-SCENE ONE-
(The posse ambles aimlessly under a hot sun, through the vast wasteland
After the absconding Perceval, who is nowhere to be found.)
KAYE:
Ramble under the sun, girl, and let your fresh head run
Water came to a drip—fold the sky down into this trip
Fifty paces behind, that old swan came in their minds
Veiled inside a mirage, Queen Cygnus, born of the stars
She opened up her wings—now the Gods are pulling your strings
Did you see ’em with your own eye, or is your whole world a liе?
Got no water left to drink, got no thoughts left to think
Whеn you climbed up outta that womb, you knew it would be your tomb
Vipers waiting in the sand, under the spell of Zazamanc!
Bloody rif les in every hand, a bullet ready for every man
Spirits rise, then disappear, you never see the thing you fear
Immortal constellations curse terminations unto the earth!
Never trust your own eyes, ’cause the devil wears a disguise
See the world like a child; see the witchcraft and the wild
Out in the barren land, a Rose pushed up through the sand
Like a fire split the wood, one eyes opened under her hood
You start to forget who you are, what are we doing out this far?
Malevolent eyes are watching me, a spiteful sun melts my sanity
Double visions haunting you, break yourself back into two
Cast a shadow from each side—one to press on, and one to die!
-SCENE TWO-
(Old Sheriff King limps around his settlement of tattered tents and drying fish, next to a river
Deep into the wasteland. From the distance, Perceval approaches the settlement.)
SHERIFF K ING:
I watched that horse come back
A thousand years stuck in my little lump of earth that cracked
Another neck, another snap, but I watched her come back
I am the King, she is the Zodiac
I am the loved and lorn, under my crown of thorns
Drink deep now from the horn!
The seed becomes the branch, go find my little Blanche
Go watch them witches dance, you gotta take your chance
They ran King out of town
A poison dripped out from his fangs, that little worm called Sour!
He stole a holy power, and now the feeble cower
But not my little flower
They clamped your saddle on
Lance got that scorpion—took that to cripple me
Just fish for King to eat, stole me up from my sweet
Go find her just the same, you let her call your name!
A minute lasts a day
I watch the sun set on a world that washed the good away
One bullet got my name, but King ain’t gonna run
I sit and let ’em come!
Remember who you are
Shine like the brightest star
We hang our heads so low, wonder where’d the light go
You’ll hear an angel call—go where the good shine falls
Mother waits for us all
PEGASUS:
Follow the water down, find the root in the ground
A holy seed from the earth, then push up through the dirt
There is a path to the sky, where two rivers align
Don’t let them take you again, try to remember your name!
Crack the sorcery of Sour’s monstrosity!
Perceval run free, come back to me
Look up at the moon, child, you will be home soon!
Daughter of the sky, mother light divine
-SCENE THREE-
(The posse comes to a river, and finds a great horse on the far bank.)
On, the posse rides
A river comes beside
Out, the sun cries
Deep, the sand bites
Calls the desert wide
To swallow men inside
Nowhere for them to hide
Scared to look behind
Words have gone dry
KAYE:
Can we make respite?
Take a little light
While the heat is high
On the other side
A great horse, gone wild
Crowned in ant lers pride;
Herbs and flowers, dried
It fills Lance’s eye
Holds his rope t ight
To break the feral giant
Make the fierce pliant
A ring of rope flies
By the neck, plied
Down comes the sky
Freedom was a lie
He grasps his glowing spike;
Plunges it deep to her thigh
Shoots his old mare good-night
And takes a god to ride
Only the cruel smile
When the pure are defiled
Blanche asks why
The horse had to die
KAYE:
They make us pick sides
Just to survive
Now don’t you cry
You just abide
-SCENE FOUR-
(At nightfall, Perceval comes across another stream touched by dark magic
Meanwhile, in his tent Sour conjures a malevolent spell on the same river. The Hanged Man
Now Hanged Rose, struggles to undo her binds. Perceval is helped by an unlikely ally.)
