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the sorcerer Dallben, as he enters manhood while fighting the forces of Arawn Death-Lord, the ultimate evil entity in the series. PLOT Taran, a boy living at Caer Dallben (a farm, and Dallben's residence) with Dallben and Coll , feels uneasy about the calm life he's leading, and naively dreams of great battles and heroic deeds. For humor, Coll promotes Taran to Assistant Pig-Keeper in charge of Hen Wen , the oracular pig living at the farm. After a lesson by Dallben, in which he is taught about Arawn and his henchman, the Horned King, he is to take care of Hen Wen; but the farm animals suddenly are highly agitated, and a number of them – including Hen Wen – run off into the forest. Taran chases after the pig, but soon loses both her and his way, and to his terror encounters the Horned King and his warriors marching against Caer Dallben. Wounded in this encounter, he is found and tended by Lord Gwydion , a prince of Prydain's ruling house of Don. Explaining his situation to the prince, they both set off together to find Hen Wen. During their search, they encounter Gurgi , a humanoid creature living in the forest. From him they gain a new lead on Hen Wen, but the trail ultimately grows cold. Also, they find themselves attacked by four armed riders and two undead warriors, the Cauldron-Born . Overpowered, Gwydion and Taran are taken to one of Arawn's outposts, Spiral Castle , where they meet the enchantress Queen Achren . In front of Taran she bids Gwydion to join her against Arawn, but when the prince refuses, she has them both dragged into the dungeons and into separate cells. In his cells, Taran is unexpectedly visited by Princess Eilonwy , a young enchantress of the house of Llyr who is living with Achren. Taran asks her to free his companion (out of mistrust, he does not mention Gwydion's name), and the girl eventually frees him as well. While trying to escape through the old catacombs beneath the castle, Taran accidentally falls into the tomb of a long-forgotten king, where Eilonwy snatches the king's sword. Then suddenly, Spiral Castle collapses; Taran and Eilonwy barely manage to escape to the surface. Taran was vague on purpose about Gwydion and had merely referred to him as the other man in the dungeon. However, as it turned out, Gwydion was not in fact in the dungeon and had instead been taken to the stronghold of Oeth-Anoeth. As a result, the man Eilonwy rescues from the dungeons is not the Prince of Don, rather it is a bard named Fflewdur Fflam. The three of them decide that they must alert the House of Don to the Horned King's impending attack and thus decide to go to the castle of Caer Dathyl, the seat of the Sons of Don. While foraging for food, Gurgi falls from a tree and is gravely injured. However, two wolves come and guide the Companions to a hidden valley. Here, Medwyn lives, and his valley is inaccessible to humans. Medwyn says that it is most probable that Hen Wen is dead, otherwise she would have come to the valley. After spending the night and letting Medwyn heal Gurgi, the Companions set off again. While trying to cross a river, they are sucked downwards in a maelstrom. However, rather than dying, they find themselves in the realm of the Fair Folk, also known as dwarves. They are presented before King Eiddileg, who despite being outwardly sarcastic and petulant, is quite obviously soft on the inside. He agrees to provide the Companions with new provisions to replace those lost in the whirlpool, and also a guide. However, right before leaving the land, they find Hen Wen. They leave with the pig, led by their guide, the rather grumpy Doli. Along the way to Caer Dathyl, the Companions see a badly injured Gwythaint - a spy of Arawn. Taran and Eilonwy decide to care for it, although Gurgi, Doli and Fflewdur are opposed to the idea. However, as soon as it is well enough to fly away, it does, presumably straight back to Arawn. The Companions have drawn close to Caer Dathyl. However, they have also come very close to the Horned King's army. Hen Wen flees the party. They are set upon by the Huntsmen of Annuvin, so Doli and Fflewdur stay behind to hold off the attackers. However, Taran, Eilonwy and Gurgi are almost immediately attacked by the Horned King himself. Desperate to defend the party, Taran draws the sword Eilonwy had taken from the king's tomb in Spiral Castle. It is a sword of great power, and he passes out. When he comes to, he finds himself in Caer Dathyl. The Horned King has been slain; Gwydion survived the trials of Oeth-Anoeth and managed to make it back in time to bump into the aforementioned gwythaint and Hen Wen, both of whom gave him information critical to defeating the Horned King. As for the sword of great power, it is named Dyrnwyn, and it is only to be drawn by those of noble worth. At the end, Taran returns to Caer Dallben, content to be an Assistant Pig-Keeper once more. TRIVIA
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