Chapter 20
Hinata stood by Riku as Taran and the Princess untied Fflewddur Fflam. He was an older man wearing a short sleeved yellow shirt with a brown tunic over it. He also wore a small brown hat with a red feather sticking out of it. Hinata watched in amusement as he bickered with his harp that seemed to be in some way enchanted.
She decided to make some conversation with the man and asked, "Why did they tie you up?"
Fflewddur looked up surprised at Hinata, "They think I am some sort of spy! I am no spy; I am the minstrel of minstrels, balladeer to the grandest courts in all the land!" Saying this caused the harp around his neck to violently shake and break another string. Fflewddur looked down at the harp and huffed, "Well, so you've forgotten! I've sung in some of the finest courts!"
Hinata put her hand to her mouth and giggled. She looked over at Riku to see if he was smiling as well, but he seemed lost in thought. She looked back at Fflewddur as Taran had finally gotten one of the man's hands freed and she decided to help him out with the second one. As she was busy untying his other hand they heard a yell through the wall.
"Pig-boys escaped!" The deep voice yelled.
Multiple yells and metal boots could be heard clanging around as the guards were scrambling to search for Taran. Hinata gasped and ran to Riku. She quickly tugged on his arm, "Riku we need to get out of here!"
With that she ran towards Taran and grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the room to escape. She wasn't about to have him get captured again. Flewddur was yelling behind them as one of his hands was still tied up but Hinata did not have the time to go back to free him. The Princess ran ahead of Hinata and Taran as they ran up some stone stairs and began crossing a stone bridge. Taran's foot caught on a loose rock and he fell face first, causing his sword to go flying.
"Oh no, my sword!" Taran yelled outstretching his arm towards his fallen sword.
Hinata stopped and quickly unsheathed her swords as she heard the guards approaching. "Well get up and grab it! We don't have time to waste!" She yelled as she stood prepared for the guards.
Taran scrambled to his feet and climbed on a couple rocks to reach his sword that thankfully had caught on a thin rock rather than falling too far below the bridge; grabbing it quickly he made his way back to the top of the bridge with Hinata. While Taran was grabbing his sword Hinata had already knocked out two guards. When she noticed he was up she grabbed his shoulder and they ran into a stone doorway away from the guards.
Once inside the doorway that led into a hallway Taran began calling for the Princess as she had not noticed him fall, "Princess! Princess Eilonwy! Where are you?"
As he was calling for her he was surprised by a guard swinging an axe in his direction. Sprawling back the guard barely missed him. Shaking, Taran unsheathed his new sword and stood ready to fight the man. The guard brought his axe up for another swing and Taran held his golden sword up to defend himself. As the two weapons clashed the axe instantly shattered as the sword Taran held glowed brilliantly. Frightened the man slowly backed away and ran. Taran looked bewildered at his weapon as Hinata came up behind him out of breath.
"Are you alright?" Hinata asked leaning against the wall, then saw the glowing sword, "Is that sword magic?"
"I-I think so." Taran stuttered holding the sword in the air, then a smile spread across his face, "With this I am invincible!" He laughed and began swinging his sword around him.
Eilonwy walked up behind Hinata as she had been hiding to avoid the fighting. Turning around, Taran noticed the Princess and gave a sigh of relief, "Oh good, you're safe."
"Why of course I am!" The Princess replied and was surprised when Taran grabbed her hand.
"C'mon, I'm going to get you out of here!" Taran assured her as he grabbed her hand and ran down the hall.
Hinata shook her head as she followed them. One victory for the kid and he was acting like the king of the world. They ran through the hall and found a flight of stairs. Hearing more guards approaching, Hinata ushered Taran and the Princess up the stairs. She readied her swords hoping to take down a few of the men before following behind the others. Only then did she realize that Riku was nowhere to be seen.
"Riku! Riku where are you?" She called out frantically with no reply. She had to go after him.
Quickly she ran to the doorway that led to the bridge when she stopped and glanced back at the stair way where Taran and the Princess had run up. Even with the magic sword, Taran didn't stand a chance against so many enemies. She was their only hope to escaping. Looking longingly at the bridge that would lead back to the tombs she assured herself that Riku would be better able to take care of himself than Taran. Taking a deep breath she ran back to the stair way just as some guards were approaching. One man swung his sword at her throat and Hinata bent backwards narrowly avoiding it and slashed the back of his knee, causing him to fall to the ground. Jumping to the stairs, Hinata readied for another attacker. A man holding an axe swung his axe around the side. Hinata jumped back at the last second causing the man's axe to lodge into the wall. Taking the opportunity, Hinata kicked the man in the face making him fall backwards and knock multiple guards down along with him.
