students drop to one knee
facing Tsui, who has his fan, folded, pointing out over the students.
Behind them, Proprietor Chen and Lao do not look impressed.
STUDENTS YES, BIG
BROTHER!!
PROPRIETOR
CHEN
(whispered) Here he goes. They’ll clear up and
out soon.
LAO
(whispered) Still, saves us the effort.
PANEL THREE
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Tsui
Ping is holding
court. He has his right hand behind his
back as he surveys the students, gesturing
emphatically with the fan in his left. He doesn’t really see them, however.
Perhaps he sees a rank of Imperial Guard, or a gaggle of minor bureaucrats. Whatever,
the man’s a stuffed shirt.
TSUI PING Foolish
children! You must never underestimate your foe. You
must grant him respect. You must seek to understand his position, his
thoughts.
PANEL FOUR
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Tsui
Ping is lost in his
monologue.
TSUI PING You must forgive your foe, even as he strikes at you.
You must apologise, even as you strike. Lastly,
you must honour your
fallen foe, and learn any lesson he has to teach. Only then will your honour be
served.
PANEL FIVE
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Ping
is looking imperious again, the lesson
finished so far as he is concerned. Chin
(Student #7) is winking at Yuen
(Student #5) even as they bark the required reply.
TSUI PING Understand?!
STUDENTS YES, BIG
BROTHER!
PAGE EIGHT
PANEL ONE
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Just as Tsui Ping is about to speak, Chin puts up his hand. Yuen has adopted an exaggerated
innocent look.
CHIN Please,
Big Brother Tsui?
PANEL TWO
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Tsui
Ping looks slightly
suspicious.
TSUI PING Yes, Chin. You
have a question?
PANEL THREE
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Chin has adopted an innocent look of his own. Tsui Ping is looking a little ticked
off.
CHIN How
should we apologise to our foe if he is unconscious? Should
we shout?
TSUI PING Don’t be foolish, Chin. You…
PANEL FOUR
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Yuen joins in. Tsui Ping is looking a little
flustered. Proprietor Chan and Lao
are amused. The other students are catching on, smiling to each other. One
student has his hand in the air. (Note:
The students are numbered according to Page Six, Panel Two.)
YUEN Should
we write a note and leave it on him?
STUDENT #2 Please, Big
Brother?! What if the wind blows the note away?
PAGE NINE
PANEL ONE
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Tsui
Ping visibly seethes
as the students all join in with question after question. Proprietor Chen and Lao
find it all very funny.
YAM That’s a good point!
STUDENT #3 Yeah! What if
someone else read the note?!
STUDENT #2 True. If we’d
apologised to someone new, would we have to hit
them for the sake of our honour?
YUEN If the
note landed on a tree, would we have to hit that?
STUDENT #6 You just want
to break more wood. Wood doesn’t count.
SHIH Well, you know Yuen – always beating
his wood.
YUEN I’ll
beat you next!!
STUDENT #3 Just be sure
to leave a note.
CHIN But pin it to something just in
case.
YAM Is that steam coming out of Big
Brother’s ears…?
PANEL TWO
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Tsui
Ping looses it. He poses dynamically, furiously, wielding
his fan as a weapon.
TSUI PING !!ENOUGH!!
STUDENT (off) …oops…
PANEL THREE
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Proprietor
Chen and Lao wince as they witness the action we
cannot see.
SFX (beating, off) >paf< AIEEE!
>smak< OOOO! >crak<
OUCH! >bap< OOFF! >kik<
NOOOOO! >bop< AYUH!
>bif< OW!
PAGE TEN
PANEL ONE
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
The students are clearing up, variously using brooms and baskets and bare
hands to clear the debris. They are
all bruised and battered but looking happy having wound up their Big
Brother. Tsui Ping is sulking on the porch, fanning himself. Proprietor Chen is with him, while Lao supervises the students. He is
gloating.
CHIN It
was worth it.
YAM After the first strike it stops
hurting.
YUEN I
think he was redder this time.
SHIH With shades of purple around the
ears.
STUDENT #3 Can’t say I’m
a big fan of his discipline…
PANEL TWO
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Proprietor
Chen Is standing by Tsui Ping watching the students work. Tsui Ping is still fuming, his face set
and grim. He misses the sub text of Chen’s
words.
PROPRIETOR
CHEN Thank
you once again for your assistance
in clearing up.
TSUI PING You are
most welcome, Proprietor Chen.
PANEL THREE
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Tsui
Ping does not turn
around during this exchange, so misses Chen’s
irritation at being described as ‘less fortunate’.
TSUI PING It is an honour to help those less fortunate than
ourselves – the poor, the oppressed, the victims
of cruel circumstance.
PROPRIETOR
CHEN Your
concern is touching. Perhaps you would consider dining
elsewhere. To help some other poor and oppressed businessman.
PANEL FOUR
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Chen is fighting a losing battle. Tsui
Ping is too impressed with his own charity.
TSUI PING We would never dream of such a thing, honourable
Chen.
PROPRIETOR
CHEN But the
other school always comes here…
TSUI PING Exactly! We
shall always be here to protect you and to drive them away. Whatever the cost!
PANEL FIVE
INT: Mid-Valley
Village
Chen has his head on the table, sobbing. Tsui Ping is standing heroically, while
Lao comforts his employer. The students applaud their Big Brother.
TSUI PING Do not fear,
honourable Chen. We will always be here!
STUDENTS YES, BIG
BROTHER! HURRAH!!
PROPRIETOR
CHEN …>sob<…>sob<…’whatever
the cost’?!...>sob<…>sob<…
LAO There,
there master, it’ll all be over soon. Look on the bright side! Perhaps we’ll be run over by the ox cart…
PAGE ELEVEN
PANEL ONE
EXT: Dragon’s Pearl Martial Arts School, Main Courtyard, Late Afternoon
This is the ‘bad
guy’s’ school, though this is not apparent in the look of the place. Indeed, this is quite a beautiful school in a
beautiful location. It is, or rather was, an opulent, richly decorated place,
with many ornamental statues, gateways and shrines. Scrolls and hangings
decorate the walls. Ornate panelled ceilings held over once-shining wooden
floors by pillars with painted tops and bottoms. The main gate has a large
‘pearl’ held by taloned dragon’s feet (just the feet). There are no full dragons
here, as they are an Imperial symbol and the school has no Imperial favour.
Unfortunately, the
school has seen better days. It overstretched itself and couldn’t attract
enough students to fund it, as their competitor at the other end of the valley
did better at attracting the sons of wealthy families. Now, dust pollutes dark corners.
The pictures are squint, the floors a little grubby, and a few things here and
there are patched or broken. The place stands on the brink. It is fragile. It
is threatened, and that makes it dangerous.
In
the wide main flagstoned courtyard,
too big for the few students the school has, the dark-clothed students from the fight
at Chen’s are being berated by one
of the masters, a stern man with a long
black pony tail, a little round hat
and wide sleeves on his dark robes. His robes have a lion on them in significantly better embroidery
than the students, who form a ragged line in front of him.
TEXT BOX Meanwhile,
at one end of the valley…
MASTER
WANG HUO Lost again!?! Again?!!! Useless bunch!! You dishonour the Dragon’s Pearl School. You dishonour
your Masters!!! You
dishonour yourselves!!
PANEL TWO
EXT: Dragon’s Pearl Martial Arts School, Main Courtyard, Late Afternoon
Master
Wang Huo dismisses the
students with contempt.
WANG HUO Get out of my
sight! No supper for you!!
PANEL THREE
EXT: Dragon’s Pearl Martial Arts School, Main Courtyard, Late Afternoon
Seen from the
window of the office of the Grand Master of the school, though it should not
immediately be clear that this is the case (no window frames, balcony rails, or
anything). The students shamble off,
while Master Wang Huo turns his back
on them.
GRAND
MASTER JUN (off) We are not
blessed with the best of students.
PAGE TWELVE
PANEL ONE
INT: Dragon’s Pearl Martial Arts School, Master Jun’s Office, Late
Afternoon
The view pulls
back a little, showing an old man’s hand resting on a balcony balustrade. The
little finger wears a turquoise fingertip ornament that gives an exaggerated
‘fingernail’ inlaid with pale jade.
MASTER JUN (off) Those who should
be here to inspire them instead beat them up in teahouse brawls.
PANEL TWO
INT: Dragon’s Pearl Martial Arts School, Master Jun’s Office, Late
Afternoon
The view pulls
back again to show Grand Master Jun
turning to ‘camera’ to address his guest. Jun is dressed in opulent, embroidered, dark robes. He wears the false fingernails on both little fingers.
Jun has a long, thin, trailing moustache
but no beard. His moustache is tipped
with tiny thimbles of jade. His thinning grey hair is long and swept back,
falling to just below his shoulders. It is tied loosely at the back, quite far
down. Jun has big, watery eyes.
The office is white walled with black wood beams. The floor
is heavily carpeted. Rich, dark
furniture is everywhere, with art
and statues filling the available surfaces and wall space. It’s a bit oppressive. Light from the magic working at the other end of the room casts odd shadows.
MASTER JUN My school uses
the most advanced philosophies, most modern teaching techniques and methods
of discipline, and shows
proper concern for Imperial edicts and preferences.
PANEL THREE
INT: Dragon’s Pearl Martial Arts School, Master Jun’s Office, Late
Afternoon
Master
Jun reaches for a small teapot that stands beside two small cups. They are set on a
beautiful cabinet of dark wood. A brown jade lion also sits on the
cabinet.
MASTER JUN (off) My opponents at
the other end of this valley have been there for sixty years. Their school is
crude, their philosophies outdated,
their methods antiquated, and they
know nothing of
the modern Imperial Court
PANEL FOUR
INT: Dragon’s Pearl Martial Arts School, Master Jun’s Office, Late
Afternoon
Jun’s
hand pours the
second cup of tea. The first is already steaming gently.
MASTER JUN (off) Despite this, they
flourish. We do not. I wish this to change.
PANEL FIVE
INT: Dragon’s Pearl Martial Arts School, Master Jun’s Office, Late
Afternoon
Jun picks up the cups, looking sideways, slyly.
MASTER JUN You assure me
you can do this. Can you?
