"Taran what's going on?" An older man asked as he was headed towards the two teenagers.
"I am so sorry, sir. I was only passing through." Rosemary quickly had said, hoping that Taran wouldn't get into trouble.
"Oh! No worries, my dear. I meant for the pig being covered in dirt and mud."
"Rosemary, this is Dallben. Dallben, this is Rosemary." Taran quickly introduced them, slightly hoping to change the topic. The older man looked quite surprise after hearing the girl's name.
"Rosemary you say? Daughter of Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark one?" He asked. Rose felt alarmed that someone else knew about her existence. The only ones who knew of her, were his enemies. Now she feared that this old man was another one of them.
"How do you know-"
"How do I know your name? For one to know the Dark One, you must learn its history."
"But-"
"Do not fear, child. I will not harm you. Perhaps this is fate."
"Fate? To be found by the Dark One? Are you mad, Dallben?" Taran spoke up, not understanding what was going on. But Dallben smacked taran's head to stop him from saying anything else.
"Hush, boy! I meant what I said because am in need of his services."
"Then you must know how my father runs his business. Magic-"
"Always comes with a price. Yes, yes, I know. Why don't we go inside? The trees have ears and I need help to protect us all."
The two young ones, along with the pig, entered the small cottage. Once they were safe inside, the old man performed magic on the pig. The pig was then hypnotized and dunked his head in a bucket of water.
The water began to turn and turn in circles, until it started to glow a bright blue color. Dark shadows appear in the glowing water, one was a scary looking monster, a dark cauldron, and then a shadow that was identical to Hen-wen. The man quickly pulled the pig away from the water. It stopped glowing, turning back to regular liquid. Taran was in deep shock after what he just saw.
"Dallwen, since when were you a sorcerer?" He asked him amazed.
"Since I came across another. But that is not a tale to tell at the moment. What you just saw was a dark and magical creature, who is searching for another powerful object. The Black Cauldron."
"And what is so special about this cauldron?" Rose asked. It sounded like something her father would be interested in.
"An awesome weapon. It's been hidden for centuries. But if the Horn King finds it first, he will unleash its power. Amd nothing will stand against him."
"It sounds like something my father would love to collect." Rose unhappy said.
"Yes, well, it seems that the Horn King knows about Hen-wen. Taran, take Hen-wen to the hidden cottage at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hide there, and never bring her out until I come for you two." The man instructed them to do and handed the pig into Rose's arms to hold. The pig made a happy squeal sound when tucked into her secure arms. Rose, on the other hand, was surprised that this stranger already felt he could trust her after knowing who she is related to.
"Are you sure you want to trust me?" She reminded him. He nodded in agreement.
" It is because you are your father's daughter that I can trust you."
"If you say that, then why not have Taran and Hen-wen come with me to my father's castle. It's a bit far out, but the magic there is more safer."
"That is very true, my dear. But as you said before, it is a bit far. I worry you will not make it in time. So please, go to the cottage. Taran will lead you there. Go quickly! Safe journey, you two."
"I won't fail you." Taran said with determination. Feeling that this is his moment to prove that he can be brave and heroic.
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Rosemary and Taran walked through the forest together, along with Hen-wen now following them with her tiny feet.
"And here I thought Hen-wen was just an ordinary pig." Taran said excitedly.
"Do not get such high hopes, Taran. Magic comes with a price." The girl reminded him.
"Of course, nothing is free. But it is amazing. Especially for you since you are the daughter of a powerful wizard." Rose thought it was odd of him to think that way. Most people react more negative about it
"It's not as good as you may think."
"What do you mean? Don't you have magic?"
"No. Just my father."
"If I had magic, I'd fight any evil monster that comes to harm." He proudly said. She rolled her eyes.
"As I said before, it is not all grand. Yes, my father does have magic. But magic can also harm you in a way."
What do you mean?" She couldn't believe her eyes that Taran was actually taking an interest in this.
"Well, my father has been obsessed with magic for so long. He wants more of it to protect more and gain more power."
"Sounds good to me." He said it like it was nothing wrong. Casual talk.
"You're missing the point. The more focus you put into magic and power, the more you will lose sight of what's really important."
"Like what?"
"For example, your pig." Taran looked down at his feet, and noticed that Hen-wen wasn't by him like before. She was nowhere in sight.
"Oh no! What happened?" He asked as he continued looking around.
"Clearly your pig is gone. You were so focus on your desire for more, that you paid no attention to your task. Come on, she couldn't have gone far."
They both searched and searched, but could not find Hen-wen. But to their horror they heard a crying sound from a pig.
"That must be Hen-wen. Come on!" Taran yelled and held Rose's hand, pulling her with him to run towards the cry's. They saw Hen-wen running around in circles from two dragons. They were flying and trying to capture her.
"Are those real dragons?" Taran asked. He had never seen one before. She has.
