Cave of the Dragon's Teeth by Deborah Craig

This Play is the copyright of the Author and may not be performed, copied or sold without the Author's prior consent

(Early medieval or primitive flute music begins as lights go up. The
stage has a cliff, about six feet wide, on which one can sit and step
up, upstage center left. It has large rocks on either side of it.
The entrance to the cave is stage left. Downstage right is a log or a
rock outcropping about four feet in length, high enough for a seat,
and from behind it, the "Monster flame" set will be placed. The
three SEANACHIES sit in the tree at the far DSR corner , and get
up, one by one, and begin to dance a simple Celtic medieval dance.
They are dressed as forest spirits in wispy, gauzy dresses, one gold,
one green and one blue, with leaves. Their faces are painted with
blue Pictish designs. At the end of the dance, they approach
downstage and speak to the audience:)

GREEN. We are the seanachies, loved and honored, for we are the
preservers of stories. We do not forget our people, our dead, our
pasts
(Fog cue.)

GOLD. These mists cover the lands and still whisper our people's
secrets, their battles and their sufferings, their strengths

BLUE. Feel the mists of these hills, and listen hear
them.their ancient voices, their music, their village
livestheir kingdoms

GREEN. For they were a people of pride, of grace and of artistry
Celts, they were called, for the blue clay they put on their faces and
markings on their bodies

GOLD. And among their great people was a tribe known as the Picts..
proud and skillful, a people of spirit and grace..

BLUE. And they dwelt in these hillsthese mist covered hills..
blessed with clear cold rivers, full of fish, deep green valleys for
their herds, forests for their huts and hearths

GREEN. And flourish, they did, in this land of mists, blessed with
food and fish and fowl

GOLD. And then

(Cue: drums, which gradually get louder and faster)

From across the sea they came, a few at first, then like the
stars, these yellow-haired, fair-skinned demons.

BLUE. In their dragon boats, with their horned helmets, broad
swords, and their greed, their murderous, evil greed.

GREEN. Merciless they were, killing us, ravaging us, taking our
grain stores, our weapons, our goods, then burning our villages

GOLD. Reapers of deathdestroyers. Killing our men in
battlestealing our children for slavesthese yellow-haired
demonswarriors without honorlike beasts, like demons from the
sea

BLUE. Village after village, destroyed, disappearing into the
burning ashes.into the bloodstained earth disappearing, into the
mists of these hills forever!

(drums stop)

GREEN. One clan remnants of a once proud and mighty clan, (Cue:
mournful music, softly) limp their way to safety from the fires which
was once their village, their home

(The clan enters from SR, glancing behind them, and settle in
various parts on the rocks.)

GOLD. To an ancient refuge of their peoplewhose secret is hid
among the mists

BLUE. And it is there they shall wait until the dragon ships
depart from the river that winds out to the sea, as they watch them in
secret from the cliffs and cave above the silver waters

GREEN. And then they will walk west to their keep.. .to the keep
of their people at Scone, home of king Nechtan MacDerile, king of the
Picts

(Music fades out. The SEANACHIES move over to DSR tree, sit
and pose as the focus of the scene shifts to the Picts. FERGUS sits
with LANYA on rock outcroppings. MEAGAN kneels with her child DSCL and
FIONA stands by her. CINEAD, who is in great pain, sits on the cliff.
DROSTAN and LLANBRYD look around.)

FERGUS. Are we still along the river?

LLANBRYD. (Glancing upstage beyond the rocks.) Aye.

FERGUS. Are there rock cliffs facing the river?

DROSTAN. Aye

FERGUS. Then we're here. There should be a gray rock, shaped
like a fist. with a marking on it. Find it . Then roll it aside for
the opening, Llanbryd.

LLANBRYD. Aye, Fergus. Come and help me, Drostan.

(They exit SL towards the opening of the cave.)

FIONA. What if they saw us leave? And followed us?

CINEAD. They didn't. They left, went back to their campor
their ships. (Grimaces in pain ) They think us all deadI made
sure they were out of sight before I gave the signal.

LANYA. (Gets up from where she is sitting to comfort CINEAD.)
Cinead, as soon as we're warm by a fire, and out of this cold,
we'll dress your wound again.

MEAGAN. The baby's shiveringwe need to start a fire soon!

FERGUS. The cave is warm and dry, as I remember with passages that
lead to caverns. There's a cavern stream for water.

