LADYHAWKE EXT. A MEDIEVAL STREET - NIGHT The narrow street zigzags between tall houses that press in on either side, almost shutting out the sky. A heavy snow- fali is driven into flurries by the wind. These words appear ON the SCREEN: PARIS IN THE YEAR 1461, AN AGE WHEN MEN WERE MORE FEROCIOUS THAN WOLVES AND SUPERNATURAL FORCES STILL RULED THE WORLD. The form of a man materializes in the swirling snow. Lean- ing hard into the wind, he clutches a woolen cape about him. The snow is blinding. Trusting to oíd familiarity rather than sight, the man finds a door and pulís on the handle. INT. A TAVERN - NIGHT A pig is being roasted over an open fire. The flames leap and hiss as melting fat drips onto the hot coals. The inn- keeper, a stout fellow called ROBIN TURGIS, turns the spit. He shouts angrily as the door opens. ROBIN Shut the door, damn you! Isn't there enough winter in all the world without letting it in here too? The man leans on the door and pushes it shut. He loosens his cape and reveals his face for the first time: gaunt, unshaven, with piercing eyes, a long nose and a high, open forehead. In spite of his haunted look there is also some- thing almost boyish about him, giving him the look of an overgrown street urchin. The tavern itself is one large, cave-like room, illuminated by the open fire and by torches in holders along the walls. There are only a few customers, tough-looking men in ragged clothes and scarred, twísted faces. They are members of the Coquillards, whích is the Brotherhood of Thieves and Vagabonds. This tavern is one of their more notorious hangouts. These men cast a curious glance at the newcomer, then return to their wine and gambling. But Robin grins in recognition. ROBIN Phillipe Gaston, the Mouse! 2. CONTINUED: PHILLIPE GASTON, thief, pickpocket and escape artist, (called a Mouse in the jargon of the Coquillards) staggers to an empty table and slumps wearily on the bench. PHILLIPE Bring me some wine, will you, Robin? By God, I'm frozen. He flings off his cape. Beneath it he is thin and wiry as a monkey, wearing a torra doublet, ragged breeches and boots that reach to mid-thigh. A dagger hangs from his belt and a wet, battered cap clings to his head. Robin Turgis bríngs a flagon of wine, a chunk of bread and sits down opposite Phillipe. ROBIN Here, fill up. Are you sure you're not dead? They say that the Bishop of Meung had you strung up. PHILLIPE Shit! I'd slide right through any noose his hangman could tie. But I didn't wait for that. I escaped. ROBIN You escaped alive from the dungeons of Meung? PHILLIPE No sweat. Down a drain and into a rat Nole. The rats in that dungeon make boles that a British foot soldier could walk through while tipping his cap. A smile flits across his weary face, then he becomes serious again. PHILLIPE In truth, Robin, I passed through the pit of hell on my way out. Thank God that the devil was asleep. Robin laughs and claps Phillipe on the shoulder. ROBIN Well, you're a fine fellow. We've missed you. But Paris is dangerous for you. You're still a wanted man. Colin de Cayeaulx has been hanged, as has Regnier. And Marquet -- really the worst of the lot why he's become the Captain of the Guard! (MORE) 3 CONTINUED: ROBIN (CONT'D) Suddenly the most dreaded contract killer in Paris has become a man devoted to the King, the Church and the Country. PHILLIPE So Marquet's become a cop. ROBIN The toughest in all of Paris. PHILLIPE I doubt even the Watch will stir tonight. There's no one to be met on the streets but corpses... and the wolves that have crossed the frozen river to feed on them. ROBIN So, why'd you come back? 'PHILLIPE I escaped. But not my girl, my Isabeau. She's still there, given as a plaything to the Bishop's private army of thugs. I've come to find friends who'll go back with me and rescue her. ROBIN Are you sure she wants rescue? PHILLIPE Damn it, Robin! She's true to me in her heart! ROBIN In any case, Phillipe, you're talking about the most dreaded dungeon in all of France. The toughest bravo in the Brotherhood would not go with you there. Phillipe pauses, seems to gather his energy, then leaps to his feet. PHILLIPE Friendsl Members of the Brotherhood! I am Phillipe Gaston, whom they call the Mouse. The various characters look around. One of them, a man named GUILLAUME, grins. CONTINUED: GUILLAUME We've heard the narre. Are you the Phillipe Gastan reputed to be able to slip through a keyhole? PHILLIPE That's me, and I'm one of your own Brotherhood. I'm a wanted man in Paris, so I had to split to save my neck from feeling the weight of my ass. But I'm a sticky fingers by profession, you know. I ripped off a rich priest in Meung and got thrown into the Nole. GUILLAUME Well, he talks like one of us anyway. PHILLIPE So listen up! I didn't see the sense in waiting around for the Bishop to stretch my neck either. I'm a Mouse, and I went under the big wall. But my girl isn't as slick and slippery as I am. Now I need a few good men to help me rescue the finest, faírest girl a poor Mouse ever clung to. Who's game? There is a moment of uncomfortable silence in the tavern. Fi- nally Guillaume speaks up. GUILLAUME Friend, the members of the Brotherhood are sworn to help each other, but nobody took an oath to be out of his mind. The dungeon of Meung is the most feared in all of France. They say there's something in the pit of that dungeon that's fed human prey. And that's about all thev'll say about it. What you're looking for is a hero, and there ain't no heroes here. PHILLIPE None of you will come with me? GUILLAUME And do what? Break down the walls with our hard heads? No, pal, nobody'll come with you. And if you Cake my advice, you'll find yourself a new girl and end your days peacefully at the end of a friendly rape. 5. CONTINUED: Phillipe starts to answer, then pauses and looks each man individually in the eye. PHILLIPE Is there no man among you then? As he speaks there is a sudden blast of aír in the room. But Phillipe doesn't notice. PHILLIPE I say again, is there a man? A new voice answers him: VOICE What sort of man do you mean, Mouse? Phillipe turns and sees two men standing by the open door. Both wear the gray uniforms of the Watch, with swords and daggers hanging from their waists and heavy winter capes over their shoulders. One of them, a man with a gaunt, hawk-like face, is staríng straight at Phillipe. PHILLIPE (surprised and afraid) Marquet Tabarie. MARQUET TABARIE nods slightly. ROBIN Close the door. You'll freeze us all to death. MARQUET Good riddance. Marquet shifts his eyes from Phillipe and looks individually at each of the Coquillards. The ferocity of their eyes matches that of his own, and yet none of them move to clase the door. Finally Marquet closes it with a disdainful shove. MARQUET Some wine, Turgis. And dame quickly. Marquet strides up to Phillipe and wraps a thick arm around the smaller man's shoulders. Standing like that, he turns to the others in the room. MARQUET Here's an old friend of mine, a man that I have seen with my own eyes crawl through a hole no bigger than the one he crawled through the day he was born. CONTINUED: For a moment the tension eases. There is a ripple of laugh- ter in the room, but when the others see the icy stare of Marquet's eyes, they hush instantly. Marquet, a powerfully built man, seems unaffected by the cold from which he has just come. While his partner shiv- ers, Marquet is simply poised and ready. He looks into Phillipe's face and trades his icy stare for a shark-like smile. MARQUET How've you been, old pal? PHILLIPE Like shit, as you must have heard. MARQUET Well, I had heard that the Bishop gave you a long drink of water and your girl to his Regiment of the Guard. Too bad those fellows get bored so quickly. I hate to think of what happens to a woman they've grown tired of. You're the lucky one. You shall find a quicker exit from this life. With this Marquet flings Phillipe to the other GUARDSMAN, who seizes and holds him. PHILLIPE Marquet! We were friends once. Marquet lifts the mug of wine that Robín had served him, puts it to his lips and drains it. MARQUET When your sentence for that little escapade of stealíng the convent's silverware was commuted to banishment, you knew that coming back to Paris meant meeting the hangman. Well you're a bold fellow, but now you're caught. (to his partner) Take him and let's go. As the Guardsman starts dragging him toward the door, Phillipe suddenly twists and goes limp. The effect is almost as though he had turned to liquid. He slips easily from the big manis grasp and settles into a crouch. GUARDSMAN What? He's a greased pig, Chis one. He... 7 . CONTINUED: Phillipe comes up in a twisting motion, already holding his dagger. With a thrust as speedy as the flick of a frog's tongue, he slips his dagger between the Guardsman's ribs and out again. The man coughs twice and crumbles to the floor. Marquet watches this, unruffled. As the partner fans, Marquet draws his own sword. MARQUET Still slick as an eel, eh? No hanging now. They'll draw and quarter you for killing a cop. Do you want to await that pleasure, or shall I finish you off right now? Phillipe eyes Marquet, his expression showing a mixture of fear and cunning. He crouches, holding his dagger as the big man moves in. Marquet's sword hisses through the air. Phillipe ducks. Marquet swings again, lower this time, and Phillipe leaps over the blade. Marquet pursues him around the room, missing Phillipe each time but gradually beginning to carve up the furniture. Robín Turgis looks on in horror while the other men fall over themselves trying to get out of the way. It is clear that Marquet has his mirad set on slicing through Phillipe and that he hasn't much concern who else might suffer a serious separation. Finally Phillipe is cornered. Marquet grins and thrusts. Phillipe, his eyes wide with terror, sidesteps with unbe- lievable agility and thrusts his dagger finto Marquet's right eye. As Marquet grabs for his face, screaming in agony, Phillipe dashes for the door and out. EXT. THE STREET - NIGHT Phillipe finds himself on the street outside the tavern. His woolen cape, the only protection he had from the kill- ing temperaturas, has been left inside. He hears Marquet's voice from within: MARQUET (O.S.) Oh God, I'm blind! You've blinded me! You bastard, you son of a bitch, oh God, get you! Phillipe stands still a moment, undecided. 8. CONTINUED: The door to the tavern flies open and Marquet appears, his face smeared with blood which he wipes away, trying to see. MARQUET You're dead, Phillipe Gaston! You're a dead man! Phillipe turns and flees. EXT. AN INTERSECTION OF TWO NARROW STREETS Phillipe comes running into the intersection and stops a moment to get bis breath. The flying snow is blinding. The only SOUND he hears is the HOWLING of the WIND. He staggers a few steps, stumbles and falls. Getting up he sees the thing he stumbled over: a dead begger, frozen stiff. Phillipe runs again, blindly into the falling snow. EXT. PLACE DE GREVE Phillipe comes to an unpaved open square along the bank of the Seine called Place de Greve. He stands gasping, trying to catch his breath. He is exhausted but he has to keep moving to keep from freezing to death. He starts to stumble on when something catches his eye. There is a permanent gibbet erected in the Place de Greve, and hanging from it are three blackened bodies, swaying in the wind. A fourth has fallen to the ground below and is being eaten by two gaunt wolves. They are so intent on their dismal meal that they haven't noticed a warmer one -- Phillipe himself nearby. Phillipe is rigid with terror and unable to move. His knees, already shaking with cold and fear, are ready to give out. Suddenly a HOWL comes to his ears, a LONG, DRAWN OUT SOUND, quivering with anguish. The two wolves raise their heads, snarling and cringing. As a third wolf appears. This wolf is unlike anything Phillipe has ever seen. Enor- mous, glossy black, with yellow eyes, it ignores the other two wolves and concentrates all of its attention on Phillipe. The look on its face is neither threatening nor hostile but rather one of curiosity, as if it had a question to ask. Phillipe staggers back. His legs find strength at last and he runs for his Life. 9. EXT. THE CHURCH OF ST. JACQUES Phillipe comes running up to the Gothic church of St. Jacques-la-Boucherie. Approaching the church from the rear, he tríes the double doors. Unable to budge them, he pounds with his fists. PHILLIPE Help! Help! For God's sake, help me! But there is no response. Phillipe turns from the doors and starts around to the front of the church. EXT. THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF ST. JACQUES Phillipe staggers along the side of the church, peering into the darkness and expecting the wolf to materialize at any moment. He stops, peeks over his shoulder, and there it is, its at- tention riveted on Phillipe. Its eyes are almost human. There is something in them that won't let him look away. After a moment of this immobility, terror takes over and he (lees. EXT. CEMETERY OF THE INNOCENTS - DAWN The first light of dawn touches the sky. Phillipe runs into the Cemetery of the Innocents. The wind has let up, creating an eerie silence. The weathered grave- stones stand like phantoms in the gray light. Phillipe looks behind him again. There is no sign of the wolf. He stops and looks around, panting. He sees, on the far side of the cemetery, the vaulted galleries of the charnel house, and painted on the wall of the arcade -- the grotesque mural of the Danse Macabre. Phillipe continues warily on to the charnel house. EXT. THE CHARNEL HOUSE OF THE INNOCENTS - DAWN He finds himself under an arcade running the length of the vaulted galleries. For each arch of the arcade there is a corresponding wooden doorway leading to the vaulted rooms inside. These rooms are filled with the scattered bones of those who have been evicted from their tombs in order to make way for new arrívals. The arcade makes a right angled turn at one end and continues on. 10. CONTINUED: There, through one of the doorways, Phillipe perceives a light, a lamp lit in the house of the dead. Shivering almost uncontrollably, Phillipe makes his way along the arcade, trying not to look at the grotesque figures of the Danse Macabra painted along the wall. Coming to the L turn of the charnel house, he enters through an open doorway. INT. THE CHARNEL HOUSE GALLERY Phillipe finds himself in the lower room of the vaulted section of the charnel house. Instead of the scattered bones that should litter the floor, Phillipe sees that the place has been swept out neatly. A lamp flickers, affixed to the wall, and a stairway leads to the loft aboye. He starts up the stairs. INT. UPPER LOFT OF CHARNEL HOUSE Phillipe arrives in the upper loft. Here too, everything has been swept clean. He notices a narrow window slit in one wall and peers through to see a lighted room within. There is a brightly burning fireplace that Phillipe can feel in the marrow of his bones. Quickly and easily, like an earthworm sliding into the earth, Phillipe eases his body through the tiny opening and into the room beyond. INT. A MEDIEVAL APARTMENT Phillipe finds himself in a medieval apartment, barely fur- nished with a long wooden Cable and chairs. And of course the wonderful fireplace. He rushes to the fireplace in order to warm himself when a door at the far end of the apartment opens and a giant of a MAN walks in. Phillipe stands gaping. PHILLIPE (very nervously) Fair greetings, sir. The giant regards Phillipe with seeming indifference. He strides to the table, sits in a chair, and faintly nods to Phillipe. THE MAN Greetings to you. 11. CONTINUED: The Man is dressed in a black shirt, doublet and breeches. He has a huntsmanis cap on his head and a crest in red and black on his chest. The crest depicts the head of a wolf and the head of a hawk. For the first time Phillipe notices the enormous black hawk perched on The Man's shoulder. The bird regards him with Che same hostile indifference as The Man. PHILLIPE Forgive my intrusion. I was chased in here by... by a wolf. THE MAN Wolves are strange creatures. They're not always cruel, Phillipe Gaston. PHILLIPE (aghast) You know my name? THE MAN You are also callad Che Mouse. They say you can slip through a keyhole. PHILLIPE (puffing up) Ah well, people exaggerate you know. Although I admit I've slipped in and out of a few tíght spots in my time. THE MAN So they say. And yet, you leave your beloved friend, your Isabeau, to suffer outrage and abuse at the hands of that heap of cow dung who dares call himself a Bishop. PHILLIPE You know much about me, sir. THE MAN Much. PHILLIPE (full of self pity) I am only one man, sir, a poor man at that, an impoverished scholar, used and abused by the vicissitudes of life. Perhaps it is my gift to pass through keyholes, but my Isabeau cannot. Had I gone back alone I would have been caught in a Mouse trap and fed to the creature in the pit. 12. CONTINUED: At this The Man leans forward, his eyes conveying a barely suppressed eagerness. THE MAN What creature ís that? PHILLIPE It is a thing spoken of furtively, making men cross themselves. There is a cell at the bottom of the dungeon. Sometimes the Bishop leaves a man there, for God knows what transgression. They say no man ever comes out, and that nothing is ever found of them, save bits of hair and bone. THE MAN Do you believe such tales? PHILLIPE I, uh... yes, I do. THE MAN And how díd you come out of that dark place? Phillipe approaches the Cable. PHILLIPE Through the underground tunnelworks of the rats. God help me, I did pass through a strange cell. The door was thirty feet aboye my head, and no stairway down. A man would have to be lowered by a rope. There were rat tunnels in and out and a hale that led to something even deeper. 