PAGE THIRTEEN
PANEL ONE
INT: Dragon’s Pearl Martial Arts School, Master Jun’s Office, Late
Afternoon
(Largest panel
on page)
The
Daemon Lord. This is the
main bad guy, so this is should be a potent image. In essence, the Daemon Lord
is allowing himself to be contained,
but it should be clear from his body language that he is the one in control, even if those around him are unaware of this. His slight smile is utterly, supremely confident. His eyes are ‘normal’, but they exude danger. The Daemon Lord has
not revealed his true power, but it should be plain to the viewer that what you
see is not all of him. He’s waiting for the right moment.
The ‘captive’ is
flanked by two old Chinese sorcerers
in service to the school. Their faces show the strain of maintaining the binding
spell that twists and weaves around
the Daemon Lord. He is simply dressed
in dark clothes similar to those of the
students of the Dragon’s Pearl school.
DAEMON LORD I will do as you
wish. You drew me here, after all.
PANEL TWO
INT: Dragon’s Pearl Martial Arts School, Master Jun’s Office, Late
Afternoon
A smiling Jun hands the Daemon Lord one cup.
MASTER JUN Excellent! All
will be as it should be.
PANEL THREE
INT: Dragon’s Pearl Martial Arts School, Master Jun’s Office, Late
Afternoon
The Daemon Lord brings his cup to his lips.
It bubbles slightly. He is smiling in a very predatory way.
DAEMON LORD Indeed…
PAGE FOURTEEN
PANEL ONE
EXT: Valley’s End Martial Arts School, Early Evening
This
is the ‘good guys’ school. It could not contrast more sharply with the
pretensions of the Dragon’s Pearl School.
Everything about it is simple, clean,
and precise. It is a simple construction, set around a main courtyard of hard-packed earth.
There is a main building opposite from the main entrance,
with accommodation for students and
non-teaching staff to the left, stables
and storage to either side of the gate, and kitchen, washrooms, laundry and work rooms to the right. The main building is three stories, the
lowest being the indoors training area –
a single large, pillared room taking
up the whole floor. A staircase at the
back of the room leads up to the Masters’
accommodation and the office on the two other floors. The only decoration is an Imperial standard hanging
from one wall.
The main courtyard has a small shrine in one corner, with a tree offering shade and a place for
quiet reflection. There are benches
along the walls at the edge of the courtyard. The simple, unfussy construction is welcoming rather than austere. The gates stand open at all times during
the day from dawn, but are closed at dusk.
The school is set at the end of a wide valley,
where the land begins to rise to meet the hills and mountains beyond. The mountains seem to form a curtain of
rock in the distance. The main road
into the valley passes close by the school.
Just outside the walls, the single story building housing the
maidservants sits amongst slender trees. It’s all rather idyllic and rural.
As the sun sets and the darkness begins to
fall, lamps are being lit and raised to either side of the gate outside by two of the students, while flaming torches are sufficient for inside.
The lamps are already lit in and
around the maids’ quarters.
Chin is walking the
perimeter with a gong and a lamp on
a pole (i.e. they hang off the same pole). He hits the gong with a beater as he goes.
SFX (gong) >clanngk<
CHIN Sunset
and the doors are too close! All out who’re going out!
PANEL TWO
EXT: Valley’s End Martial Arts School, Main Gate, Early Evening
A gaggle of giggling maids rushes past Chin. He leers after them.
CHIN Good
evening, ladies!
PAGE FIFTEEN
PANEL ONE
EXT: Valley’s End Martial Arts School, Courtyard, Caretaker’s Hut, Early
Evening
The torch-lit courtyard is silent witness
to Chin and the lamplighters making
their way back to the main building. They are passing a small wooden ‘shack’. Butting
directly against the main wall, it has one
door and a small pipe of a chimney
giving off no smoke. Outside, there is a broken flask still leaking liquid.
PANEL TWO
INT: Dragon’s Pearl Martial Arts School, Main Building
In a narrow side corridor, with the symbol of the school on the wall to
show the readers this isn’t the good guys’ school, a maid with a hand lantern bustles along, heading back to her
dormitory. A plain-looking girl, she
is tired and careless.
PANEL THREE
INT: Valley’s End Martial Arts School, Courtyard, Caretaker’s Hut, Early
Evening
In the single room of the hut, a mess of gardening tools, many old flasks and gourds and only a few food dishes, a crude ‘camp bed’ is occupied by the dishevelled figure of the Janitor. His untroubled, once-handsome face is squashed sideways into the
pillow. A flask is clutched in his
hand.
The Janitor is
the hero of the story. A once-mighty warrior fallen on hard times thanks to the
vagaries of Fate. He is a joining of human and fox spirit, but this doesn’t
show physically (though his wolfish, predatory look later in the series argues
otherwise). His look now is of faded glory and wasted promise. Pitiful and
pitiable.
PANEL FOUR
INT: Dragon’s Pearl Martial Arts School, Main Building
The
maid bustles on, not
seeing the dark shape in the shadows
ahead of her.
PANEL FIVE
INT: Valley’s End Martial Arts School, Courtyard, Caretaker’s Hut, Early
Evening
Half
panel, left hand side.
The
Janitor frowns slightly
in his sleep.
PANEL SIX
INT: Dragon’s Pearl Martial Arts School, Main Building
Half
panel, right hand side.
The maid looks shocked and scared, her hand up to her mouth. A couple of motes of flame-light dance around her.
PAGE SIXTEEN
PANEL ONE
INT: Dragon’s Pearl Martial Arts School, Main Building
The
Daemon Lord is standing in
the shadows, his human form blurring
and vague. He looks all predator,
and some other form seems to exist
in the same space. Tiny motes of flaming
light now swirl around him, and his smile
smoulders.
PANEL TWO
INT: Valley’s End Martial Arts School, Courtyard, Caretaker’s Hut, Early
Evening
Small
panel inset to Panel One
The
janitor is troubled by the events far away at the
other school. He has begun to sweat.
PANEL THREE
INT: Dragon’s Pearl Martial Arts School, Main Building
The
maid is engulfed from within by harsh,
unnatural flame. The energy passes to the Daemon
Lord, who is exultant. The maid
clearly never got the chance to scream. Even her lamp is vaporised.
SFX (magical fire) SHVOOSH
PANEL FOUR
INT: Valley’s End Martial Arts School, Courtyard, Caretaker’s Hut, Early
Evening
Small
panel inset to Panel Three
The janitor looks to be sharing the maid’s pain.
PANEL FIVE
INT: Dragon’s Pearl Martial Arts School, Main Building
The vague, shadowy ash-form of the maid is
disintegrated as the flame finishes its job.
PANEL SIX
INT: Valley’s End Martial Arts School, Courtyard, Caretaker’s Hut, Early
Evening
The
janitor sits up in bed, wide awake and
terrified. His eyes are full of flame.
SFX (Janitor) >GASP!<
PAGE SEVENTEEN
Panel One
EXT: Valley's End
Martial Arts
School
Dawn has broken, and the sun is rising. One of the Students (Yuen) is
greeting a Delegation of local villagers, bowing low to them. The figures are
largely indistinct.
Panel Two
INT: Valley's End
Martial Arts
School
Main Panel. Yuen is leading the delegation
into the Courtyard. The head of the delegation is Proprietor Chan (Lao is not
here), and there are various other Traders there - six in total - all in their
best clothes, though the quality varies.
Chan is looking professionally unimpressed. The others look nervous or
obsequious.
The other students are being led through their morning exercise kata by
Tsui Ping - immaculately turned out as usual. As he calls out, the Students
bellow back as they make the next prescribed move.
TSUI PING Ho!
STUDENTS HO!!
YUEN This
way, masters.
Panel Three
INT: Valley's End
Martial Arts
School
The Masters of the school come down from the main building. They are
Grand Master Lam, Master Ling and Master Leung. Also present is the Venerable
Chi, an elderly Master now formally retired but still mentoring students.
Grand Master Lam is a short, portly fellow of around fifty with a
friendly face. Masters Ling and Leung
are tall men in their early forties. Of roughly equal height and build, Master
Leung has a receeding hairline, is slightly thinner and smiles more, while
Master Leung has slightly pouchy cheeks and wider eyes.
Venerable Chi is a small man. Upright and spry for his eighty-odd years,
he has short white hair and a straggly beard with no moustache. When he looks
down, the point of the beard just touches his chest. Chi is a cunning old man,
and is not to be underestimated. Equally, he is kind and quick to laugh. This
is all apparent in the friendly deference he is shown by the others.
The Grand Master is extending his hands in warm greeting to Proprietor
Chan. Chan bows slightly, but he is
smiling warmly.
The Janitor is (perhaps) a vague, slump-shouldered figure in the
background, carrying a bucket and cloths.
GRAND
MASTER Welcome,
gentlemen. You honour us with your visit.
CHAN The
honour is ours, Grand Master Lam.
PAGE EIGHTEEN
PAGE EIGHTEEN
Panel One
INT: Valley's End
Martial Arts
School
Grand Master Lam indicates that the delegation lead the way into the
main building. At the same time, he looks to Yuen as he issues his order. Yuen
bows and calls his assent.
Chan is smiling in a polite way, happy to take the lead. All of the
other delegates, as well as the Masters, have their best political photo-op
smiles.
The Janitor is out of sight in this view - a trap waiting for the
unwary.
GRAND
MASTER Please, gentlemen.
Yuen, fetch Tsui Ping please.
YUEN Yes,
Grand Master
Panel Two
INT: Valley's End Martial Arts
School , Main Building
Lam and Chan are walking at the head of the group into the main
building. They still have the air of political opponents and not friends.
GRAND
MASTER To what do
we owe this honor, Proprietor Chan?
CHAN We have
the privilege of representing the concerns of the villagers.
GRAND
MASTER Concerns,
Mister Chan?
Panel Three
INT: Valley's End Martial Arts
School , Main Building
The Grand Master has turned to face Chan, stepping in front of him so
that, as we look at Chan, we can see beyond the group of delegates and Masters
and into the courtyard.
Tsui Ping is rushing elegantly to join the group. He cannot see that the
Janitor is shambling along the wall towards the entrance.
Chan has his best imperious look. He wants this matter dealt with.
CHAN Concerns,
Grand Master. The conflict between the students of
Dragon's Pearl and Valley's End schools must end.
