Little time had passed since Taran and his human friends had been captured by the Horned King's men and taken back to the castle while some of them were in charge of transporting the Black Cauldron.
Meanwhile, the gang and Gurgi were watching from a safe distance.
"They've got our friends!" said Chomper.
"Worse yet, they've got the Black Cauldron!" said Cera.
"Now that the Horned King has the Black Cauldron, he will unleash his army of deathless warriors and destroy us all!" said Ruby.
"What are we going to do?" asked Ducky.
"Right now, the only thing we can do is go save our friends." said Littlefoot.
"But then we go back to evil castle." said Petrie.
"And we almost didn't get out of there alive. No, no, no." said Ducky.
"That's possible, but they're our friends and I don't intend to stand by while they're in danger. What do you say?" asked Littlefoot.
"Well, I admit I'm terrified to go back to that place, but if it's for Taran and the others, I'm willing to do it." said Cera.
"We never leave our friends behind and them being our friends, we're not going to leave them behind." said Ruby.
"And what do we do about the Black Cauldron? It's too dangerous now that the Horned King is going to get his hands on it." said Chomper.
"We'll figure it out after we save them." said Littlefoot.
"Yep, yep, yep. The world will be in danger, but our friends are more important." said Ducky as Spike nodded.
"Me say it before, me brave and me prove it now." said Petrie with courage and determination.
"Will you come with us, Gurgi?" asked Littlefoot.
"Me? Go into that horrible place? Oh… No, no, no. Gurgi not like that place." said Gurgi backing away slowly.
"That's it!" began Cera before pushing Gurgi until she held him against a tree. "I've had enough of your cowardice! Our friends need us and we're going to go help them! So decide, are you going to help us save them like the friend you claim to be or run away like the coward you are?!"
Gurgi was still scared to go to the Horned King's castle, but then, he remembered everything he had been through with Taran, Eilonwy, Fflewddur and the gang, both the good times and the bad.
Finally, a brave and determined face formed on his face as Cera turned away.
"Gurgi friend of the master and Gurgi go save him from that horrible place!" declared Gurgi.
"That's the way I like it!" said Cera with a smile.
"All right, guys. Let's not waste any time. Let's follow them." said Littlefoot before they all set off to catch up with the group taking their friends towards their destination.
Later, inside the castle, we found ourselves in the special room where the Horned King kept all the skeletons.
"Get the move on! Careful now!" began Creeper as a man was pulling a cart whose material was covered with a blanket. "You! Tie them up over there and get that cart out of here! Oh, I 'm sorry. I've ignored you." said Creeper looking up to an upper floor where Taran, Eilonwy and Fflewddur were standing with their hands tied on an overhead beam. "You did come for the Black Cauldron?" asked Creeper before standing on the edge of the cauldron. "Good, then climb right in! It'll only cost you your life!" said Creeper laughing, for he knew what would happen if anyone alive entered the cauldron.
Suddenly, he stopped laughing when he saw the shadow of a certain person approaching the room.
His surprise was such that he fell out of the cauldron and ended up hanging by the foot of the cauldron's ring.
"Oh! Everything is ready, sire!" said Creeper nervously as the Horned King entered the room.
"My, such a brave and handsome crew! A pig-boy, a scullery maid, and broken-down minstrel! Perhaps it may interest you to see what fate has in store for you!" began the Horned King before laughing evilly and lightly as he approached an object that was covered with a blanket. "Now I call upon the army of the dead! The Cauldron Born!" said the Horned King as he raised on his hands what he covered with the blanket, which, when removed, turned out to be a skeleton which he later introduced inside the cauldron. "Arise my messengers of death! Our time has arrived!"
The cauldron began to shake as blood spilled from within and the claw-like legs began to clench the ground beneath them.
The Horned King raised his arms just as a column of red energy shot out from inside the cauldron, ending in a reddish cloud.
Needless to say, the three prisoners were shocked by this.
Then, lights came out of the cauldron and blended together to form a face that melted into a skull that was then shrouded in lightning.
Then, the skull returned to the inside of the cauldron from which a green mist came out and covered the whole room that was full of skeletons.
While all this was going on, the gang and Gurgi were outside the castle.
"There must be some way to get in." said Littlefoot.
"Well, I don't think we can get in through the same place we did last time." said Cera.