1 did not linger there to learn what might come forth. The Man ponders this a moment in silence. PHILLIPE And now, sir, having told my sad history, may I ask who you are? THE MAN am Etienne Navarra. I was a captain in the army of King Charles, God rest his soul. PHILLIPE A king is a king. Louis shall be king now. 13. CONTINUED: ETIENNE NAVARRE peers intently at Phillipe. NAVARRE But why should you care about a mere king? You have a quest, do you not? One that you are sworn to? PHILLIPE I do! To rescue my Isabeau! Navarre rises from the cable. His height and powerful aspect are awesome. NAVARRE It's morning. Spring is long overdue, so perhaps the weather will Base. I will get you a coat and we can begin our journey. PHILLIPE You would come with me? But why? NAVARRE You carne to Paris seeking somebody to help you. Now that you have found that help, would you refuse it? PHILLIPE No indeed. No indeed. I was merely posing the question... NAVARRE Listen, Mouse! Pose less questions. Rather give an answer. This woman, Isabeau -- do you love her? PHILLIPE Yes, by God. Truly, I swear... NAVARRE And would you risk your life to save her? PHILLIPE Without a moment's hesitation, without a thought, without... NAVARRE And would you risk your soul? PHILLIPE My soul? (pause) Would I risk my soul? Navarre remains silent, waiting for the answer. 14. CONTINUED: PHILLIPE Well, I suppose if I had to, I would. If it were really necessary. NAVARRE Then I will help you rescue your lady love. And you, in return, must help me. PHILLIPE What must I do? Navarre holds out a gloved hand. The hawk hops from his shoulder to his hand and for a moment the man and the bird exchange a glance that is almost tender. NAVARRE You must risk your soul. Are you willing? PHILLIPE But you haven't said how. Navarre looks down at Phillipe and asks again, in a roaring voice: NAVARRE Are you willing? Phillipe starts, looks into the eyes of the man, and then into the eyes of the bird. For a moment his lip quivers, then he slams his hand down on the table. Yes, by God!PHILLIPE EXT. A CITY GATE - DAY The snow has let up. The air is still and icy. The sky is overcast. Two GATEKEEPERS turn the winch that lowers the drawbridge. Navarre waits, sitting on a huge black horse that stands stock still. He is wrapped in his cape, lost in thought. The hawk sits perched on his shoulder. Phillipe, now dressed in a warm sheepskin coat, watches the Gatekeepers and notices how they keep casting nervous glances at Navarre. They lower the drawbridge quickly, as if eager for Phillipe and Navarre to be on their way. Finally the drawbridge is down. Navarre tosses a gold coin to one of the Gatekeepers and spurs his horse. The animal lunges into a lope, its HOOFBEATS HOLLOW on the wooden drawbridge. 15. CONTINUED: Phillipe grabs the pommel of his saddle and hangs on for dear life as his horse tabes off after Navarre's. The Gatekeeper holding the coin watches them go. He ex- changes a glande with the other Gatekeeper, then spits on the coin and flings it as hard as he can after Phillipe and Navarre. Both men cross themselves and begin hauling up the bridge. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY The countryside is bleak and foreboding. The fields are cov- ered with snow. Here and there small clusters of bare Crees rise libe lace against the sky. The occasional farmhouses are walled in and look libe minia- ture fortresses. Heavy icicles hang from the eaves and thin wisps of smoke rise from the chimneys. Navarre rides in silence, huddled into his cloak. His hawk, its feathers fluffed out for warmth, rides on his shoulder. Phillipe looks nervously about. PHILLIPE It's been a hard year everywhere. The early winter ruined the harvest and people have nothing to eat. They've all turned to robbing travelers. I felt safe when I was only a poor burglar in a ragged doublet. But now, with warm clothing... well, I wouldn't put a high price on our lives, that's for sure. Navarre looks at Phillipe. Only his amber eyes are VISIBLE between his cap and the top of his cloak. NAVARRE Courage, poor fellow. PHILLIPE Courage? Ha! A mouse doesn't survive by courage, sir, but by staying out of reach of the cat. INT. A TAVERN IN PARIS - DAY Marquet Tabarie, now out of uniform, sits at a wooden table. Two men (JEHAN and FORNAC) approach and sit down with him. Both men have hard, merciless faces and look libe highway robbers, although they wear hunter's livery. 16. CONTINUED: JEHAN We're ready to go, Marquet. MARQUET Good. We'll start now. JEHAN But what makes you think he's left Paris. Marquet looks up at the man. One eye is covered with a black patch. The other burns with animal ferocity. MARQUET He's going to Meung. He'll arrive there sooner or later, and that's where find him. EXT. CITY STREET - PARIS Marquet and his two henchmen ride through the streets of Paris. The snow has stopped falling but the streets are silent and deserted. EXT. CITY GATE DAY The three men ride up to the city gata. Marquet turns to one of the Gatekeepers. MARQUET Díd you see a fellow pass through here, small and ugly, thin as an ape and dressed in tatters? 1ST GATEKEEPER Many. MARQUET This was a gaunt little scum, greasy as a pig. 1ST GATEKEEPER You all look alike to me. The 2nd Gatekeeper seas the look in Marquet's single eye. 2ND GATEKEEPER Ah... don't mind my pal. He's the nervous type. Lots of people go through this gate. The only kind that stay in the mind are the strange ones. (he glances at his partner) Like that black rider. 17. CONTINUED: MARQUET What black rider? 2ND GATEKEEPER The devil probably, posing as mortal flesh to do his evil works. All in black he was, with yellow eyes and a falcon on his shoulder. Hmmm... come to think of it, there was a little squirt with him, sort of like the one you describe. MARQUET Did they say anything? 2ND GATEKEEPER Silent as death. The drawbridge is down. Marquet tosses them a gold coin and gallops across. 2ND GATEKEEPER Good journey, sir. Jehan and Fornac wait. They turn their brutal faces toward the Gatekeeper, who fidgets nervously a mornent before toss- ing the gold coin to Jehan. Without a word they cross the bridge and gallop after Marquet . EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - AFTERNOON Phillipe and Navarre ride side by side. Navarre looks at the sky. NAVARRE It's time to find a lodging for the night. Do you know of an inn nearby? PHILLIPE There are no inns, sir. A hospitable faLmhouse ís the best we can hope for. But there ís still good light left. We can go further. Navarre looks ahead to a stone farmhouse in the asear dis- tance. He points. NAVARRE There's a farmhouse. We'll try that one. PHILLIPE But there's plenty of light left. 18. CONTINUED: Navarre ignores him and rides toward the farmhouse. Phillipe follows with a shrug. EXT. THE FARMHOUSE - AFTERNOON The house itself is the largest of several structures, all of the same gray stone. The other buildings are for storage, equipment, laborers, etc. An air of dismal poverty and neglect hangs over everything. EXT. THE STABLEYARD - AFTERNOON The stableyard is bordered by stone walls and forms a kind of interior court. The snow has been carelessly pushed to the sides so that a few scrawny chickens can peck around in the mud. There are no horses or livestock of any kind. EXT. THE FARNHOUSE The only sign of life is smoke from the chimney. Phillipe and Navarre can be SEEN riding up. PHILLIPE Lovely place. NAVARRE It looks abandoned. PHILLIPE Perhaps the people have all been murdered. There's no pity for anyone these days. They pulí up their horses. Phillipe dismounts and starts poking about. EXT. STABLEYARD Phillipe peeks into the stableyard. He glances up and sees the smoke coming from the chimney. EXT. FARMHOUSE Phillipe walks back to Navarre, who is still on his horse. 19. CONTINUED: PHILLIPE Somebody's here. There's smoke from the chimney. (he calls out) Helio! Anybody here? After a moment's silence, he calls again. PHILLIPE Helio! Helio! Anybody here? Suddenly a face appears in one of the Windows. And what a face. A huge overhanging brow, a jaw like a shovel, a bulbous nose and eyes the size and color of raisins . PHILLIPE (in a whisper) By the Virgin! The frightful spectacle of this face is further enhanced when it is split by an enormous, gap-toothed grin. THE FACE Pitou! Pitou! Visitors, Pitou! The face vanishes from the window, but the voice can be heard in the house: THE FACE (O.S.) Visitors, Pitou! Visitors! Phillipe backs right into Navarre's horse. PHILLIPE Did you see that? A moment after a man comes from the door into the stableyard. He is also deformed, in the way of the first person we have seen, lis twisted body is reminiscent of a gnarled oak. His tiny eyes gleam evilly in his malformed face. The first person emerges also. It can now be SEEN that this is a FEMALE, wearing a coarse dress and a whipple over her head. THE WOMAN There they are, Pitou! There they are. The man called PITOU stands glaring at Phillipe and Navarre, but does not speak. NAVARRE We are travelers. We need lodging for the night. 20. CONTINUED: Pitou stands silently for a long moment. Then he begins to snigger. PITOU Travelers? (snort, snort) Travelers, eh? NAVARRE Yes, travelers. We need lodgings, and we'll pay well. The word "pay" causes Pitou to go into fits of choked laugh- ter. He shows his teeth, long, yellow and crooked. The Woman notices the hawk on Navarre's shoulder. THE WOMAN A bird, a wild bird, a fine bird for the pot. Her gaze moves from the hawk to Navarre's amber eyes She goes instantly silent. PITOU You'il pay us? To sleep in dung and eat trusts of stale bread? NAVARRE We'll sleep where we must, but we'll eat fresh hare. Navarre takes his hawk on his hand, tosses the bird skyward. Climbing the air with its powerful wings, the bird ascends until it is a dark speck in the sky. Navarre follows it with his eyes. NAVARRE Hare will be good tonight. INT. FARMHOUSE KITCHEN - EVENING The interior of the farmhouse is as grim as the exterior. A few utensils hang from the walls and a fire burras in a stone fireplace. The anly furnishings are a long table and two benches. Navarre sits near one end of the table, eating roasted hare. The bones, innards of several bares have been piled on the table raw and are being feasted on by the hawk. Navarre speaks to the bird. 21. CONTINUED: NAVARRE You did well, Lady. Phillipe gobbles down his portion while Pitou and his síster stuff wads of half cooked meat into their mouths, swallowing almost without chewing. Finally Navarre gets to his feet. NAVARRE Now it's time for sleep. We'll bed down in one of the smaller buildings. THE WOMAN But we have a fine room for the fine gentlemen. NAVARRE That won't be necessary. Come outside, Mouse. Phillipe follows Navarre out the door. EXT. THE FARMHOUSE - EVENING Navarre pauses, then speaks to Phillipe in a loca tope. NAVARRE Sleep with one eye open, Phillipe. PHILLIPE At least one, by the looks of this place, NAVARRE And whatever you do, don't come around disturbing my sleep. I may cut off your head before I'm awake enough to know who you are. Got that? Phillipe nods. NAVARRE Good night then. He turns abruptly and walks off toward one of the stone huts. EXT. THE COUNTRYSIDE A faint sun sets. 22. INT. THE STABLEYARD Phillipe walks into the stableyard. Patting his dagger for reassurance, he goes into the stable. INT. THE STABLE The horses whinny as Phillipe comes in. He Dets them a mo- ment, then begins looking about for a pile of straw to sleep on. PHILLIPE Ah, poor Mouse. Better horses for company than no one. Join the ticks and fleas. He finds a meager pile of straw and settles down. PHILLIPE Ahhhhhh„. poor Mouse. And he's snoring. EXT. THE SKY The sky has begun to clear. An icy full moon shines down. EXT. THE STABLEYARD The stableyard is empty, bathed in moonlight. Nothíng moves. There is only a faint SOUND, as of FEET SHUFFLING along the ground. INT. THE STABLE The moonlight penetrates into the stable, spreading a faint, silvery light. Phillipe lies snoring, dead to the world. There is a SOUND of SOMETHING MOVING in the barn, a BRUSHING OF CLOTH AGAINST STRAW. A shadowy form appears aboye the prone form of Phillipe. It is Pitou. His sister can be SEEN through the stable door, in the yard. Pitou holds a scythe. The edge of the curved blade gleams as Pitou raises it aboye Phillipe's neck. Then something stops him short. A LOW, ANGRY GROWL comes from behind Pitou. He turns to see a black wolf emerge from the shadows. Its lips are drawn back in a snarl. Its yellow eyes glitter. 23. CONTINUED: Pitou screams and strikes out with the scythe as the wolf leaps. Hís scream is cut short as the wolf's jaws fasten on his throat. The scream awakens Phillipe, who leaps to his feet amid the flailing bundle of man and beast. He hops about, shouting. PHILLIPE Help! Murder! We're being attacked by wolves! The Woman in the barnyard screeches and flees. Pitou manages to break free and sprints across the stableyard with the wolf at his heels. PHILLIPE (still shouting) Help! Captain Navarre! Wolves! Helpl And suddenly, seemíngly out of nowhere, Phillipe hears the soothing voice of a woman: WOMAN Why are you screaming, Phillipe Gastan? You're in no danger now. Phillipe finds himself looking at the most wondrous woman he has ever beheld. Her eyes touched with an ineffable sadness, her face pale and finely moulded, the woman wears a black uniform identical to that of Navarre, with the same crest of the wolf and hawk. Her hair is cut as short as a soldier's, and there is a rapier hanging from a belt around her waist. This is LADYHAWKE. Phillipe is utterly staggered. For a moment he stands trans- fixed, then sinks to his knees. PHILLIPE Are you an angel, lady? Or are you as you seem, the ghost of Lady Joan of Lorraine? LADYHAWKE No, Phillipe, I am not Joan. But I was her counterpart, unwillingly her enemy. Phillipe blinks in disbelief.. PHILLIPE Ah, I'm dreaming. I must be dreaming. But just in case I'm not dreaming, I must go warn the captain that we've been attacked by wolves. 