Sc. 50 EXT - NORTH SEA SKY - DAY
Brigid's feathers glint golden in the morning sun as she wings steadily over the open sea. Her eagle eyes search the sea and the horizon for land.
A pale streak under the dark green water catches her eye. Another pale shape joins the first and the two long, thin shapes match her flight path beneath the choppy waves.
A roll of thunder brings Brigid's attention to the northern horizon. A roiling mass of cloud is building up ahead. Below the clouds, the sea is being whipped into a frenzy.
Brigid climbs higher into the sky.
The tornado approaches Brigid at speed. The winds pick up as Brigid desperately beats the sky. The tornado swells with the sea water it sucks up as it bears down on the struggling eagle.
Tornado and bird clash and Brigid is easily sucked into the great, swirling storm. Frightened and confused, Brigid fights against the water and wind and she begins to lose her eagle form.
Her face is soon her own, then her legs - too heavy in their human shape and they drag her down. Brigid closes her eyes and concentrates but it is too much: her torso changes and, last of all, she loses her wings.
Brigid is tossed by the winds and battered by seaweed, fish and flotsam caught in the Shadowkeeper's wrath.
Suddenly: calm. Falling.
Brigid has been spat out into the eye of the storm - falling fast. Below her, the sea is calm and the two pale shapes surface, their mammoth jaws opening wide, all savage white teeth and pink gums, ready to catch their falling prey.
Desperate, Brigid glances up and hope lights her face - there is a clear, calm tunnel to sky above. Still plummeting, Brigid closes her eyes and tries to calm herself and concentrate.
BRIGID (chanting): Eagle. Eagle. Eagle.
As the sharks are snapping at her feet, Brigid transforms again. Weaving to stay within the eye as the storm tries to catch her up again, Brigid thrashes at the air with her wings.
At last, Brigid streaks out of the tornado and climbs into the blue, the storm becoming the Shadowkeeper's hag face, screaming at the bird beyond her reach.
Brigid lets out a loud EAGLE'S CRY and swoops and wheels in victory.
As the storm sinks back into the sea the Shadowkeeper ululates:
SHADOWKEEPER: Corr! Corr! Corr! Corr!
At her call, another cloud appears in the north, white this time, moving at speed toward Brigid. The cloud matches Brigid's height easily and soon reveals itself to be a flock of large white birds.
The cranes surround Brigid and set upon her, dancing in the air, kicking at her gracefully, leaving glistening scratches on her Shadow body. Brigid gets in a good swipe or two with her talons but she is juggled between them like a soccer ball.
At last, the cruel dance ends and the largest of cranes stretches out an elegant leg and grasps Brigid's head in one large, talon. As Brigid flaps desperately, the circle of cranes parts and four more cranes approach. Slung between them, a corner in each beak, is a fine, silver net.
The crane holding Brigid tosses her into the air and another kicks her hard, sending her into the net. The net bearers close the net around her and carry their prey north.
Inside the net, Brigid loses her eagle shape. She hugs her knees and looks out beyond the net. An island lies on the northern horizon, a mountain filling its eastern half, the peak hidden in dense cloud.
Sc. 51 EXT - THE SHADOWKEEPER'S ISLE - DAY
The cranes carry Brigid over the craggy mountain isle.
From her airborne prison, Brigid searches the land for any sign of Lachlan but it seems devoid of all life - living or Shadow. A forest once grew over the island but now the trees stand black, slimy and rotting.
They reach the mountain and Brigid's vision is obscured as the net is lifted into the bank of dark cloud. Suddenly, one side of the net is loosed and Brigid tumbles out. She grabs at the silver links and swings from one arm.
The cranes lower her through the cloud, revealing the peak of the mountain and a gaping hole in its center.
The cranes loose the net completely and Brigid tumbles, tangled in silver, into the waiting maw.
YOU ARE READING
The Shadowkeeper **Feature Screenplay**
Fantasy** Wattpad Featured Story!** A young girl arouses the wrath of an ancient Scottish water spirit who takes her brother's soul in revenge. To save him Brigid must journey through the Shadow realm, begging help and proving herself to each of the totem...
