Chapter 110
"Do not fall asleep," the Horned King snarled in her ear.
Avalina jumped in fright, gripping Mitternacht's reins even tighter, and nodded fearfully to the lich.
Mitternacht had nearly shied from the Horned King when he approached, sensing his fury. The only thing preventing him from throwing the lich now was the fact that Avalina was his other passenger.
The Horned King had hurt the boy. Mitternacht had smelled this. He had hurt his rider too, in more way than one. The horse also sensed these things and it angered him. Avalina was the only thing keeping the Horned King on his back.
The Horned King had noticed immediately upon mounting that the horse was nervous and fidgety, and he had no doubt the animal would have thrown him earlier if Avalina had not been in the saddle.
'Avalina. . .'
Looking down at her, he shook her slightly, determined to keep her conscious til they reached the castle. She was not well, and he believed he had hurt her internally. She couldn't focus her eyes well, and was having trouble staying awake, and he gritted his fangs and shook her again, not about to let her pass out.
Her terror of him and the pain she was in was coming off her in waves so thick the Horned King had to grip the saddle tightly to keep from being swept away by them.
The instant they reached the courtyard, the Invisibles swarmed them, taking Avalina to her room and the horse to the stables, the Horned King growling that he was to be informed immediately of any change.
How Taran made it back to Dalben's, he didn't know. He had been only vaguely aware of Eilonwy bringing up their horses and helping him on, before they started walking.
It was pitch black outside when they walked into Dalben's yard, and he was vaguely aware of all but falling from the saddle in a haze of pain as Dalben helped him inside.
When Eilonwy returned from putting up the horses some time later, Taran's makeshift bandages had been removed (that Avalina had spent so much time and energy on) and Dalben had applied proper ones, concern, worry and anger all over his face.
"Now," Dalben said, after Taran was as comfortably settled as he could be and Eilonwy had been given a cup of tea, "Suppose you tell me what happened? I'm not getting any younger."
Taran and Eilonwy shared a glance, but before Eilonwy could start the talking, Taran spoke up.
"Dalben, what you're about to hear is something none of us must ever reveal to anyone. Promise me this."
Dalben looked startled for a moment, like he couldn't believe his apprentice was saying that, remembering he had told the boy something very similar not too awfully long ago. He was about to protest when Taran continued.
"Someone's life is depending on this."
Dalben looked like he wanted to argue for a moment, before he nodded and sat down by the bed.
"Very well. But who did this to you, Taran? Who?"
"The. . .Horned King."
Dalben's eyes widened in shock.
"What?" He gasped.
"Taran, that's impossible! He's dead! You killed him!"
"Yes," Taran managed out, "I watched him die. But he's *back,* Dalben. I saw him. He did. . .this to me."
"I saw him too," Eilonwy added, drawing Dalben's shocked attention to her.
"He did this to me as well."
Pulling up her sleeve, she showed him the blueish marks around her wrist, before indicating her neck, where faint marks were as well.
Dalben had gone white.
". . .How. . ." He rasped out.
"How did he come back? . . .How did. . ."
Something else came to mind.
"How did you escape alive?"
"Avalina," Taran groaned out.
Dalben gasped in recognition.
"Is she alright?"
"She's alive," Taran managed.
"She. . .kept the Horned King from. . .killing us. Somehow."
"How does she come into this, Taran?" Eilonwy asked, "I never got a chance to speak to her."
"She's his. . .prisoner."
Gasps followed.
"She has been since. . .that last day we saw her."
Dalben could only stare. He had never bothered to give it a thought, why she hadn't visited in a while. She did not live exactly close to him, and he had simply guessed the farmwork had been pressing on her and her family. It had never occurred to him she might be in danger.
"And he's. . .he hasn't killed her yet?" Dalben asked.
"Why? The Horned King never takes prisoners!"
"I don't know," Taran rasped out, "But she was talking nonsense today. Utter nonsense. And she believed every word she said! That monster's done something to her, I'm sure of it."
"What kind of nonsense?" Eilonwy asked.
"She was talking about the Horned King saving her life, and killing the Mad Pack, and teaching him to. . .play. . ."
Taran went silent as a wave of pain coursed through him.
"He's done something to her!" Eilonwy cried.
"That wicked creature!"
"And she almost had *me* convinced!" Taran groaned.
"And I almost want to believe it. That's the worst part."
Dalben was lost in thought at everything he had heard. This couldn't be true. Avalina was such a sweet, timid child. She had even been intimidated by him upon first meeting. The idea of her being that monster's prisoner. . .he held down a shudder.