Panel Four
INT: Valley's End Martial Arts
School , Main Building
Proprietor Chan is still lecturing, but the Grand Master has seen what
is about to happen to Tsui Ping and the Janitor. Lam is alarmed, his arm outstretched
dramatically.
CHAN It is an expensive nuisance. Business is
being...
GRAND
MASTER Tsui
Ping!!
Panel Five
INT: Valley's End Martial Arts
School , Main Building
Tsui Ping and the Janitor have seen each other, but Ping is travelling
too fast to stop, and the Janitor is too slow to react. Ping looks shocked. The
Janitor looks unable to comprehend what's happening, his bucket held before
him, wrapped in both arms.
CAPTION
(over Tsui Ping) >!!<
CAPTION
(over Janitor) >..?..<
PAGE NINETEEN
Panel One
INT: Valley's End Martial Arts
School , Main Building
Tsui Ping and the Janitor collide, the water from the Janitor's bucket leaping
up to soak the student. The old bucket crumples slightly - it's going to break.
The Janitor falls, but Ping remains standing.
SFX (water) FOOSH!
Panel Two
INT: Valley's End Martial Arts
School , Main Building
Wide Shot. Tsui Ping is soaked and stunned. The Janitor is on the
ground, a little confused. The Masters and the Delegates are laughing. Grand
Master Lam has his eyes closed, head bowed. Chan looks contemptuous. Venerable
Chi is grinning broadly. The bucket is a tangle of bent spars.
CAPTION
(over Tsui Ping) !
Panel Three
INT: Valley's End Martial Arts
School , Main Building
Tsui Ping has a face like thunder! He turns on the Janitor, lifting his
fan like a weapon. The Janitor is confused, and he's reaching for the bits of
the bucket - he's a little pathetic.
TSUI PING You...
You... You... IMBICILE!!
Panel Four
INT: Valley's End Martial Arts
School , Main Building
Small panel. Venerable Chi, closest to the 'action'', suddenly looks
poised for action. His eyes narrowed, frowning.
The panel focuses in on his eyes.
Panel Five
INT: Valley's End Martial Arts
School , Main Building
Small panel. Venerable Chi's hand
tightens on his stick.
Panel Six
INT: Valley's End Martial Arts
School , Main Building
Tsui Ping sweeps his fan down.
TSUI PING Cha!
PAGE TWENTY
Panel One
INT: Valley's End Martial Arts
School , Main Building
Venerable Chi is lunging out, his stick fully extended. Chi's head is
turned away, his eyes half closed. The stick strikes Tsui at the point of his
elbow, stunning the student's arm.
Tsui, a look of pain and confusion on his face, can only watch as the
fan tumbles from his grip, missing the Janitor who is blissfully unaware of
what is going on.
The figures of Tsui and Chi form an arch over the Janitor, framing him
as the poor fellow reaches for the broken bucket.
TSUI PING Ahhk..!
Panel Two
INT: Valley's End Martial Arts
School , Main Building
As the Janitor, still sitting on the floor, cradles his bucket, Tsui
Ping rubs his elbow and gives Venerable Chi a look of hurt betrayal. Chi looks
unflapped, and is back leaning on his staff as though he actually needs it.
The Delegation and the Masters are applauding the old man, though the
Grand Master is shaking his head and Proprietor Chan is studying a nail as
though bored.
DELEGATION Excellent,
Venerable Chi!
What
a demonstration!
MASTERS Flawless
technique.
As
usual.
Panel Three
INT: Valley's End Martial Arts
School , Main Building
Tsui, still pouting, questions Chi, and the old man turns with an
"Oh, it's you" expression, as though seeing the Senior Student for
the first time.
TSUI PING Why do you
defend him, Venerable Master? Look what he did to me!
Panel Four
INT: Valley's End Martial Arts
School , Main Building
Chi walks past Tsui Ping and offers the Janitor his hand, to help the
man up. The befuddled man holdsup two broken bits, looking sad and confused.
VENERABLE
CHI There
is no wound we take that we do not inflict upon ourselves.
JANITOR ...broken...
Panel Six
INT: Valley's End Martial Arts
School , Main Building
Tsui looks angry. Venerable Chi
gives him a withering look.
TSUI PING But what
use is this fool?!
Panel Seven
INT: Valley's End Martial Arts
School , Main Building
Chi escorts the Janitor out of the building. Grand Master Lam is walking
away, herding the Delegates and the Masters away. Tsui is left on his own with
a puddle of water, rubbing his elbow.
Chi speaks without turning.
VENERABLE
CHI Do
not despise the snake for not being a dragon, for who is to say he will not grow horns.
PAGE TWENTY ONE
Panel One
EXT: Main Gate, Valley's End
Martial Arts
School
Yuen and Chin, incorrigible and inseparable despite being given duties
to either end of the day, are taking a moment to relax. Yuen is on gate duty
and is looking forward to the end of his shift, while Chin has just woken and
is dreading the beginning of his. Chin has a bowl of rice in his hands, Yuen
has a bo staff propped against the wall. They are sitting together on a low
stone bench.
YUEN At
least you get to miss morning exercise and the lessons.
CHIN Oh,
no! Didn't you hear? Big Brother has been his usual helpful
self. He's 'offered' to instruct me before afternoon exercises, and ensure I
have all the notes from morning lessons
to copy before afternoon lessons.
Panel Two
EXT: Main Gate, Valley's End
Martial Arts
School
YUEN He's
the very model of generosity. I presume he's offered to supervise
you at all times.
CHIN But
of course! He doesn't want me to miss anything. Something about turning...
YUEN
& CHIN ...disadvantages
into advantages! Folly into fortune!
Panel Three
EXT: Main Gate, Valley's End
Martial Arts
School
Yuen and Chin have stood back-to-back and are striking appropriately
statesman-like, dynamic poses as Tsui Ping might do.
YUEN
& CHIN Defeat
into VICTORY!!
Panel Four
EXT: Main Gate, Valley's End
Martial Arts
School
Yuen has turned away and is still chuckling as he talks. Chin has
spotted the Four Dragon's Pearl Students standing in the roadway (we can't see
them for the moment). He looks shocked, stunned, and a little scared.
YUEN Heh! Well,
if you do decide to hit him, don't forget to leave a note.
CHIN Yuen...Go
get Big Brother...
YUEN Huh? Go
get... What would I do that...?
Panel Five
EXT: Roadway, Near Main Gate, Valley's End Martial
Arts School
Four Dragon's Pearl Students are standing
in the roadway. They are not trying to look threatening, but they have the
imposing bearing of any true martial artist.
Feng Lo is amongst them. All should be recognisable as students from the
tea house brawl.
YUEN ...for?
PAGE TWENTY TWO
Panel One
INT: Main Building ,
Valley's End Martial Arts
School
The students are
all crowding around the bottom of the stairs leading up to the 1st
floor of the main building. Only Chin has dared to move up to the middle of the
staricase. They are all looking up, intent on what is going on.
SHIH Hey! Chin? Can you hear anything?
CHIN Almost,
Shih. Almost.
YAM Well?
CHIN You’re
not going to believe this…
Panel
Two
INT:
Main Meeting Space, Main Building , Valley's End Martial
Arts School
Grand
Master Lam is sitting at the centre seat behind a large table. Flanking him are
Masters Leung and Ling. They look a little confused, but happy.
(You
can't see all of this in this panel, but it'll set everything in its place for
the scene.)
The
table is set back at a slight angle to the corner of the room. Large windows,
their shutters open, the simple cane roll blinds down on all but one, run the
full length of one wall. The rest of the room is featureless, but for the supporting
columns and a bench along the short wall beside the long table. The Village
Delegation are sat there. The room takes up one half of the upper floor of the
Main Building, and is normally used for grading senior students.
Chan
and the others in the Delegation are watching the interview with great
interest. Chan in particular has sat forward, doing his best to look important,
as if his opinion matters.
The
four Dragon's Pearl students are knelt in an
uncomfortable but formal position - on one knee and one foot, bowed right
forward, the fist opposite the 'upright' leg planted to provide balance. The
other hand rests either on the knee, or is outstretched as though offering the
message being spoken. It's all very 'Imperial
Court
Tsui
Ping is standing by the end of the Master's table, looking poised and proud (when
does he never). He appears to be trying to physically squash the four 'enemy
students' to the floor under the weight of his gaze. His fan is clasped behind
his back. He is also wearing different clothes after the incident that morning.
The
only one removed from it all is Venerable Chi. He stands by the open blind,
looking out over the training ground, his face troubled.
GRAND
MASTER This is unprecedented!
MASTER
LEUNG Indeed, but not unwelcome.
MASTER
LING We must give this our
full consideration before we give an answer, of course.
Panel
Three
INT:
Main Meeting Space, Main Building , Valley's End Martial
Arts School
Proprietor
Chan can't believe what he has just heard. This is perfect, and he will not let
the moment pass. He stands to address the Masters, much to Tsui Ping's obvious
disapproval.
CHAN Consideration?! There is
nothing to consider, surely. Either you
want peace between the schools or you do not. Either you accept the offer, or you
do not. And you must accept.
Panel
Four
INT:
Main Meeting Space, Main Building , Valley's End Martial
Arts School
Tsui
Ping has heard enough. Grand Master Lam raises his hand, smiling and willing to
forgive the interruption.
TSUI
PING Mister Chan! You
forget yourself!
GRAND
MASTER No, no. I believe Proprietor
Chan has cut to the core of the issue. When is the conference to be
held?
Panel
Five
INT:
Main Meeting Space, Main Building , Valley's End Martial
Arts School
The
Dragon's Pearl student does not lift his gaze
from the ground, merely extending his hand as he offers his explanation.
DP
STUDENT On whichever days you choose,
venerable masters. A celebratory banquet will be held on
the evening you arrive.
PAGE
TWENTY THREE
Panel
One
INT:
Main Meeting Space, Main Building , Valley's End Martial
Arts School
The
DP Student looks up to address Chan directly.
DP
STUDENT Proprietor Chan? You and the
honoured representatives of those we have wronged are also
invited to attend.
Panel
Two
INT:
Main Meeting Space, Main Building , Valley's End Martial
Arts School
Chan
positively preens - this surely shows the good taste of those offering
peace. The Grand Master has a slightly
shocked look as Chan speaks for him.
CHAN I will of course attend,
and would be honoured to accompany Grand Master Lam and the others. What
escort are they permitted?
