silvery streamers sprang from its feathers. In an instant, a huge spiderweb glittered in the air and drifted slowly toward the horsemen.
Fflewddur, who had run up just then, stopped in amazement. 'Great Belin!' he exclaimed. 'What's that? It looks like decorations for a feast!'
The web slowly settled over the Cauldron-Born, but the pallid warriors paid it no heed. They' spurred their mounts onward; the strands of the web broke and melted away.
Eilonwy clapped a hand to her mouth. 'It didn't work!' she cried, almost in tears. 'The way Achren does it, she makes it into a big sticky rope. Oh, it's all gone wrong. I tried to listen behind the door when she was practicing, but I've missed something important.' She stamped her foot and turned away.
'Take her from here!' Taran called to the bard. He unsheathed his sword and faced the Cauldron-Born. Within moments they would be upon him. But, even as he braced himself for their onslaught, he saw the horsemen falter. The Cauldron-Born reined up suddenly; then, without a gesture, turned their horses and rode silently back toward the hills.
'It worked! It worked after all!' cried the astonished Fflewddur.
Eilonwy shook her head. 'No,' she said with discouragement, 'something turned them away, but I'm afraid it wasn't my spell.' She unstrung the bow and picked up the arrows she had dropped.
'I think I know what it was,' Taran said. 'They are returning to Arawn. Gwydion told me they could not stay long from Annuvin. Their power must have been waning ever since we left Spiral Castle, and they reached the limit of their strength right here.'
'I hope they don't have enough left to get back to Annuvin,' Eilonwy said. 'I hope they fall into pieces or shrivel up like bats.'
'I doubt that they will,' Taran said, watching the horsemen slowly disappear over the ridge. 'They must know how long they can stay and how far they can go, and still return to their master.' He gave Eilonwy an admiring glance. 'It doesn't matter. They're gone. And that was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. Gwydion had a mesh of grass that burst into flame; but I've never met anyone else who could make a web like that.'
Eilonwy looked at him in surprise. Her cheeks blushed brighter than the sunset. 'Why, Taran of Caer Dallben,' she said, 'I think that's the first polite thing you've said to me.' Then, suddenly, Eilonwy tossed her head and sniffed. 'Of course, I should have known; it was the spiderweb. You were more interested in that; you didn't care whether I was in danger.' She strode haughtily back to Gurgi and Melyngar.
'But that's not true,' Taran called. 'I? I was…' By then, Eilonwy was out of earshot. Crestfallen, Taran followed her. 'I can't make sense out of that girl,' he said to the bard. 'Can you?'
'Never mind,' Fflewddur said. 'We aren't really expected to.'
That night, they continued to take turns at standing guard, though much of their fear had lifted since the Cauldron-Born had vanished. Taran's was the last watch before dawn, and he was awake well before Eilonwy's had ended.
'You had better sleep,' Taran told her. 'I'll finish the watch for you.'
'I'm perfectly able to do my own share,' said Eilonwy, who had not stopped being irritated at him since the afternoon.
Taran knew better than to insist. He picked up his bow and quiver of arrows, stood near the dark trunk of an oak, and looked out across the moon-silvered meadow. Nearby, Fflewddur snored heartily. Gurgi, whose leg had shown no improvement, stirred restlessly and whimpered in his sleep.
'You know,' Taran began, with embarrassed hesitation, 'that spiderweb…'
'I don't want to hear any more about it,' retorted Eilonwy.
'No? what I meant was: I really was worried about you. But the web surprised me so much I forgot to mention it. It was courageous of you to stand up against the Cauldron warriors. I just wanted to tell you that.'
'You took long enough getting around to it,' said Eilonwy, a tone of satisfaction in her voice. 'But I imagine Assistant Pig-Keepers tend to be slower than what you might expect. It probably comes from the kind of work they do. Don't misunderstand, I think it's awfully important. Only it's the sort of thing you don't often need to be quick about.'