24. CONTINUED: LADYHAWKE No, Phillipe. You're quite right. You are dreaming. Rest now, and let your dreams be calmer ones. She reaches out and touches Phillipe's face. PHILLIPE But tell me, if I dream of you again, what shall I call you in my dreams? She smiles sadly and moves back a step. LADYHAWKE Cali me Ladyhawke. She steps back again and vanishes into the shadows PHILLIPE It's a strange night when one cannot tell his dreams from his waking. He settles back clown onto the straw, musing to himself. PHILLIPE Ladyhawke... EXT. STABLEYARD - DAWN Navarre comes striding through the stableyard, bellowing. NAVARRE Come on, Mouse! Wake up and get moving! Time won't wait for a lazy lump to clear the cobwebs out of his head. INT. STABLE Phillipe yawns and gets to his feet. PHILLIPE Is it time for breakfast? NAVARRE Breakfast? You sound more like a lion than a mouse. Breakfast is stale bread which we'il eat in the saddle. Navarre heads for the back of the stable. NAVARRE Now help me with the horses. 25 . CONTINUED: Phillipe follows him. PHILLIPE I dreamed we were attacked by wolves. NAVARRE You have an inordinate fear of them. PHILLIPE (after a pause) I also dreamed of a lady, dressed in soldier's livery, who spoke to me. Navarre has grasped his saddle and is ready to throw it onto the back of his horse. He pauses, his back toward Phillipe. NAVARRE Mice, they say, have strange dreams. The hawk on Navarre's shoulder turns its head. Phillipe sees that the glittering stare of the bird is fixed intently on him. EXT. THE FARMHOUSE Phillipe and Navarre, saddled and ready, ride past the farm- house. PHILLIPE Where are those people Chis morning? NAVARRE Don't bother about them. PHILLIPE Have they been paid? Navarre smiles grímly. NAVARRE Have they been paid? A strange question couáng from a thief. Yes, I've paid them well. Exactly as they deserve. He spurs his horse and gallops off. Phillipe, who has begun to gain some confidence in the saddle, follows, looking back over his shoulder. EXT. A HILL OVERLOOKING A RIVER - DAY Phillipe and Navarre ride up a slope overlooking the Loire River. . 26. CONTINUED: The sun is shining and there is definitely a thaw in the air. The horses trot briskly up the slope. Navarre rides with the rock solid seat of a horse soldier, while Phillipe -- his natural nimbleness his best teacher -- has begun to enjoy life in the saddle. He kicks his horse and catches up to Navarre. PHILLIPE Captain, I've been thinking. What's our plan? All due respect to you, sir, ve can't storm the castle alone, just the two of us. Navarre pulls up his horse and paints clown at a village nestled in a curve of the river. NAVARRE What village is that? PHILLIPE I believe that's St. Benoist, sir. NAVARRE Then the way to Meung lies along the river, through Orleans? Yes, sir.PHILLIPE Navarre turns his horse in the opposite direction and spurs it up the slope. Phillipe shouts after him. PHILLIPE You're going the wrong way, Captain. There's nothing that way but wilderness. NAVARRE As you say, Mouse, we cannot storm the castle alone. We need help. Let's look for it in the forest. Phillipe shrugs and follows. EXT. FARMHOUSE - AFTERNOON It is the same farmhouse where Phillipe and Navarre spent the night. Nothing moves. The only SOUND is a CROAK-LIKE SOBBING. 27. CONTINUED: Three horsemen appear in the near distance. They approach at a quick trot and are soon recognizable as Marquet and his two henchmen, Jehan and Fornac. Fornac has a crossbow slung across his back and several hares tied to his saddle. They ride up to the buildings and pulí up. The SOBBING CONTINÚES. MARQUET What's that noise? JEHAN (grinning) Sounds like a frog screwing a swan. Marquet doesn't smile. He draws his sword and cides around the farmhouse. EXT. BEHIND THE FARMHOUSE Behind the farmhouse, among the trees, Marquet sees a form crouched over something in the show. He approaches, ridíng slowly until he sees that it is a Woman with a dirty whipple over her head. He gasps when she turns her deformed, tearstained face in his direction. The thing she is crouched over is the ripped mass of what used to be Pitou. THE WOMAN A wolf... a wolf as big as a horse .., ate him... chewed him up... Marquet looks on with his one hand eye. INT. THE FARMHOUSE Jehan and Fornac ransack the place. They grab a pewter mug which they thrust into a sack. FORNAC Nothing worth a JEHAN Let's get going. EXT. BEHIND THE FARMHOUSE Jehan and Fornac come to join Marquet, leading their horses. The Woman is still sobbing over the body of Pitou. 28. CONTINUED: MARQUET Let's go. He turns his horse and starts off. Jehan mounts and starts after him. But Fornac stands a moment, listening to the CROAKING SOBS of The Woman. He notches an arrow in his crossbow, aims it, and lets fly. The SOBBING CEASES. Fornac mounts his horse and gallops after his companions. EXT. A RUINED ROMANESQUE CONVENT - AFTERNOON Phillipe and Navarre approach the ruíns. The remains of a church are VISIBLE, a granary, a chapel and some outlying struccures whích are reduced to hardly more than piles of stone. Navarre pulís up and dismounts. NAVARRE This was the Cloister of St. Catherine. The Maid of Lorraine carne here, to better hear the voices of her saints. It was the Burgundians who destroyed it. He looks about a moment. NAVARRE Do you have your flint? PHILLIPE Yes. But there's still daylight left, Captain. NAVARRE Build a fire in the ruins of the chapel. It's better than sleeping in the open. I'm going to look around. PHILLIPE Look for what, Captain? NAVARRE Stable the horses in the church. They'll have to go hungry tonight. And don't worry if I don't return until morning. I see very well in the dark. 29. CONTINUED: He hands Phillipe his reins and walks away. PHILLIPE But, Captain, where are you going? There are wolves in the forest. Navarre pauses. NAVARRE I told you, wolves are not always cruel. It was a wolf that saved you when a man was about to cut your head off. Remember your dream, Phillipe. He strides off, leaving Phillipe puzzled. EXT. THE HILLSIDE ABOVE ST. BENOIST - AFTERNOON The snow is unbroken, except for tracks left by the horses of Navarre and Phillipe. Three riders approach: Marquet, Jehan and Fornac. The con- dition of their horses indicares they've been riding hard. They pulí up, looking clown at the tracks in the snow. FORNAC They've changed their route here and headed into the forest. JEHAN (to Marquet) I thought you said he was bound for Meung. MARQUET He is. FORNAC But the road to Meung lies yonder, and the snow that way is untracked. MARQUET (deciding) We'll follow the tracks. He spurs his horse and heads in the direction earlier taken by Phillipe and Navarre. Jehan calls after him. JEHAN Tabarie! It's late. (MORE) 30. CONTINUED: JEHAN (CONT'D) We can spend the night in the village and start off again tomorrow. Marquet rides on without looking back at them. They ex- change glances, shrugs, and ride after him. INT. THE RUINED CHAPEL - NIGHT Little remains of the chapel but four stone walls and parí of a roof. The floor is carpeted with dead leaves and dirt. Phillipe has built a smail fire in one correr. He sits hugging himself, musing: PHILLIPE Great shape you're in, Phillipe Gaston, cold, alone, without food, and only a madman to rely on. On top of that your Isabeau, your beloved Isabeau, is still in the clutches of the beast who calls himself a Bishop. Sad state all right. Phillipe lies down and tríes to snuggle down into his bed of decayed leaves, for whatever comfort that can afford him. He sighs deeply and falls asleep. EXT. THE COURT OF MIRACLES - NIGHT Phillipe is dreaming. He finds himself in the Court of Miracles, that parí of central Paris so well described by Victor Hugo, where crip- ples walked, the blind regained their sight and the deaf sang obscene songs. This is the inner stronghold of the Coquillards, a place where even the cops won't set foot. A "wedding" is underway. Phillipe is being "married" to a skinny little girl with the face of a curious imp (ISABEAU). A huge BEARDED MAN holds a jug aboye his head and dashes it to the ground with a flourish. Everybody rushes forward to count the pieces. BEARDED MAN An even dozen. That's a long time to be married, Mouse. Are you sure you both want to go through with Chis? 31. CONTINUED: PHILLIPE Of course. Get on with it, Your Highness. BEARDED MAN Very well then! As King of the Thieves and Vagabonds of Paris, I pronounce you married for twelve years. May Satan give you both an easy hanging. This pronouncement is accompanied by a wíld shout from the crowd. Instruments appear: a recorder, a flute, a rebec and a vial. Playing and dancing begin. Phillipe and Isabeau whirl round and round. INT. AN UPSTAIRS ROOM - NIGHT While the NOISE and festivities continue below, Phillipe and Isabeau lie intertwined under a thick sheepskin blanket. ISABEAU But you must rescue me again. PHILLIPE A million times if necessary. ISABEAU I am not ugly, am I? PHILLIPE You are beautiful. ISABEAU For you I am the flower of the fields, the wild rose and the marguerite. She rises suddenly and stands naked, her body glowing silver in the moonlight that streams through the window. She begins to dance. ISABEAU I am the wild bird for you. I am the blackbird and I have wings. I am the starling and the sparrow. I am the falcon and I fly. Phillipe watches her dance, entranced. Then suddenly a change comes over her. Her arms, moving in the dance, become wings. They make a WHOOSHING SOUND in the air. 32. CONTINUED: A moment more and she flies out the window. Phillipe dashes to the window and peers out. He sees the outline of a huge bird against the moon, and people below him standing around a bonfire. They gaze up at him grinning. Their faces remind him of the faces of hungry wolves. INT. THE RUINED CHAPEL - DAWN The fire is a bed of white coals. Phillipe lies asleep, twitching. A large shadow falls over him. It is Navarre, holding a freshly killed rabbit. NAVARRE Mouse! Phillipe awakens. PHILLIPE Eh? And sees the rabbit. PHILLIPE Food. NAVARRE Yes. Get the fire going. Phillipe scrambles up and gets the fire going again. PHILLIPE Where were you all night long, Captain? NAVARRE Looking. But the man I hoped to find isn't here. Phillipe begins skinning the rabbit. PHILLIPE What man is that, Captain? NAVARRE A man who has the power to help us, if only we could persuade him. PHILLIPE You're a very persuasive man, in your way. 33. CONTINUED: NAVARRE This man I was hoping to find here ... he is no ordinary man. He is a magician, a great magician, reputed to be the seventh son of the great Merlín himself. Phillipe has deftly skinned and cleaned the rabbit. Now he finds a green twig, skewers the rabbit, and dangles it over the fire. PHILLIPE Captain, I'm a simple man, myself. My life has always been hard but simple. I eat or I don't eat. I steal of few sous or I get caught and beat up. It's always the same with me. But you, sir, are not a man who freely speaks his thoughts. I know my quest, but I don't know yours. He glances at the rabbit he is roasting. PHILLIPE Not much of this little fellow for the two of us. NAVARRE It's for you. I've had my fill. Phillipe glances at Navarre, obviously concerned about the implication of that last statement. Navarre seems lost in thought. EXT. NEAR THE CHAPEL Navarre sits on an outcropping of stone, looking across a canyon to the next hill. The glare of the sun on the snow is abated somewhat by the thickness of the forest. Navarre's hawk moves restlessly on his shoulder. All is silent and very still. Phillipe appears, wiping his hands on his breeches. PHILLIPE Captain, the day is fleeing. Since you like to camp so early, we'd better get going if we intend to cover any distance today. Navarre gets reluctantly to his feet. He Cakes his hawk onto his hand and speaks to it. 34. CONTINUED: NAVARRE He's not here. We'll have to trust to fate, or to luck, or to whatever there is left. EXT. BESIDE THE CHAPEL Phillipe waits with the horses. Navarre mounts without a word. Phillipe too mounts and they ride off together. EXT. THE FOREST - DAY A MONK walks among the Crees. He is a tiny fellow, with a fluffy fringe of white hair, a long white beard and a round, rosy face. He carries a burlap sack and bends from time to time, plucking something from the snow and puttíng it in. He rings softly under his breath. MONK Where is the clever Heloise, For whose sake Pierre Abelard Became a monk at St. Denis And lost his balls? That was hard To suffer just for love. And where now is Jeanne the Queen, Who tied Buridan in a sack And dumped him in the Seine? Oh, I mean Where are the shows of Yesteryear? Suddenly he grows silent. A SOUND has caught his attention, the CRUNCH OF HOOVES IN THE SNOW. He peers through the Crees and sees three horsemen. He watches until they disappear behind a stone wall in the distance. EXT. THE RUINED CLOISTER The three riders, Marquet, Jehan and Fornac, pull up their horses. Fornac dismounts, inspects the ground and walks to the chapel. A moment laten he reappears. FORNAC They encamped here. We're right on their tails. Marquet nods. Fornac remounts and they ride on. 35. CONTINUED: For a moment all is stíll. Then the little Monk emerges from the woods and watches them ride away. EXT. THE FOREST - LATE AFTERNOON Phillipe and Navarre ride through the woods. The bare trees stand like gigantic quills, gray and black against the snow. Navarre is once again wrapped up in his cape. He seems un- communicative, lost in thought. PHILLIPE It was good to swallow down a líttle mear this morning. He looks at the hawk on Navarre's shoulder. PHILLIPE I expect we have this lady to thank. (to the hawk) Thank you, Lady, for the breakfast, and prithee that I may have as much for supper. Navarre looks back but the hawk is already rising into the air. Navarre watches the bird shrink to a speck in the sky. He turns angrily to Phillipe. NAVARRE How dare you command her? PHILLIPE I didn't. I merely... Navarre ignores his stammering response and calls to the bird: NAVARRE Ladyhawke! Ladyhawke! But the hawk is too high to hear him. They both see her far aboye them, circling for prey. EXT. ANOTHER PART OF THE FOREST - LATE AFTERNOON Marquet rides through the forest, intent upon the tracks ahead of him. Jehan and Fornac ride a short distance behind. Fornac glances up and sees the hawk circling high aboye. He pulís up his horse and notches an arrow. 36. CONTINUED: JEHAN You can't bring her down at that distance. Fornac only seniles. INTERCUT Navarre watches the bird circle. Fornac and Jehan see that Marquet has ridden ahead. Fornac raises the crossbow. The arrow fijes. Navarre sees the arrow strike the hawk, sees the hawk flut- ter to the ground. He lets out an incoherent cry and digs the spurs into his horse. The horse leaps into a full gallop. Phillipe rides after him. Fornac and Jehan grin. FORNAC Aha! They kick their horses into a trot and ride through the forest. Finally they spot the hawk lying on the ground, fluttering weakly. Suddenly, like a spectre materializing out of thin air, the immense form of Navarre bears down on them. His eyes blaz- ing, his sword held high, uttering a hoarse cry, he charges the two men. Jehan, who is closest to Navarre, has no time to react. His jaw drops open in surprise, there is a WHOOSH of Navarre's blade through the air, and the body of Jehan falls dead on the ground. Navarre spins his horse at fuli gallop and goes after Fornac. A short distance away, Marquet watches the actíon. Fornac, riding hard to get away from Navarre, notches an ar- row in his crossbow, turras in the saddle and lets it fly. There is a SOFT THUD as the arrow sinks in the neck of Navarre's horse and a crash as animal and rider hit the ground. 