After their visit to Fair Folk, the group began their journey to Morva, the place where, according to King Eidilleg, the Black Cauldron was located.
Their intention was to find it before the Horned King and destroy it so that he couldn't use it for his evil plans.
With Doli's help, to his misfortune, they were guided to the place where Morva was, but they didn't expect that place to be a swamp full of dead trees and a little fog.
"Well, if it's the Marshes of Morva you wanted, here ya' are!" said Doli.
"Oh, such a dreary place!" said Eilonwy.
"You know? This reminds me of when we went to look for Littlefoot during that longneck trip." said Cera.
"Yep, yep, yep. That's where we ran into that ferocious belly dragger." said Ducky.
"Uh… What if we find another one around here?" asked Petrie.
"I don't think there are any around here. It's too quiet." said Chomper.
"Will we be close?" asked Littlefoot.
"Let's see what it looks like from up here." said Taran as he and the others climbed a hill to get a better view.
"I think we're lost." said Eilonwy with slight trepidation.
"But according to Doli, this should be the place where Morva is, which is where we are." said Ruby.
Behind them was Fflewddur, who was exhausted as he climbed the slope.
"Are you sure this is the right place, Doli?" asked Fflewddur to the fairy resting on his hat.
"Yes, I'm sure!" said Doli.
"Well, if you ask me…" began Fflewddur who didn't realize he was walking towards the edge and ended up falling face down.
"Fflewddur! Doli!" said Eilonwy with concern.
"Are you all right?" asked Taran.
"Hey! Look out you big clumsy oaf! Look wher…" began Doli before realizing where they were, for ahead of them stood a very old and sinister house. "Welcome to Morva."
"So, is that Morva?" asked Littlefoot as they looked at the house with curiosity and nervousness.
"It's a little scary. Yep, yep, yep." said Ducky as Spike groaned with nervousness.
Soon after, the group approached the house.
"Well, someone must live here." said Taran.
"Well whoever lives there must be someone weird for living here." said Ruby.
"Gurgi not like this place! Uh-uh! Nooo!" said Gurgi before hiding under Eilonwy's skirt.
"Me not like this place either. Me prefer turn around." said Petrie hiding behind Cera's ridge.
Eilonwy peeked out the window to see inside.
"It seems empty. Maybe we should have a look." said Eilonwy.
Taran tried to open the door, but it was locked.
"If I could just… get this… door open!" said Taran pulling and pushing on the door to try to open it, but nothing worked.
"Ahem."
They all turned their gaze towards Cera who was halfway to the door.
"Allow me." said Cera before breaking into a run and ramming into the door, managing to open it in the process.
At that, they all went inside the house to search for the Black Cauldron.
"How will we ever find the Black Cauldron in a place like this?" asked Eilonwy as she looked around the house.
"Well, it's a cauldron. It won't be that hard to find it." said Chomper.
"That's right. It must be here somewhere!" said Taran.
They all set about inspecting the inside of the house, looking inside cupboards and drawers, but so far, they found nothing.
"I don't know why, but I have the feeling that someone is watching us." commented Littlefoot, for, unbeknownst to anyone, there were thousands of eyes watching them from different hidden spots in the house.
It was then that Taran opened a trunk, but then, several frogs jumped out of it.
Eilonwy screamed as she saw the frogs jump out.
In fact, Fflewddur shouted in the same way, with the same tone, upon seeing them.
"Calm down, they're just hoppers." said Ducky not frightened by the frogs.
"Those were people!" said Doli revealing the truth about those frogs.
"You mean they were turned into frogs?!" asked Taran in surprise.
"Ah, no. Me not want to turn into hopper. Me get out of here." said Petrie with intent to leave.
"Hold on, Petrie. We still have to find the Black Cauldron." said Littlefoot.
"Well, the way we're going, it's going to be tricky." said Cera.
Just then, Gurgi jumped on Taran's back, knocking him to the ground in the process.
"Oh, master! Come quickly! Gurgi finds the wicked Cauldron! Quick! Quick! Follow Gurgi!" began Gurgi leading them to a separate room in the house. "Behold master!"
Because of how dark the room was, Eilonwy took out her magic bauble to illuminate the place, but what they saw shocked them, for all over the room were thousands of cauldrons.
"The whole room is full of cauldrons!" said Taran.
"It will take hours or days to find the real one among all these." said Chomper as Spike stuck his head into a thrown cauldron to check inside.
"There's one thing I don't understand and that's what he who lives here wants so many cauldrons for, which I don't understand." said Ruby.
"Ah! Thieves! Thieves!"
That sudden female scream startled the group and made the magic bauble to hide into one of the cauldrons.
