Kevin's Watch

"It's not that easy!"

FADE IN
EXT. RIVERSIDE – EST. EARLY MORNING

POV Mithil River flowing cleanly past. Camera moves towards the shore. We see clean sand and small pebbles. A pair of hiking boots starts at the top of screen, followed by rumpled jeans leading to an open zipper and unclasped jeans and belt, a bare stomach and open shirt. Finally Covenant asleep on the sand next to a sand bowl of still warm graveling. His face a mix of quiet and disturbing dreams. A distant scream causes his eyes to open with a start.

POV Covenant jerking to a sitting position looking around quickly.

POV PAN around the area we see nothing but trees along the riverside and a few birds flitting here and there.

POV CU Covenant as he closes his eyes and buries his face into his hands. Shakes his head and then drops his hands and opens his eyes. He looks around once more. Seeing nothing.

POV Covenant gets to his feet and stands uncertainly. Looks around once more.

POV PAN once more around the area and across the river. Nothing except trees, river beaches and rocks.

POV Covenant. Moves to the river side and kneels down.

POV CU The spot that Covenant chooses happens to be a small jetty and the river’s movement doesn’t affect the water there. Covenant is able to see his face in the water. It’s distorted by small wave movements. Covenant dips his hands into the water and splashes his face. An odd optical illusion of his face in the water remains. He stares wildly into it. Then with a shout smashes the image with his fists.

POV Water splashes everywhere and Covenant stands to jump into the jetty. He loses his footing and falls into the river. He splashes to the surface and pauses. The cold water cools his anger and he looks around.

EXT. MITHIL BRIDGE

Atiaran stands at the arch of the bridge and turns to the sound of Covenant splashing into the water. She is wearing a leather pack of sorts over her shoulder in one hand she holds another. She watches quietly for a moment then moves towards the other side.

EXT RIVERSIDE

Covenant removes his shirt and tosses it to the shore and begins splashing cold water over his body. He is heedless of the movement behind him.

POV Atiaran stands by the graveling watching Covenant, the packs at her side on the sand. She looks down at the graveling and kneels and moves her hands over the small stones, they glow brighter. Nodding to herself she stands upright again and waits.

POV Covenant scrubbing at himself briskly then stops. He senses someone is watching him. Wheels towards the shore and sees Atiaran watching him. Her face is blank, quiet, blameless.

POV Covenant standing waist deep in the river and Atiaran by the graveling as they regard each other silently. Atiaran puts both hands together and nods to the graveling.

ATIARAN
(flatly)
Come to the graveling, you must dry yourself.

POV Covenant standing guiltily in the water before he moves out and to the far side opposite the graveling. He bends to pick up his shirt and lays it out before him. He rubs the water off his skin and hair. He says nothing. His face betrays his guilt but Atiaran doesn’t seem to notice. She has her face turned to the rising sun.

ATIARAN
I knew where to find you. Before I returned from speaking with the Circle of Elders Lena told Trell that you were here.

POV CU Covenant stops drying himself and doesn’t look at her.

COVENANT
Did he see her?

POV Atiaran turns to look at Covenant. Her face is still expressionless.

ATIARAN
No. She went to spend the night with a friend. She only called out her message as she passed our home.

POV CU Covenant turns his face away from Atiaran closes his eyes and grits his teeth. He looks up at Atiaran, who has turned to the rising sun again.

COVENANT
What did the elders say?

ATIARAN
(flatly, without looking at Covenant)
There was little for them to say. I told them what I know of you
and of the Land’s peril. They agreed that I must
guide you to Lord’s Keep. For that purpose I have come to you
now. See (pointing at the packs besides her) I am ready
Trell my husband has given me his blessing.
(pauses)
It grieves me to go without giving my love to my daughter
but time is urgent. You have not told me
all your message, but I sense that from this day forward
each delay is hazardous. The elders will give thought to the
defense of the plains.

POV Atiaran turns to Covenant. Her eyes are fearful and sad. His face softens in pity for her.

COVENANT
Things aren’t as bad as they might be
A cavewright has found the Staff of Law, and I’m guessing he doesn’t really know how to use it. Somehow the Lords have got to get it away from him.

POV Atiaran stiffening at his words.