Panel
Three
INT:
Main Meeting Space, Main Building , Valley's End Martial
Arts School
The
DP Student looks a little taken aback. Tsui Ping positively bristles with
outrage. Master Leung puts out a
steadying hand to calm him. Grand Master Lam gives Chan a wry look.
GRAND
MASTER Each of us will choose a
student to accompany us. Venerable Chi? Whom will you choose?
Panel
Four
INT:
Main Meeting Space, Main Building , Valley's End Martial
Arts School
Seen
from the front, looking in through the window, Chi looks troubled. Behind him,
it is Tsui Ping's turn to preen smugly. Chi speaks without turning.
CHI I wish Tsui Ping to
be by my side...
Panel
Five
INT:
Main Meeting Space, Main Building , Valley's End Martial
Arts School
Reverse
angle of the previous panel. Ping is looking shocked. Lam very slightly bows
his assent. Chi still hasn't turned.
CHI . ..but I shall remain here. I am too old for travel, even
to the other end of our valley.
Panel
Six
INT:
Main Meeting Space, Main Building , Valley's End Martial
Arts School
The
Masters all stand and, left hands closed over right fists, offer their thanks
to the still bowing Dragon's Pearl Students. Chan
preens still, while Tsui Ping remains looking shocked.
GRAND
MASTER It is decided.
PAGE
TWENTY FOUR
Panel
One
INT:
Main Meeting Space, Main Building , Valley's End Martial
Arts School
Chi
still looks troubled. He is staring down into the courtyard as, behind him, the
Dragon's Pearl Students have stood and returned the salute of the Masters,
their heads bowed. Tsui Ping is looking to Chi, his face showing his hurt.
GRAND
MASTER One week from tonight, we
shall accept your schools most generous offer and renowned
hospitality.
Panel
Two
EXT:
Main Courtyard, Valley's End
Martial Arts
School
Seen
from a point above Chi's shoulder, the main courtyard has some twenty of the
more junior students doing light exercise and training, supervised by one of
the older students. They are not the focus of Chi's gaze.
The
Janitor is standing beside his hut, leaning heavily on its wall.
CHAN
(off) This is such an
opportunity for us all.
Panel
Three
EXT:
Main Courtyard, Valley's End
Martial Arts
School
Closer
in on the Janitor, looking past him and up to the main building, where Chi can
be seen standing at the only window not covered by a blind.
The
Janitor is reacting to the feeling of being watched, looking puzzled.
CHAN
(off) A new day dawns!
Panel
Four & Five
EXT:
Main Courtyard, Valley's End
Martial Arts
School
Left
side of panel. Side on view. The Janitor turns and looks up at where the
Venerable Chi is looking down on him. There is something tangibly different
about the Janitor. He looks abruptly more focused, more noble, somehow more
heroic. His clothes and hair give him a feral look. At the same time, there is
pain there, in his eyes.
Right
side of panel. Side on view. Venerable Chi is looking down to the Janitor. He
is looking a little alarmed, as though sensing something nasty has happened but
he can't work out where or why. His mouth is set in a grim line, his teeth
clenched tight.
CAPTION Next Issue: Rebirth!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Story Summary
Right, this is a bit long. It's also rather old, having been sketched out in 2000 before the first issue was properly written. You'll notice some changes in there. It's also double-spaced, a bad habit I got into early on that has now been consigned to the scrap heap. Anyhue, enjoy!
Prologue
Dusk on the black
slopes of an extinct volcano, and a shepherd is tending his herd of painfully
thin goats. In the distance, the
shepherd can see his village. Smoke
trails up from chimneys, and a few people can be picked out. As the shepherd and goats begin to head down
the slopes, the ground begins to shake, and a deep rumbling sounds.
The rumbling lasts
only a short time, then stops. The
shepherd looks around, as alarmed as his bleating goats. He glances back up the slope, shading his
eyes against the light of the setting sun.
A little smoke is
drifting up from the volcano.
-----------
Main Story
In a valley town, in
a land not unlike ancient and mythological China, a fight is taking place
between pupils of two rival schools of the martial arts. Despite superior numbers, one school is
losing. As the losers are driven off,
dialogue between the victors tells us that the losing school began this feud.
-----------
In a small temple,
part of a school of martial arts (and the bad guys of the story), the masters
are summoning otherworldly assistance.
Things have not been going well for this school. It has a long-standing rivalry with another
school at the opposite end of the valley.
They had thought that their superior numbers of students would allow
them to drive off their opponents, leaving theirs the only school in the
district.
Their plan has not
succeeded. Now, the masters are
desperate. They summon an ancient and cunning
daemon to assist them in defeating their enemy.
They believe they can control the daemon. Indeed, the creature is weak. It promises help to the school. It will imbue their students with
supernatural strength and speed.
First, though, it
needs to be fed.
-----------
At the school on the
opposite side of the valley, everything is sunny and bright. The elders of the valley town are meeting
with the masters of the school to discuss the conflict. Although the elders do not blame the good
guys’ school, they are hopeful that something can be worked out.
Before they sit down
to the meeting, there is a brief interlude where the drunken, dishevelled and
smelly janitor is berated by the senior student of the school for spilling
water across the feet of the town elders.
While everyone is laughing, the oldest of the masters intercedes on
behalf of the janitor. He leads the
babbling drunk away.
The old master
settles the janitor in his tiny room, sitting with him while he drifts into
sleep. The senior student cannot
understand why the old master tolerates the janitor. The old master quotes an ancient proverb: “Do
not mock the snake for not being a dragon, for who is to say it shall not grow
horns?” The senior student is not
convinced.
-----------
In the early evening,
two students from the bad guys’ school arrive with the offer of an end to the
conflict. The bad guys will host a
conciliatory banquet in honour of the good guys, inviting the masters and the
senior students. An exchange of ideas and
even students is proposed. The two
students bring rich gifts, as well as money for the good guys to pass on to the
town elders to pay for the damage caused by the fighting.
The masters
immediately accept the offer. The
janitor is sent to the town elders to relay the news (and to make up for his
earlier accident). Meanwhile, the school
prepares to send their masters off the following day. The old master declines, claiming he is too
frail to travel. He asks that the senior
student remain with him. The senior
student is not pleased when the request is granted.
-----------
The janitor is
waylaid by a handful of the bad guy students on the outskirts of the town. He refuses to fight, but eventually grows
angry and utterly humiliates the students.
As the janitor stumbles off, the bad guy students agree not to mention
the incident. It would be too
humiliating.
-----------
In the small temple
in the bad guys’ school, the daemon sits in the near darkness. Before him, a glowing light. The light is made up of many smaller points
of fire that twist and dance, like maddened fireflies. “Soon, my siblings,” whispers the
daemon. “Soon.”
-----------
The good guy masters
are leaving. The students and staff who
are staying behind bid them all a cheery and enthusiastic farewell. Standing apart from the others, the old
master is joined by the janitor. The
janitor is looking troubled. The old master
asks what is wrong, but the janitor is unsure.
The old master looks at the janitor for a long moment as the other
watches the parade. There is genuine
concern in the old master’s face.
“Probably just gas,” says the janitor, unconvinced. “Something in the wind,” agrees the old man,
with a smile.
-----------
At the bad guys’
school, the banquet is in full swing.
Musicians play, and the students are serving. The masters from both sides are chatting away
happily. Finally, one of the bad guys
stands and announces the arrival of the entertainment; a conjurer. The bad guy students mostly leave, save for
some who stand at the doors. With the
central area cleared, there is an air of expectancy.
Abruptly, there is a
flash and a puff of smoke. The smoke
clears, revealing a ‘puddle’ of clothing.
A few jokes are made about only some of the wizard arriving. The clothes begin to stir. Rising up into them, the daemon appears. There is polite applause. The disguised daemon is unmoved.
There is a moment of
uncomfortable silence as the daemon just stands there. The bad guys are getting a little hot around
the collar. The daemon’s eyes snap open,
and they are as black as the Pit. He
lifts his hands out, as though to receive a gift. Glowing dots appear, moving from the daemons
hands out to surround the summoner in a shifting, dancing globe of tiny fire
trails.
The daemon points,
his fingers now talons, at each of the bad guys, and one fire trail detaches
and floats to hover over each of the bad guy masters and students. The ‘chosen’ are bathed in an orange glow. One of the good masters asks when they are to
get theirs. “Now,” says the daemon,
forked tongue flickering over his fangs, his true nature revealed.
The good masters see
the deception, but too late. As they
struggle to their feet, the daemon throws out his hands. Dark energy leaps from him, surrounding the
good masters and students in tendrils of choking darkness. They all struggle momentarily. Then, bright streams of light leave each good
master and centre on the daemon. He
seems to drink in the energy, transfixed by it.
Then, sickly, tainted light streams off the sorcerer and arcs to each of
the fire trails above the bad guy masters.
The good masters
collapse, their bodies dried, shrivelled husks.
The head bad master laughs, congratulating the daemon and thanking him
for doing the school such a great service, but the daemon cuts him off. It is time for the bad guys to do the daemon
a service. Certainly, what does he need?
“Body and soul,
Masters,” coos the daemon. “Body and
soul.”
The now larger fire
trails drop onto the bad masters and students, engulfing them. They scream and writhe. Those guarding the doors try to run, but the
daemon flicks his hands at them. Dark
energy surrounds them, sucking the souls from the unfortunate students and
feeding them back to the daemon. More
fire trails absorb the tainted light the daemon feeds them, growing larger.
The masters and
students are now gone. From the flames
step man sized daemons, and all bow to their daemon lord. The flames that created them are now burning
freely in the banqueting hall. Students
burst in, and halt at the fearful scene before them.
“Ah, more hosts,”
says the daemon. Flames engulf some of
the students. “And, if I am not
mistaken, a little food,” he finishes with a vicious smile. The daemons move in.
-----------
In his tiny room at
the good guys’ school, the janitor is troubled in his sleep. Suddenly he wakes, sitting bolt upright. His eyes are dancing flames. He cries out, then falls back,
unconscious.
Outside, a sentry
hears the cry and mutters about the drunk and his habits. His attention is drawn down the valley. In the far distance, a faint red glow can be
seen…
-----------
The bad guy’s school
is fully ablaze. Some of the students
are escaping over the wall. A snarling
daemon grabs the last, dragging him screaming back into the flames. The others run.