FIONA. (In a grim daze) This day feels like a hundred years. Only
this morning I was about to bake some bread how swiftly they came!
The whole villagegonein a few hours.

(LLANBRYD enters from SL to CS.)

LLANBRYD. We've found the rock and the opening. Quickly,
everyoneGather the supplies.

DROSTAN. (Rushing out. ) Wait!Llanbryd, someone's in the
cave!

(The clan gasps in dismay and panic.)

LLANBRYD. Shhh! Silence! Get back!

(Clan goes to cliff and waits. LLANBRYD and DROSTAN draw
their swords and stand in front of the cave entrance. Then RHEDYAN
enters, looking directly to SR, dagger raised to ward off intruders.
LLANBRYD and DROSTAN come behind her, grab her, turn her to face the
audience and disarm her.)

RHEDYN. (Struggling violently in DROSTAN'S grip.) My soldiers
are with me! Get ready to die!

LLANBRYD. And what soldiers might that be? Who would let a woman
come out first, unprotected?

DROSTAN. Who are you?

RHEDYN. Rhedyn, daughter of Egfrid, Prince of the Saxons and the
Hadran settlement, and subject to great King Ealmund!

DROSTAN. (To LLANBRYD) Egfrid and his Saxons were killed in battle
a fortnight agothe whole village of Hadran burned!

RHEDYN. My father perished a hero, but some of my soldiers still
protect mego, now, Picts, before you are both run through with
Saxon blades!

LLANBRYD. We do not run from enemies, Milady, and this is our
people's cave! Drostan, I have a feeling her soldiers are as fierce
as the ones we have with us!

DROSTAN. Call out the others with you!

RHEDYN. What? And meet your death? You are so ready to die?

LLANBRYD. Call them out! What's left of your people! Now! We
will not harm them. We give you our word.

RHEDYN. The word of a Pict? (She spits in his face, as she still
struggles to break free.) .Then let me go! I won't run! I
wouldn't leave.them.you have my word

(Cautiously, at LLANBRYD'S nod, DROSTAN lets her go, pushing
her violently forward.)

RHEDYN. (Going to the mouth of the cave, as LLANBRYD and DROSTAN
watch her intently, daggers ready to strike.) Athelbert! Come out!
Bring the others! It's all rightthey are not Norsemen(Looks at
LLANBRYD and DROSTAN haughtily.) just .Picts.

(She and LLANBRYD and DROSTAN move to CS, as the other Picts go
slowly towards center stage from stage right. From the opening of the
cave at stage left, a bedraggled, weary lot, ATHELBERT, comes first,
beckons for WILDA, then PENWIRTH, BERNWULT, whom PENWIRTH is helping
to walk, then ROWENA, AEDRA, and ELENE. )

RHEDYN. This is what's left of our settlement there were 600
of uswith the finest farms in Northumbria, and everything is gone!
And what people are you, Pict?

LLANBRYD. We are the clan of Bridei. Our village was to the north,
and it is also gone, burned. I am Landbryd, Bridei's son, and
subject to King MacDerile . Now, how did your people know of these
caverns?

ATHELBERT. W e have used it before, as refuge in times of .in
times of invasion

DROSTAN. (Lunging towards ATHELBERT in anger, but held back by
LLANBRYD.) Invasions, indeed, Saxon! Just like your invasions of our
people and of all the CeltsAnd now! God has handed you
retribution!

ELENE. And did not you Picts come across from the other sea, from
Hibernia? Just who is calling who the invaders, eh?

WILDA. And has not the gods' vengeance also visited upon you,
Picts?

(By now the Picts who were behind the rocks, have come towards
the center of the stage behind LLANBRYD and DROSTAN.)

LANYA. You, Saxons, you are the invaders! You have been taking
Celt lands for hundreds of years

CINEAD. All of you need to go back to Teutonia where you came from!

(The Saxons and Picts begin arguing. LLANBRYD comes in the
middle, DSC)

LLANBRYD. Silence! Silence! You want someone to hear us ? Their
camp could be right outside this forest! Does it matter now who came
to Northumbria first? The Norsemen are the invaders now! And if we
don't defend this land, find a way to survive, we will all be
annihilatedSaxons or Picts.it will not matter

FERGUS. He is rightboth our people lay claim to this land and
love it as our home. We may not like each other very much, but we have
managed to live with one another, village to village, for many years
now our two kings have kept a long truce We must become allies
now or lose it allour people, our lands

RHEDYN. (To LLANBRYD.) We will stay in these caves only until it
is safe for us to journey to our keep south of here, near the Roman
wall, at Vallsendt.

