Wyrmfeld Chronicles

Children of Hydra

After England falls to supernatural forces, the Westfield siblings are hunted as spies and must find a way to weaponize dragon blood, raise an army from the paladins of the world, and rescue the English resistance from a legion of zombie knights before Myrddin opens the gates of hell.

Treatment

Act 1 Summary

Opening:

The film opens with the disorienting and ominous voice of PHRYXUS’ recitation of William Shakespeare’s Richard II Act 2, Scene 1, establishing his power and capture of the English state as he addresses a desecrated House of Lords. This sets a tone of dark fantasy and political upheaval, showing a world where traditional power structures have been violently overthrown by dark arts.

Introduction of Protagonists and the Dragon Threat:

We are slammed into a chaotic action sequence as a UK Bulldog APC flees Hydra. The APC carries our protagonists JASON and ALI, along with Black Rat soldiers, fleeing London Stadium with the dragon’s blood they collected.

Betrayal and Capture:

Captain David HICKS arrives at RAF High Wycombe with Jason and Ali, seeking the whereabouts of Major Titchener, only to be arrested as traitors. The base is under the control of forces loyal to King Phryxus, who has seized power, revealing the extent of the new regime’s ruthlessness. Ali and Jason are slated for execution as spies.

When a ruthless MP seeks to rape Ali the night before her execution, she uses cunning and her bra to ensnare her would-be-rapist, forcing Sarge MARGE to act ‘above her pay grade’. Marge cobbles together a plan to sneak them out of the base amongst the dead. Her plan falls apart when other soldiers load their bodies on a truck destined for a mass grave.  Hicks overpowers Marge when she moves to abort the plan and steals another APC in hopes of rescuing Ali and Jason from being buried alive.

Hicks rejoins Ali and Jason, but their freedom is short lived – a pair of tanks and an APC are close behind. The captain of the detachment orders Ali and Jason’s summary execution but is himself murdered by troops that are not loyal to the new monarch.  Hicks returns Ali and Jason to Wyrmfeld castle with the Damascus dagger and cache of dragon’s blood, charging them to forge weapons for the war to come. He and his band of partisans take off to rescue his commanding officer who is being held with other officers who refuse to swear allegiance to King Phryxus.

Act 2 Summary:

The second act opens with a growing sense of paranoia as the protagonists return to Wyrmfeld Castle.  Hicks informs them that the military has sworn allegiance to King Phryxus. They realize what they possess is the most valuable liquid on earth because it can be used create the weapons to kill Phryxus’ Zombie Knights. If it is discovered what they have and how they intend to use it, they will doubtless be killed for it. They deduce that if England could fall so quickly, it fell from within, and they doubt that they can bring the precious liquid to Scotland or Ireland.  Isabella flatly refuses to let Ali or Jason continue to risk their lives. Jiao decides to leave with the dragon’s blood for safety, causing suspicion amongst the group.

The act escalates with a series of departures and strategic objectives. Jason is incensed that Jiao took his dagger – the one thing capable of killing a Zombie Knight is the one thing that made him feel important. A confrontation between Jason and his mother highlights his determination to take action and protect his home, despite her wishes. Realizing the impulsive Jason will be impossible to stop, Ali goes with him in hopes of beating Jiao to the entrance of the Chunnel, leading them to the Eurotunnel Railyard. 

Reaching the Eurotunnel Railyard in time to intercept Jiao, they discover that even armed they are no match for her martial skills. Jiao will not use deadly force against them out of caring for their mother. When Ali threatens Jiao with a gun, she realizes she cannot kill someone in cold blood. They follow Jiao to Paris where Jiao retrieves a cache of gold from a dead drop and hires a plane to India and the factory of famed swordsmiths.

Hicks frees his commanding officer, Major Titchener, who devises a plan. Reasoning that while the Zombie Knights are seemingly immortal, their tactics are medieval. They raid England’s largest munitions depot, adding weapons and soldiers to their number, then set up a forward operating base at Tilbury Fort, preparing for a stand against Phryxus’s forces.

Arriving in India, Jiao commissions the sword manufacturer to lease the factory to her for a month, under the condition that no one can enter nor leave, nor communicate with the outside world once the factory once work begins.  Ali and Jason continue their training with Jiao. The wife of one worker gains access to her husband as they have a son dying at home.

Ali sees the man trying to cut through the chains of an exit and confronts him. As they cannot communicate, things spiral out of control quickly. Swords are drawn. The swordsmith overwhelms Ali but spares her life. Out of fear that their secret will soon be leaked to the world, Ali kills the man in cold blood. They are forced to leave the factory with the weapons they have.