-----------
As buildings
collapse, sending sparks flaring into the night sky, the daemon lord stalks the
central training ground. He calls his
brethren to order, and they stalk from the flames. It is of no concern that some humans escaped,
or that the flames will be seen. No
mortal can stand against the daemon lord.
They must leave now, and prepare to awaken the rest of the daemon army
that will return the world to the fiery hell it once was.
-----------
On the walls of the
good guys’ school, the students are nervously contemplating the far distant
pall of smoke that stains the morning sky.
As they wonder, a handful of the surviving former bad guy students
arrives at the doors to the school. With
the old master being summoned, they are rushed in.
-----------
In an audience with
the old master and the older students, the survivors tell their tale. Everyone is stunned. No one knows what to do,
and panic threatens. There are no masters
left to teach, to lead the school. Even
if there were, how could any stand against fire daemons?! Confusion reigns. Some try to blame the survivors, threatening
them until the old master intervenes.
He stamps his stick
down. Silence returns. The senior student apologises, asking what
they should do. Although he agrees to
come out of retirement, the old master reveals that there is but one hope now
for the school, perhaps the world.
The founder of the
school.
-----------
The old master sends
all of the students away, save the senior student. He then settles down, and asks if the student
is willing to trust him. The senior
student bows to his master, saying that he does not believe that the old man
would lead him astray in this most desperate hour. The old man tells the story.
-----------
Many years before,
when the venerable old master was a boy, the school was set up by a warrior
back from the border wars. He had won
much honour and glory fighting with the Emperor, and could have asked for
anything in the Divine Emperor’s power to grant. The land for the school was the only reward
he sought. The school was built, and the
warrior taught the first masters. This
included the old man.
The warrior found
peace at the school. Peace is a
transitory thing, as with all else in life.
One day, while returning from the capitol, the master and his senior
pupil, the old man, saved a young woman from some bandits. Fate decreed that the master and the young
woman should fall in love, and all are slaves to fate, more so those who
struggle against it.
The woman was herself
that which man calls daemon. She and her
family were fox spirits. Her father, a
king of his kind, sent the master away, thanking him for saving his daughter,
but refusing to allow the couple to be joined.
But love, far stronger than even fate, will not be denied, and the
lovers met over and over again in secret.
As a fox spirit, the
young woman was virtually an immortal.
She was already hundreds of years old, though this was her first time in
love. Together, the master and the woman
found a way that they might live together.
They mixed their spirits and their blood, each becoming something more
and something less than they had been before.
The beloved sun that
glows brightly blinds even those whom it nourishes. With the master now at least part fox spirit,
the lovers thought that the king would accept the union. Instead, he cast out the master, but not
before he had banished his daughter, transporting her with magic to a place far
away.
The master was
devastated. Yet he lived, lives still,
with the agony of that parting. Two
souls joined for eternity, yet separated for all time.
-----------
The senior student is
touched by the old master’s story. He
vows to find the founder of the school, no matter how far the journey must take
him. The old man says that he believes
the journey to see the founder will be hard and long for the senior student,
yet the finding will take no time at all.
The confused senior
student is led to the janitor’s room.
The room has been trashed, but the janitor lies quietly, being tended by
an old woman who bows and leaves when the old master and the student
arrive. The senior student expects the
old master to wake the janitor and ask him where the founder is. Instead, the old man gently wakes the janitor
and then, to the utter amazement of the student, bows down before the janitor,
calling him Master Founder.
-----------
At first, the founder
is reluctant to help. His reluctance
grows as the old master orders that the founder be bathed and dressed. As the unfortunate soul is dragged off
(respectfully, of course), the old master asks the senior student to break open
a board in the wall. From the space
within, the old master draws out fine clothes, unsullied by the dust of ages,
armour pieces, and a very functional sword.
The senior student,
impressed by the clothes and the armour, scoffs at the sword, wondering out
loud if the janitor sold his real sword for drink. The old master swings the sword, cutting the
bed in half with little effort. The
senior student is stunned, but foolishly mutters “Where will your master sleep
now?”
“It would be better
for you to ask yourself where you will sleep, stupid boy, as these are now your
quarters,” comes the old man’s reply.
-----------
The housekeeper is
overseeing the bathing of the founder.
She relishes the task, ensuring the water is hot. The founder, addled by the events of the
night, tries to struggle, but the housekeeper beats him, tearing the clothes from
his body piece by piece. The young maids
of the household, forbidden under usual circumstances from having any dealings
with the students, much less the masters, giggle and shriek.
Finally, the founder
is naked. Flustered, he berates the
housekeeper. Then he realises that she
is holding his underwear. Realising his
nakedness, he clutches himself. The
maids laugh and giggle, and the founder sees them as though for the first
time. He struggles to cover front and
back with his hands, trying to recover some modesty.
He spies the bath
tub, and leaps in, but the water is scalding.
The housekeeper, laughing quietly, starts to pick up a horrid smell
coming from … coming from … It’s coming
from the hideous underwear she is carrying!
With a cry of horror, her hand outstretched, she scatters the screaming
maids and dashes through the doors. A
little sick, she doesn’t pay any attention to what she is doing and walks the
underwear right into the face of the old master – there is a >splut<
sound. Horrified by what she has done,
the housekeeper snatches her hands to her face in shock. There is another >splut< sound. She shrieks and thrusts the offensive garment
out before her.
Master and
housekeeper look at each other in horror, the underwear dangling between
them. They are both violently ill.
-----------
The senior student
slowly walks into the bathing room. He
is carrying the clothes, the armour and the sword. There seems to be no-one in the bath house. The student places the bundle gently on a
seat. He stands, not quite knowing what
to do. The water in the bath steams
gently, the surface dotted with unpleasant things and a slight filmy scum of
dirt. Perhaps the founder is already
gone?
The senior student
begins to walk away. Abruptly, the bath water
explodes upwards as the founder emerges, spluttering. The senior student drops into a ready
stance. The founder, eyes stinging, sees
someone crouched, ready to attack.
“Assassin!,” he screams, and attacks.
The founder is not
quite up to speed, and the senior student does not want to attack. He defends for the first little while, as the
founder attacks, all the while screaming about daemons and fire. The founder spots his sword, and snatches it
up.
Now the senior
student begins to shout for help. He
dodges frantically, picking up a bucket-carrying pole to assist in his
defence. The pole is first shortened,
then cut in half by the attacking founder.
Defending himself with the two sticks, the student is in danger of
losing his life to the confused founder.
The bath is
destroyed. The student spills massage
oil in the path of the founder, slipping him up. The old master enters as the founder recovers
his balance, and trips the charging founder.
The senior student runs for cover as the old master, armed only with his
cane, walks toward the founder.
The founder struggles
upright, slipping in the oil. He is
shouting and screaming, tears flowing.
He sees the old master and prepares to attack. The old master kneels and kow-tows before his
master, using the founder’s name and old titles.
The founder
recognises his former pupil. Astonished,
he casts aside his sword, disgusted by it.
He kneels before his old friend, helping him to stand. The founder is confused. He cannot understand why his student has
grown so old. When did it happen? Abruptly, the founder cries out, clutching
his head in pain. He faints dead away.
-----------
On the road to the
capital, a merchant train has been waylaid and destroyed by the daemon
lord. From the remains of half a dozen
flaming corpses, more man daemons step forward to bow before their master. A cowering mother with young child and a baby
is being guarded by man daemons. The
daemon lord approaches them, smiling evilly.
The woman moans in terror. The
young child asks if the daemon lord will eat him.
“No child, I will
not,” the daemon lord coos. “Why should
I, when I have your mother here to do that for me?”
-----------
The founder awakens,
sitting upright with a cry. It is
night. The old master is sitting by the
bed, while the senior student sleeps in a chair. The student does not more than stir at the
cry.
The old master tells
the founder all that has happened, while the founder fills in details of what
he has seen. His spirit is linked to the
world of daemons, and he knows when another soul is used to feed, and to add
to, the fire daemon’s army.
Neither the founder
nor the old master can guess where the daemon lord is going next. The old man knows of a daemon hunter that
used to operate from a town in the next valley, across the mountain
passes. Perhaps the hunter can guess
what the daemon lord is up to.
The old master agrees
to begin to prepare the school, and to contact the Emperor. He will also call upon former masters of the
school, asking if they will return. The
founder will seek out the hunter, taking the senior student with him. The founder changes now into his
clothes. The senior student is
disturbed. He wakes up and notices the
five parallel scars on each of the founder’s shoulders.
Drowsily, he points
to them. The old master is deeply
embarrassed, and tries to shush the student.
The student persists, and the old man apologises to the founder. The founder just laughs, saying they are old
battle scars. The student asks from
which battle the scars came. Again the
founder laughs, asking the old man if he had told the student anything of his
history. When the old man says he told
the boy everything, the founder comments that students learned more about life
in his day. The senior student is
confused, and the old master embarrassed.
The founder stands
fully dressed. As he belts on the sword,
he sighs deeply, as though releasing tension.
The old master asks how the founder feels. The founder replies that everything is coming
back to him. “Everything?,” the old man
asks. The founder’s face looks grim now.
“Some things were
never forgotten.”
-----------
As the morning dawns,
the old master bids goodbye to the senior student and the founder. All will be ready by the time the two return,
the old master promises. He demands that
the senior student obey his new master in all things, and allow that the
founder has the greater wisdom. The student
is unconvinced, but agrees.
As the two walk off,
the founder asks if the student has any questions. The student asks why they must walk, since
the school has fine horses, and why their clothes are so drab, and bear no mark
of the school. The founder replies that
fine horses and clothes attract thieves.
Besides, the mountain passes are better travelled on foot. They must both go in secret, as the daemon
lord will likely have allies.
The student asks many
questions on the journey. As they rest
in the late afternoon, the student asks about the glorious battles the founder
fought with the Emperor all those years ago.
The founder laughs, telling the boy that glory is for poets and battles
are only great for those who don’t fight them.
The student tries to
argue that to fight daemons is both glorious and just. The founder counters that there will be
precious little glory in what is to come.
Instead, there will be fear, violence and blood. As for justice, that is decided by who wins.
Surely the daemons
are evil, the student argues. The
founder disagrees. The daemons are called
evil because their nature contradicts that of man. Their nature is to overthrow man, to hunt and
to kill him, to use him and to destroy him.