LLANBRYD. To the Roman wall? That's a ten-day journeyhow do
you expect to make it there? With your old and wounded?

PENWIRTH. We're Saxons, Pict! And that is how! We are tough!
And we will make the journey after a few days' rest!

FERGUS. Even if you are strong and well enough to make the journey,
what makes you think you'll escape the eyes of the Norsemen?

BERNWULT. We will stay in the forests as we journey south…we
know how to move undetected

ATHELBERT. But for now we stay in these caveswe have already
made a fire and found a stream for water the caverns are vast , so
there is room for all of us, if you must stay

MEAGAN. (Rushes to LLANBRYD desperately, with her baby in her
arms.) Yes, we must! (Turns towards her mother) Mother, I must get
the baby out of this cold! I must feed him!

LLANBRYD. We will also stay here until it is safe for us to travel
west to our keep at SconeFiona, take Meagan into the cave

RHEDYN. Aedra, show them to the fire

AEDRA. Come. it's this way.

(MEAGAN, FIONA and the baby cautiously follow AEDRA into the cave
while the Saxons stare at them resentfully as they pass them. They
exit into the cave. )

DROSTAN. The Norsemen will stay until their ships are fulland
only then will they leave.

RHEDYN. How far north did they go? Surely your village and no
further .

CINEAD. They know that there are more Saxon villages to the south
than there are Pict villages to the northso they will come this
way, and the inland route will be easier for them, though they like to
travel within sight of the seaor at least in sight their ships
anchored in the river.

ELENE. Then if we stay here until they leave we will all be safe,
and by then, Bernwult, you will be well enough for the journey.

LANYA. (Trying to make amends by being gracious) I have brought a
few poultices with me that you may have for him.(ELENE looks at her
imperiously, sniffs and turns to go into the cave.)

RHEDYN. So! We share these caverns! Now let us get out of the
cold!

WILDA. (To, LLANBRYD and CINEAD ) The cavern's stream is
cleargood for drinking….

(They exit SL into the cave, and lights dim; drums and music
begin. THE SEANACHIES come forward from tree, across the stage, and
they chant and move as they narrate the following):

GREEN. And so the two tribeswith their weary, their old, their
young, their wounded..

GOLD. Sat and ate by a common fire that night in the caverns. ..and
slept without fear for the first time in many months.

( Now two by two, across upstage and downstage right, actors
perform various tasks such as washing clothes with rocks, tending to
the wounded, sharpening spears.)

BLUE. They told one another their stories, they shared their
waysand the nursing of their wounded..

GREEN. They hunted small game with stealth and an eye always on the
Norsementhey caught fish in the cavern streamsand all shared
their food at the night's fires.

GOLD. And while the dragon ships of the Norsemen still anchored in
the silver river below them,

BLUE. The caverns of the mists hid themand they became
stronger…and waited for their timeto journey to their keeps.

GREEN. To the castles and forts of their Kings..

( Music fades and the SEANACHIES go back to tree. At DSC, MEAGAN,
with her baby, then AEDRA, ROWENA and FIONA kneel in a semi
circle, rubbing clothes with rocks as though they are washing clothes
in the stream.)

MEAGAN. The sun is strong today. The robes should dry quickly on
the rocks.

FIONA. We must be careful. We should probably spread them at the
mouth of the cavern. Any further down the rocks and those demons may
see them from their boats.

AEDRA. I wish so that they would leaveI can't wait to get to
Vallsendt! I have never seen a castle the storiweirs told us about
themso beautiful, with towers that reach into the sky.

ROWENA. I shall be happy just to get behind those walls of the keep
and feel safejust to know the armies of our king will protect
usthen we can breathe againstart our lives over.

MEAGAN. I will feel the same way when we reach Scone. My baby will
be safe behind the walls of MacDerile and then we will have at
least a chance to survive

FIONA. (Holding BRANNON) And Brannon will grow up in a great
fortress with a castle and a village instead of the wilderness of the
northmaybe he will become a blacksmith or a merchant!

ROWENA. Whatever he does, in times of siege? He will be a soldier;
a warrior, like all the other young men of the kingdom.

FIONA. Pray to God, we will never have to live through another
attack in our lifetimes.I couldn't bear that.

