Our heroes hang together.
Transcript under the cut!
Transcript provided by Ria Couoh
**************
INTRO (00:00):
TESSA
Previously on Inn Between…
Inn Between theme plays in the background.
CASTOR
I think it’s pretty clear what’s going on with this town.
KNOWLES
What can any of us do against a demon?
ROSIE
(scared)
You’re not Castor. Who are you?
GRAY ONE
(cold laughter)
Well, it took you long enough. You have twenty-four hours, either you leave without Castor or you die. Final offer. Goodbye!
ZARA
Castor, are you a warlock?
CASTOR
(sigh)
Yes.
Inn Between theme fades.
Background noise of tavern.
ZARA
Oh, my gods.
CASTOR
I can explain, I swear!
ZARA
(baffled)
Explain what? How you accidentally sold your soul to that thing?
CASTOR
(defensive, fumbling)
I didn’t know what I was doing! Not… really. I had some idea but… it was complicated! An academic exercise….
ZARA
(slowly, disbelieving)
You sold your soul to a demon… as an academic exercise.
CASTOR
I know, I know. Believe me. If anyone understands the depth of my foolishness, it’s me.
KNOWLES
Why wouldn’t you tell us?
CASTOR
Because I had quit! I asked him to leave me alone! I thought he was gone!
TODE
This does not appear to be the sort of arrangement one can quit.
CASTOR
No, but… he hadn’t spoken to me in three years! I just…
(defeated)
I thought it was over.
KNOWLES
(softly)
Holy gods, Castor.
A pause.
CASTOR
(sigh)
Zara, I owe you an apology.
ZARA
(suspicious)
What for?
CASTOR
That first fight when Tode was burned. I… froze and I panicked and… cast magic without thinking…
ZARA
(quiet outrage)
That was you?
CASTOR
I should have said something… I’m… sorry.
ZARA
(with increasing anger and volume)
You… You let me think I was losing control. You let me believe…
ROSIE
Zara, please?
KNOWLES
We don’t have the luxury of lost tempers right now.
ZARA
Don’t you dare be sanctimonious with me, guard!
KNOWLES
(firmly)
Twenty-four hours, Zara.
An enraged, tense pause.
KNOWLES
How much could you hear of our conversation, Castor?
CASTOR
(subdued, tired)
All of it. I heard all of it.
ROSIE
Castor…
CASTOR
You… You all need to leave.
KNOWLES
No. Not without you!
CASTOR
Knowles…
KNOWLES
No! Listen to me. We can’t fight this thing, this… This Gray One! But we’re sure not going to let him have you! We leave and we’re taking you with us!
CASTOR
That’s… not going to work.
KNOWLES
Your demon’s tied up here! We can outrun him!
CASTOR
For how long? He only gets more powerful, and his influence here is already spreading!
(insistent)
He never lets anything go.
KNOWLES
We are not going to leave you behind, Castor!
CASTOR
You have to.
A pause.
TODE
This is no good at all.
CASTOR
It’s a mess.
TODE
What will your demon do to you?
CASTOR
To me?
(dry scoff)
Gods, I don’t know.
(beat)
(carefully)
But… I don’t think I’ll keep playing his game.
ROSIE
What do you mean?
CASTOR
I’m… certainly not going to help him maintain a blood feud. I’ll… I’ll fight him if I have to.
ZARA
(flatly)
You’re going to fight him.
CASTOR
(terrified)
Yes.
KNOWLES
Castor, how powerful is this demon of yours? You said they’re hierarchical?
CASTOR
He is… very formidable.
ZARA
(disbelieving scoff)
So, you’re going to die, is what you’re saying.
CASTOR
I don’t see that I have any other choice.
KNOWLES
I can’t let you do that.
CASTOR
It isn’t your decision!
ROSIE
But… Castor…!
CASTOR
(firmly)
I have to do this.
ZARA
(thoughtful hum)
TODE
Are you having an idea?
ZARA
Just a thought.
KNOWLES
Care to share with the class?
ZARA
It’s… difficult to maintain an enchantment while in combat. Even for a powerful mage.
TODE
(with dawning understanding)
And if you happen to be splitting your focus between dozens of people…
ZARA
All the harder.
CASTOR
I doubt I’ll be able to distract him for long enough to break his hold on the town.
ZARA
(laughing)
Of course you couldn’t. Not without help.
CASTOR
(uncertain)
Are… are you offering?
ZARA
No. I’m insisting.
KNOWLES
Zara?
ZARA
Don’t tell me my business, Knowles. I have a problem with anyone who claims to own anyone else.
KNOWLES
Neither of you will survive!
ZARA
But we might break his hold on the town.
ROSIE
Well, if you two are staying, I’m certainly not going!