To simply call the daemons evil and dismiss them with the word is to
refuse to understand them. If you don’t
understand your foes, you will underestimate them, and you will die.
Is there no evil
then, the student asks. That depends,
the founder states. A wise man once told
him that there is no good and evil, only points of view. Your perception is everything. That’s what the wise man believed. The student asks what the founder believes.
“I believe we’ll kill
them, or they’ll kill us,” the founder states.
“Your philosophy is
not convincing,” the student states.
“Philosophy and
experience rarely agree,” the founder counters.
“Our philosophies are
the wisdom of our ancestors! I do not
agree with you,” the student pouts.
“That’s because you
have no experience,” finishes the founder.
-----------
The two continue
on. They are ambushed in the mountains
by a shape-shifting earth spirit. Against the wishes of the student, the
founder spares the creature, binding it to discover more about the fire daemons
activities, and to report the information back to the old master at the
school. After that, it will serve the
old master in return for three square meals a day and a place to rest. The earth spirit seems content with this,
once it learns there are maids at the school.
The earth spirit is
at once both gloomy and positive. He
constantly finds something positive to say, before coming up with a negative
side to his positive comment.
-----------
The town on the other
side of the mountains is a bustling lakeside community. The student is glad that, after four days of
hard travelling, they can at last get cleaned up. The founder can see little point in getting
all cleaned up when they just have to travel back over the mountains as soon as
they meet up with the daemon hunter.
The student
insists. He will go and hunt out
accommodation at the best inn he can find, and the founder can go find the
hunter. The founder agrees, happy to be
rid of the constant whining of his companion.
The student goes to
the inn. He finds it set in a beautiful
garden. The inn has quite a reputation,
as an Emperor once stayed there and gave the place an Imperial standard. The student compliments the inn-keeper,
saying how proud the inn-keeper must feel.
The inn-keeper is less than pleased; maintaining the place to the level
which allows them to keep the Imperial standard is almost bankrupting the
family. When the student points out the
honour that having the standard represents, the inn-keeper asks how much bread
honour buys?
Apparently, if it
wasn’t for the daemon hunter constantly keeping on the best room in the inn, they
would never be able to maintain the standard.
The student is delighted. He asks
if the hunter is there, and is told that the hunter arrived the night before
and is in the room. The student
immediately orders a bath, and asks if an audience can be arranged. The inn-keeper scoffs at the term ‘audience’
but agrees to get the student in to see the hunter.
-----------
Once bathed, the
student is brought before the hunter.
The senior student has dressed as best he can, wearing a fine robe,
slippers and hat he has brought with him.
He kneels before a table. On it
are set many fine foods, delicately presented on translucent china. The room is simple and unadorned, yet
beautiful. Through the open doors, the
scents of the garden, the sound of the stream, the ripple of the carp in the
pool, all add to the serene atmosphere.
The sun is setting behind the garden, turning everything rose-gold.
The student sits
quietly, drifting in quiet contemplation of the moment. A door slides open, and a woman walks in. She is dressed simply in black, yet she could
never be taken for a peasant. Her hair
is of pure silver, and flows free. Her
eyes are red-brown. The woman’s skin is
a breathtaking white that no make-up could ever create. Her small mouth isn’t painted.
The student is struck
dumb. The woman comes to the table. She kneels smoothly and pours two cups of
wine, offering one to the student with a bow.
The student almost fumbles and drops it, spilling a little of the wine
on his sleeve. The woman catches up the
student’s hand, dabbing away the wine with a cloth. The warmth of her touch is almost shocking,
and the student can say and do nothing.
Finally, and with a
knowing, almost cunning smile, the woman asks if the student has come to ask a
service of a woman such as she. The
student nearly chokes to death, causing the woman to laugh. She apologises, the student
counter-apologises.
The woman asks again
if the student has come to ask the services of a hunter. The student confirms that this is the case. Before he can go into the story, there is a
disturbance outside. The inn-keeper is
trying to stop the founder from bursting in.
The student begins to apologise for the founder.
The door to the room
is pulled abruptly open. The inn-keeper
tries to step in front of the founder, all the while apologising to the
woman. The student tries to admonish the
founder for bursting into the room of so clearly refined a personage.
The inn-keeper is
pushed aside by the woman. The student
is pushed aside by the founder. Founder
and hunter stand before each other, shock registering clearly on their
faces. The student and the inn-keeper
fall silent.
“You are dead,” the
woman says.
“You are banished,”
the founder says.
They explode into
each other’s arms, the founder sweeping the woman off her feet and carrying her
through to the other room.
The inn-keeper turns
to the student to ask what has happened.
He sees the student crying, a smile on his face. The student simply asks that they leave.
-----------
From a burned and
ruined village, a train of bound people is watched over by man daemons. The slave train winds it’s way across a black
volcanic plain, and towards a vast crater.
The pit of the crater
steams and crackles. Rising steeply, the
crater walls are huge, jagged and broken.
Seen from afar, the crater resembles a huge, taloned hand, grasping up
through the black and broken land.
Looking down from the
edge of the crater, the daemon lord is watching the arrival of the
prisoners. He reminds his ‘lieutenant’
that the prisoners are to be given water, and are not to be damaged. All are needed to help return yet more of the
fire daemon army to this plane of existence.
“This place that bore witness to the defeat of the fire daemons will see
the rebirth of that force. Nothing can
now prevent this,” the daemon gloats.
-----------
The senior student is
sitting with the inn-keeper. He is
eating a meal, and the inn-keeper is asking questions about the relationship
between the founder and the hunter. The
student gives a shortened account of the founder’s story. The poet in him finds it both wonderful and
romantic. He might write a song about
it.
The inn-keeper agrees
that it is a beautiful tale. He excuses
himself, and leaves the student to his food.
The inn-keeper rushes back to his rooms.
His wife demands an explanation as to what all the fuss was about. The keeper is rooting through some
documents. He tells his wife to shut
up. The keeper finds the document he is
looking for. It is a court circular
offering significant, nay huge reward for the head of any daemon.
The inn-keeper
hurries off into the night, aiming to enlist the help of his family and
friends.
-----------
The founder and the
hunter are drinking together by the light of a single oil lamp. Wrapped in silken sheets, they discuss what
has happened to them; how the founder was told the hunter was banished,
transported far away, and how the hunter was told the founder had been killed.
The hunter had been
unable to face returning to anywhere the founder had been. Ashamed and cast out, she wandered. No longer accepted her own people, unable to
find kinship with mortal man, she became a hunter of daemons to support
herself.
The hunter had
returned to the area some time ago because she felt that some great force was
stirring. More recently, she had felt
the return of the fire daemons. Many
centuries before, the hunters people, along with many other supernatural races,
had banded together to seal the destructive fire daemons away, they thought,
forever.
The only hope is to
destroy the daemon lord before he can break the seals at the site of the
battle, releasing his full power and his army.
The two demi-spirits
are unafraid. Together, they will defeat
this enemy.
-----------
The student is
writing in his room. He finishes for the
time being, wrapping the papers and pens in their travelling case. He retires to his bed, dousing the flickering
light.
The light in the room
remains, however. Flickering torches
beyond the windows cast a glow into his room.
Swiftly pulling on loose fitting trousers, the student sneaks to the
window. He hears voices. The inn-keeper is preparing his friends and
relatives to attack the ‘daemon monsters’.
There is much talk of the reward.
As the student is
listening, the door to his room is pushed aside, and three men sneak in. The student slips behind them, just as they
find his bed is empty. A fight ensues,
quickly spilling over into the courtyard and the garden.
In the torch light
and the moon light, the student fights for his life against many
opponents. However, the inn-keeper’s
‘army’ is untrained. Hearing the
disturbance, the hunter and the founder walk onto the porch, drinking. The hunter is wrapped in a sheet, the founder
is dressed in a similar fashion to the student.
The two watch the
fight, passing comment on the student’s abilities. They are both reasonably impressed and take
no part in the fight. When one man
attacks the couple, he is quickly rendered unconscious. The student eventually wins, leaving the
inn-keeper as the last man standing.
The inn-keeper falls
down before the founder and the hunter, begging forgiveness and trying to blame
his brother-in-law for the attack. The
hunter tells the inn-keeper that she will not be returning to the inn, and the
founder shows the poor man the Imperial seal he wears on a ring. The Emperor will be demanding his standard
back, no doubt.
The inn-keeper is
delighted; now he can go back to keeping just an ordinary inn. The savings will be enormous. The confused founder is happy to be of
service. The inn-keeper shuffles off to
tell his wife the good news.
The student is about
to leave, but the founder stops him, asking how the inn-keeper found out about
the nature of his guests. The student’s
embarrassment is enough to reveal the answer.
The founder tells the student that he is to patrol the grounds for the
rest of the night, to guard against further attacks, as a punishment for having
such a loose tongue.
As the founder turns
to follow the hunter back into the rooms, the student notices scratches on the
founder’s shoulders. The student
comments that the founder doesn’t fare as well as his student in his battles. Now it is the founder’s turn to flush red,
much to the amusement of the hunter.
-----------
The next morning,
with the student virtually dead on his feet, the trio prepare to leave. As they do, the inn-keeper and his bruised
and battered friends and family applaud and cheer them. At the entrance to the inn, three horses are
waiting, all with packs of food, water and blankets.
The inn-keeper thanks
the founder, reminding him to contact the Imperial court as soon as
possible. The inn-keeper’s wife hugs and
kisses the student, weeping with joy.
The trio receives a rousing send off.
-----------
During the journey
through the mountains, the three travellers are met by a group of Imperial
light cavalry. The cavalry were sent to
meet and escort the founder back to the school, which is now the base for
efforts to defeat the daemon lord.
The earth spirit is
with the cavalry unit, and is as gloomily positive as ever.
-----------
Back at the good
guys’ school, a council of war is called.
The Emperor has sent
a garrison of light cavalry, about two hundred men and horses, and is currently
mustering forces. Everyone knows that
the Imperial response will be too slow.
There are only about
one hundred or so students, with only a few masters. Of the students, only half can even be
considered combat ready.
Consideration is
given to contacting those of the spirit realm.
This is also dismissed; it would take too long to find them and convince
them to help. Both the founder and the
hunter feel that things are coming to a head.