Hinata took the chance to make her way up the stairs to find Taran and the Princess. She found them in a room filled with barrels that Taran was chopping open to make the wine inside pour onto the floor. Many of the guards were slipping and falling to the ground from the sticky and slippery ground. Hinata grabbed Taran and the Princess and pushed them towards the exit that led outside. As they were leaving Hinata heard a barking dog and the familiar voice of Fflewddur.
"Great Belin," He screamed as he ran away from the dog, towards Hinata, "Make way, Make way!"
Hinata smiled, happy to see Fflewddur somehow escaped and turned around to follow Taran and the princess. They were outside surrounded by guards and the small green goblin squabbling as usual. Taran and the Princess were backed up on the black gate entrance of the castle as the guards began to throw spears towards them. Hinata quickly ran through the guards, ignoring their dismay as she shoved them out of the way. Once she was in between the crowd and Taran she readied her swords.
Eilonwy covered her eyes and squeaked, "Ah, Taran do something! Use the sword!
Hinata blocked as many spears as she could and defended her group as Taran took out his sword and hit the black chains next to the closed gate. The instant his blade touched the metal, bright sparks flew wildly as the chain began to melt away. The guards and the small goblin gasped and watched in awe, stopping any attacks they were doing. Within moments the chain was completely gone as the gate slid open, allowing the group to escape.
"Run!" Hinata yelled at Taran and the Princess. Without hesitation they obeyed, running out of the castle to safety.
Hinata was about to run herself when she saw Fflewddur making his way through the crowd. Kicking a guard out of the way she tried to clear a path for him. She held off as many men as she could until Flewddur finally was next her. Giving one final slash towards an enemy she took a couple steps backwards before running through the gate. A few men had gotten the gate operational again and began to close it just as Hinata and Flewddur made their way through.
They ran along the thin path until they reached a forest clearing and the castle was barely in view. Once safe, Hinata sheathed her swords and fell to her knees in exhaustion. Flewddur, Taran, and Eilonwy were thankfully around her and each of them gasped for breath. Once she regained her strength, Hinata stood and looked back at the castle. She wondered if Riku was safe. There was no doubt in her mind that he could take care of himself; but she still worried. Sighing, she walked over to the large tree that had big roots raised out of the ground and sat on one of the roots. She leaned against the tree and put her hands behind her head. Eilonwy sat next to her as Taran admired his new sword and Fflewddur prodded his harp.
"That was simply incredible!" Fflewddur exclaimed putting down his harp.
"Incredible?" Eilonwy asked incredulously, "Weren't you the least bit frightened Fflewddur?"
"A Fflam frightened?" Fflewddur laughed, "The word is not in my vocabulary!" The harp around his neck began to shake violently, seemingly disagreeing with his words and he quickly slammed his hand on it.
"I wasn't afraid!" Taran affirmed, holding his sword to the light.
"Not afraid?" Eilonwy argued unconvinced, "Why, we were running for our lives!"
Putting down his sword in a huff, Taran countered, "Well, I got us out of the castle, didn't I?"
"You?!" Hinata and Eilonwy yelled in unison.
"I'd say it was the sword's magic." Eilonwy bet.
"Or maybe, I don't know, the girl who did all the work…" Hinata breathed waving one of her hands in the air, "Like, me?"
"But it takes a great warrior to handle a sword like this!" Taran boasted, ignoring Hinata's comment.
"But, still, it is a magic sword!" Eilonwy countered, standing up to face Taran.
Taran angrily crossed his arms and huffed, "What does a girl know about swords anyways?"
"What?!" Hinata blurted standing up, "Am I invisible to you or something? Not only did I save your sorry butt back at that castle, but I even beat you on a one on one fight back at your farm!"
"If it weren't for us girls, you would still be in the Horned King's dungeon!" Eilonwy exclaimed, joining in on Hinata's anger.
"Now ladies, let's calm down…" Fflewddur began.
"How dare you take his side!" Eilonwy yelled stomping off into the woods.
"Well I really didn't mean to-to interfere…" Fflewddur tried to explain to no avail as the Princess was already out of ear shot.