(WILDA shouts from within the cave)

WILDA. Rhedyn.! Look at this!

(She enters from SL with a large, very old-looking ceremonial
head of a dragon. The Saxons gasp. She comes DSC.)

FERGUS. (To DROSTAN) Tell me what has happened, lad!

DROSTAN. They found our old dragon head from the ancients. It must
have been under the old shrine.

WILDA. There were two swords with it, too, but they were too heavy
for me to bring out.

DROSTAN. (Looking at LLANBRYD) Swords!

(As LLANBRYD nods for him to retrieve the swords DROSTAN
hurries to SL and exit; at the same time, RHEDYN nods to PENWIRTH to
also go into the cave for the swords. PENWIRTH exits SL)

FERGUS. I remember stories about that. The seanachies said it was
carved from wood and inlaid with copper and stones. They told of it
being hid in a place of magic.

(By now all have gathered at various levels and angles to get a
good look at a dragon's head)

AEDRA. What? Wood and stones? It is not real? A preserved
relic?

LANYA. Of course not, girl!

LLANBRYD. The priests of the old religion believed in themin the
power of the dragon's spirit.

(DROSTAN and PENWIRTH enter from SL with the sword. LLANBRYD
goes over to examine them)

ELENE. Ah, yes, I had forgotten.you Picts have the new religion
and your priests tell you there are no dragons and no magic?

CINEAD. They tell us that we don't need magic or dragon headsor
charms or shamans

DROSTAN. That our faith in God is more powerful.

PENWIRTH. Except that your powerful God was not able to save you
from the Norsemen!

LLANBRYD. It is not for us to question that. God's ways we must
accept. We must trust in Him.

ROWENA. And your God does not get angry? Our gods' anger upon
us is why there are eight of our village left, hiding in these
caverns!

ATHELBERT. And you cannot escape the wrath of gods! The Norsemen
have found favor with theirswe must seek to appease ours!

FERGUS. Our God does not punish us with death or destructionwe
do this to ourselvesmen are weak, and full of greed and cruelty.

RHEDYN. Then what good is the Christian God? Wilda, put the dragon
head back exactly where you found itAnd Penwirth the swords
belong to the Picts.

(She looks at PENWIRTH and nods for him to give DROSTAN the
other sword. He does this, grudgingly.)

WILDA. Come, let us all touch it for luck before I return it!..

(The Saxons lay their hands on the dragon's head, while the
Picts just look and shake their heads)

WILDA. May the gods give us the spirit of the dragon to defeat our
enemies! .

ALL THE SAXONS. (Touching the dragon's head) Praise to the gods
and to the spirits of our ancestors!

(Then DROSTAN leaps down from where he was standing on the cliff,
kisses his hand, and places it on the dragon head.)

FIONA. Drostan! We are Christians! What are you doing?

DROSTAN. Well, it can't hurt!

(Everyone laughs. WILDA carefully takes the dragon head and
goes into the cave with it.)

ATHELBERT. Our people have a legend of a dragon that saved us in a
great battle with the Romans.

AEDRA. Oh, I love this story! Please tell it for the others,
Athelbert!

ATHELBERT.

(The tribes gather around him, some sitting, standing)

Very well. When the Romans came to conquer the great Saxon
kingdom of our ancestors, (Beat of drums slowly fade in) our armies
were ready and fought bravely-all the tribes and their warriors
united under the great hero of our people, Siegfried .all came
together to fight the invaders, the Romans Our armies were vast,
but the Romans had even moreten Romans to one of us! Our leader
Siegfried, who had bathed in the blood of a dragon, saw the Roman
legionaries in the distance. Siegfried had a leather pouch with
himand in it contained a few of the teeth of his slain dragon. And
so, invoking the dragon's spirit, he threw the dragon's teeth
into the air as the line of Roman soldiers approached. The dragon's
teeth pelted the ground before them! Fire and mists began to spiral
upwards from the ground. ..A giant form began to take shape through
these mists and fires, and within a few moments, there stood a fierce
dragon! It towered above the armies and took a long, angry look at
the Romans. Then it opened its great mouth, and spewed a rain of fire
upon the whole Roman army! The fiery stream widened and engulfed the
entire legionary! Siegfried's armies advanced with the great dragon
leading them, and the tribes drove the Romans from their land forever!
Then Siegfried and his men watched the dragon, once again, turn into
a spiral of fire and mist, then, soar into the sky, never to be seen
again. Our Saxon kingdom was saved! Siegfried gave thanks to the
spirit of the dragon by forging his likeness of gold and amber stones
that held a place of honor in his great hall for many years. (drum
beats fade out) And the next time our ancestors met the Romans, it
was in the heart of Rome itself as their mighty empire fell into our
hands!