The only significant
edge that the good guys have are the earth spirit, and the hunter and
founder. But they are only three.
It is the senior
student who comes up with the answer.
The founder gained
his strength and prowess through mixing blood and spirit with the hunter. What is to stop the process being used
again? The founder asks the hunter and
the earth spirit whether such a thing is possible.
She agrees that it
would be, but that it would severely weaken the donors. It might even kill them. The hunter and founder agree that it would be
a sacrifice worth making. However, the
earth spirit intercedes.
He proposes that he
contact his family in the mountains. He
thinks that some of them could be convinced to join with the humans. However, in his usual style, he doubts there
would be enough volunteers on both sides to make a difference but that, if
there were, the resulting man-spirits would be strong enough to beat the
daemons. However, there likely won’t be
enough volunteers on both sides. Even if
there were, the spirit doesn’t know where the man-spirits would live.
The old master
immediately proposes that they live and teach at the school. The founder concurs. The earth spirit agrees that this is an
excellent idea. There will likely be
more than enough volunteers with an offer like that. However, he doubts the ritual will work, but
is willing to try. It helps to kill time
before they all die.
The earth spirit
fades into the ground, still muttering.
-----------
The daemons are
overseeing the slaves clearing certain areas around the crater. Slowly, large stone slabs are being
revealed. The massive slabs are deeply
engraved with a number of symbols. These
are the seals that contain the fire daemons.
One of them is cracked. The
daemon lord looks down on this one broken seal and smiles.
-----------
All of the cavalry
will undergo the change. It is their
duty to their Emperor. Once the battle
is over, they will resign from the Imperial cavalry and turn themselves over
for execution. Daemons are not permitted
to live in Imperial territory. The
founder points out that they will not technically be daemons, and that he has
the authority from the Emperor to sequester the cavalry unit for the continuing
protection of the school. This pleases
the commander.
The students who are
sufficiently advanced to be considered worthy of the right to fight alongside
the founder have all volunteered. They
are positively eager.
The earth spirit
returns, appearing up from the ground.
He admits that many of his family did volunteer, far more than he had
expected. He can’t see as it will make
any difference, but at least more fire daemons will be destroyed before
everyone is horribly killed.
Everyone is
ready. As the humans assemble, the
hunter points out that there are no female students. The old master and the founder bluster
something about tradition, bone structure, facilities and so on, before they
wither under the hunter’s stare. Things
will change, she declares, once all this is over. The founder and the old man share a look of
slight panic.
The earth spirit
breaks the moment by announcing that, for what it’s worth, his people have
arrived. From the earth and stones of
the school, earth spirits emerge. A few
of those who are to be joined look a little nervous, and the earth spirits hang
back. The senior student steps forward
and greets the largest of the spirits, bidding it welcome, and thanking the
spirits for their assistance in this dangerous time. Spirits and humans now mingle, pairing off
for the bonding. There are more spirits
than there are humans.
Everything is ready.
-----------
The daemon lord stands looking down into the volcano crater. His eyes are closed, as though in
meditation. The daemon’s lieutenant
stands beside his lord, his expression eager.
Slowly, the daemon lord lifts his hands out before him, bringing them
together, interlocking his fingers in a specific way. Lowering his head, he raises his hands to his
forehead and begins to mutter words of power.
In the crater below,
the ground shifts and rolls. Beyond the
crater’s rim, the four surviving seals begin to shake. The rumble of a growing earthquake echoes all
around the exultant daemon men and the terrified prisoners.
-----------
At the school, the
founder and the hunter hear echoes of the rumbling. They exchange a grim look.
The old man begins
the ritual. On the training ground, the
humans and spirits slice into their palms and clasp hands, humans to
spirits. The old master reads from an
ancient scroll held by one of the earth spirits who has no joining
partner. The old master is poised in a
similar way to the daemon lord.
On the ground, the
shapes of human and spirit begin to shift and blur.
-----------
The seals holding
back the daemon army are beginning to glow.
Beside his master,
the daemon lieutenant shakes his head slightly, as though to brush off a slight
headache.
-----------
On the training
ground, man and spirit are now utterly blurred.
The old man increases the tempo of his chanting. Behind him, the hunter and the founder are
sweating, their faces showing actual pain.
They link hands, stepping away from the old master.
The old master now
pulls his hands slowly apart, as though there is great resistance to his
attempt. Abruptly, he crosses his hands
back and forward three times before throwing his hands wide.
The founder and
hunter cry out.
-----------
The lieutenant
screams, clutching his head. Around the
crater, the daemon men all cry out, dropping to the ground in agony. The prisoners look at each other in fear. Some take the opportunity to scamper
off. Others quickly follow, but not all.
-----------
The hunter and
founder are clutching to each other, their pain beyond expression. The earth spirit the founder first met stands
over the two of them. Abruptly, he kneels,
sweeping his friends into his massive arms.
They now hold onto him as well as each other.
The old master sweeps
his hands together. They meet with a
crack of thunder that shakes the ground, and the blurred figures on the
training ground merge and coalesce, crumpling to the hard packed earth as the
spell releases them.
-----------
The daemon lieutenant
shrieks, collapsing into his master. The
spell is broken, and the movement in the crater swiftly recedes. The seals stop glowing.
The daemon lord
staggers as magic washes over him. His
body glows and ripples, seeking form and substance, struggling as the now rogue
magic threatens to undo the very fabric of his being.
With a deep roar of
rage and pain, the daemon lord draws the power back into himself. With a snarl of hate and frustration, the
daemon lord turns on his lieutenant. The
daemon man is lying on the ground, weakened by what he and his brethren have
felt from the school. He tries to speak,
but the daemon lord punches his clawed hand into the lieutenant’s face,
grasping him by the lower jaw and tearing it clean off.
As his soon to be
former lieutenant bubbles and screams, the daemon lord looks at the gory trophy
in his clenched fist, then down at the dying creature.
“Well, now you know
how I feel,” he growls, slumping against the rough crater wall.
With another pained
snarl as the last vestiges of the magical energy rush through him, the daemon
lord stalks off. Behind him, the
lieutenant lapses into unconsciousness, his dark blood soaking into the black
ash.
-----------
The earth spirit
helps the hunter and founder pick themselves up. The old master is tired and pale, but
smiling.
Down on the training
ground, the new man-spirit army is stirring.
Each is larger than a man, but the basic dimensions are the same. The one that had been the senior student yet
resembles the man he had been. His
features are now more angular, more solid.
His skin is much darker. As he
steps forward to greet the founder, he speaks in a deep, rich bass tone.
The hunter points out
that it will be difficult to find armour to fit these new warriors. The senior student laughs at this, and his
body ripples. Hard, slate coloured
plates slip out from the skin to cover him in a suit of perfect armour.
The student comments
that they will have no more need of horses either. He demonstrates why not by merging instantly
with the ground and reappearing a hundred yards away in the blink of an eye.
The founder is
cheered by this, and speaks to the gathered earth warriors. The daemon lord will have been hurt by what
has happened, but time is still short.
Had the ritual not taken place at the school when it did, the daemon
army would have been freed. Time is of
the essence, and the fight must now be taken to the enemy before the daemon
lord has a chance to recover.
Much cheering and
slapping of backs. The earth spirit
seems cheered, but then points out that it is a good thing to go to one’s death
with a smile.
-----------
The daemon lord
staggers down from the crater. Around
him, the daemon men are getting back to whatever passes for normality. One of them looks a little fearfully at the
bloody jaw bone in their lord’s hand.
The daemon lord casts it aside.
There are only about
two dozen prisoners left. One daemon man
asks if he should chase down the others.
The daemon lord says not to bother.
Trouble is coming, he feels, and soon.
He and his troops must be ready.
He turns to the
cowering villagers, declaring that it is time for a little energy boost for
himself and his men. Dark tendrils
swiftly silence the terrified screams and moans of the villagers, and the
daemon lord passes the soul energy out to his fellow daemons.
-----------
All of the half-men,
half-spirits feel the death of the villagers.
Before the feeling passes, the hunter steps forward.
She tells the
assembled company that what they have felt is the death of a group of
souls. There will be no reincarnation
for those individuals; they are lost to eternity, swallowed by oblivion. Although everyone is tired from the joining
and from the loss of those souls, it is vital that the evil is thwarted
quickly, before any more souls are destroyed.
It is decided that
the hunter, founder, and the earth spirits who did not join should go on the
next day, and that the others should follow once they have rested.
-----------
That night, the
founder sits atop the wall of the school, looking out towards where the crater
sits, far beyond the limits of his sight.
Some way along the wall, the half-spirit that was the senior student
emerges from the stones of the wall. The
creature approaches, bowing to its master.
Together, they stand looking
at the stars. The student asks if the
founder ever regretted becoming what he is now.
The founder says that, yes, he did, but only because he thought he had
lost his reason for becoming a joined man-spirit. The founder turns the question back at the
student.
The student has no regrets,
though he finds this odd. Perhaps it was
his love of the earth’s bounty as a man that allowed him to accept what he now
is; an extension of the very living earth itself. The founder points out that that is what all
creatures are. The student agrees, but
says that he can now feel the ebb and flow of the earth itself. He can feel the world move and shape, wax and
wane, in cycles hitherto hidden from him.
He can feel the delicate balance of all things. He can feel the hole, the deep darkness of utter
loss that evil brings, and he can feel the overflowing bounty that good pours
into the world.
The student has no
regrets.
The hunter walks from
the buildings of the school and heads for the wall. The founder watches her, his eyes
bright. The student says that the
founder and hunter have done enough.
They should stay behind, let the earth spirits and demi-spirits deal
with the daemon lord.
“What you have is too
special to risk,” the student says.
“That is why we have
to go,” the founder says, though the student doesn’t understand. The founder explains.
“If we die in the days
to come, it won’t matter. We are
together again, she and I, whole again.
There is nothing that can take that away now. What we do now, the enemy we must face, we
face not only because we have to, but because we want to. It is who and what we are.
“We are defined by
what we do in life. I walked away from
everything once, or tried to. When I
came back, when I was brought back, all that I had sought to escape from was
still there. I will not walk away
again. The cost is too great.”
The student
understands. He leaves the founder and
the hunter together, melting into the stone and vanishing.
The hunter and
founder hold each other, warm in the closeness.
No regrets.