37. CONTINUED: Navarre rolls with the fall, comes up on his feet, pulls his sword and charges Fornac. Fornac, seeing Navarre on foot, fumbles for another arrow, notches it, takes aim, and... Navarre is on top of him, swinging his sword at the horse's legs. The animal screams and fans. Fornac's arrow goes over Navarre's shoulder. Fornac hits the ground. He looks up and screams. A distance away Phillipe looks in horror at the body of Jehan. He hears the SCREAMING of FORNAC and the SCREAMING of Fornac's wounded HORSE. Then he hears nothing but a sudden, total silence. A short distance away Marquet watches Navarre walk away from the body of Fornac. Marquet turns his horse and rides into the woods. Navarre approaches his fallen horse. He looks at it for a moment, a stricken look on his face, then raises his sword to put the beast ouf of its misery. Phillipe waits beside the wounded hawk. Navarre approaches and picks the bird tenderly up from the ground. PHILLIPE What kind of a man are you? To kill two men? They were probably hunters. They didn't know... NAVARRE I would destroy the devil himself if he harmed her! And I shall, I shall. Phillipe sees that Navarre's face is suffused with grief and rage. The muscles of Navarre's neck stand out like cords as he looks up at the sky. NAVARRE Darkness is coming on us again. Curse and damn the dark! Curse and damn you all! How long must I endure this way? Phillipe, his eyes wide with fear, is ready to run for his life when Navarre unexpectedly thrusts the wounded bird toward him. 38. CONTINUED: NAVARRE Take her back to the ruins. Tend her there and wait for me. PHILLIPE You're a maduran, and I'm taking no more orders from you! But something in Navarre's eyes holds him. NAVARRE Listen to me, Phillipe Gaston. You will pay too dearly if you don't obey me now. never rest until I've torra you to shreds and lined my guts with you! You are the Mouse, Phillipe Gastan, but I am the wolf! With that he once again thrusts the wounded bird into Phil- lipe's hands, leaps onto the back of Jehan's horse and gallops away. EXT. THE RUINED CLOISTER - DUSK Phillipe approaches the ruined chapel. He rides slowly, holding the wounded bird, Fornac's arrow still protruding from its side. He pulís up his horse, dismounts and gingerly carries the bird into the chapel. INT. THE RUINED CHAPEL It's quite dark in here. Phillipe lays the bird down care- fully on some leaves, then begins to build the fine again. PHILLIPE I am sorry for you, poor bird, but I am more sorry for poor Phillipe Gaston. I've been in bad company before, God knows, but never with one like this Captain. EXT. SUNDOWN The last faint rays of the setting sun fade away from the horizon. INT. THE RUINED CHAPEL Phillipe has gotten the fire going and glances behind him. He almost falls into the fire from sheer surprise. 39. CONTINUED: In the place where he left the bird there is now a woman lying on her síde with Fornac's arrow protruding from her body. It is the same woman who carne to him in the barn at the fa inhouse, who called herself Ladyhawke. PHILLIPE (after a long moment of gaping silence) Lady... it's you. How do you come to be here? She turns her face slowly. Phillipe can just distinguish her features by the firelight: the smooth, sculptured face, the deep, glassy, tortured eyes. LADYHAWKE Help me, Phillipe, or I'll die. Phillipe is not so shocked by the strangeness of the situa- tion as he is moved by the beauty of the woman. PHILLIPE How can I help you, Lady? LADYHAWKE Before you can remove the arrow, Phillipe, you must make a poultice of the Deadly Angel. You will find her under the snow. PHILLIPE What is the Deadly Angel? LADYHAWKE Gaze over the open places. Look at the snow and let her reveal herself to you. PHILLIPE But, Lady, it is night. Truly, I don't follow you. But he notices that she has lapsed into unconsciousness. He leans over her, his broca knit with worry. Then, as an act of desperation, he rises and goes out to look for the Deadly Angel. EXT. THE RUINED CHAPEL - NIGHT The snowy forest glows under the light of a full moon. Phillipe looks around and hugs himself. 40. CONTINUED: PHILLIPE You've got mad too, Phillipe Gaston. But then what master. You've joined a majority. He walks and peers about, trying to see something that would reveal the Lady's meaning and help him find the Deadly Angel. He recalls her words out loud: PHILLIPE Look at the snow. Let her reveal herself to you. Suddenly he sees the black wolf. No more than ten feet away, it stands regarding him with a calm but deliberate intensity. Phillipe bolts and runs through the forest. He charges blindly, dashes into a clearing and falls headiong over a log. A DISTANCE AWAY Something moves in the snow. A man, wrapped in a bedroll sits up and watches. It is Marquet. Nearly buried by the snow, he is all but invisible. PHILLIPE lies motionless where he has fallen. All is silence. Then he hears a voíce singing: VOICE And Joan, the sweet Maid of Lorraine, Whom the English burned at Rouen, Where is she now, once held so dear? Ah, where are the snows of Yesteryear? Phillipe raises his head to see a tiny man with a long white beard. The man is dressed like a Monk, and walks barefoot through the snow. He is singing quite happily. All at once the Monk sees Phillipe. MONK There you are. Get up. PHILLIPE There's a wolf on my heels. MONK Get up, numbskull. 41. CONTINUED: Phillipe looks fearfully behind him, expecting to see the wolf. MONK Get up, Gaston. PHILLIPE By Heaven, isn't there one man in all of France who has to ask my name before he knows it? MONK What's your name? PHILLIPE Phillipe Gaston. MONK There, you see? I am Brother Imperius. BROTHER IMPERIUS is the kind of man who would weigh ninety- five pounds with boots on. One has the impression that half the weight he's got is in his beard. In fact, without that fluffy, flowing beard, there might be no man there at all. Whereas Phillipe may be amazed by this strange encounter on a snowy night, for Brother Imperius it seems to be routine. He watches as Phillipe gets to his feet and brushes the snow from his clothing. IMPERIUS That's better. You won't accomplish much by lolling in the snow. PHILLIPE Thank you for your concern, Friar, but I am merely a madman on a mad task. IMPERIUS What's mad about seeking the Deadly Angel? That's what you're about, isn't it? She can be of service at times, especially in the treatment of arrow wounds. PHILLIPE (dumbfounded) Is there anything you don't know? IMPERIUS I don't know. (MORE) 42. CONTINUED: IMPERIUS (CONT'D) (he reaches into his sack) But here... here she is. I have her here. Eat a bite of her, a single bite, and you're gone in a twinkling. But put her in a wound and she'll draw out the poisons and save you. Just one of her tricks. Well, let's go, Phillipe. The Lady is waiting, eh? Imperius turns on his heel and walks off through the clear- ing, heading in the direction Phillipe had come from. Phillipe is about to follow when he spots the huge black shape of the wolf gliding soundlessly over the snow. PHILLIPE Friarl Friar! The black wolf! Run for your life! Imperius looks around, annoyed. He mocks Phillipe's tone. IMPERIUS A wolf! A wolf! Run for your life! The black wolf trots across the clearing and stops before the monk. It stands rock still, looking at the manis face. Even on all fours, the wolf has his eyes almost on the level of the manis. IMPERIUS (to the wolf) Well, you carne earlier than I expected. Don't worry about your Lady. I' 11 see to her rnyself. As for your companion... (he gestures toward Phillipe) he's a loyal sort, but too nervous. Now go howl at the moon and let us tend to business. Imperius waves the wolf away with a flick of his hand and contínues on his way as though he had just dismissed a child. The wolf regards him a moment longer, then turns and lapas into the thicket of Crees. Phillipe, too staggered to think, trails after the monk. MARQUET has seen it all. 43. EXT. THE RUINED CHAPEL - NIGHT Phillipe and Brother Imperius arrive at the ruined chapel and go inside. INT. THE CHAPEL Phillipe blows on the fire while Brother Imperius bends be- side the unconscious form of Ladyhawke. IMPERIUS Well, Lady, you're in a bad way at the moment. That's clear enough. He sings softly. IMPERIUS Who is the hunter that shoots me? Has he no heart? Or is he jealous of my wings As I fly? As he sings, he pulls the Deadly Angel from his sack and be- gins crushing and kneading it in his hands. He spits into it, makes a pulpy mass, and presses it against the wound as he tugs at the arrow. The unconscious woman sighs as the arrow draws easily out. Brother Imperius presses the wad of Deadly Angel into the wound, sits back and sighs. DISSOLVE TO: INT. THE RUINED CHAPEL - LATER Phillipe and Brother Imperius huddle by the fire. PHILLIPE Will she be all right? IMPERIUS If God wills it. PHILLIPE She cannot count on God She is not a natural being. IMPERIUS Not natural? PHILLIPE You know everything else, so you must know this too. That woman is not human. She is a hawk, magically disguised. 44. CONTINUED: Brother Imperius laughs jovially and slaps Phillipe on the back. IMPERIUS Not human! Ha! Ha! Ha! She's quite human, I assure you. The guise of the hawk is the false one. Phillipe regards the monk seriously for a moment. Then he comes to a decision. PHILLIPE Friar, you seem a sane man to me. Odd, but sane. IMPERIUS Thank you. PHILLIPE Therefore, I wish to confide in you. IMPERIUS You wish to confess your sins? PHILLIPE I haven't got all week, Friar. I only want to confide. (he leans conspiratorially toward the monk) I've been seeing some very strange things in the last few days. IMPERIUS I should think so! PHILLIPE Like this woman who turns into a hawk and back again. How can a woman assume the form of a bird of prey? Tell me that. IMPERIUS You will find, my young friend, íf you live as long as I have, that everything in the universe has an explanation. The explanation for this poor woman's condition lies in the abuse of magical powers. You do believe in magic, don't you? PHILLIPE Of course. Imperius puts a friendly arm on Phillipe's shoulder. 45. CONTINUED: IMPERIUS Well then, don't be so surprísed by events such as these. I will tell you her story. She is an English womansoldier. She was called Ladyhawke because her greatest passion was hunting with falcons. The English soldiers were afraid to fight an army led by a woman, our Lady Joan of Arc. So the British Regent Bedford brought Ladyhawke to France so that the English could have their own womansoldier to lead them. She was captured at Orleans however, by a force of Armagnacs under the Bishop of Orleans. Brother Imperius pauses for effect, then goes on in a lower tope. IMPERIUS The Bishop took one look at her and became obsessed. PHILLIPE He loved her? IMPERIUS It was perhaps as near as that evil man could come to the emotion of love. PHILLIPE Surely she didn't return this feeling. IMPERIUS Surely not. But she too had fallen in love, with a man of great bearing, courage and nobility. PHILLIPE Who? IMPERIUS Why, Captain Navarre, you fool. PHILLIPE The madman? IMPERIUS Humph! No master how he seems to you, he is a fine, worthy man. It was the Bishop who went mad. With jealousy. He had them both condemned to death. 46. CONTINUED: PHILLIPE How does this false Bishop dare cail himself a servant of God? IMPERIUS Holy vestments often serve to hide an ungodly man. But attend: they were able to flee. It was then I encountered them, riding hard to outdistance the Bishop. I offered them my help, but they were too proud and rode on. The Bishop followed them, fas ter and truer than an arrow, more persistent than a hound. Realizing that there was no escape, Navarre turned his horse and rode back. He met the Bishop, cut down his henchmen like a scythe reaping down the hay, and drove his sword into the Bishop's heart. Phillips is really taken by surprise. PHILLIPE But the Bishop isn't dead. IMPERIUS Magic once again, my friend. What Navarre didn't know was that the Bishop had long before entered into an infernal partnership. His soul no longer dwelled within his body, but had been given to a Being for sakekeeping. The Bishop sank to his knees and spit a curse like a viper spits venom. Navarre ignored it. He thought he was leaving the man to die. Instead, when he returned to his Lady, he found, in her place, a black hawk. He didn't understand until nightfall what had happened. PHILLIPE At night she resumed her liman forro. IMPERIUS She did. But when he ran joyously to her arms, he realized that he was running on four legs. PHILLIPE (in a whisper) The black wolf. 47. CONTINUED: IMPERIUS (nodding) The black wolf. He has a human form by day, a wolf's by night. She is a hawk by day, a woman by night. In this way, the Bishop thought to separate the lovers forever. Never aging, changeless, waiting only to be killed by some hunter's arrow, as nearly happened today. PHILLIPE Now I understand his quest against the Bishop and why he needs to find that great magician he spoke of, the Seventh Son of Merlin. IMPERIUS There is another magician he needs more. His most important task is to destroy the Bishop, and that can only be done in one way, by one man. PHILLIPE What man is that? IMPERIUS That man is your mother's only son, Phillipe Gaston. Before Phillipe can reply to this, a massive form appears in the doorway, almost blocking out the dawn light. Brother Imperius looks up. IMPERIUS Ah, so it's morning. Time to move on. The form in the doorway is Navarre. NAVARRE You will come with us? IMPERIUS Yes, if you've lost some of your overweening pride. NAVARRE Some of it. IMPERIUS Good. 48. CONTINUED: NAVARRE To ten the truth, sir, I've lost a good deal of it. When I was a young man they called me the wolf because of my ferocious nature. But now that I've truly come to know my beastly nature, I bate it. I do beg of you, sir, come and help us. You know our quest. IMPERIUS (nodding) Let's go then. PHILLIPE I haven't slept a wink. IMPERIUS (pointing to Navarre) That man hasn't slept in thirty years. You can sleep in the saddle. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - MONTAGE as Phillipe, Navarre and Brother Imperius ride through the countryside. They have left the forest now and ride through farm country. The show has begun to melt and patches of bare earth show through the white blanket. Phillipe looks with longing at the smoke that rises from the chimneys of the occasíonal farmhouses they pass. Navarre carries his hawk, limp and motionless, in the crook of his arm. Suddenly, the bird begins fluttering her wings. NAVARRE She seems stronger. The riders pause. IMPERIUS Let her fly. Navarre looks at Brother Imperius, uncertain. IMPERIUS She's well. Let her fly. NAVARRE All right, Lady. Fly! He tosses the bird in the air. For a moment, it seems as if she's going to flutter back to the ground, but then her wings catch the air. 49. CONTINUED: She rises, climbing with ever stronger, surer strokes, until she is once again circling with the familiar ease of all hawks. Navarre watches her fly, his eyes full of joy, full of longing. EXT. A ROAD APPROACHING THE VILLAGE OF MEUNG DAY Phillipe, Navarre and Brother Imperius ride along a road leading to the town of Meung sur Loire. The walls of the town lie directly ahead. Beyond the walls they can see a multitude of steep slate roofs and, on a high, rocky outcropping rising aboye the rest, the for- boding gray bulk of the 12th-century chateau. The Chateau of Meimg (entirely fictionalized here) is in reality a fortress and stands like a gray monolith against the sky. It is one of those weathered, rougly-hewn structures that seems to rise spontaneously from the natural srone. Its battlement-crowned towers claw for the sky, a world away from the squat houses huddled in their shadow. As they approach the gate, Phillipe notices a huge bonfire near the road, tended by two men. A heavily-loaded wagon is being pulled close to the flames. All three riders look at what is piled high on that wagon: human bodies. Navarre spurs his horse and gallops up to the fire. EXT. BESIDE THE BONFIRE - DAY The two MEN push the human remains from the wagon onto the fire and prod at them with long poles, moving them toward the hot center of the Llames. They look up as Navarre approaches. NAVARRE What is it? Plague? ONE OF THE MEN No. Hunger. EXT. THE CITY GATE Phillipe, Navarre and Brother Imperius are let into the town. 50. EXT. A TOWN STREET Phillipe, Navarra and Brother Imperius ride through the streets of Meung. The buildings are all of medieval half- timbered construction and lean precariously over the narrow street. The lower stories are shops -- all shuttered tight -- and the upper stories living quarters. There is an ominous air of death in the empty streets. They pass only one man, who stares at them with hollow, horror-filled eyes. Two other people, whom they sea lying by the side of the street, are clearly dead. IMPERIUS God pity the people. PHILLIPE Where Are we to stay in Chis Godforsaken place. EXT. ANOTHER STREET They ride up to a house, shuttered like the rest, that bears a sign showing a lady and a unicorn. Two heavy, wooden doors indicate the entrance to the courtyard. Navarra pounds heavily on the door. There is no response. NAVARRE Is no one left alive in the tocan? He pounds again. Finally, they hear a SHUFFLING SOUND and the door is opened by a gaunt, hunched-over old man (INNKEEPER) who stares at the three of them dumbly. NAVARRE We need lodging. There is no response. NAVARRE We have money to pay for it. The old man steps back and Jets them ride into the court- yard. EXT. THE COURTYARD The old man eyes them narrowly. INNKEEPER Money, eh? What good's money when there's nothing to be bought? 