"And we can't just go through the door, because we'd get caught if we tried to go through the door." said Ruby.
"Uh… Maybe Gurgi has a solution." said Gurgi.
"Really? Do you know how to get in?" asked Ducky.
"Maybe. You follow Gurgi." said Gurgi before leading the gang somewhere else.
They kept walking until they reached a point where the moat connected to the ocean.
"Why we where Big Water?" asked Petrie.
"There's an entrance there." said Gurgi pointing to a point where an entrance connected to the water could be seen.
"That's true and it doesn't look like it's guarded." said Chomper.
"That means we can go in that way. Let's go!" said Littlefoot.
Wasting no time, the group jumped into the water and swam quickly toward the entrance.
Once they arrived, they climbed onto solid ground and entered through a small gap that allowed them to pass through.
Upon entering, they saw that the rats were fleeing through the water, which they found strange, but they continued on their way to find their friends and rescue them.
Back in the room, the green mist continued to fill the room until it looked like a lake of green water.
One of the Horned King's men cautiously and curiously approached the lake and touched it with the sharp point of his weapon, which caused part of the spear to be covered with lightning.
Suddenly, out of the water came a living skeleton, much to the surprise of the men who were unable to escape as several living skeletons rushed over them.
Eilonwy gasped in horror at what they saw while Taran and Fflewddur were in shock.
"Oh! It's horrible!" said Eilonwy as more living skeletons emerged from the lake.
"My phantom warriors have come to life!" began the Horned King as several armed undead skeletons marched like an army of zombies. "All dead from centuries past! Never has anyone created an army like this!" said the Horned King as his men ran away in terror at the sight of the living skeletons. "Go forth my deathless warriors! Destroy all in your path!"
"Come, sire! We can get a better view from above!" said Creeper as he and the Horned King climbed up a flight of stairs.
"Oh, Taran! I'm afraid it'll soon be over for us." said Eilonwy regretfully, for there was no way to stop that army anymore.
"I-I hadn't planned it to end like this, Eilonwy." said Taran.
"Oh, I wish I'd stayed a toad!" said Fflewddur.
"Oh, I just hope Littlefoot and the others are safe and far away from here." said Eilonwy.
"I hope so too." said Taran worried about his dinosaur friends.
Meanwhile, the Horned King and Creeper watched from a window as the undead army crossed the drawbridge, following wherever the mist of the Black Cauldron's necromancy expanded.
"Only moments away from victory! My greatest triumph!" said the Horned King.
"We did it sire!" began Creeper laughing before realizing that the Horned King was directing his hand towards him to do to him what he knew he would do to him. "I-I mean you! Yes, yes! Of course! You did it, Sire!" said Creeper before it started kissing the back of the hand and arm of his master.
Meanwhile, the gang and Gurgi found themselves climbing some stairs through which a certain green mist was passing.
"What could that be?" asked Littlefoot.
"I don't know, but I don't like it." said Chomper.
"Yep, yep, yep. it feels very sinister." said Ducky as Spike shivered slightly.
"Bah. Don't worry, we just have to go through this door and then…" began Cera pushing the door that was at the top of the stairs.
Suddenly, however, a spiked mace hit the door, startling the gang before seeing a group of living skeletons walking towards them.
"AAHH!" shouted they all as they ran far away from there until stopping near some cracks.
"What that?!" asked Petrie completely terrified.
"It must be the power of the Black Cauldron." said Littlefoot.
"That means the Horned King has unleashed his army of deathless warriors upon the world." said Ruby in horror.
"So now what are we going to do?" asked Ducky.
"I don't know. Maybe…" began Littlefoot.
"Littlefoot? Littlefoot, is that you?"
Everyone immediately turned to the slits to see that they were next to where Taran and the others were.
"Taran/Master!" said the gang and Gurgi happy to see their friend.
"Guys! What are you doing here?" asked Taran.
"You need to leave, this place is too dangerous." said Eilonwy.
"Yeah, we've already run into the Horned King's new 'friends'." said Cera.
"Still, we weren't going to leave you here." said Littlefoot.
"You are our friends and friends help each other. Yep, yep, yep." said Ducky.
"And Gurgi sorry he always runs away when there's trouble." said Gurgi.
"But you're here, and that's what matters." said Chomper.