In fact, Spike was so startled that his head hit the inside of the cauldron he was in, letting out a groan of pain at it.
"Someone stole all our frogs!" said an older woman as the group exited the cauldron room, only for someone to magically appear after an explosion of smoke, lightning and flashes.
In front of them appeared three wrinkled older women.
The one on the left looked plumper and wearing a dress, the one in the middle looked much older and wrinkled than the others while wearing a headband, and the one on the left, the shortest, was wearing a scarf and a pointy hat.
"You evil, nasty people! You shall all be turned into frogs and eaten!" said the middle one.
Doli gasped in horror before magically disappearing.
"Me wish me could do that too." said Petrie.
"F-For what it's worth, they were the ones who got away." said Chomper.
"We didn't do anything. No, no, no." said Ducky very nervously, as did Spike.
"I don't think that will do any good." said Cera.
Taran stepped back a little before the witch in the hat, Orgoch, grabbed his arm which she quickly rolled up his sleeves and pinched the skin while laughing madly.
"Nice and tender!" said Orgoch before trying to bite the arm, but Taran pushed it away in time.
"Stop that! You…" said Taran as Orgoch's teeth snapped.
"W-We're so sorry. We didn't mean to cause discomfort." said Littlefoot trying to fix the situation.
"That would have been thought of before you came into our house without permission!" said the headband witch, Orddu, pointing at the longneck.
"Put it that way, we're the bad guys for coming in here unannounced if we put it that way." said Ruby.
"So nice to meet you ladies. Uh, goodbye!" said Fflewddur trying to get him and the others to get out of there, but then, the witch in the dress, Orwen, grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him.
"Wait." began Orwen drawing the minstrel towards her. "My, aren't you the handsome one?" asked Orwen wrapping her arms around his neck to hug him.
"Who? Who? M-m-m-m-m… Me?!" asked Fflewddur in surprise before trying to pull away, but she pulled him to her again.
"Oh, honestly now! Don't you find me irresistible?" asked Orwen acting flirtatiously.
Meanwhile, Taran and Eilonwy had covered the gang's eyes.
"Hey, what's up? Why don't you let us watch?" asked Cera.
"This isn't something for you kids to see." said Eilonwy.
"Yes. Quite so!" began Fflewddur covering his face with his harp, just as one of his strings snapped in a sign that he was lying. "Shush! Stop that!" said Fflewddur scolding the harp, hoping that his lie wouldn't be detected by Orwen.
"I hope you don't mind…" began Orwen approaching him and throwing him on his back on the table with her on top of him. "If I move your heart." said Orwen as Fflewddur tried to escape, but she pulled him into a hug. "You handsome…" said Orwen wrapping her arms around his neck in such a way as to smother him.
"Humph! Enough of this lovesick nonsense!" said Orgoch before shooting a magic lightning from her finger that hit the minstrel.
"Great Belin!" exclaimed Fflewddur having been transformed into a frog.
Orgoch laughed madly as she lunged towards Fflewddur who tried to escape, but she caught him with her hands before he slipped from her grasp, darting off in the direction of arc.
"We're going to have toad stew!" said Orgoch as a cauldron full of boiling water appeared over a fire.
Fflewddur tried to avoid it, but fell into the cauldron before leaping out and blowing off his feet.
Then, Orgoch, who was still laughing madly, appeared with a wooden spoon and grabbed Fflewddur with it while directing him towards her mouth with the intention of eating him.
That's when Orwen cuckooed her away, causing Fflewddur to fall back into the cauldron.
"You're not going to eat this one!" began Orwen before shooting a magic lightning that brought Fflewddur back to normal, though he ended up in her arms again. "Come here love! Can anyone here perform marriages?" asked Orwen burying the minstrel's head into her chest.
"Marriage?" asked the rest of the group in surprise.
"Marriages?" asked Fflewddur in surprise.
"You love struck witch!" said Orgoch before shooting another magic lightning, causing Fflewddur to suddenly disappear.
"Where is he? Where'd he go?" asked Orwen without noticing that Fflewddur had turned into a frog again and was trapped in her chest.
"He…" began Petrie before Eilonwy shut him up as she made a shaking gesture with her head.
"Yoo-hoo! Where are you? Don't go!" began Orwen as Fflewddur tried to escape, but ended up bouncing upwards before ending up buried in her chest again. "Now look what you've done! He's gone! I'll never forgive you for this, Orgoch! Never!" said Orwen before Fflewddur tried to escape again, and after a bit of effort, he escaped, but Orwen was quick to notice. "Oh, there you are!" said Orwen before shooting some magic dust with a kiss that returned Fflewddur to normal.
