Inside the main throne room of $teve, just before dawn. The three priests of Conchobar, in Greek robes, stand behind the ornate Celtic cauldron, looking intently up at a window. The central priest holds up a staff with a clear gem on the end.
A ray of sunlight comes through the window and strikes the gem, not unlike a certain scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
PRIEST (majestically): You may begin.
Close up of a cow and milking bucket. Two hands move into shot and milking begins.
Cut to Ingrid walking briskly along the trail earlier taken by Trevor, Mulder, and Scully. From ahead she hears harsh laughter and cries of fear.
Ahead we see what looks like a mobile vending cart. The owner (Daniel Lam) in standard ancient costume is being roughly shoved around by three of $teves thugs. They are laughing among themselves.
DANIEL: help! Can anyone hear me?
Ingrid charges in and we see her deadly battle aerobics once again. A few swift side kicks and twirls make short work of the thugs, who stagger off clutching at their bruises. Ingrid watches them go, then turns to the vendor.
INGRID: Are you hurt?
DANIEL: Oh, thank you, thank you, Ingrid!
INGRID: You know my name?
DANIEL: Er...of course! Everyone knows of the valkyrie Ingrid!
INGRID: Well, if you're not hurt I'll be on my way.
She turns to walk away.
DANIEL: Wait!
He runs to his undamaged cart and brings out a tall clay cup, which he presents to Ingrid.
INGRID: What is it?
DANIEL: The latest sensation. Shaken milk, with frozen cream and fruit.
INGRID: Hmmm. (Slurp) Tastes good.
DANIEL: Please, accept it as a token of my gratitude.
INGRID: Thank you.
Ingrid continues walking and drinking. The vendor watches her go around a corner and out of sight. As he watches, the three thugs walk up beside him, not stealthily or aggressively. He doesn't react.
THUG: Did she drink it?
DANIEL (cruelly): Heh, heh, heh.
Cut to T, M, and S walking cautiously through the valley of death. Even by day it is gloomy and dark, with mist patches shrouding the trees.
The mists suddenly part, revealing a witch in traditional black dress on the trail.
VANESSA: Hail, Trevor!
Two more figures in shabby black, a man and a woman, appear behind the first.
RACHEL: Hail, Trevor, Thane of Cawdor.
ROHAN: No, that's not right.
TREVOR: Who are you?
VANESSA: We are witches.
MULDER (to Rohan): You're a witch?
ROHAN: Equal opportunity.
VANESSA: We are here to help you with our knowledge of the future.
RACHEL (to Mulder): We know that you will have to make a long journey home.
SCULLY (unimpressed): And I'm going to meet a talk dark handsome man?
VANESSA: You must turn back. Your friend is in danger.
Cut to the castle. $teve walks into his throne room accompanied by Robin the jester. In the background are the priests of Conchobar watching over the cauldron. In the foreground is an ornate throne with Captain Ken standing at attention beside it. A short blonde woman is carefully painting something on his shield.
$TEVE: What's that?
KEN (suffering in silence): My swan sire.
AMBER (stepping back): You're done.
Closeup on stylised swan painted on the red shield.
$TEVE: I gave no such order.
AMBER: Queen Annette did. I've sixteen more to do by lunch.
Amber picks up her palette, paints, and brushes and leaves. $teve sits on his throne.
$TEVE: Have your men found any remains of Trevor and the strangers?
KEN: Here is a scout now sire.
The warrior who watched Scully dissect the Nuckalavee walks in. He's still pale and shaking.
SCOUT: They killed it sire!
$TEVE: Impossible.
KEN: No one has ever killed a Nuckalavee.
SCOUT: They did sire. I saw the body. The woman cut it into hundreds of pieces. She looked like...like she was enjoying herself.
$TEVE: Out of my sight!
The scout scuttles away.
$TEVE: What about Ingrid?
KEN: She took the bait, sire. The drug should be taking effect about now.
$TEVE: Send one of your men to get her here before Trevor does. And put the entire army around the walls. No one must interfere with the milking.
KEN: At once sire.
Ken leaves. Annette strolls over.
ANNETTE: Everything going well?
$TEVE: Yes. Soon I'll have Ingrid obeying my every command, to do with as I wish...
He catches sight of the glacial expression on Annettes face.
$TEVE: ... to use as a hostage against Trevor. And we can put her to work with the cows and shaken milk when I - we - rule Scotland.
$teve and Annette turn to look at the cauldron and priests. A bucket of milk is tipped in.
Cut to Trevor jogging along a trail. The sun is shining brightly, perhaps an hour or two before noon. He stops, kneels, and looks intently at the ground for a moment. Mulder and Scully jog into view, then stop and watch. They look slightly out of breath and stand with their hands on their hips. Trevor rises to his feet and jogs out of shot. Mulder and Scully take one last breath and follow.
Cut to Ingrid. She has the dreamy expression seen previously on victims of the drug and is walking slowly, staggering frequently and giggling each time. In one hand is the tall cup. At her shoulder is one of $teves elite guards, with a two handed sword across his back. He occasionally pushes her in the right direction.
Trevor comes into shot from behind.
TREVOR: Ingrid!