The valley wakes to night, another river quakes with spite
Between Perceval’s way to rest, the unholy forces and the forest
Dark evil rushes ’round the tent, Perceval pushes further into descent
She needs safe passage down to sleep, he feeds on righteous blood let to seep
Into the rivers hold she creeps, dark fingers quiver up from the deep
Came to pull down, to drown, come the hands, shadows grown by Sour’s command
Across the Wasteland lays the Hanged Man, st ill bound to hand but life is strong than
The hateful coil which st rangles the bough; up from the soil a new rose to grow
As the river bones pull the horse t ight, does the sky explode to points of light
Hear Corvus call her veiled sprites; Come the Ravens down through their black night!
Now beaks hone, and pick away the flesh; now Sour moans as his hands thresh
Through the blood and water come to rest, the horse is saved to recommence
Sour pulls his hans from his fire, while blazing talons paint the night
To the forest Perceval proceeds, in the desert born is a new seed
The soil takes, but also gives; the toil makes us fight to live
Push through the rot ’t il your last breath, life protects from the pull of death
-SCENE FIVE-
(At dusk, the Posse arrives at Sheriff King’s settlement, and demands answers.)
On the winding t rail, visions come to mind
Colours start to run, horizons fall apart
St ill the swan is there, just a ways beyond
Has it been hours or days since we were sent by Sour?
They come to Sheriff’s camp, where death hangs in the air
Where the horse has been, searching for the source
The King will rise through dust. Kaye won’t meet his eyes
Old hollow bones and meat. Demented and alone
SHERIFF K ING:
I see that rose you got. Your momma, she don’t know
You brave enough to see. You gonna take your saddle off!
King whispered to Blanche
KAYE:
Don’t you chat to her
Kaye looked at K ing and spat
KAYE:
Tell, has the horse come through?
The sun was going low. Lance blew a plume of smoke
King’s night was sett ing soon. One single bead of sweat
Each hand held a gun
KAYE:
Where’s the mare? Kaye yelled
The constellation’s heir, has it come this way?
King only spoke to Blanche;
KING
Their world is not your yoke
Rose, push up through the rot, they looking out for you
When they call her name, his empire will fall!
Bad men will face a fire. Won’t be nothing left to chase
KAYE
Stop talking to that girl! No sense be found on you
They pinned him rough to ground. Lance had seen enough
Lance shot K ing
Blanche cried out
Spent his blood
Now dark fell
Stuck his gun
At her heart
Took the rose
From her lapel
Men kill men
Flesh for the soil
Then by night
Devils crawl out
On the t rail
Snarling dogs
Tracked them down
By their gods
The hanged man
Broke her bonds
Her roots rose
From her soil
Perceval
Crossed the creek
Met a witch
In her woods
-SCENE SIX-
(With the help of Covus’ legions, Perceval is able to cross the stream
On the other side, she is met by a young Desert Rose, and led into a dark forest
Meanwhile the Posse is hounded by a new enemy.)
The witch took her by the lead
DESERT ROSE:
Let’s go get you something to eat
They walked through the forest green. Apples grew where none had been
The posse rode through a mystery. Eyes were watching, or so it seemed
Behind them, the Shadow Dogs snarled and screamed. Dust and ghosts
And blood, and weeds
The witch girl became a child. She held the moon in the wink of her eyes
Beyond, they heard a great fire. She moved like a creeping vine
The posse could feel the breath of the dogs behind them, hunt ing for death
A ratt ler wrapped around a rat’s nest. The rope finds its way ’round the neck!
The t rees gave way to a clearing. It was sorcer y they were hearing
The Rose Coven appearing, ’round a magic fire ’t il morning
Lance tore through his platoon. He threw a lantern like a harpoon
The dogs slunk back into their dunes. The men made camp by the light of the moon
So they dressed the horse in ornament, for the Mother star, as a sacrament
The posse pitched their tents on cliffside, Blanche heard music from the valley wild
-SCENE SEVEN-
(The posse makes camp for night on a cliffside overlooking a wide valley. Blanche makes a discovery.)
Hidden under a stone, where all worthy things go
Pulsing and fresh grown: the branch of a new rose
Blanche reached to pick the bud, it pricked her and drew blood
Under the under-sun, for the Coven, a young one
She felt her heart grow, she thought of that horse alone
BLANCHE:
Where you go, I go. I’ll find you a way home
Where you go, I go. Where you go, I go
Where you go, I go. Where you go, I go