ATIARAN
(tightly)
Then the life of the Land is in our speed.
Alas that we cannot go to the Ranyhyn for help. But the Ramen
have little countenance for the affairs of the Land
and no Ranyhyn has been ridden, save by Lord or Bloodguard
since the age began. We must walk Thomas Covenant, and Revelstone is 300 long leagues distant. Is your clothing dry? We must be on our way.

POV Covenant nods and bends to pick up his shirt. He puts it on and feels the material on the front. He then looks at his fingertips. Rubs them on his thumb. He gives himself a VSE and when he is finished he looks at Atiaran with a nod. She hesitates with an expression of mortification.

ATIARAN
Do you trust me to guide you Thomas Covenant? You do not
know me. I have failed in the Loresraat.

POV CU Covenant swallows hard.

COVENANT
I trust you. Why not? You said yourself .....
You said yourself that I come to save or damn the Land.

POV Atiaran looks up at him.

ATIARAN
True, but you do not have the stink of a servant of the Gray Slayer. My heart tells me that it is the fate of the Land to put faith in you. For good or for ill.

POV Atiaran bends to pick up a pack and hands it to Covenant. He takes it and puts it on his shoulders. She does the same with the remaining one. With a nod she heads off towards the sunrise.

EXT RIVERSIDE

POV Camera lifts off from Covenant and Atiaran and rises above the trees. Beyond them lay a vast field leading off to the horizon.

CUT TO: A large rock by the riverside on the opposite bank. We see Covenant and Atiaran disappearing into the trees by the river and a hand appears on the rock followed by a tangled mess of blonde hair.

POV Opposite the rock. Lena peers out carefully from behind the rock and watches. We can see she is holding the upper half of her dress to one shoulder with one hand. Tears are in her eyes as she watches her mother leave with her rapist. Her lips tremble and she ducks down behind the rock.

POV Lena’s side of the rock as she kneels in a sitting fetal position her arms wrapped around her knees. She weeps silently. A hand appears on screen and rests on her shoulder. Lena gasps and turns, recognition fills her eyes and she shuts them and turns her head.

FADE OUT

Right now folks, I'm at where Covenant leaves Atiaran's story of Berek and Lena guides him to "the scene of the crime".... mein gott!

Cue shameless plug for my step-daughter's role on the editing crew for such big films as Vertical Limit, Zoolander, Reign Of Fire and upcoming Starsky & Hutch

COVENANT
Then stop treating me as if I’m something that I’m not!

ATIARAN
How can I? You are closed to me Thomas Covenant. I do not see you.

POV CU Covenant HUH?

COVENANT
What do you mean you don’t see me?
I’m standing right in front of you.

ATIARAN
You are closed to me. I do not know if you are well or ill?

POV Covenant HUH? again. Then grits his teeth

COVENANT
Ill? Of course I’m ill, I’m a leper.

ATIARAN
(groans)
Then woe to the Land, for you have the wild magic and can undo us all

POV Covenant (aww geez!) Brandishing his left fist in her face

COVENANT
Will you cut that out? It’s just a ring.
To remind me of everything I have to live without.
It’s got no more — wild magic —(looks around)
than those rocks!

POV Atiaran eyes wide with fear.

ATIARAN
(whispering)
The Earth is the source of all power.

POV Covenant rolling his eyes and fighting to keep from shouting. Then pauses ... wait a minute.

COVENANT
(calmly, carefully)
Back up a minute. Lets get this straight. I said I was ill.
What does that mean to you? Don’t you even have diseases in this world?

POV CU Atiaran mouthing the word diseases as if it’s new to her. Then her eyes open wide in shock at something behind Covenant. She points but she can’t utter a sound.

POV Covenant whirls around to see what she sees

POV Rock wall of the file shows nothing. Then a scrabbling noise and small pebbles and shale fall in to the file.

ATIARAN
(alarmed)
The follower! Run! Run!

POV Atiaran turns and hauls ass out of there. Covenant pauses just for a second then realizes that flight is the best option and tears down the file after her.

POV behind Covenant and Atiaran in pursuit above them. Gaining on them. On Covenant.

POV Atiaran running towards the camera to OS Covenant running hard but loses his balance and stumbles and almost falls. To his left a dark shape emerges from the rocks above him and jumps.

POV Covenant recovers but is still in an awkward position as he rights himself a dark figure drops down in front of him. He pulls up short and throws up his arms to ward off a blow.