51. CONTINUED: PHILLIPE What is happening here? What's wrong with this town? The Innkeeper cocks his head like a bird. INNKEEPER You might be spies. IMPERIUS I assure you, sir, we are in the employ of no one but ourselves. INNKEEPER What matter anyway? I'm as good as dead myself. '1'11 tell you. The Bishop receives a tithe, a fixed portion of all crops produced. In a good year we can bear it. But in a bad vear like this one, beis taken everything. PHILLIPE You mean the Bishop's hoarding all the food? INNKEEPER Everything. Every last grain. During the first half of winter, we lived on gleanings and some meager stores from last vear. But for the last two fortnights, nothing. There is silence as this news sinks in. The Innkeeper continues: INNKEEPER So there's no food and no use for money. If you need a place to sleep, help yourselves. The Innkeeper turns and shuffles away. PHILLIPE (sighing) Another night with an empty gut. IMPERIUS You should be ashamed, Phillipe the Mouse. Why, you're fat and sassy compared with these poor devils. PHILLIPE Yes, true enough. It seems that something could be done. 52. CONTINUED: IMPERIUS (softly) Something shall be! INT. A ROOM INSIDE THE INN - NIGHT Phillipe sits disconsolately on one side of a hard bed while Brother Imperius lies peacefully on the other side. IMPERIUS Get some sleep, Phillipe. Now is your chance. PHILLIPE I can't. I keep thinking of the Captain and his Lady, wandering those empty streets together in the dark. Always together, eternally apart. Phillipe waits for an answer until he hears a LOUD SNORING coming from Brother Imperius's side of the bed. Phillipe rices silently and tiptoes out of the room. EXT. THE TOWN STREET - NIGHT Phillipe emerges from the inn and starts down the street. EXT. A SQUARE Phillipe arrives at a square. Dark, squat houses border the square on three sides, with the castle looming like a monstrous black shadow in the b.g. There is a fountain in the middle of the square and beside it Phillipe can just distinguish the forro of a woman and a wolf. Both are gazing up at the blackness of the castle. Phillipe gathers his courage and walks across the square toward them. As he does so, the wolf catches a whiff of scent and turras its head. The yellow eyes glitter. PHILLIPE Don't worry, Captain. It's only me. (to Ladyhawke) Lady, are you well? LADYHAWKE As well as I can be, Phillipe. And I owe thanks to you. 53. CONTINUED: PHILLIPE No, ít was the little monk who saved you. (he looks at the wolf) Does he know me in that state? LADYHAWKE He always knows his friends. Phillipe gazes up at the castle. LADYHAWKE You are thinking of your Isabeau? Phillipe nods. – PHILLIPE Yes. But what do we do now? How shall we attain our end? It seems as if all is against us, an the forces of evil men and evil magic. LADYHAWKE We must trust our own magic, Phillipe. Each of us must trust his own. DISSOLVE TO: EXT. THE CITY GATE DAWN A loase horseman approaches the gate. It is Marquet. There is a gaunt, haunted look about him. The GATEKEEPER looks him over sleepily. GATEKEEPER What business? MARQUET I am a gendarme of Paris, seeking a thief. GATEKEEPER You'll find as many as you want here. All right, pass. INT. A ROOM AT THE INN - DAWN Brother Imperius sleeps peacefully. Phillipe, too, is dead to the world on his síde of the bed. 54. CONTINUED: Suddenly, they are awakened by a LOUD POUNDING on the door downstairs, followed by the SOUNDS of a general ruckus. INT. THE COMMON ROOM OF THE INN - MORNING The door is wide open. Several men in military uniform -- the Bishop's private GUARD -- are carrying ín a dozen loaves of bread, two sides of beef and a cask of wine. The Innkeeper watches them in utter amazement. INNKEEPER But... but... but... 1ST GUARD Speak up, man! What's the master with you? INNKEEPER We haven't seen a bit of food in two weeks. A 2nd Guard overhears this and seizes the Innkeeper by the front of his doublet. 2ND GUARD You pigs like stuffing your guts, don't you? Well, now you can. There is plenty of food here and plenty of wine, so open your business and be quick about it. He releases the Innkeeper with an angry shove and storms out with the other Guardsmen. INNKEEPER (looking at the ceiling) It must be the Second Coming. INT./EXT. VARIOUS AREAS THROUGHOUT THE TO'TN - MONTAGE - DAWN Food is being delivered everywhere. Guardsmen are shouting: VARIOUS GUARDSMEN Open your tavernl Get your shop goingl Get that inn open! Everybody receiving the food seems puzzled. They stare at it the way a hungry dog looks at a bone it knows will be snatched away. 55. CONTINUED: But once they realize that they are actually being given the food, their expressions change to ones of animal hunger. They grab chunks of bread and meat and stuff them into their mouths. Then they go sullenly about the business of opening their shops as ordered. INT. THE COMMON ROOM OF THE INN MORNING The Innkeeper speaks to Phillipe and Brother Imperius. INNKEEPER That has to be the reason. The Dauphin must be stopping here tomorrow on his way to his coronation in Rheims. IMPERIUS I have had occasion to meet the Daupin. I did not find him a man overburdened with compassion for the connion peopIe. INNKEEPER The Bishop always sided with the old King in his quarrels with his son. It was he who advised the King to exile Louis to Burgundy for these fine years. Now the Bishop must reconcile himself, and a town filled with starving people wouldn't make the proper impression. So he'll feed us for a day or two. Until the Dauphin leaves. IMPERIUS But if the pauphin stops here, then he'll pardon all the prisoners, won't he? INNKEEPER That's always been the custom. But there will be a great deal fewer prisoners to pardon tomorrow than there are today, wager. They'll be huddled together and fed to his beast before the Dauphin ever enters the castle. IMPERIUS (with a knowing glance at Phillipe) What beast? 56. CONTINUED: INNKEEPER (thinking he's said too much) Only a rumor, my friends. An ugly rumor. Brother Imperius nods solemnly and turns to Phillipe. IMPERIUS Let's go find the Captain. DISSOLVE TO: EXT. THE CITY GATES - MORNING Phillipe, Navarre and Brother Imperius approach the city gases and ride through. EXT. A ROAD AWAY FROM THE CITY The three of them ride down the road at a gallop. EXT. AN OAK GROVE - MORNING They arrive at an oak grove. The ancient oaks grow in clusters, like old men nodding and whispering together. Various granite boulders are scattered about. At first glance the place seems wild and natural. But soon ít's evident that the positions and shapes of the boulders are not quite arbitrary. There is a sense of curious symmetry in the positioning of the boulders and the distribution of the trees. There is a feeling of incalculable age. Brother Imperius slides from his perch behind Phillipe, over the horse's rump and to the ground. He scrambles up a boulder, where he stands like an ancient elf. IMPERIUS Phillipe Gaston, it is time you learned your part in our endeavor. This is a sacred grove. Rituals have been performed under these oaks which would shake the minds of ordinary men. But we must triumph now. We cannot afford to be ordinary. Brother Imperius has been clutching his sack. Now he reaches into it and brings forth an object wrapped in oil- skin. Unraveling it, he produces an ancient looking sword. 57. CONTINUED: Tarnished and pitted with age, the sword has a thick blade of medium length and a gem-studded handle. Brother Imperius holds it up. IMPERIUS I chose this sacred place in order to give you a sacred gift. This was my father's sword, Phillipe. Now you shall wield it. Brother Imperius scrambles down from the rock and holds the sword out to Phillipe. IMPERIUS With this you shall do great deeds. Phillipe examines the handle. PHILLIPE It looks a bit oid to me. What are the stones worth? For the first time Brother Imperius gets angry. With his white hair all puffed up, he looks like a miniature Moses on the mount. IMPERIUS Old! Worth! Why... why...! Look at me, Phillipe the Mouse! Phillipe stares as suddenly, soundlessly, the tiny monk is transformed into a radiant giant, his hair and beard like flame, dressed in a magnificent robe and holding a golden sword. Then the vistan vanishes instantly and Phillipe sees little Imperius before him once again. IMPERIUS Pretty good, eh? You like visions? But visions, like talk, are cheap. You'll soon have your chance to prove the real magic of the Sword of Merlin, as well as the magic of Phillipe Gastan. Phillipe is awed, and comes to a sudden understandíng. PHILLIPE You! You are the son of Merlin that The Captain has been seeking. He takes the sword from Imperius's outstretched hands. 58. CONTINUED: PHILLIPE And this is his sword. IMPERIUS I am a humble monk, just as you are a mouse. But when men of goodwill band together, they can overcome evil. Take the sword, Phillipe. It can help you. But, remember, there is no weapon nor tool whose worth exceeds the worth and courage of the man who wields it. NAVARRE Attend to me, Phillipe. If I have ever been discourteous to you, forgive me, for I need your help, as does she. He indicares the hawk, perched as always on his shoulder. NAVARRE Imperius explained our plight to you. And he also explained why this false Bishop cannot be killed. He has a partner, a ghoulish being that found him long ago and took his soul into its man vile body for safekeeping. This being has a name: Zasthratas. Nobody knows who he is or where he carne from. Some say he was a black magician of an ancient race, others that he carne from the netherworld. It is not known if he was ever human, though he surely is nor human now. IMPERIUS He was great among the evil ones of the olden days. Now he has degenerated into pure monstrousness and lives under the castle in the world of the rats. The Bishop's soul is his only treasure and his only recompense is the wretched human victims selected for him from among the prisoners. You were lucky to escape this fate yourself, Phillipe. You escaped in time. PHILLIPE How does the Bishop select the victims for this monster? IMPERIUS All those who have nor yet been shriveled to skin and bone. (MORE) 59. CONTINUED: IMPERIUS (CONT'D) All those not yet covered with running sores. All those whom the Bishop does not feel obliged to release for one reason or another, or who cannot buy their way out. All of these are fed to Zasthratas. PHILLIPE And the women prisoners? NAVARRE Zasthratas is not finicky. They are left in the barracks for the guardsmen, and when the guardsmen are through with them... Phillipe looks dowmcast. IMPERIUS You are thinking of your Isabeau. We may still be in time to save her, but to do that, and to help the Captain and his Lady, we must destroy Zasthratas. PHILLIPE But you, Magician, why can't you defeat him with your powers? IMPERIUS (shaking his head) The powers you speak of would not harm him. That kind of magic is his own weapon. He understands it too well. But the immortal spark of hope and courage that burns in the human heart... that is a deadly weapon against the likes of him. PHILLIPE Hope and courage. I have little enough of those. Why have you chosen me? NAVARRE You have more incide you than you imagine, Phillipe. As for why we have chosen you, who else can pass through the tunnels of the rats and approach Zasthratas un aovares? That is your magic, Phillipe, and if you lave your Isabeau, it is also your destine. 60. CONTINUED: Phillipe looks at the sword in his hands. PHILLIPE And kilt that terrible being? With this small sword? IMPERIUS Not with the small sword, but with your sturdy heart. Believe what we say, Mouse, and you'll see that it's true. Phillipe smiles wanly. PHILLIPE Well, I suppose it's the skill of a mouse to outrun the rats in their own burrows. Brother Imperius and Navarre both smile. NAVARRE If our thinking is right, the Dauphin is due tomorrow. He will follow the custom of declaring a general amnesty for all prisoners. The Bishop will release a few of the aged and diseased to receive this bounty, but you can be sure that the rest will be lowered into the subterranean pit where the being called Zasthratas will be waiting. IMPERIUS Now here's our plan... EXT. THE CASTLE - DAY An EXTERIOR SHOT to ESTABLISH the castle. INT. A RECEPTION ROOM - DAY A rectangular reception room. A few decorative chairs and carved, wooden chests line the walls, which are hung with tapestries. Otherwise, the only furnishings consist of a desk and a chair asear one end of the room. The Bishop's secretary (BASENNIER) sits behind the desk, looking over a list of people waiting to see the Bishop. One-eyed Marquet Tabarie is ushered into the room by a GUARD who calls out his narre: 61. CONTINUED: GUARD Marquet Tabarie, a gendarme of Paris. BASENNIER Monsíeur Tabarie, what can we do for you? MARQUET I am in pursuit of a wanted criminal. BASENNIER Well, you're free to search the town as you wish. gladly assign a man to assist you. MARQUET That's kind of you, but I have reason to believe that this man is traveling with desperate companions and threatens the safety of the Bishop himself. BASENNIER Indeed? Then it's most fortunate that you've come. What's the manis name? Phillipe Gaston.MARQUET For a moment, Basennier looks surprised. Then he laughs outright. BASENNIER But I know this man, monsieur. He was a prisoner here. I believe he bears the nickname of 'Mouse.' A timid runt, as I recall him. MARQUET Then you must know that he escaped your dungeons. Do you know how? Basennier's expression changes to one of seriousness BASENNIER Actually, we do not. It was our one and only escape. MARQUET He escaped through the rat burrows under the castle. BASENNIER That's impossible. 