"This is no time for questions! You want to be a hero, go and save your pig!" They both ran to catch the magical pig. A black dragon was flying closer to Hen-wen sp Rose tried to reach out for her. But instead of the claws grabbing the pig, it caught the girl instead. She screamed as she was being taken higher and higher into the sky. Taran ran after her as fast as he could. Hoping to save her. But he couldn't reach her in time. He climb up a high hill fill with rocks and finally got a view of where the dragons were taking Rosemary. He saw a large dark castle from afar. All he could think about was why would they take Rosemary?
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Rosemary was chained up and being held by both arms from two guards. She was to be taken to whoever was in charge of the place. She hated herself more and more. She should have realised what the prophecy meant. The Horn King wasn't after the pig, the pig was leading him to Rosemary. And she had a theory why he wanted her. Her father.
Rose tried to reach for her bag slowly, but realised nothing was at her side. She had her bag on earlier, she didn't realise she had lost it. Must have fallen off during the run or the flying part.
Her thoughts were stopped when she was suddenly thrown to the ground on her knees.
"Bow for the King!" A grumpy voice said from one of the guards. Rosemary looked up and saw a raggy black cape covering the figure. She looked closer and could tell that it wasn't and ordinary man. It was some sort of creature with its skin looking like bones. It was a skeleton creature. And she thought her father was scary looking.
"The Dark One's daughter, I presume." His voice sound deadly and creepy. Rose was to afraid to speak.
"The Dark One holds many things. Many….. special objects, knowledge, and power. You must know of this."
"What do you want from me? I do not possess any magic." She responded.
"No, you do not. But you must know things. Such as the Black Cauldron and where it lays."
He waited for her answer. Rose knew he wasn't going to like what he would hear, but she didn't know what else to do for the moment.
"Before today, I have never heard of it." She finally said to the king.
"Lies!" He punched his hand down at his royal rocky chair. Making the girl flinch from his tone.
"It is true! I know nothing of where it is. I swear! Please, let me go." She begged. The Horn King stood up and continued watching her, as if studying her face for anything. He then formed a creepy smile. A wicked smile. Rose felt chills.
"If what you say is true, then there is no harm to keep you as a captive. Sooner or later, the Dark One will come looking for his daughter. It will be a fair trade." He decided. Rose was conflicted. True, her father would be looking for like crazy. But not knowing him and his history of choosing power over others made her worry what he will do instead once he hears about the Black Cauldron.
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Rosemary waited in the dungeon for who knows how long. She wondered if Taran was alright. But she worried more for her father. Did he come back yet? Does he know she's missing yet? Will he be coming to look for her?
Just then, she heard something moving. She stood up quickly and picked up a few rocks, getting ready to attack whoever was coming in. A pile of rocks broke down from a wall, showing Taran on the ground also. He probably fell in.
"It's me! It's me!" He quickly said when he noticed she was about to hit him.
"Taran," She put the rocks down and helped him stand up " What on earth are you doing here? You are a fool for coming to this place!" She continued. Helping him dust the dirt off him
"Is that how you act when someone saves you? You should be more graceful." He argued back.
"How did you find me? How did you even get in?" Last she checked, the whole castle was filled with odd creatures, guarding all over.
"Hen-wen, of course. I left her at the cottage where Dallwen told me to. I had Hen-wen show me a vision of a secret tunnel that lead into the castle." He explained.
"Brilliant!"
"Really? Like a warrior?" He asked hopefully.
"Not quite yet." She teased " Now we need to escape." She reminded him.
"Follow me then." He said and walked back into the tunnel he came from. During their walk, Rosemary noticed something looked different about Taran. There was a swords that was in its case by his belt. He definitely did not have that on from before.
"Where did you get that sword? You did not have it on you when I was with you." She asked him.
"Oh, this? I found it on my way here. It was in one of these rooms here. There was a coffin and the word was on top if it. I took it just incase." She was shocked.
" You mean you…" She didn't even have to say it. He knew what she was implying. He stole a sword from a dead man's grave.
"Well, he was not going to use it anymore! Beside, it is a lot more useful than your bag." He held up her purple bean bag for her to see. She grabbed it quickly and marched away from the boy. She stopped when a flying axe almost hit her face, but stabbed the wall instead. Soon, more men came into their view to capture them. Taran pulled her by the arm to runaway.
"Come on! We have to run!" He panicked. The two teenagers were able to get out of the castle walls , but they found themselves in the courtyard. The gate was straight across.
More and more creature like men appeared and throwing their weapons at them. They ran but were surrounded into a wall. Taran pulled out the sword but failed to hold it up, making it fall to the ground. The enemy laughed, but were shushed when lighting began to struck from the ground. Causing it to shake like an earthquake. The gates broke and fell down, Rose saw this and held Taran by the arm to pull him with her and escape. They were stopped once again by the same two dragons from earlier, blocking them.
Taran tried to hit them with his sword, but he was hit by a tail and thrown backwards hitting the ground hard. He had lost grip of the magical weapon which was caught by the other dragon. Rose remembered something, and pulled out her horn from her bag, blowing it.
"What is horn going to do, my lady?" One of the men teased her. As if on que, a purple smoke appeared. She recognized the person.
Have no fear, Rumpelstiltskin is here.
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