-----------
The daemon man who
has become the new lieutenant to the daemon lord nervously approaches his
master. The daemon man is uncomfortably
aware of the dark stain on the soil where his predecessor died.
The daemon lord stirs
from his meditation, an evil smile on his face.
The lieutenant asks how he can serve his lord.
“It is nearly
time. Those who seek to destroy us, to
prevent us from bringing the cleansing fire to this world, are nearly
here. They are fools. They bring with them the very tools I need to
bring about that which they seek to prevent.
“There are two who lead
the force; a man and a woman. They are
soul-joined in a way that has never been seen on this world. They carry much power. With their joined souls, I can crack the
seals that hold our people prisoner.”
“What of the
villagers we recaptured? What use now
are they?”
“Bring them to
me. I will have a use for them in the
coming battle.”
“All of them?” asks
the lieutenant. The daemon lord laughs.
“No. Not all.
Bring me a handful of the strongest.
The others you may keep. May they
give you strength.”
The lieutenant turns
to leave, but his master stops him.
“Remember, let the
man and the woman come to me. I will
tear the soul from any who goes against my wishes.”
-----------
A daemon man stands
at the edge of the ash field. His mouth
and chin are encrusted with drying blood.
The guard looks out over the patchy scrub that lies beyond the black ash
field. He can see no-one coming.
A cry behind him
draws his attention. He looks back to
where the last of the villagers to be recaptured is being toyed with. The unfortunate fellow is trying to run
away. Two daemon men descend on him,
tearing at the man’s back. Other daemon
men are feeding. It is a messy sight.
The guard, chuckling
to himself, turns back to his duty.
About 100 yards ahead, a man and woman sit on horseback, watching. Frozen for a moment, the guard turns to
shout, the noise dying in his throat as the ground before him seems to rise up,
taking shape, grabbing him by the throat.
On their horses, the
founder and the hunter hear bones crunching.
-----------
In the crater, the
daemon lord is snapped out of a meditation.
His lieutenant is startled. He
turns away from the five bound prisoners he has been guarding.
“It begins,” the
daemon lord says. “Go. See to it that my orders are obeyed.”
The lieutenant rushes
out of the crater.
-----------
The daemon man
lieutenant rushes down the slopes of the crater, shouting for his fellow
daemons to rally and attack the intruders.
He is puzzled that there seem to be only three attackers. The man and woman, the one’s his master
wants, have left the horses tied at the edge of the ash field. Accompanied by a huge, darkly armoured
figure, they are calmly walking towards the crater.
A dozen daemon men
charge the intruders, their supernatural speed bringing them close in a matter
of moments. Before they can reach the
advancing trio, the ground is ripped up.
The first spirit-men launch an attack.
In the hands of the
daemon men, flames dance and burn. The
spirit-men are unarmed, yet, when the battle is joined in a flurry of punches,
kicks and throws, the flames have less effect on the spirit-men than the
daemons had expected.
The daemon man
lieutenant shouts a command and more daemon-men pour down from the crater. The lieutenant smiles; he will capture the
man and woman and bring them before his master.
-----------
The hunter and the
founder watch the swiftly advancing force of daemons. The founder turns to the senior student. The founder nods once. The student vanishes into the ground.
The founder now draws
his sword. The hunter has a long
staff. Both weapons shimmer with a
silver light. Side by side, they stride
into the conflict.
-----------
The daemon lieutenant
laughs as he and the daemon men near the battle. The knot of battling spirit-men is being
turned to the daemon lieutenant’s right.
His force will envelop and destroy their opponents.
A movement to his
right and behind him draws the lieutenant’s attention. More spirit-men leap from the earth,
immediately forming a tight square formation and charging. At the centre of the leading edge, the
massive creature that had been with the man and woman.
The lieutenant
screams an order over the battle cries of his men. Many turn with him to face the new foe, but
others continue the initial charge.
-----------
Leading the charge of
those who are in part the former Imperial light cavalry, the student gives an
order just as battle joins.
-----------
From his vantage
point on the crater edge, the daemon lord watches as the back half of the
square breaks off, turning out to the left to envelop the daemon men. At the same time, the remaining earth spirits
appear, strengthening the fighters working with the founder and the hunter.
Now the daemon men
are effectively surrounded.
-----------
A couple of battle
interludes, including the death of the daemon lieutenant.
-----------
The daemon lord can
only smile as he watches the destruction of his men, saluting the force
below.
He turns and walks
back into the crater to where the prisoners cower. As he does so, he transforms fully into his
daemon form. He walks to one young man,
picking him up by the chains that bind the man’s hands.
“I need your help,
little man,” rumbles the daemon.
The daemon lord
raises a taloned finger. Thin black
tendrils form, snaking out to slither over the young prisoner, who whimpers and
cries out.
-----------
In the heat of the
fighting, the hunter and the founder feel the slow soul torture more keenly
than any around them. The hunter is
staggered by an assault from a daemon man, and her staff is broken. As the founder despatches the daemon man, the
hunter draws two long, glittering knives.
The founder and
hunter drop back. The founder calls out
for an escort, and the student pulls out of the fight, along with half a dozen
former cavalry men. They all begin a
charge up the slope.
-----------
Dark tendrils now
slip and slither around all of the prisoners.
The humans are unconscious. Four
daemon men step forward at their lord’s bidding. The daemon lord slashes his forearm with his
own claw. The daemon men walk forwards
and each drink of their lord.
Now, each of the four
snatches up a prisoner. The tendrils
begin to flow around the daemon men. The
daemon lord, hands clasped just so, chants words of power. The flesh on the daemon men and the prisoners
melts and merges.
-----------
On the battlefield,
the joinings all cry out, staggered by the merging. The earth spirits are quick to take
advantage.
-----------
The hunter and founder
are helped up by their friends. The
first earth spirit the founder had met is now with them. Something terrible has happened, and they all
feel it. The earth spirit says as much.
“No,” says the
hunter. “Something terrible has been
born.”
-----------
Dark energy cocoons
split open, shrivelling and vanishing as the ebony daemons step out. Their daemon lord points out of the crater.
“The man and woman
are mine. The rest you can have.”
The dark figures
stalk out.
-----------
The four dark daemons
attack as soon as they appear. The earth
spirit and some of the cavalry men are killed, the bodies riddled with dark
energy serpents. As the fight
progresses, the hunter and the founder work out that their dark opponents will
not fight them. With this advantage, the
fight is quickly over.
-----------
The daemon lord
greets the hunter and the founder as they walk into the crater. Their weapons are drawn. The daemon lord laughs, sending flames
blasting at them. The two dodge. As they recover, they are enveloped in
writhing dark energy.
The daemon lord
gloats. He has beaten his foe. With the soul energy from the hunter and the
founder, the daemon army will be set free.
From behind the
daemon, a voice speaks.
“They are not the
threat you face. I am.”
As he tries to turn,
the daemon is grappled from behind by the student. The two wrestle, the student holding on for
all he is worth.
-----------
Outside the crater,
with the daemon men destroyed, the spirit-men and earth spirits are free to do
what they came to do. They seem to
partially merge with the ground, slipping into a trance-like state. Bright energy streaks off them, through the
ground, and towards the crater. The
energy flows faster and faster. The
earth begins to rumble and shake.
-----------
In the crater, as the
ground splits and cracks, and smoke and fire vent from the volcano, the daemon
lord is struck time and again as the bright earth spirit energy arcs through
the student and crashes into the daemon lord.
The daemon lord screams, redoubling his efforts to throw off his
attacker.
The daemon’s
concentration broken, the hunter and founder are released, slumping to the
ground. They struggle upright, leaning
on each other for support.
The daemon lord
finally casts the student off. He turns,
ready to attack the spirit-man. The
founder and hunter attack him now, hurling their weapons into the daemon lord’s
back. He bellows in anger and pain,
turning now on the two unarmed people.
Charging at them, he fails to see the student vanish into the ground.
The student
reappears, crashing into a side tackle on the daemon lord, carrying them both
into the crater. The student is swiftly
swallowed up by the fiery ground. The
daemon lord laughs; he was born in flames such as these.
Molten magma wells up
around his feet. The daemon lord begins
to wade through it towards the hunter and founder. Bright energy from outside the crater fuels
the re-emergence of the student, now formed of the very molten rock
itself. He quickly engulfs the daemon
lord, sucking him down.
-----------
The crater is now
shaking itself apart. The side walls are
starting to collapse inwards. The hunter
runs with the founder (who is in a worse state than she) out of the crater. It’s not finished yet.
As they run from the
crater, the sides, the ‘fingers’ close in, as though a huge hand was grasping
at the air. The two head for where they
can see the spirit-men standing.
The earth spirit-men
are standing around the broken seal.
They are merged both with the seal and with the ground. The seal is glowing again. Energy is flashing from the spirit-men into
the seal. As the hunter and founder watch,
the seal begins to reform, slowly, with the cracks fading. One of the spirit-men crumples, dissolving,
losing all coherency of form, until all that is left is a pile of dust.
A great howl goes up
from the crater. A shadow, shot through
with flashes of fire and lines of pulsing black, arcs into the sky, struggling
to escape. It is drawn down, as another
spirit-man gives up his life force, through the last gap in the seal. As the daemon lord passes back into his
prison, he screams with rage and hate.
Then, he is
gone.
-----------
The spirit-men
reform, returning to life. As they do,
another groans and dies, crumbling to nothing.
Those left alive after the fight and the final banishment of the daemon,
and there are only a few dozen, are enormously drained. They begin to vanish into the ground.
As they do, the
student reappears, sporting many terrible injuries from his struggle. He assures the founder that all is well. Earth spirits will now guard the daemon
lord’s prison, for now and for always.
In time, the survivors of this battle will return to the school. For now, they must rest.
With that, the student
asks for permission to leave his master.
The founder bows to his student, declaring him to be a master now in his
own right. He can even have his room
back. The former student bows, and
wishes his master a safe journey home.
Alone now, the hunter
and founder look around at the devastation they have wrought on the
landscape. As they look around, the
seals vanish into the ground, one by one.
The
horses are gone, and it’s a long walk home.
As the founder rests on a rock, the hunter again brings up the subject
of her taking on female students. The
founder agrees. He also believes that
there should be more joinings, if volunteers are available. Those who fought and died in this battle have
shown that such beings are needed. There
are many daemons in the world. This
surely is the beginning of their end.
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