Wasting no time, the gang passed through the gaps in the slit, which was big enough to fit them all and Gurgi stood on the beam holding them as the gang stood beside it.
"He untie everyone! Then we leave this evil place!" said Gurgi proceeding to untie Taran first.
"Well get on with it!" said Fflewddur.
"Good boy, Gurgi!" said Taran as his hands were untied. "Eilonwy, you go with Fflewddur, Gurgi and the others. I must stop the Cauldron.." said Taran climbing onto a higher platform.
"Oh, but Taran that's impossible! Why you'd be…?" asked Eilonwy, her hands being untied, as they watched Taran climb onto a platform that ended just above where the cauldron was, like a pool diving board.
"Wait, you're not going to…?" asked Littlefoot in horror as did the others, for there was only one way to stop the Black Cauldron.
"Taran!" said Eilonwy realizing what he planned to do.
"I'm sorry Eilonwy." said Taran approaching the edge of the platform.
"Please Taran!" pleaded Eilonwy not wanting to see her friend do what he planned to do.
"Don't do it, Taran!" begged Littlefoot.
"My mind is made up!" said Taran.
Before he could take another step, Gurgi stood in front of him and stopped him.
"Wait master! Gurgi not let you jump into Cauldron!" said Gurgi.
"Gurgi, get out of my way!" said Taran trying to push the creature out of his way.
Just then, part of the edge of the platform fell, to the surprise of the two as they watched the debris fall directly into the cauldron, causing small explosions of light that startled them all.
"Please master! Not go into evil Cauldron." Gurgi said pleadingly.
"If I don't we're all lost! Out of my way!" said Taran knowing there was no other choice.
"No! Gurgi not let his friend die!" said Gurgi hugging Taran before standing on the edge of the platform. "Taran has many friends. Gurgi has no friends."
"Gurgi, No! Don't jump! Wait!" pleaded Taran deducing what the creature was going to do.
"Don't do it, Gurgi! Please!" begged Littlefoot.
That's when Gurgi jumped off the platform.
"NO!" shouted Taran trying to grab him, but he failed and they all stood and watched as Gurgi fell towards the inside of the Black Cauldron, which caused another explosion of light. "Oh, no!" said Taran sadly.
Eilonwy let out a gasp of horror as she covered her mouth with her hands and the gang stared at the cauldron in horror and sadness.
Soon after, due to Gurgi's sacrifice, a pillar of fire got inside the cauldron while the mist began to recede and creep back into the cauldron as its necromantic magic was neutralized.
That made the undead skeletons walking on the drawbridge fall down one after another, as if they were losing the life they no longer had.
All that was seen by the Horned King and Creeper.
"Sire! Sire look! Something's wrong! What is it sire? They're… They're dying!" said Creeper as all the living skeletons fell until there were none left.
"It can't be! This had better not be your fault!" said the Horned King grabbing Creeper by the neck and strangling it.
"It needs another body, Sire!" said Creeper as it was suffocated.
"Yes! Yours!" said the Horned King tightening his grip to Creeper's pain.
Back inside, the group had made their way downstairs until they reached the room where the cauldron was.
"Get Eilonwy out of here. Hurry!" said Taran.
"Taran, I, please, I…" began Eilonwy.
"Go on! Go with them." began Taran before moving forward a bit. "Maybe there's still a chance, for Gurgi." said Taran in hope that he could save his friend.
"If that's the case, I'll go with you and I don't care what you say. Gurgi was my friend too." said Littlefoot.
"All right, but don't walk away from me." said Taran.
"Be careful, you two!" said Eilonwy.
"You both better go back." said Cera as the others walked away.
"And if possible… with Gurgi." said Ducky sadly.
Shortly after they left, the cauldron began to generate a stream of air that went straight into it like a vacuum cleaner.
Taran gasped as he felt the absorbing wind sweep him away.
"Taran, look out!" said Littlefoot as he too was swept away by the wind.
They both tried to run in the opposite direction to try to get away and avoid being sucked into the cauldron.
In the end, Taran ended up holding on to a ring connected to the wall, while holding Littlefoot with his other hand.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group was still running with the intention of escaping from there, but then, Eilonwy stopped.
"Princess, what are you doing?" asked Fflewddur.
"I'm going back to help Taran and Littlefoot." said Eilonwy.