62. CONTINUED: MARQUET But that is the only way possible. That fellow can flow through the eye of a needle. As he was able to find his way out, so shall he be able to find his way back in. As for being timid and a runt, he may be that. Yet he killed one of my strongest men and plucked out my eye, all in the space of time it would take you to doff your cap. BASENNIER And you think he has designs on His Reverence's life? MARQUET I'm sure of it. For one thing, his female companion, a woman called Isabeau, is still imprisoned here. BASENNIER Yes, she's among the condenuted. MARQUET Also 1 know him to be traveling with dangerous men. One of them is a wandering friar, a man of no concern perhaps, but the other is a giant of a man in black military garb. There is a woman, also in black soldier's livery, who joins them sometimes, and they seem to be followed by... Marquet pauses. The look on Basennier's face is, by now, one of great concern. BASENNIER Followed by what, monsieur? MARQUET Oddly enough, by an enormous black wolf. Marquet expects Basennier to disbelief him, but Basennier does not. BASENNIER I'm very glad you told me these things, Monsieur Tabarie. Your man Phillipe Gaston is clearly more dangerous than I first thought. Excuse me a moment. He gets up and crosses to a door behind him. 63. INT. THE BISHOP'S INNER CHAMBER DAY Basennier enters quietly finto the sumptuously appointed living chamber of the Bishop. The BISHOP THIBAULT D'ASSIGNY stands by a window, his back toward Basennier, a spectre-like figure in a hooded cowl. BASENNIER Your Reverence, there is a man here that I believe you should speak with. The Bishop turns around. He is an ermnensely tall man, slightly stoop shouldered, with white hair and red eyes that reveal one predominant fact about him: he is an albino. EXT. THE OUTER GATEHOUSE OF THE CASTLE - DAY Phillipe, Navarre and Brother Imperius huddle together by the outer gatehouse, which stands opera. Activity can be SEEN in the outer courtyard beyond. On the other side of the outer courtyard is another wall with its own massive gatehouse. This wall is actually the exterior wall of the living and admínistrative portions of the castle. The rooms are arranged around a square, the center of which forms the inner courtyard of the castle. Phillipe, Navarre and Brother Imperius stand a moment observing the activity in the outer courtyard, which is in preparation for the visit of the Dauphin. Bright banners and booths are being erected, but the mood of the people doesn't match the bright colors. They go about their tasks with a sullen weariness. Their faces expressed a repressed rage. Brother Imperius turns to his friends. IMPERIUS Well, I'm off. Wish me luck. PHILLIPE You're the great magician. You'll be all right. It is rather we who need your blessing. IMPERIUS You, too, are a magician, Phillipe. 1 keep telling you. Soon you'll believe me. Imperius looks fondly at them. 64. CONTINUED: IMPERIUS But you have my blessing. All of you. Brother Imperius gives them a cheerful wink and walks through the gatehouse into the outer courtyard. EXT. OUTER COURTYARD DAY Brother Imperius makes his way between the stalls and booths, glancing about at the angry faces of the people. He crosses the courtyard and heads for the inner gate- house. EXT. INNER GATEHOUSE Brother Imperius approaches a small room built into the inner gatehouse. The room is the office for the guards- men of the Bate. INT. GUARDSMEN'S OFFICE Brother Imperius pokes inside and sees the GUARDS playing dice. IMPERIUS Excuse me, gentlemen, my name is... GUARDSMAN Get los t, friar. Brother Imperius pauses, clears his throat, and gives it another try. IMPERIUS Gentlemen, I am Brother Imperius, and I am requesting an audience with His Reverence. Two of the Guardsmen exchange glances. One says to the other in a whisper: GUARDSMAN They said a little monk. Do you think...? The Guardsman gets up and walks over to Brother Imperius. GUARDSMAN Okay, friar, follow me. 65. INT. A SPIRAL STAIRCASE Brother Imperius is led up a narrow spiral staircase. INT. RECEPTION ROOM Brother Imperius is led into the Bishop's reception room. GUARDSMAN (announcing) Imperius, a wandering friar. Basennier looks up. IMPERIUS Good day, sir. I am Brother Imperius and I was hoping... BASENNIER You've come to see His Reverence? There is a knowing look in Basennier's eyes. IMPERIUS Yes, I... BASENNIER His Reverence has a special affection for wandering fríars like yourself, who give the comfort of God's holy word to the wild people of the countryside. He'll be most happy to see you. Brother Imperius pauses. This is too easy. Basennier rises to his feet grinning, and Brother Imperius follows him, a bit reluctant at the moment, into the Bishop's chamber. INT. THE BISHOP'S CHAMBER The Bishop glares clown at the diminutive monk. BISHOP How fortunate that you are passing through at this particular time. You can join us for a happy event, the visir of his Majesty the Dauphin, who is stopping here en route to his coronation. IMPERIUS Thank you, Your Reverence. (MORE) 66. CONTINUED: IMPERIUS (CONT'D) While I look forward to the pleasure of seeing the Dauphin, my business here is more related to my calling. If there are any condemned wretches in your prison that need my services as confessor, I would be happy to... BISHOP As a master of fact, there are quite a few. It is customary for the Dauphin to grant a general amnesty when he passes through. While this is most compassionate, it is hardly wise to release those whose crimen have incurred the highest wrath of God. IMPERIUS Of course not. As the Bishop has been speaking, Brother Imperius has noticed a lump behind one of the hung tapestries and a pair of shoes sticking out below. BISHOP Therefore, we must crowd quite a few executions into one morning, that being tomorrow morning. Your concern for the souls of there poor wretches will be a great comfort to them, I am sure. In the meantime, I will have you conducted to the apartments which I reserve for my honored guests. You may rest and refresh yourself. IMPERIUS I must perform my duty before I rest, Your Reference. BISHOP Of course. He rings a bell and a GUARO appears. BISHOP Take this friar to the cells of the condemned. Let him speak freely with the prisoners, and then take him to a guest apartment. Show him every courtesy. 67. CONTINUED: GUARDSMAN Yes, your Reverance. EMPERIUS My thanks, your Reverance. Brother Imperius is conducted out. A moment later Marquet Tabarie comes-from behind the tapestry. MARQUET That's the monk all right. BISHOP Well then., your man Gaston can't be far off. (in a softer voice) And neither can the black rider. INT. A DANK STAIRCASE The Guard leads Brother Imperius down a dark, dank spiral staircase. INT. A DARK UNDERGROUND CORRIDOR They pass along a bleak, wet corridor of stone. Down another staircase they go. The deeper they go, the slimier everything becomes. INT, A CELLBLOCK IN THE DUNGEON The cellblock is a long, cavelike corridor, weakly lit by torches placed in wrought iron hoiders in the walks. On one side are the cells, carved out of the bedrock and walled in. On the other is a narrow walkway. Brother Imperius walks along the row of cells, peeping through the tiny openings in the doors. In each cell he sees a crowd of wretched humanity, stuffed together like so many cattle awaiting slaughter. The darkness, the lack of air, the great feeling of oppression and fear are almost overwhelming. The faces that look back at him are void of hope, dead • of any emotion but despair. 68. CONTINUED: He finally finds what he's looking for in one of the cells: several women whose dresses are not yet reduced to rags and who have evidently been in the cell less time than the other prisoners. Brother Imperius glances at the Guard, who has gone on ahead, then whispers into the cell. IMPERIUS Isabeau! A girl -- the girl we saw in Phillipe's dream detaches herself from the group of women prisoners and comes un- certainly toward the opening in the cell door. For a moment she ganes at Brother Imperius in silent confusion. Her monkey face is crinkled with fear. IMPERIUS (in a whisper) Isabeau, I'm a friend. I've come with Phillipe the Mouse, who's here to save yo u. The girl's face lights up with a sudden smile. ISABEAU (softly) Phillipe. IMPERIUS Shhhh. We must tunction with some secrecy. They know what we're doing, but only we know that they know what we're doing. ISABEAU Huh? IMPERIUS Pray child, and have hope. Brother Imperius leaves the cell door and hastens to catch up with the Guardsman, IMPERIUS (to Guardsman) Are all these prisoners condemned? GUARDSMAN Most of 'em, yeah. IMPERIUS So many. The Bishop metes out stern justice. 69. CONTINUED; GUARDSMAN The Bishop has a hungry friend. We have an entertaining form of execution here, Friar. Unlike anything you'veaseen before. The Guardsman grins good-naturedly at Brother Imperius. DISSOLVE TO: EXT. ATOP THE BATTLEMENTS OF THE INNER WALL - AFTERNOON Brother Imperius stands outside his assigned quarters on the battlement of the inner wall. From where he stands he can see the town and the countryside spread like a map. After a moment he HEARS the WHOOSH of WINGS in the air as the hawk comes winging toward him from below and perchea on the gray stone battlement before him. IMPERIUS There you are at last. Time is short before sunset. Tell Phillipe that his Isabeau is alive and awaiting his arrival. Then fly. Seek out the Dauphin's party on the road. If they are very near then we can be sure these unnatural executions will begin before sunup. Now go! The hawk hops from the battlement, spreads her wings and drops down in a long, speed-gaining glide, ayer the town and out toward the countryside. Brother Imperius watches her vanish in the distance. INT. THE COMMON ROOM OF THE INN - NIGHT Phillipe sits alone, eating his first real meal in days. The room is filiad with others who are doing the sane thing. The presence of food and drink has begun to re- lax the people in spite of themselves. There is talk and snatches of dry laughter. Phillipe takes no part in this tepid merriment. Instead he eats with steady concentration, his eyes reflecting only his determination. The door opens and a sudden hush fills the room. Lady- hawke stands in the doorway with the black wolf beside her. 70. CONTINUED: Everybody turns and gapes. Ladyhawke's eyes are calm. The wolf stands motionless at her heel. PHILLIPE (loudly) What's the matter with you people? Never seen a bold lady before, nor a fine bred dog? INNKEEPER (very nervous) It looks more like a wolf than a dog to me. Phillipe leaves his table and strides up to Ladyhawke and the wolf. PHILLIPE Nonsense. A fine, fierce dog, but a dog nonetheless. (he pats the wolf's head and whispers) Forgive me, Captaín. (then in a normal voice again) Let's have dinner for the Lady, Innkeeper, and a bone for the fine dog here. The wolf glares at him, but Phillipe avoids the look and leads the two of them back to his table. He and Ladyhawke speak in low voices. LADYHAWKE Imperius is inside. He sends word that your Isabeau is well and knows that you have come for her. PHILLIPE Thank God. LADYHAWKE I flew over the road going south and spotted the Dauphin's entourage. It was clase to sundown, and yet they were still riding, which means that they plan to camp at the gates of the city. PHILLIPE Then Zasthratas will be fed early. 71. CONTINUED; LADYHAWKE • (nodding) Long before first light he will sense his prey and rise from the murk to feast. You'll have to enter the tunnels of the rats tonight. PHILLIPE That doesn't trouble me, Lady, since there is little enough light down there even during the day, God knows. They are interrupted by the Innkeeper, who serves Lady- hawke a bowl of stew and tosses a large bone to the wolf, who ignores the offering, Ladyhawke waits until the Innkeeper is gone, then takes a long, worried look at Phillipe. LADYHAWKE How will you find your way through that maze, Phillipe? Without light, without air? PHILLIPE Tight passages are my specialty, Lady. In any case, I passed through it once. I did not know then the narre of/Zasthratas, but I saw things under the ground that froze my blood. I did not pause then to learn their meaning, though now I understand ít. LADYHAWKE (after a pause) God be with you, Phillipe Gastan. At that moment the door opens and who should enter but Marquet Tabarie, followed by a contingent of the Bishop's Guardsmen. Tabarie glances about the room and quickly spots Phillipe. MARQUET That's the man! Take himi Two Guardsmen start for Phillipe, but they have hardly taken two steps when a massive black form hurtles finto them. The first Guardsman screams, but his scream is cut short as the wolf's jaws clase on his throat. 72. CONTINUED: Phillipe leaps up, the Sword of Merlin in his hand. He lunges at the second Guard, who grunts and slumps to the floor as the sword passes through his body. The other Guardsmen rush around Marquet to get at Phillipe and the wolf. But the person they fiad they_ have to con- tend with most is Ladyhawke, who has drawn her rapier and moves among the Guardsmen with lightning speed and agility, parrying, thrusting, finding her target. Phillipe and Ladyhawke fight their way to the door, backed up by the snarling, slashing jaws of the black wolf. Finally they get to the door and rush out into the court- yard. EXT. THE COURTYARD - NIGHT Phillipe, Ladyhawke and the wolf rush across the court- yard to the darkness of the stable. A moment laten the Guardsmen those who remain unhurt emerge into the torch-lit courtyard. GUARDSMAN Where are they? ANOTHER GUARDSMAN Check the stablesl Protect yourselves! Before they can act on thip command they HEAR a CLATTER of HOOVES and instinctively jump aside to avoid being ridden down by Phillipe and Ladyhawke, who have mounted and now come galloping headlong across the courtyard, sparks flying. The black wolf streaks behind them and all three are gone before the Guardsmen can gather their wits. The Guardsmen watch them vanish into the darkness. EXT. A SHOT OF THE MOON A bright mean rises. INT. PASSAGE BETWEEN TWO STONE WALLS NIGHT Phillipe and Ladyhawke ride along a narrow passage, en- closed by stone walls and a stone ceiling. 73. EXT. A LANDING BEACH ON THE RIVER - NIGHT They exit onto a 2ortified landing beach on the river bank. Walls jut from the castle, enclosing the beach on both ends. It is accessible only by the long passage they have just ridden down, or by the river. The moon shines brightly, giving them a clear view of the partially frozen river. The ice has melted in the center of the river and remaíns relatively intact only near the banks. Even as they watch, a chunk of ice breaks free and floats away. PHILLIPE This is the only way there, my friends. LADYHAWKE Then that's the way we'll go. The wall that separates this fortified section of beach from the rest of the riverbank juts thirty feet into the river and is about thirty feet thick. Thus they each must ventura thirty fe-et out, thirty feet along the thickness of the wall, then thirty feet back. They dismount. Phillipe is the first to try the ice. He starts slowly. The ice forms hairline cracks under his feet, but holds firm. Phillipe pauses, looks down at the cracks, and continuas on. Reaching the end of the wall without mishap, he turns the correr and continuas along the thickness of the wall, pressing himself against the stone. The ice is at its thinnest here, CREAKING and CRACKING under his feet. Finally rounding the comer, Phillipe scurries gratefully back to the shore. As he stands there he HEARS the CREAKING of the ICE con- tinue and realizes that Ladyhawke is coming along after him. He sees her round the correr and start toward the bank. A moment later another form appears: the black wolf, But now the weakened ice has borne too much, There is a LOUD CRACK and a SPLASH, then silence. The black wolf has vanished. Ladyhawke calas out in anguish; LADYHAWKE Etienne! 74. CONTINUED: Phillipe can see the wolf struggling in the freezing current, trying to scramble back onto the ice. Ladyhawke is going back to help it. PHILLIPE (shouting) Lady! The ice will break! LADYRAWKE The current will take him under! Phillipe makes up his mind and walks gingerly onto the ice toward Ladyhawke. PHILLIPE Lady, your cloak. She understands and undoes her woolen cloak. Phillipe takes it, lies clown on his stomach, and begins pushing himself out onto the thinning, cracking ice. Slowly, fearfully, he pushes himself forward until he is near the struggling wolf. PHILLIPE Here, Captain! Seize Chis! He tosses one end of the cloak to the floundering wolf. Its jacas Glose on the fabric with an audible SNAP. Phillipe tugs on the cloak, but the only thing that happens is that the weight of the wolf starts him sliding toward the break in the ice. Ladyhawke, too, has lain clown on the ice and begun to push herself nearer to Phillipe. When he starts to slide, she grabs his ankle. So that now they are both being pulled slowly toward the icy current. Panic stricken, Ladyhawke tries to dig the fingers of her free hand into the slippery ice. The effort is futile. Then, lunging forward, she grabs the handle of the Sword of Merlin, pulís it from its scabbard on Phillip's belt, and drives the blade into the ice. Cracks spread in all directions, but at least they have one precarious hold. Even in the stinging cold of the night, Phillipe's faca shines with sweat as he strains the muscles of his arms to pull the wolf onto the ice. Every fiber in his body quivers with the effort. 