(The Saxons applaud the story as the Picts watch.)

FERGUS. And so began the end of the world

(The Saxons are stunned by this strange statement, and there is
an ominous silence)

BERNWULT. What are you saying, old man?

FERGUS. When Rome fell, so did the world

PENWIRTH. (Walking toward him threateningly) Is that what your
priests tell you, old Pict? Columba's priests? Who speak the Roman
tongue and fashion Roman ways?

BERNWULT. Leave him, Penwirthan old blind Pictnot worth the
bother

LLANBRYD. He means that when the Romans left here, your people
invaded

CINEAD. And have been here ever since( A dangerous silence and
glaring)

LANYA. (Quickly, to diffuse tension) That was hundreds of years
ago! Hundreds! Now, what does it matter? These Norsemen not only
want our lands, but they want us all dead!

ELENE. It is true, they want us gone from these lands, Picts and
Saxonsthey do not distinguish..

(A ram's horn of a Viking ship is suddenly heard in the
distance. Everyone screams and jumps up in terror and huddles.
LLANBRYD and DROSTAN climb the rocks to survey the sea below the
cliffs):

LLANBRYD. They're leaving!Look!two ships in the distance!

(Everyone turns and goes to the rocks, with RHEDYN and DROSTAN
going to the top and surveying with LLANBRYD.)

DROSTAN. One ship remainsit's still anchoredwhat could that
mean?

RHEDYN. It means that have yet to fill their stores.

ATHELBERT. With goods and slaves .They like to outdo one another
for bragging rights once they return to their islands of ice.

FIONA. Which means more raids

LLANBRYD. If there's one ship left, a few of them dead from
battleperhaps about one hundred and fifty of them remain here

DROSTAN. : Which will be enough for a raid on Scalclyde, the only
settlement left within two days' march from their ship.

RHEDYN. If they haven't reached it already.

LLANBRYD. So, we shall waithidden in these cliff caves, in this
forest. We have food, water, wood for fireswe'll wait for as
long as it takes.

RHEDYN. (Defiantly to LLANBRYD) As shall we.

(Music cue. They move down from the rocks, and as the
SEANACHIES enter from SL to DSL, the two tribes are in CS and DSR
performing a variety of tasks, such as, preparing hides, weaving
baskets, dressing the wounded's bandages, etc.)

GREEN. And so, like two rocky streams that converge and become one
river,

GOLD. The clan of Bridei and the tribe of Egfrid dwelt in the
caves of the dragon for another fortnight.

BLUE. Distrust began to melt, as scorn became respect, and loathing
became friendship

(FIONA cautiously but graciously allows WILDA to hold BRANNON.)

GREEN. Each morning, Drostan would venture out, like a cat, hidden
among the mists and forests, to spy for any sign of the Norsemen

(DROSTAN enters from SR with two fish on some primitive
fishing line made of thin rope. He presents the fish to ELENE who
nods and then exits SL with the fish.)

GOLD. But there was no sign of them.not of their camp, or their
fires, or their tracks..

BLUE. Only their one last ship, anchored in the distance below the
cliffs in the silver, glittering river that leads out to the
sea..

(Music ends. SEANACHIES go back to their tree, DSR.)

ROWENA. I'm beginning to like it hereI think I could live in a
cave.

LANYA. Not I! I miss my old sod hut! It was warm and dry, with a
good hearth, and smelled of heather and sage.

(RHEDYN, suddenly, stares out SR, still)

WILDA. What is it, sister?

RHEDYN. Shhh! Someone is coming! I can hear him!

(Everyone jumps up, and gasps in fear. LLANBRYD and DROSTAN
come forward and listen.)

LLANBRYD. (Unsheathing his dagger) Quiet! All of you! Into the
caves! Quickly!

(DROSTAN motions all the women and wounded into the cave
and shushing them to be quiet. RHEDYN crosses DSC with LLANBRYD. )

DROSTAN. (Looking to SR with the others, and climbs the rocks of the
cliff for a better view of the intruder.) It's Oengus, Llanbryd!
It's Oengus!

[end of extract]

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