"We have to warn Prydain of his return," he said gravely.
"Yes!" Eilonwy said quickly.
"I've got to tell my father!"
"No!" Taran choked.
"No! You can't!"
"Why not?" Eilonwy asked in shock.
"We have to!"
"Yes, why can't we?" Dalben asked, his eyes clouded in worry and anger.
"If word spreads that he's returned, he'll. . .kill her family. And then. . .everyone else," Taran groaned in reply.
"She. . .told me so."
Nothing more was said for a long time, until Dalben said, very gravely, "Eilonwy, bring Hen-Wen in here. We must find the truth in all of this."
After Eilonwy had gone outside, Dalben looked over at the boy.
"How are you still alive, Taran?" He asked, placing a hand briefly on the boy's forehead.
"How did you escape from him?"
"I. . .didn't," Taran managed out.
"He could have killed me anytime he wanted. He was going to. But. . .Avalina. . .changed his mind. Somehow."
Dalben shook his head in disbelief, before filling a bowl of water and placing it on the floor and drawing Hen-Wen to him.
"Hen-Wen, from you I do beseech," he said gravely, "Knowledge that lies beyond my reach. Truth from lies, and lies from truth, separate the myth from proof."
The pig lowered her muzzle into the water, which turned a bright orange. Black and mystical blue shapes began to morph in the water, molding, breaking apart and seamlessly flowing about as the water began to spin in a whirlpool motion.
"What's it saying?" Eilonwy whispered in awe. She knew the pig had special powers, but this was the first time she had ever seen them in action.
The black took on the form of the Cauldron, before the silhouette of the Horned King rose from it, whole and alive.
Everyone gasped softly.
"Impossible," Taran whispered.
"How?"
"Sh," Dalben murmured firmly.
The black indicated a violent storm, a horse and rider sloughing through it, and everyone in the room stiffened, knowing what they were seeing.
The black castle appeared before the blue horse and rider, and they went inside. The black turned to dungeon bars and the blue silhouette of a girl falling to her knees inside them, her hands over her face in despair.
A farmhouse was briefly seen, along with silhouettes the group could only guess was her family.
The blue shape of the girl was then seen fleeing the black castle on the horse, before wolves swarmed them.
As one of the wolf shapes leaped at the downed girl, Eilonwy gave a cry of fear, Taran's eyes were the size of saucers and Dalben was gripping his staff so tightly his knuckles had turned white.
The Horned King appeared from nowhere, knocking the wolf away.
Everyone in the room gasped.
The colors morphed into the blue image of the girl kneeling at the Horned King's feet, bandaging his arm, before it disappeared and an image of the Horned King, all in black and tendrils of darkness twisting all around him, and the girl, all in mystical blue, with flowing lines all around her, facing one another.
The blue tried to touch the black, but the black drew back and seemed to grow larger, and the blue retreated, shrinking away from the threatening cloud the darkness had become.
An image of the Horned King and the girl sitting across from each other, a book in the monster's hand, followed by a flurry of little birds, their mouths open as if they were singing.
The image of them standing across from each other again, only this time, the black tendrils crept forward a little to meet the blue, before slowly receding in defeat, the blue following for a short distance before ceasing, as if it were afraid to draw any closer.
Another image appeared, the blue outline of the girl standing directly in front of the Horned King with her hand on his chest, looking up at him. The monster had one arm loosely around her shoulders, his other hand resting over the girl's own where she was touching him, looking down at her. The black tendrils that twisted through the air all around him encircled the girl, but there seemed to be no malice in the action. The blue, dancing lines that emanated from the girl's blue silhouette seemed to circle around the Horned King, the two colors weaving together without any violence or fear, creating a tiny blue and black flower above their heads.
Then the blue silhouettes of Eilonwy and Taran appeared, and the blackness around the Horned King swelled to fill the entire bowl, blocking out the orange background in the water.
Dalben's eyes narrowed in horrified fury as the lich struck the boy again and again, before the blue silhouette of a girl came between them.
After a moment of concentrating, he could recognize it as Avalina. Silhouettes were hard to differentiate, particularly when they were the same gender.
She seemed to plead with the Horned King for a moment, before the lich lowered his head and slowly backed away from the prone silhouette of Taran on the ground, before the blackness completely vanished, leaving only the blue outlines of Taran and Eilonwy.