"What? You crazy? It very dangerous." said Petrie.
"I don't care! I can't leave knowing that they stay behind. I already lost one friend, I don't plan to lose any more!" said Eilonwy with determination.
"You know what? You're right. What's the point of leaving if some of us are in danger?" asked Cera agreeing with the princess.
"I say we go back and help them!" said Chomper.
"Gurgi didn't sacrifice himself for Taran and Littlefoot to sacrifice themselves later. So we won't let Gurgi's sacrifice be in vain." said Ruby.
"Yep, yep, yep. If we're going to get out of here, it will be all of us together." said Ducky as Spike nodded.
"I never thought I'd say this, but I agree too. I wouldn't rest easy knowing they're still in there." said Fflewddur.
"And this time, he not lie. So me go too." said Petrie noticing that the harp didn't have a broken string.
"Then let's go!" said Eilonwy taking the lead with the others following her.
"No, Sire! Please!" pleaded Creeper as the Horned King, entering the room, grabbed him by the collar of his garment.
"Get up! Come alive!" demanded the evil king grabbing a skeleton by the collar of his garment.
"Maybe they're only resting, Sire!" began Creeper trying to get out of the situation before grabbing another skeleton. "Do something! My life is at stake!"
"Get up you fools! Kill!" demanded the Horned King angrily, for his plans had been destroyed while his eyes glowed in red sinisterly.
It was then that Creeper saw them.
"Look! Sire, look! It's the pig boy and his pet!" began Creeper pointing to Taran who was still holding on to the ring as he held Littlefoot to keep the wind from blowing them away. "It's their fault! Yes! They're the cause of it!" said Creeper before the Horned King let go.
"You've interfered for the last time…" said the Horned King as he approached them menacingly.
Creeper burst into mad laughter as he saw that it would be someone else who would receive the punishment.
"Ha, ha! Go for their throat, Sire!" said Creeper grabbing his own neck in sign of what he wanted him to do to them.
"Now, Pig Keeper. You shall die! And your pathetic creature too!" said the Horned King as Taran and Littlefoot looked on in fear.
The Horned King grabbed Taran's face with his hand and lifted him up even though he was holding Littlefoot as he was still clinging to the ring on the wall.
"Let go, you monster!" said Littlefoot before swinging his tail to slam it into the Horned King's face, causing him to let go of the boy as he screamed from the pain.
That caused the Horned King to back up a bit before he began to be swept away by the wind.
"What's this?!" asked the Horned King before trying to grab the boy.
Taran tried to move further away, but...
"No, you'll not escape!" began the Horned King grabbing Taran by the back of his shirt and Littlefoot by the neck. "You will satisfy the Cauldron's hunger!" said the Horned King throwing them to the foot of the stairs that led to the platform where the Black Cauldron was located.
Just then, the rest of the group arrived in the room, only to stand aghast at what they were seeing.
"Oh, no!" said Eilonwy looking at the scene in front of them.
"We have to help them!" said Cera ready to go fight the Horned King.
"Wait." began Fflewddur stopping the threehorn. "Look."
As the Horned King tried to move away despite the absorbing wind current, Taran and Littlefoot kept their grip on the ground to avoid being swept away.
"No! You'll not have me!" began the Horned King as he began to be dragged toward the cauldron, which front part began to glow in red, showing something that resembled a face. "My power cannot die!" said the Horned King as he began to get closer to the cauldron. "Curse you!" said the Horned King as he found himself next to the cauldron. "No! NO!" cried the Horned King as he leaned against the edge of the cauldron as he was sucked into it.
Taran, Eilonwy, and Fflewddur stood covering the eyes of the gang as what happened was too much for the children to handle.
And so the cauldron began consuming the Horned King.
First it began to absorb his skin, melting him and next his life energy that took a form like a fire stream that went inside the cauldron, until only the skeleton remained, all while he continued screaming in pain, and then, in a final explosion, the skeleton disappeared, leaving nothing of what was once the Horned King.
"Oh no!" began Creeper, who stood on a beam where it had seen everything that happened to his master. "H-How horrible! Poor sire! H-He's gone!" said Creeper sadly before standing in shock at what he had just said. "He's gone! Ha! He's gone!" said Creeper with happy madness before bursting into mad laughter as he put his hands in a gesture that looked like horns on his head. "Ha, ha, ha, ha! He's gone!" said Creeper happily as he walked away.