'At first,' Taran went on, 'I thought I would be able to reach Caer Dathyl by myself. I see now that I wouldn't have got even this far without help. It is a good destiny that brings me such brave companions.''
'There you've done it again,' Eilonwy cried, so heatedly that Fflewddur choked on one of his snores. 'That's all you care about! Someone to help you carry spears and swords and what-all. It could be
'At home,' Taran said? to himself, for Eilonwy had already pulled a cloak over her head and was feigning sleep? 'nothing ever happened. Now, everything happens. But somehow I can never seem to make it come out right.' With a sigh, he held his bow ready and began his turn at guard. Daylight was long in coming.
In the morning, Taran saw Gurgi's leg was much worse, and he left the camp site to search the woods for healing plants, glad that Coll had taught him the properties of herbs. He made a poultice and set it on Gurgi's wound.
Fflewddur, meanwhile, had begun drawing new maps with his dagger. The Cauldron warriors, explained the bard, had forced the companions too deeply into the Ystrad valley. Returning to their original path would cost them at least two days of hard travel. 'Since we're this far,' Fflewddur went on, 'we might just as well cross Ystrad and follow along the hills, staying out of sight of the Horned King. We'll be only a few days from Caer Dathyl, and if we keep a good pace, we should reach it just in time.'
Taran agreed to the new plan. It would, he realized, be more difficult; but he judged Melyngar could still carry the unfortunate Gurgi, as long as the companions shared the burden of the weapons. Eilonwy, having forgotten she was not speaking to Taran, again insisted on walking.
A day's march brought them to the banks of the Ystrad.
Taran stole cautiously ahead. Looking down the broad valley, he saw a moving dust cloud. When he hurried back and reported this to Fflewddur, the bard clapped him on the shoulder.
'We're ahead of them,' he said. 'That is excellent news. I was afraid they'd be much closer to us and we'd have to wait for nightfall to cross Ystrad. We've saved half a day! Hurry now and we'll be into the foothills of Eagle Mountains before sundown!'
With his precious harp held above his head, Fflewddur plunged into the river, and the others followed. Here, Ystrad ran shallow, scarcely above Eilonwy's waist, and the companions forded it with little difficulty. Nevertheless, they emerged cold and dripping, and the setting sun neither dried nor warmed them.
Leaving the Ystrad behind, the companions climbed slopes steeper and rockier than any they had traveled before. Perhaps it was only his imagination, but the air of the land around Spiral Castle had seemed, to Taran, heavy and oppressive. Approaching the Eagle Mountains, Taran felt his burden lighten, as he inhaled the dry, spicy scent of pine.
He had planned to continue the march throughout most of the night; but Gurgi's condition had worsened, obliging Taran to call a halt. Despite the herbs, Gurgi's leg was badly inflamed, and he shivered with fever. He looked thin and sad; the suggestion of crunchings and munchings could not rouse him. Even Melyngar showed concern. As Gurgi lay with his eyes half closed, his parched lips tight against his teeth, the white mare nuzzled him delicately, whinnying and blowing out her breath anxiously, as if attempting to comfort him as best she could.
Taran risked lighting a small fire. He and Fflewddur stretched Gurgi out beside it. While Eilonwy held up the suffering creature's head and gave him a drink from the leather flask, Taran and the bard moved a little away and spoke quietly between themselves.
'I have done all I know,' Taran said. 'If there is anything else, it lies beyond my skill.' He shook his head sorrowfully. 'He has failed badly today, and there is so little of him left I believe I could pick him up with one hand.'
'Caer Dathyl is not far away,' said Fflewddur, 'but our friend, I fear, may not live to see it.'
That night, wolves howled in the darkness beyond the fire.
ALL NEXT DAY, the wolves followed them; sometimes silently, sometimes barking as if in signal to one another. They remained always out of bow shot, but Taran caught sight of the lean, gray shapes
