Scuttle talked and talked the whole walk. Prydain turned out to be an ascetic expansion of the first island we arrived to. There was some greenery but the whole tone of the place was bleak, to say the least. It felt like a dark, ominous cloud hung over you wherever you went, never truly being able to escape it. Prydain was eerie, not to put too fine a term on it. Not that my feathery companion noticed. He kept on chattering the further we went in-land.
"And then I said "that's not a dingle-hopper; it's a whose-a-whatzit!"." I hadn't the faintest idea what he was talking about. I mean, who's ever heard of a dingle-hopper before? "Is it much further, Scuttle?" "What? The whose-a-whatzit?" "No. The people we're going to see." "Oh! Not much. Actually, they're just down there," you can't imagine my surprise when he pointed into a pool of water.
"Uh, Scuttle? That's a puddle," I remarked tacitly. "Yeah; it's the funniest thing. I was standing on this rock earlier and it just sunk down into the water. There was this big whirlpool and everything!" "And…. the people are down there?" My eyebrow rose. He nodded excitedly. "Well….." Gazing down, I didn't see any other option. "Come on, then," I motioned for Scuttle to fly down so I could take him in my arms. Once he was securely pressed against me, we both took a deep breath and jumped in.
Just like Scuttle had said, the water began swirling all around us. Luckily it didn't last long enough for either of us to drown. I felt myself being flung downwards, if you can believe that. Within the blink of an eye, we were underground, with the water pool now resting on the ceiling. I'd never seen anything like it; floating water without anything holding it up in place. Very peculiar. I let Scuttle go and straightened out my clothes. He brushed his feathers off and gave me his typical funny grin. "See? What'd I tell ya? A swirling whirlpool." "Where are we?"
"Um, that would be the land of King Eldilleg." We spun around, only to find these small, fairy-like critters coming out of hiding with caution. The one who spoke was an older fairy man whom I'm assuming was King Eldilleg. From the moment I saw them, my jaw dropped. "F-Fairies….. You're fairies," I yammered. "Uh, fair folk, to be precise, my dear," this adorable tiny man corrected me. "Fair folk?" My eyebrow raised. Never heard of anything called "fair folk" before. By now, more of these so-called fair folk were popping out from their concealment. These four little kids were the ones who flew the closest.
"Look! Scuttle's back! And he's brought someone," another male announced. "What is it?" Yet another boy asked while he inspected me over. "Well, it's ah, ah… it's a girl!" King Eldilleg declared with some authority. This cute blonde-haired little girl in a pink dress flew up to me. Her hands were twiddling behind her back shyly. "Are you a princess?" You can't imagine how sweet her voice was. I looked at her, not quite sure how to reply. "I guess you could say that," was finally my response with a slight shrug. "A princess! Oh my; I say!" King Eldilleg gasped.
"What the-…?! How the blazes did he get back in here?!" We flinched at the sound of this angry man suddenly flying onto the scene. He was also older, like the king, and wore all yellow; his beard was rather unkempt. "Oh dear. Uh, this is my chief lieutenant, Doli. I thought you were going to fix the whirlpool," the king whispered over to him not-so-quietly after our introduction. "I did fix it; I did fix it! But he obviously broke it again!" An incensed Doli pointed at Scuttle. "Oh, nonsense. Now, how might we uh, be of service?" King Eldilleg then inquired to us. I couldn't help but smile at him; what a kind soul. So willing to help.
"I actually have a question about the castle," I began. His grin immediately vanished. "Oh, is the uh, uh burning and killing still going on up there?" The king motioned up towards the ceiling. My blinked, not exactly sure what he was referring to. "You mean the war? No, it's supposed to have ended; or so I've heard. I just got to Prydain, you see." Doli saw his chance. "A stranger, eh? Well why don't you just go back to where you came from?!" "I….. I will, but first I need to find something; which brings me back to my question. Do you know where the Horned King's castle is?"
All the fair folk let out a gasp and zoomed back to their hiding places; only the king and Doli stayed behind. And they looked just as scared as the rest of them. "T-The Horned King's castle? My dear, why would you ever want to go to a place like that?" King Eldilleg stammered. "I'm looking for something: the black cauldron." "The black cauldron, you say. Well, I uh… I can't say I know much about that. But I know someone who does." "You do?" My eyes widened. "Yes- the three witches of Morva. They were the ones originally who hid the cauldron in the marsh, you know."
"Wait, wait, wait. So these witches were the original keepers of the black cauldron?" I asked. "As far as I know. Isn't that right, Doli?" "Don't drag me into this! You send her to Morva and those fiendish sisters will have a time with her," Doli crossed his arms. "Don't listen to him," King Eldilleg waved him off. My finger ran under my chin in a thoughtful manner. Something wasn't adding up here.
"But…. the Horned King has the cauldron now. How did he get it from the witches?" "I don't know. You'll have to ask them," the king shrugged. I glanced back to him intently. "How do I get to Morva?" "Oh, my dear; Morva is a hard place to get to. You shouldn't go there alone." "Yep," Doli agreed, making the king look at him. His face lit up with inspiration. "You uh, can take her." "What?! Me, babysit this….. this princess?! Look at her; she won't last five seconds above ground," Doli angrily retorted. "Pish posh! She'll be perfectly fine. Now, Doli; please take the princess to see the witches in Morva. I'll sure they'll be of some help to her." Doli muttered something harsh under his breath but didn't object this time. He did keep shooting me glares, mind you.
I turned to Scuttle, letting him rest on my forearm. "Now, Scuttle; I need you to listen to me very carefully." "You bet ya!" He saluted "I need you to fly back to Auradon and let everyone know that I made it here safely. Please be sure to tell Carlos, Bagheera, and Akela. Can you do that for me?" "Course! You're lookin' at this sea's best flyer! I'll be there in no time!" I sure hope he's right, I grinned to myself. At least we both had a direction to go in now.