KNOWLES
Rosie?
ROSIE
I can’t leave them by themselves!
ZARA
(dismissive)
Like your little arrows or knives are gonna do much.
ROSIE
(fumbling but undeterred)
Then… I’ll be a distraction, I’m very distracting.
TODE
The idea has merit. If Rosie and perhaps Castor drew the attention of the Gray One, then Zara and I could surprise him.
KNOWLES
Not you too.
CASTOR
Tode, Rosie, you… don’t have to stay.
ROSIE
(emphatically)
Yes, I do!
TODE
I’m well aware that I don’t have to. I have lived so long and, truth be told, I’d prefer to continue with that. But, if it comes to falling on the side of the best or worst of people, I would like to find myself among the best.
KNOWLES
(disbelieving)
Are you joking?
TODE
It seems to be the right thing to do.
A pause.
KNOWLES
You’re all going to die! You know that, don’t you?
ROSIE
Kind of dramatic…
KNOWLES
(with increasing speed, almost desperate)
It’s the truth! We don’t have to do this! We can all leave together, we can get paid and find some other way to get the Gray One to leave Castor alone! We’ve more than fulfilled what… was asked of us! We know the bloody thing’s name!
CASTOR
He can’t be dissuaded.
KNOWLES
There’s got to be some way—
CASTOR
(losing patience)
Who knows more about demons than I do? If there was a way to break this kind of pact, I would have found it by now.
KNOWLES
But the alternative—
ZARA
What are the odds?
KNOWLES
Pardon?
ZARA
What are our odds, Knowles?
KNOWLES
The chance of you surviving? Might as well be a million to one! You can’t win!
ROSIE
But… there’s a chance.
KNOWLES
Sure! Anything is technically possible, Rosie! I could turn fully green today! That’s possible, too!
ZARA
We don’t need to win. We just need to make him weak enough to break his hold on Belling.
TODE
What are our chances in that case?
A pause.
KNOWLES
(analytical, without earlier panic)
How many dozens of people?
ZARA
Under enchantment? Four or five.
KNOWLES
So around fifty or sixty people. And the enchantment isn’t complicated?
ZARA
Something a freshman wizard could cast. For a little while, anyway.
KNOWLES
But he was possessing Castor at the same time. That takes energy, right?
CASTOR
Yes… but not as much as you might think, for a demon.
KNOWLES
Even so. He’s no slouch.
CASTOR
No.
Considering pause.
KNOWLES
If we were smart—really smart, mind you—then our chances are two to one.
ROSIE
That’s… that’s better.
TODE
That’s significantly better!
ROSIE
(hesitant)
Knowles, did you say… we?
KNOWLES
(sigh)
Yeah.
CASTOR
Knowles, you don’t have to—
KNOWLES
Yes, I do. I’m here to look after you.
CASTOR
Okay.
A pause.
CASTOR
Well, we’ll, uhm… We’ll have to send a messenger to your friends, then. Let them know what happens so they can send someone to finish him off or come do it themselves.
ROSIE
(quietly)
Good idea.
ZARA
So, when you say we need to be smart?
KNOWLES
Tactics.
TODE
I would relish your insight in this matter, Knowles.
KNOWLES
Right. The most important thing here will be for us to choose the battleground. We’ll have to draw him out.
CASTOR
That won’t be difficult, he is very prideful.
KNOWLES
Good, so we’ve got that.
TODE
(fading out)
What do we require from our battleground?
Background sounds of tavern fade away.
OUTRO (08:37):
Inn Between theme plays in the background.
TESSA
Next time, on Inn Between… The season finale.
CREDITS (08:43):
HANNAH
This episode, “The Warlock,” was written and directed by Hannah Wright with assistant director William Wright. The show is produced and edited by Katherine Ayers.
The voice of Castor is Caleb Del Rio. The voice of Zara is Quin Leigh. The voice of Tode is Anthony Morales. The voice of Rosie is Lucille Valentine. The voice of Knowles is JV Hampton-VanSant.
Our theme song is by Eli Hamada McIlveen and our artwork is by Gabrielle Buxman. Our transcriber is Ria Couoh.
Transcripts for this and every episode can be found on our website, thegoblinshead.com.
Find and follow us on Twitter, @inn_between_. Or support us on Patreon, at patreon.com/thegoblinshead.
If you like the show, run away from the thing you sold your soul to and pretend it doesn’t exist. Or leave us a review.
Thanks for listening!
Music ends.
POST-CREDITS (09:53):
Background sounds of tavern.
TESSA
Dear Clara,
(upbeat)
We’re here in Belling, and it turns out, it’s just demons. And in more good news, I think I managed to fix the leaky kegs!
Background sounds of tavern fade away.
EPISODE ENDS.