Act 3 Summary:

The protagonists, dare to fly across the English Channel. The dragon pursues them, leading to a crash landing at Newcastle Airport. The group learns the partisans held up at Tilbury Fort are surrounded by regular army, rendering the weapons useless with no one to wield them. They decide to use the only method of social media at their disposal (ham radio) to call for warriors. Ali uses all of her craft as an influencer to deliver a most impassioned speech calling home the keepers of the old ways: the paladins of the world.

Reading a chapter of the Argonautica to Samira as a bedtime story, Jason learns the truth about the dragon teeth and their power to create zombie knights. With this knowledge, a terrible realization dawns on Ali and Hicks: they left London Stadium littered with dragon teeth and hundreds of bone fragments.  Myrddin was able to conjure dozens of Zombie Knights using only two dragon teeth. If he had more teeth, then it wouldn’t matter how many swords they could manufacture.

The protagonists race back to the stadium only to be confronted by Myrddin in the act of raising hundreds of Zombie Knights. Myrddin mistakes Ali for Rowena but soon realizes that Ali can still fulfill his original designs for Rowena he had over 900 years ago. Myrddin summons Hydra and kidnaps Ali, leaving Jason, Jiao and Hicks to face their fate, surrounded by Zombie Knights. 

Jason and Jiao manage to escape the stadium but are captured by regular soldiers that are arresting refugees. After days in an internment camp, they are bussed off to the Eurotunnel Railyard. Jason uncovers the motorcycle he and Ali used to beat Jiao to the tunnel and return to Wyrmfeld castle.  Hicks finds his way back to the castle, where he and Jiao decide on a desperate gambit to sneak their prized weapons into the fort. As they load up their cache of weapons, seven Japanese samurai arrive at the castle. Jason makes a bit to join the fight but is left behind.  The following morning a group of Mongolian archers arrive.

The partisans at the fort realize their cause is hopeless. A soldier from the Royal Marines Band among the partisans climbs to the top of the battlement with a violin, rallies the men singing a song of valor against insurmountable odds.  Sarge Marge shoots the commander of the besieging force, makes an impassioned plea to her countrymen that they are fighting on the wrong side. She walks across no-mans-land to surrender, but is killed. One by one the soldiers all surrender and join the partisans.

Phryxus learns of this and sends his expanding force of Zombie Knights to surround the fort.  Jiao arrives and dares to ‘run the gauntlet’ charging across the battle plain in the pick up truck.  They are stopped meters short of the bridge leading across the moat to the fort. The men inside lack the weapons to aid them. Trebuchets launch Zombie Knights into the fort.  Phryxus is at the edge of the battle, watching the massacre unfold.

Suddenly music fills the air with a heroic anthem, giving hope to the defenders.  Jason arrives on motorcycle with the Mongolian archers, and paladins from every nation. Jason leads a charge to where Jiao is surrounded. The lethal weapons, now in the hands of ‘the keepers of the old ways’ and fight to rout the Zombie Knights. Phryxus sees the tide has turned, retires from the battlefield and instructs his mercenaries to remove the talismans that kept the dragon from attacking such a large crowd.

Meanwhile, Myrddin has taken Ali to Stonehenge, where he intends to use her dynastic inheritance and connection to the Rowena force the opening of a portal to his realm in the underworld. He uses dark magic, carves runes in Ali’s body to compel Rowena to possess Ali and open the portal. He slices Ali’s throat, and with her sacrifice, the portal opens.

Amongst the Zombie Knights in Myrddin’s retinue is the reincarnated Wyrtgeorn. Seeing Ali’s death breaks Myrddin’s control over him. He attacks Myrddin as the portal opens.  As they fight, the earth opens up, swallowing up Wyrtgeorn, Myrddin, Ali, and the alter stone. At the edge of the event horizon in the portals opening, Wyrtgeorn climbs up to the alter stone, to mourn his lost love. Ali’s murder forces Rowena to possess Ali’s body and save her descendant.  Wyrtgeorn struggles to climb out of the expanding abyss with Rowena.

Myrddin catches her and climbs out of the abyss. Now that the portal has been opened, he considers her debt paid, but the ‘vampire of souls’ seeks to draw the life from her before he departs. As he does so, he discovers she is stronger than him and draws off his power. She uses that power to push him into the abyss. Hydra arrives, drawn to the portal. Rowena commands the beast to return to the underworld.

The ending image is that of Rowena at the Heel Stone of Stonehenge, being found by a horse and rider. The rider dismounts and rouses her. Rowena looks up startled to see that the rider a dwarf and the horse is a centaur.

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Characters

Concept art

World Building