Though he was still in the position of a frog, before shooting his tongue out to eat a fly flying nearby, much to his horror, as he covered his mouth for it.
The witches burst out laughing at that, including Cera, who received a scowl from Eilonwy.
"What? That was funny!" said Cera.
"Enough!" began Taran standing in front of the witches as he pointed the sword at them. "We've come for the Black Cauldron!"
"Did you hear that sisters?" asked Orddu.
"Why, no one has asked for the Black Cauldron in over two thousand years!" said Orwen.
"It's a trick! We not going to let them have it are we?" said Orgoch.
"Don't worry. Leave it to me." began Orddu winking at the other witches before approaching the cauldron room. "Perhaps I might interest you in something else." said Orddu before opening the door. "A kettle, a crockpot, a skillet, a teapot, a bucket, a jar, a platter!"
As Orddu mentioned this, these objects floated out of the room and flew around the group.
The pot even passed underneath Taran, causing him to fall to the floor sitting down.
The other members of the group scrambled around to dodge the floating objects.
"See anything you like?" asked Orddu with her arms crossed and leaning with her eyes closed against the wall.
"Sorry, but we're not interested in any of this." said Littlefoot dodging a floating dipper.
"Spike, wait, let me help you." said Ducky pulling a jar that had Spike' head trapped inside.
"Ouch. Careful." said Eilonwy ducking to avoid a floating bucket.
"Gurgi knew not like it here." said Gurgi jumping to avoid a floating teapot.
"Me too." said Petrie keeping low over Gurgi's head to avoid any floating objects.
"Hey, look. The sword is doing something." said Chomper.
He was right, for suddenly, without anyone holding it, the sword floated in the air as it glowed and then, it began to cut all the floating objects.
"I don't believe it!" said Orddu in surprise.
Taran quickly grabbed the sword, but even so, the sword kept moving as if it was alive as it cut through the floating objects.
"It's amazing!" said Eilonwy in amazement.
"It truly is a magic sword, for what it is doing is something magical." said Ruby.
"I've never seen a sword like that!" said Orddu as she and the other witches watched in amazement at what it was doing.
Taran, sitting on the floor, let out a sigh of relief when the sword stopped glowing and moving as it had sliced through everything that was floating in the room.
"I've got to have that sword!" began Orddu and smiled as an idea flashed through her mind. "Listen carefully." said Orddu pulling the other witches' garments closer to her. "We'll trade the Cauldron for the sword!"
"But what can they do with the Cauldron, Orddu?" asked Orwen.
"Nothing! That's the point. Don't you see? We'll end up with both! The sword and the Cauldron!" began Orddu before approaching Taran. "It's decided then, you shall have the Black Cauldron." said Orddu grabbing Taran's face with her hand.
"You mean… you'll give it to us?" asked Eilonwy with hope and joy.
That made Orddu burst out laughing.
"Ha, ha! That's not what I said. You weren't listening. We never give anything away! What we do is bargain… trade!" said Orddu standing next to Taran as she looked slightly at the sword, pointing to what they would accept in exchange, something the boy quickly understood.
"Well you'll not have my sword!" said Taran pushing the sword away from the witch.
"Maybe we could trade it for Fflewddur's harp." said Chomper.
"M-M-My harp? Y-Y-You sure?" asked Fflewddur.
"Anyway, we would have no use for a harp that detects your lies." said Cera.
"Please, Fflewddur. We have to do it." said Eilonwy.
Seeing that there was no other choice, she decided to give it a try.
"May I ask you ladies to perhaps consider this magnificent harp." said Fflewddur showing his harp.
"A harp?!" asked Orddu pulling the strings of the harp and when she let go, it made Fflewddur fall to the ground. "When we want music we send for the birds." began Orddu taking out of her hand a cage, which, when she opened it, several chirping birds came out of it. "What would we do with a simple harp?" asked Orddu as the birds flew away.
"Me not able to argue such logic." said Petrie.
It was then that Gurgi approached and caught Orddu's attention.
"Wait! Gurgi will trade his munchings and crunchings." said Gurgi showing the apple core that Taran gave him upon meeting.
"Who would want…?!" asked Orddu.
"Hold it sister!" began Orgoch before taking the remains of the apple. "Not so fast!" said Orgoch before eating it, much to Gurgi's frustration.
"Does that count as bargain?" asked Ruby.
"No!" said Orddu.
"It had to be tried. Yep, yep, yep." said Ducky with a shrug.
"I guess that only leaves us one option." said Littlefoot as he and Taran looked at each other, as he knew what had to be done.