"Silly girl," Taran remarked looking after Eilonwy, "Even if she is a princess!"
Being fed up by Taran's stubbornness, Hinata threw her hands up in exasperation and stood up to walk away, "I don't know why I bothered helping you. I'm going to find Riku."
Hinata grumbled under her breath as she stalked into the woods and began to walk towards the castle. She had no idea why she went through so much trouble for Taran and the others. It's not like any of them appreciated her help. She was supposed to be looking for the black cauldron with Riku, yet instead they were separated with no lead on the cauldron's whereabouts. Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt something buzzing on her leather belt. Feeling around she found the small black device Maleficent had given her and Riku before they left Hallow Bastion. Finding a small corner button she pressed it to see what would happen.
There was a moment of static and then Riku's voice came through the small speaker, "Hello? Hinata can you hear me?"
Hinata felt a smile spread across her face as she quickly answered, "Oh Riku, I can't tell you how good it is to hear your voice."
A laugh came through the speaker, "Probably as good as it is to hear yours."
"Are you alright?" Hinata asked, leaning against a nearby tree.
"Yeah, although it was a little hard being on my own…" Riku replied in an unappreciative tone.
Hinata chuckled uncomfortably and rubbed the back of her head, "Oh, um, sorry about that. I really thought you were right behind me when we were escaping."
Changing the subject Riku asked, "Where are you at?"
"I was just with Taran and the others, although I just stormed out on them to go look for you." Hinata explained.
"Did that kid make another comment?" Riku asked knowingly, laughing when Hinata only groaned in response. "Listen, you shouldn't travel with them anymore. The Horned King is having them followed. He thinks that if Taran finds that pig he'll go looking for the cauldron. And when they do find it, his spies will capture them."
Hinata thought about what Riku said before asking, "How do you know all this?"
Riku let out a deep sigh, "It's a long story." Hearing footsteps in the distance Riku quickly added, "Look, I can't talk for much longer. But try not to call me, because the device could easily blow my cover. I'll call you when I can."
With that the speaker went to static and then silent. Hinata stared absently at the device in her hands, thinking about what Riku had just been talking to her about. She wondered what he meant by blowing his cover. Looking worried at the distant castle she hoped he was staying safe. With a sigh she leaned off the tree and thought about where she should go. She could beam back to the ship, but she was pretty sure Maleficent had it set to where the ship would take off back to Hallow Bastion as soon as she or Riku were to get on board. The last thing she wanted to do was to leave Riku stranded on Prydain.
"Hinata," The princess's voice interrupted Hinata's thoughts, "Hinata are you there?"
Hinata spun around, looking for the princess when she saw her slowly approaching, dragging Taran behind her. Crossing her arms, she decided to hear what they had to say.
As Eilonwy got closer to Hinata she let go of Taran's arm and explained, "We've been looking for you. Taran has something he would like to say."
Being lightly pushed by the Princess, Taran took a couple steps forward and rubbed his arms uncomfortably. Swallowing his pride he grimaced, "Thank you for getting us out of the castle."
A small smile came on Hinata's face but she remained silent. After a couple seconds Eilonwy stepped in, "We were about to go look for Taran's pig. Would you please come with us?"
Hinata looked at Eilonwy surprised; she hadn't expected them to flat out ask her to travel with them. Riku had told her to keep her distance as they were being followed. She darted her eyes around trying to find any signs of spies, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Looking back at Eilonwy she asked, "What are you planning on doing once you find Hen Wen?"
Eilonwy put her hand on her chin thinking, "I am not sure yet. But I think we shall figure it out once we get there!"
"We could go after the cauldron!" Taran blurted out, "We could get to it first… then destroy it!"
"Oh it isn't right Taran," Eilonwy disagreed.
"Don't you see? If we destroy the cauldron, we could stop the Horned King!" Taran insisted pounding his fist into his palm. Then looking up at Hinata he asked, "What do you think Hinata?"
Hinata thought about what Taran suggested. She knew that the moment they found the cauldron the King's men would be upon them. There was no sense in tagging along only to be captured in the end; yet she wondered if she should warn them of the misfortune to come. She could at least stay with them until they found Hen Wen. That would give her something to do and she may even discover the whereabouts of the cauldron along the way.
Looking up at Taran she smiled, "I think that sounds like a great idea. Let's get moving."