Soon after, the Black Cauldron glowed whole red hot and began to sink into the ground, causing the castle to shake as the ground was breaking up.
Taran and Littlefoot broke into a run as the ground behind them sank.
"Fflewddur!" shouted Taran.
"Cera!" shouted Littlefoot.
"Eilonwy!" shouted Taran.
"Over here! Hurry!" said Eilonwy from an exit.
"Thank goodness you're safe!" said Taran approaching them with Littlefoot before they all ran in another direction.
"Well it doesn't look like we're going to be for a long time." said Cera as she watched the walls and ceiling come down.
"This place is falling apart!" said Chomper.
"We've got to get out of here!" said Ducky.
"C'mon Fflewddur! Hurry!" said Littlefoot to the minstrel behind them.
"For sakes alive!" shouted Fflewddur as they passed a bridge that was destroyed in their path.
"Save life!" said Petrie before ducking to the side to dodge a falling roof debris.
Just as they were about to continue on their way, the hallway opened up with a deep crack in the middle.
Taran and the gang quickly jumped to the other side before Taran helped Eilonwy get to the other side.
"C'mon Fflewddur! Jump!" said Taran to Fflewddur, who was the only one left behind.
Blindfolded, Fflewddur made the leap, though in the process, a geyser of fire shot out of the crack, burning his butt for a few moments as the fire died down when he landed on the other side.
In the middle of another hallway, another cave-in occurred, but luckily, there was a gap they were able to squeeze through.
"We have to find a way out of this place or we'll die before we find a way out." said Ruby.
That's when they reached the place where the gang and Gurgi had entered.
"Taran. Look!" said Eilonwy noticing a boat in the water.
"We'll be able to get out of here in that." said Littlefoot.
"Good! Get in." said Taran untying the rope from the pole holding the boat in place as the others climbed into the boat.
"Let's hurry. I don't think this thing will hold much longer." said Cera watching as a couple of the pillars wobbled.
"Here! Your job, Fflewddur!" said Taran giving the minstrel a stick to paddle.
Fflewddur moved the boat before realizing something.
"Uh oh! Trouble!" said Fflewddur pointing to the front, where they all saw the locked and chained exit.
"Oh! We can't get through!" said Eilonwy in horror.
"It there nothing to get out good?" asked Petrie.
"I think we knew someone who used to say something in these cases: I hate the universe!" exclaimed Ruby.
"I-I'll try to open the gate." said Taran stepping into the water.
"I'm coming with you, Taran." said Ducky jumping into the water.
"Be careful Taran!" said Eilonwy.
Taran and Ducky started pulling on the chains until they managed to get them all off and open the door.
"Quick! Push the boat through!" said Taran.
"C'mon Fflewddur! Hurry!" said Eilonwy as Taran and Ducky pushed the boat a little.
"Good job lads!" said Fflewddur helping Taran and Ducky back into the boat.
It was then that Chomper noticed something.
"Look out!" shouted Chomper as the pillars fell all the way down.
Fflewddur pulled Taran and Ducky up quickly before the wave caused by the falling pillars pushed the boat down the exit tunnel until they shot out like a cannon.
From a distance, a huge explosion could be seen, followed by many smaller ones, destroying the castle and leaving only a pile of rubble.
In the middle of the water, the boat lay upside down, with the group standing on it as they looked at what was left of the Horned King's castle.
Just at that moment, one of the Horned King's dragons that had managed to escape appeared flying above them and on it was Creeper laughing like a total madman while holding the Horned King's horns above his head.
Creeper continued to laugh as the dragon flew away until it disappeared into the distance.
Seeing that they were safe from all danger, Fflewddur and some of the gang paddled to shore, the minstrel with the stick and the dinos with their paws and tails while Taran and Eilonwy stood still and hugging each other.
"Ruby, what you said before about the universe and that. What was that for?" asked Cera both confused and curious.
"Hum, I'm not sure, but I swear of have heard it somewhere." responded Ruby intrigued.
"Well... somehow it sounds quite familiar for me." added Littlefoot.
"Yeah, me too." said Petrie.
"I wonder why." said Chomper.
"I'm not sure, but I feel like some good friend of us said it. Yep, yep, yep." said Ducky while Spike nodded.