"All right! I know what you want!" said Taran looking sadly at his sword.
"Yes?" asked Orddu standing next to Taran as she playfully touched the sword.
"No, Taran! No!" said Eilonwy trying to stop him.
"It's our only chance!" said Taran.
"He's right, Eilonwy. It's the only way to get the Black Cauldron before the Horned King." said Littlefoot.
With determination, Taran leaned on one knee as he held up his sword.
"Here is my sword. Take it!" said Taran bowing his head as the sword glowed.
"This is your own choice, duckling. Remember, with this sword you could be the greatest of warriors!" said Orddu testing the boy's resolve.
"Yes. I offer you my dearest possession… in exchange for the Black Cauldron." said Taran firm in his decision.
"Agreed! We have made a bargain." said Orddu before she and the other witches disappeared in a small swirl of wind.
Her laughter could be heard throughout the house before the sword magically disappeared just as things in the house began to float around the house which was also shaking.
"Eh… What's going on?" asked Chomper concerned about what was happening.
"Look out!" said Taran as they started to feel a strong wind inside, so they stayed together and held on.
"Help!" shouted Doli as he grabbed onto Fflewddur's cloak to avoid being carried away by the wind.
Petrie was in the same situation as he grabbed onto Spike's tail.
That's when the whole house went flying before the cauldrons went flying as well.
"Taran! Watch out!" said Eilonwy as the cauldrons went flying over them while she and Taran hugged crouched.
"Ah! Great Belin!" said Fflewddur dodging a passing cauldron.
Gurgi jumped backwards to avoid a cauldron smashing into him.
"Duck!" shouted Littlefoot as they all dropped to the ground while the cauldrons passed over them until they disappeared into the distance.
As soon as they noticed it was all over, they lifted their heads.
"Is everyone all right?" asked Littlefoot.
"They could have warned that this was going to happen, because we didn't know this was going to happen." said Ruby.
"Yep, yep, yep. I don't understand any of that, though. There was no need to break their house." said Ducky.
Just then, the earth began to shake.
"Speaking of break…" said Petrie.
"An earthshake?" asked Cera in surprise.
The next instant, Eilonwy let out a gasp of surprise.
"Look!" said Eilonwy pointing to a certain area.
In that area, a part of the ground exploded, generating a smokescreen and then, to everyone's surprise, when the smoke cleared, they saw it.
Rising out of the ground, as black as the darkest night, was...
"The Black Cauldron! It's ours!" said Taran when they saw before them what they were looking for.
"We did it!" said Littlefoot.
"Great. Now we only have to destroy it. That's a piece of cake for a threehorn." said Cera before charging towards the Black Cauldron, crashing straight into it and generating a gong sound.
"Are you all right, Cera?" asked Eilonwy.
In response, Cera staggered away, dizzy from the blow.
"Did I do something to it?" asked Cera before shaking her dizziness away with a shake of her head.
"Not even a scratch." said Fflewddur as Spike shook his head.
"How are we going to destroy the Black Cauldron then?" asked Ducky.
At that moment, the witches' laughter could be heard.
They all looked around in search of the laughing witches.
"I say, what funny little ducklings!" began Orddu before the group looked up, finding the witches peering out from a pink cloud in the sky. "Don't they know the Black Cauldron is indestructible?!"
"What? And why didn't you say so?" asked Chomper.
"You didn't ask, my dears." said Orwen.
"Then how will we stop the Horned King from using the Black Cauldron if it can't be destroyed?" asked Littlefoot.
"Simple. Now listen carefully, the Black Cauldron can never be destroyed. Only its evil powers can be stopped!" said Orddu.
"Hey, in that case, it would be the same thing. Because without its powers, it would just be a normal cauldron." said Ruby.
"Then there is a way! But how?" asked Taran.
"A living being must climb into it on his own free will!" said Orddu.
"Gurgi is bold and brave! He will climb into the evil cauldron!" said Gurgi willing to go through with the process.
"No. Me brave, so me destroy powers of Black Cauldron." said Petrie flying to do the same.
"However…" began Orddu, causing the creature and the flyer to stop within spans of the cauldron's interior. "The poor duckling… will never climb out alive!."
Hearing that, they both screamed in panic as Gurgi leapt into Taran's arms and Petrie lunged to hug Littlefoot's neck.
"Now look here madam, don't forget we have an agreement!" said Fflewddur with a frown.
"Yes! You said we could have the Cauldron!" said Eilonwy.
"Technically, that's what they did." said Littlefoot.
"The little boy with the long neck is right. It's not our fault you can't do anything with it!" said Orgoch before laughing maniacally.
After that, the witches disappeared and the cloud they were in vanished soon after.