POV EX CU A stone knife flashes across the screen

CUT TO knife blade scoring the back of Covenant’s left hand.

CUT TO Covenant falling OS

CUT TO Atiaran stopping and turning. Her face is shocked when she sees who it is that was following them. She runs towards the two.

CUT TO A young man dressed as a STONEDOWNER lands on his (knife) side and rolls to a fighting crouch and waving the knife at Covenant.

POV Covenant regaining his balance, his hands bleeding and he steps backwards into the stream trying to put distance between him and the knife.

CUT TO The young man, tall and powerfully built as typical of a STONEDOWNER. Woven into the shoulders of his tunic a insignia of crossed lightning bolts in white against the grey tunic. His face, clean shaven and full of rage and hatred.

YOUNG STONEDOWNER
RAVER! RAVISHER!

POV Covenant still trying to keep distance between him and the advancing knife.

ATIARAN
(OS)
TRILOCK!

POV Trilock slashes at Covenant with the knife again. Covenant steps back awkwardly but still keeping his balance.

POV CU Stone knife in Trilock’s hand moves in slow motion, a line of blood along the edge of the blade and a drop gathers on the tip and falls OS

POV (real time) Trilock slashes again with the knife and misses. Covenant staggers backwards and he loses his footing and lands hard on his ass with his feet still in the stream.

POV CU Trilock’s face now triumphant raises his knife arm high above him for a killing thrust.

POV Atiaran reaches the two men and inserts herself between them. Her stance is one of command and order, bent forward, arms out to her sides.

ATIARAN
Trilock! Do you Rave? You swore The Oath Of Peace!

CUT TO Covenant sitting on the ground. Now snatches one hand up to his eyes.

POV CU Covenant’s hand with a deep cut along the back of the left fist leading diagonally to his fingers.

POV EX CU Covenant’s eyes are wild.

COVENANT
(tight whisper)
Impossible!

POV Atiaran and Trilock standing in front of Covenant. Atiaran guarding the injured man. Trilock lowers the knife and straightened, bends around trying not to take his eyes off Covenant. Breathing hard and trying to contain his grief, points his knife at Covenant accusingly.

TRILOCK
He — he ravished Lena!

POV CU Atiaran eyes fly open wide in shock. Her mouth moves but no sound.

ATIARAN
(no sound)
No! Lena, No!

POV Atiaran turns to Covenant who is still staring at his fingers, oblivious to what’s happening around him. Trilock takes a step towards Covenant and Atiaran turns to ward him off.

ATIARAN
Loyalty is due. I forbid your vengeance.

POV Trilock, looking shocked and hurt.

TRILOCK
Does he go unpunished?

Atiaran shakes her head.

ATIARAN
There is peril in the Land
Let the Lords punish him. They will know better
what to think of a stranger who attacks the innocent.

POV Atiaran sags and her voice wells with grief

ATIARAN
The matter is beyond me.
(voice hardens)
Trilock, remember your Oath!

POV Atiaran kneels down and grips her shoulders, her fingers knotting in the leaf pattern of her shift as if to hold her sorrow down.

POV Trilock panting and calming down. Stares at Atiaran, watching her grief. His face hardens and he turns to Covenant and points his knife again at him.

TRILOCK
I know you, Unbeliever. We will meet again.
Pray that a Bloodguard wards you
For I will not remember my Oath then.

POV CU Covenant still staring at his hand, bleeding, he wiggles them and winces in pain. Atiaran kneels in the background with Trilock standing over her and pointing his knife at him. He still ignores the two persons with him.

COVENANT
(whispering tightly)
Impossible! Can’t be happening!
Nerves don’t... don’t regenerate!

POV Trilock staring hard at Covenant growls at him and tosses the knife down hard into the ground. It buries itself half way to the leather wrapped guard. Trilock then turns and walks off quickly, then sprints OS.

POV Atiaran, kneeling as she was before looks at the knife buried in the ground by Covenant. Tears course down her face. She shuts her eyes of the weapon and groans.

ATIARAN
You have made my heart a wilderland.

COVENANT
(ignoring her)
Nerves don’t regenerate. They don’t!

ATIARAN
(softly, then bitter)
Does that make you free? Does that justify your crime?