75. CONTINUED: And then it is enough. The black wolf scrambles onto the ice. The animal continues to hold its end of the cloak as it scrambles toward the bank, pulling Phillipe and Ladyhawke behind it. Suddenly, there is a LOUD CRACK as the ice breaks away at the point where the Sword of Merlin has gone through it. Now they are safely on the bank. But the Sword of Merlin is gone. PHILLIPE The Sword! We've lost the Sword! Ladyhawke sits on the snowy riverbank, trying to calm her breathing. LADYHAWKE We've lost nothing. Phillipe looks up in surprise. LADYHAWKE That was only an old artifact Imperius picked up somewhere. The Sword of Merlin isn't a thing, Phillipe, it's an act of faith, faith in one's personal magic. You have the Sword. You always did. (takes out her dagger) As for a weapon, this is far more practical in the tunnels of the rats. PHILLIPE A mere dagger? To destroy Zasthratas? LADYHAWKE You cannot overpower him by strength. You must attack him as water wears down the earth and stone. Flow through his defensas and use this steel tooth to sever his spinal cord. Phillipe takes the little' dagger and looks at it doubt- fully. But then he notices how long it is, how brightly it shines in the moonlight, and how easily it lies in his hand. LADYHAWKE Well, then, the moon rises. Dawn is close. 76. CONTINUED: Phillipe nods, turns and walks a way up the steep bank toward the castle wall. EXT. THE CASTLE WALL There is a hale, smaller than a manis head, in the earth at the base• of the wall. Phillipe points to it. PHILLIPE There. LADYHAWKE You can really get through there? PHILLIPE Ha! For a true Mouse a hale elat size is a Roman portal. (he pauses, turns to Ladyhawke and the wolf) Well, good-luck to all of us. LADYHAWKE Until soon. He smiles and nods to her, almost shyly. She acts on an impulse and embraces Phillipe. PHILLIPE (flustered but grateful) So long, then. God willing... He drops to his hands and knees and thrusts his head into the hole. At first this looks ridiculous. Then, as he begins to wriggle and twist, something remarkable happens. His body seems to bend in an impossible way, as though he had no bones. His head and shoulders vanish into the rat hole, followed by his torso, hips and legs. A moment, and he's gane. Ladyhawke watches with more sadness than surprise in her eyes. Then she looks to the east. The first glint of dawn is lighting the sky. The light reflects from her eyes a moment before they darken into hard, hawk's eyes. She raises her arms and spreads her fingers. The fingers become long quils and her arms turn to wings. 77. CONTINUED: She flaps the wings and rises. For a moment she catches a glimpse of Navarre looking up at her, then rises higher and higher until the castle and the town are spread beneath her. For a moment she hovers, beating her wings against the wind, looking clown at the textures below, so sharply etched by the slanting rays of dawn. Then she drops into a long swoop, sailing with beautiful speed and smoothness over the castle, toward the town. She catches a momentary glimpse of Brother Imperius watch- ing her from his battlement. Then she is over the castle wall and gliding low over the rooftops of the town. INT. A ROPEMAKER'S COURTYARD - DAWN The sleepy ropemaker has just risen and is walking across his courtyard which is piled high with coils of rope of different kinds. He is rather astounded to see a hawk latid on a pile of coiled lengths of rope and seize one of the coils in her talons. . For a moment, it seems as if the coiled length of rope is too heavy for her. She beats her wings furiously. Then she overcomes the weight and'rises. The ropemaker looks on in total befuddlement. EXT. ABOVE THE CASTLE Back she flies. EXT. A BATTLEMENT - DAWN She lands on a battlement of the outer wall, directly aboye the spot where Navarre is waiting. She twists the rape with her talons and beak, loops it over a stone spike at the top of the battlement, and lets the rest of the coil drop. EXT. BASE OF WALL BELOW Navarre grasps the rope and uses it to scale the wall. He reaches the top, heaves a breath and frees the end of the rope. Taking the end in her talons, the hawk flies across to the inner wall and loops the rope over a stone spike there. Navarre secures his end of the rape and begins the journey across, hanging from the rope and moving hand over hand. 78. INT. A SPIRAL STAIRCASE A dank spiral staircase, lit by torches in iron brackets. A wretched group of prisoners is being herded clown the stairs. Filthy, dressed in rags, these miserable men and women are being led to their "execution" by the jacas of Zasthratas. Isabeau is among them. Down they go, shivering with the cold of the depths, deeper and deeper into a seemingly endless spiral. Brother Imperius walks behind the prisoners, praying aloud, and after him come the guardsmen. They are happy, eager to see the carnage about to take place. Some of the prisoners are moaning. Their moans mingle with the prayers of Brother Imperius and some of the others, creating a kind of rhythmless chant of abysmal fear and death. INT. A GIGANTIC PIT The group finally arrives in a kind of enormous cell, hewn out of the solid baserock and buttressed here and there with stones and concrete. The upper part of this cell is lit by torches. The lower part of the cell is nothing but a dark pit. The prisoners enter onto a stone platform, on which there stands a wooden, hand operated winch. The bottom of the pit is lost in darkness some great distance below. One of the guardsmen takes hold of the handle of the winch and begins turning it. The machine emits a loud SQUEAK as it turns. The man gives it several turns, then waits. Then again, several turns. All at once there is a SOUND from below, a LOW, MUFFLED HISS, as though something immense were crawling through the earth. The SOUND gets LOUDER AND LOUDER, until whatever it is seems to have burst into the opera. Even the guardsmen tremble as they hear the HEAVY, RASPING BREATH of something in the pit below. The first victim, a young man, is quickly bound with rope. A wooden structure is swung outward, so that the man hangs over the pit. The winch is used to lower him. For a long time there is no SOUND but the SQUEAKING of the wooden parts of the WINCH, rubbing against each other, and the awful BREATHING of something below. 79 . CONTINUED: Then they hear a SCREAM of utter anguish. The guards exchange knowing looks and begin hauling up the rape. It is evident from the Base of their efforts that there is no longer any weight on the other end. INT. THE RAT TUNNEL - PHILLIPE'S POV Phillipe is in total darkness. There is a faint light ahead, toward which he moves. He hears his own tortured breathing as he gasps for air. A black outline appears ahead, an enormous rat with red, glowing eyes. It emits a furious shriek, then dashes away. Phillipe struggles forward. INT. AN UNDERGROUND LAIR Phillipe emerges from the rat tunnel into an underground cavern. He wipes the soil from his eyes and looks around. This place is familiar to him. He has been here before, during his escape from the dungeon. But whereas then he dashed through, terrified of confronting what might dwell there, now he comes as a hunter, and looks at everything with a hunter's presence of mirad. For Chis is the lair of Zasthratas. Partly natural, partly fashíoned by a sub-human intelligence, the cavern is a spectacle of atrocity and terror. Certain areas of the cavern have been enlarged and but- tressed with crude stone walls. Human bones lie scattered everywhere, and in one dark nook there is a pile of cloth- ing and jewelry. The light comes from several crude oil lamps, as if the creature that lives here still maintains some thin connec- tion with a civilizad past. Enormous rats dash about, pick through the piles of cloth- ing and gnaw on the bones. Phillipe's face is no longer that of a perplexed monkey. It is solemn and determined now, with a look in his eyes that one sees in the eyes of brave men who know they haven't got much of a chance. There a passageway ahead, dug out of the earth and but- tressed by primitive arches. Phillipe pauses, looks into the darkness, and then starts walking down the passageway. 80. INT. THE PIT OF ZASTHRATAS Another victim is being lowered into the pit. The prisoners remaining on the platform huddle together in a terrified group. The faces of the guards are flushed with a savage pleasure. The eyes of Brother Imperius are stricken with grief. Another SCREAM is HEARD from below. The guardsmen grin and haul up the rape. EXT. CASTLE ROOF - MORNING Navarre walks along the walkway of the roof, just behind the battlements of the Inner Wall. He has the coil of rope wound loosely over one shoulder. The hawk sits on a battlement ahead of him. Navarre hurries to the spot and looks down. He can see the upper edge of a window, about twenty feet below him, and a hundred feet or better from the ground. NAVARRE (to the hawk) So he's in there, eh? He strokes the bird's glossy feathers. NAVARRE Soon, my love. Soon. INT. THE BISHOP'S CHAMBER - MORNING The large window opening from the Bishop's chamber is the same one that Navarre is observing from aboye. Two OFFICERS of the Bishop's Guard stand before him with ashamed looks on their faces. Marquet is with them. BISHOP You are quite sure this group poses no further danger? GUARDSMAN Yes, Your Reverence. We traced them as far as the beach. They appear to have walked ante, the ice and fallen in. I'm sure Your Reverence will not be bothered by those miscreants any further. BISHOP You'd better be right. (MORE) 81. CONTINUED: BISHOP (CONTID) (he turns to Marquet) So much for your man Gaston. As for the monk, he doesn't know it, but he's awaiting his turn for the jaws of Zasthratas at this very moment. MARQUET (with a slight bow) I hope so, Your Reverence, though I personally do not underestimate Phillipe Gaston. He has been a trickster all his life. At this moment another OFFICER enters. GUARDSMAN Your Reverence, the Dauphin is at the gates. BISHOP Good. Get your men out there and see that the people look alive. He turns with a grin to Marquet. It is the rigid, cheerless Brin of a skull. BISHOP I must make amends to His Majesty. A wise statesman always supports the party of the King. EXT. THE ROOF ABOVE Navarre uncoils the rope and loops it over a finial (stone spikes on the battlements). He turns to the hawk. NAVARRE If we are not successful, you at least shall be free. Let your humanity become an inconvenience, and the hawk your true forro. At this moment two GUARDSMEN appear a short distance away. GUARDSMAN You there! Stand and surrenderl Navarre glances at them and throws the tope over the side, letting it uncurl as it fans. 82. EXT. THE WALL The ropa drops to a length well below the window but far from reaching to the ground. THE ROOF The guardsmen rush forward, swords drawn. They see Navarre grab the rope and stars rappeling clown the wall. As they reach the finial where Navarre has attached his rope, the hawk flutters about their heads, striking at their faces with its beak and uttering piercing shrieks. One of the guardsmen fends off the hawk, while the other prepares to sever the rope with a blow of his sword. THE WALL Navarre glances up and sees what is about to happen. Cling- ing to the rope, he runs along the wall to create a swinging motion. Then he kicks free, driving his momentum toward the open window. THE ROOF The sword falls, severing the rope. INT. BISHOP'S CHAMBER Navarre fijes into the room, pulling the severed rope in with him. He flings it aside and has his sword out before anybody understands what's happening. The Bishop glances at his officers. He does not seem at all afraid, only annoyed. BISHOP So they all fell through the ice, eh? EXT. THE ROOF The two guardsmen on the roof look over the side, see what's happened, and dash off for help. INT. BISHOP'S CHAMBER The Bishop turns to Navarra, who stands ready with his sword. 83. CONTINUED: BISHOP would have thought you'd had enough of me, Etienne. NAVARRE Things are different this time. Zasthratas is slain. BISHOP No, my friend. Zasthratas will never be slain. Oh, I know you've smuggled your Brother Imperius into the dungeon. Zasthratas will pick his teeth with the monk's bones, you may rest assured. The Bishop's words and his calm demeanor seem te dishearten Navarre. For a moment he seems defeated, then his face darkens with rage and he lunges for the Bishop. The guardsmen intercept him. They fight furiously. Navarre is clearly stronger than both of them put together. But a contingent of guardsmen brought by those on the roof arrives and overcomes Navarre from behind. They seize him and his sword drops with a clatter. In the silence that follows, another SOUND is HEARD: a faint, distant CHEERING. The Bishop listens carefully for a moment. BISHOP (to Navarre) Ah, hear that? The Dauphin is here, the soon to be King Louis the Eleventh. Under better circumstances I would be glad to introduce you te him. As it is... (to the guardsmen) Take him to the pit. EXT. THE STREETS OF THE TOWN The party of the soon to be King LOUIS XI of France rides through the center of town. The Dauphin, thirty-eight years of age, has a long, fox-like face and is aiready gaunt and hunched over. His clothes are black and ill-fitting, and he wears a greasy cap plastered over his head. All in all, he cuts a rather dismal figure on his white charger. But there is a glint of sharp intelligence and cruel wit in the man's eyes that makes him look dangerous in spite of his sorry physical appearance. 84. CONTINUED: As Louis looks up he sees people cheering him from every window. Their faces, in spite of the cheering, look grim. INT. AN UPSTAIRS ROOM There are several townspeople in the room, all leaning out of the windows and cheering the Dauphin. The only people in the room who are not near a window are two guardsmen with drawn swords. EXT. THE STREET Louis looks at the cheering faces aboye him. He turns te CLAUDE, his aíde. LOUIS Would you say these people appear a bit coerced, Claude? CLAUDE I would say they look fairly desperate, Sire. LOUIS So would I. Well, I expect the very least D'Aussigny can do, after having me exiled to the court of Phillipe the Good for five years is to have his people cheer me. He should have reminded them to smile though. Would have made it more convincing. INT. THE PIT OF ZASTHRATAS The group of victims en the platform is growing smaller as the rope is prepared for another one. Two of the GUARDSMEN are speaking to ene another: 1ST GUARDSMAN 'Tis rare for him to have such a feast a11 at once. 2ND GUARDSMAN His appetite seems unabated. They glance around for the next victim and stop on Isabeau. One of them grabs her and they begin binding her with the blood-soaked rope. 85. CONTINUED: ISABEAU Please... please... IST GUARDSMAN Don't worry, sweetheart. One gulp and it's over. He's hardly chewing his food at all today. She looks at Brother Imperius, her eyes expressing total despair. The eyes of Brother Imperius too express dismay. He looks over the edge of the platform for the first time. He al- ready knows what is down there, but the sight nevertheless freezes his blood. The monster ZASTHRATAS looms in the shadows, a nearly shape- less, bloated thing, with filthy white albino fur and an enormous blunt head. Something about his distorted face and saucer red eyes is vague human and sickenly reminds one of the Bishop. Zasthratas' bulk is the bulk of an elephant, and his double rows of teeth would put a shark to shame. Human blood flows freely from his mouth to stain the white fur. A huge, pink tongue licks at it nervously. As Brother Imperius stares into that hideous face, the monster seems to recognize him. He forms his mouth ínto something like a smile and then, as if speech were a for- gotten remnant of his past, struggles to form articulate words. Finally he says in a hideous voice: ZASTHRATAS Imperius! Imperius! Greetings, old friend. IMPERIUS Be damned, Zasthratas! ZASTHRATAS Oh yes, oh yes. Easy to say. You see me now as I have become. Quite a disgrace. Quite a difference from the past. But you are still impotent against me, Imperius. You still fear me, even now. IMPERIUS Fear you! Ha! You're a bloated rat, that's all. But it is easy to see that the creature is right. Brother Imperius is afraid. 