The warrior turns and draws his sword. Trevor does likewise and the two start slowly circling. Ingrid giggles and slowly slumps to her knees, then falls over.
TREVOR: Whatever the way, the master of strategy does not appear fast.
He attacks. Swords clash, but Trevor is forced to fall back. They start circling again.
Scully runs over to the fallen Ingrid and lifts her head, then checks for a pulse. Ingrid doesn't move.
Mulder takes a step and looks down. He has trodden on a fallen branch of suitable size for use as a club. He bends down.
TREVOR: The spirit of fire is fierce, whether the fire be small or big.
Another flurry of sword strokes. Once more Trevor has to retire.
WARRIOR (gloating): You cannot harm me, old man. I have a black belt in Aurelian Stoicism.
Scully is worriedly trying to revive Ingrid, with still no response.
SCULLY: Hurry Trevor!
TREVOR: In the void is virtue and no evil!
Once more Trevor desperately attacks and fails. Then Trevor looks past the warriors shoulder.
TREVOR: Lad, would you oblige?
WARRIOR: Huh?
A branch breaks over his helmet. With a roar the warrior turns to Mulder, raising his sword. Trevor leaps forward and strikes a roundarm blow to the head with the hilt. The warrior falls unconscious. Trevor and Mulder ignore him and join Scully.
SCULLY: Her pulse is dangerously low. She must have taken a massive dose within the past hour.
TREVOR: What can ye do for her, lass?
SCULLY: The first priority is to restore her heartbeat. Call the paramedics and ask for a resuscitation unit.
TREVOR: Who? A what?
MULDER: Remember where we are, Scully.
SCULLY: Oh. Yes. Let me think...foxglove! Trevor, are there any foxglove plants around here?
TREVOR: I saw some back yonder.
He hurries off. Mulder crouches next to Scully.
MULDER: What about the neural effects?
SCULLY: The digitalis in the foxglove should keep her alive long enough for us to neutralise the seratonimorphin without permanent damage. Mulder, we'll need a fire and something to boil water in.
Mulder starts searching for firewood, picking up twigs and small branches. He finds the tall cup Ingrid had been carrying, now lying in the grass with the open end tilted up. Mulder takes the cup and swirls it once, then carefully puts it down again, upright.
Trevors rushes back to them with a handful of plants. Mulder has a small fire burning with a metal bowl above it. Trevor offers the foxglove plants to Scully.
TREVOR: These are all I could find.
Scully takes two and strips the leaves off with her fingers.
SCULLY: Boil these in a cup of water for a minute. Then we'll need to adjust her PH level slightly to stop the enzyme catalytic cycle. Can you find some lemons, or vinegar?
Cut to $teves castle. $teve is pacing up and down within the courtyard, watched by Captain Ken. We see soldiers running back and forth, collecting weapons and being marched out in squads.
$TEVE: Your man should have been back by now.
KEN: Perhaps the dose wasn't right.
$TEVE: If so, she's dead. Either way we can't wait any longer. Close the gates.
KEN (shouting): Close the gates!
With a loud grinding, soldiers push shut the great gates. A huge wooden bar thumps into its sockets.
Quick shot of the castle exterior, with rank upon rank of solders outside the walls.
Back to our heroes. Trevor is holding the metal bowl for Ingrid, who is now leaning against a tree. Scully is checking Ingrids pulse, still concerned but not as worried as before.
SCULLY: Her pulse is approaching normal. And her internal body chemistry seems to be neutralising the drug.
MULDER: Scully, can you spare a minute?
Scully rises. Mulder is sitting by the fire, with the tall cup in one hand. Scully squats next to Mulder and looks at him.
MULDER (passing her the cup): Look at this, Scully.
Inside the cup are a few centimetres left of what looks like a milkshake.
Scully puts a finger tip in the cup, and tastes it very cautiously.
SCULLY: It's a milkshake.
MULDER: And the carrier for the drug.
SCULLY: Someone is putting seratonimorphin into milkshakes?
MULDER: Not putting it in, Scully. It's the milk itself.
SCULLY: The milk?
MULDER: Why were we assigned to this case, Scully?
SCULLY: Because we were available? It certainly didn't seem like X file material.
MULDER: According to my sources Skinner was directed to send us to investigate the cattle thefts.
SCULLY: By who?
MULDER: I don't know. A friend.
SCULLY: And why us?
MULDER: You said earlier that seratonimorphin could only be created by genetic engineering. I think that some of these cows had been altered to synthesise the compound in their milk.
SCULLY: Mulder, why would anyone use such a complicated method as cows? Tailored bacteria or yeasts would be much more efficient.
MULDER: Think about it Scully. This drug makes people pliable, easier to control. It would only take a few altered cows in each state to spread a low dose throughout almost the entire population.
SCULLY: I suppose it's possible. Are you suggesting that whoever stole the cows, and us, wanted a source of the drug?
MULDER: I don't think so Scully. I believe that the cows were originally taken solely for their milk producing capability. But this Mispelt One has discovered the special properties of some of the milk and is now using it to his own advantage.
In the background, Ingrid stirs slightly and pushes the bowl away.
INGRID (faintly): What happened?
Mulder and Scully hurry over.