Covenant stares at his bleeding hands. Then shakes them accusingly at Atiaran.

COVENANT
Crime? Crime? I’m in pain!

Covenant ignores Atiaran again and mutters to himself.

COVENANT
Can’t happen. Of course it can’t.
This (shaking his hands at himself)
This proves it. It’s a dream. All a dream!

Atiaran opens her eyes, red, swollen with grief and pain of her own.

ATIARAN
Pain is pain. What is your pain to me?
You have done a black deed, Unbeliever.
Violent and cruel, without sharing
without commitment You have given me a pain
that no blood or time will wash clean.
(growing anger)
And Lena, Lena my daughter... ahh. I pray that the Lords
will punish — punish!

POV again Covenant ignores her and bends down to the stream beneath him. He sticks his hands into the flowing water and the blood flows up and away from his wounded hand.

POV CU Covenant’s hands underwater of the flowing stream, blood clouds up and for a moment it creates a hooded head with two hollow eyes that flare suddenly then fade as the image distorts and loses shape as the water carries the blood away. A low mocking laughter like Foul’s is heard OS and fades.

POV Covenant scrubs at the wound and winces at the pain. He stops and lifts his hands dripping water and blood from them. He stares incredulously at his wound again and sticks his cut back under water again.

COVENANT
(growls)
Why should I go? None of this matters.
I don’t give a damn about your precious Land.

POV CU Atiaran lifts her head at his words. Her eyes aflame with anger and shock. She stands up.

ATIARAN
By the Seven! You will go to Revelstone.
Even if I must drag you each step of the way!

POV Covenant still ignores her anger. He lifts his hand again and examines it.

POV CU Covenant’s wound is no longer bleeding profusely but we can see the cut is deep and clean. No jagged edges, Trilock’s knife was as sharp as a razor.

POV Covenant looks up at Atiaran who stands above him her hands clenched together at her heart. She glares at him abominably and her face is tight with fierce, rough strength. She looks ready to fight him to Revelstone.

POV CU Covenant seeing the anger in the woman’s face, is shamed for a moment. Then he clenches his teeth and shakes his injury at her.

COVENANT
(billegerently)
I need a bandage

POV CU Atiaran’s eyes widen with renewed rage. How dare he? Then she masters herself and turns to one of the packs lying on the ground. She kneels and opens it roughly in a struggle to contain her anger. She pulls out a white cloth and begins tearing a long strip from it. She stands and walks over to Covenant and kneels down by him and takes his hand. Carefully she inspects the cut. Her voice is neutral now. Like a professional nurse. She begins wrapping his injury.

ATIARAN
I have no hurtloam and cannot take
the time to search for it. But the cut —
looks well and will heal clean.

POV Atiaran finishing up the bandage and without another word gets up and pick up her pack. She shoulders it and turns to Covenant. Coldly she orders him up.

ATIARAN
Come. We have lost time.

POV Atiaran’s retreating back as she marches off down the file. Covenant sits there looking at his hand whispers “Impossible” and gets up and finds his pack and shoulders it. He turns to Atiaran who is yards away from him now.

COVENANT
(sneers after her)
This is just a dream. That’s all.

He takes a step and halts and looks down.

POV Covenant’s boot. Besides it is the knife Trilock tossed to the ground.

POV Covenant bends down and grips it with his uninjured two-fingered right. It slips out of his grasp and he grabs it again and works the blade back and forth til it’s loose enough to be pulled out.

POV CU of the knife in Covenant’s half-hand. It has the appearance of being shaped and polished out of one flat sliver of stone. Dark like flint and looks primitive but the dual edges are smooth like a razor. The haft is leather bound and braided with exquisite work.

POV Covenant holding the knife in his half hand and lifts up his left arm. The sleeve is rolled up and he tests the edge of the knife on the hairs of his arm.

POV CU Covenant neatly shaves a small patch of hair off his arm.

POV Covenant looks at the knife and grunts approval. He then sticks it into his belt and looks to see where Atiaran is.

POV Atiaran a ways off and standing waiting for him to begin walking. She beckons to him angrily.

POV CU Covenant. Sneers at her again.

COVENANT
Just a damned dream

POV behind Covenant as he hitches the pack higher up on his shoulders and marches towards Atiaran at a trot.

FADE OUT