86. CONTINUED: ZASTHRATAS A hungry rat. Still hungry. IMPERIUS (stalling for time) Toohungryto chat with an 'vid friend'? ZASTHRATAS Soon. A few moments more, a few mouthfuls more, and we shall chat. The guardsmen look fearfully at one another. They have paused, astounded to hear Zasthratas speak, but now they quickly bind Isabeau and begin lowering her into the pit. The WINCH SQUEAKS. Brother Imperius closes his eyes ín despair. When he opens them again he sees something that makes his expression change. At the bottom of the pit, behind the enormous bulk of Zasthratas, stands Phillipe the Mouse, holding Ladyhawke's dagger. Imperius closes his eyes again, smiling. INT. THE BOTTOM OF THE PIT Phillipe looks at the bulk looming aboye him. Beyond all fear now, he leaps up, grasps the creature's fur, and climbs up its back. Zasthratas shakes himself. For a moment he is distracted from his hunger by the sensation of something on his body. But then he sees the tasty morsel (Isabeau) being lowered to him and forgets the momentary irritation. Phillipe climbs swiftly, twisting his fingers into the matted fur, grasping and pulling, cantil he reaches a point behind the head. Zasthratas ignores him. Its prey is almost within reach. Phillipe feels for a place between two vertebrae, draws the dagger and drives it in. Zasthratas screams. It is a sound out of the abysmal depths of the earth. INT. THE BISHOP'S CHAMBER The Bishop is preparing himself for the arrival of Louis XI. Suddenly he coughs. His eyes widen and a gurgling sound escapes his throat. 87. INT. THE PIT OF ZASTHRATAS Phillipe twists the dagger, driving it deeper into the creature's spine. Zasthratas writhes in agony, trying to reach behind him with his short limbs. ON THE PLATFORM One of the guardsmen approaches the edge of the platform to see what the sudden commotion is about. Brother Imperius steps up behind him, grasps the handle of his sword, and gives the man a salid boot from behind. The sword slides out of the scabbard and stays in Brother Imperius' hand as the guardsman falls with a scream into the pit. IN THE PIT The guardsman lands on Zasthratas' head. He is immediately caught in the creature's claws. Thinking he has seized his tormentor, Zasthratas tears the screaming man in half. ON THE PLATFORM Brother Imperius battles with one of the three remaining guardsmen, while the other two who are on the winch -- look at one another in confusion. IN THE PIT Phillipe strains to drive the dagger deeper, as Zasthratas writhes in agony. Finally the creature flings itself against the wall of the pit in an effort to crush him. At the same moment Phillipe glances up to see Isabeau hang- ing just aboye him. Reaching up, he takes her hand, and is left hanging in midair as the monster's enormous bulk collides with the wall and drives the dagger into its spine, right to the very tip of the handle. Zasthratas' red eyes go glassy and his body slumps against the wall of the pit. ON THE PLATFORM The guardsman battling Brother Imperius is stunned to find that the little man has the strength of several big men. With every ringing clash of their swords, the gaurdsman is driven back, closer and closer to the edge of the pit. Fi- nally he falls screaming over the side and lands on the muddy floor of the pit, where he líes stunned. 88. CONTINUED: The guardsmen on the winch finally let go. The wooden wheel starts to spin. Its SQUEAK becomes a SHRIEK as moke rises from the friction. IN THE PIT Phillipe and Isabeau are lowered very rapidly to the muddy floor of the pit, where they land with a thud on top of the unconscious guardsman. The dead body of Zasthratas, slumped against the wall, looms aboye them. ON THE PLATFORM The two guardsmen battle Brother Imperius, but they are hardly a match for him. His speed, agility, and supernatural strength drive them backwards. IN THE PIT Phillipe takes the unconscious guardsman's sword, slips it under his belt, and scrambles up the rope onto the platform. ON THE PLATFORM Phillipe joins Brother Imperius in fighting the two guards- men. IN THE PIT Isabeau scrambles up the rope. There is a YELL from aboye as one guardsman falls pass her. Then another YELL and another guardsman. ON THE PLATFORM Brother Imperius begins to cut the bonds of the prisoners, while Phillipe grabs the handle of the winch and pulls Isabeau the rest of the way up. He reaches for her, swings her over the platform and takes her in his arms. Bodies and faces pressed together, they cling in a wordless embrace. The little monk smiles, his eyes twinkling. IMPERIUS Well done, Mouse! ONE OF THE PRISONERS There's somebody coming! 89. Listening, they can hear FOOTSTEPS from the spiral stairway that leads to the pit. INT. SPIRAL STAIRWAY Navarre is being led by two guardsmen, his hands bound with rope behind him. ON THE PLATFORM Everyone huddles by the door. Navarre is the first to walk through. He no sooner passes the doorway than Brother Imperius brings his sword down with a deft stroke, severing Navarre's bonds. Navarre turns in surprise. His fase lights up as Phillipe tosses him a sword. The two guards stop in the doorway, see their situation at a glance, turra and run for their lives. PHILLIPE (to Navarre) Zasthratas is slain, Captain. Navarre gives a wild whoop of joy and charges up the spiral stairway after the guardsmen, followed by Phillipe, Brother Imperius and the freed prisoners. INT. THE BISHOP'S CHAMBER The Bishop stands by the window that overlooks the Inner Courtyard. His eyes are shut tightly and his breathing is painful. Finally he opens his eyes. He sees, in the courtyard below, the party of the Dauphin being let in. The courtyard is crowded with people, and enough guardsmen to make sure they put on their happy townsfolk act. EXT. INNER COURTYARD Louis looks at the faces, listens to the hoarse cheers, and seniles wryly at his aide. He sees a reception committee waiting at the entrance to the Great Hall. LOUIS Stili no sign of His Reverence. Well, at least we'll soon get breakfast. 90. INT. BISHOP'S CHAMBER The hooded figure stands looking clown into the courtyard, his BACK TO the CAMERA. There is a COMMOTION HEARD from the stairs and a CLASH OF SWORDS. A moment later a group of guardsmen comes backing into the chamber, fighting hard with our heroes. The hooded form of the Bishop turns toward them. The fighting ceases instantly. Even Navarre is shaken by what he sees. For the albino is a living corpse, a shriveled white mummy, with eyes that contain the last gleam of malign animation. He does not look at Navarra, but rather at Brother Imperius. His voice is like the crackle of dry leaves burning. BISHOP So, you've slain Zasthratas and you think you've defeated me? Well, Imperius, I saw through your disguise. Will you see through mine? He turns toward the window and sees the hawk fluttering out there. BISHOP There you are! Have you come to gloat, accursed one? He reaches a skeletan-like'hand toward the bird, which strikes at it with its beak. With a sound halfway between a laugh and a shriek, the Bishop lunges at the bird, over- balances, and falls into space. EXT. COURTYARD BELOW Louis and Claude look on as the body of the Bishop falls from the high window, falling with an odd slowness, and twisting in the wind. There is a moment's stunned silence, followed by a SWELLING CHEER by the people, heartfelt and true. LOUIS So much enthusiasm for a dead Bishop and so little for me. The people rush to the body. They are surprised to find nothing there but the Bishop's cocal. When they pick it up, some white powder dribbles out. Nothing more. 91. INT. THE BISHOP'S CHAMBER The black hawk flutters into the room. Even as she flies a change is taking place. The bird swells, changes, and stands before Navarre in her human form as Ladyhawke. For a moment neither moves, neither speaks. Then slowly they draw close and, with their entire bodies trembling, they embrace. The guardsmen look on, totally aghast. IMPERIUS All right, gentlemen. The battle is done. Your master has gone to his just punishment, God willing, so we might as well make a truce at this juncture and await the coming of our new king. INT. BISHOP'S RECEPTION ROOM Louis, surrounded by his own guard and entourage, enters the Bishop's reception room. Here he is greeted by a sprightly Phillipe Gaston, who makes a theatrical bow. PHILLIPE Your Majesty, His Reverence the Bishop has been expecting you. LOUIS Really? I thought I just saw him go out. PHILLIPE Go out? No, Sire. No indeed. This way, please. Phillipe bows again and leads the way to the Bishop's chamber . INT. THE BISHOP'S CHAMBER Somebody is sitting in the Bishop's ornate chair. It is none other than Brother Imperius. Phillipe comes in, leading Louis' entourage. PHILLIPE Your Majesty, His Reverence. Your Reverence, His Majesty. The future king does a double take. LOUIS A friar? In the Bishop's seat? (MORE) 92. CONTINUED: LOUIS (CONT'D) (then he peers closely at Brother Imperius) Is that you, Imperius? IMPERIUS Yes, Your Majesty. LOUIS Still meddling in people's affairs. IMPERIUS Sometimes. You lost no great friend here. LOUIS True. IMPERIUS While France has lost a monster. LOUIS The next thing I'll know, you'll want to be Bishop yourself. IMPERIUS Only for the moment, cantil you persuade His Holiness in Rome to send a true shepherd for this flock. Then it'll be back to the high road for me. LOUIS I see. Bishop pro tem. Anything else I can do for you? IMPERIUS Why yes. Give us a royal pardon for my friend Phillipe Gaston here. He's been a rascal, but that's all in the past. I know he'll want to go back to Paris, but I doubt he'll want to be hanged. LOUIS Wise of hita. Very well, Imperius, the documents will be prepared. In the meantime, as the acting Bishop and ruler of Meung, can you arder us some breakfast? EXT. MONTAGE OF TOWN AND CASTLE - DAY People everywhere are celebrating. 93. CONTINUED: The Bishop's storehouses are being opened and quantities of • food are being carried out. There is a joyous air of celebration everywhere. Singing and dancing in the streets. EXT. INNER COURTYARD A party is going on in the Inner Courtyard. Tables have been set, laden with food and drink. Beggar and rich man sit side by side and toast each other, not to mention the future king of France at the head of the longest table. INT. THE BISHOP'S APARTMENT Navarre and Ladyhawke stand in a passionate embrace as SOUNDS OF MERRIMENT drift in from below. This is the moment denied them for twenty years. Ladyhawke is the first ta speak. LADYHAWKE We mustn't forget, we have Phillipe the Mouse to thank. NAVARRE Where is he now? LADYHAWKE He and his lady áre in the courtyard, as happy as ourselves. They both go to the window and see Phillipe and Isabeau, pressed finto a comer against a buttress, embracing. Navarre and Ladyhawke smile at one another and start to withdraw from the window when Navarre catches a glimpse of someone sneaking along the wall below. He recognizes Marquet, dagger in hand, sneaking up on Phillipe and Isabeau. NAVARRE That man! He was with the Bishop! LADYHAWKE (calling out) Phillipe! Phillipe! The second time she calls Phillipe looks up, smiles, winks, and embraces Isabeau again. He does not see Marquet, creep- ing along the wall, holding his dagger. 94. CONTINUED: Navarre glances around the room and spots the discarded rope he used to swing in through the window. He hurriedly grabs the rape, ties a loop into one end and takes it to the window. He measures the distance with his eyes and waits. Marquet must pass directly below him. And as he does, Navarre drops the loop. EXT. INNER COURTYARD The loop drops over Marquet's head. INT. THE BISHOP'S CHAMBER Navarre jerks on the rope with all his might. EXT. INNER COURTYARD The loop tightens, lifting Marquet into the air. He claws at the rope, then reaches aboye the loop and takes his weight off his neck by pulling himself up a bit with his arms. But how long can he hold it? INT. THE BISHOP'S CHAMBER Navarre knots the rope on the center post of the window. EXT. ANOTHER PART OF THE INNER COURTYARD The people continue their celebration. MARQUET His armsJnow dangle. His body is limp. His one eye stares its eternal hatred at the sky. DISSOLVE TO: INT. THE BISHOP'S CHAMBER The friends have gathered to say farewell. Brother Imperius embraces Navarre and Ladyhawke in turn, then embraces Phillipe. He is dressed in the Bishop's vestments, which fit him like a rhinocerous' skin fits the rhinocerous. 95. CONTINUED: IMPERIUS • Don't forget, Mouse, 1'm counting on you to send me a good Parisian tailor. PH1LLIPE How long do you think you'll be wearing that outfit? IMPERIUS Not long, 1 hope. 1'd rather slip back into the sackcloth and spend the summer by the sea. He turns and embraces Isabeau. IMPERIUS Be happy, my children. God has renewed your lives. The rest is up to you. He smiles, though his eyes are suspiciously moist, and does his round of embraces over again. EXT. OVERVIEW OF CASTLE AND TOWN Brother Imperius, dressed in his baggy vestments, stands in a high window looking down as Phillipe, Isabeau, Navarre and Ladyhawke ride through the courtyard below. ,People are lined up along their way to cheer and wish them well. As they reach the outer gatehouse they turn and wave to Imperius. Brother Imperius can still see them as they ríde down the main street of the tocan, cheered as they go, and finally out the city gates. Then he hears a PIERCING CRY, and sees a hawk passing high overhead. EXT. OUTSIDE THE CITY GATES Two roads lead away, and the four friends pause. .NAVARRE So it's back toParis, eh, Mouse? PHILLIPE With my pardon in my pocket. And you? 96. CONTINUED: NAVARRE e To my ancestral honre in-Normandy. Why don't you come with us. Whatever is ours will be yours. PHILLIPE Thanks, Captain. But we have each other and we're going to be free in Paris. We're children of her streets, my Isabeau and I. Godspeed to you both. Navarre leans across to Phillipe and gives him a bear hug. NAVARRE Godspeed to you, my friend, and to your lady. ISABEAU Goodbye, Captain. Goodbye, Lady. LADYHAWKE Goodbye. And, Phillipe, don't forget the Sword of Merlin. Phillipe gives her a huge grin and kicks his horse into a gallop. PHILLIPE (calling back) Never, my Lady. Never! Farewell! NAVARRE AND LADYHAWKE Farewell! EXT. THE CASTLE WINDOW Brother Imperius stands in the window, watching. He can see the tiny forms of Phillipe and Isabeau in the distance. They take one road, the Captain and Ladyhawke the other. His eyes move upward, and he sees a black hawk, high aboye the roads. THE HAWK'S POV The hawk glides smoothly over the roads and countryside. It sees the diminutive human figures going their separate ways. The snow is melting and the trees have begun to leaf. There is a true feeling of spring in the air. The hawk gives a cry and flies as high as it can go. - THE END -