"Goodbye goslings! And remember we always keep our bargain!" said Orddu as her voice faded into the air.
Night came and the group was sitting around a campfire discouraged.
Although they had found the Black Cauldron, they had discovered that it was indestructible except for its powers and that the only way to destroy it was for someone to sacrifice themselves to do it, so now, they weren't sure what to do.
While they were unmoved, Doli was very annoyed until he lost his patience.
"What a bunch of blundering misfits!" began Doli startling the others. "Things never work out when you're dealing with people! You can go back to feeding pigs! I've had it! Goodbye!" said Doli before turning into magic particles and flying away from there.
"Fine for me. I was already starting to get annoyed by his temper." said Cera.
"Well, he's a bit like yours." said Ducky before chuckling a little, earning an annoyed look from the threehorn.
"Doli's right. It's my fault! I let you down! Without my sword I'm nothing! I'm just an… just an Assistant Pig-Keeper!" said Taran.
"Don't say that, Taran." said Littlefoot.
Taran
Sometimes you think you know what's right.
Then somebody comes along
and they show you what you thought was right
might be a little bit wrong.
Things can look so different
from someone else's side
You're half as smart as you thought you were
and the world seems twice as wide.
How do you know who to listen to?
how do you know what to think?
When you see it through someone else's eyes.
things can change in a blink.
Do you hold onto the rules you've learned?
or do you let them go?
When everything's a muddle...
how do you know?
Petrie
Whenever me feel all fuzzed up.
Me go and find me mummy.
She always ask me what me feel.
Way down deep in me tummy.
She say if me listen hard.
Me can hear a voice inside.
Cera
But what if it's a grumpy voice?
Littlefoot
It still can be your guide.
Ducky
That is how you know who to listen to each and every day.
Chomper
You can use your head and your tummy too.
Ruby
To help you find your way.
Cera
Keep your eyes and ears open wide
Littlefoot
and they'll show you where to go.
Ducky
If you trust your eyes.
Petrie
Trust your tummy.
Littlefoot
Trust yourself
That's how you know
Cera
That's how you know
who to listen
Petrie
That how you know
Chomper
who to listen to
Ducky
That is how you know
That's how you know
Ruby
who to listen to
The gang
That is how you know
That's how you know
After the song, Eilonwy stood up and approached Taran.
"They're right." began Eilonwy taking Taran's face in her hands to make him look her in the eyes. "Look you are somebody! You must believe in yourself! I believe in you." said Eilonwy with a loving smile.
"You… You do?" asked Taran in surprise as the others smiled at the scenario presented by the two young people. "And I think that you're…" began Taran taking the princess' hands with his own and when Taran realized this, he put them behind his back. "Uh, I mean… That is…"
"Yes, Taran?" asked Eilonwy wanting to know the answer.
The scene was so touching that Fflewddur pulled Gurgi close in a side hug and that's when the creature kissed the minstrel on the cheek, much to his chagrin before he pushed him away, something that made the others laugh.
"It doesn't matter if you have a sword or not, Taran. You're our friend." said Littlefoot.
"Yep, yep, yep. Sword or no sword, you're great." said Ducky as Spike nodded.
"You get us in couple of scrapes, but you also get us out them." said Petrie.
"You may be an Assistant Pig-Keeper, but you acted bravely in the face of danger." said Chomper.
"Even though you're not a warrior, you acted like one even though you're not." said Ruby.
"So don't even think about saying you're nothing." said Cera.
"Thank you, kids. I'm grateful. For all of you. You've been true friends. Now it's up to me…" began Taran believing that this was the end of their journey.
"Look!" said Eilonwy pointing upwards.
When they all looked up at the sky, they were horrified, for roaring in the air were a pair of dragons, but they weren't just any dragons, they were the dragons of the Horned King who had been following them from the beginning without them knowing it.
"Oh, no. That's the Horned King's dragons." said Chomper.
"But what they doing here?" asked Petrie.
"They've probably been following us since we left the castle." said Littlefoot.
"But if they're here, that means that…" began Ruby in horror along with the other members of the group.
"Uh oh! Trouble! Goodbye!" said Gurgi before quickly running away.
"Wait, Gurgi!" said Ducky following the creature with the rest of the gang.
"Quick! We can't let them find it!" said Taran as he, Eilonwy and Fflewddur tried to run away, but then…
"Pig boy! We got you!" said a man who was pointing his spear at him along with other men blocking their way.
They tried to flee the other way, but found more men pointing their spears at them.
Soon after, they were surrounded and ended up being captured, all while Gurgi and the gang stood to the side watching it all in horror.
