The Flight of Dragons

Gorbash...

Gorbash...

Come!

Carolinus: There was a time between the waning age of enchantment

and the dawning age of logic when dragons flew the skies

free and unencumbered.

Look down there, Gorbash, my friend!

On that troubled Earth below us,

confusion and chaos reign.

All mankind is facing an epic choice --

a world of magic or a world of science.

Which will it be?

This cannot be.

The worlds of magic and logic must exist side by side,

not destroy each other.

Take care! Be careful with your machines, I say!

Who's makin' all that rumpus?!

It's that barmy old gent what lives upstream!

Your motors must not crowd out all magic

or the world is lost!

Some sort of magician, I hear.

I am Carolinus, the Green Wizard!

You're loony, you are!

Get back to where you belong!

I belong everywhere,

for my domain is the green world --

nature itself and all its inhabitants!

52.5

Envactos... Umabella... Flamencia...

Away with your mill wheel --

a ball of blue magic to make it disappear!

Disappear, say I!

Kala!

"Magic," he calls it.

My little boy could do better!

Father, you need rest.

No time.

It just was not there.

I called upon magic, and there was none.

Oh.

The pain again?

I can't let it bother me. Have you written the messages as I asked?

Yes, Father, but --

then summon the silver owls of the full moon!

- But -- - summon them, I say!

Is it true? Did they stone you?

Ah, me and young Gorbash will fix 'em!

We'll burn down that mill

and devour every livin' one of 'em!

That would do no good.

Just a little scare, then, huh --

a short fiery blast to turn their hair white, huh?

Smrgol, please!

Father, the owls!

Smrgol, I'm summoning my brothers to a meeting --

our first in four centuries.

Away!

Ommadon too?

The ancient laws command he be included.

Make Gorbash ready for the journey

to the Temple of all Antiquity.

I wish I could carry you, old friend.

You've served me well in the past.

Let young Gorbash bear your burdens now.

Father, who are these brothers?

You've never spoken to me of them.

I know you are Green Wizard of nature's realm,

but the others?

My brother Solarius is the Blue Wizard,

lord of the depths and heights.

His realm is outer space,

deepest ocean, highest mountain.

My brother calls counsel, but why?

Lunarian!

Lunarian!

Carolinus: And my brother Lo Tae Zhao, the Golden Wizard --

his realm is light and air.

He is lord of transcendence, healing, contemplation.

I was expecting this.

It was inevitable.

Shen Tsu -- Shen Tsu!

Carolinus". And finally, high in Loathly Tower,

my last brother, Ommadon, the Red Wizard,

lord of the devil's domain, seducer of darkness,

master of that heartless magic the world calls black.

Bryagh!

Bryagh!

My fool brother has just realized the inevitable.

Well, I'll go.

It should prove amusing.

Bryagh, I say!

Carolinus: Astride the terrible Bryagh, he is absolute ruler

of that inferno-like mass of primordial filth

which is his domain.

Melisande: Why does Antiquity force you

to include something so abominable?

As evil is a part of all things,

evil is a part of our world of magic,

for the irony of all existence

is that good would be totally impotent

without the contrast of evil.

Oh, Father, take care.

Gorbash stands ready.

Then I am on my way.

Ah, whither dost thou command me, oh, master?

Gorbash, for pity's sake, no formality, please.

Well, I, uh, like to do things by the book.

To the Temple of all Antiquity.

Right. Where?

I'll guide you as we go. Away!

Dear brothers...

We meet today in the Temple of all Antiquity.

Come, come.

Get on with it. Why did you summon us?

As you must have noticed,

our magic powers have been growing dim.

I have so noticed.

It is because man is choosing logic over magic.

But why?

Because logic is so... Logical.

So what are you going to do --

sit around like a bunch of old nannies and let it happen?

Please, hear me out.

I propose we create the last realm of magic.

Magnificent!

Incredible!

Carolinus: The magic realm --

where all enchanted things might retreat

before their age ends.

If we consolidate our powers,

there will be enough magic left to create such a place,

sealed off from the rest of the world

by the mists of invisibility.

You would defeat science and logic

with a foolish retirement village?

Not defeat, my brother, enhance.

The world, though it does not realize it,

cannot do without magic. For example --

man hears of the dragon's invulnerable skin, and lo,

he makes armor, battleships, tanks.

The fairy flies, and furiously jealous,

man himself defies gravity

with machines he will call airplanes.

A magician looks into his crystal

and sees and hears halfway across the world.

"Ahh," says man, "lf only it could be so,"

and centuries from now, he conjures up miracles

but calls them radio and television.

If man is to surmount the insurmountable,

there must always be magic to inspire him.

The world needs magic.

Magic cannot die.

It shall be.

I will bring you distant stars,

wonders from the sea.

And I will bring you peace and harmony

so that every magic thing might live together and share

what enchantment remains.

No! Never!

I will not concede defeat by this modern world.

I will not retire to this fool's paradise!

But we have no choice!

Inevitability is the strongest magic of all!

I have weapons you would not dare use.

Fear rules man.

By summoning all the dark powers,

I will infest the spirit of man

so that he uses his science and logic to destroy himself.

What havoc and raze --

turn brother against brother.

Greed and avarice shall prevail.

And those who do not hear my words

shall pay the price.

I'll teach man to use his machines.

I'll show him what distorted science can give birth to.

I'll teach him to fly like a fairy.

And I'll give the ultimate answer

to all his science can ask.

And the world will be free for my magic again!

Stop! This must not be!

We want none of your dark magic!

While your powers die, mine will flourish!

Man will never inherit my domain,

for I am making man mine!

He will understand and come to desire my magic.

It is inevitable.

You shall see.

This dark determination I swear...