Then the vision ended, and the water faded to it's original colorless form in the bowl as Hen-Wen lifted her head from it.
The silence in the room was deafening. For many minutes, no one spoke, each one trying to translate what they had seen.
After a while, Taran whispered out, "What do you make of it, Dalben?"
The older man leaned back in his chair, a thoughtful, almost frightened look on his face. He knew how to read the images the pig showed him with nigh-perfect accuracy, but the two children, particularly Eilowny, didn't have a clue.
"The Horned King was released," Dalben explained in a hushed tone, as if he were afraid to speak out loud.
"He took Avalina prisoner. She got to see her family. I think. She tried to escape, the Mad Pack attacked, and he saved her. She tries to reach out to him but he resists. Somehow, books and music come into the picture, but I don't know how. Then the Horned King tries to near her and changes his mind. She tries to pick up his effort but backs out last minute. And then. . .then. . ."
Dalben rubbed his eyes like he couldn't believe what he had seen.
"Then she. . .awakens him. Or, something. It has something to do with the heart, or friendship, or. . .that's the closest I can manage. But that's preposterous. He's incapable of change."
"He spared my life because of her," Taran whispered, feeling gratitude for Avalina welling up inside him, followed by guilt as he remembered he hadn't entirely believed her before.
"She wasn't making it up. She's telling the truth! Hen-Wen can't lie."
Eilonwy, for once, was at a complete loss for words and said nothing, merely staring at the now regular bowl of water.
"It's just. . .so much to take in," Taran murmured, staring at the ceiling above his bed.
"How was he released in the first place? And why didn't Hen-Wen throw a fit the instant he came back? She did the last time he returned to Prydain."
"Hen-Wen can only reveal what the Fates allow her to," Dalben answered.
"I had thought that no magic was strong enough to release a soul from the Cauldron, but that black-hearted devil obviously had a way. Nothing can compare to his evil."
"She touched his heart."
The two males turned to the only female in the room.
"What?"
"What?"
"She touched his heart," Eilonwy whispered again, still staring at the blank bowl of water.
"She touched his chest, there, you saw. . .that was his heart. She's. . .changing him."
"He doesn't have a heart!" Taran moaned around his pain.
"That's ridiculous!" Dalben began to protest, but Eilonwy cut him off.
"You saw it yourself," she murmured, a little louder, raising her eyes to look at him, "Hen-Wen doesn't lie. You're right Taran, he *is* heartless, but then how else can you explain that image of them standing there together?"
The two males shook their heads in shock.
"What would you know about this stuff?" Taran suddenly asked skeptically.
"Because I'm a girl, and I understand what the story in the water said. She's touched his heart, I'm telling you. Or maybe it was a metaphor. Either way, she's done something to the Horned King, not the other way around."
"That would explain how we're both still alive, then," Taran said slowly.
"The monster would have killed us both without a second thought not a year ago."
"Perhaps the reason Hen-Wen did not reveal the presence of the Horned King this time," Dalben said thoughtfully, "Is because the Fates did not see him as a threat. They warn us, through her, if there is anything horribly wrong."
"I'd like to wonder what they consider a threat," Taran groaned, hissing in pain as he breathed the wrong way and felt his ribs grate against one another.
"I'm sure it would be most interesting."
"The Fates have a reason for all they do, Taran," Dalben said wisely, before his eyes darkened in sympathy at the boy.
"Even if we do not understand it. But be grateful you're alive, both of you. That meeting could have ended very, very differently."
Everyone in the room trembled.
"We will say nothing to anyone of this," Dalben continued.
"It would cause mass panic. And Avalina's life could be at stake. Even if what you say regarding his heart is true, Princess, I refuse to take such a chance on it. Even Gurgi is not to know a thing."
The children nodded silently in agreement.
One of my editors upon finishing this chapter. . .
". . . . .Water. Those stupid, story-mangling, brainless bimbos at Disney had Hen Wen using her oracular powers with *WATER*? I swear, did they even read the BACKS of the books? (Two lightning strike faces here) It was LETTER STICKS, you idiots, L.E.T.T.E.R. S.T.I.C.K.S. You morons! (Three lightning strike faces here)
Ok, rant over. I loved the chapter, and your descriptions of the offensive water-thing were absolutely spectacular. (Two party faces here)"
For everyone else reading my fanfiction, keep in mind that neither of my editors have seen the Disney movie, they've only read the books, and I've only seen the movie and never read the books. This provides for exceptionally interesting conversation whenever we compare notes on our different sources. XD Lol